Shortcut vs Leantime
Leantime is a credible open-source, self-hostable alternative for teams that want broader, goal-focused project management, including tasks, sprints, reports, documents, timelines, and time tracking. Shortcut remains the better fit for software-delivery teams that depend on its engineering-specific issue model, development-tool automations, or AI-agent workflow; comparable Leantime coverage for those areas is notِشذق
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Leantime if
- Cross-functional teams coordinating goals, milestones, tasks, documents, and reports outside a strictly engineering-centered workflow
- Organizations requiring an AGPL-3.0 application deployable on their own infrastructure
- Teams that need Kanban, Gantt, table, list, and calendar task views with subtasks and dependenciesS3 or local file storage, LDAP or OIDC, two-factor authentication, and per-project permissions
Stay with Shortcut if
- GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Sentry, or version-control-triggered updates are central to the workflow; equivalent Leantime integrations are not documented in the supplied material
- AI-agent assignment, specification generation, pull-request drafting, and coding-agent coordination are required; equivalent coverage is not documented for Leantime
- The migration requires a supported Shortcut importer or verified field, history, and attachment mapping; no concrete Shortcut migration path is documented
Deployment and operations
Leantime is self-hostable and licensed under AGPLv3, with an exception allowing differently licensed plugins under /app/Plugins. Production installation is documented either on a PHP 8.2+ web stack with MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+, or through an officially maintained Docker image; no Kubernetes deployment method is supplied. Managed hosting and SaaS are also available. Self-hosters must operate the database, backups, upgrades, and persistent Docker volumes. Official support is limited to the35
Feature fit
What Leantime covers
- Task and project tracking
- Kanban-style work views
- Sprint management
- Goals and progress tracking
- Project reports and status updates
- Project documents and knowledge management
- Milestones and timeline planning
What’s different or missing
- No documented Shortcut importer
- No documented GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket integration
- No documented version-control-triggered automation
- No documented Sentry integration
- No documented AI-agent assignment or pull-request workflow
- No documented Kubernetes installation
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 review15 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Leantime is an open source project management system for non-project managers.
readme · github.comTask management via kanban boards, gantt, table, list and calendar views
readme · github.comProject Dashboards, reports & status updates
readme · github.comGoal & metrics tracking
readme · github.comSprint Management
readme · github.comWikis / Docs
readme · github.comIntegrates with Slack, Mattermost, Discord
readme · github.comThe first of which is to install all needed pieces of the system locally. The second is to use the officially supported Docker image.
readme · github.comWe offer managed hosting plans as well as a SaaS product
readme · github.comLeantime is a goals focused project management system for non-project managers.
verdict · github.comTask management via<br>kanban boards, gantt, table, list and calendar views
shared feature · github.comProject Dashboards, reports & status updates
shared feature · github.comThere 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.comBefore updating, make sure your mysql container was started using a mounted volume, otherwise your content will be deleted
deployment · github.com
