# Best open source software for startups

> For a startup, a self-hosted stack starts with Twenty for customers and deals, Gitea for projects and issues and Rocket.Chat for team chat. 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, project websites and recent commits.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Question | What open source software should a startup use? |
| Picks | 18 |
| Top pick | Twenty (57,949 stars) |
| Data as of | Oct 7, 2026 |
| Canonical URL | https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-startups |

A startup stack built only from self-hostable apps, one or two per job, ranked with the startup profile: stars, development activity, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

## 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.

## Project management

- [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.

## Team chat

- [Rocket.Chat](https://appsgit.com/apps/rocket-chat) (46,213 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Rocket.Chat has 46,213 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,155 commits in the last year; it replaces Slack and Discord.
- [Novu](https://appsgit.com/apps/novu) (40,118 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Novu has 40,118 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,234 commits in the last year; it replaces Twilio SendGrid.

## Docs and wiki

- [SiYuan](https://appsgit.com/apps/siyuan) (46,636 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker, AI features): SiYuan has 46,636 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 8,702 commits in the last year; it replaces Notion and Evernote.
- [BookStack](https://appsgit.com/apps/bookstack) (19,075 stars, MIT, PHP, Docker): BookStack has 19,075 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 435 commits in the last year; it replaces Confluence.

## Product analytics

- [Umami](https://appsgit.com/apps/umami) (39,188 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Umami has 39,188 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,087 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.
- [Metabase](https://appsgit.com/apps/metabase) (49,547 stars, AGPL-3.0, Clojure, Docker): Metabase has 49,547 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,378 commits in the last year; it replaces Metabase Cloud and Tableau.

## Backend

- [Supabase](https://appsgit.com/apps/supabase) (111,147 stars, Apache-2.0, TypeScript, Docker): Supabase has 111,147 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,123 commits in the last year; it replaces Firebase.
- [Appwrite](https://appsgit.com/apps/appwrite) (57,577 stars, BSD-3-Clause, PHP, Docker): Appwrite has 57,577 GitHub stars, uses the BSD-3-Clause license, ships a Docker image and had 10,376 commits in the last year; it replaces Firebase and Supabase.

## Helpdesk

- [FreeScout](https://appsgit.com/apps/freescout) (4,585 stars, AGPL-3.0, PHP, Docker): FreeScout has 4,585 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 679 commits in the last year; it replaces Zendesk and Intercom.
- [Frappe Helpdesk](https://appsgit.com/apps/frappe-helpdesk) (3,418 stars, AGPL-3.0, Vue, Docker): Frappe Helpdesk has 3,418 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,107 commits in the last year; it replaces Zendesk and Freshdesk.

## Monitoring

- [Uptime Kuma](https://appsgit.com/apps/uptime-kuma) (92,149 stars, MIT, JavaScript, Docker): Uptime Kuma has 92,149 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,359 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot.
- [Prometheus](https://appsgit.com/apps/prometheus) (66,381 stars, Apache-2.0, Go, Docker): Prometheus has 66,381 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,592 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Grafana Cloud.

## Identity and SSO

- [Keycloak](https://appsgit.com/apps/keycloak) (37,156 stars, Apache-2.0, Java, Docker): Keycloak has 37,156 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,157 commits in the last year; it replaces Auth0 and Okta.
- [Authelia](https://appsgit.com/apps/authelia) (29,182 stars, Apache-2.0, Go, Docker): Authelia has 29,182 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,474 commits in the last year; it replaces Auth0 and Okta.

## How this list was made

- Each section is filled automatically with the top apps from one catalog category, ranked with the startups 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 (a little extra for permissive licenses such as MIT and Apache 2.0), a project website 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

### Why would a startup self-host instead of buying SaaS?

To avoid per-seat pricing as the team grows and to keep customer data in its own infrastructure. The trade-off is operations time, so many startups self-host only the tools that get expensive per seat.

### Is Twenty free?

Yes. Twenty is open-source software released under the AGPL-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?

All 18 apps here publish Docker images, including Twenty, Krayin and Gitea, 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 are the best open source AI tools for startups?](https://appsgit.com/best/ai-tools-for-startups)
- [What is the best open source CRM?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-crm)
- [What is the best open source project management tool?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-project-management)
- [What is the best open source team chat app?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-team-chat)
- [What is the best open source wiki?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-wikis)
- [What is the best open source software for a small business?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-small-business)
- [What are the best open source AI tools for a small business?](https://appsgit.com/best/ai-tools-for-small-business)
- [What open source software should a freelancer use?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-freelancers)

## See also

- [All CRM apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/crm)
- [All project management apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/project-management)
- [All team chat apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/team-chat)
- [All wikis & knowledge bases apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/wikis-knowledge)
- [Open-source alternatives to Salesforce](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/salesforce)
- [Open-source alternatives to HubSpot](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/hubspot)
- [Open-source alternatives to Pipedrive](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/pipedrive)
- [Open-source alternatives to Zoho CRM](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/zoho-crm)
- [Open-source alternatives to GitHub](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/github)
- [Open-source alternatives to GitLab](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/gitlab)
- [Twenty vs Krayin CRM](https://appsgit.com/compare/twenty-vs-krayin)
- [Appwrite vs Supabase](https://appsgit.com/compare/appwrite-vs-supabase)
- [Twenty vs SuiteCRM](https://appsgit.com/compare/twenty-vs-suitecrm)
- [Gitea vs GitLab](https://appsgit.com/compare/gitea-vs-gitlab)
- [Gitea vs Gogs](https://appsgit.com/compare/gitea-vs-gogs)
- [Mattermost vs Rocket.Chat](https://appsgit.com/compare/mattermost-vs-rocket-chat)
- [How to self-host Gitea with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/gitea)
- [How to self-host Umami with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/umami)
- [How to self-host Supabase with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/supabase)
- [How to self-host Uptime Kuma with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/uptime-kuma)

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Canonical page: https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-startups
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.