Kan vs Tasks.md
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
Tasks.md
Self-hosted Markdown file-based task management board
| Feature | Kan | Tasks.md |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 66 · Good |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,684 | ★ 2,199 |
| First released | 2024 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Trello | Trello |
What are Kan and Tasks.md?
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
Tasks.md
Tasks.md is a self-hosted, file-based task management tool where every card is a Markdown file. It provides a kanban interface backed entirely by plain text files.
- Cards stored as Markdown files
- No database required
- Drag-and-drop kanban board
- Easy to back up with git
Kan vs Tasks.md: key differences
Kan is written in TypeScript, while Tasks.md is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Kan versus MIT for Tasks.md. Tasks.md is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Kan. Kan has the considerably larger community, at 5,684 GitHub stars versus 2,199.
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 Tasks.md if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Kan or Tasks.md better?
Neither is universally better. Kan has the larger community, while Tasks.md is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kan and Tasks.md free and open-source?
Yes. Kan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tasks.md under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kan and Tasks.md with Docker?
Kan: yes. Tasks.md: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Kan or Tasks.md?
Tasks.md 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.