Kan vs Kanri
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kan
Open-source, self-hosted kanban board and Trello alternative
VS
Kanri
Offline-first kanban board desktop app built with Tauri
| Feature | Kan | Kanri |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 77 · Good |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,688 | ★ 2,035 |
| First released | 2024 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Trello | Trello |
What are Kan and Kanri?
Kan
Kan is an open-source, self-hosted kanban board application positioned as a Trello alternative. Built with TypeScript, it offers boards, lists, labels, member collaboration, and public board sharing in a modern web interface.
- Trello-style kanban boards
- Labels and members
- Public board sharing
- Modern responsive UI
Kanri
Kanri is an offline-first kanban board desktop application built with Tauri and Vue. Boards are stored locally on your machine and support drag-and-drop cards, custom themes, and import/export, with no server or account required.
- Offline kanban boards
- Drag-and-drop cards
- Cross-platform desktop app
- Local data storage
Kan vs Kanri: key differences
Kan is written in TypeScript, while Kanri is built with Vue. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Kan versus MIT for Kanri. Kanri is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Kan. Kanri is the more established project (first released 2022), while Kan arrived in 2024. Kan has the considerably larger community, at 5,688 GitHub stars versus 2,035.
Why pick each one
Choose Kan if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.7k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Kanri if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Kan or Kanri better?
Neither is universally better. Kan has the larger community, while Kanri is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kan and Kanri free and open-source?
Yes. Kan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Kanri under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kan and Kanri with Docker?
Kan: yes. Kanri: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Kan or Kanri?
Kanri has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Kan. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.