WeKan — Open Source Kanban Board for Teams

Introduction

WeKan is a fully open-source Kanban board modeled after Trello that you can host on your own servers. It provides drag-and-drop cards, swimlanes, checklists, and rich collaboration features while keeping all your data private and under your control.

What WeKan Does

• Provides a visual Kanban board with lists, cards, swimlanes, and checklists
• Supports multiple boards, teams, and fine-grained user permissions
• Offers card features like due dates, labels, attachments, and comments
• Integrates with webhooks, REST API, and IFTTT for automation
• Runs entirely self-hosted with MongoDB as the backend database

Architecture Overview

WeKan is built with Meteor.js on the backend and Blaze templates on the frontend. It uses MongoDB for persistent storage and supports real-time updates via Meteor's DDP protocol. The application runs as a single Node.js process that serves both the API and the web interface. Docker and Snap packages simplify deployment.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy via Docker Compose with a MongoDB container alongside WeKan
• Available as a Snap package for Ubuntu with automatic updates
• Configure ROOT_URL, MONGO_URL, and MAIL_URL via environment variables
• Supports LDAP, OAuth2, and OIDC for enterprise authentication
• Runs behind Nginx or Caddy as a reverse proxy with TLS termination

Key Features

• Full Kanban workflow with swimlanes, WIP limits, and card aging
• REST API and webhooks for integrating with CI/CD and chat tools
• Multi-language support with 50+ translations available
• Custom fields, subtasks, and card templates for structured workflows
• Activity timeline and board-level analytics for tracking progress

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Trello — Cloud-only, free tier limits boards; WeKan is unlimited and self-hosted
• Planka — Simpler UI but fewer features; WeKan offers swimlanes and WIP limits
• Kanboard — Minimalist approach focused on individuals; WeKan targets team collaboration
• Focalboard — Mattermost-integrated; WeKan is standalone with more Kanban depth
• Taiga — Full agile suite with Scrum; WeKan focuses purely on Kanban simplicity

FAQ

Q: Does WeKan support Scrum or just Kanban? A: WeKan focuses on Kanban boards. For full Scrum with sprints and backlogs, consider Taiga or similar tools.

Q: Can I import boards from Trello? A: Yes, WeKan supports importing boards from Trello JSON exports directly through the UI.

Q: What database does WeKan require? A: WeKan uses MongoDB exclusively. Version 5 or 6 is recommended for production deployments.

Q: Is there a mobile app? A: WeKan's web UI is responsive and works on mobile browsers. There is no dedicated native app.

Sources

• https://github.com/wekan/wekan
• https://wekan.github.io/