The age-old adage, “The early bird gets the worm,” perfectly describes the state of the business landscape today. Competition is fierce and every little advantage can mean the difference between coming out on top or falling behind. Ensuring your teams are as productive as they can be is one way to get ahead, and that is where Open Source Productivity Software comes in.

While there are several types to choose from, opting for open-source has its upsides. A survey conducted by Statistica revealed that zero licensing costs, improved development velocity, and long-term community support are the primary reasons why businesses choose open-source productivity apps.

If you are looking for an open-source alternative, then you are in luck. We did the groundwork and have come up with a list of the ten best open-source productivity software we recommend for 2024.

What To Look For In Open-Source Productivity Tools?

While these are our recommendations for the best open-source productivity software, not all of them are equal and would be a good fit for your specific needs. Here is a list of factors to consider before deciding on one:

• AI and automation: AI-powered features and automation are essential for tackling repetitive tasks that kill productivity.
• Integration with your existing software stack: A productivity tool cannot be productive if it does not integrate seamlessly into your existing software ecosystem.
• Real-time collaboration features: Just as with software, seamless communication across your teams is essential to productivity. Features like instant chat, document editing, file sharing, and document sharing are some features to look out for.
• Reporting and Analytics: Data is the most valuable currency today, and the ability to crunch numbers and make sense of them accurately and efficiently will give you valuable insights into everything from resource utilization to project updates.
• Easy of use: A steep learning curve will significantly impact productivity. It simply and easily does it.
• Community support: An active community with readily available resources can help troubleshoot problems quickly.
• Scalability: Growth is the ultimate end goal for any business; ensure that the software you pick has the potential to scale as you grow.
•  Security: Prioritizing open-source security best practices ensures your tools stay protected from vulnerabilities while remaining reliable and up-to-date.

With this in mind, let’s dive straight into it.

Our Top 10 List Of Open-Source Productivity Software 

Here is a carefully created list of the best open source productivity software you need to know about and consider for 2024. 

1. Nifty

Nifty is our top pick for this list of the best open-source productivity software for 2024. It offers the perfect blend of powerful productivity features, intuitive design, and collaboration tools, all packed into one user-friendly package for managing projects.

Nifty’s core strength lies in its ability to streamline your entire project management workflow. Up first, its AI Project Templates features let you create an entire project plan with a simple one-liner command.

Let’s say you want to create a content plan for the coming month. Find the “Create a Project” option under the Project tab in the left navigation pane of the app.

You will then see a pop-up that looks like so.

Enter the name of your project, choose whether it should be public or private, and then select the “AI Template option.” Here, all you need to do is enter a one-line prompt that describes the project’s purpose (You can also enter detailed project outlines here).

You can further configure the AI template based on your specific needs, and when you are done, click on Create Project.

Nifty will automatically create a project plan template with lists and tasks under it—all in seconds. You can also change the way you visualize your entire project. The above screenshot is of a Kanban Board.

You can change between list views, calendar views, timelines, and more with one single click.

Nifty also goes beyond simple task management and offers features such as Project milestones that help you establish clear project checkpoints and monitor your team’s progress in achieving them. You can use the RoadMap feature to visualize milestones and ensure that your entire team knows where they stand.

Manual tasks are the enemy of productivity, so Nifty incorporates a host of automation features.

Nifty allows you to set up custom workflows to automate repetitive tasks, such as task assignments, status updates, or notifications, freeing up valuable time for team members to focus on higher-value activities. There are several default options to choose from but you can also create custom automation to best suit your specific project needs.

To optimize team efficiency, Nifty offers comprehensive time-tracking capabilities. Users can log time spent on specific tasks, generating valuable insights into project timelines and resource allocation. This data can be used to identify potential bottlenecks and optimize workflows.

Finally, the platform’s built-in chat functionality eliminates the need for external messaging tools. You also have features like discussion and task-tagging that ensure seamless collaboration between everyone working on a project. In short, Nifty’s combination of features makes it a potent productivity tool for organizations of all sizes.

What we like!

• The free version offers all the app’s core features, including two-factor authentication for security and access to the self-serve help center. 
• The user-friendly interface and the plethora of options to customize it to best suit your preferences. 
• AI-powered templates that are time-savers, especially when setting up new projects. 
• Workflow automation and time tracking aid project streamlining significantly.

What we don’t!

• Some of the more advanced features are only available on the paid plans. The storage limitations on the free plans also limit feasibility for large teams. 

Pricing

• Free
• Starter: $7 per user per month
• Pro: $10 per user per month
• Business: $16 per user per month
• Unlimited: Available upon request

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5
• Capterra: 4.6/5

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2. Docpht

If you want straightforward open-source productivity software for open source note taking, we highly recommend DocPHT. It is designed for quick note-taking and documentation, has a customizable interface, and allows for maximum portability.

It can be installed via Composer or Docker and supports access management and document versioning, and allows you to run backups. All of this is without the fuss of a database and the additional maintenance needs that come along with it.

What we like!

• It’s free.
• User management and role assignment for controlled access.
• Version control and backup/restore functionalities.

What we don’t!

• This app is limited to documentation/note-taking and lacks broader productivity features.
• Does need to be set up and configured. 

Pricing

• Free

Reviews

• G2: NA
• Capterra: NA

3. Wekan

Wekan is a security-focused, open-source Kanban board app designed to visualize and manage tasks and lists effectively. As is the way with all Kanban apps, you can create cards that represent individual tasks, organize them into lists, and put those lists onto various boards to have a holistic view of your progress. Additionally, Wekan serves as a powerful tool for knowledge management, helping users organize and access information efficiently.

With a vast and active community, support is plenty and they also help weed out any vulnerability in its security. Wekan also supports real-time collaboration and can be self-hosted.

What we like!

• Open-source and free to use.
• Supports Real-time collaboration and task management.
• Highly customizable and integratable. 

What we don’t!

• A utilitarian user interface that leans more toward functionality. UI could be better. 
• A simple setup. It does require a fair bit of technical expertise to set up and customize. 

Pricing

• Free to use

Reviews

• G2: 4.2/5
• Capterra: NA

4. ClickUp

While ClickUp isn’t technically speaking an open-source productivity software, we thought it deserved a spot on this list. The folks at ClickUp often dub it the one app to replace them all and to a certain extent, it does play that role as it does make up for the limitations of most true-blue open-source software. ClickUp is also available as a web app, making it easy to use without installation, and it is compatible with various operating systems, including MacOS, Windows, and Linux.

One of ClickUp’s key strengths is the sheer range of functionalities it offers. In addition to the basic task management features, you can create and customize Kanban boards, Gantt charts, lists, and mind maps, along with several other document and product management features.

ClickUp also offers built-in AI tools such as Brain that can create summaries, draft emails, automate repetitive tasks, and more. For small teams, you can get away with their free plan, which offers a lot of the above-mentioned features. Advanced users will, however, need to buy into the paid plans to gain access to more advanced features.

What we like!

• The wide range of features and customization options. 
• ClickUp’s free plan offers many more features than other free plans on other project management apps. 
• It’s a great tool for small and mid-sized marketing teams.

What we don’t!

• The plethora of customization options and features ClickUp offers does make the learning curve steep to get the most out of it. 
• The app can get sluggish at times. 
• Limited offline access. 

Pricing

• Unlimited: $7 per user per month
• Business: $12 per user per month
• Enterprise: Custom

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5
• Capterra: 4.6/5

5. Motion

If time management is your primary pain point and we had to recommend only one open-source productivity software to help, it would be Motion. In essence, it is an AI-driven assistant that goes through your to-do list and takes into account each individual’s tasks deadlines, priorities, and dependence and plans your day for you. Its pièce de résistance is that it dynamically alters your calendar as the day progresses. Additionally, Motion offers built-in file storage to facilitate collaborative work, making it ideal for startups and small IT teams.

Motion doesn’t work with individual apps. Instead, it takes in data from all your calendars (Google, Outlook, or iCloud) and generates one “master” calendar, as the team at Motion calls it. There is also a deadline-tracking feature here that ensures you never miss a deadline.

What we like!

• AI-powered task prioritization and scheduling for optimized daily plans.
• Automatic task manager prioritizes tasks and helps reschedule undone work.
• Integrates with multiple calendar apps

What we don’t!

• No free version. 
• Users do report bugs that affect productivity.
• The workflow can be improved, especially when working with multiple items at a time. 

Pricing

• Individual: $19 per month
• Team: $12 per user per month

Reviews

• G2: 4.1/5
• Capterra: 4.3/5

Nifty also offers built-in calendar view with project planning capabilities. Know more!

6. Logseq

Logseq is an open source note-taking productivity software on steroids. It can jot down notes in markdown and org mode. However, what sets this app apart is its ability to create backlinks and references between your notes so that no piece of relevant or related information is lost.

In addition, Logseg offers a host of other features, such as the ability to maintain a daily journal, create to-do lists, and even annotate PDFs directly within the app, making it a versatile tool for everyone, from students to developers.

You also have access to more than 150 plugins and 30 themes to extend the app’s capabilities and customize it to look and feel just the way you want it.

What we like!

• Secure data storage (data is stored on your device and not on any servers)
• A large and active community 
• Available for both IOS and Android
• New features are constantly being added (Whiteboards and Sync in Beta now)

What we don’t!

• The UI could be a little better.
• Minor bugs (that are, however, fixed over time)

Pricing

• Free forever

Reviews

• G2: NA
• Capterra: NA

7. Turtl

Turtl is an open source note-taking app that can be considered a direct alternative to the likes of Evernote or Google Keep. It can store text, mathematical data, images, bookmarks, and even files. It also supports full-text search for quickly locating notes and allows you to filter or sort them based on tags (if you have added them) or based on when they were created or last edited.

Security is something Turtl takes seriously. It features advanced client-side cryptography, ensuring that no one but you can access your data. The same trend continues when you want to share your notes with anyone. Turlt gives you the power of granular-level control (from full admin access to read-only) on what anyone can do with your shared notes.

What we like!

• Supports markdown formatting.
• Support for TeX for storing mathematical data.
• Right to Left text support

What we don’t!

• It does not have a password recovery option, so if you forget it, you will be locked out of your account forever. 
• The free version allows only 50MB of data.
• No support for iOS just yet. 

Pricing

• Premium: $3 per month
• Business: $8 per month

Reviews

• G2: NA
• Capterra: NA

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8. Ethercalc

If you are looking for a no-fuss open-source productivity software alternative to Google Sheets or MS Excel, Ethercalc is what you need. The use of “no-fuss” here was not ornamental, either. Simply go to the website, click “Create Spreadsheet,” and begin working on it. Ethercalc can also integrate with popular version control systems like Subversion and Git, making it an essential tool for developers.

Every spreadsheet gets its unique URL, which can be shared with multiple users who can work on it simultaneously. (A blue box appears on the cell being worked on by another user; leave them be, and you will not have any issues down the line.)

What we like!

• Web-based, no signup required, and free.
• It can do almost everything major spreadsheet software can. 
• Real-time collaboration

What we don’t!

• If we had to nitpick, working on this tool does take some time to get used to it. 

Pricing

• Free

Reviews

• G2: NA
• Capterra: NA

9. Superhuman

Superhuman is an email client built specifically for teams that use Google and Outlook. Its makers claim that it helps save up to 4 hours per week, and that does seem to be the case. The load and response times are blazingly fast, and keyboard shortcuts (once they become muscle memory) make you equally fast. 

Superhuman AI, its native AI assistant, can generate complete emails with just a few phrases to help it get started. The split inbox feature ensures that you don’t miss out on high-priority emails, and the reminders ensure that you don’t ever forget a follow-up. That said, the lack of a free version and its asking price do make it lose out on points. 

What we like!

• A minimalist interface with just the essential features. 
• Keyboard shortcuts make quick work of email management. 
• AI-powered email writer, reminders, and summarization.

What we don’t!

• Superhuman does not offer a free version, unlike all the other open-source productivity tools on this list. 
• Most users online also find the price of demands exorbitant.

Pricing

• Starter: $30 per user per month
• Growth: $45 per user per month
• Enterprise: Custom

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5
• Capterra: 4.9/5

10. TL;DV

TL;DV is our pick for the best open source productivity software in the meeting recording category. It is one app that can do it all: record your meetings, transcribe them, recognize meeting participants, and automatically tag who said what. (It can do this in over 30 languages.) Additionally, TL;DV excels in knowledge management by helping users organize and access information effectively.

The built AI can automatically take notes, generate summaries, analyze the content, and forward snippets of said notes to those who need to act on them. The icing on the cake is that it can do all of this for not just one meeting at a time but an unlimited number of them simultaneously.

What we like!

• Easy to get started (installation and getting used to the interface). 
• Integrates with over 5000 plus apps that include major collaboration apps (Google Meet, Zoom, Slack), CRMs (Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive), project management apps (Trello, Clickup), and more. 
• Supports over 30 languages which makes it great for global teams.
• A cost-effective alternative to similar offerings in this category.

What we don’t!

• Users do report occasional bugs that take away from the experience.
• While the basic features are easy to master, the more advanced features TL;DV offers do have a steeper learning curve. 

Pricing

• Free Forever: $0
• Pro: $29 per seat per month (billed monthly)
• Business: $98
• Enterprise: Custom

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5
• Capterra: NA

Wrapping It Up

There you have it, our top ten list of the best open-source productivity software for 2024. We have covered everything from simple note-taking apps to full-fledged project management solutions like Nifty and more. 

While the prospect of free software is undoubtedly alluring, it is vital to take a pragmatic approach to deciding on one. After all, if improving productivity is the end goal, the key is to make the best choice from the get-go. So take your time, experiment, evaluate, and once you choose, take full advantage of it. 

Nifty’s AI-driven platform optimizes workflows, enhances collaboration, and helps you achieve unprecedented productivity. Ready to take your projects to the next level? Start your Nifty journey today.