head to head · open source
Planka vs Backlog.md
Planka has 12,666 GitHub stars, 1,397 forks, 425 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Backlog.md has 7,273 stars, 480 forks, 55 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Planka leads on adoption by 74% (12,666 vs 7,273 stars). Planka is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Backlog.md is written in TypeScript under MIT. Planka has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Backlog.md 7%. Planka 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
| Planka | Backlog.md | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 480 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Planka if
- You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Backlog.md if
- You want the Backlog.md feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Backlog.md fits your workflow better
About Planka
PLANKA Project mastering driven by fun Install · Demo · Docs · API · Cloud · Pro version PLANKA Pro When the whole team runs on PLANKA. Phones and tablets · five themes · a dashboard across every project · calendar, timeline and map views · cards on more than one board · templates · guest roles · SSO · PDF export. Self hosted exactly as you host it now, supported by the people who build it. Pro upgrades an existing Community installation in place — your database, your volume, your data. It is a real migration rather than a new image: Pro adds a Valkey service and a one off schema promote. The promote accepts…
read the full Planka overview →
About Backlog.md
Backlog.md Markdown‑native Task Manager & Kanban visualizer for any Git repository AI agents write the code. You review the tasks: before, during, and after. npm i g backlog.md Backlog.md turns any folder into a self‑contained project board powered by plain Markdown files and a zero‑config CLI. Why Backlog.md in the AI era AI agents can now produce more plausible code in an hour than you can carefully read in a day. The bottleneck is no longer writing code. It's your attention. You can't meaningfully review 15,000 generated lines in one sitting, but you can read a screenful of task specs with acceptance criteria…
read the full Backlog.md overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Planka or Backlog.md more popular?
Planka has 12,666 GitHub stars and Backlog.md has 7,273. Planka has the larger community by that measure.
Are Planka and Backlog.md free?
Both are open source. Planka has no licence declared in this registry, and Backlog.md is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Planka and Backlog.md?
Planka is written in JavaScript and Backlog.md 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, Planka or Backlog.md?
Choose Planka if you want the larger community (12,666 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Backlog.md if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.