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Comparison · PM
Leantime vs Ellie Planner
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Leantime and Ellie Planner — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Leantime vs Ellie Planner: at a glance
What is Leantime?
Leantime is stabilizing its big 3.9 rewrite while extending cross-project planning and a mobile API
Leantime is deep in a modernization cycle. The 3.9.0 release rebuilt the app around a native, fail-closed permission engine, a JSON-RPC API, and a consolidated Blueprints domain; the releases since then mostly stabilize that foundation. Recent point releases fix regressions (repeated Bearer/PAT auth fixes) while adding cross-project program views and a mobile app backend.
What is Ellie Planner?
Solo-built daily planner adds an AI assistant and more calendar/tool integrations.
Ellie is a solo-developer daily-planning app that combines calendar time-boxing, task capture, and a growing set of integrations. The most consequential recent addition is a built-in AI assistant on mobile and desktop; the changelog itself is candid and irregular, updated in bursts.
Leantime vs Ellie Planner: editorial side-by-side
Leantime
6.3PM
Leantime is stabilizing its big 3.9 rewrite while extending cross-project planning and a mobile API
◆ Current state
Leantime is deep in a modernization cycle. The 3.9.0 release rebuilt the app around a native, fail-closed permission engine, a JSON-RPC API, and a consolidated Blueprints domain; the releases since then mostly stabilize that foundation. Recent point releases fix regressions (repeated Bearer/PAT auth fixes) while adding cross-project program views and a mobile app backend.
◆ Where it's heading
The work is consolidation over expansion: hardening the new auth/permission and API layers, closing security IDORs domain by domain, and building the surface a mobile app and program-level planning need. The steady stream of small patch releases reflects shaking out regressions from the 3.9.0 refactor rather than opening new product directions.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued point releases fixing regressions from the permission-engine and JSON-RPC migration, plus buildout of the Leantime Mobile app now that its Bearer-authenticated backend API is landing.
Solo-built daily planner adds an AI assistant and more calendar/tool integrations.
◆ Current state
Ellie is a solo-developer daily-planning app that combines calendar time-boxing, task capture, and a growing set of integrations. The most consequential recent addition is a built-in AI assistant on mobile and desktop; the changelog itself is candid and irregular, updated in bursts.
◆ Where it's heading
Ellie is expanding along two lines: an AI assistant layered onto the planner, and a widening web of integrations (Todoist, Notion, Slack, Outlook/Apple calendars). The direction is a connected personal-planning hub, paced by a single maker's availability.
◆ Prediction
Expect the AI assistant to take on more planning and time-boxing work, and continued integration additions; release timing will stay irregular given the solo cadence.
Alternatives to Leantime and Ellie Planner
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 Leantime or Ellie Planner.
TimeCamp
TimeCamp's public feed is competitor-comparison marketing, not shipping news.
Hostaway
Hostaway is building the compliance and automation layer around rental invoicing
Harvest
Harvest rebuilt its interface and split off a Premium tier for profitability
Aha!
Aha! is extending from roadmapping into an AI app builder with real access controls.
Atlassian
Atlassian is rebuilding Jira around managing human-plus-AI-agent work.
See all Leantime alternatives → · See all Ellie Planner alternatives →
Recent activity from Leantime and Ellie Planner
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 7d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.8: milestone reporting and MCP endpoint fixes
- 10d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.7 adds cross-project program views
- 11d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.6: security hardening plus content templates
- 27d agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.5 adds mobile notification and calendar APIs
- 1mo agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.4 fixes cross-project 'My Work' loading
- 1mo agoLeantimeLeantime 3.9.3 fixes Bearer-token API authentication
- 6mo agoEllie Planner🧹 Todoist integration, improved Slack/Notion integrations and more
- 10mo agoEllie PlannerEllie AI, Task templates, "Add task" from calendar events and more ✨ ⚡
- 1y agoEllie PlannerNotion integration, Analytics, Rituals, Notifications and a ton more
- 2y agoEllie Planner🐹 Outlook Calendar Integration, iOS Widgets, Slack integration and more
- 2y agoEllie Planner📆 Mac menu bar, improved auto sync and more
- 2y agoEllie Planner🍎 Apple cal, Month view, zooming 🔎 and more!
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Leantime and Ellie Planner?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Leantime is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), 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 Leantime better than Ellie Planner?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Leantime is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), 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 Leantime?
Top Leantime alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Leantime alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/leantime for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Ellie Planner?
Top Ellie Planner alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Ellie Planner alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ellie for the full list with editorial commentary on each.