Planka vs TaskBoard
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Planka
Realtime kanban board for workgroups
VS
TaskBoard
Simple self-hosted kanban board in PHP with SQLite
| Feature | Planka | TaskBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 20 · At risk |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,576 | ★ 1,401 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Trello | Trello, Kanboard |
What are Planka and TaskBoard?
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
TaskBoard
TaskBoard is a simple self-hosted kanban application written in PHP with a SQLite database. It provides boards with customizable columns, cards, comments, and attachments, and requires minimal setup on a basic web server.
- Simple kanban boards
- Drag-and-drop cards
- Minimal dependencies
- Easy installation
Planka vs TaskBoard: key differences
Planka is written in JavaScript, while TaskBoard is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Planka versus MIT for TaskBoard. TaskBoard is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Planka. TaskBoard is the more established project (first released 2015), while Planka arrived in 2019. Planka has the considerably larger community, at 12,576 GitHub stars versus 1,401. Planka lists first-class Docker deployment; TaskBoard does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Planka if…
- Fast real-time updates
- Familiar interface
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Fewer features than rivals
- Requires Postgres
Choose TaskBoard if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Planka or TaskBoard 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 Planka and TaskBoard free and open-source?
Yes. Planka is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and TaskBoard under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Planka and TaskBoard with Docker?
Planka: yes. TaskBoard: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Planka or TaskBoard?
TaskBoard has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Planka. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.