OpenProject and Lalabase, compared honestly.
For small software companies that want data sovereignty without running and maintaining an instance of their own.
This page is ours, so it is not neutral. That is why what OpenProject does well comes first, and why the table also names the rows where it is ahead.
Guido Boyke, founder
What OpenProject does well
GPLv3, a Berlin company, runnable on your own server. On the sovereignty question there is nothing to win here, both stand equal.
Gantt, baselines, portfolios, budgets, requirements, ITSM. If you work to a plan rather than a task list, you will find that there and not with us.
A role and permission model for many hundreds of people, in use at public bodies and corporations for years.
The comparison in detail
As of August 2026, researched against the OpenProject documentation and roadmap. Two points still stated differently elsewhere: all board types including Kanban have been in the Community Edition since version 17.3, and AI is not an empty field there but announced and partly shipped.
| Feature | OpenProject | Lalabase | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tasks and projects | Yes, very extensive, with Kanban in the Community Edition | Yes, with Kanban, smart folders and per-project configurable states | Depends on you |
| Gantt, portfolios, budgets | Yes, the centrepiece | No | OpenProject ahead |
| Wiki and docs | Yes | Yes, versioned and searchable by AI | Lalabase ahead |
| Time tracking | Yes, with budgets and reporting | Yes, right on the ticket, with billing and CSV export | Depends on you |
| AI answers with sources | Announced. The MCP server has shipped, semantic search is on the roadmap | Here today, across tasks, docs, time and client conversations | Lalabase ahead |
| Operations, updates, backups | Your own instance is yours to run, or you book their hosting | Ours: daily backups, updates, security patches | Depends on you |
| Setup | Your own instance needs prior knowledge and time | Sign up, ready in a few minutes | Lalabase ahead |
| Client access | Configurable through roles and permissions | Built in, with its own permissions for clients, and it takes no paid seat | Lalabase ahead |
| GDPR and DPA | Your own instance makes you the operator; with their hosting the DPA comes from them | DPA included, application data on servers in Germany | Depends on you |
| Open source | Yes, GPLv3, you can change everything and host it yourself | No, hosted by us | OpenProject ahead |
| Scope | Very broad, from requirements to ITSM | Narrow, cut to the client projects of small software companies | OpenProject ahead |
When OpenProject remains the better choice
When you plan in Gantt charts, run portfolios across projects or need budgets in the tool. That is the centrepiece there and absent with us.
When the software has to run on your own hardware because a client or a public body requires it. OpenProject is open source, we are not.
When you need requirements management or ITSM in the same tool. OpenProject is built for that, and we are not.
When switching is worth it
If your instance has been sitting on an old version for months because nobody finds the time to run the upgrade and check everything afterwards.
If you have never used Gantt, portfolios or budgets and still carry the weight that comes with them.
If clients are meant to come into the system and every time you have to work out which roles and permissions they will see.
If you want to ask questions of your project data rather than search it, and today rather than when semantic search has shipped.
Your projects come with you.
Send us a dump and you get to see your own projects in Lalabase before you decide.
Discuss a dumpA database dump or an export of your projects is enough, exactly as it comes out of your instance.
Projects, work packages, states and the fields you actually use. By hand, not by a wizard.
At your own material rather than sample data, before you decide.
Look at it instead of believing it.
Create an account, drop in a dump and compare on your own material.