Taskell vs TaskLite
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Taskell | TaskLite |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 67 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Haskell | Elm |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,783 | ★ 291 |
| First released | 2018 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Trello, Things | Todoist, Things |
What are Taskell and TaskLite?
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
TaskLite
TaskLite is an open-source command-line task manager backed by an SQLite database. It supports tags, priorities, due dates, and notes for organizing work from the terminal.
- CLI task manager
- SQLite backed
- Tags and priorities
- Due dates and notes
Taskell vs TaskLite: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Taskell's repository is archived and no longer developed, while TaskLite is actively maintained. Taskell is written in Haskell, while TaskLite is built with Elm. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Taskell versus AGPL-3.0 for TaskLite. Taskell has the considerably larger community, at 1,783 GitHub stars versus 291.
Why pick each one
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
Choose TaskLite if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Elm
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Taskell or TaskLite 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 Taskell and TaskLite free and open-source?
Yes. Taskell is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and TaskLite under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Taskell and TaskLite with Docker?
Taskell: check the project docs for container support. TaskLite: check the project docs for container support.