Best for
Best for European teams that need GDPR-compliant, German-hosted task management with time tracking included.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Project Management Comparison
MeisterTask vs. OpenProject
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for organisations that need a full project management suite on their own infrastructure rather than in someone else's cloud.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | MeisterTask | OpenProject |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Pro from €13.50 / user / month Business from €24 per user and month, Enterprise on request. The free Basic plan covers up to 3 projects, 5 notes and 5 Content Manager seats; viewer seats are unlimited on every plan. | lower value Free (Community edition); Enterprise from €5.95 / user / month Community edition is free, self-hosted and has no user minimum. Enterprise Basic €5.95 and Professional €10.95 per user / month from 25 users, Premium €15.95 from 100 users, Corporate on request from 250 users. Rates are for a one-year term; a monthly term adds €1.00 per user and is available for Cloud Basic only. The BIM add-on costs €1.00 per user. |
| Free trial | Free Basic plan, free forever | 14 days on the Enterprise cloud, or a 14-day trial licence for a self-hosted installation |
| Users | Not stated | Unlimited on the self-hosted Community edition; Enterprise plans start at 25 users |
| API | Yes, full API access from the Pro plan | Yes, REST API v3 plus a BCF API |
| Hosting | Germany | Self-hosted on-premises (DEB and RPM packages, Docker, Kubernetes) or Enterprise cloud on servers in the EU |
| Made in | Not stated | Germany |
| Task planning | Yes, Kanban project boards with unlimited tasks, checklists, comments, recurring tasks and automations; subtasks, custom fields and a Gantt timeline from Business | Yes, work packages with hierarchies and relations, Gantt charts with automatic or manual scheduling, agile boards for Scrum and Kanban with sprints and story points, and reusable project templates |
| Resource planning | Workload planner and portfolios with cross-project timelines on Enterprise | Yes, team planner plus resource allocation across projects, with working hours, holidays and availability feeding the schedule |
| Time tracking | Yes, built-in time tracking on every plan including the free Basic plan | Yes, hours logged on work packages daily or weekly, a personal time tracking page and PDF timesheet reports |
| Reporting and controlling | 5 preset reports on every plan; custom reports and a team overview of task volume and capacity from Business | Yes, filterable cost reports, budgets for labour and unit costs, hourly rates per member and project, baseline comparison and customisable project dashboards |
| Integrations and API | Full API access from Pro, integrations with MindMeister, Slack, Google, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk and GitHub, plus a MeisterTask MCP server in beta | Yes, REST API v3 and a BCF API, plus integrations with Nextcloud, GitHub, GitLab, OneDrive, SharePoint, XWiki and openDesk and an official MCP server |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| MCP-ready | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Phone | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Personal consulting | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Personal consulting, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | MindMeister, Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk, GitHub | more entries Nextcloud, GitHub, GitLab, OneDrive, SharePoint, XWiki, openDesk |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price MeisterTask Free; Pro from €13.50 / user / month OpenProject Free (Community edition); Enterprise from €5.95 / user / month
- Free trial MeisterTask Free Basic plan, free forever OpenProject 14 days on the Enterprise cloud, or a 14-day trial licence for a self-hosted installation
- Deployment MeisterTask Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based OpenProject Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Company size MeisterTask Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise OpenProject Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Hosting MeisterTask Germany OpenProject Self-hosted on-premises (DEB and RPM packages, Docker, Kubernetes) or Enterprise cloud on servers in the EU
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
MeisterTask
Strengths
- Hosted in Germany, ISO 27001 certified and GDPR-compliant
- Time tracking included on every plan, including the free one
- Unlimited viewer seats on all plans, so stakeholders cost nothing
Limitations
- Free plan is capped at 3 projects, 5 notes and 5 Content Manager seats
- Subtasks, custom fields and the Gantt timeline only from the Business plan
- Workload planning and portfolios are reserved for Enterprise
OpenProject
Strengths
- Free Community edition under the GNU GPL v3 with no user limit
- Runs on-premises or in an EU-hosted cloud, so project data can stay in-house
- Hours, hourly rates, unit costs and budgets sit in the same tool as the plan
- Official MCP server lets AI assistants work on project data within existing roles and permissions
Limitations
- Enterprise plans start at 25 users, Premium at 100 and Corporate at 250
- Self-hosting means running, securing and upgrading the installation yourself
- Monthly billing costs €1.00 more per user and is limited to Cloud Basic
Plans
Pricing
MeisterTask
- Basic €0 Free forever. Unlimited tasks, up to 3 projects, 5 notes and 5 Content Manager seats, 20 Meister AI credits per month, time tracking and 5 preset reports.
- Pro €13.50 From, per user and month. Unlimited projects and notes, 75 AI credits per month, recurring tasks and automations, full API access and email support.
- Business €24 From, per user and month. Adds 350 AI credits, Gantt timeline, subtasks, custom fields, custom reports, roles and permissions and priority email and phone support.
- Enterprise Not stated Contact sales. Adds workload planner, portfolios, SAML single sign-on, compliance exports and a dedicated Customer Success Manager.
OpenProject
- Community €0 Free and open source, self-hosted, no user minimum. Community features, community forum and user guides.
- Basic €5.95 Per user / month on a one-year term, from 25 users. Adds the Basic Enterprise add-ons and email support, Mon-Fri 9:30-16:00 CET.
- Professional €10.95 Per user / month on a one-year term, from 25 users. Adds the Professional Enterprise add-ons and phone support, Mon-Fri 9:30-17:00 CET.
- Premium €15.95 Per user / month on a one-year term, from 100 users. Adds the Premium Enterprise add-ons, remote hands and installation and upgrade assistance.
- Corporate On request From 250 users. Adds the Corporate Enterprise add-ons, openDesk and OpenID Connect for Nextcloud Hub, a dedicated support engineer, custom plugin support and onboarding training.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
MeisterTask
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
OpenProject
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
MeisterTask https://www.meistertask.com · no check date recorded yet
OpenProject https://www.openproject.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-03
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.