MantisBT
Windmill
| Feature | MantisBT | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $4.95/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 3.9 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, small-teams, open-source-projects, budget-conscious-teams | developers, devops-teams, internal-tools, data-pipelines |
| Founded | 2000 | 2022 |
| Bug Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Fields | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Notifications | ✓ | ✗ |
| Role Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Plugins | ✓ | ✗ |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Script To Ui | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| Approval Flows | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Language | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audit Logs | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ MantisBT Pros
- Free and open-source
- Easy to set up
- Lightweight
- Extensible with plugins
✗ MantisBT Cons
- Dated interface
- Limited agile features
- Small community vs alternatives
✓ Windmill Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- Supports Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL natively
- Auto-generates UI from script parameters
- Excellent scheduling and workflow orchestration
✗ Windmill Cons
- Smaller community than Zapier/n8n
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure knowledge
- Less polished documentation for beginners
The Verdict
MantisBT is built for developers and small teams, with a focus on bug-tracking and custom-fields. Windmill targets developers and devops teams and leads with workflow-editor and script-to-ui.
On pricing, MantisBT is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $4.95/mo compared to $10/mo for Windmill. That $5.05/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Windmill edges out on user ratings (4.4 vs 3.9). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Feature-wise, Windmill offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while MantisBT takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for developers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Windmill has a slight overall edge — but if free and open-source matters most to you, MantisBT may still be the right call.