Etherpad vs Kanboard

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureEtherpadKanboard
CategoryChat & CommunicationProject Management & Tasks
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptPHP
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 9,776
First released20112014
ReplacesGoogle DocsTrello

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Kanboard if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Easy to learn
  • Stable
Kanboard details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Kanboard better?

Neither is universally better. Etherpad has the larger community, while Kanboard is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Etherpad and Kanboard free and open-source?

Yes. Etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Kanboard under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Etherpad and Kanboard with Docker?

Etherpad: yes. Kanboard: yes.

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