01The challenge
Agencies and service teams typically juggle separate tools for tasks, time tracking, resourcing and client communication. Data ends up in spreadsheets, billable hours go unrecorded and nobody can see whether a project is profitable until it is over.
We set out to build one platform that brings projects, people and time together — and to make it robust enough to offer publicly as both a hosted service and open-source software that teams can run themselves.
02Our approach
Worklenz is developed as a product, not a project: a long-lived codebase with versioned releases — seventeen public releases to date — and an issue tracker open to anyone.
The platform is written in TypeScript end to end, frontend and backend, with a data model organised around teams, projects and the people assigned to them.
Releasing the source under AGPL-3.0 means code, documentation and deployment scripts must be clear enough for outside developers to run the platform themselves and contribute to it.
03The solution
- A React and Redux Toolkit frontend with an Ant Design component system, served by a Node.js and Express API on PostgreSQL.
- Real-time collaboration over Socket.IO, so task changes, comments and updates appear instantly for everyone on a project.
- Time tracking, resource and capacity planning, task templates, reporting and a client portal in a single workspace.
- Docker-based deployment for the self-hosted edition, alongside the managed cloud service and companion mobile apps.
04Capabilities
05The outcome
- Worklenz is used by teams worldwide as a free and premium cloud service and as self-hosted software.
- The public repository has more than 3,000 stars and 375 forks on GitHub, and development continues in the open, with regular versioned releases.
- In 2026 Worklenz received a Bronze award for Best Technology Website at Sri Lanka’s National Industry Excellence Awards.
