Planka
Project management. Reimagined. Battle-tested.
About Planka
Planka is a self-hosted Kanban board for agile teams, offering a clean and intuitive Trello-like experience with real-time collaboration. Built with React and Node.js, it gives teams full control over their data while supporting unlimited users, drag-and-drop task management, and deployment via Docker or Kubernetes.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Completely free Community Edition with unlimited users
- Full data sovereignty through self-hosting
- Lightweight and efficient on modest hardware via Docker
- Clean Trello-like interface requiring no training
- Real-time synchronization across team members
- Active community with 11,600+ GitHub stars and 35+ languages
Cons
- Limited built-in reporting and analytics
- Few native third-party integrations
- No dedicated mobile app
- Self-hosting requires technical knowledge
- Smaller ecosystem compared to Trello or Asana
Key Features
Kanban Boards
Drag-and-drop Kanban boards for organizing projects into lists and cards.
Real-Time Synchronization
All changes instantly visible to every team member without page refresh.
Self-Hosted Deployment
Full data control with easy deployment via Docker, Docker Compose, or Kubernetes.
Unlimited Users
No per-user limits on the free Community Edition.
Markdown Support
Rich Markdown editing for card descriptions with formatted text, links, and code blocks.
OpenID Connect SSO
Single sign-on authentication via OpenID Connect.
Multilingual Support
Available in over 35 languages for global teams.
Flexible Notifications
Notification support through 100+ providers.
API Access
Full API with Swagger UI documentation for custom integrations.
Cloud Hosting Option
Managed cloud hosting with dedicated instances and isolated databases.
Pricing
- Unlimited users
- Core Kanban features
- Self-hosted
- Community support
- Minimum 5 users
- Dedicated instance
- 1 GB storage
- Automatic updates
- Starting from 1 user
- Advanced features
- 5 guest users
- Forum support
- Minimum 5 users
- Dedicated instance
- 5 GB storage
- Advanced features
- Minimum 1000 users
- All Pro features
- Custom licensing
- Source code access
- SLA agreements
Best For
Small Team Project Tracking
Small teams needing a simple Kanban board without per-user subscription costs.
Privacy-Conscious Organizations
Companies with strict data policies needing full control over project data location and access.
Startup & Budget-Friendly Management
Startups looking for free, full-featured project management that scales.
Internal IT & DevOps Workflows
Technical teams self-hosting alongside other infrastructure in Docker or Kubernetes environments.
Open-Source Advocates
Organizations prioritizing open-source for transparency and avoiding vendor lock-in.
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