5 secure open-source alternatives to Monday.com

Today, there is a number of open solutions that can become particularly capable Monday alternatives when it comes to functionality, price, and security, and offer even more than that. Here are five open-source projects worth being considered based on deployment models and functionality.

A complete office on-premises and in the cloud: ONLYOFFICE Workspace

ONLYOFFICE Workspace is a full-stack office that offers collaborative online suite ONLYOFFICE Docs and a bundle of productivity apps that include document management system, projects, CRM, mail, calendars, chat and corporate social network. It is a ready office that combines all core tools and can be extended with external services (digital signatures, VoIP, third-party storages, Single Sign-On, etc.) and can be used in the cloud or installed on your own server.

Project and task management module in ONLYOFFICE allows creating team projects with milestones, tasks, and subtasks, monitor productivity, log time, build Gantt Charts and create multiple kinds of reports. It works together with the DMS and gives you quick access to browsing, editing and collaborating on project documents.

The mobile Projects app features all core project management functionality for quick access on-the-go, becoming a feasible Monday app alternative.

ONLYOFFICE Docs is a MS format-based suite for working with documents, speadsheets, and presentations solo, or collaboratively — with comments, reviewing, online chat, version history, and document comparison.

The solution has multiple security features including tools for access control and monitoring, disk and file encryption, backup functionality, and others. Hosting ONLYOFFICE Workspace on-premises gives you full control over your data by letting you keep it completely within your physical perimeter.

Build for all sizes of businesses, ONLYOFFICE can be used for free if you have rather small team, or accommodate thousands of enterprise users providing extra functionality and professional dedicated support.

Build your own Monday alternative: Nextcloud and ownCloud

Nextcloud

Nextcloud is a thriving open-source project that encompasses self-hosted office applications for file sharing and collaboration to combine with a variety of free and enterprise-ready tools for document editing, mail, calendars, project management and more. Among its rivals, Nextcloud stands out in its capabilities for communication, offering its own online chat and videoconferencing tools.

It is possible to extend Nextcloud with apps such as Tasks, Cospend, Calendar, Notes, Polls and other addons to assemble a wholesome open-source alternative to Monday.com

As for an office suite, here you can choose between ONLYOFFICE and Collabora integration, where the first has native MS format support, and the latter is based on ODF.

For those who seek less routine in hands-on customization of Nextcloud, there’s a solution called Nextcloud Hub that comes with pre-installed core office apps.

Nextcloud is a go-to solution for security-savvy users, as it provides a variety of data protection features including end-to-end encryption. Nextcloud also runs an active open bug bounty program for vulnerability testing for years, showing project’s effort in constant security improvement.

The solution is accessible from desktop application that supports all popular operating systems, and mobile applications for Android and iOS devices.

Nextcloud is a completely free solution itself, offering pro tariffs for those who need technical support from Nextcloud team and other privileges.

ownCloud

ownCloud is somewhat similar to Nextcloud. It is an open-source file sharing and management service that can be extended with all kinds of apps available on ownCloud marketplace, including online office (ONLYOFFICE, Collabora, and Office Online), calendars, workflows, mail, maps, multimedia players, and more.

ownCloud Tasks allow managing, sharing, and tracking to-dos within the team, sync tem via CalDAV, set reminders and export task data.

Particular advantages of ownCloud lay in accessibility: you can not only host it on your infrastructure, but also go for ownCloud Online to work in the cloud without installation. ownCloud is also very well-localized and available in over 100 languages.

You can access ownCloud and sync your files from desktop and mobile applications that also offer online editing and collaboration on files.

ownCloud with Community tariff can become a free alternative to Monday.com, but if you need professional assistance and enterprise features you must consider Standard or Enterprise package.

There’s a thorough comparison article provided by CiviHosting that compares features and back end of Nextcloud and ownCloud for those who might want a deeper insight.

Communication-first alternative to Monday: Kopano

Kopano One is a platform for business collaboration that puts communication tools first: It offers robust native mail functionality and high-quality audio/video conferencing features.

It has a document management system for keeping and sharing files, and includes LibreOffice editors for processing and collaboration on documents. The suite is especially strong on the side of spreadsheets, and has unrivaled support for ODF files while working with all other popular formats too.

Kopano Tasks works closely with Calendar and Mail to keep track of the due tasks, communication and events. You can assign and manage tasks, get notifications and keep your ideas and plans organized.

Kopano One is a paid software starting from $15 per user/year and offering plans from Basic to Enterprise with variable functionality that can be considered more of a Monday.com alternative. Kopano Meet, which is a standalone videoconferencing software can be used free of charge for singular conferences, and as a business solution in Starter and Enterprise packages.

Encrypted everything: CryptPad

CryptPad is rather basic in terms of apps it incorporates: online editors for text, spreadsheets (based on ONLYOFFICE), and presentations, document management, polls, kanban tool for workflow manamement, code editing, ToDo, and whiteboard. However, its main advantage is ultimate data security that is achieved with end-to-end encryption of files with encryption and decryption on the client side.

CryptPad can be used for free both with and without registration ( with limited storage time and CryptDrive access), or as a paid solution for those who want to support the project in exchange to fast and private technical support and more data storage.

Which of Monday.com alternatives is best for you?

When looking for an open-source alternative to Monday.com, there are plenty of apps to choose from. The choice depends on whether you are looking for a free solution or are able to pay for extra features and support, if you are ready to look after it on your server or need a quick cloud access. Open-source software is not only versatile in options, but also can be a challenging new step that will expand your productive borders with a little bit of research.