OpenProject vs YouTrack: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of OpenProject and YouTrack to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
OpenProject
6.7/10
Open source project management software for classic, agile and hybrid teams, available self-hosted for free or as an EU-hosted paid cloud.
YouTrack
7.3/10
JetBrains' issue tracker and project management tool for software and business teams, with agile boards, Gantt charts, a knowledge base, and a helpdesk.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.7/10 | 7.3/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | €6/user/mo Basic | $5/user/mo Cloud (per user) |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Community | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Collaboration tools | ||
| Dashboards | ||
| Docs | ||
| Gantt charts | ||
| Kanban boards | ||
| Knowledge base | ||
| Reporting | ||
| Task management | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| Timeline view | ||
| File sharing | Not listed | |
| Task lists | Not listed | |
| Whiteboards | Not listed | |
| Workflow automation | Not listed | |
OpenProject vs YouTrack cost by team size
| Team size | OpenProject | YouTrack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeCommunity | FreeFree |
| 5 users | FreeCommunity | FreeFree |
| 10 users | FreeCommunity | FreeFree |
| 25 users | FreeCommunity | $135/moCloud (per user) |
| 50 users | FreeCommunity | $270/moCloud (per user) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose OpenProject
- Higher Security score (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose YouTrack
- Higher Cost score (9/10 vs 8/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (6/10 vs 2/10)
Pros & Cons
OpenProject
Pros
- The free self-hosted Community edition is GPLv3 open source and shares one codebase with the paid editions.
- It hosts cloud data in the EU, encrypts it with AES-256 at rest, and offers a signable GDPR data processing agreement.
- It supports classic Gantt planning and agile boards and backlogs in the same tool.
- Time and cost tracking with budget reports is built in.
- Long contract terms carry large discounts, for example fifteen months free on a five-year term.
Cons
- Paid plans require at least 25 users, and Premium requires 100.
- Several Reddit users report that self-hosted installation is hard, and some find the tool too elaborate for simple needs.
- Slack, Toggl and Mattermost connections are unsupported community plugins.
- Reviewers say the interface is less polished than tools like Asana, and that resource and workload management is weak.
- Many features, including SSO and portfolio management, require paid Enterprise tiers.
YouTrack
Pros
- The free plan includes up to 10 users with the full feature set, so small teams can run it at no cost.
- Paid Cloud plans start at $5.40 per user per month, or $4.50 on annual billing, which is cheap for this category.
- Scripted workflows and custom fields allow a high level of process customization.
- Boards, a Gantt chart, a knowledge base, whiteboards, time tracking, and a helpdesk come in one product.
- It integrates tightly with JetBrains IDEs and TeamCity, as well as GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
- It can be self-hosted through the Server edition.
Cons
- Reviewers say new users struggle with the query language and configuration.
- Reviewers describe setting up the permission hierarchy as tricky and a matter of trial and error.
- It has fewer third-party integrations than Jira.
- The mobile app lacks some desktop features.
- Cloud storage is set at 3 GB per user and cannot be bought separately.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
YouTrack scores higher on our Project Management criteria: 7.3/10 against 6.7/10 for OpenProject. The largest gap is in Security: 9/10 for OpenProject and 7/10 for YouTrack.
Yes, both OpenProject and YouTrack have a free plan.
YouTrack is the better fit for freelancers: we rate it 6/10 for them, against 2/10 for OpenProject.
