TaskBoard vs Taskell
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | TaskBoard | Taskell |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 20 · At risk | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Haskell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,401 | ★ 1,783 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Trello, Kanboard | Trello, Things |
What are TaskBoard and Taskell?
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
Taskell
Taskell is an open-source command-line kanban board application that stores boards as Markdown files. It offers a keyboard-driven terminal interface for managing personal task lists.
- Terminal kanban board
- Markdown file storage
- Keyboard-driven
- No database needed
TaskBoard vs Taskell: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Taskell's repository is archived and no longer developed, while TaskBoard is actively maintained. TaskBoard is written in TypeScript, while Taskell is built with Haskell. Licensing differs — MIT for TaskBoard versus BSD-3-Clause for Taskell. Taskell is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for TaskBoard. TaskBoard is the more established project (first released 2015), while Taskell arrived in 2018.
Why pick each one
Choose TaskBoard if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Taskell if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Haskell
Frequently asked questions
Is TaskBoard or Taskell better?
Neither is universally better. Taskell has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are TaskBoard and Taskell free and open-source?
Yes. TaskBoard is licensed under MIT and Taskell under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run TaskBoard and Taskell with Docker?
TaskBoard: check the project docs for container support. Taskell: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, TaskBoard or Taskell?
Taskell has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for TaskBoard. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.