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Kanroo vs PLANKA: AGPL open source instead of a fair-use license
Short answer – TL;DR
PLANKA is a mature Kanban board from a German company, with dedicated hosted instances in Germany. Since May 2025 it uses the source-available PLANKA Community License with a fair-use clause, and single sign-on (SSO) is part of Pro. Kanroo’s core is AGPL-3.0 open source, and Kanroo Cloud has a free plan, a wiki, MCP and SSO on every plan.
Details checked on October 13, 2026.Sources
Key facts
License
- Kanroo
- Open-source core (AGPL-3.0)
- PLANKA
- PLANKA Community License (source-available, fair use) plus commercial Pro[4]
Where data is processed
- Kanroo
- Hosted and processed in the EU: Germany, the Netherlands, France
- PLANKA
- “Hosted in Germany”: dedicated instance, isolated database, Art. 28 DPA[1]
Single sign-on (SSO)
- Kanroo
- Every Kanroo Cloud plan, Free included.
- PLANKA
- OIDC in Pro[2]
10 seats for a year
- Kanroo
- Team €960
List prices without VAT. Details in the cost table below.
Kanroo and PLANKA, row by row
Only rows we checked. Small numbers link to the sources below the table.
- Yes
- Partly
- No
| Topic | Kanroo | PLANKA |
|---|---|---|
| Plans and price | ||
| Plans | Free · Team · Enterprise | Community (self-hosted) · Pro self-hosted · Pro hosted · Enterprise[1] |
| Free plan | Partly:1 member, every feature, no time limit. 25 wiki pages, 5 MiB per file. | No:No free hosted plan; 30-day Pro trial[1] |
| Minimum seats | Yes:None | Partly:Pro hosted: 5 users[1] |
| Features held back for higher plans | Yes:None on Kanroo Cloud: every feature on every plan | Partly:SSO, calendar and timeline views, templates, recurring cards, phone layout, PDF export: Pro[2] |
| Boards | ||
| Views | Yes:Board, Swimlane, Calendar and Table on every plan | Partly:Board in Community. Calendar, timeline and map views in Pro.[2] |
| Subtasks and custom fields | No:Checklists only. No subtasks, custom fields, dependencies or time tracking yet. | Yes:Custom fields in Community[6] |
| Recurring tasks | Yes:Every plan | Partly:Pro[2] |
| Documentation | ||
| Wiki and docs | Yes:Built in: spaces, nested pages, Mermaid diagrams, version history, password-protected shares | No:No wiki[3] |
| AI and integrations | ||
| MCP server | Yes:Remote and local, on every plan | Partly:Community-built servers[7] |
| API | Yes:REST API with OpenAPI 3.1, on every plan | Yes:REST API and webhooks in Community[6] |
| Data and privacy | ||
| Company | Operator details in the imprint | PLANKA Software GmbH, Germany[3] |
| Where data is processed | Yes:Servers in Nuremberg (DE), files in Amsterdam (NL), email from Paris (FR) | Yes:“Hosted in Germany”: dedicated instance with an isolated database, Art. 28 DPA[1] |
| Openness | ||
| License | Yes:Core: AGPL-3.0. Enterprise Edition: commercial license. | Partly:Source-available: PLANKA Community License with a fair-use clause. MIT until 2023, AGPL-3.0 until May 2025.[4][5] |
| Self-hosting | Partly:Core free, without plan limits. Server features such as SSO, live updates and webhooks come with the Enterprise Edition. | Yes:Community edition, with real-time updates, for personal, internal, non-profit and education use; Pro self-hosted is paid[1][4][6] |
Sources
Details checked on October 13, 2026. Facts about other products come from their own pages, unless a source says otherwise.
- [1]PLANKA pricingplanka.app
- [2]PLANKA Pro featuresplanka.app
- [3]PLANKA home pageplanka.app
- [4]PLANKA license filegithub.com
- [5]PLANKA license file history (GitHub API)api.github.com
- [6]PLANKA on GitHubgithub.com
- [7]Community PLANKA MCP server on Glamaglama.ai
More on Kanroo:Where Kanroo hosts your dataThe open-source core and the editions
Where Kanroo is different
An OSI open-source license
Kanroo’s core is AGPL-3.0, a license approved by the Open Source Initiative. PLANKA’s Community License allows personal, internal, non-profit and education use, and does not allow hosting it for others for commercial gain.
Start alone, grow without a minimum
Kanroo Free gives one person every feature. Team has no seat minimum. PLANKA Pro hosted starts at 5 users, after a 30-day trial.
A wiki and MCP, built in
Kanroo includes a wiki and an official MCP server on every plan. PLANKA has no wiki; MCP servers for it come from the community.
When PLANKA is the better choice
- You want a German company with a dedicated hosted instance and an isolated database.
- You need timeline or map views, or custom fields.
- You self-host and want live updates in the free edition. PLANKA Community includes real-time updates; Kanroo’s self-hosted core does not.
Missing something in Kanroo? It may come with community interest.
Moving from PLANKA
Kanroo has no PLANKA importer. Bring tasks over as a CSV file with column mapping. A preview shows what arrives before anything is saved.
What 10 people pay in a year
List prices without VAT, in the currency each vendor publishes, not converted.
Details checked on October 13, 2026.
| Plan | Billing | Per seat | 10 people, 1 year | SSO included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanroo Team | Yearly | €8 a month | €960 | Yes |
| Kanroo Team | Monthly | €10 a month | €1,200 | Yes |
| Kanroo Core, self-hosted | None | Free | €0 | No |
| Kanroo Enterprise Edition, self-hosted | Contact us | On request | On request | Yes |
| PLANKA Pro hosted[1][2] | Yearly | €8.50 a month | €1,020 | Yes |
| PLANKA Pro hosted[1][2] | Monthly | €9.40 a month | €1,128 | Yes |
| PLANKA Pro self-hosted[1][2] | Yearly | €7.20 a month | €864 | Yes |
| PLANKA Pro self-hosted[1][2] | Monthly | €7.90 a month | €948 | Yes |
PLANKA Pro hosted needs at least 5 users and includes SSO. Prices are without VAT, per user and month.
Kanroo plans and limitsKanroo vs PLANKA, answered
Is PLANKA open source?
PLANKA calls its license “fair-code” and “source available”. Since May 2025, the PLANKA Community License allows personal, internal, non-profit and education use, and commercial Pro and Enterprise licenses cover the rest. It is not an OSI-approved open-source license.
Are both hosted in Germany?
PLANKA says its hosted Pro is “Hosted in Germany”. Kanroo’s servers are in Nuremberg, Germany; files are stored in Amsterdam and email is sent from Paris. All of it is in the EU.
Is Kanroo cheaper than PLANKA?
Slightly. For 10 people with yearly billing, PLANKA Pro hosted costs €1,020 and Kanroo Team costs €960. Both include SSO.
Can I self-host Kanroo like PLANKA?
Yes. The Kanroo core is free to self-host under AGPL-3.0, without plan limits. It starts with one Docker Compose file.
Other comparisons
- Kanroo vs KaneoTwo open-source tools. Kanroo adds a wiki, a free plan and European sub-processors only.
- Kanroo vs PlaneWiki and SSO on every plan, no AI credits, and workspace data processed in the EU.
- Kanroo vs MeisterTaskThe same Kanban-plus-notes idea, without plan unlocks, and with an open-source core.
Try Kanroo with your own work.
Every feature on every plan. Bring a board from the tool you use today and see how it feels.
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