head to head · open source
vibe-kanban vs KaibanJS
vibe-kanban has 28,569 GitHub stars, 3,050 forks, 540 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. KaibanJS has 1,486 stars, 159 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. vibe-kanban leads on adoption by 1,823% (28,569 vs 1,486 stars). vibe-kanban is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; KaibanJS is written in TypeScript under MIT. vibe-kanban has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, KaibanJS 11%. vibe-kanban 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
| vibe-kanban | KaibanJS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-05-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 159 |
| 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 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 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 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 vibe-kanban or KaibanJS more popular?
vibe-kanban has 28,569 GitHub stars and KaibanJS has 1,486. vibe-kanban has the larger community by that measure.
Are vibe-kanban and KaibanJS free?
Both are open source. vibe-kanban is licensed under Apache-2.0 and KaibanJS under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vibe-kanban and KaibanJS?
vibe-kanban is written in Rust 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, vibe-kanban or KaibanJS?
Choose vibe-kanban if you want the larger community (28,569 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose KaibanJS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.