Self-host Kanboard

updated Sep 2026deployed by usprices checked · Jul 2026Install verified on Ubuntu 26.04 · Sep 2026 · how we test

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Minimalist kanban project management tool with boards, swimlanes, subtasks, time tracking, automatic actions, a JSON-RPC API and a plugin system. Runs on PHP with SQLite, MySQL/MariaDB or PostgreSQL.

Key facts

CategoryProject Management

LicenseMIT

StackPHP, PostgreSQL

Min RAM256 MB

Official imageyes

Measured idle RAM52 MB

Difficulty

Sourcegithub.com/kanboard/kanboard

Websitekanboard.org

What you need

Any VPS with at least 256 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
Under an hour if you've used Docker before

Where to host itaffiliate disclosure

Hetzner Cloudrun it on

From $23.59/mo · 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB · EU + US

Get Hetzner Cloud

Kamaterafree trial

From $4/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 20 GB · US + EU + Asia

Start free on Kamatera →

DigitalOceanalso works on

From $6/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 25 GB · US + EU + Asia

Deploy on DigitalOcean →

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Install

Run these commands on your server:

# Kanboard + PostgreSQL — the official docker-compose.postgres.yml (upstream advises against SQLite in Docker)
mkdir -p kanboard && cd kanboard
echo "DB_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 16)" > .env
cat > docker-compose.yml <<'EOF'
services:
  app:
    image: kanboard/kanboard:v1.2.54
    restart: always
    ports: ["8080:80"]
    volumes: ["data:/var/www/app/data", "plugins:/var/www/app/plugins"]
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://kanboard:${DB_PASSWORD}@db/kanboard
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
  db:
    image: postgres:17
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: kanboard
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_DB: kanboard
    volumes: ["db:/var/lib/postgresql/data"]
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", "kanboard"]
      start_period: 15s
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
volumes:
  data:
  plugins:
  db:
EOF
docker compose up -d   #  →  http://SERVER_IP:8080  (default login admin / admin — change it immediately)