How to set up Vikunja on Saplo (task management without account fees)

If you're part of a team, agency, or a freelancer juggling multiple projects on Trello or Asana, you'll eventually encounter the same invoice: the free plan limits you to a handful of boards or users, while paid plans charge per additional team member, regardless of whether they log in daily or once a week. Vikunja is an open-source task and project management solution that you host on your own Box. You get lists, a Kanban board, a Gantt view, and reminders, all without any limits on the number of projects, tasks, or user accounts. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up Vikunja on Saplo.

Why Vikunja instead of Trello or Asana

Keeping your team's tasks in someone else's cloud makes sense as long as the team is small, but the cost grows with the number of accounts:

• Trello on the free plan limits the number of boards, and paid plans (Standard, Premium) charge per user per month.
• Asana on the Starter plan also charges per user, so an agency managing multiple client projects pays multiple times for the same people on different teams.
• Client project tasks and notes stored in someone else's cloud are data outside of your control, which can be an issue with non-disclosure agreements.

Vikunja runs as a single Docker container on your Box, so you create unlimited projects and tasks, accounts register themselves directly on the site, and the total cost is just the cost of the Box itself, regardless of whether your team has three people or thirty.

Vikunja vs. Trello and Asana

All three offer task lists, a Kanban board, and reminders. The difference lies in where your data is stored and the cost per additional account:

• Trello focuses on simplicity and the Kanban board as the sole view. Additional views (calendar, timeline) require a paid plan.
• Asana adds Gantt charts and automations, at the cost of being the most expensive per user among the three for higher plans.
• Vikunja has lists, Kanban, Gantt, and reminders all in one, with no feature separation into different plans. You can create unlimited accounts and projects on your own Box.

If your team or agency doesn't need extensive automations or integrations with dozens of external tools, but rather a place for project tasks under full control, Vikunja is the best fit.

Requirements

To set up Vikunja on Saplo, you need:

• A Box with Docker running (the engine automatically enables it when installing from the catalog, container nesting is required, which Saplo has by default),
• A minimum of 256 MB RAM free on the Box and 2 GB of disk space, meaning a Box S plan is sufficient,
• A domain or subdomain *.saploapp.pl included with every plan, under which the Vikunja panel will be accessible,
• You do NOT set up a separate database - Vikunja stores its own SQLite database in the data volume, zero additional infrastructure, just like with Uptime Kuma or Vaultwarden.

Step-by-step installation

1. In your Saplo panel, go to the App catalog and select Vikunja (category "Business").
2. Select a Box with at least 256 MB of free RAM, where Vikunja will be installed, and the domain or subdomain under which the panel will operate.
3. Confirm the installation. The engine deploys a container from the official vikunja/vikunja image, generates a random secret for signing login tokens, and permanently saves it in the configuration of that Box, connected to nginx, which serves the panel under the specified domain with free SSL.
4. After the container starts, the engine checks via HTTP if Vikunja is actually responding before considering the installation complete.
5. A short getting started guide is saved to the VIKUNJA-SETUP.txt file in the application directory.

First-time setup

1. Go to your domain, for example zadania.saploapp.pl, and create your first account. Registration is enabled immediately after installation.
2. Vikunja doesn't have an "instance administrator" concept - every account has the same permissions in the system. You set access to a specific project separately by sharing it with selected users or a team.
3. Create your first project (New Project) and choose a view: list, Kanban, or Gantt, depending on how your team prefers to work.
4. Invite the rest of the team; each person should register their own account at the same address, and you can share the projects they need access to.
5. For recurring tasks, set reminders and due dates in the task details. Vikunja will send a notification before the deadline.

Vikunja on Saplo vs Trello and Asana

FAQ

Can I add more people to the team without paying for each account? Yes, registration is open. Everyone can create an account independently at the address of your installation, and the number of accounts costs nothing beyond the Box itself.

Who manages permissions if there is no instance administrator? Access is set per project. The project owner shares it with selected users or the entire team. Each account has the same permissions at the level of the entire installation.

Does Vikunja have a Gantt view like Asana in higher plans? Yes, the Gantt view is available immediately, without dividing features into paid plans.

Can I transfer tasks from Trello or Asana? Yes, Vikunja has built-in import from several formats, including Trello export. Just upload the file in the migration settings.

If your team or agency is currently paying for additional accounts in Trello or Asana and wants to have full control over project tasks, contact us. We'll help you choose the right Box for your team.