Kanban Lite 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.
Not the right match-up?
Kanban Lite
Minimal self-hosted kanban board in a single binary
VS
Tasks.md
Self-hosted Markdown file-based task management board
| Feature | Kanban Lite | Tasks.md |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,401 | ★ 2,175 |
| First released | 2015 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Trello, Kanboard | Trello |
Why pick each one
Choose Kanban Lite if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
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 Kanban Lite or Tasks.md better?
Neither is universally better. Tasks.md has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Kanban Lite and Tasks.md free and open-source?
Yes. Kanban Lite is licensed under MIT and Tasks.md under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kanban Lite and Tasks.md with Docker?
Kanban Lite: check the project docs for container support. Tasks.md: yes.