🧭 Open-Source Productivity Apps in 2025: A Careful, No-Hype Comparison

If you value transparency, control, and long-term reliability, open-source productivity tools offer serious alternatives to commercial services.
They let you keep ownership of your data, work offline, and adapt the software to your workflow — without ads or telemetry.

This article presents an overview of some of the most relevant open-source productivity apps in 2025 — including Super Productivity, Vikunja, Joplin, Taskwarrior, Trilium Next, OpenProject, and others.

✅ Evaluation Criteria

• Philosophy & Focus — individual vs team use; tasks vs notes
• Platform Support — Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS, Web
• Privacy & Offline Capability — data storage model and telemetry
• Integrations & Extensibility — plug-ins, APIs, sync options
• Self-Hosting & Sync — WebDAV, CalDAV, dedicated servers
• Community & Maintenance — release frequency and sustainability

🔍 The Contenders (2025)

All projects listed are open source and have seen updates in 2024 or 2025.

¹ Joplin Server uses an additional “Personal Use License” restricting commercial hosting.

🖼 Interface Snapshots

Joplin showing split-view Markdown editing for notes and tasks.

Trilium Next presenting hierarchical notes with rich text widgets.

OpenProject’s work package board with collaborative task tracking.

Nextcloud Tasks list with shared project contexts and due dates.

Planify on GNOME offering task grouping and optional cloud sync.

Organice displaying Org-mode tasks with agenda navigation.

todo.txt CLI in action: lightweight plain-text task management.

Vikunja’s Kanban board with swim lanes and quick actions.

🧩 Detailed Comparison

🧠 Philosophy & Intended Use

• Super Productivity — Built for individuals and developers with a focus on deep work and easy task organization. Combines task management, time-tracking, timeboxing, and calendar integration. Integrates with GitHub, GitLab, and Jira.
• Vikunja — A self-hosted task and project manager positioned as an open-source alternative to Todoist or ClickUp. Supports lists, Kanban boards, subtasks, and team collaboration. Offline-capable mobile and desktop clients available.
• Joplin — A note-centric app supporting to-do checkboxes. Core clients under AGPL-3.0-or-later; the self-hosted sync server requires accepting its personal-use license. Offers Markdown editing and plugin extensions.
• Taskwarrior — CLI tool for GTD-style task management; fast, fully local and scriptable. Appeals to terminal-oriented users.
• Trilium Next — Community-maintained fork of Trilium Notes (since 2024). Focused on hierarchical note-taking and PKM (Personal Knowledge Management).
• OpenProject — Web application for collaborative project management; features Agile boards, Gantt charts, and time tracking.
• Nextcloud Tasks — Lightweight CalDAV task manager for users already hosting Nextcloud.
• Planify — Linux GTK app with optional sync to Todoist and Nextcloud; ideal for GNOME users.
• Organice — Web front-end for Org-mode (.org) files; bridges Emacs workflows and the browser.
• todo.txt CLI — Plain-text task lists managed directly from the terminal; scriptable and versionable.

💻 Platform Support

• Super Productivity — Linux, macOS, Windows; Android version with timeboxing and calendar integration; web app available.
• Vikunja — Web app plus native clients for Android, iOS, and desktop (via PWA or community builds).
• Joplin — Desktop (Linux/macOS/Windows), mobile (Android/iOS), and terminal client.
• Taskwarrior — CLI for Linux, macOS, Windows; several unofficial GUIs.
• Trilium Next — Desktop and web versions; self-hostable Node.js server.
• OpenProject — Web-based; self-hosted or cloud.
• Nextcloud Tasks — Web interface; accessible through mobile CalDAV clients (DAVx⁵).
• Planify — Linux (GNOME/GTK); available via Flathub.
• Organice — Web application; self-hostable.
• todo.txt — Works on any platform with a shell.

🔐 Privacy & Offline Use

• Super Productivity — Offline by default; no telemetry. Sync via file, WebDAV (including Nextcloud), or Dropbox with optional encryption.
• Vikunja — Fully self-hosted with optional public sharing; offline-first clients. No tracking or external dependencies.
• Joplin — Offline-first; sync via WebDAV, Nextcloud, Dropbox, or filesystem.
• Taskwarrior — Local only unless using optional encrypted Taskserver.
• Trilium Next — Local and self-hosted; encryption per note.
• OpenProject — Web-based; privacy depends on hosting.
• Nextcloud Tasks — Privacy inherits Nextcloud’s configuration.
• Planify — Local or optional cloud sync.
• Organice — Privacy depends on chosen sync backend; self-hosting possible.
• todo.txt — Local files only.

⚙️ Integrations & Extensibility

• Super Productivity — Integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Jira, and OpenProject; supports CalDAV and WebDAV sync. Plugin API planned.
• Vikunja — REST API for integrations and automation; supports import from Todoist, Trello, and JSON.
• Joplin — Plugin architecture for Markdown extensions and integrations.
• Taskwarrior — Scriptable via hooks; supports data exports and reports.
• Trilium Next — JavaScript-based scripting; custom widgets and relationships.
• OpenProject — Integrates with GitHub, GitLab, LDAP, Jenkins, and calendar systems.
• Nextcloud Tasks — CalDAV interoperability.
• Planify — Integrates with Todoist/Nextcloud APIs; no extension system yet.
• Organice — Integrates through Org-mode files and WebDAV/Dropbox.
• todo.txt — Integrates through shell scripts and cron automation.

☁️ Sync & Self-Hosting

• Super Productivity — WebDAV, Nextcloud, Dropbox; no central server.
• Vikunja — Self-hosted server written in Go; Docker images and official mobile apps provided.
• Joplin — Sync via Joplin Cloud, WebDAV, Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, filesystem.
• Taskwarrior — Optional self-hosted Taskserver.
• Trilium Next — Node.js server for sync.
• OpenProject — Full web stack, packaged Docker images available.
• Nextcloud Tasks — Hosted inside Nextcloud; sync via CalDAV.
• Planify — Local or Todoist/Nextcloud sync.
• Organice — Uses WebDAV/Dropbox/GitLab for sync.
• todo.txt — Manual sync (e.g., via Git or cloud folder).

👥 Community & Maintenance (2024–2025)

• Super Productivity — Active development; regular releases.
• Vikunja — Active GitHub project with steady releases through 2025.
• Joplin — Large, active community and plugin ecosystem.
• Taskwarrior — Mature and stable; moderate activity.
• Trilium Next — Maintained by open community since 2024.
• OpenProject — Maintained by OpenProject GmbH with enterprise backing.
• Nextcloud Tasks — Part of the larger Nextcloud community.
• Planify — Regular updates via Flathub.
• Organice — Version 1.2 (2025) introduces Parcel build system.
• todo.txt — Stable; community forks remain active.

🧱 Security Notes for Self-Hosting

When self-hosting apps like Vikunja, Joplin Server, Trilium Next, or OpenProject:

• Enable HTTPS (TLS) and strong authentication.
• Keep Docker images and dependencies updated.
• Restrict WebDAV/CalDAV endpoints to authenticated users.

Poorly configured self-hosted instances are a common privacy risk.

🎯 Which Tool Fits Which User?

🧭 Conclusion

There is no universal “best” open-source productivity app — only the one that fits your workflow.

• Super Productivity excels for individuals needing task management and time tracking with developer integrations.
• Vikunja offers a self-hosted, full-featured task manager suitable for both personal and team use.
• Joplin and Trilium Next shine for note-driven workflows.
• OpenProject targets professional teams and organizations.
• todo.txt and Taskwarrior remain lightweight, scriptable classics.

Each project reflects a different philosophy — from simplicity to full-stack collaboration — proving that open source continues to deliver genuine choice and innovation in productivity software.