Kan is an open-source project management tool designed as a self-hostable alternative to Trello, offering teams full control over their data and workflow customization. Built with modern web technologies including Next.js, tRPC, and Drizzle ORM, Kan provides a familiar board-based interface with advanced collaboration features like real-time comments, activity logs, and customizable templates. It targets teams seeking privacy-focused project management without relying on SaaS platforms, especially those needing Trello board imports or enterprise-grade authentication options.
Ideal for developers, product teams, and DevOps professionals who want to self-host their project management system with full data sovereignty, Kan supports email authentication, OAuth providers (GitHub, Google, Discord), S3 file uploads, and comprehensive environment configuration for production deployments.
What You Get
- Board Visibility - Control who can view and edit boards with granular permissions, ensuring sensitive projects remain private while enabling collaboration on shared initiatives.
- Trello Imports - Seamlessly import existing Trello boards using your API key and secret, preserving card structure, labels, and comments during migration.
- Labels & Filters - Organize cards with custom labels and filter boards by label, assignee, or due date to improve task discoverability and workflow efficiency.
- Comments & Activity Log - Collaborate directly on cards with threaded comments and track every change in a detailed audit trail for accountability and transparency.
- Custom Board Templates - Save and reuse board layouts as templates to standardize workflows across teams or projects, reducing setup time for recurring tasks.
- Self-Hosting with Docker - Deploy Kan fully self-contained using Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and optional S3 storage, giving you complete control over infrastructure.
- OAuth & Email Authentication - Support for multiple authentication methods including email/password, GitHub, Google, Discord, and generic OIDC providers via Better Auth.
- S3 File Uploads - Store avatars and attachments in S3-compatible storage (e.g., Cloudflare R2, AWS S3) with configurable buckets and endpoints for scalable media handling.
Common Use Cases
- Building a private team dashboard for product teams - A startup wants to replace Trello with a self-hosted solution to avoid data leaks and comply with internal security policies, using Kan’s Trello import tool to migrate existing boards without disruption.
- Creating a DevOps workflow for microservices tracking - A mid-sized engineering team uses Kan to track deployment tickets, infrastructure tasks, and incident responses with custom labels and activity logs for audit compliance.
- Problem: Inability to control SaaS data → Solution: Self-host Kan with PostgreSQL and S3 - Teams frustrated by Trello’s API limits or data residency concerns deploy Kan on-premises using Docker Compose, ensuring full ownership of user data and board history.
- Team workflow for remote design agencies - Design teams manage client projects with custom templates, board permissions, and S3-hosted mockups, using Kan’s white-labeling to hide ‘Powered by kan.bn’ for client-facing boards.
Under The Hood
Kanbn-Kan is a collaborative project management platform built with a modern TypeScript ecosystem, emphasizing developer-first design and extensibility through modular architecture. It leverages Next.js and a monorepo setup to support scalable, reusable components and seamless integration with third-party tools.
Architecture
The system adopts a layered monorepo structure that promotes clear separation of concerns across distinct packages and applications. This approach enables modular development with consistent component patterns and workspace-based organization.
- Uses a monorepo architecture with pnpm workspaces for efficient dependency management and code sharing
- Implements a layered design that separates API, database, authentication, and shared logic into distinct modules
- Emphasizes reusability and maintainability through consistent component organization and abstraction
Tech Stack
The project is built using a contemporary TypeScript and React stack, integrating industry-standard tools for performance and developer experience.
- Built with TypeScript and Next.js 15.5.9, leveraging React 18 for UI rendering and component composition
- Employs @trpc for type-safe API communication, Tailwind CSS for styling, and Tiptap for rich text editing
- Utilizes Turbo for monorepo task orchestration, pnpm as the package manager, and ESLint/Prettier for code quality
- Vitest is integrated for testing, ensuring type safety and seamless test execution within the monorepo
Code Quality
The codebase reflects a solid foundation in modern web practices, with attention to TypeScript usage and consistent UI patterns.
- Strong focus on type safety and linting through TypeScript, ESLint, and Prettier configurations
- Error handling is consistently applied with try/catch blocks across relevant modules
- UI components are structured for reusability and maintainability, with a clear component hierarchy
What Makes It Unique
Kanbn-Kan distinguishes itself through thoughtful integration of internationalization, extensibility, and developer tooling in a collaborative platform.
- Modular component architecture enables flexible customization and cross-module reuse
- Innovative use of Lingui.js supports dynamic locale switching and robust fallback mechanisms
- Extensive third-party integration capabilities, including Trello imports and YouTube embeddings via custom node views
- Developer-centric configuration with pnpm workspaces and turbo.json for optimized builds and scalable development