head to head · open source
Wekan vs Backlog.md
Wekan has 21,089 GitHub stars, 3,000 forks, 165 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Backlog.md has 6,762 stars, 420 forks, 55 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Wekan leads on adoption by 212% (21,089 vs 6,762 stars). Wekan is written in JavaScript under MIT; Backlog.md is written in TypeScript under MIT. Wekan has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Backlog.md 6%. Wekan 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
| Wekan | Backlog.md | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 420 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Wekan if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the MIT 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 Wekan
Wekan is an open source collaborative kanban board application written in JavaScript and built with Meteor. It is licensed under the MIT license and is positioned as a free and open source alternative to Jira and Monday.com. The project lives in the self hosted business software and project management ecosystem.
read the full Wekan overview →
About Backlog.md
Backlog.md is a Markdown native task manager and Kanban visualizer that turns any folder into a self contained project board. It lives in the Git ecosystem, written in TypeScript and released under the MIT license, and it is distributed as a zero config CLI alongside a terminal board and a local web interface. Every task is stored as a plain .md file inside the repository, so the project ledger travels with the code and remains readable to humans, teams, and AI agents alike.
read the full Backlog.md overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Wekan or Backlog.md more popular?
Wekan has 21,089 GitHub stars and Backlog.md has 6,762. Wekan has the larger community by that measure.
Are Wekan and Backlog.md free?
Both are open source. Wekan is licensed under MIT and Backlog.md under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Wekan and Backlog.md?
Wekan 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, Wekan or Backlog.md?
Choose Wekan if you want the larger community (21,089 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Backlog.md if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.