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Comparison · PM

Kanboard vs Productboard

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Kanboard and Productboard — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Kanboard vs Productboard: at a glance

FeatureKanboardProductboard
SectorPMPM
Velocity score2.56.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeskanban, self-hosted, security-hardening, phpproduct-management, api-extensibility, data-model, search-filters
Last editorial update2mo ago13d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Kanboard?

Six straight releases of security hardening, now reaching the API's own response shape

Kanboard is a stable, self-hosted PHP kanban board whose release stream is now almost entirely security work. Version 1.2.54 continues that pattern and pushes it further than most: API procedures no longer return private user fields, and changing a password invalidates every existing session and remember-me token. Feature development is close to dormant; the maintenance effort is going into closing whole categories of vulnerability rather than adding surface.

Read the full Kanboard trajectory →

What is Productboard?

Productboard v2 adds exact-match text filters as the data model keeps widening.

Productboard's v2 API spent the summer closing v1 parity gaps, then in September made entity types an open, workspace-specific string. Since then the data model has kept widening: rich text accepts tables and checklists, relationships hold their own field values, and as of October 15 entity search supports exact-match filtering on text fields.

Read the full Productboard trajectory →

Kanboard vs Productboard: editorial side-by-side

K2.5

Six straight releases of security hardening, now reaching the API's own response shape

◆ Current state

Kanboard is a stable, self-hosted PHP kanban board whose release stream is now almost entirely security work. Version 1.2.54 continues that pattern and pushes it further than most: API procedures no longer return private user fields, and changing a password invalidates every existing session and remember-me token. Feature development is close to dormant; the maintenance effort is going into closing whole categories of vulnerability rather than adding surface.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc from 1.2.49 through 1.2.54 is a systematic audit that works outward from one surface to the next — LDAP escaping, SSRF, deserialization, CSRF, comment visibility, bulk-operation ownership, and now API response shape and session lifetime. Each release also tightens the deployment story, from trusted-proxy configuration to an nginx config that only lets front controllers execute PHP. New user-facing features arrive rarely and small: opt-in full-text search, RTL support, richer API links.

◆ Prediction

Expect the audit to keep moving through remaining surfaces, with more permission checks in API procedures and continued PHP-version and base-image maintenance. Nothing in these entries points to a new feature direction.

P6.3

Productboard v2 adds exact-match text filters as the data model keeps widening.

◆ Current state

Productboard's v2 API spent the summer closing v1 parity gaps, then in September made entity types an open, workspace-specific string. Since then the data model has kept widening: rich text accepts tables and checklists, relationships hold their own field values, and as of October 15 entity search supports exact-match filtering on text fields.

◆ Where it's heading

With parity mostly done, v2 is extending the data model and making it queryable. Workspace-defined entity types and relationship fields push schema decisions into each workspace's configuration, and filter operators like eq let integrations match records precisely instead of scanning with contains.

◆ Prediction

Expect filtering and search to reach relationship fields next, following the pattern of new data shapes gaining query operators a few weeks later. Whether the beta customer score endpoint leaves beta isn't signalled by the entries.

Alternatives to Kanboard and Productboard

Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Kanboard or Productboard.

See all Kanboard alternatives → · See all Productboard alternatives →

Recent activity from Kanboard and Productboard

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 14d agoProductboardv2 - 2026-10-15 - Exact-match text field filter
  2. 21d agoProductboardv2 - 2026-10-08 - Relationship field values and Documents API references
  3. 1mo agoProductboardEntityType moves from fixed enum to workspace-specific open string ⚡
  4. 1mo agoProductboardv2 - 2026-09-21 - Tables, checklists and code languages in rich text
  5. 1mo agoProductboardv2 - 2026-09-09 - Search tag field values
  6. 2mo agoKanboardPassword changes now kill sessions; API stops leaking private fields
  7. 3mo agoKanboardSecurity fixes and opt-in full-text task search
  8. 3mo agoProductboardAdd beta endpoint for aggregated customer importance scores on hierarchy entities
  9. 6mo agoKanboardComment visibility rules and timing-safe token checks
  10. 7mo agoKanboardSSRF protection and safer deserialization
  11. 8mo agoKanboardAuthorization and CSRF checks across controllers
  12. 9mo agoKanboardLDAP injection fix and trusted-proxy config

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Kanboard and Productboard?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Productboard is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Kanboard better than Productboard?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Productboard is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Kanboard?

Top Kanboard alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Kanboard alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/kanboard for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Productboard?

Top Productboard alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Productboard alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/productboard for the full list with editorial commentary on each.