Planka 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.
Planka
Realtime kanban board for workgroups
VS
Tasks.md
Self-hosted Markdown file-based task management board
| Feature | Planka | Tasks.md |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 66 · Good |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,576 | ★ 2,200 |
| First released | 2019 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Trello | Trello |
What are Planka and Tasks.md?
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
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
Planka vs Tasks.md: key differences
Both projects are written in JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Planka versus MIT for Tasks.md. Tasks.md is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Planka. Planka is the more established project (first released 2019), while Tasks.md arrived in 2023. Planka has the considerably larger community, at 12,576 GitHub stars versus 2,200.
Why pick each one
Choose Planka if…
- Fast real-time updates
- Familiar interface
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Fewer features than rivals
- Requires Postgres
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 Planka or Tasks.md 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 Tasks.md free and open-source?
Yes. Planka is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tasks.md under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Planka and Tasks.md with Docker?
Planka: yes. Tasks.md: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Planka or Tasks.md?
Tasks.md 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.