What is the best open source Plane alternative?

It depends on what you need. Kuayle is an Apache 2.0 tracker with no paid tier; It’s a Plan, OpenProject and Taiga are other open source options with different scopes.

Is Plane fully open source?

Plane’s Community Edition is AGPL-3.0. Paid plans run on the Commercial Edition, which is closed source.

Can I self-host Kuayle and Plane the same way?

Both run with Docker. Kuayle ships one Docker Compose stack with Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, the API and the frontend, and has no separate commercial build.

Can I move from Plane to Kuayle?

There is no Plane importer yet. Export to CSV or JSON, or read Plane’s REST API, and create issues in Kuayle with a personal access token.

Does Kuayle have AI features like Plane?

Kuayle’s opt-in Dev Machines run coding agents such as Claude Code or Codex in containers on your own servers. It has no AI credits and no MCP server yet.

Plane.so alternative

An open source Plane.so alternative with no paid tier

Plane and Kuayle can both run on your own server. The difference is the edition model: Plane’s Community Edition is AGPL-3.0, while paid features live in a closed Commercial Edition. Kuayle is one Apache 2.0 codebase with nothing gated.

Self-host Kuayle View source

At a glance

Licence

Plane.so: AGPL-3.0

Kuayle: Apache 2.0

Hosting

Plane.so: Cloud or self-hosted

Kuayle: Self-hosted

Pricing

Plane.so: From $6 per user a month

Kuayle: Free, no paid tier

Difference

Plane is broader and has importers and AI; Kuayle has one ungated edition under a permissive licence.

Why teams look for a Plane.so alternative

Paid features need a closed edition

Self-hosted teams must switch from the AGPL Community Edition to the closed-source Commercial Edition before upgrading to a paid plan.

Git integrations are paid

Plane’s GitHub and GitLab integrations start on Pro and are not on Free or the Community Edition.

Per-seat pricing past 12 users

The free plan covers up to 12 users; Pro is $6 and Business $13 per user a month, billed yearly.

AI is cloud-only

Plane’s AI credits and agents are cloud-only and included in paid plans.

Kuayle vs Plane.so, side by side

Plane.so details checked against Plane's own pages on 6 November 2026. Kuayle details verified against the v0.2.15 source code.
Topic	Plane.so	Kuayle
Licence	In part Community Edition AGPL-3.0; the Commercial Edition is closed source.	Yes Apache 2.0. The full source is in one public repository.
Hosting	Yes Plane Cloud, or self-hosted Community or Commercial Edition.	Yes Self-hosted with Docker Compose (Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, API, frontend). There is no hosted Kuayle service.
Pricing	In part Free up to 12 users; Pro $6 and Business $13 per user a month billed yearly; Enterprise custom.	Yes No licence fee and no paid tier. Nothing is gated behind a key; you pay for your own server.
SSO and SCIM	In part SAML and OIDC from Pro (self-hosted) or Business (cloud); LDAP on Enterprise.	No Email and password sign-in with invite links. No SSO (SAML/OIDC), SCIM, passkeys or magic links yet.
AI and agents	In part AI credits and agents on paid cloud plans only.	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 Official MCP server, hosted or local stdio for self-hosted.	No No MCP server yet.
API and webhooks	Yes REST API and workspace webhooks.	In part HTTP API with scoped, expiring personal access tokens, plus HMAC-signed webhooks. No published OpenAPI reference yet.
Importers	Yes Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp and CSV on all plans.	No No importer from other trackers. Kuayle-to-Kuayle workspace export and import (.kuayle.zip) is built in.
Git integrations	In part GitHub and GitLab from Pro upward.	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.
Issue model	Yes Work items with cycles, modules, views and pages.	Yes Multiple assignees, sub-issues, relations, labels, priorities, due dates, templates, team-specific statuses and title/description version history.
Teams and access	Yes Workspaces, projects and roles.	Yes Public and private teams, workspace roles (owner, admin, member, guest), multiple workspaces per instance.

What Plane.so costs a year compared with Kuayle

Plane list prices billed yearly, checked 6 November 2026, before tax. The first 12 users are free on Plane’s free plan. Kuayle has no licence fee.
Team	Plane.so Pro	Plane.so Business	Kuayle licence
5 people	$360	$780	$0
20 people	$1,440	$3,120	$0
50 people	$3,600	$7,800	$0
100 people	$7,200	$15,600	$0

Moving from Plane.so to Kuayle

01
Export from Plane

Workspace admins can export projects as CSV, Excel or JSON; the REST API reads the rest.
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 Plane importer yet. Script the move of open issues with a scoped personal access token, or start fresh with active work and keep Plane read-only for history.

When to stay on Plane.so, and when to choose Kuayle

Stay on Plane.so if

You use Plane’s importers, pages, AI or MCP server.
You are on the free tier with 12 users or fewer and need nothing paid.
You need SSO now; Kuayle does not offer SSO yet.

Choose Kuayle if

You want every feature in one open source edition with no licence key.
You prefer Apache 2.0 terms to AGPL-3.0.
You want the GitHub integration without a paid plan.
Multiple assignees per issue and private teams matter to you.

Other Plane.so alternatives

Kuayle is not the only option. Compare these too, or see every tracker in the full comparison matrix.

Plane.so alternative FAQ

What is the best open source Plane alternative?: It depends on what you need. Kuayle is an Apache 2.0 tracker with no paid tier; It’s a Plan, OpenProject and Taiga are other open source options with different scopes.
Is Plane fully open source?: Plane’s Community Edition is AGPL-3.0. Paid plans run on the Commercial Edition, which is closed source.
Can I self-host Kuayle and Plane the same way?: Both run with Docker. Kuayle ships one Docker Compose stack with Caddy, PostgreSQL, Redis, the API and the frontend, and has no separate commercial build.
Can I move from Plane to Kuayle?: There is no Plane importer yet. Export to CSV or JSON, or read Plane’s REST API, and create issues in Kuayle with a personal access token.
Does Kuayle have AI features like Plane?: Kuayle’s opt-in Dev Machines run coding agents such as Claude Code or Codex in containers on your own servers. It has no AI credits and no MCP server yet.

Sources

Plane details were checked against Plane'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 Plane. Plane is a trademark of its owner.

Try Kuayle on your own server

Read the Apache 2.0 source, then follow the Docker Compose guide to run an instance with no licence fee.

View source on GitHub Deployment guide