Redmine

✓ Verified FOSSGPL-3.0

Top open-source alternative to Jira

Redmine is a rock-solid, cross-platform open-source issue tracker and project management application featuring per-project wikis, forums, time tracking, Gantt charts, SCM (Git/SVN) integration, and custom workflows.

Tech StackRuby on Rails, PostgreSQL / MySQL

Self-Host DifficultyEasy

License ModelGPL-3.0

GitHub Repositoryredmine/redmine

Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing

Estimated Hosting: $4 - $6/mo (e.g. Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean)

Min RAM:1 GB

Rec RAM:2 GB

Compute:1 vCPU

Disk Space:10 GB SSD

Redmine vs Jira Comparison Matrix

Evaluation Criteria	Redmine (Open Source)	Jira (Proprietary)
Subscription Model	100% Free Self-Hosted (Unlimited Users)	Jira Per-Seat / Usage Billing
Data Sovereignty	100% On-Premise / Your Own VPS	Stored on Jira Proprietary Cloud
Source Code Audit	Open-Source (GPL-3.0)	Closed-Source Proprietary Blackbox

INTERACTIVE TCO MODELEstimated Rate: $12/user/mo

Financial Impact: Migrating from Jira to Self-Hosted Redmine

Detailed Stack Calculator →

Active Team Members / Seats: 25 Users

5 Users (Early Startup)50 Users (Scaleup)200 Users (Enterprise Org)

Jira (Cloud SaaS)Per-Seat Tax

$3,600per year ($300/mo)

3-Year Spend:$10,800

* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages

Redmine (Self-Hosted)Zero Per-Seat Fee

$120per year ($10/mo Linux VPS)

3-Year Compute:$360

* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance

Cumulative 3-Year ROI+$10,440Net savings across 36 months (97% reduction)

Annual Free Cash:+$3,480/yr

Need C-Level Buy-In? Generate an instant ROI proposal memo to present to your CTO or CFO.

HEAD-TO-HEAD BATTLES // SIDE-BY-SIDE AUDIT

Compare Redmine Head-to-Head

Custom Comparison Engine →

★ PRIMARY REPLACEMENTFOSS vs SaaS

Redminevs

Jira

Comprehensive benchmark comparing Redmine against proprietary Jira licensing and features.

View Full Battle Report→

Core Capabilities & Features

✓Role-Based Issue Workflow Matrix

✓Native Git & SVN Repository Browser

✓Built-in Time Logging & Gantt Charts

✓Hundreds of Community Plugins

Self-Host Redmine with Docker Compose

Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:

1-Click Docker Compose Generator

Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.

Select Open-Source Project:

RedmineGPL-3.0

Battle-tested flexible project management and issue tracking web app

Difficulty: Easy6,045 ⭐

Configure Parameters

Host Port (PORT)

Public Base URL (APP_URL)

Application Secret Key (SECRET_KEY)

docker-compose.redmine.yml

version: "3.8"
services:
  redmine:
    image: redmine:5.1-alpine
    container_name: redmine
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "${PORT:-3000}:3000"
    environment:
      APP_URL: "${APP_URL:-http://localhost:3000}"
      SECRET_KEY: "${SECRET_KEY:-ossmatrix_prod_secret_2026}"
    volumes:
      - redmine_data:/data

volumes:
  redmine_data:

Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting Redmine

How do I self-host Redmine using Docker Compose?

You can deploy Redmine (redmine/redmine) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.

How does Redmine compare to Jira?

Redmine is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Jira built with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL / MySQL. Unlike Jira ($8.50 - $16 / user / month), Redmine has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.

What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for Redmine?

For production self-hosting (Easy difficulty tier), we recommend at least 2 GB RAM (minimum 1 GB), 1 vCPU, and 10 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $4 - $6/mo (e.g. Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean).

Is Redmine free for commercial business use under the GPL-3.0 license?

Yes. Distributed under the GPL-3.0 license, Redmine can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.

README INTEGRATION // REPO EMBED

Embed Official Redmine Badge in GitHub README

Served locally from OSSMatrix with Cloudflare global edge caching. Real-time verified alternative status, zero third-party dependencies, sub-5ms load time.

Live Preview:

Markdown Embed (GitHub / GitLab)

[![OSSMatrix Alternative](https://ossmatrix.com/api/badge/redmine)](https://ossmatrix.com/project/redmine)

HTML Embed (Docs / Landing Pages)

<a href="https://ossmatrix.com/project/redmine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://ossmatrix.com/api/badge/redmine" alt="Redmine on OSSMatrix" /></a>

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