Jira vs Leantime
Leantime is a credible open-source replacement for Jira when the priority is self-hosted, goal-oriented project and task management with multiple views, sprint planning, timelines, and knowledge tools. Its documented positioning emphasizes non-project managers and neurodivergent users. Choose Jira when you require documented no-code automation, service-request or incident workflows, Jira-specific migration support, a
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Leantime if
- Teams seeking an AGPL-licensed, self-hosted project-management system
- Non-project managers using goals, milestones, tasks, and status reporting
- Teams needing Kanban, Gantt, table, list, and calendar views without Jira’s broader operational scope into their Jira deployment and integrations. Leantime should not be treated as feature-equivalent: the supplied Leant,
Stay with Jira if
- You depend on no-code workflow automation; equivalent Leantime coverage is not documented in the supplied sources.
- You manage service requests or incidents in Jira; corresponding purpose-built workflows are not documented.
- You require Jira project import or workflow compatibility; no Jira-specific migration path is documented to migrate data, custom workflows, and integrations to their platform. Users should perform a pilot and manually
Deployment and operations
Leantime is self-hostable under AGPLv3 and is written primarily in PHP. Production installation is documented either on a local server or through the maintained Docker image; Kubernetes support is not documented. Local hosting requires PHP 8.2+, MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+, and Apache or Nginx. Updates require backups; manual, CLI, and Docker procedures are documented. Official support covers only the most recent version and only official Docker Compose or standard installations. Managed hosting
Feature fit
What Leantime covers
- Task and milestone tracking
- Kanban, table, list, calendar, and timeline views
- Sprint management
- Goals and program-level planning
- Project reports and status updates
- Slack integration
- Plugin and API extensibility
What’s different or missing
- No documented Jira import path
- No documented no-code automation equivalent
- No documented service-request workflow
- No documented incident-management workflow
- No documented parity with Jira’s integration breadth
- No documented equivalent to Jira project agents
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 11,356
- Contributors
- 193
- Language
- PHP
- Last commit
- Aug 15, 2026
- Latest release
- Jul 8, 2026
Categories: Workflow Automation, Customer Relationship Management, Project Management, Task Management, Knowledge Management, Digital Whiteboards, Document Collaboration, DevOps, Calendars & Scheduling
Sources and editorial review12 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Leantime is a goals focused project management system for non-project managers.
repository description · github.comWe combine strategy, planning and execution while making it easy for everyone on the team to use.
readme · github.comTask management via kanban boards, gantt, table, list and calendar views.
readme · github.comProject Dashboards, reports & status updates; Goal & metrics tracking.
readme · github.comMultiple user roles and per project permissions; Extendable via plugins and API.
readme · github.comThere are two main ways to install LeanTime for production... install all needed pieces of the system locally... or use the officially supported Docker image.
readme · github.comLeantime is a goals focused project management system for non-project managers. Building with ADHD, Autism, and dyslexia in mind.
verdict · github.comTask management via<br>kanban boards, gantt, table, list and calendar views
shared feature · github.comGet an even higher level view when you view the timeline on our Program Plan overview.
shared feature · leantime.ioThere are two main ways to install LeanTime for production. The first of which is to install all needed pieces of the system locally. The second is to use the officially supported Docker image.
deployment · github.comLeantime is licensed under AGPLv3.
deployment · github.comWe only offer support for the most recent version.
deployment · github.com
