PLANKA

PLANKA is a visual Kanban workspace for organizing team work, offered as software you run yourself or as a hosted service. It is most compelling for groups that want control over where their project data lives and need board-based collaboration. Its self-hosted free edition is a useful entry point; organizations should weigh the annual commitment and user minimums against the paid features they need.

Overview

PLANKA centers work on boards, lists and cards. Community covers the basic workflow at no cost, but requires self-hosting; Pro and Enterprise are the organization-focused tiers, with a choice between running the software on your own server and using PLANKA’s German-hosted service.

Key features

The Community edition includes boards, lists, cards, comments, attachments and real-time sync, plus Docker deployment. That is a substantial core for a home, homelab or club setup if someone in the group is prepared to manage a server. It is not a free hosted workspace.

Pro and Enterprise add six board views, including calendar and map, along with card inboxes, recurring cards and advanced global search. These tools broaden the ways teams can organize and find work; smaller groups with straightforward board needs may have little reason to pay for them. Worker and guest roles with scoped access, live presence, collaborative description editing and card sharing are more directly useful to teams coordinating across different access levels.

Integration options include a REST API, personal API keys, webhooks covering more than 50 events, WebSocket updates and SMTP email notifications. PLANKA supports time tracking and guest access, but not automation rules, so teams that depend on rule-driven workflows should look elsewhere. Pro and Enterprise also support OpenID Connect single sign-on, including role assignment from an identity provider.

The security measures described 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, giving organizations a choice between direct custody of data and managed hosting.

Pricing

Community costs nothing and is self-hosted. It suits individuals and smaller groups willing to operate their own instance, but does not provide the hosted convenience of Pro Hosted or the paid-tier feature set.

Pro Self-Hosted costs €36 a month, billed annually at €432.00 once a year up front. It has a one-user minimum, includes five guests per user, runs on your own server and includes updates. It is the lower-entry paid option for an organization that wants Pro capabilities while retaining its own hosting and data environment.

Pro Hosted costs €42.50 a month, billed annually at €510.00 once a year up front, with a five-user minimum. Each user brings five guests, and the plan includes a shared pool of 5 GB base storage per user; the service is hosted in Germany. This plan fits teams that want managed hosting, but the five-seat floor and shared storage pool make it less suitable for a small group or one that needs a separate storage allowance per user.

Enterprise has custom pricing and is the required tier from 500 users for hosted deployments or 1,000 for self-hosted deployments. A 30-day trial is available for paid evaluation. 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.

Platforms

PLANKA supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows and the web, as well as API access and self-hosted deployment. That range accommodates teams mixing desktop, mobile and server environments.

Who it's for

Community is aimed at home, homelab and club use, especially where keeping data on a personally managed system matters more than avoiding server administration. Pro is a better fit for organizations needing expanded board views, stronger collaboration controls or hosted service. Larger deployments should account for the Enterprise thresholds before choosing a hosting model.

Pros and cons

Choice of custody and hosting: self-hosting keeps application data and attachments on customer systems, while hosted service runs in Germany and offers a GDPR Article 28 DPA.

Useful free core: Community includes attachments, comments and real-time sync, but requires the customer to host it.

Broad paid collaboration: scoped worker and guest roles, live presence and shared editing help teams coordinate, though these capabilities require Pro or Enterprise.

No automation rules: integrations and webhooks offer connection points, but teams seeking built-in rule automation will need another fit.

Meaningful seat thresholds: Pro Hosted starts at five users, and larger deployments move to Enterprise, limiting flexibility for some small or very large groups.

Alternatives

For a wider shortlist, compare Kanban Software, Task Management Software and Project Management Software.

MeisterTask is worth considering if a free plan with up to three projects is a better match than PLANKA’s self-hosted Community edition.

WeKan is an alternative for readers seeking a free Kanban option, with a paid cloud plan also available.

Planio may suit teams looking for a project-oriented alternative with a Bronze tier capped at one project and two users.

SwiftKanban offers a free Team plan limited to three users and two boards, which may suit a small group starting out.

KanbanFlow offers a free plan with a Kanban board and no time limit, making it an option for readers who want a free alternative without choosing PLANKA’s self-hosted Community edition.

Trello may be preferable for a small workspace that fits within its free limits of 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace.

Doska is a free option for readers who specifically want an open-source, MIT-licensed tool with no features behind a paywall.

Jotform is an alternative for readers whose needs are better served by its free Starter forms plan.

Verdict

Choose PLANKA if your team wants visual Kanban work with the option to keep data on its own systems, or wants German-hosted service with paid collaboration features. Its clearest advantage is that hosting and data custody are part of the plan choice rather than a single deployment model. Look elsewhere if you need a free hosted workspace, built-in automation rules or a paid hosted plan without a five-user minimum.