head to head · open source
vibe-kanban vs freeplane
vibe-kanban has 28,569 GitHub stars, 3,050 forks, 540 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. freeplane has 4,448 stars, 504 forks, 453 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. vibe-kanban leads on adoption by 542% (28,569 vs 4,448 stars). vibe-kanban is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; freeplane is written in Java under GPL-2.0. vibe-kanban has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, freeplane 11%. freeplane 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
| vibe-kanban | freeplane | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 504 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vibe-kanban if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- 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 vibe-kanban
Get 10X more out of Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, Amp and other coding agents... Vibe Kanban is sunsetting. Read the announcement. Overview In a world where software engineers spend most of their time planning and reviewing coding agents, the most impactful way to ship more is to get faster at planning and review. Vibe Kanban is built for this. Use kanban issues to plan work, either privately or with your team. When you're ready to begin, create workspaces where coding agents can execute. Plan with kanban issues — create, prioritise, and assign issues on a kanban board Run coding agents in workspaces — each…
read the full vibe-kanban overview →
About freeplane
Freeplane ========= Freeplane is a free and open source software application that supports thinking, sharing information, getting things done at work, in school and at home. It provides you a set of tools for mind mapping (also known as concept mapping or information mapping) and navigating the mapped information. Freeplane is also a more robust and superior alternative to Xmind, Mindmeister, and similar mind mapping software. Freeplane is written in Java using OSGi and Java Swing. It runs on any operating system that has a current version of Java installed. It can be installed or can run from removable storage…
read the full freeplane overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vibe-kanban or freeplane more popular?
vibe-kanban has 28,569 GitHub stars and freeplane has 4,448. vibe-kanban has the larger community by that measure.
Are vibe-kanban and freeplane free?
Both are open source. vibe-kanban is licensed under Apache-2.0 and freeplane under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vibe-kanban and freeplane?
vibe-kanban is written in Rust 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, vibe-kanban or freeplane?
Choose vibe-kanban if you want the larger community (28,569 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose freeplane if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.