PLANKA

Overview

PLANKA is a visual Kanban workspace built around boards, lists and cards, with both customer-managed and hosted deployment options. It is best suited to teams that value control over where their work data lives and can choose a plan around that preference. Its main trade-off is that the free edition requires self-hosting, while the hosted plans start at five users.

Key features

The free Community edition supplies the core board workflow: boards, lists, cards, comments, attachments and real-time sync, with Docker deployment. That is a useful package for a home, homelab or club setup, but it puts the hosting responsibility on the customer rather than offering a free hosted workspace.

Pro and Enterprise expand the board toolkit with six views, including calendar and map, as well as card inboxes, recurring cards and advanced global search. These additions better suit organizations managing varied work, though smaller groups may not need the paid-tier breadth. Worker and guest roles with scoped access, live presence, collaborative description editing and card sharing help teams include outside participants without giving everyone the same access.

Integrations include a REST API, personal API keys, webhooks covering more than 50 events, WebSocket updates and SMTP email notifications. Time tracking and guest access are supported, but automation rules are not, which may matter to teams seeking automated board workflows. Pro and Enterprise also support OpenID Connect single sign-on, including role assignment through an identity provider.

Security measures include TLS-encrypted transmission, TOTP two-factor authentication, OIDC single sign-on, SSH-key server access, firewalls, fail2ban and regular backups. With self-hosting, application data and attachments remain on the customer's systems; the hosted service operates in Germany and offers a GDPR Article 28 DPA. The former gives customers direct data control but also leaves them responsible for their own environment.

Pricing

Community costs nothing and is self-hosted. It covers the essentials for personal, homelab and club use, but has none of the Pro and Enterprise additions such as expanded board views and scoped worker and guest roles.

Pro Self-Hosted costs €36.00 per month, billed annually as €432.00 once a year up front. It requires a minimum of one user, includes five guests per user, runs on your own server and includes updates. It is the paid route for organizations that want the expanded feature set while keeping hosting on their own infrastructure.

Pro Hosted costs €42.50 per month, billed annually as €510.00 once a year up front. It requires at least five users and includes five guests per user plus 5 GB of base storage per user in a shared pool; hosting is in Germany. It suits teams that prefer not to run their own server, but the user minimum makes it a poor fit for a small hosted group.

Enterprise has custom pricing and is directed at hosted deployments from 500 users or self-hosted deployments from 1,000 users. Pro customers can contact support in German or English and receive a first answer within 24 hours on business days; Enterprise adds SLA-backed priority support. The pricing model includes a 30-day trial, though no plan-specific trial terms are stated.

Platforms

PLANKA supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows and the web, alongside an API and self-hosted deployment. That range accommodates both desktop and mobile access while preserving a customer-managed hosting option.

Who it's for

Community is a sensible choice for home, homelab and club users comfortable running their own instance. Pro is aimed at organizations: pick self-hosted when keeping data on your systems is the priority, or hosted when German hosting and avoiding server management matter more. Teams needing automation rules should look elsewhere, as should small groups seeking a hosted plan below the five-user minimum.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Self-hosting keeps application data and attachments on customer systems, giving infrastructure-conscious teams direct control over where their workspace lives.
• Pro: The free Community edition includes real-time sync, attachments and Docker deployment, making it more than a bare board for groups willing to host it themselves.
• Pro: Paid tiers combine scoped guest access, multiple board views and OIDC role assignment, useful for organizations coordinating internal teams and guests.
• Con: Community is self-hosted only, so it is not a no-cost hosted option for teams that do not want to operate their own instance.
• Con: Hosted Pro starts at five users, and its 5 GB per-user base storage is shared across the pool, so teams must account for both the entry threshold and pooled capacity.
• Con: Automation rules are absent, limiting its fit for teams that want board actions to trigger automated workflows.

Alternatives

For a free Kanban tool without features behind a paywall, consider Doska, which is open source under the MIT license. Choose WeKan if a free plan is the priority: its app plan is free but has no admin access, while WeKan Cloud is €50 euro/year with admin access and unlimited everything. If you want a different freemium Kanban option, MeisterTask has a free plan with unlimited tasks, up to three projects, up to five notes and five Content Manager seats. Planio, SwiftKanban, KanbanFlow, and Trello are also alternatives to compare.

Browse more options in Kanban Software, Project Management Software or Task Management Software.

Verdict

PLANKA is a strong fit for organizations that want a capable Kanban workspace and a choice between keeping data on their own systems and using German-hosted service. Its free Community edition also gives self-hosting enthusiasts a substantial starting point. Look elsewhere if you need a free hosted plan, a hosted entry below five users, or built-in automation rules.