Ever Gauzy
Ever Gauzy adds full payroll and leave management modules in a single sprint
Comparison · HR
Jorani vs OpenCATS
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Jorani and OpenCATS — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Jorani vs OpenCATS: at a glance
What is Jorani?
A dormant leave-management app returns with an MIT relicense and a hard break from its own API
Jorani is a self-hosted leave and overtime management app built on legacy CodeIgniter PHP. After a three-year gap, v1.0.4 arrives labelled a maintenance release but is anything but conservative: it relicenses from AGPL to MIT, moves the repository to a new organization, and deletes the Basic Auth REST API, the client-side password encryption layer and MySQL 5.7 support. The database schema is untouched, so the disruption is entirely in licensing, packaging and interfaces rather than data.
What is OpenCATS?
OpenCATS ships PHP 8.4/8.5 compatibility, utf8mb4 migration, and country support in its most significant release in years.
OpenCATS delivered two major releases in quick succession: v0.11.0 brought the long-deferred PHP 8 compatibility overhaul, utf8mb4 database migration, full country support across candidates/contacts/companies/job orders, CAPTCHA for career portal applications, and the replacement of the old Google ZIP lookup with OpenStreetMap Nominatim. v0.11.1 followed with a focused security hardening pass — SQL input validation, CSV import field mapping, mass-import file handling — plus Career Portal fixes and expanded contributor documentation.
Jorani vs OpenCATS: editorial side-by-side
Jorani
0.0HR
A dormant leave-management app returns with an MIT relicense and a hard break from its own API
◆ Current state
Jorani is a self-hosted leave and overtime management app built on legacy CodeIgniter PHP. After a three-year gap, v1.0.4 arrives labelled a maintenance release but is anything but conservative: it relicenses from AGPL to MIT, moves the repository to a new organization, and deletes the Basic Auth REST API, the client-side password encryption layer and MySQL 5.7 support. The database schema is untouched, so the disruption is entirely in licensing, packaging and interfaces rather than data.
◆ Where it's heading
The long arc is a small project shedding weight. Releases through 2017 filled in the workflow model — cancellation states, SSO, mandatory rejection comments, a steady stream of translations. Version 1.0.0 in 2020 rebuilt the leave-balance engine and documented an OpenAPI surface, and the two releases since have been almost entirely security and PHP-version compatibility. v1.0.4 continues by removing rather than adding, including the very API 1.0.0 had documented, and folds the old tree under a legacy/ directory — which reads as groundwork for a replacement rather than a destination.
◆ Prediction
The legacy/ layout and the withdrawn REST API point to a new API and a non-legacy codebase as the next move; the entries don't indicate on what stack, or when.
OpenCATS
6.3HR
OpenCATS ships PHP 8.4/8.5 compatibility, utf8mb4 migration, and country support in its most significant release in years.
◆ Current state
OpenCATS delivered two major releases in quick succession: v0.11.0 brought the long-deferred PHP 8 compatibility overhaul, utf8mb4 database migration, full country support across candidates/contacts/companies/job orders, CAPTCHA for career portal applications, and the replacement of the old Google ZIP lookup with OpenStreetMap Nominatim. v0.11.1 followed with a focused security hardening pass — SQL input validation, CSV import field mapping, mass-import file handling — plus Career Portal fixes and expanded contributor documentation.
◆ Where it's heading
OpenCATS is undergoing a systematic modernization of its technical foundation: InnoDB migration (v0.10.0), PHP 8 + utf8mb4 (v0.11.0), security hardening (v0.11.1). The project is not adding net-new capability so much as making what exists maintainable and secure enough to run in modern environments. The expanded contributing documentation and automated legacy database testing signal that maintainers are investing in the contributor pipeline.
◆ Prediction
After the modernization sprint, the next likely move is a modern email/rich text editor replacement (CKEditor 4 was pinned at the final open-source release as a placeholder) and further security audit work on endpoints that haven't been touched since the v0.9 era.
Alternatives to Jorani and OpenCATS
Other HR products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Jorani or OpenCATS.
Lever
Lever leans into AI recruiting features while its changelog reads more like a blog feed than a release log.
Gem
Gem's public changelog is documentation articles, not product releases—its actual development velocity is not visible from these entries.
Envoy
Envoy moves ID verification in-house with proprietary AI, breaking from third-party scanning vendors.
Workyard
Workyard builds an AI-powered operations layer for construction crews: Time Assistant, geofence-triggered forms, and Shortcuts
Tanda
Tanda consolidates compliance and integrations with a high-frequency release cadence targeting AU and UK payroll markets
See all Jorani alternatives → · See all OpenCATS alternatives →
Recent activity from Jorani and OpenCATS
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 11d agoOpenCATSOpenCATS v0.11.1
- 18d agoOpenCATSOpenCATS v0.11.0 ⚡
- 2mo agoOpenCATSOpenCATS v0.10.0 ⚡
- 5mo agoJoraniSecurity and PHP8.5 support ⚡
- 2y agoOpenCATSv 0.9.7.4 Bugfixes and Security fixes
- 2y agoOpenCATS0.9.7.3: RussH patch cookies (#641)
- 2y agoOpenCATSSecurity release v0.9.7.2
- 3y agoJoraniSecurity and PHP8.2 compat release (No DB Patch)
- 5y agoJoraniJorani 1.0 revamps leave balances and documents a Swagger API
- 8y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.5 adds Portuguese and Arabic translations
- 9y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.4 fixes leave transitions and broken ICS feeds
- 9y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.3 adds Greek and mandatory rejection comments
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Jorani and OpenCATS?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. OpenCATS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Jorani better than OpenCATS?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. OpenCATS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other HR products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Jorani?
Top Jorani alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Jorani alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/jorani for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to OpenCATS?
Top OpenCATS alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenCATS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/opencats for the full list with editorial commentary on each.