Outline vs Plane

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureOutlinePlane
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseProject Management & Tasks
LicenseBSL-1.1AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker
GitHub stars★ 40,034★ 55,704
First released20172023
ReplacesNotion, ConfluenceJira, Linear, Asana

Why pick each one

Choose Outline if…

  • Polished team wiki
  • Great search
  • Strong integrations
Outline details

Choose Plane if…

  • Polished modern interface
  • Good for product teams
  • Active development
Plane details

Frequently asked questions

Is Outline 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 Outline and Plane free and open-source?

Yes. Outline is licensed under BSL-1.1 and Plane under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Outline and Plane with Docker?

Outline: yes. Plane: yes.

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