Plane vs Huly vs Taiga: Best Self-Hosted Project Management Platforms 2026

Running a software team on SaaS project management tools means paying per seat, accepting feature changes you didn’t ask for, and trusting a third party with your roadmap, sprint data, and internal discussions. Self-hosted project management platforms flip this model: you own the data, control the features, and pay zero per-user fees.

In 2026, three open-source platforms lead the self-hosted project management space, each with a different philosophy. Plane positions itself as a modern, developer-first alternative to Jira and Linear. Huly takes an all-in-one approach, combining issue tracking, documents, real-time chat, and video calls into a single platform. Taiga has been the agile standard for over a decade, built specifically for cross-functional scrum teams.

This guide compares all three head-to-head, walks you through docker deployments for each, and helps you pick the right platform for your team’s workflow.

Why Self-Host Your Project Management Platform

There are four compelling reasons to run your own project management infrastructure:

Cost control. Linear charges $8–$12 per user per month. Jira starts at $7.75 per user and scales up fast. A 20-person team on Linear costs $2,880–$5,760 per year — just for task tracking. Self-hosted platforms like Plane, Huly, and Taiga are free and open source. Your only cost is the server.

Data sovereignty. Your sprint plans, bug reports, design specs, and team discussions contain sensitive operational information. Self-hosting keeps all of this on infrastructure you control. No third-party analytics, no data mining, no surprise privacy policy changes.

No forced migrations. SaaS platforms frequently restructure features, change pricing tiers, or deprecate APIs you depend on. When you self-host, the platform stays exactly as you configured it. You upgrade on your schedule, not the vendor’s.

Deep customization. Self-hosted platforms can be modified, extended, and integrated into your existing toolchain without restriction. Want to add a custom field, build a webhook integration, or fork the UI? You have full access to the source code.

Quick Comparison Table

1. Plane — The Modern Jira/Linear Alternative

Plane is the most starred open-source project management platform with over 48,000 GitHub stars. It was built to offer the speed and polish of Linear with the feature depth of Jira, all under the AGPL-3.0 license.

Why Choose Plane

Plane’s architecture is built around four core concepts: Projects (your workspaces), Issues (individual tasks), Cycles (time-boxed sprints), and Modules (feature-level groupings). This structure maps cleanly to how most engineering teams already work.

The UI is fast and keyboard-driven. Issue creation takes seconds, drag-and-drop Kanban boards feel smooth, and the roadmap view gives you a Gantt-style timeline without any plugins. Plane also includes a Pages feature — a collaborative document editor that lets you write specs, meeting notes, and runbooks right inside the platform.

For teams migrating from Linear or Jira, Plane’s CSV import handles issues, comments, and custom fields. Its REST API covers all core operations, making it easy to build integrations with CI/CD pipelines, monitoring tools, or chat bots.

Docker Deployment

Plane ships with an official Docker Compose setup that includes Postgrminio Redis, RabbitMQ, and MinIO (for file storage). Here’s a production-ready configuration:

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# Clone the Plane repository
git clone https://github.com/makeplane/plane.git
cd plane

# Copy the environment template
cp .env.example .env

# Generate a secret key
python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(50))"
# Paste the output into the .env file as SECRET_KEY

# Start all services
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d

The default compose file launches nine services: three frontend apps (web, admin, space), the API server, a background worker, a beat worker for scheduled tasks, PostgreSQL, Redis, and RabbitMQ. For a small team, this runs comfortably on a 4-core machine with 8 GB of RAM.

For reverse proxy setup with nginx:

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server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name plane.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate     /etc/letsencrypt/live/plane.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/plane.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:80;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }

    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

2. Huly — The All-in-One Workspace Platform

Huly (developed by Hardcore Engineering) takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of being just a project management tool, it combines issue tracking, document editing, real-time team chat, and video conferencing into a single self-hosted platform. Think of it as Linear + Notion + Slack + Zoom, all in one codebase.

Why Choose Huly

Huly’s architecture uses CockroachDB as its primary database, which gives it strong horizontal scaling capabilities out of the box. It also uses Redpanda (a Kafka-compatible event stream) for real-time data distribution between services.

The platform includes built-in Huly Love for video calls and screen sharing — a feature that no other self-hosted project management tool offers natively. This means your team can jump from a task discussion to a video call without switching apps.

Huly’s document system is tightly integrated with issues. You can embed live issue references in documents, link docs to specific tasks, and have real-time collaborative editing. For teams that want to consolidate their tool stack, Huly is the strongest option.

Docker Deployment

Huly’s compose file is more complex than Plane’s, reflecting its broader feature set:

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# Clone the Huly repository
git clone https://github.com/hcengineering/platform.git
cd platform/dev

# Copy environment template and configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your settings (SECRET, STORAGE_CONFIG, etc.)

# Start with the minimal compose (excludes non-essential services)
docker compose -f docker-compose.yaml -f docker-compose.pg.yaml -f docker-compose.min.yaml up -d

The full Huly deployment includes CockroachDB, Redpanda (event streaming), MinIO (object storage), Elasticsearch (search), and multiple microservices (accounts, collaborative editing, calendar, notifications). Plan for at least 8 GB of RAM and 4 CPU cores for the minimal setup.

A simplified docker-compose for Huly’s core services:

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services:
  cockroach:
    image: cockroachdb/cockroach:latest-v24.3
    command: start-single-node --insecure
    ports:
      - "26257:26257"
    volumes:
      - cockroach_db:/cockroach/cockroach-data

  accounts:
    image: hardcoreeng/accounts
    environment:
      - SECRET=your-secret-key
      - DB_URL=cockroach://cockroach:26257/huly
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      - cockroach

  collaborator:
    image: hardcoreeng/collaborator
    environment:
      - SECRET=your-secret-key
    ports:
      - "3070:3070"
    depends_on:
      - cockroach

volumes:
  cockroach_db:

3. Taiga — The Agile/Scrum Specialist

Taiga has been around since 2014 and is purpose-built for agile teams. It doesn’t try to be everything — it focuses on doing scrum and kanban exceptionally well. The platform uses Django for its backend and Angular for the frontend, both mature and well-documented technologies.

Why Choose Taiga

Taiga’s interface is organized around Epics, User Stories, Sprints, and Tasks. If your team follows scrum ceremonies (sprint planning, daily standups, retrospectives), Taiga’s workflow maps directly to your existing process.

The platform includes a powerful Gamification system that awards points for completing tasks, motivating team engagement. It also has built-in Burndown charts, Cumulative flow diagrams, and Velocity tracking — analytics that other platforms require plugins for.

Taiga supports both Scrum and Kanban modes per project, so different teams within the same organization can work in the methodology that suits them best. The API is comprehensive, and there are official Python and JavaScript SDKs.

Docker Deployment

Taiga provides an official Docker compose in its docker/ directory:

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# Clone the Taiga repository
git clone https://github.com/kaleidos-ventures/taiga.git
cd taiga/docker

# Copy environment files
cp .env.example .env
cp .env.db.example .env.db

# Generate the Taiga secret key
python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(50))"
# Add to .env as TAIGA_SECRET_KEY

# Start all services
docker compose up -d

Taiga’s compose includes the backend service, frontend service, PostgreSQL database, and Redis for events. It’s lighter than both Plane and Huly, making it a good fit for smaller servers or teams just starting with self-hosted project management.

For nginx reverse proxy configuration:

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server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name taiga.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate     /etc/letsencrypt/live/taiga.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/taiga.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9001;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }

    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
    }

    location /events/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9002;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

Resource Requirements Comparison

For a small team of 5–10 people on a budget VPS, Taiga is the lightest option. For teams of 10–50 that need a modern UI with sprint management, Plane is the best balance. For organizations wanting to consolidate multiple SaaS tools into one self-hosted platform, Huly justifies its higher resource requirements.

Migration Paths from SaaS Tools

All three platforms support importing data from popular SaaS tools:

From Jira to Plane: Plane provides a Jira importer that pulls projects, issues, labels, and comments via the Jira REST API. You’ll need an API token from your Jira instance.

From Linear to Plane: Plane supports CSV export/import. Export your Linear workspace as CSV, then import into Plane. Custom fields and issue relations are preserved.

From Trello/Asana to Taiga: Taiga’s import system accepts CSV files. Map your Trello columns to Taiga Kanban statuses or your Asana sections to Taiga sprint statuses before importing.

From Slack/Notion to Huly: Huly has no direct importer, but its document system accepts Markdown import. Export Notion pages as Markdown and import them into Huly docs.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Plane if: You want the closest self-hosted experience to Linear. Your team cares about speed, keyboard shortcuts, and a polished UI. You need sprint management (Cycles), roadmaps, and a built-in document editor (Pages). With 48,000+ GitHub stars and active development, it has the largest community and fastest release cadence.

Choose Huly if: You want to replace multiple SaaS tools at once. Your team needs issue tracking AND real-time chat AND document collaboration AND video calls — all from one self-hosted platform. You’re comfortable with a more complex deployment (CockroachDB + Redpanda) in exchange for a truly unified workspace.

Choose Taiga if: Your team follows scrum methodology rigorously. You need burndown charts, velocity tracking, and sprint retrospectives out of the box. You want the lightest resource footprint and the simplest backup/restore process. Taiga’s focused feature set means less complexity and fewer things to maintain.

For related reading, see our OpenProject vs Jira comparison for another self-hosted project management option, our Kanban boards guide for lightweight task visualization tools, and our Vikunja task management guide for personal and small-team task tracking.

FAQ

Is Plane production-ready for self-hosting?

Yes. Plane’s official Docker Compose configuration is designed for production use. It includes all necessary services (PostgreSQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, MinIO) with proper health checks and restart policies. Many teams run Plane on $10–20/month VPS instances with no issues. The AGPL-3.0 license means you can freely self-host and modify it.

Can Huly replace Slack and Notion entirely?

Huly includes real-time team chat (similar to Slack channels and direct messages), collaborative document editing (similar to Notion pages), and video conferencing (Huly Love). For teams willing to adopt a single platform instead of juggling multiple SaaS tools, Huly can replace all three. However, if your team has deep integrations with existing Slack bots or Notion databases, migration requires manual effort since Huly has no automated importers for these platforms.

Does Taiga support Kanban boards in addition to Scrum?

Yes. Taiga supports both Scrum and Kanban workflows on a per-project basis. You can create a Scrum project with sprints, user stories, and burndown charts for one team, and a Kanban project with WIP limits and cumulative flow diagrams for another. Both modes share the same underlying issue tracking and time tracking features.

How do I back up a self-hosted project management platform?

For Plane: Back up the PostgreSQL database (pg_dump), Redis data, and MinIO volumes. A simple script running nightly pg_dump plane plus rsync of the volume directories is sufficient.

For Huly: CockroachDB has built-in backup commands (BACKUP TO 'nodelocal://...'). You’ll also need to back up Redpanda topics if you want to preserve event history, plus MinIO and Elasticsearch data.

For Taiga: The simplest of the three — just pg_dump taiga and back up the taiga-static-data and taiga-media-data volumes. Restore with pg_restore on a new instance.

Can I migrate between these platforms?

Direct migration between Plane, Huly, and Taiga is not officially supported, but all three accept CSV imports. Export your data from the source platform as CSV, map the columns to the target platform’s format, and import. Issue titles, descriptions, labels, and status fields transfer cleanly. Comments, attachments, and custom fields may require manual adjustment.

What are the hardware requirements for a team of 20?

For Plane, a 4-core / 8 GB RAM server handles 20 users comfortably. For Huly, plan for 8 GB RAM minimum (CockroachDB and Redpanda are resource-intensive). For Taiga, 4 GB RAM and 2 cores are sufficient — it’s the lightest option. All three benefit from SSD storage for database performance.