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Comparison · HR

Jorani vs TimeTagger

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Jorani and TimeTagger — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Jorani vs TimeTagger: at a glance

FeatureJoraniTimeTagger
SectorHRHR
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeshr, leave-management, self-hosted, phpself-hosting, time-tracking, open-source, api-surface
Last editorial update2h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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.

Read the full Jorani trajectory →

What is TimeTagger?

A time tracker that ships twice a year and spends it on self-hosters.

TimeTagger is a self-hosted time tracker maintained by a small core with a steady stream of outside contributions. Releases land two or three times a year and bundle whatever community PRs arrived rather than a planned roadmap. Recent work concentrates on the deployment and integration surface — an API for external tooling, a hardened default binding, offline usage — rather than the tracking UI itself.

Read the full TimeTagger trajectory →

Jorani vs TimeTagger: editorial side-by-side

J0.0

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.

T0.0

A time tracker that ships twice a year and spends it on self-hosters.

◆ Current state

TimeTagger is a self-hosted time tracker maintained by a small core with a steady stream of outside contributions. Releases land two or three times a year and bundle whatever community PRs arrived rather than a planned roadmap. Recent work concentrates on the deployment and integration surface — an API for external tooling, a hardened default binding, offline usage — rather than the tracking UI itself.

◆ Where it's heading

The center of gravity has moved from the timeline UI toward how an instance is run and scripted against. v25.12.1 added a version endpoint and server-side record filters, which are the pieces an operator needs to automate against a deployment; v24.12.2 moved the default bind to loopback after an auth gap. The app-facing changes in the same window are smaller and mostly contributed.

◆ Prediction

The next release will most likely extend the records API further, since that is where the last cycle of contributions concentrated. The two-releases-a-year cadence gives no basis for predicting when.

Alternatives to Jorani and TimeTagger

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 TimeTagger.

See all Jorani alternatives → · See all TimeTagger alternatives →

Recent activity from Jorani and TimeTagger

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 3mo agoJoraniSecurity and PHP8.5 support
  2. 7mo agoTimeTaggerRecords API gains server-side filters and a version endpoint
  3. 1y agoTimeTaggerPassword-manager login, DST fixes, and a non-root image
  4. 1y agoTimeTaggerDefault bind moves to loopback after auth check gap
  5. 1y agoTimeTaggerNight-shift offsets and denser timeline clustering
  6. 2y agoTimeTaggerAndroid standalone display, multiple date formats, dark-mode fixes
  7. 2y agoTimeTaggerTotals now respect tag filters
  8. 3y agoJoraniSecurity and PHP8.2 compat release (No DB Patch)
  9. 5y agoJoraniJorani 1.0 revamps leave balances and documents a Swagger API
  10. 8y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.5 adds Portuguese and Arabic translations
  11. 8y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.4 fixes leave transitions and broken ICS feeds
  12. 8y agoJoraniJorani 0.6.3 adds Greek and mandatory rejection comments

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Jorani and TimeTagger?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Jorani and TimeTagger are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Jorani better than TimeTagger?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Jorani and TimeTagger are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). 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 TimeTagger?

Top TimeTagger alternatives in HR are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "TimeTagger alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/timetagger for the full list with editorial commentary on each.