Can free project management software really grow with your organization?
When choosing a project management system, most organizations begin by comparing features, ease of use, and pricing. These are important considerations, especially for smaller teams that want to get started quickly without making a significant investment.
However, as an organization grows, other questions become equally important. How securely is our data stored? Can we control who has access to different projects and information? Can the system support hundreds or even thousands of users? And can it adapt as our project management processes become more advanced?
At Starbrix, we have been developing project management solutions since 1995 and delivering cloud-based services since 2001. Over the years, we have worked with organizations of different sizes and across a wide range of industries.
One thing we have learned is that a project management system must be able to evolve as an organization's needs change. What works well today should not become a limitation tomorrow.
This is one of the principles behind our two products, Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex.
Starbrix Core offers an accessible starting point, including a free plan for teams of up to three members. Starbrix Flex provides a broader and more configurable solution for organizations that need to manage the entire process from sales and quotations to projects, resources, costs, and invoicing.
Both products are designed with long-term use, data security, and organizational growth in mind.
Security should not depend on the size of your team
Whether an organization has three users or several hundred, its project information deserves proper protection.
Project management systems often contain commercially sensitive information, including customer details, contracts, schedules, internal documents, employee information, budgets, and financial data.
We therefore consider security an essential part of the service rather than an optional feature reserved for larger customers.
Our approach covers several important areas:
- Secure communication between users and the service
- Controlled access to projects and information
- EU-based data storage and infrastructure
- Regular backups and disaster recovery arrangements
- GDPR compliance and data processing agreements
- Reliable cloud infrastructure and ongoing maintenance
The underlying technologies differ between Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex, but the objective is the same: to provide a secure and dependable environment for managing projects and related information.
How we protect data in Starbrix Core
Starbrix Core uses a modern cloud architecture built on established infrastructure providers.
Encryption and secure communication
Communication between users and Starbrix Core is protected with SSL/TLS encryption.
Project data is stored using MongoDB Atlas, which provides encryption of data at rest. This means that information is protected both while being transferred and while stored in the database.
Authentication uses JSON Web Tokens, and passwords are protected using SHA-256-based hashing.
EU-based infrastructure
We have chosen European hosting locations for the main components of Starbrix Core.
- Database: MongoDB Atlas, hosted in Google Cloud's Finland data center.
- Application servers: Heroku, hosted in Ireland.
- Network protection: Cloudflare provides DNS services, SSL/TLS termination, and protection against distributed denial-of-service attacks.
Keeping the main data infrastructure within the EU supports our approach to European data protection requirements.
Backups and recovery
Starbrix Core performs hourly backups, with backup data encrypted and maintained in multiple locations.
This provides additional protection against data loss and supports recovery if a technical problem occurs.
The important point is that the free plan uses the same underlying security infrastructure as the paid Core plans. Starting with a small team does not mean starting with a less secure technical platform.
How we protect data in Starbrix Flex
Starbrix Flex has a long history as a business-critical system used by organizations to manage projects and operational processes.
The platform is based on HCL Domino and Microsoft Azure, combining an established application platform with Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
Over the years, we have continuously developed and maintained the service to meet changing technical and organizational requirements.
Encryption in transit and at rest
All communication between users and Starbrix Flex is encrypted. In addition, encryption of data at rest can be provided.
This allows us to address both the protection of data during transmission and additional security requirements for stored information.
Microsoft Azure infrastructure
Starbrix Flex operates on Microsoft Azure, providing a reliable infrastructure for hosting and operating the service.
Azure offers a range of security, monitoring, and infrastructure management capabilities that support the operation of business-critical applications.
We are responsible for maintaining the Starbrix application environment, while Microsoft provides the underlying cloud infrastructure.
Daily backups in geographically separate EU locations
We take backups seriously because project information often represents years of work and valuable organizational knowledge.
Starbrix Flex uses two complementary backup technologies:
- HCL Domino backup
- Microsoft Azure Backup
Backups are performed daily and maintained in two different formats.
Backup data is stored in geographically separate locations within the European Union, including Ireland and the Netherlands.
This provides protection against both individual system failures and incidents affecting a particular location.
If recovery becomes necessary, the environment can be restored using our established backup and disaster recovery procedures.
For organizations with specific business continuity requirements, recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO) can be agreed separately.
Our experience with secure cloud operations
We have been providing cloud-based services since 2001.
During this period, we have not experienced a security incident resulting in the loss or unauthorized exposure of customer data.
We are proud of this record, but we also recognize that security requires continuous attention.
Technologies change, new threats emerge, and organizations develop new requirements. Maintaining a secure service is therefore an ongoing responsibility rather than something that can be completed once and forgotten.
GDPR compliance and data protection
Both Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex are designed to support organizations operating under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Our approach includes secure processing of customer information, appropriate access controls, documented data processing responsibilities, and the use of established cloud infrastructure.
We provide a Data Processing Addendum (DPA) that defines the responsibilities of Starbrix and our customers in relation to personal data.
In general, the customer determines what information is entered into the system and how it is used, while Starbrix processes that information as part of providing the service.
Our data processing arrangements also address relevant security and compliance obligations.
For larger organizations, these arrangements can be reviewed as part of their normal supplier assessment and procurement procedures.
We believe that data protection should be transparent and understandable. Customers should know how their information is handled and what responsibilities belong to the service provider and to their own organization.
User accounts, permissions, and access control
At Starbrix, we believe that managing user permissions should be straightforward from the beginning.
Both Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex come with intuitive, carefully designed default permissions that work well for most organizations without extensive configuration.
Organizations can simply start using the system. If their requirements become more specific over time, permissions can be adjusted accordingly.
User accounts in Starbrix Core
In Starbrix Core, every person has their own personal user account, which is free.
A user can create an organization account, be invited to an existing organization, or become a member of several different organizations using the same personal account.
Each organization manages its own members, projects, and permissions.
This makes Core particularly convenient for people who participate in projects across different companies or organizations.
For example, a consultant can participate in projects belonging to several different customers without needing to create a separate personal account for each organization.
The organizations remain separate, with their own projects, members, and access permissions.
User accounts in Starbrix Flex
Starbrix Flex follows a different model.
Instead of separate personal accounts, Flex uses organization accounts containing one or more users.
Each organization manages its users, permissions, projects, and operational processes within its own environment.
This structure is particularly suitable for organizations using Flex as a central system for managing their project operations.
Intuitive permissions that can be customized
Both Core and Flex provide carefully designed permission structures that work well for most organizations right from the start.
There is normally no need to spend time designing a complex permission model before introducing the system.
In Starbrix Core, permissions determine who can view and edit projects, tasks, and resources. Administrators can adjust access rights at the member, project, and task levels.
Starbrix Flex provides corresponding access controls suited to its broader organizational and operational structure.
As an organization develops, permissions can be refined to reflect new responsibilities, departments, or security requirements.
Our philosophy is simple: permissions should be easy to understand, work well by default, and remain flexible when requirements change.
For practical demonstrations, see our guides to managing member and project permissions in Starbrix Core and getting started with organization accounts.
Built to support organizations of virtually any size
Neither Starbrix Core nor Starbrix Flex has a practical upper limit on the number of members an organization can have.
An organization can begin with just a few people and expand to hundreds or thousands of members without having to replace the project management system.
Combined with flexible permissions, organizational structures, and portfolio management, this makes both products suitable for long-term growth.
Authentication and enterprise identity management
As organizations grow, managing authentication becomes increasingly important.
A small team may initially need only a few user accounts. A larger organization may have hundreds of employees, several departments, external partners, and more demanding identity management requirements.
Single Sign-On for enterprise organizations
Starbrix Flex supports enterprise Single Sign-On arrangements, including integration with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and SAML-based authentication.
This allows organizations to connect access to Starbrix with their existing identity management environment.
For larger organizations, SSO can simplify user administration and support centralized authentication policies.
SSO configuration is handled as part of the customer's implementation, with the technical setup and commercial arrangements agreed according to the integration requirements.
Two-factor authentication
We are also extending our authentication capabilities with two-factor authentication.
Our planned email-based verification method adds a second step to the normal login process. After entering their username and password, users receive a six-digit verification code by email.
The objective is to provide an additional layer of protection while keeping the login process straightforward.
The availability and activation of this functionality will follow its implementation rollout.
Access control as part of project governance
Authentication is only one part of information security.
Equally important is determining what users are allowed to see and do after signing in.
Both Core and Flex provide permission structures that help organizations manage access to projects, tasks, documents, and other information.
The permissions are designed to be intuitive from the beginning, while still allowing adjustments when organizational requirements become more advanced.
This combination of straightforward administration and flexibility is particularly valuable as organizations grow.
Integrations and enterprise systems
As project management becomes more closely connected with financial management and other business processes, integrations become increasingly important.
A project management system should not operate as an isolated island.
At Starbrix, we have developed integrations with financial and accounting systems over the years, particularly for Starbrix Flex.
Accounting and financial integrations
Starbrix Flex can exchange information with accounting systems such as:
- Visma
- Netvisor
- Procountor
- Fennoa
- Lemonsoft
- Fortnox
The integrations make it possible to connect project operations with financial information, depending on the customer's requirements and the systems involved.
For example, project costs and income can be updated using information from accounting systems, helping project managers and management teams follow financial performance without relying entirely on manual reporting.
API development and future integrations
We are planning further development of our integration architecture during late 2026 and 2027.
An important objective is to provide broader API capabilities that will make it easier to connect Starbrix with other business systems, automation solutions, and customer-specific AI applications.
We are also planning webhook capabilities for event-driven integrations.
Today, integrations are implemented through our existing integration solutions and customer-specific interfaces. We do not yet offer a general-purpose open API for all Starbrix Flex functions.
Our direction is clear: Starbrix should become increasingly easy to connect with the other systems an organization uses.
We also recognize that integrations must be designed securely, with appropriate authentication, access restrictions, and controls over data exchange.
From a free plan to enterprise-wide project management
One of the challenges with many free project management tools is that they work well for a small team but become limiting as the organization grows.
The organization may eventually need more advanced scheduling, portfolio management, resource planning, financial control, or integration with other systems.
Our approach is to provide two complementary solutions.
Starbrix Core: start small and grow
Starbrix Core is designed for everyday project management.
Its free plan supports up to three members and includes a substantial set of project management capabilities:
- Gantt charts with task dependencies
- Kanban boards, calendars, and task lists
- Project and task management
- Time tracking and approval workflows
- Document management and collaboration
- Project performance dashboards
- Portfolio dashboards and reporting
- Workspaces for organizing projects
These capabilities are not simply introductory features that disappear when an organization needs more advanced project management.
For example, the Gantt, Kanban, Calendar, and task views all use the same underlying task information.
Core also supports project portfolios across the organization, including dashboards that provide visibility into project performance.
Organizations can start with a small team and expand to paid memberships as more people join.
There is no practical upper limit on the number of members in an organization, and the same project management environment can continue supporting the organization as it grows.
Starbrix Flex: advanced and configurable project operations
Starbrix Flex is intended for organizations that need broader functionality or more customized processes.
It supports the entire flow from leads and quotations through project planning, resource management, time tracking, purchasing, materials, budgets, costs, and invoicing.
Its capabilities include:
- Sales and quotation management
- Advanced Gantt planning and scheduling
- Resource allocation and capacity planning
- Time tracking with configurable approval workflows
- Purchasing and materials management
- Project and task budgets
- Cost and income tracking
- Customer invoicing
- Portfolio management and financial reporting
- Accounting integrations
A major strength of Starbrix Flex is its configurability.
Different organizations work in different ways. A manufacturing company, consulting business, educational institution, and engineering organization may all manage projects, but their processes and reporting requirements can be very different.
We have always considered it important that the system can adapt to the organization rather than forcing every customer into exactly the same workflow.
Flex can support organizations with just a few users as well as organizations with hundreds or thousands of members.
Portfolio governance becomes more important as organizations grow
When an organization has only a few projects, individual project managers can often maintain a good overview without extensive portfolio reporting.
As the number of projects increases, this becomes more difficult.
Management needs to understand which projects are progressing as planned, where resources are being used, which projects require attention, and how the overall portfolio is performing.
Both Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex support portfolio-level visibility.
In Core, projects can be organized into Workspaces.
In Flex, Operational areas provide a structure for organizing project operations across departments, business units, or other parts of the organization.
We generally recommend integrating project governance into the organization's normal management structure.
The CEO and management team can oversee the company-wide project portfolio, while functional management teams oversee projects within their areas.
Individual project managers and project teams remain responsible for delivering their projects.
This approach can work well without creating a separate Project Management Office (PMO).
The project management system then supports the organization's existing responsibilities instead of introducing an unnecessary additional management layer.
Enterprise onboarding and support
Introducing a project management system across an entire organization requires more than creating user accounts.
Organizations often need assistance with their project structures, templates, permissions, reporting, and integrations.
At Starbrix, we work with customers to identify how the system should support their operations.
Easy to get started
One of our design principles is that customers should be able to start using Starbrix without a lengthy implementation project.
This applies particularly to Starbrix Core, where users can create their personal accounts, set up an organization, invite members, and begin managing projects immediately.
The default permission settings are designed to work well for most organizations without additional configuration.
Starbrix Flex also provides intuitive default permissions and structures, although larger implementations may naturally require more extensive configuration to support the customer's processes.
The important point is that organizations do not need to configure everything in advance. They can begin with the standard functionality and refine the setup as their requirements become clearer.
Implementation and configuration
Depending on the customer's requirements, implementation may include:
- Setting up the organization and user accounts
- Defining project and operational structures
- Configuring permissions and responsibilities
- Creating project templates and workflows
- Setting up reporting and dashboards
- Configuring SSO or accounting integrations
- Importing existing project information
- Training administrators and users
The scope naturally depends on whether the customer is introducing Core for a team or implementing Flex as a broader operational system.
Support based on long-term customer relationships
We believe that reliable and responsive customer support is an essential part of delivering a dependable service.
Since we began providing cloud-based services in 2001, we have taken a very hands-on approach to customer support. In practice, we have always been available to help our customers around the clock, including evenings, weekends, and holidays when needed.
We know that our customers depend on Starbrix for their daily operations, and that important issues do not necessarily arise during normal office hours. When something needs attention, we do our best to respond and resolve it as quickly as possible.
Our standard support arrangements are based on normal business hours, but our actual commitment to customers has always gone well beyond that. For organizations requiring formally defined service levels, we can also agree on Service Level Agreements (SLAs), including specific availability and response-time commitments.
Support is not only about solving technical problems. We also help customers train new employees, understand existing configurations, improve workflows, and adapt Starbrix as their organizations evolve.
An online training session of up to two hours is normally included in our standard onboarding arrangements.
Continuous improvement
One lesson from our 30 years in the software business is that customer requirements never stand still.
Organizations change, regulations evolve, new technologies become available, and new ways of working emerge.
For this reason, we encourage customers to appoint a contact person who maintains communication with Starbrix.
That person can coordinate questions, request training, report problems, and collect improvement suggestions from users.
We see this as an important part of a long-term customer relationship.
A project management system should continue developing together with the organization using it.
Scalability is about more than the number of users
When discussing enterprise scalability, the first question is often how many users a system can support.
With Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex, there is practically no upper limit on the number of members an organization can have.
However, scalability is about much more than user capacity.
In our experience, several other aspects are equally important.
Organizational scalability
Can the system support multiple departments, business units, project portfolios, and management levels?
Can responsibilities and access rights be structured appropriately?
Both Core and Flex provide organizational structures for managing projects beyond a single team.
Their intuitive default permissions also make it easy to introduce the system across an organization without first having to design a complicated access control model.
Functional scalability
Can the organization begin with basic project planning and later introduce more advanced functionality?
Core provides a comprehensive set of project management capabilities, while Flex offers additional functionality for resource planning, financial management, purchasing, and invoicing.
Flex can also be configured so that organizations use the functions relevant to their current needs and introduce additional capabilities as their processes develop.
Technical scalability
Reliable infrastructure, backups, monitoring, and maintenance become increasingly important as more people depend on the service.
Core uses established cloud infrastructure providers, while Flex operates on Microsoft Azure and HCL Domino.
Both platforms are designed to support organizations ranging from small teams to large enterprises.
We also consider the customer's particular performance, integration, and availability requirements when planning larger implementations.
Process scalability
Perhaps the most overlooked aspect is whether the system can continue supporting an organization's way of working as its processes change.
A system may technically support thousands of users but still become unsuitable if its workflows are too rigid.
This is one of the reasons we have invested heavily in the configurability of Starbrix Flex.
Long-term continuity: when people change, organizational knowledge should remain
There is another aspect of scalability that we consider particularly important: continuity over time.
Our longest customer relationship began in 1996, and many other organizations have been using Starbrix for years or even decades.
During these years, a great deal has changed within our customers' organizations.
Employees have changed jobs, retired, or left their companies. New project managers, administrators, and executives have taken over. Companies have reorganized, merged, or been acquired.
And throughout these changes, Starbrix has continued supporting their project operations.
More than software: preserving organizational knowledge
Over the years, different people contribute to how an organization uses Starbrix. They introduce processes, create project templates, develop reporting structures, and establish ways of working.
Eventually, some of these people move on.
Their successors inherit a system containing years of project information, documentation, decisions, and accumulated experience.
But there is another important dimension.
We at Starbrix have often been involved throughout this development. We may remember why a particular workflow was introduced, what requirements were discussed, and how the solution evolved.
When new people take responsibility, we can help them understand the existing setup, explain earlier decisions, provide training, and continue developing the system together with them.
A backbone that remains through organizational change
For many of our long-standing customers, Starbrix has become a backbone of their project operations.
Projects come and go. People join and leave. Organizational structures change.
But the project history, documentation, established processes, and knowledge accumulated over the years remain available.
Our role is to help maintain that continuity while adapting the system to new people, new requirements, and new ways of working.
For us, enterprise scalability is not only about supporting more users and projects. It is also about helping organizations preserve their knowledge and continue operating effectively through years of change.
This is a subject we consider important enough to explore in greater depth separately, because the long-term value of a project management system is often much greater than its immediate functionality.
What should you evaluate before choosing a project management system?
Based on our experience working with organizations of different sizes, we recommend considering the following questions before selecting a system for long-term use.
We believe these questions are more valuable than simply comparing the number of features included in different pricing plans.
A system that appears inexpensive today may become costly if the organization needs to replace it after a few years.
Our approach: start with what you need and build from there
At Starbrix, our goal is not to make every customer use the most complicated system available.
Quite the opposite.
We believe organizations should be able to start with the functionality they need and expand when there is a genuine business reason to do so.
For smaller teams and organizations primarily focused on project planning, tasks, schedules, collaboration, and reporting, Starbrix Core is an excellent starting point. Its free plan makes it possible to begin without a financial commitment.
As the organization grows, more members can be added without having to replace the system. The permission structure and portfolio management capabilities are already there, ready to support larger operations.
For organizations that need broader operational processes, advanced resource management, financial control, invoicing, and customized workflows, Starbrix Flex provides a more comprehensive solution.
Both products are designed to support organizations of virtually any size, with intuitive permissions, reliable infrastructure, and the flexibility to evolve over time.
But perhaps even more importantly, we want Starbrix to remain valuable through the many changes an organization experiences over the years.
People will come and go. Responsibilities will change. New technologies and business requirements will emerge. Organizations may grow, reorganize, merge, or change ownership.
Through all of this, the project management system should continue providing structure, continuity, and access to the knowledge accumulated over time.
And we at Starbrix intend to be there to help.
Our longest customer relationship dates back to 1996. We see that not only as a sign of customer loyalty, but also as a responsibility to continue supporting and developing the systems our customers depend on.
After more than 30 years of developing project management software, we believe that the real value of a system is measured not only by what it can do today, but also by how well it continues serving an organization over the years and decades ahead.
That is what we continue working toward with Starbrix Core and Starbrix Flex.
Explore Starbrix Core or Starbrix Flex to find the solution that best matches your organization's needs.
