# Best open source software for freelancers > For a freelancer, a self-hosted stack starts with Odoo for invoicing, Frappe HR for time tracking and Twenty for clients. Each section takes the top-ranked apps in one catalog category, scored on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Question | What open source software should a freelancer use? | | Picks | 14 | | Top pick | Odoo (54,848 stars) | | Data as of | Oct 7, 2026 | | Canonical URL | https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-freelancers | A freelancer's toolkit of self-hostable apps for invoicing, time tracking, clients, scheduling and files, ranked with the freelancer profile. ## Invoicing and accounting - [Odoo](https://appsgit.com/apps/odoo) (54,848 stars, LGPL-3.0, Python, Docker): Odoo has 54,848 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 10,679 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS. - [ERPNext](https://appsgit.com/apps/erpnext) (39,821 stars, GPL-3.0, Python, Docker): ERPNext has 39,821 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,664 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS. ## Time tracking - [Frappe HR](https://appsgit.com/apps/frappe-hr) (8,879 stars, GPL-3.0, Python, Docker): Frappe HR has 8,879 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,742 commits in the last year; it replaces BambooHR and Workday. - [Ever Gauzy](https://appsgit.com/apps/ever-gauzy) (8,194 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Ever Gauzy has 8,194 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,967 commits in the last year; it replaces BambooHR and Workday. ## Clients (CRM) - [Twenty](https://appsgit.com/apps/twenty) (57,949 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Twenty has 57,949 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 7,656 commits in the last year; it replaces Salesforce and HubSpot. - [Krayin](https://appsgit.com/apps/krayin) (23,970 stars, MIT, PHP, Docker): Krayin has 23,970 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 483 commits in the last year; it replaces Salesforce and HubSpot. ## Scheduling - [Cal.diy](https://appsgit.com/apps/cal-diy) (48,880 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Cal.diy has 48,880 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,893 commits in the last year; it replaces Calendly. - [Rallly](https://appsgit.com/apps/rallly) (5,285 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Rallly has 5,285 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,513 commits in the last year; it replaces Calendly. ## Projects and tasks - [Gitea](https://appsgit.com/apps/gitea) (58,319 stars, MIT, Go, Docker): Gitea has 58,319 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,696 commits in the last year; it replaces GitHub and GitLab. - [Plane](https://appsgit.com/apps/plane) (60,414 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Plane has 60,414 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 678 commits in the last year; it replaces Jira and Asana. ## File sharing - [qBittorrent](https://appsgit.com/apps/qbittorrent) (40,592 stars, GPL-2.0, C++): qBittorrent has 40,592 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 460 commits in the last year. - [slskd](https://appsgit.com/apps/slskd) (4,010 stars, AGPL-3.0, C#, Docker): slskd has 4,010 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,056 commits in the last year. ## Passwords - [Vaultwarden](https://appsgit.com/apps/vaultwarden) (68,572 stars, AGPL-3.0, Rust, Docker): Vaultwarden has 68,572 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 181 commits in the last year; it replaces Bitwarden and 1Password. - [Bitwarden](https://appsgit.com/apps/bitwarden) (20,244 stars, AGPL-3.0, C#, Docker): Bitwarden has 20,244 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,544 commits in the last year; it replaces Bitwarden and 1Password. ## How this list was made - Each section is filled automatically with the top apps from one catalog category, ranked with the freelancers profile. - Base score: GitHub stars on a log scale plus commits in the last 12 months (log scale, capped at 1,000). - Bonus points for a published Docker image, an OSI-approved open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days. - Source-available apps can rank, but they are labelled and never described as open source. - An app appears only once on the page, in the first section it fits. ## FAQ ### Is it worth self-hosting as a freelancer? If you already pay for several per-user tools, one small VPS can run invoicing, time tracking and file sharing for a few dollars a month. Keep backups off the server, since you are your own IT department. ### Is Odoo free? Yes. Odoo is open-source software released under the LGPL-3.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan. ### Can I run this stack with Docker? 13 of the 14 apps here publish Docker images, including Odoo, ERPNext and Frappe HR, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups. ## Related questions - [What is the best open source accounting software?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-accounting-software) - [What is the best open source HR software?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-hr-software) - [What is the best open source CRM?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-crm) - [What is the best open source booking and scheduling system?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-booking-systems) - [What is the best open source project management tool?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-project-management) - [What open source tools should a solo developer self-host?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-solo-developers) - [What open source software should a SaaS company self-host?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-saas) - [What are the best open source AI tools for building SaaS AI features?](https://appsgit.com/best/ai-tools-for-saas) ## See also - [All ERP & inventory apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/erp-inventory) - [All HR & time tracking apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/time-tracking) - [All CRM apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/crm) - [All booking & scheduling apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/booking-scheduling) - [Open-source alternatives to QuickBooks](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/quickbooks) - [Open-source alternatives to Square POS](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/square-pos) - [Open-source alternatives to Shopify POS](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/shopify-pos) - [Open-source alternatives to Lightspeed](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/lightspeed) - [Open-source alternatives to Toast](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/toast) - [Open-source alternatives to Xero](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/xero) - [Odoo vs ERPNext](https://appsgit.com/compare/odoo-vs-erpnext) - [Twenty vs Krayin CRM](https://appsgit.com/compare/twenty-vs-krayin) - [Vaultwarden vs Bitwarden](https://appsgit.com/compare/vaultwarden-vs-bitwarden) - [ERPNext vs Dolibarr](https://appsgit.com/compare/erpnext-vs-dolibarr) - [Frappe HR vs OrangeHRM](https://appsgit.com/compare/frappe-hr-vs-orangehrm) - [Twenty vs SuiteCRM](https://appsgit.com/compare/twenty-vs-suitecrm) - [How to self-host Gitea with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/gitea) - [How to self-host Vaultwarden with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/vaultwarden) --- Canonical page: https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-freelancers Source: appsgit (https://appsgit.com), the app store for github. Data from the GitHub API, refreshed nightly. Machine access: JSON API https://appsgit.com/api/v1/apps (OpenAPI: https://appsgit.com/openapi.json), MCP server https://mcp.appsgit.com/mcp, full index https://appsgit.com/llms-full.txt.