Kan vs Taskcafe
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
Taskcafe
Open-source project management with kanban boards
| Feature | Kan | Taskcafe |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 21 · At risk |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,688 | ★ 5,214 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Trello | Trello, Asana |
What are Kan and Taskcafe?
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
Taskcafe
Taskcafe is an open-source project management tool inspired by Trello and Asana. It offers kanban boards, task assignment, due dates, and a clean interface.
- Kanban project boards
- Task assignment and labels
- Due dates and checklists
- GraphQL API
Kan vs Taskcafe: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Kan versus MIT for Taskcafe. Taskcafe is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Kan. Taskcafe is the more established project (first released 2020), while Kan arrived in 2024.
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 Taskcafe if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.2k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Kan or Taskcafe better?
Neither is universally better. Kan has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Kan and Taskcafe free and open-source?
Yes. Kan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Taskcafe under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kan and Taskcafe with Docker?
Kan: yes. Taskcafe: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Kan or Taskcafe?
Taskcafe has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Kan. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.