Donetick vs Vikunja
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Donetick
Shared chore and task management for households and teams
VS
Vikunja
Open-source to-do and project management app
| Feature | Donetick | Vikunja |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,582 | ★ 5,494 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Todoist, Tody | Todoist, Trello, Asana |
What are Donetick and Vikunja?
Donetick
Donetick is an open-source app for managing tasks and chores with assignment rotations and reminders. It is ideal for households and small teams sharing responsibilities.
- Chore assignment rotations
- Recurring task scheduling
- Reminders and notifications
- Single lightweight binary
Vikunja
Vikunja is an open-source to-do app and project management tool with lists, kanban, gantt, and calendar views. It targets individuals and teams wanting flexible task management. It is deployed via Docker or a single binary.
- List, kanban, gantt and calendar views
- Reminders and recurring tasks
- REST API
- Lightweight single binary
Donetick vs Vikunja: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Donetick is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Vikunja. Vikunja is the more established project (first released 2019), while Donetick arrived in 2024. Vikunja has the considerably larger community, at 5,494 GitHub stars versus 2,582.
Why pick each one
Choose Donetick if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
Choose Vikunja if…
- Flexible task views
- Lightweight
- Good API
Watch out for
- Smaller ecosystem
- Fewer integrations than rivals
Frequently asked questions
Is Donetick or Vikunja better?
Neither is universally better. Vikunja has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Donetick and Vikunja free and open-source?
Yes. Donetick is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Vikunja under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Donetick and Vikunja with Docker?
Donetick: yes. Vikunja: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Donetick or Vikunja?
Donetick has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Vikunja. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.