Planka vs Redmine

Planka is a Trello-style, real-time Kanban board tool with a free but feature-limited self-hosted Community edition, an optional managed cloud hosting tier…

Best for Planka: Teams that want a modern, real-time Kanban board with unlimited boards and cards, and either want the option of managed cloud hosting or are comfortable self-hosting under Planka's Fair Use license, fit Planka.
Best for Redmine: Teams needing a comprehensive, fully free, self-hosted project management suite with Gantt charts, time tracking, wikis, and native Git/SVN integration are better served by Redmine.

At a Glance

 PlankaRedmine
Primary categoryProject ManagementProject Management
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumFree and open source (self-hosted); paid hosting and support available from third-party providers
Starting priceFree (self-hosted Community Edition); Pro plans priced separatelyFree (open source, GPLv2 license)
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Board Tool vs. Full PM Suite

Planka: Planka is purpose-built as a Kanban board tool with unlimited boards and cards in a Trello-style interface and real-time synchronization across users.

Redmine: Redmine is a broader project management and issue-tracking application with Gantt charts, calendars, wikis, forums, and time tracking built in, not primarily a Kanban board.

Teams that just need visual task boards may find Redmine's broader feature set unnecessary overhead, while teams needing formal scheduling and documentation may find Planka too narrow.

Managed Hosting Availability

Planka: Planka offers official managed cloud hosting for both Community and Pro editions, starting at €13.00/month base plus €2.60-2.90 per user/month.

Redmine: Redmine has no official managed cloud plan; the redmine.org project is self-hosted only, requiring ongoing server and technical maintenance.

Teams without infrastructure resources may prefer a managed option rather than running their own server.

Free-Tier Licensing Restrictions

Planka: Planka's free Community Self-Hosted edition is capped by a Fair Use license that prohibits cross-company use and withholds calendar/map views, recurring cards, and custom branding, all reserved for the paid Pro tier.

Redmine: Redmine is fully free and open source under GPL v2 with no feature gating and no cross-company use restrictions.

License restrictions can matter for consultancies or agencies managing multiple client organizations on one instance.

Time Tracking

Planka: Planka's documented feature set does not include native time tracking.

Redmine: Redmine includes native time tracking, letting teams log and report time spent on issues and projects.

Time tracking is often required for billing, capacity planning, or client reporting.

Source Control Integration

Planka: Planka's documented integration surface is a REST API with Swagger UI plus community Python and PHP SDKs, without native SCM integration.

Redmine: Redmine natively integrates with SVN, CVS, Git, Mercurial, and Bazaar repositories.

Native SCM integration links commits and code changes directly to issues without custom tooling.

Feature-by-Feature

Licensing & Hosting

FeaturePlankaRedmine
Free self-hosted editionAvailableAvailable
Official managed cloud hostingAvailableUnavailable
Cross-company use on free tierUnavailableAvailable

Core Task/Project Management

FeaturePlankaRedmine
Kanban boardsAvailableNot documented
Gantt chartsNot documentedAvailable
Time trackingNot documentedAvailable
Calendar viewsLimitedAvailable
Custom fieldsNot documentedAvailable

Collaboration & Integration

FeaturePlankaRedmine
Real-time board syncAvailableNot documented
WikisNot documentedAvailable
SCM integration (Git/SVN/etc.)Not documentedAvailable
REST APIAvailableAvailable
Multilingual interfaceAvailableNot documented
Plugin ecosystemNot documentedAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Planka

Community Edition — Free N/A (self-hosted)
Pro Edition — Custom (contact sales) Subscription, self-hosted or managed cloud

Redmine

Community/Open Source — Free n/a
Third-party managed hosting — Varies by provider varies

Pros & Cons

Planka

Pros

  • Free to self-host with no per-user fees for the Community Edition
  • Familiar, Trello-like interface with a low learning curve
  • Real-time collaboration and unlimited boards and cards
  • Full data ownership, appealing to privacy- and compliance-conscious teams
  • Active open development community with frequent updates and many translations

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires basic server or Docker administration skills
  • The Fair Use License is not an OSI-approved open-source license and restricts reselling Planka as a hosted service
  • Pro Edition pricing is not fully transparent on the public website
  • Lacks some advanced automation and reporting features found in larger commercial PM tools

Redmine

Pros

  • Completely free and open source with no per-user licensing fees
  • Highly customizable issue trackers, workflows, and fields
  • Built-in Gantt charts, calendars, and time tracking
  • Native integration with major version control systems
  • Large plugin ecosystem for extending functionality
  • Self-hosting gives organizations full control over their data

Cons

  • Requires self-hosting and server maintenance, or a paid third-party host
  • Interface feels dated compared to modern SaaS project management tools
  • No official vendor support; relies on community and third parties
  • Steeper setup and configuration learning curve than turnkey SaaS tools
  • Fewer native integrations with modern SaaS apps than commercial competitors
  • Mobile experience is limited compared to native mobile-first tools

Use Cases

Choose Planka: Teams that want a modern, real-time Kanban board with unlimited boards and cards, and either want the option of managed cloud hosting or are comfortable self-hosting under Planka's Fair Use license, fit Planka.
Choose Redmine: Teams needing a comprehensive, fully free, self-hosted project management suite with Gantt charts, time tracking, wikis, and native Git/SVN integration are better served by Redmine.
Need both: A team could realistically run both: Planka for a lightweight, real-time Kanban board that individual squads use for day-to-day task flow, alongside Redmine as the system of record for formal issue tracking, Gantt-based scheduling, and Git/SVN-linked development history across the wider organization.

Planka

  • Privacy-conscious project tracking — Teams that need to keep task data on their own infrastructure self-host Planka instead of using a third-party SaaS Kanban tool.
  • Small team Kanban workflow — Startups and small teams use Planka as a free Trello alternative to organize sprints, backlogs and to-do lists.
  • Internal agency task boards — Agencies run Planka internally to track client work and deliverables without paying per-seat SaaS fees.

Redmine

  • Software development issue tracking — Track bugs, features, and releases with configurable workflows tied directly to source repositories.
  • IT and operations project management — Manage internal IT projects, subprojects, and time tracking across multiple teams.
  • Budget-conscious education and non-profit project tracking — Run structured project management without per-seat licensing costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Planka or Redmine free?

Both have free self-hosted options: Planka's Community Self-Hosted edition (with Fair Use license restrictions) and Redmine (fully free under GPL v2 with no restrictions).

Does either offer managed cloud hosting?

Planka does, starting at €13.00/month base plus per-user fees for both Community and Pro editions. Redmine has no official managed cloud plan; it's self-hosted only.

Which has native Git integration?

Redmine has native SCM integration supporting Git, SVN, CVS, Mercurial, and Bazaar. Planka's integration surface is a documented REST API without native SCM support.

Which is better for formal project scheduling?

Redmine, with built-in Gantt charts, calendars, and time tracking. Planka is a Kanban board tool and does not document Gantt charts or time tracking.

Can Planka's Community edition be used across multiple client companies?

No, Planka's Community Self-Hosted edition's Fair Use license prohibits cross-company use; cross-company use requires the paid Pro tier. Redmine's GPL v2 license has no such restriction.

How is Planka deployed?

Planka is commonly deployed via Docker, with over 8.1 million image pulls reported, and its source code is publicly available on GitHub under a fair-code licensing model.

Read the full Planka review · Read the full Redmine review