Zoho Projects vs Scrumboy
Choose Scrumboy for self-hosted, Kanban-centered work where teams value shareable boards, real-time collaboration, custom workflows, sprints, and control of deployment. Keep Zoho Projects for formal delivery planning that depends on Gantt charts, task dependencies, planned-versus-actual tracking, timesheets, invoicing links, or its broader application ecosystem; those capabilities are not documented for Scrumboy in -
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Scrumboy if
- Solo developers and small or midsize teams wanting a self-hosted Kanban system
- Teams using customizable board workflows, sprints, priorities, tags, and real-time collaboration
- Organizations requiring OIDC/SSO, 2FA, audit trails, or anonymous link-shared boards on their own infrastructure
Stay with Zoho Projects if
- Project managers require documented Gantt scheduling, task dependencies, or planned-versus-actual progress tracking
- Teams need billable and non-billable timesheets or a documented connection to Zoho Invoice
- Organizations depend on Zoho or third-party integrations beyond Scrumboy’s documented API, webhooks, and MCP supportystem- Teams need vendor-operated cloud hosting or native mobile applications rather than maintaining a
Deployment and operations
Scrumboy is AGPL-3.0 and self-hosted. It can run from a multi-architecture Docker image, Docker Compose, Go source, or a Windows executable; no Kubernetes deployment is documented. The default data store is SQLite under ./data or /data. Operators must persist and back up the data directory, including the database, WAL/SHM sidecars, and file-backed uploads. Basic startup needs no .env file, TLS certificate, or encryption key, but production features such as 2FA, password reset, OIDC/SSO, SMTP, V,
Migration considerations
Scrumboy supports JSON export and import with merge or replace modes and full-instance or single-project scope. The supplied documentation also exposes a Trello import size setting, but it does not document direct Zoho Projects import or format compatibility. A Zoho migration would therefore require validating an intermediate conversion or rebuilding data; JSON export is also not a complete disaster-recovery backup because uploaded wallpapers and audit events are omitted.
Feature fit
What Scrumboy covers
- Project and task organization
- Task assignment and status tracking
- Custom project workflows
- Workflow-related automation hooks
- Mobile-oriented project access
What’s different or missing
- No documented Gantt charts
- No documented task dependencies
- No documented planned-versus-actual tracking
- No documented time tracking or timesheets
- No documented Zoho Invoice connection
- No documented direct Zoho Projects importer
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 429
- Contributors
- 6
- Language
- Go
- Last commit
- Aug 16, 2026
- Latest release
- Aug 13, 2026
Categories: Calendars & Scheduling, Workflow Automation, Project Management, Task Management, Knowledge Management, Team Communication, Document Collaboration
Sources and editorial review13 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Self-hosted kanban & project management with shareable boards, voice commands, sticky-notes, multi-language and MCP support
repository description · github.comCustom Workflows: You can create any combination of workflow you want, per project, with user-defined "Done" lane.
readme · github.comSprints: create, activate, close; sprint filter on board; default sprint weeks (1 or 2) per project.
readme · github.comRealtime SSE enabled boards for instant multi-user actions.
readme · github.comWebhooks (API-only, full mode): Register URLs per project so Scrumboy can POST JSON when subscribed domain events fire
readme · github.comScrumboy is distributed as a container image on GitHub Container Registry
readme · github.comOpen http://localhost:8080.
readme · github.comSimplicity of a light Kanban, with the power of structured systems: Roles, sprints, audit trails & customizable workflows - without being locked into SaaS tools.
verdict · github.comCustom Workflows: You can create any combination of workflow you want, per project, with user-defined "Done" lane.
shared feature · github.comPublished images are multi-arch for `linux/amd64` and `linux/arm64`; Docker pulls the variant that matches your host.
deployment · github.comMount a volume or host directory on `/data` so the database **and** file-backed uploads (for example `user-wallpapers/`) survive container recreation.
deployment · github.comBackup: export/import JSON; merge or replace; scope full or single project. JSON export is not a complete `DATA_DIR` disaster-recovery backup (uploaded wallpapers and `audit_events` are omitted);
migration · github.comCentered around the self-hosted & privacy-focused community, as well as small to medium-sized teams & solo builders
best for · github.com
