GUIDE
Open source HR platform, or self hosted?
First, the honest part: Keanan is not open source. If a copyleft license is a hard requirement, projects like OrangeHRM, Horilla or Frappe HR are the right rabbit hole. But most teams searching for an open source HR platform are really searching for three things: control over their data, freedom from per seat pricing, and software that runs where they say it runs. Those you can have without adopting a codebase as a hobby.
What each route really costs
| Open source HR | Keanan self hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| License cost | Free | One time license fee |
| Setup | You assemble and configure | One provisioning script, running in under an hour |
| Updates and security patches | You track and apply them | Included for the first year, renewable |
| Support | Community forums | A human who answers |
| Data ownership | Full | Full: it is your Postgres on your machine |
| White label | Fork and rebrand yourself | Dashboard settings, no fork |
| Mobile app | Rare, usually none | iOS and Android app that points at your instance |
The maintenance question nobody budgets for
Free software is free the way a puppy is free. Someone on your team owns upgrades, backups, monitoring and the security mailing list from now on. That can be a fine trade for an engineering heavy company. For everyone else the honest comparison is the cost of that time against a license fee.
What Keanan gives you either way
- The full stack on your own servers: Django, Postgres, Redis, Caddy, all in Docker.
- Backups, restore drills, monitoring and a written runbook, included.
- Complete database access. Your reports, your queries, your export.
- A brand layer your company or your clients can call their own.
More reading: Personio alternative · BambooHR alternative · white label HR software