eLabFTW vs Plane
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
eLabFTW
Electronic lab notebook for research labs
VS
Plane
Open-source project and issue tracking tool
| Feature | eLabFTW | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0-only | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 300 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,390 | ★ 55,704 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | — | Jira, Linear, Asana |
Why pick each one
Choose eLabFTW if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0-only license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is eLabFTW or Plane better?
Neither is universally better. Plane has the larger community, while eLabFTW is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are eLabFTW and Plane free and open-source?
Yes. eLabFTW is licensed under AGPL-3.0-only and Plane under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run eLabFTW and Plane with Docker?
eLabFTW: check the project docs for container support. Plane: yes.