head to head · open source
Kaneo vs freeplane
Kaneo has 9,134 GitHub stars, 800 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped yesterday. freeplane has 4,368 stars, 498 forks, 453 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kaneo leads on adoption by 109% (9,134 vs 4,368 stars). Kaneo is written in TypeScript under MIT; freeplane is written in Java under GPL-2.0. Kaneo has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, freeplane 11%. Kaneo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Kaneo | freeplane | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.1K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 800 | ⑂ 498 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Kaneo if
- You weight community size — 9.1K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick freeplane if
- You want the freeplane feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and freeplane fits your workflow better
About Kaneo
Kaneo is an open source project management tool for development teams, published under the MIT license and written in TypeScript. It describes itself as "all you need, nothing you don't," and its README frames the design goal around restraint: the project's authors argue that the problem with most project management platforms is not a lack of features but an excess of them, where notifications, unnecessary buttons and complex workflows pull teams away from building products. Kaneo belongs to the self hosted project and work management ecosystem, and its topic list places it explicitly alongside issue trackers and…
read the full Kaneo overview →
About freeplane
Freeplane is a free and open source desktop application for mind mapping, concept mapping and information mapping, written in Java with OSGi and Java Swing. It lives in the Java desktop ecosystem and is distributed under the GPL 2.0 license, with source hosted on GitHub and binary downloads published through SourceForge. The project has been under development for roughly 14 years and sits in the business software category of project and work management tools.
read the full freeplane overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kaneo or freeplane more popular?
Kaneo has 9,134 GitHub stars and freeplane has 4,368. Kaneo has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kaneo and freeplane free?
Both are open source. Kaneo is licensed under MIT and freeplane under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kaneo and freeplane?
Kaneo is written in TypeScript and freeplane in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Kaneo or freeplane?
Choose Kaneo if you want the larger community (9,134 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose freeplane if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.