Self-Hosted Project Management Software
Run ActiveCollab on your own server.
The productivity and collaboration workspace for your growing service business, now installed where you decide. From a task to an invoice. Just like that.
One-time purchase · Unlimited users · Evaluate it free on the cloud trial
What the license includes
Everything a team needs to run ActiveCollab behind its own firewall.
Perpetual license
Pay once, use it for as long as you want. No seat count and no monthly bill.
Unlimited projects, users, and storage
The only limit is your own disk.
One year of support and upgrades
The current release is ActiveCollab Self-Hosted 8. Every release in the first year is included. After that, a yearly support plan keeps the upgrades coming.
Your infrastructure, your rules
Nginx or Apache, PHP, MySQL or MariaDB. Runs on Linux, and on Windows. Your administrator sets the maintenance windows, the backups, and the security level. Your data stays on your own infrastructure, so your privacy and compliance obligations stay in your hands.
Desktop and mobile apps included
The Mac and Windows desktop apps and the iOS and Android mobile apps connect to a self-hosted workspace.
Two-factor authentication
Your team can switch on a second step at login. ActiveCollab emails a one-time code, and each person gets backup codes for the times they cannot reach their inbox.
MCP for AI assistants
Your workspace talks to AI assistants over the Model Context Protocol, the same way the cloud does. An assistant connects through OAuth, and the MCP server runs on your install.
Help with the transfer
Our Technical and Customer Success teams help with the installation and the move from another tool.
From trial to your own server
Evaluate on the cloud, then move the same workspace behind your firewall.
1
Try it on the cloud
Start the free 14-day trial. The feature set is almost 1:1 with ActiveCollab Self-Hosted, so you evaluate the real thing.
2
Get a quote
Tell us about your team and your server, and sales comes back with a quote. After payment, you download the package and your license key from your ActiveCollab account.
3
Install and run it your way
Upload the package, run the installer, and connect the database. Your administrator owns updates, backups, and access from day one.
Everything in ActiveCollab Self-Hosted 8
Version 8 brought more than 100 new and improved features. The same feature set runs on the cloud and on your server. Read what is new in Self-Hosted 8 →
Projects, tasks, and three views
List, Column (Kanban), and Timeline (Gantt) views, task start and due dates, subtasks and dependencies, and a project progress menu with tasks, time, budget, and profitability in real time.
Collaboration in one place
Discussions, Files, Notes, and in-app Chat keep the work and the conversation together. Roles and permissions set who sees what.
Workload and capacity planning
Set capacity, availability, and job types per person. Watch workload in real time, split estimates across days, and plan with Virtual Users before you hire.
Time tracking and timesheets
Track time on projects and tasks, compare tracked hours with estimates, and add records retroactively. Timesheet and Workload show time off and over-capacity.
Budgets, expenses, invoices, and quotes
Internal hourly rates, project budgets with alerts, expense tracking, and invoices and quotes issued from the workspace. Payment reminders included.
Client access
Invite clients into projects for feedback and approvals. Hide internal tasks from them, and read every client profile with its projects, estimates, invoices, and payments.
Reports and dashboards
The Assignments and Time dashboards show completed against total tasks, tracked against estimated hours, spend against budget, and billable against non-billable time. Save filters as presets.
Feature Comparison
How cloud and self-hosted differ
Cloud or self-hosted |
Cloud |
Self-Hosted |
|---|
| Feature | Cloud | Self-Hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Our cloud | Your server, on premises or in your own cloud |
| Price model | Monthly or yearly subscription per plan | One-time purchase, yearly support plan |
| Users | Plan seats, unlimited on Pro and Pro+ | Unlimited |
| Storage | 10 GB to 125 GB per plan, upgradeable | Unlimited, your disk |
| Updates | Automatic | You install releases. First year of upgrades included |
| Backups | Included | Your administrator |
| Uptime | 99.95% | Your infrastructure |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | Evaluate on the cloud trial. The feature set is almost 1:1 |
| Support | Included | First year included, then with the yearly support plan |
| Two-factor authentication | Yes | Yes, emailed code plus backup codes |
| MCP for AI assistants | Yes | Yes, the MCP server runs on your install |
| Desktop and mobile apps | Desktop and mobile | Desktop and mobile |
Versus other self-hosted tools
Every tool below runs on your own server. Only one turns tracked time into an invoice.
| Tool | License | Billable rates | Invoicing | Client access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCollab Self-Hosted | One-time purchase, yearly support plan | Yes, per person, per job type, per client | Yes, built in | Unlimited clients, included |
| Jira Data Center | Annual subscription, sold in 500-user tiers. Read-only from March 2029 | No, Marketplace app | No, Marketplace app | Every named client uses a paid seat |
| OpenProject | Free core, paid Enterprise plans from 25 users | Cost rate per person | No | Work-package sharing, Professional plan and up |
| Plane | Free core, paid Commercial edition per seat | No | No | 5 free guests per paid seat |
| Leantime | Free core, paid plugin bundles | Timesheets with an invoiced flag, no rate field | No | A client is a billable user |
| Redmine | Free | No | Third-party plugin | Free |
| Taiga | Free | No time tracking | No | Free |
Prices and features checked 2026-09-04 from each vendor’s own website.
More than 50,000 teams run on ActiveCollab
Agencies, universities, and public institutions, on our cloud and on their own servers.
50K Teams
93%
Happiness Score
"ActiveCollab helped in making the transition smooth when we were pushed toward home working and was one of the key factors in maintaining the quality of our work.”
Interior Designer, Havelkadesign
"With ActiveCollab, you don't have to keep creating the same tasks every day, week, or month. Let the system take over!”
Founder, Trail Digital
"With ActiveCollab we can now set up a project in 15 minutes max—hassle-free!”
Creative Director, Stoere Binken Design
"Thanks to ActiveCollab, our project management software of choice, we are able to record all of our working hours for different projects throughout the day.”
Founder and CEO, pr24
"By using the power of ActiveCollab, we can continue to deliver top-quality solutions to our clients while retaining our dedication to excellence.”
Senior Mobile Marketing Manager, Future Forward
"ActiveCollab sounded too good to be true. We went into our trial period with low expectations—to our surprise and delight, we were proven wrong.”
Founder and Creative Director, JUICE Creative Group
"We've gotten way more efficient with our time management and communication, and a big part of that is because of ActiveCollab.”
Founder and Managing Director, Rock Agency
Frequently
Asked
Questions
Here is more info to help you decide. Contact our sales team if you have other questions.
As a one-time purchase, not per user per month. Unlimited projects, users, and storage are included, and so is the first year of support and upgrades. After that, a yearly support plan keeps the upgrades and support coming. Contact our sales team for a quote.
One production installation, plus a second copy for development and testing. If you need more than one production workspace, contact our sales team. The self-hosted license terms have the full wording.
Yes. Start the free 14-day cloud trial. The feature set is almost 1:1 with ActiveCollab Self-Hosted, so what you evaluate in the trial is what you install on your server. No credit card needed.
A Linux or Windows server with a web server, PHP, and MySQL or MariaDB. That is the standard stack most hosting providers offer. The full list, with versions, is in the system requirements article.
Yes. The current release is ActiveCollab Self-Hosted 8, and the first year of upgrades and support is included in the license. After that, a yearly support plan keeps the upgrades and support coming.
Yes. An older self-hosted license can be upgraded to the current release. Contact our sales team and tell us which version you run.
Both, and the client side is where it differs. Projects, tasks and three views cover software work. Billable rates, timesheets, budgets, invoices and client access cover the business side, in the same install. That combination is what the other self-hosted tools leave out.
All three views, and time tracking is built in. List, Column (Kanban) and Timeline (Gantt), with task dependencies and start and due dates. A stopwatch runs on any task, timesheets show time per person, and tracked hours compare against estimates.
ActiveCollab Self-Hosted has all the essential features of the cloud, including two-factor authentication and MCP. The desktop and mobile apps connect to a self-hosted workspace as well. New features land on the cloud first and reach the self-hosted release with the next update.
Your system administrator. You decide the maintenance windows, the backup schedule, the storage, and the level of security. Our Technical and Customer Success teams help with the installation and the transfer. How we build and secure ActiveCollab.
Contact our sales team for a quote. After payment, the download and your license key are in your ActiveCollab account, and the installation guide takes it from there.
Talk to sales about a self-hosted license
Tell us about your team and your server, and we come back with a quote and the next steps. Want to evaluate first? Start the free cloud trial. The feature set is almost 1:1.
