Plane vs Taskcafe
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Plane
Open-source project and issue tracking tool
VS
Taskcafe
Open-source project management with kanban boards
| Feature | Plane | Taskcafe |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 21 · At risk |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 59,763 | ★ 5,214 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Jira, Linear, Asana | Trello, Asana |
What are Plane and Taskcafe?
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
Taskcafe
Taskcafe is an open-source project management tool inspired by Trello and Asana. It offers kanban boards, task assignment, due dates, and a clean interface.
- Kanban project boards
- Task assignment and labels
- Due dates and checklists
- GraphQL API
Plane vs Taskcafe: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Plane versus MIT for Taskcafe. Taskcafe is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Plane. Taskcafe is the more established project (first released 2020), while Plane arrived in 2023. Plane has the considerably larger community, at 59,763 GitHub stars versus 5,214.
Why pick each one
Choose Plane if…
- Polished modern interface
- Good for product teams
- Active development
Watch out for
- Resource heavy
- Some features still maturing
Choose Taskcafe if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.2k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Plane or Taskcafe 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 Plane and Taskcafe free and open-source?
Yes. Plane is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Taskcafe under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Plane and Taskcafe with Docker?
Plane: yes. Taskcafe: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Plane or Taskcafe?
Taskcafe has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Plane. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.