MantisBT
Plane
| Feature | MantisBT | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $4.95/mo | Free / from $7/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 3.9 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, small-teams, open-source-projects, budget-conscious-teams | developers, open-source-advocates, startups, engineering-teams |
| Founded | 2000 | 2022 |
| Bug Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Fields | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Notifications | ✓ | ✗ |
| Role Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Plugins | ✓ | ✗ |
| Time Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cycles | ✗ | ✓ |
| Modules | ✗ | ✓ |
| Views | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ MantisBT Pros
- Free and open-source
- Easy to set up
- Lightweight
- Extensible with plugins
✗ MantisBT Cons
- Dated interface
- Limited agile features
- Small community vs alternatives
✓ Plane Pros
- Open source and self-hostable
- Modern clean interface
- Jira-like power without complexity
- Active community
✗ Plane Cons
- Relatively new
- Smaller integration ecosystem
- Documentation still maturing
The Verdict
MantisBT is built for developers and small teams, with a focus on bug-tracking and custom-fields. Plane targets developers and open source advocates and leads with cycles and modules.
Pricing is close: MantisBT starts at $4.95/mo versus $7/mo for Plane — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Plane edges out on user ratings (4.2 vs 3.9). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Both tools are a solid fit for developers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Plane has a slight overall edge — but if free and open-source matters most to you, MantisBT may still be the right call.