Quick Verdict
Planka is the better choice for teams that want a clean, Trello-like experience. Its UI is polished, real-time collaboration works smoothly, and setup is straightforward. Wekan has more features but a cluttered interface and heavier resource requirements. For most self-hosters, Planka's simplicity wins.
Overview
Both Planka and Wekan are self-hosted Kanban board applications — alternatives to Trello, Asana, and other project management tools. They target different ends of the complexity spectrum.
Planka — Fair-code license (community + commercial), 11.6k GitHub stars. Built with React + Node.js. Modern, clean UI with real-time sync. Latest version: v2.0.1 (February 2026).
Wekan — MIT license, 20.8k GitHub stars. Built with Meteor.js. Feature-rich with 20+ years of development. Latest version: v8.35 (February 2026).
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Planka | Wekan |
|---|---|---|
| Kanban boards | Yes | Yes |
| Lists/columns | Yes | Yes |
| Card comments | Yes | Yes |
| Card attachments | Yes | Yes |
| Card labels/colors | Yes | Yes |
| Due dates | Yes | Yes |
| Checklists | Yes | Yes |
| Card cover images | Yes | Yes |
| Drag and drop | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time sync | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple boards | Yes | Yes |
| Board templates | No | Yes |
| Swimlanes | No | Yes |
| Calendar view | No | Yes |
| List view | No | Yes |
| Gantt chart | No | No |
| Custom fields | No | Yes |
| Automation/rules | No | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes (extensive) |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| OIDC/SSO | Yes | Yes |
| LDAP | No | Yes |
| Markdown support | Yes | Yes |
| Notification system | Yes (100+ providers) | Yes (email) |
| Import from Trello | No | Yes |
| Multi-language | Yes | Yes (105 languages) |
| Mobile app | No (responsive web) | No (responsive web) |
| Database | PostgreSQL | MongoDB |
| Default port | 1337 | 8080 |
| Docker image | ghcr.io/plankanban/planka |
wekanteam/wekan |
Installation Complexity
Planka uses PostgreSQL and has a clean Docker Compose setup:
services:
planka:
image: ghcr.io/plankanban/planka:2.0.1
container_name: planka
ports:
- "1337:1337"
volumes:
- planka_avatars:/app/public/user-avatars
- planka_backgrounds:/app/public/project-background-images
- planka_attachments:/app/private/attachments
environment:
- BASE_URL=http://localhost:1337
- DATABASE_URL=postgresql://planka:planka@db:5432/planka
- SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-at-least-32-chars
- DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
- DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin
- DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME=Admin
- DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
depends_on:
- db
restart: unless-stopped
db:
image: postgres:16-alpine
container_name: planka-db
volumes:
- planka_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
environment:
- POSTGRES_DB=planka
- POSTGRES_USER=planka
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=planka
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
planka_avatars:
planka_backgrounds:
planka_attachments:
planka_db:
Wekan uses MongoDB:
services:
wekan:
image: wekanteam/wekan:v8.35
container_name: wekan
ports:
- "8080:8080"
environment:
- MONGO_URL=mongodb://db:27017/wekan
- ROOT_URL=http://localhost:8080
- WITH_API=true
depends_on:
- db
restart: unless-stopped
db:
image: mongo:6
container_name: wekan-db
volumes:
- wekan_db:/data/db
command: mongod --oplogSize 128
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
wekan_db:
Both are straightforward. Planka requires a few more environment variables (admin credentials, secret key) but has a cleaner initial setup. Wekan's MongoDB requirement is heavier than Planka's PostgreSQL.
Performance and Resource Usage
Planka is lightweight:
- RAM: ~150-300 MB (app + PostgreSQL)
- CPU: Low
- Disk: Minimal (plus attachments)
- PostgreSQL is well-known for being resource-efficient
Wekan is heavier:
- RAM: ~500 MB - 1 GB (app + MongoDB)
- CPU: Moderate (Meteor.js is not the lightest framework)
- Disk: MongoDB can be storage-heavy
- Recommended: 4 GB total server RAM for production
- MongoDB risk: database corruption if disk fills up (documented in Wekan's own README)
Planka uses roughly half the resources of Wekan for similar workloads.
Community and Support
Planka: 11.6k stars, 152 contributors. Growing rapidly. Active development with recent v2.0 release. Community support via GitHub. Commercial licensing available.
Wekan: 20.8k stars, 279+ contributors. Long-established project (since 2015). Large community but development is primarily driven by one maintainer. Active release cadence.
Wekan has the longer history and more stars, but Planka's growth trajectory is steeper and the codebase feels more modern.
Use Cases
Choose Planka If...
- You want a clean, modern Trello-like interface
- You prefer PostgreSQL over MongoDB
- Resource efficiency matters (running alongside other services)
- Real-time collaboration is important
- You want a focused tool that does kanban well without bloat
- You value modern UI/UX design
- You're building a team workflow tool
Choose Wekan If...
- You need advanced features (swimlanes, calendar view, automation rules)
- You need to import boards from Trello
- You need LDAP authentication
- You need custom fields on cards
- You want the MIT license (Planka uses fair-code)
- Feature completeness matters more than UI polish
- You need board templates
Final Verdict
Planka is the better kanban board for most self-hosters. The UI is significantly more polished than Wekan's, real-time collaboration is smooth, and the resource footprint is lighter. It does kanban well without trying to be everything.
Wekan is for power users who need specific features. If you need swimlanes, calendar view, custom fields, automation rules, or Trello import, Wekan has them and Planka doesn't. But these features come at the cost of a cluttered UI and higher resource usage.
For personal task management or small team use: Planka. For complex project management with advanced workflow needs: Wekan — or consider Vikunja as a more modern alternative to both.
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