Redmine Alternative and its Pros and Cons

Many Redmine users are dissatisfied with the software and want to find a Redmine alternative. There are numerous Redmine alternatives available, but it is critical to understand the benefits and drawbacks of each before making a choice. In this article, we will discuss Redmine's drawbacks as well as an alternative that has similar features but without all of the limitations.

What is Redmine?
Redmine is a versatile project management web application. It includes integrated time tracking and Gantt charts to help manage tasks, bug reports, and issues for the Xiphos Research Project.
It was originally intended as an open-source alternative to commercial systems such as Microsoft Project Server or Atlassian Jira Software, with additional features such as multiple project support, SCM integration (SVN/GIT), a workflow engine, and a plugins system.

The interface can be completely customized using plug-ins: you have over 200+ custom fields and other options to create any necessary view on data stored in the Redmine database.
The software is built on the Ruby On Rails framework, which makes it highly scalable when using distributed revision control systems like Git or Subversion. It can handle thousands of concurrent users with performance comparable to medium-sized commercial software such as Microsoft Project Server and Atlassian Jira Software.
Redmine is written in Ruby on Rails, but it includes a few native extensions and also supports plugins, so you can add many features to Redmine without changing any source code by writing them in Ruby.
And, as of version RC11, you have even more options: almost all functions are now implemented via plugins, which speeds up the customization process because plugin support for some operations was added where it wasn't previously (like time tracking).

The most recent stable version is Redmine v.0.95 (RC11), which was released in January 2015, and the latest source code can be obtained using Git from our official GitHub repository.
To run, the software requires Ruby on Rails and a MySQL database server. It works on Linux-like operating systems such as FreeBSD or OS X, but also on Windows if you install an appropriate version of Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition for your application requirements, as this DBMS is only supported by commercial versions of Redmine.
More information on installing and running Redmine using virtualization technologies such as Vagrant or Docker can be found at the following links:
Furthermore, there are numerous tutorials available, including video courses, that show all steps required during installation so that anyone without special programming skills can do it simply by following simple visual instructions.

What are the advantages of using Redmine?
The best part about Redmine is that it is free and open-source, so you can download it for free from their website at redmine.org! It also has a tonne of great documentation to help new users get started.
Time management using Gantt charts and reports.
Document version control systems such as Git/Subversion are not present in the early stages of projects that require multiple versions or file size limitations (i.e. small projects).

The ability to interact with your customers via the built-in forum feature.
How much does Redmine cost?
Redmine is a free open source ticket tracking system that, like JIRA, can be used to manage projects.
It enables real-time task collaboration with your team and provides advanced reporting for managers.

Apart from an internet connection, Redmine requires nothing to get started, but there are additional features available if you want more complex functionality such as Gantt charts, file-sharing, or time tracking.
Alternatives to Redmine
Redmine alternatives abound. This post will discuss three of them and why they might be better than Redmine in specific cases or for a specific person's workflow/needs.

Trac is the first alternative. While it does not have as many features as Redmine, it does have an extremely powerful plugin system that allows you to implement almost anything by installing just one more plugin.
I also believe that by using plugins on top of Trac, your project management solution becomes even more customizable than what any other tool can currently offer out of the box.

The disadvantage of this approach is that certain issues cannot be resolved without touching the core, which is why Trac is not the first choice for everyone.
Taiga is the second option worth investigating. It has all of the features you need to manage your projects in an organised manner, track their progress, receive feedback from customers or even contributors, discuss specific issues, and easily plan changes/improvements with them.

What I really like about it, aside from the fact that it is open-source, are its very clean interface and nice-looking charts that can be generated right away using GitLab integration! They also look great on mobile devices in my opinion. Oh, and one more thing: everything about it is - forever:)
Pros and Cons of Redmine
Redmine is the most popular issue tracking tool, as well as being free and open-source. It can handle multiple projects with different roles in each of them. Redmine has so many integrations (including email notifications) that it's difficult to imagine life without it!

Let me give you some examples:
You can easily associate your bug reports with specific commits in the source code.
Redmine includes a Wiki where you can store all project documentation that is accessible from anywhere and by any number of people at the same time.
The software is also included in many Linux distributions (e.g., Debian, Ubuntu), making it simple to install and use.
You can add custom fields to your project tickets, such as milestones or due dates (or even the priority).

But Redmine isn't perfect! Before purchasing this software, you should consider the following disadvantages:
Because the learning curve is steep, you may need to invest some time in learning how it works.
Redmine is written in Ruby on Rails and requires a server (i.e., hosting). Of course, if you choose the self-hosted version and have your own Linux VPS or dedicated server somewhere (they're not expensive! ), this won't be an issue.

Another issue worth mentioning is that Redmine cannot handle multiple projects with the same name. If you intend to use it for different divisions of your company, make sure they have distinct names!

Finally, a few minor drawbacks:
The documentation could be expanded.
One disadvantage I haven't mentioned yet is that you can't use a custom logo with Redmine.

The only other thing I can think of to complain about is that the software isn't completely open-source (it doesn't have a 100% OSS licence) and it's not very good for managing large projects with many different components/modules.

Conclusion
Finally, if you're looking for an alternative to proprietary web-based project management tools, we recommend giving Redmine a shot. There is plenty of documentation and support forums available online, making getting started much easier - and it may even save you money depending on how many resources you have at your disposal. We hope that this article has given you a better understanding of Redmine and what it has to offer.