Is Stelaah a good ActiveCollab alternative?

Yes, if you want project, client, billing, portal, and AI work in one broader workspace. ActiveCollab is a strong focused option for project management, time tracking, and billing.

Is ActiveCollab open source?

ActiveCollab has public GitHub repositories for SDKs and supporting packages, but the main ActiveCollab app is not presented as a full open source product.

Which is better for client operations?

Stelaah is broader for client operations because it adds portals, contracts, websites, forms, galleries, automations, and Aria on top of project and billing workflows.

Stelaah vs ActiveCollab

ActiveCollab is a focused workspace for service teams that want projects, tasks, time, budgets, and invoices close together. Stelaah covers that client-work loop, then adds portals, Aria, creative tools, forms, sites, galleries, automations, and a broader connected workspace.

Try Stelaah free See pricing

Stelaah project workspace with client work, tasks, and context

Choose ActiveCollab if

you want a mature, focused system for projects, task work, time tracking, budgets, expenses, and invoices.

Choose Stelaah if

you want client work plus portals, Aria, websites, forms, galleries, automations, and the wider business workspace around it.

What each one does for client work.

Capability	Stelaah	ActiveCollab
Project and task management	Full workspace	Focused and mature
Task views and dependencies	Lists, boards, calendar, timelines	List, Kanban, and Gantt
Time tracking	To invoice and reports	Strong native tracking
Budgets and profitability	Budgets, margin, reports	Strong project profitability
Invoices and payments	Built in	Built in
Client CRM	Relationship graph and health	Client address book
Client and vendor portals	Branded, scoped portals	Client project access
Forms, requests, and intake	Forms and routed requests	Project templates and tasks
Creative delivery tools	Whiteboards, galleries, sites, files	Files, notes, discussions
AI assistant	Aria acts across records	MCP and product updates
Public GitHub	Hosted product codebase	SDKs and packages, not full app source

Checks mark a built in strength. We tried to be fair to both. ActiveCollab earns its checks where it leads.

Where ActiveCollab is genuinely strong.

Focused service workflowProjects, time, expenses, budgets, and invoices stay close together.

Time tracking depthTimesheets, stopwatch tracking, estimates, and review controls are central.

Budgeting clarityProject budgets and profitability are a core part of the product story.

API and SDK presencePublic API docs and PHP SDKs make integration paths visible.

Where Stelaah fits better.

Broader workspaceClient work connects to documents, sites, galleries, forms, files, and marketing.

Aria across the workAI is positioned as an operator inside records, not only a side helper.

Portals beyond accessClient, vendor, and request portals are first-class surfaces.

Creative and operational depthWhiteboards, website building, galleries, inventory, tax, and automations live beside the core work.

What you will pay.

Stelaah

Free to start, with paid plans charged per seat. Aria is included. See the pricing page for the current plans.

See plans

ActiveCollab

Published plans include a flat-rate Plus tier for small teams, then Pro and Pro+ per-user plans for reporting, expenses, workload, invoicing, payments, and QuickBooks. Check activecollab.com.

Pricing changes often, so confirm the current numbers at activecollab.com

Stelaah vs ActiveCollab, answered.

Is Stelaah a good ActiveCollab alternative?: Yes, especially if you want more than the project, time, and billing loop. ActiveCollab is strong there. Stelaah adds portals, Aria, creative delivery, intake, automations, and a broader connected workspace.
Is ActiveCollab open source?: ActiveCollab has public GitHub repositories for SDKs and supporting packages, including API libraries. The main ActiveCollab application is not presented as a full open source product.
Which product is simpler?: ActiveCollab is simpler because it is narrower. Stelaah is broader, so the advantage is depth across the client relationship rather than a smaller product surface.

Keep the client-work loop. Add the whole workspace.

Projects, time, invoices, portals, creative delivery, and Aria in one connected place. Try Stelaah free.

Try Stelaah free Book a demo