Leantime 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.
Leantime
Goal-oriented project management for teams
VS
Tasks.md
Self-hosted Markdown file-based task management board
| Feature | Leantime | Tasks.md |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 66 · Good |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,645 | ★ 2,200 |
| First released | 2019 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Asana, Trello, Notion | Trello |
What are Leantime and Tasks.md?
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
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
Leantime vs Tasks.md: key differences
Leantime is written in PHP, while Tasks.md is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Leantime versus MIT for Tasks.md. Tasks.md is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Leantime. Leantime is the more established project (first released 2019), while Tasks.md arrived in 2023. Leantime has the considerably larger community, at 11,645 GitHub stars versus 2,200.
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 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 Leantime or Tasks.md better?
Neither is universally better. Leantime 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 Leantime and Tasks.md free and open-source?
Yes. Leantime is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tasks.md under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Leantime and Tasks.md with Docker?
Leantime: yes. Tasks.md: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Leantime or Tasks.md?
Tasks.md has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Leantime. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.