Leantime vs Plane
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Leantime
Goal-oriented project management for teams
VS
Plane
Open-source project and issue tracking tool
| Feature | Leantime | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,639 | ★ 59,763 |
| First released | 2019 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Asana, Trello, Notion | Jira, Linear, Asana |
What are Leantime and Plane?
Leantime
Leantime is an open-source project management system designed around goals, strategy, and accessibility for non-technical teams. It targets small businesses and creatives. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Goals and strategy boards
- Idea management and research
- Kanban and gantt views
- Designed for non-technical users
Plane
Plane is an open-source project management tool for tracking issues, sprints, and product roadmaps with multiple views. It targets software and product teams. It is deployed via Docker.
- Issues, cycles and modules
- List, kanban and gantt views
- Roadmaps and pages
- Modern fast UI
Leantime vs Plane: key differences
Leantime is written in PHP, while Plane is built with TypeScript. Leantime is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Plane. Leantime is the more established project (first released 2019), while Plane arrived in 2023. Plane has the considerably larger community, at 59,763 GitHub stars versus 11,639.
Why pick each one
Choose Leantime if…
- Goal-focused approach
- Accessible to non-techies
- Active development
Watch out for
- Less known
- Some features still evolving
Choose Plane if…
- Polished modern interface
- Good for product teams
- Active development
Watch out for
- Resource heavy
- Some features still maturing
Frequently asked questions
Is Leantime or Plane better?
Neither is universally better. Plane has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Leantime and Plane free and open-source?
Yes. Leantime is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Plane under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Leantime and Plane with Docker?
Leantime: yes. Plane: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Leantime or Plane?
Leantime has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Plane. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.