Here’s How I Built a Free, Open-Source Project Manager to Help Teams Keep Costs Under $15/Month

Hi everyone, Hudy here!

Today, I'm excited to share my open-source project manager with you all. I built this from the ground up with the goal of keeping operational costs under $15 per month.

Before I decided to build it, I tried Trello, Jira, and Clickup. All of them are fantastic tools, but the cost was a major barrier for us. As a small team of 7 - 10 members at a Vietnamese startup, we simply didn't have the budget for these paid platforms.

You might be wondering why we didn't just use the free tier. Here's the thing: I believed I could build a project manager that offered the specified features we needed, like Reports, Exporting capabilities, Boards, Calendars, and more.

Additionally, I had a significant amount of free time at that point, which made it a good opportunity to take on this project.

Check out the app at namviek.com

Who Is This For?

This project is a great fit for people with developer skills who are running a small team on a limited budget, similar to me.

It might seem daunting at first, but see the cost report below. I was able to significantly reduce the operational cost from $49 per month ($7 x 7 members) to less than $10 per month.

How Did I Keep the Cost Low?

I leveraged a variety of free platforms to minimize operational costs. Here's a breakdown:

• Vercel: for the frontend (Free)
• Aws Lightsail: for the backend (Paid)
• Aws S3: for file storage (Paid)
• Resend: sending email (Free)
• Cloudflare: to manage my domain (Free)
• Github Action: CD automation (Free)

My Tech Stack

To ensure fast building and deployment, I opted for Next.js on the frontend as it seamlessly integrates with Vercel. For the backend, I currently use Node.js, but I have plans to migrate some functionalities to Golang in the coming future.

What Features are Packed in?

As mentioned before, this app includes some essential features for a small team such as:

List View

See it all at once. Prioritize, and manage your tasks in a simple list.

Board View

Visualize your workflow. Move tasks between stages for clear progress tracking.

Goal View

Stay on target. See your progress at a glance and celebrate milestones.

Calendar View

Plan your days. Never miss a deadline with tasks scheduled on your calendar.

Custom View

Work your way. Design the perfect view to fit your specific needs.

How to Use It.

Check out the setup guide. If you encounter any errors during the setup process, you can refer to the full guide here.

Maybe you prefer a step-by-step video guide? Check out this video below:

Contribute Your Features or Bug Fixes

This app is still under development, and I welcome your contributions to improve it! Feel free to submit feature requests and bug fixes.

Want to suggest a better solution or a code-based refactoring? Just create a pull request, and I'd be happy to discuss it.

Conclusion

Finally, I hope this open-source helps you and your team reduce operational costs while offering the opportunity to learn new skills by fixing bugs and building features. It will always be free to use.

See you in the next open-source app :D