Does Kanboard need a separate database?
No. It runs on SQLite out of the box, which the docs suggest for one user or a small team. They recommend PostgreSQL for bigger boards and warn against SQLite on NFS or in Docker.
Kanboard: Self-Hosted Kanban Board
Drag tasks between columns on a board you host, cap how many sit in each column and filter the list by assignee or due date. Kanboard is a small PHP kanban board for household projects, with SQLite by default and automatic actions for the repetitive parts.
Compare with similar apps
How Kanboard stacks up against other productivity apps. Add or remove apps to change the comparison.
| Requirement | Kanboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free + Paid | Free | Free + Paid |
| Web UI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Architecture | x86 + ARM | x86 + ARM | x86 + ARM | x86 + ARM |
| Containers | 1The app alone | 2Plus Postgres | 2Plus Postgres | 2Plus Postgres |
| Database | SQLite | Postgres | Postgres | Postgres |
| Runtime | PHP | Node.js | Node.js | Go |
| Docker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Linux package | Yes | – | – | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | – | – | – |
| FreeBSD | Yes | – | – | – |
| Android | – | – | – | Yes |
| Windows | – | – | – | Yes |
| Linux | – | – | – | Yes |
| Full comparison | This app | Kanboard vs Planka | Kan vs Kanboard | Kanboard vs Vikunja |
Common questions
Is Kanboard still maintained?
It is in maintenance mode. The author adds no major features, small fixes and community pull requests still land, and releases keep coming (1.2.56 in October 2026).
Can Kanboard send email notifications?
Yes, through SMTP. The official Docker image cannot use the mail or sendmail transports, so set the SMTP options in the container configuration.
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