It's a Plan alternative
An It’s a Plan alternative with no paid tier
It’s a Plan and Kuayle are both self-hosted issue trackers with no per-seat price. It’s a Plan is AGPL-3.0 with a $240-a-year Pro edition and AI agents as project members. Kuayle is Apache 2.0, with no Pro edition and a smaller feature set.
At a glance
- Licence
It's a Plan: AGPL-3.0
Kuayle: Apache 2.0
- Hosting
It's a Plan: Self-hosted
Kuayle: Self-hosted
- Pricing
It's a Plan: $240 a year, flat
Kuayle: Free, no paid tier
- Difference
- It’s a Plan has more features, including agents, MCP and SSO, with some behind Pro; Kuayle has no paid edition and a permissive licence.
Why teams look for a It's a Plan alternative
Some features need Pro
Multiple workspaces, per-workspace SSO and SCIM, the audit log and event-triggered agents are in the $240-a-year Pro edition.
AGPL-3.0 terms
It’s a Plan is AGPL-3.0, with a commercial licence also offered; some organisations prefer permissive licences.
No documented full export
Neither its site nor its repository documents a full data export.
Kuayle vs It's a Plan, side by side
| Topic | It's a Plan | Kuayle |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Yes AGPL-3.0 (the runner package is Apache 2.0); a commercial licence is offered. | Yes Apache 2.0. The full source is in one public repository. |
| Hosting | Yes Self-hosted: Railway, Docker Compose, Coolify or Kubernetes. | Yes Self-hosted with Docker Compose (Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, API, frontend). There is no hosted Kuayle service. |
| Pricing | Yes Community free; Pro $240 a year flat per domain, no seat price. | Yes No licence fee and no paid tier. Nothing is gated behind a key; you pay for your own server. |
| SSO and SCIM | Yes Instance-wide OIDC and SCIM, Google sign-in and passkeys in Community; per-workspace SSO in Pro. | No Email and password sign-in with invite links. No SSO (SAML/OIDC), SCIM, passkeys or magic links yet. |
| AI and agents | Yes AI agents as project members on your own model key or coding CLI; workflows and budgets in Pro. | In part Opt-in Dev Machines run coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, opencode and others) in self-hosted containers linked to issues. There are no agents assigned as issue members. |
| MCP server | Yes Built-in MCP server. | No No MCP server yet. |
| API and webhooks | Yes REST API with OpenAPI reference and signed webhooks. | In part HTTP API with scoped, expiring personal access tokens, plus HMAC-signed webhooks. No published OpenAPI reference yet. |
| Importers | Yes Linear, Plane and Trello, plus an import API. | No No importer from other trackers. Kuayle-to-Kuayle workspace export and import (.kuayle.zip) is built in. |
| Git integrations | Yes GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Forgejo and Bitbucket pull requests. | In part GitHub App: branches, commits and pull requests link to issues, status automation on PR events, and PR comments. No GitLab, Bitbucket or Gitea yet. |
| Teams and access | In part Project roles in Community; multiple workspaces need Pro. | Yes Public and private teams, workspace roles (owner, admin, member, guest), multiple workspaces per instance. |
What It's a Plan costs a year compared with Kuayle
| Team | Kuayle licence |
|---|---|
| 5 people | $0 |
| 20 people | $0 |
| 50 people | $0 |
| 100 people | $0 |
Moving from It's a Plan to Kuayle
- 01
Export from It’s a Plan
Read your projects and issues through its REST API; a full export is not documented.
- 02
Deploy Kuayle
Run the Docker Compose stack on your server (Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, API and frontend), then create a workspace and invite the team.
- 03
Recreate teams and workflows
Set up teams (public or private), team statuses, labels and issue templates before moving work, so issues land in the right place.
- 04
Move open work through the API
Kuayle has no built-in It’s a Plan importer yet. Script the move of open issues with a scoped personal access token, or start fresh with active work and keep It’s a Plan read-only for history.
When to stay on It's a Plan, and when to choose Kuayle
Stay on It's a Plan if
- You want AI agents as project members, an MCP server or OIDC sign-in today.
- You need importers from Linear, Plane or Trello.
- Pull-request linking with GitLab, Gitea, Forgejo or Bitbucket matters to you.
Choose Kuayle if
- You want every feature in one edition, with no Pro key.
- You prefer Apache 2.0 to AGPL-3.0.
- Multiple workspaces, multiple assignees and private teams should be free.
- You want self-hosted coding environments (Dev Machines) linked to issues.
Other It's a Plan alternatives
Kuayle is not the only option. Compare these too, or see every tracker in the full comparison matrix.
- Plane.so alternative AGPL-3.0 · Cloud or self-hosted
- Linear alternative Proprietary · Vendor cloud only
- OpenProject alternative GPL-3.0 · Cloud or self-hosted
- Taiga alternative MPL-2.0 · Cloud or self-hosted
- Jira alternative Proprietary · Vendor cloud only
- GitLab alternative MIT core; EE under a separate licence · Cloud or self-hosted
It's a Plan alternative FAQ
What is the difference between Kuayle and It’s a Plan?
- Both are self-hosted with no per-seat price. It’s a Plan is AGPL-3.0 with a $240-a-year Pro edition and more features such as AI agents, MCP and SSO. Kuayle is Apache 2.0 with no paid edition.
Is It’s a Plan free?
- Its Community edition is free for any number of people. Pro costs $240 a year per domain.
Does Kuayle have AI agents like It’s a Plan?
- Not as project members. Kuayle’s opt-in Dev Machines run coding agents in self-hosted containers linked to issues; there is no MCP server yet.
Which licence is more permissive?
- Apache 2.0, which Kuayle uses, is permissive. AGPL-3.0, which It’s a Plan uses, requires sharing source for modified versions offered over a network.
Sources
It's a Plan details were checked against It's a Plan's own pages on 6 November 2026; Kuayle details against the v0.2.15 source code. Prices are list prices before tax and change over time; the vendor's pricing page is authoritative. This is a snapshot, not an endorsement. Kuayle is developed by Bakney and is not affiliated with It's a Plan. It's a Plan is a trademark of its owner.