Why businesses should look beyond features when choosing project management software — and consider the provider, infrastructure, data sovereignty, and actual work activity

Trello, Asana, Monday.com, Jira, and Microsoft Planner have become part of everyday digital work for many companies. These platforms help teams organize tasks, coordinate deadlines, and maintain visibility into project progress.

At the same time, project management systems often contain highly sensitive business information, including customer and project data, internal communications, responsibilities, budgets, deadlines, documents, and strategic plans.

This makes the choice of project management software an important business decision.

In addition to functionality, usability, and cost, companies should increasingly consider:

• Where the software provider is legally based
• Where business data is stored
• Which infrastructure and cloud providers are involved
• Which subcontractors have access to the service
• Whether data can be fully exported
• Whether the software can be operated on a company's own infrastructure
• How easily the company could switch to another system in the future

A recent comparison by t3n highlights MeisterTask, Zenkit, Tenzu, and Focalboard as alternatives to established US-based platforms. The examples demonstrate that European and open-source solutions can offer competitive approaches. They also show why terms such as "European provider," "free," and "independent of US technology" should not automatically be treated as synonyms.

Digital Sovereignty Requires a Closer Look

The legal headquarters of a software provider is only one factor in determining digital sovereignty.

Companies should examine at least four different levels when evaluating a project management platform:

1. Where is the provider legally based?
2. In which country is the data stored?
3. Which infrastructure and cloud providers are used?
4. Can the data be fully exported, and can the software be operated independently?

For example, a European software company may operate its application in a German data center while relying on the infrastructure of a US-based cloud provider.

That arrangement can be organized in a way that complies with applicable data protection requirements. However, it still represents a technical dependency.

Digital sovereignty therefore does not come solely from having servers located within the European Union.

It depends on a combination of:

• Transparency
• Controllable dependencies
• Open interfaces
• Data portability
• Self-hosting options
• A realistic exit strategy

For businesses handling sensitive customer, financial, or strategic information, these factors can be just as relevant as the software's feature set.

MeisterTask: Easy to Use With German Hosting

MeisterTask is offered by the German company MeisterLabs GmbH and focuses on straightforward, visual task management.

Its Kanban-oriented interface makes it particularly accessible for smaller teams because projects can be structured without extensive training.

The free plan currently includes unlimited tasks and team members, but is limited to three projects and five notes. This can be sufficient for testing the platform, managing individual customer projects, or supporting smaller teams.

More advanced features — including automation, timelines, comprehensive reporting, administration functions, and full API access — require paid plans.

According to the provider, data is stored in an ISO 27001-certified data center in Frankfurt.

MeisterTask: Pricing and Hosting

For businesses looking for an easy-to-understand alternative to Trello or Microsoft Planner while placing importance on a German provider and German server location, MeisterTask is therefore one option worth considering.

Zenkit: Comprehensive Features, but Not Fully Independent of US Infrastructure

Zenkit is developed by the German company Axonic GmbH in Karlsruhe and offers considerably more than a conventional task board.

Projects can be displayed in several formats, including:

• Kanban boards
• Gantt charts
• Calendars
• Team communication
• File management
• Automation

This makes Zenkit suitable for more complex projects where different planning views and multiple teams need to work together.

However, the platform is not permanently free under its current pricing structure. The smallest regular plan starts at €8 per user per month plus VAT, with a 14-day trial period available initially.

Zenkit: Current Pricing

The term "without US technology" also requires some differentiation.

Zenkit stores its data in Frankfurt and has a European contractual partner in AWS Luxembourg. However, its technical operation is based on Amazon Web Services.

Zenkit can therefore be described as a German software solution with data storage in Germany, but not as a platform that is completely independent of US infrastructure.

Zenkit: Security and Hosting Information

This distinction is important for companies that want to assess digital sovereignty beyond the physical location of their data.

Tenzu: Promising Open-Source Project With Development Risks

Tenzu is a European open-source project designed to support digital project teams with workspaces, individually configurable Kanban boards, and collaborative real-time editing.

From a digital sovereignty perspective, two aspects are particularly interesting:

• The source code is openly available.
• The application can be operated independently.

However, businesses should currently approach production use with caution.

The project itself states that the software is not yet production-ready and that development versions may be unstable.

Tenzu is therefore currently more suitable for:

• Pilot projects
• Testing
• Technical evaluations
• Technically experienced organizations willing to participate in development

For business-critical customer and development projects, the current level of maturity and long-term operational reliability may not yet be sufficient.

Tenzu on GitHub

This illustrates an important principle when evaluating open-source software: access to the source code does not automatically mean that a solution is ready for enterprise use.

Focalboard: Self-Hosted, but No Longer Maintained

Focalboard is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to tools such as Trello, Notion, and Asana.

The software can be operated locally or on a company's own infrastructure. This gives organizations fundamental control over their data and reduces dependence on a centralized cloud service.

The major issue, however, is ongoing product maintenance.

The standalone Focalboard project is currently no longer maintained. For business use, this creates a significant operational risk because security vulnerabilities, bugs, and technical incompatibilities may no longer be addressed.

Using Focalboard would therefore only be a reasonable option for organizations that have sufficient internal development and IT operations capabilities to manage the software themselves.

Focalboard on GitHub

The broader lesson is important:

Open source alone does not guarantee a sustainable business solution.

Companies should also evaluate:

• Community activity
• Release frequency
• Security updates
• Long-term maintenance
• Documentation
• Available support
• Internal expertise
• Operational responsibility

OpenProject as a Further European Alternative

Companies looking specifically for a German provider, open-source software, and the option of self-hosting should also consider OpenProject.

The free Community Edition can be operated on a company's own infrastructure with unlimited users and projects. It is actively developed and supports both traditional and agile project management methodologies.

The provider also offers cloud versions with data hosting within the European Union, including Germany on request.

This combination gives businesses access to a broad project management feature set while maintaining comparatively extensive control over their software and data.

OpenProject Community Edition

For organizations evaluating European project management software, OpenProject demonstrates how open-source development, self-hosting, and professional project management functionality can be combined.

Free Software Is Not Automatically the Most Economical Option

Small businesses and freelancers often begin by looking for free project management software.

For initial testing, this can make sense.

However, long-term software selection should not be based solely on licensing costs.

A free platform can become expensive if it lacks essential capabilities such as:

• User permissions
• Integrations
• Reporting
• APIs
• Data exports
• Administration features
• Automation

Open-source software can also create costs when operated internally.

Self-hosting requires resources for:

• Installation
• Updates
• Backups
• Monitoring
• Security
• Infrastructure
• Troubleshooting

The relevant metric is therefore the total cost of ownership (TCO) over the entire software lifecycle.

This includes not only licensing fees, but also:

1. Implementation
2. Training
3. Administration
4. Integration
5. Data migration
6. Maintenance
7. Potential system replacement

A low entry price does not necessarily translate into low long-term costs.

A Task Board Alone Does Not Create Effective Project Management

Project management systems primarily answer three basic questions:

What needs to be done?
Who is responsible?
When should it be completed?

Those questions are essential, but they are not enough for effective financial and operational project management.

Businesses also need to understand:

• How much time was actually spent on a project?
• Which activities caused that workload?
• Where did planned effort differ from actual effort?
• Which projects, customers, or fixed-price contracts are profitable?
• Where do interruptions, rework, or avoidable activities occur?
• Which processes can be standardized or automated?

A task marked "completed" only documents an outcome.

It does not show whether the task required two hours or two days.

That information can be critical for:

• Project costing
• Resource planning
• Project billing
• Post-calculation
• Profitability analysis
• Process optimization

This is where conventional project management software can benefit from accurate activity data.

Why Traditional Time Tracking Can Fall Short

Traditional digital time tracking often leaves gaps in the picture.

Employees may have to:

1. Find the time-tracking application.
2. Select the correct project.
3. Choose the relevant activity.
4. Start or stop a timer.
5. Enter missing information later.

When time is recorded retrospectively, employees may have to reconstruct their working day from memory.

This can lead to:

• Missing entries
• Rounded time values
• Incorrect project assignments
• Incomplete activity data

Acceptance can also decline when time tracking repeatedly interrupts the actual workflow.

For businesses that depend on accurate project costing and resource planning, the challenge is therefore not simply to provide a time-tracking system.

The challenge is to make accurate activity recording as effortless as possible.

TimeSpin: Adding Real Activity Data to Project Management

This is where TimeSpin provides a complementary approach to project management.

TimeSpin is a European solution for tactile time and activity tracking.

The TimeSpin Dodecahedron has twelve individually configurable sides. Each side can be assigned a sticker representing a project, customer, mandate, or specific activity.

When the user changes activities, they simply rotate the Dodecahedron to the corresponding side.

TimeSpin detects the orientation, automatically starts the appropriate time recording, and can initially store the data offline when required.

When the device reconnects, the entries are automatically synchronized with the cloud software.

Time Tracking Without Interrupting the Workflow

The tactile interface reduces the recording process to a deliberate physical movement.

Users do not have to:

• Open an application
• Search through menus
• Enter project numbers
• Reconstruct activities at the end of the day

The result is a time-tracking process that is designed to remain close to the actual moment of work.

This can support better data quality and user acceptance because activities are recorded when they happen rather than reconstructed later.

From Task Status to Actual Project Effort

Project managers normally have access to planned values and task statuses.

TimeSpin adds information about the actual activities and effort associated with those projects.

This makes it possible to compare planned and actual effort, validate fixed-price projects, document billable services more completely, and improve future project estimates.

For example, if a fixed-price project repeatedly requires substantially more effort than originally estimated, actual activity data can help identify that discrepancy.

Over time, this information can support more realistic project planning and resource allocation.

The goal is not simply to record more data.

The goal is to obtain better operational data that can be used for business decisions.

Data Protection, Hosting and Integrations

TimeSpin is operated in compliance with the GDPR, with servers located in Germany.

Through its REST API and structured export capabilities, recorded activity data can be transferred into existing:

• Project management systems
• ERP systems
• CRM platforms
• Business management software
• Accounting systems

The data can also be further processed for workflows involving platforms such as DATEV or Sage.

TimeSpin: Features, Hosting and Integration

This makes TimeSpin complementary to project management software rather than a replacement for it.

The project management platform can remain responsible for planning, tasks, responsibilities, deadlines, and project progress, while TimeSpin provides a layer of real-world activity and effort data.

Conclusion: Plan With Confidence and Manage Projects Using Real Data

European project management platforms now provide serious alternatives to established US-based solutions.

However, companies evaluating these systems should look beyond the provider's country of origin and server location.

A meaningful assessment of digital sovereignty should also consider:

• Technical subcontractors
• Cloud infrastructure
• Data portability
• APIs and integrations
• Self-hosting options
• Maintenance and update policies
• Security practices
• Long-term operational reliability
• Exit and migration options

At the same time, project planning alone does not provide a complete picture of project performance.

Effective project management needs to show not only which tasks were planned and completed, but also which activities actually took place and how much effort they required.

The combination of a sovereign European project management platform with the tactile activity tracking provided by TimeSpin can connect these two perspectives.

The project management system provides:

• Planning
• Responsibilities
• Deadlines
• Project status
• Progress tracking

TimeSpin adds:

• Actual activity data
• Recorded effort
• Project-related time data
• A basis for comparing planned and actual workloads

Together, these data points can provide a stronger foundation for billing, project controlling, resource planning, profitability analysis, and continuous process improvement.

In other words, the objective is not simply to replace one project management platform with another.

It is to create a digital working environment in which businesses have greater control over their software, their infrastructure, their data, and — importantly — a clearer understanding of the work that actually happens inside their projects.