head to head · open source
Leantime vs KaibanJS
Leantime has 11,958 GitHub stars, 1,169 forks, 328 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. KaibanJS has 1,486 stars, 159 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Leantime leads on adoption by 705% (11,958 vs 1,486 stars). Leantime is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; KaibanJS is written in TypeScript under MIT. Leantime has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, KaibanJS 11%. Leantime was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (kanban), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Leantime | KaibanJS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-05-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 159 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Leantime if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick KaibanJS if
- You want the KaibanJS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and KaibanJS fits your workflow better
About Leantime
Leantime® ⭐ If you find Leantime useful, please star us on GitHub! ⭐ Leantime is an open source project management system for non project managers. We combine strategy, planning and execution while making it easy for everyone on the team to use. Built with ADHD, dyslexia and autism in mind. 🧠 💪 As simple as Trello but as feature rich as Jira 🔄 A perfect alternative to ClickUp, Monday, or Asana 🌐 🚀 Features yes, all of these features are included in the OSS version 📸 Screenshots ❗System Requirements PHP 8.2+ MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+ Apache or Nginx (IIS works with some modifications) PHP Extensions…
read the full Leantime overview →
About KaibanJS
KaibanJS The JavaScript Framework for Building Multi agent Systems. Kanban for AI Agents? 🤖📋 KaibanJS is inspired by the tried and true Kanban methodology, which is well known for helping teams organize and manage their work. We've adapted these concepts to meet the unique challenges of AI agent management . If you've used tools like Trello, Jira, or ClickUp, you'll be familiar with how Kanban helps manage tasks. Now, KaibanJS uses that same system to help you manage AI agents and their tasks in real time. With KaibanJS, you can: 🔨 Create, visualize, and manage AI agents, tasks, tools, and teams 🎯…
read the full KaibanJS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Leantime or KaibanJS more popular?
Leantime has 11,958 GitHub stars and KaibanJS has 1,486. Leantime has the larger community by that measure.
Are Leantime and KaibanJS free?
Both are open source. Leantime is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and KaibanJS under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Leantime and KaibanJS?
Leantime is written in PHP and KaibanJS in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Leantime or KaibanJS?
Choose Leantime if you want the larger community (11,958 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose KaibanJS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.