Kan vs PLANKA
We give Kan and PLANKA the same GPA: 3.0 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kan
Open-source kanban boards, built as an alternative to Trello
PLANKA
Self-hosted kanban boards with a free Community edition
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAKanVery good | 3.0GPAPLANKAVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BTeams is $8 a user a month billed yearly, or $10 monthly, which is bang on typical for this category. So you're paying a typical price for a deliberately simple tool. The way round it is self-hosting, which is free. | BSelf-hosted Pro is €7.20 per user a month billed yearly, or €7.90 monthly. That's about the going rate for project tools, and you still run the server. Having PLANKA host it in Germany is €8.50, with a 5-user minimum. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free cloud plan has unlimited boards and cards, checklists, labels, templates and Trello import. But it's for 1 user: members, assignees and mentions need Teams. Uploads are capped at 10 MB and API access is limited. Paid plans get a 14-day free trial. | BThe Community edition is free to self-host, with boards, lists, cards, custom fields, a stopwatch and a REST API. But there's no free hosted plan, so it's only free if you can run a server. Pro has a 30-day trial with no credit card. |
| Features | BIt does one thing, kanban, and does it properly: drag-and-drop lists and cards with labels, checklists, comments, filters and an activity log of every change. Boards can be saved as templates. Boards are all it does, though. | BCards hold checklists, labels, custom fields, due dates and a stopwatch, and changes sync live without a refresh. Solid kanban. But calendar, timeline and map views, templates and recurring cards are all Pro, and automated workflows are marked coming soon. |
| Ease of use | BThere's no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is as high as we go. The cloud version just runs in your browser. Self-hosting is another story: that's Docker Compose and PostgreSQL, or a Railway template. | BNo app rating on record, so a B at best. Hosted Pro means no server to run, though it starts at 5 users and isn't sold to private individuals. The free edition is a self-hosting job, and moving from Community to Pro is one-way unless you kept a backup. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs in the browser, and no mobile or desktop apps are listed. There's a REST API for boards, lists, cards and workspaces, and an MCP server so AI clients like Claude Desktop can work your boards. | BIt runs in the browser, and both editions have a REST API and webhooks for more than 50 events. No phone apps, though: the apps page lists only a community-built quick-add app, and full phone and tablet support is a Pro feature. |
| Best for | a minimal, open-source Trello alternative | kanban boards on your own server |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Kan and PLANKA. How we grade
Where they differ
- Kan starts at $8 per user / month, billed yearly. PLANKA starts at €7.20 per user / month, billed yearly (self-hosted Pro).
- Kan is open source, according to its own site.
- Kan also covers tasks.
- PLANKA also covers time tracking.
At a glance
| Kan | PLANKA | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8 per user / month, billed yearly | €7.20 per user / month, billed yearly (self-hosted Pro) |
| Free plan | Free cloud plan: 1 user with unlimited boards and cards, checklists, labels, board templates and Trello import. File uploads are capped at 10 MB and API access is limited. | Community edition: free to self-host under a Fair Use License, with boards, lists, cards, comments, attachments, real-time sync and 3 board views. There is no free hosted plan. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial on paid plans | 30-day free trial of self-hosted Pro with 10 users and 50 guests, no credit card |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Open Engineering | PLANKA Software GmbH |
| Price read from | kan.bn | planka.app |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Kan
- Individuals who want a free, minimal kanban board
- Teams leaving Trello that want to bring their boards along
- Organizations that prefer to self-host open-source software
PLANKA
- Teams that must keep project data on their own servers
- Organizations that want a kanban tool hosted in Germany
- Home labs and clubs, which the free Community edition is aimed at
Worth knowing
Kan
- The free cloud plan is for one user; workspace members, assignees and mentions need Teams at $8 per user / month billed yearly.
- Free cloud workspaces are limited to 10 MB file uploads and limited API access.
- No mobile or desktop apps are listed; Kan runs in the browser.
- SAML SSO, an SLA and an account manager are Enterprise only.
PLANKA
- The Community edition is source-available under a Fair Use License and has no single sign-on, guest roles, templates or calendar view.
- Hosted Pro has a 5-user minimum. Prices are in euros, exclude VAT, and are offered to organizations rather than private individuals.
- Moving a Community installation to Pro is one-way: the vendor says the only route back is a backup made before the upgrade.
- The apps page lists only a community-built quick-add app. PLANKA runs in the browser, and full phone and tablet support is a Pro feature.
Key features
Kan
- Kanban boards
- Drag-and-drop boards made of lists and cards. Boards, lists and cards are unlimited on every plan, including the free one.
- Card details
- Cards carry labels, checklists and a comment thread, and an activity log records every change. Filters and search help find cards on a board.
- Board visibility and templates
- Each board has a visibility setting that controls who can view and edit it, and custom board templates can be saved for reuse.
- Trello import
- Existing Trello boards can be imported on every plan, following a step-by-step guide in the documentation.
- REST API and MCP server
- A REST API covers boards, lists, cards and workspaces. An MCP server lets AI clients such as Claude Desktop control boards; its hosted endpoint needs a paid workspace.
- Self-hosting
- The AGPL-3.0 code can be run on your own infrastructure with Docker Compose and PostgreSQL, or deployed from an official Railway template.
PLANKA
- Projects, boards, lists and cards
- Cards are dragged between lists and hold Markdown descriptions, checklists with assignable tasks, labels, custom fields, due dates, attachments and a stopwatch.
- Real-time sync
- Changes reach every connected user over WebSockets without a page refresh. Pro adds live presence and collaborative editing of card descriptions.
- Board views
- The Community edition has 3 board views and Pro has 6, adding calendar, timeline and map views plus views across every board of a project.
- Worker and guest roles
- Pro adds workers, who can edit only the cards they are assigned, and read-only guests who see what is shared with them. Each Pro user includes a quota of 5 guests.
- Templates and recurring cards
- Board templates, card templates and recurring cards are part of Pro. The comparison table marks automated workflows as coming soon.
- REST API and webhooks
- Both editions include a documented REST API, personal API keys, webhooks for more than 50 events, and notifications through more than 100 providers.
Plans
Kan
Free$0
1 user with unlimited boards and cards, checklists, labels and filters, board templates and Trello import. 10 MB file uploads.
Teams$8
per user / month, billed yearly; $10 billed monthly
Adds workspace members, assignees, mentions with email notifications, invite links, a custom workspace URL, unlimited file uploads and full API access.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds SAML SSO, advanced admin controls, a dedicated account manager, a custom SLA and an on-premise deployment option.
PLANKA
Community€0
Free self-hosted edition under a Fair Use License: boards, lists, cards, custom fields, a stopwatch, webhooks, a REST API and two-factor authentication.
Pro Self-Hosted€7.20
per user / month, billed yearly (€7.90 billed monthly)
Minimum 1 user, 5 guests per user. Adds worker and guest roles, OIDC single sign-on, templates, calendar and map views, and support replies within 24 hours on business days.
Pro Hosted€8.50
per user / month, billed yearly (€9.40 billed monthly)
Minimum 5 users. A dedicated instance hosted in Germany with 5 GB of pooled storage and 5 guests per user; 10 GB per user costs €1.60 more.
EnterpriseCustom
From 500 users hosted or 1,000 self-hosted. Custom licensing, SLA agreements, dedicated servers, custom development and an included installation service.
Ways to pay less
Kan
- Annual discount
20% less with yearly billing
Teams costs $8 per user a month on yearly billing against $10 per user billed monthly, which works out to a 20% saving.
- Other savings
Free to self-host
Kan's FAQ says the software can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure free of charge; the paid cloud plans fund the project.
PLANKA
- Annual discount
Lower per-user price with yearly billing
Self-hosted Pro is €7.20 per user / month billed yearly against €7.90 billed monthly, and hosted Pro is €8.50 against €9.40: about 9% to 10% less.
- Other savings
Lower per-user price from 250 users
The pricing calculator charges €5.80 per user / month billed yearly from 250 self-hosted users and €5.10 from 500. Hosted Pro drops to €7.60 from 250 users.
