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Kanboard vs Planka

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
Kanboard Minimalist kanban project management VS Planka Realtime kanban board for workgroups
FeatureKanboardPlanka
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score93 · Excellent94 · Excellent
CategoryProject Management & TasksProject Management & Tasks
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 9,881★ 12,576
First released20142019
ReplacesTrelloTrello

What are Kanboard and Planka?

Kanboard

Kanboard is a minimalist, free kanban project management tool focused on simplicity and a clear visual workflow. It targets individuals and small teams wanting a no-frills board. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.

  • Simple kanban boards
  • WIP limits and automation
  • Plugin ecosystem
  • Lightweight PHP app

Read the full Kanboard guide →

Planka

Planka is an open-source kanban board for workgroups with real-time updates, labels, and a clean Trello-like interface. It targets small teams wanting fast, simple boards. It is deployed via Docker.

  • Real-time collaborative boards
  • Cards, labels and due dates
  • Markdown descriptions
  • Clean Trello-like UI

Read the full Planka guide →

Kanboard vs Planka: key differences

Kanboard is written in PHP, while Planka is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Kanboard versus AGPL-3.0 for Planka. Kanboard is the more established project (first released 2014), while Planka arrived in 2019.

Why pick each one

Choose Kanboard if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Easy to learn
  • Stable

Watch out for

  • Minimal feature set
  • Dated look
Kanboard details

Choose Planka if…

  • Fast real-time updates
  • Familiar interface
  • Lightweight

Watch out for

  • Fewer features than rivals
  • Requires Postgres
Planka details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kanboard or Planka better?

Neither is universally better. Planka has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Kanboard and Planka free and open-source?

Yes. Kanboard is licensed under MIT and Planka under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Kanboard and Planka with Docker?

Kanboard: yes. Planka: yes.

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