# OpenProject vs Shortcut

> Shortcut scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against OpenProject's 57.4 (C), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenProject leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do tasks create. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Shortcut scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against OpenProject's 57.4 (C), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenProject leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do tasks create.

- OpenProject: grade C, 57.4/100, rank #550 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openproject.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openproject.json
- Shortcut: grade C, 60.2/100, rank #477 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shortcut.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shortcut.json

## Which one, for what

### OpenProject (C)

Good for: Teams that want a self-hostable or EU-hosted project tool with Gantt, time tracking and budgets, and an agent working through a documented REST API.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 70 against 57
- Security & auth, 59 against 54
- Transparency & trust, 87 against 73

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: 83 advisories published against opf/openproject in the twelve months to 8 October 2026, 13 rated critical, among them remote code execution and SQL injection

### Shortcut (C)

Good for: Software teams already on Shortcut that want an agent to search, create and update stories, epics, iterations and docs, and coding agents that pick up assigned stories.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 64 against 52

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card
- No incidents deducted, where OpenProject loses 5 points for them

Watch for: The v3 docs still allow the API token as a `token` query parameter, marked deprecated with no removal date


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenProject | Shortcut | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 52 | 64 | Shortcut +12 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 75 | OpenProject +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 57 | OpenProject +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 59 | 54 | OpenProject +5 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 73 | OpenProject +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 73 | OpenProject +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.4 · C** | **60.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenProject | Shortcut |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | OpenProject GmbH | Shortcut Software Company |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.app.shortcut.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | GPL-3.0 for the OpenProject source. Enterprise add-ons need a paid token, and OpenProject Enterprise cloud runs under OpenProject's Terms of Service | Proprietary service under Shortcut's terms of service. The JavaScript client and the archived MCP server on GitHub are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-22 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-06 | 2025-09-18 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2025-07-11 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 16k stars | 142 stars, 103k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**OpenProject.** OpenProject's APIv3 has a public OpenAPI 3.1 document with 320 operations, stable error identifiers and optimistic locking, and the same API ships in the free GPL-3.0 Community edition. No request limits are published, API tokens carry their user's full permissions, and 83 security advisories were published in the last twelve months, 13 rated critical.

**Shortcut.** REST API v3 and the hosted MCP server are included on the Free plan, with downloadable OpenAPI files and OAuth scopes down to story or comment writes on the MCP side. The API still accepts the token in a query string, and no idempotency keys, Retry-After header, uptime SLA or API changelog were found in the reviewed documentation.

## Before you call either

### OpenProject

1. Send the API token as `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, or as the Basic auth password with the user name `apikey`
2. Read the resource first and send its current `lockVersion` with every PATCH. A stale value returns 409 `UpdateConflict`
3. POST to the `/form` endpoint of a work package to learn writable fields and allowed values before creating or updating
4. URL-encode `filters` as a JSON array, and add `pageSize`, `offset` and `select` to keep work package lists small
5. Run the agent as a dedicated user with a narrow project role, and treat work package text and comments as untrusted input

### Shortcut

1. Send the v3 token in the `Shortcut-Token` header. v4 (alpha) takes `Authorization: Bearer` with `sct_ro_` or `sct_rw_` tokens, and v3 tokens don't work there.
2. Create a story with `name` and `workflow_state_id`. Sending both `workflow_state_id` and `project_id`, or neither, is rejected.
3. Use `GET /api/v3/search/stories` with `detail=slim`, `page_size` (1 to 250) and the `next` token. Many other v3 list endpoints return every record at once.
4. Stay under 200 requests a minute and add your own backoff on 429, because no Retry-After header is documented.
5. For MCP, connect to https://mcp.shortcut.com/mcp and request only the scopes needed, such as `read` or `story-write`.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenProject or Shortcut?

Shortcut scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against OpenProject's 57.4 (C), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenProject leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth and transparency & trust.

### Do OpenProject and Shortcut need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call OpenProject and Shortcut without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for OpenProject. Shortcut has a hosted endpoint at https://api.app.shortcut.com.

### Are OpenProject and Shortcut open source?

OpenProject is open source (GPL-3.0 for the OpenProject source. Enterprise add-ons need a paid token, and OpenProject Enterprise cloud runs under OpenProject's Terms of Service). No open-source release is listed for Shortcut.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "openproject", "b": "shortcut"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openproject shortcut`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openproject.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shortcut.json

## Other comparisons with OpenProject or Shortcut

- [Asana vs OpenProject](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asana-vs-openproject.md)
- [Asana vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asana-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Basecamp vs OpenProject](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basecamp-vs-openproject.md)
- [Basecamp vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basecamp-vs-shortcut.md)
- [ClickUp vs OpenProject](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clickup-vs-openproject.md)
- [ClickUp vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clickup-vs-shortcut.md)
- [monday.com vs OpenProject](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/monday-vs-openproject.md)
- [monday.com vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/monday-vs-shortcut.md)
- [OpenProject vs Plane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-plane.md)
- [OpenProject vs Roma](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-roma.md)
- [OpenProject vs Taiga](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-taiga.md)
- [OpenProject vs Teamwork.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-teamwork.md)
- [OpenProject vs Todoist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-todoist.md)
- [OpenProject vs Trello](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-trello.md)
- [OpenProject vs Wrike](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-wrike.md)
- [OpenProject vs YouTrack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-youtrack.md)
- [Plane vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plane-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Roma vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/roma-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Shortcut vs Taiga](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-taiga.md)
- [Shortcut vs Teamwork.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-teamwork.md)
- [Shortcut vs Todoist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-todoist.md)
- [Shortcut vs Trello](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-trello.md)
- [Shortcut vs Wrike](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-wrike.md)
- [Shortcut vs YouTrack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-youtrack.md)