← Back to home
Comparison · PM

Leantime vs Productboard

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

Leantime vs Productboard: at a glance

FeatureLeantimeProductboard
SectorPMPM
Velocity score5.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesproject-management, self-hosted, permissions, pluginsproduct-management, api, documents, data-model
Last editorial update2d ago12h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Leantime?

Leantime swaps role ranks for real permissions and syncs with your calendar app.

Leantime moved from 3.10 to 3.14 between October and 10 November. v3.14.0 replaces role-rank checks with specific permission checks across projects, timesheets, users, API keys, to-dos, milestones and sprints, and opens the calendar to plugins; a new CalDAV plugin syncs both ways with Nextcloud, Radicale and Apple Calendar. Earlier releases added mobile push, per-project modules, global search and self-updating plugins.

Read the full Leantime trajectory →

What is Productboard?

Productboard's v2 documents API now keeps plain web addresses and emoji as ordinary text.

Productboard's v2 API spent the summer closing v1 parity gaps, then in September made entity types a workspace-specific string. October added field values on relationships, exact-match text search and 308 redirects for merged entities. On November 5 the documents content endpoints changed how they treat bare URLs, email addresses and emoji: they now stay plain text unless written with explicit link syntax.

Read the full Productboard trajectory →

Leantime vs Productboard: editorial side-by-side

L5.0

Leantime swaps role ranks for real permissions and syncs with your calendar app.

◆ Current state

Leantime moved from 3.10 to 3.14 between October and 10 November. v3.14.0 replaces role-rank checks with specific permission checks across projects, timesheets, users, API keys, to-dos, milestones and sprints, and opens the calendar to plugins; a new CalDAV plugin syncs both ways with Nextcloud, Radicale and Apple Calendar. Earlier releases added mobile push, per-project modules, global search and self-updating plugins.

◆ Where it's heading

The release cadence is roughly one feature version every two weeks, split between finer access control and a plugin marketplace that carries more functionality. Core changes increasingly exist to give plugins stable hooks, as the calendar rework shows.

◆ Prediction

Expect more marketplace plugins built on the new calendar and permission hooks, and further permission work extending to the remaining modules.

P5.0

Productboard's v2 documents API now keeps plain web addresses and emoji as ordinary text.

◆ Current state

Productboard's v2 API spent the summer closing v1 parity gaps, then in September made entity types a workspace-specific string. October added field values on relationships, exact-match text search and 308 redirects for merged entities. On November 5 the documents content endpoints changed how they treat bare URLs, email addresses and emoji: they now stay plain text unless written with explicit link syntax.

◆ Where it's heading

The v2 API is being tightened release by release so integrations can round-trip data without surprises. The documents format is the latest surface to get exact, documented rules.

◆ Prediction

Expect further dated v2 entries that fill in document and entity edge cases; nothing in the entries points to a larger change soon.

Alternatives to Leantime 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 Leantime or Productboard.

See all Leantime alternatives → · See all Productboard alternatives →

Recent activity from Leantime and Productboard

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

  1. 3d agoLeantimev3.14.0: per-permission access checks and a CalDAV sync plugin
  2. 9d agoProductboardv2 documents API keeps bare URLs and emoji as plain text
  3. 14d agoLeantimev3.13.2: digest changes, OIDC PKCE, marketplace install reporting
  4. 14d agoLeantimev3.13.1: clearer plugin install errors
  5. 14d agoLeantimev3.13.0: mobile push, per-project modules, Laravel 12
  6. 19d agoProductboardv2 API redirects requests for merged entities
  7. 29d agoLeantimev3.12.0: self-updating plugins and a shared interface library
  8. 1mo agoProductboardv2 - 2026-10-15 - Exact-match text field filter
  9. 1mo agoLeantimev3.11.0: global search across the workspace
  10. 1mo agoProductboardv2 - 2026-10-08 - Relationship field values and Documents API references
  11. 1mo agoProductboardEntityType moves from fixed enum to workspace-specific open string ⚡
  12. 1mo agoProductboardv2 - 2026-09-21 - Tables, checklists and code languages in rich text

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Leantime and Productboard?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Leantime and Productboard are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Leantime better than Productboard?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Leantime and Productboard are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). 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 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.