Vikunja

Vikunja is an open‑source, self‑hostable task and project management platform that provides list, Kanban, table and Gantt views, collaboration primitives, CalDAV syncing and a public REST API. It’s intended for people and teams that want control over their task data and prefer running services on their own infrastructure rather than using a hosted SaaS product.

The platform fits home servers, homelabs and small team deployments: you can run the backend as a Docker container or from binaries/source, integrate with existing auth (SSO), expose tasks over CalDAV for mobile sync, and extend or automate workflows via the REST API.

Use Cases

• Privacy‑focused individuals and homelabbers who want data sovereignty and avoid vendor lock‑in.
• Small teams that need flexible views (Kanban for flow, list/table for triage, Gantt for planning) without a heavy enterprise suite.
• Organizations that require on‑premise deployment for compliance or internal policy reasons.
• Developers and integrators who want an open API to build custom clients, automations or syncs with other tools.
• Users who prefer to sync tasks with third‑party mobile apps via CalDAV rather than rely on a first‑party mobile app.

Strengths

• Self‑hostable backend: run via Docker, binary or source to keep data on your servers and control upgrades.
• Multiple task views: list, Kanban, table and Gantt accommodate different workflows without switching tools.
• Hierarchical projects and subtasks: supports multi‑level task breakdowns needed for complex projects.
• Advanced filtering & saved views: queryable filters and saved dashboards for power users.
• Collaboration & basic permissions: share projects, assign tasks and manage small team access control.
• CalDAV support: lets you sync tasks to compatible calendar/to‑do apps (e.g., Tasks.org) without proprietary sync services.
• REST API & extensibility: open API enables integrations, automation and third‑party client development.
• Open‑source with active development: AGPL/GPL licensing, public repo and release notes make updates and audits straightforward.
• Official Docker images and docs: reduces friction for common containerized deployments and upgrades.
• Optional SSO and local user management: adapts to single‑admin home installs or centralized enterprise auth.

Limitations

• Initial setup complexity: typical installs involve Docker, PostgreSQL (or another DB), optional Redis and a reverse proxy — a learning curve if you lack sysadmin experience.
• Limited first‑party mobile apps: mobile access relies on CalDAV clients; experience varies by client and can require troubleshooting.
• CalDAV edge cases: community reports of duplicates or missed updates with some CalDAV clients — expect to test and tune client settings.
• No built‑in one‑click backup UI: backups are handled at the DB/filesystem level, so you must script DB dumps or use host snapshots for recovery.
• Scaling considerations: resource use (CPU, memory, DB I/O) grows with users and data; production teams should plan monitoring and capacity.

Final Thoughts

If your priority is data control, flexible task views and an open API, Vikunja is a pragmatic self‑hosted choice that covers personal use and many small‑team workflows. It trades a few conveniences (native mobile apps, in‑app backup UI) for transparency and control.

Practical advice: start on a small VPS or homelab using the official Docker images, enable CalDAV only after testing your preferred mobile client, and implement routine DB/file backups (dumps or snapshots) and simple monitoring. For team deployments, enable SSO where possible and plan capacity for Gantt/large‑project usage. If you need an out‑of‑the‑box polished mobile experience or enterprise backup/DR features, evaluate hosted SaaS alternatives or products with first‑party mobile clients instead.

References

• https://vikunja.io
• https://vikunja.io/docs/
• https://vikunja.io/features/
• https://github.com/go-vikunja/vikunja
• https://tasks.org/