Plane is what a lot of teams reach for once Jira starts to feel like a second job. It's open source, it looks like a modern tool rather than an enterprise console, and you can run it on your own server. This guide covers what Plane PM actually does, what the self-hosted edition gets you, and how to run it on AWS with Meetrix's pre-configured AMI.
What is Plane PM?
Plane is an open source project management tool aimed squarely at software teams. The building blocks:
- Work items (issues) with states, priorities, labels, assignees and sub-issues.
- Cycles, Plane's word for sprints, with burn-down charts.
- Modules for grouping work into features or epics, and roadmap views across them.
- Pages for specs and notes that live next to the work.
- List, board, spreadsheet, calendar and Gantt layouts over the same data.
If you've used Linear, it'll feel familiar. If you've used Jira, it'll feel lighter: fewer screens, fewer settings, less configuration before anyone can work. Our Plane vs Jira comparison goes through the trade-offs in detail.
Plane open source project management, self-hosted
Plane's Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host, with no per-seat licence. Plane also sells Pro and Business plans that run self-hosted too, adding things like SAML and OIDC single sign-on. Most small and mid-sized teams start on the free edition and only look at a paid plan when SSO becomes a requirement.
Self-hosting means the project data, which often includes customer names, roadmaps and security bugs, stays in your AWS account. That's the usual reason teams move, more than the licence cost.
What the Meetrix AMI gives you
- Plane installed and configured on Ubuntu 22.04, with its database and supporting services.
- A CloudFormation template that asks for a domain, admin email, password and instance size.
- Automatic SSL for domains hosted in Route 53, and a script for issuing a certificate by hand if not.
- Email support from Meetrix.
How to self-host Plane on AWS
You'll need an AWS account with permission to run CloudFormation, and a domain you can point at the server.
- Open Plane on AWS Marketplace, click "Continue to Subscribe" and accept the terms.
- Click "Continue to Configuration", choose your region, then launch with the CloudFormation template.
- Fill in the stack: name, Admin Email, DeploymentName, DomainName, instance type (t3.medium recommended), key pair and the Plane admin password.
- Choose your rollback option, acknowledge that IAM resources will be created, and submit.
- When the stack finishes, point your domain at the PublicIp from the Outputs tab (in Route 53 this happens for you).
- Open the DashboardUrl from the Outputs tab and sign in with the admin email and password.
If automatic SSL fails, SSH into the server and run the standalone certificate script described in the developer guide. To pause Plane, stop the EC2 instance; to remove it, delete the CloudFormation stack. For help, contact Meetrix Support at support@meetrix.io.
Before you invite the team
- Check which Plane version the server is running and compare it with the latest release. Plane ships often.
- Turn off open sign-up in the admin settings so only invited people get in.
- Set up email (SMTP) so invitations and notifications actually arrive.
- Schedule EBS snapshots. Everything, database and uploads included, lives on that volume.
Plane's own self-hosting documentation covers configuration options in more depth. Running on Google Cloud instead? See Plane as a Jira alternative on GCP.
Plane vs Jira vs OpenProject
| Plane | Jira | OpenProject | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Software teams that want speed and a clean UI | Large orgs with complex workflows and many integrations | Traditional project planning: Gantt, time and cost tracking |
| Learning curve | Low | High | Medium |
| Self-hosted | Yes, free Community Edition | Data Center only, no longer sold to new customers since March 2026 | Yes, free Community edition |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 |
Plane wins on simplicity and on being genuinely free to self-host. Jira still wins on depth and ecosystem. OpenProject is the pick if your projects look more like construction schedules than sprints. If Plane is not the right shape for your team, our list of Jira alternatives covers the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Plane PM?
Plane is an open source project management tool for software teams: issues, cycles (sprints), modules, roadmaps and pages, in a clean interface that feels closer to Linear than to Jira. The Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host.
Is Plane open source project management free to self-host?
Yes. Plane Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 and costs nothing to license on your own server. Paid Pro and Business plans add features such as SAML or OIDC single sign-on and are also available self-hosted. On AWS you pay for the instance either way.
What server does a self-hosted Plane need?
Plane runs several containers (web, API, workers, PostgreSQL, Redis and object storage), so give it at least 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM. A t3.medium is the recommended starting size for the Meetrix AMI.
Can Plane replace Jira?
For many software teams, yes: issues, sprints, backlogs and roadmaps are all there. Jira still has the deeper workflow engine and the bigger app marketplace. Atlassian also stopped selling new Jira Data Center licenses in March 2026, which pushes self-hosting teams toward options like Plane.
How do I update a self-hosted Plane on AWS?
Back up first (an EBS snapshot is the quickest), then follow Plane's upgrade steps for the Docker setup, or launch a newer version of the AMI and move your data across. Plane releases often, so check what version your server runs.