Open Intranet review
A free, self-hosted intranet with publishing, directories, documents, forms, learning, and SSO.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Open Intranet is an open-source intranet platform distributed as a Drupal installation profile. It is designed for organizations that want internal communication, knowledge management, document sharing, employee directories, workflows, and training in one system. Teams can self-host it on company infrastructure, a private cloud, or other PHP-capable hosting. Its Community edition is free forever and includes company news, profiles, access control, search, forms, calendars, document management, and REST API access.
The free Community edition covers a wide operational scope rather than a single intranet function. News publishing supports scheduling, categories, tags, access control, and audience targeting. The employee directory includes profiles, an organizational chart, attribute search, and LDAP or Active Directory synchronization. Knowledge management adds structured articles, version history, and permissions, while document management supports folders, cloud links, search, permissions, and version control. Internal forms include conditional fields, routing, notifications, dashboards, and PDF export. Paid installation, hosting, support, and development options are also available for teams that want vendor services around deployment or maintenance.
Open Intranet fits organizations that want control over hosting and a broad internal platform with identity and productivity integrations. It connects with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, Outlook, Google Calendar, LDAP, Active Directory, SAML 2.0, OAuth, Google SSO, and Microsoft SSO. Calendar synchronization, REST APIs, and several SSO methods support integration with existing systems. The trade-off is operational responsibility: teams choosing self-hosting must manage the deployment environment, while mobile access is provided through responsive, mobile-first web access. Choose it when open-source ownership and functional breadth matter; consider another option if a managed service or dedicated mobile experience is the priority.
Open Intranet pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free Community edition with self-hosted deployment
- Combines publishing, directories, documents, forms, and learning
- Supports SSO, directory synchronization, calendars, and REST APIs
- Where it doesn't
- Requires self-hosting on company infrastructure or PHP-capable hosting
- Mobile access is limited to responsive, mobile-first web access
- Paid installation, hosting, support, and development add cost
Open Intranet fact sheet, pricing and score →
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