Taiga

Free and open source project management tool designed for cross-functional agile teams

In-depth Report

  • Taiga is a free and open source project management tool designed for cross-functional agile teams, launched by Kaleidos in 2015. It is developed based on Python Django, the front end is built using AngularJS, and provides support for two agile methods: Kanban and Scrum. The cloud version is free to use, and the self-hosted version is completely open source, suitable for agile development teams and start-ups of 5-50 people. Users generally report that the interface is intuitive, the learning cost is low, and the integration with GitHub and GitLab is smooth, making it a cost-effective choice for small and medium-sized enterprises and agile teams.

  • Launched in 2015 by Spanish company Kaleidos, Taiga is an open source software focused on agile project management. The company provides both cloud hosting services and self-hosted versions, and users can choose free or paid versions according to their needs. Taiga uses Python Django as the back-end framework, and the front-end is built using AngularJS to provide complete functionality on the web side. Up to now, Taiga has a large number of open source community users around the world, and is especially popular among agile development teams in Europe and North America. As an open source project management tool, Taiga maintains an active code repository on GitHub and continues to receive community contributions. The core positioning of the product is to provide simple, efficient and free project management solutions for small and medium-sized agile teams. The core competitive advantage lies in open source and free, user-friendly interface and support for mainstream agile methods.

  • Taiga provides comprehensive agile project management functions, with core support for two mainstream agile methods: Kanban and Scrum. In Kanban mode, users can customize workflows, set WIP limits, visualize task lanes using swim lanes, and support extensive filtering and search capabilities. Kanban columns can be flexibly configured with epics and subtasks to meet the personalized needs of different teams. In Scrum mode, Taiga provides backlog management, sprint planning, estimation functions and burndown chart tracking to help teams effectively manage iteration progress. In addition to agile method support, Taiga also provides issue tracking capabilities that support custom issue types, priorities, and severity. Users can add issues to a sprint or escalate issues to user stories. Dashboard and reporting features include team performance dashboards, full auditing capabilities, personal dashboards and custom real-time reports, with support for CSV export. Teams can also use built-in wiki functionality for knowledge management. In terms of customization functions, Taiga allows you to define team roles and permissions, support more than 20 languages, customize stages, colors, closure definitions, labels and fields to meet the localization needs of different teams. In terms of integration and migration, Taiga provides embedded onboarding, supports multiple integrations through tools such as Zapier, and provides project import and export functions. Compared with competing products, Taiga's advantages are that it is open source, free, simple and easy to use. However, the advanced reporting functions are relatively basic, and the mobile experience is not as complete as the desktop version, and performance issues may occur when dealing with large projects.

  • Taiga offers three versions to choose from. The cloud basic version is completely free, provides 500MB storage and unlimited users, and is suitable for small teams and individual developers. The cloud Premium version is priced at 60 euros/month or 600 euros/year, provides 3GB storage and priority technical support, and is suitable for teams with higher requirements for service quality. The self-hosted version is completely free and open source. Enterprises can deploy it to their own servers and fully control data security. It is suitable for enterprises that value data privacy and customization. For start-up teams and small development teams with limited budgets, Taiga's free version already provides enough functionality without being forced to pay high subscription fees. This is the core advantage of Taiga compared to business tools such as Jira and Asana.

  • Judging from the user reviews collected, Taiga has received more positive feedback. Users generally believe that the interface is intuitive and beautiful, and the functions that can be used without training are usable but not bloated. Some users said that after switching to Taiga, the team's stress level dropped significantly and the relationship with customers became stronger. The free nature of open source is very friendly to small teams, and there is no need to pay a monthly subscription fee of hundreds of dollars. Flexible customization and smooth integration with tools such as GitHub and GitLab are also aspects that users appreciate. Some negative feedback pointed out that the horizontal scrolling design of the billboard does not conform to modern user interface habits, the mobile app functions are reduced compared to the desktop version, and the number of third-party integrations is limited. For large projects, performance lags may occur when the number of tasks increases. Advanced reporting and data analysis functions are relatively basic and are not suitable for enterprises that require complex reporting. Taken together, Taiga is suitable for agile teams that focus on practicality and cost control. It may not be the best choice for large enterprises or scenarios that require complex functions.

  • Judging from industry media and community discussions, Taiga is positioned as an open source alternative to commercial tools such as Jira and Asana, especially suitable for teams with limited budgets but in need of professional project management tools. There are many Chinese users on CSDN and Zhihu sharing Taiga's usage tutorials and in-depth reviews, and the overall evaluation is positive. As a completely open source free but fully functional project management platform, Taiga has a stable market position in the open source community. Compared with competing products such as Jira, Asana, Trello, and Monday.com, Taiga's core advantages are open source, free and simple design. But business tools still have advantages when it comes to enterprise-grade functionality, brand awareness, and ecosystem integration.

  • So far, no major disputes or safety incidents have been found in Taiga. As open source software, the code is highly transparent and security risks are relatively controllable. The data of the self-hosted version is completely controlled by the enterprise itself. Sensitive data does not need to be uploaded to third-party cloud services. Security-sensitive enterprises can use it with confidence. Risks that need to be noted include: the self-hosted version requires technical capabilities for deployment and maintenance; the paid functions of the cloud version are relatively basic; and the mobile experience needs to be improved.

  • Taiga is suitable for the following scenarios and people: Agile development teams of 5-50 people, especially software development teams; start-ups and individual developers with limited budgets; enterprises that focus on data security and want to be self-hosted; remote distributed collaboration teams; students and enthusiasts who want to learn agile methods. Taiga may not be the best choice for the following scenarios: large organizations that require complex enterprise-level reports; companies with thousands of employees; users who rely heavily on mobile terminals; companies that require local Chinese technical support. Alternatives include: for enterprise-level needs, consider Jira and Asana; for simple task management, consider Trello and Notion; for completely free solutions, consider GitHub Projects.

  • Taiga is a comprehensive and completely free open source agile project management tool that provides Kanban and Scrum support, a simple and intuitive interface, and smooth integration with GitHub and GitLab. For agile teams of 5-50 people and start-ups, Taiga provides the core functions of a professional project management tool without paying high subscription fees, making it a cost-effective choice for small and medium-sized enterprises. Limitations that need to be noted include the relatively basic advanced reporting functions, imperfect mobile experience, and possible performance issues in large projects. If the team needs more complex enterprise-level features or reliable Chinese technical support, they can consider commercial tools such as Jira or Asana.

User Reviews

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    陈彤
    I have been using Taiga for three months and overall I feel pretty good! The interface is very simple and quick to use. The free version is enough for our team of 5 people.

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    crazyleopard671
    It is highly recommended for small agile teams. It is easy to switch between Scrum and Kanban. The key is that it is open source and free without spending money to buy a license.

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    JoeYoungZ
    I saved a lot of money by migrating from Jira to Taiga. Although the functions are not that comprehensive, they are enough.

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    PWood_7
    The UI of the Kanban board is a bit old, and I’m not used to horizontal scrolling. I hope it can be optimized in the future.

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    happywolf343
    Deployment of the self-hosted version is a bit troublesome and requires some knowledge of Docker technology, but the data is more secure on your own server.

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    JerryKim_66
    The integration with GitHub is very smooth, commits are automatically associated with tasks, and the workflow is much clearer.

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    EpsilonEarnSimmons
    The free version only has 500MB of storage, which is not enough if you have too many files.

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    Nancy.AndersonSr91
    The mobile experience is average, and many functions cannot be used on mobile phones.

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    HOkel
    The team has been using it for half a year, and the efficiency has indeed improved. It is an open source tool worth recommending.

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    DGomez_20227
    The reporting function is too basic. If you want more advanced data analysis, you have to import CSV yourself.

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    Eugene.KimII
    It’s great that it supports more than 20 languages, and you don’t have to worry about foreigners in the team.

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    蒋杰强
    Use it with caution on large projects, as it will start to get stuck if there are more than 500 tasks.

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    KimberlyLee
    Burndown charts and sprint boards are very useful and are essential for agile development.

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    Catherine.Cox369
    More professional than Trello, cheaper than Jira, and the first choice for small teams.

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    StevenBrooks_2024
    The wiki function is very easy to use, and the team knowledge base is in place in one step.

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    Nicholas_CooperZ9
    The import and export function is very convenient, and data can be migrated when changing projects.

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    2zdlf6a
    Custom workflows are flexible and can be configured to your team’s needs.

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    KTurnerJr
    The user story decomposition function is very practical, and even agile newbies can get started quickly.

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    ifm02r2y5k
    It’s free for personal use, but there is a fee for business use, but the price is quite reasonable.

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    Richard.Mitchell_2023
    There are still too few third-party integrations, and many common tools do not support them.