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Comparison · PM
OpenProject vs Leantime
A side-by-side editorial comparison of OpenProject and Leantime — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
OpenProject vs Leantime: at a glance
What is OpenProject?
OpenProject courts Jira refugees while clearing a heavy bug-bounty security backlog
OpenProject is a mature self-hosted project-management tool shipping on a fast cadence across several maintained release lines at once (17.2.x through 17.5.x). The 17.x cycle is converging two threads: a ground-up rework of agile planning with dedicated sprint objects and redesigned backlogs, and a Jira migration path aimed at teams leaving Atlassian. In parallel it is absorbing a large batch of externally reported security findings from the EU-sponsored YesWeHack bounty program.
What is Leantime?
Leantime hardens its new permission engine through a rapid-fire auth patch cycle.
Leantime just shipped 3.9.0, a ground-up permission engine that replaced ad-hoc role checks with centralized, fail-closed authorization across every domain, landing alongside a JSON-RPC API layer and mobile push tokens. The 3.9.1 through 3.9.4 point releases that followed are almost entirely auth stabilization: Bearer and personal-access-token authentication broke under the new Sanctum guard and took four patches to fully settle. The project is mid-transition from a legacy PHP codebase to a modern Laravel, Blade, and JSON-RPC stack.
OpenProject vs Leantime: editorial side-by-side
OpenProject courts Jira refugees while clearing a heavy bug-bounty security backlog
◆ Current state
OpenProject is a mature self-hosted project-management tool shipping on a fast cadence across several maintained release lines at once (17.2.x through 17.5.x). The 17.x cycle is converging two threads: a ground-up rework of agile planning with dedicated sprint objects and redesigned backlogs, and a Jira migration path aimed at teams leaving Atlassian. In parallel it is absorbing a large batch of externally reported security findings from the EU-sponsored YesWeHack bounty program.
◆ Where it's heading
The clear direction is becoming the default landing spot for organizations migrating off Jira Server and Data Center. The 17.5 project-based work package identifiers exist largely to preserve original Jira issue keys on migration, removing one of the biggest switching costs. Agile features are maturing from version-based workarounds into first-class Scrum entities, while the security posture remains reactive but actively and broadly patched across release branches.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued hardening of the Jira Migrator (more field types, custom fields) and a push to move project-based work package identifiers from Beta to general availability across the remaining UI surfaces that still show numerical IDs.
Leantime
6.3PM
Leantime hardens its new permission engine through a rapid-fire auth patch cycle.
◆ Current state
Leantime just shipped 3.9.0, a ground-up permission engine that replaced ad-hoc role checks with centralized, fail-closed authorization across every domain, landing alongside a JSON-RPC API layer and mobile push tokens. The 3.9.1 through 3.9.4 point releases that followed are almost entirely auth stabilization: Bearer and personal-access-token authentication broke under the new Sanctum guard and took four patches to fully settle. The project is mid-transition from a legacy PHP codebase to a modern Laravel, Blade, and JSON-RPC stack.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is a comprehensive backend re-architecture, with the permission engine, JSON-RPC API, completed Blade template unification, and experimental Postgres support all converging on a cleaner, API-first core. The recent burst of Bearer-auth fixes shows the team paying down the regressions the permission-engine rollout introduced rather than adding new surface. Mobile is the next frontier: the 3.8.0 TestFlight API groundwork and 3.9.0 push tokens point to a native app nearing release.
◆ Prediction
Expect the auth-fix cadence to slow as the Bearer regressions settle, with attention shifting toward the mobile app's public launch and broader JSON-RPC endpoint coverage.
Alternatives to OpenProject and Leantime
Other PM 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 OpenProject or Leantime.
Celoxis
Celoxis's feed is SEO comparison articles, not product releases
HoneyBook
HoneyBook's feed is blog and competitor-comparison content, not a product release log
Atlassian
Atlassian threads Rovo AI through the developer loop while its blog leans on case studies
Unito
Unito's tracked feed is its content-marketing blog, not a product changelog — no shipped moves to read.
Planview
Planview's feed is strategic-portfolio thought leadership, not release notes — product signal is absent.
See all OpenProject alternatives → · See all Leantime alternatives →
Recent activity from OpenProject and Leantime
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoOpenProjectOpenProject 17.5.1
- 3d agoLeantimeCross-project 'My Work' loading fixed; mark-done action secured
- 3d agoLeantimeUnified session factory across web, API-key, and Bearer auth
- 4d agoLeantimeRoute-cache self-heal and Bearer/PAT token auth fix
- 5d agoLeantimeBearer API context restored; JSON-RPC contract tests + CI gate
- 5d agoLeantimeNative permission engine, JSON-RPC API, and mobile push ⚡
- 7d agoOpenProjectOpenProject 17.5.0 ⚡
- 8d agoOpenProjectOpenProject 17.3.4
- 9d agoOpenProjectOpenProject 17.4.1
- 9d agoOpenProjectOpenProject 17.3.3
- 20d agoLeantimeBlade migration completed; mobile API surface and task collaborators
- 1mo agoOpenProjectOpenProject 17.4.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between OpenProject and Leantime?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. OpenProject and Leantime are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 6.3 vs 6.3, 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 OpenProject better than Leantime?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. OpenProject and Leantime are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 6.3 vs 6.3, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to OpenProject?
Top OpenProject alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenProject alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openproject for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Leantime?
Top Leantime alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Leantime alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/leantime for the full list with editorial commentary on each.