Wekan vs Kanboard (2026)
A side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, licensing, and self-hosting.
Bottom line: choose Wekan if you're migrating straight off Trello and want the closest feature match; choose Kanboard if you want the lightest possible self-hosted kanban board and genuine WIP-limit enforcement.
Wekan has stayed close to Trello's feature set since 2014 — boards, lists, cards, checklists, swimlanes, and a direct Trello JSON importer — which makes it the least disruptive migration path for a team that's used to Trello's exact workflow. It runs on Meteor and MongoDB, a heavier stack to self-host and patch than Kanboard's plain PHP install, and its UI feels dated next to newer tools.
Kanboard strips things down further: a single kanban board that actually enforces WIP limits per column (a real Kanban-methodology feature most "kanban-style" tools treat as cosmetic), running comfortably on a $5/month VPS with SQLite and no separate database. It's now in maintenance mode — mostly bug fixes rather than new features — and has no Gantt, sprints, or goals hierarchy, by design.
For teams replicating an existing Trello workflow with minimal retraining, Wekan is the closer match. For solo developers or tiny teams who want the absolute lightest self-hosted board with real WIP enforcement, Kanboard is hard to beat on simplicity.
Wekan
Open-source Trello-style kanban board, self-hosted with Meteor and MongoDB.
Pros
- MIT licensed, completely free with no paid tier ever
- Very close Trello feature/UI parity, so migration is nearly frictionless
- One of the longest-running open-source kanban projects (since 2014), so it's stable
Cons
- Meteor + MongoDB stack is heavier to self-host than newer Go/Node single-binary tools
- UI feels dated next to Plane, Huly, or Focalboard
Kanboard
Minimalist, self-hosted kanban board with a single-file PHP install.
Pros
- Extremely lightweight — runs comfortably on a $5/mo VPS with SQLite
- MIT licensed, zero paid tier, no telemetry
- WIP-limit enforcement is a genuine Kanban-methodology feature most tools skip
Cons
- Project is in maintenance mode — mostly bug fixes, few new features since 2023
- No native Gantt, sprints, or goals hierarchy — strictly single-board kanban
Wekan vs Kanboard: spec comparison
| Spec | Wekan | Kanboard |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | Free / self-host | Free / self-host |
| Pricing model | free | free |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Platforms | web, self-hosted, docker, snap | web, self-hosted, docker |
| Founded | 2014 | 2014 |
| GitHub stars | 20,977 | 9,679 |
FAQ
Wekan vs Kanboard: which is better?
Neither is universally better. Wekan (Free / self-host) suits Teams migrating straight off Trello who want the closest free, self-hosted feature match.; Kanboard (Free / self-host) suits Solo developers or tiny teams who want the lightest possible self-hosted kanban board.. The spec table above breaks down the differences.
Is Wekan or Kanboard cheaper?
Both start at the same price (Free / self-host).