How is Kaneo different from Vikunja?

Vikunja is a full-featured task manager with Kanban, Gantt, CalDAV sync and recurring tasks — closer to Asana or TickTick. Kaneo is deliberately simpler: Kanban boards and GitHub integration with no extra views. Choose Kaneo for code-centric teams, Vikunja for general-purpose project management.

Can I use Kaneo without a domain name?

Yes. Kaneo does not require a custom domain — you can access it through the IP-based URL assigned by ServOrbit. A domain is recommended for a nicer URL and easier sharing, but is not mandatory.

How do I back up my Kaneo data?

All Kaneo data lives in the PostgreSQL database. Back it up with: docker exec kaneo-postgres-1 pg_dump -U kaneo kaneo | gzip > kaneo-backup.sql.gz. Restore with: gunzip -c kaneo-backup.sql.gz | docker exec -i kaneo-postgres-1 psql -U kaneo kaneo.

What is the minimum VPS size for Kaneo?

A 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM VPS running Ubuntu 24.04 is sufficient for small teams. Kaneo is very light — the Node.js API and Vue SPA together consume under 200 MB RAM at rest. Add another 512 MB headroom for PostgreSQL 16.

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Kaneo

Minimalist open-source project manager with Kanban and GitHub integrations — self-hosted on your VPS, MIT, 7.9 k+ stars.

1 GB minimum RAM 1 vCPU Available

Kaneo is a minimalist, MIT-licensed project management platform (7.9 k+ stars, v2.16.2 — released 2026-08-10). Built with Hono (Node.js) and Vue.js, it runs as a single bundled Docker image alongside a PostgreSQL database, making it one of the lightest self-hosted project managers available.

Kaneo focuses on what teams actually need: Kanban boards, projects, tasks and direct GitHub integration for syncing Milestones, issues and webhooks. There are no Gantt charts or sprint planning ceremonies — just a clean interface where you create a project, add tasks and track progress. For teams that find Vikunja or Linear too feature-heavy, Kaneo offers a productive middle ground.

With v2.16.2, Kaneo ships a monolithic image that bundles the Vue SPA and the Hono API behind an internal nginx, reducing the operational footprint to two containers. Multi-workspace support, GitHub App integration and webhook destinations are available for teams that need tighter code-project coupling.

Key features

Kanban boards with drag-and-drop — visualise and move tasks across columns in any project.

GitHub Milestones sync — connect your GitHub App to mirror milestones and issues as Kaneo tasks.

Webhook destinations — trigger external endpoints on task state changes, automating your workflow.

Monolithic bundled image — SPA and API in a single container, just two services to manage (app + PostgreSQL).

Email + password login — no SMTP required; works with DISABLE_EMAIL_OTP_SIGN_IN=true out of the box.

MIT licence — fork, adapt and redistribute without restriction.

Multi-workspace support — each workspace is isolated with its own members, projects and settings.

When to use this solution?

1

Lightweight sprint tracking for dev teams

Create a project per feature, add tasks with labels and assignees, and move cards across Kanban columns as work progresses. Connect the GitHub App to auto-create tasks from Milestones and close them on PR merge — no manual updates.

2

Client project tracking for agencies

Run one Kaneo workspace per client. Invite client contacts as read-only observers, keep track of deliverables in Kanban lanes, and use webhook destinations to notify your team Slack channel when a task moves to Done.

3

Personal task management without SaaS lock-in

Replace Trello or Notion boards with a self-hosted instance. All your tasks live in a PostgreSQL database on your own VPS — no subscription, no data harvesting, no feature gates.

Deploy Kaneo on your VPS

Guide optimized for ServOrbit Cloud VPS.

01

Deploy Kaneo from the ServOrbit Marketplace

Go to Marketplace → Collaboration & Productivity → Kaneo in your ServOrbit control panel and click Deploy. AWX provisions Docker, generates the database and auth secrets, configures nginx and starts the two containers automatically.

02

Create your first account

Open the Kaneo URL. You will see a Sign Up form — this is the first-run setup. Fill in your name, email and password. The first user automatically gets admin rights on the default workspace.

03

Create a workspace and your first project

After signing in you land on the workspace home. Click New Project, give it a name and choose a colour. Add your first task by clicking the ＋ in the Kanban column of your choice.

04

Connect GitHub (optional)

Install the Kaneo GitHub App from Settings → Integrations. Once authorised, Kaneo syncs GitHub Milestones as projects and issues as tasks. Webhooks update task state automatically on push or PR merge.

05

First login

Navigate to the Kaneo URL and click Sign Up to create your account — there are no default credentials. The first signup becomes the workspace admin. Registration can be closed from Settings once you have set up your team.

Frequently asked questions

No. With DISABLE_EMAIL_OTP_SIGN_IN=true (set by default in the ServOrbit deployment), Kaneo uses email + password login with no OTP email step. SMTP is optional and only needed if you want to re-enable one-time-password magic-link sign-in.

Embed the deploy button

Maintaining a project that uses Kaneo? This button lets your readers deploy it on a VPS in one click, without reading Docker documentation.

Markdown

[![Deploy Kaneo on ServOrbit](https://servorbit.com/brand/deploy/button.svg)](https://servorbit.com/vps-cloud?template=kaneo&utm_source=deploy-badge&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=kaneo)

HTML

<a href="https://servorbit.com/vps-cloud?template=kaneo&utm_source=deploy-badge&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=kaneo"><img src="https://servorbit.com/brand/deploy/button.svg" alt="Deploy Kaneo on ServOrbit" height="40"></a>

The button points to a VPS order with the template preselected. The image is served from servorbit.com — nothing to host on your side.

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