Habitica Self-Hosted vs Tracks
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Habitica Self-Hosted | Tracks |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 62 · Good |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,173 | ★ 1,239 |
| First released | 2013 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Todoist, Habitica | Todoist, OmniFocus |
What are Habitica Self-Hosted and Tracks?
Habitica Self-Hosted
A gamified task, habit, and to-do manager that turns personal productivity into a role-playing game with rewards and parties. The full stack can be self-hosted for private use.
- Gamified habits and tasks
- Rewards and avatars
- Parties and challenges
- Mobile apps
Tracks
Tracks is a web-based application designed to help you implement the Getting Things Done methodology. It organizes tasks into projects and contexts with a focus on personal productivity.
- GTD contexts and projects
- Next-action tracking
- Recurring todos
- Mobile-friendly interface
Habitica Self-Hosted vs Tracks: key differences
Habitica Self-Hosted is written in JavaScript, while Tracks is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Habitica Self-Hosted versus GPL-2.0 for Tracks. Tracks is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Habitica Self-Hosted. Tracks is the more established project (first released 2004), while Habitica Self-Hosted arrived in 2013. Habitica Self-Hosted has the considerably larger community, at 14,173 GitHub stars versus 1,239.
Why pick each one
Choose Habitica Self-Hosted if…
- Motivating gameplay
- Active community
Watch out for
- Heavy to self-host
- Setup is involved
Choose Tracks if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Habitica Self-Hosted or Tracks better?
Neither is universally better. Habitica Self-Hosted has the larger community, while Tracks is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Habitica Self-Hosted and Tracks free and open-source?
Yes. Habitica Self-Hosted is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Tracks under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Habitica Self-Hosted and Tracks with Docker?
Habitica Self-Hosted: yes. Tracks: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Habitica Self-Hosted or Tracks?
Tracks has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Habitica Self-Hosted. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.