Overview

Redmine is an open-source project management and issue tracking system created by French developer Jean-Philippe Lang in 2006, built with Ruby on Rails and released under the GPLv2 license, and one of the most popular open-source platforms in the project collaboration space. It supports multi-project and sub-project management, issue tracking, Gantt charts, calendars, time tracking, wiki, and forums, letting a single instance serve an entire team's project management needs.

As open-source software, Redmine can be self-hosted, modified, and redistributed for free, with data fully controlled by the organization. Through a large plugin ecosystem (1000+ community plugins) and a REST API, Redmine extends into kanban, CRM, finance, and almost any project management scenario, making it a cost-effective alternative to Jira.

Key Strengths

  • Fully open source and free: GPLv2 with zero licensing cost for self-hosting, freely modifiable for secondary development; see the value of the open-source ecosystem.
  • Multi-project and issue tracking: manage multiple projects and sub-projects in one instance, with custom fields, workflows, and roles adapting to different teams; see project management tools.
  • Time tracking and Gantt charts: built-in work logs, Gantt charts, and calendar views support schedule and effort tracking.
  • Rich plugin ecosystem: 1000+ community plugins cover kanban, CRM, finance, and agile scenarios; see agile iteration practices.
  • Open REST API: deep integration with CI/CD and IM systems for automation and data connectivity.

Product Ecosystem

Redmine Core Platform

Multi-project management and issue tracking with Gantt charts, calendars, time tracking, wiki, forums, news, and documents - the foundation for team project collaboration.

Redmine Plugins

A 1000+ community plugin ecosystem that extends into kanban, CRM, finance, and agile development; see the growth of open-source commercial software.

Redmine REST API

A complete REST API for managing and integrating issues, projects, and time entries, connecting to remote team toolchains.

Redmine Hosted Services

Redmine has no official SaaS, but third-party hosts such as Planio offer quick deployment, and data can always be exported for self-hosting.

Limitations

  • Dated interface: the visuals and interaction clearly lag behind modern project management tools, limiting appeal to teams that value polish and usability.
  • Weak native collaboration: kanban, real-time collaboration, and file preview rely on plugins, and the native experience falls behind commercial products such as Jira and OpenProject.
  • Operations cost: self-hosting means maintaining the Ruby on Rails environment, database, and upgrades, a heavy burden for teams without DevOps experience.
  • Limited performance and reporting: performance and advanced reporting are limited on large projects, and complex data visualization needs external tools.

Use Cases

  • Zero-budget teams (recommended ★★★★★): free self-hosting under GPLv2 needs only server costs; see the value of open-source software.
  • Technical teams needing deep customization (recommended ★★★★★): custom fields, workflows, and plugins enable high customization for teams with development capability.
  • Teams that value data autonomy (recommended ★★★★★): self-hosting keeps project and issue data fully in-house.
  • Teams wanting ready-to-use (recommended ★★): deployment and plugin configuration take effort; evaluate hosted options such as Jira and OpenProject.

Pricing

Option Price Description
Self-hosted (official) $0 Free under GPLv2, deploy your own Ruby on Rails environment
Third-party hosted (e.g., Planio) from about EUR 19/month Hosted Redmine with no operations burden

Note: Redmine itself is free and open source with no official SaaS; hosting prices follow each host's current offers.

FAQ

  • How do Redmine and Jira compare? Redmine is free, open source, self-hostable, and highly customizable, suiting budget-constrained and technical teams; Jira is feature-rich, mature, and ready to use, suiting enterprises with budget; see team management tool comparison.

  • What deployment environment is needed? A Ruby on Rails runtime with MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQLite databases; official installation documents on Redmine.org cover the supported operating systems; see server selection guide.

  • Is there an official hosted service? No, Redmine has no official SaaS; third-party hosts such as Planio offer quick usage, and data can be exported at any time; see open source commercial software market 2026.

  • How is the plugin ecosystem? The community provides 1000+ plugins covering kanban, CRM, finance, and agile scenarios, installable and customizable as needed; see productivity tools collection.

  • Does Redmine support kanban? Native support is limited; third-party plugins such as Redmine Agile add kanban views; see agile iteration practices.