Task Management Feature Matrix

Table of Contents

This matrix compares the seven task systems profiled in this section, feature by feature, so choosing between them does not require reading seven notes.

Files versus database is the row that decides everything else: it determines whether your board survives multiple agents racing on it, and the planner layer Ordewell adds sits above that choice rather than replacing it.

Legend: ✓ supported, ✗ not supported, ~ partial or conditional, ? not verified. Each column links to the full research note; every cell below traces to a source cited there or in the references.

The matrix
#

Feature	AI Dev Tasks	Backlog.md	beads	It’s a Plan	Operon	Ordewell	Task Master
Kind	two markdown prompt files applied in any AI IDE or CLI	CLI, terminal and web kanban	Go CLI plus Dolt database	self-hosted team tracker platform (web, REST, MCP)	Obsidian plugin plus operon-cli agent runtime	planner-plus-runners CLI, TUI, and VS Code extension	CLI plus MCP server
Storage	generated `tasks/<feature>.md` checklists in the repo, no runtime state	markdown task files in the repo	Dolt SQL in `.beads/`, JSONL export	PostgreSQL via Drizzle plus an S3-compatible object store	markdown tasks in the Obsidian vault, indexed by `operonId`	typed plan JSON per session, conversation persisted	files under `.taskmaster/` (tasks, config, state)
License	✓ Apache-2.0	✓ MIT	✓ MIT	~ AGPL-3.0 (runner package Apache-2.0)	~ GPL-3.0 (plugin and CLI)	✓ Apache-2.0	~ MIT with Commons Clause
Task structure	numbered parent tasks and sub-tasks with checkboxes, Relevant Files sections, mandatory task 0.0 create-feature-branch	tasks with acceptance criteria, DoD, milestones	hash IDs, epics, sub-tasks, message type	issues with projects, teams, cycles, custom fields, initiatives, dashboards	durable `operonId` identity, inline and file tasks, subtasks, dependencies, recurrence, reminders, time tracking	ordered tasks, each with runner, model, thinking effort, mode, dependencies	tasks with subtasks and dependency chains
Dependency graph	~ linear order only, the list is worked top to bottom	~ milestones, no claim graph	✓ graph plus auto-ready queue	~ subtasks and links, no dependency scheduler	~ dependency links between tasks, no auto-ready scheduler	✓ ordered plan, dependencies respected	✓ dependency chains, move with them
Multi-agent concurrency	✗ a generated checklist, no claims or locking	✗ no atomic claims	✓ atomic claim, hash IDs	~ agents hold assignee slots, runs start on mention, assignment, or schedule, no claims	~ writes go through receipted sealed plans against one running Obsidian, no shared claims	~ independent tasks run in parallel, no shared claims	? not verified
PRD ingestion	✓ the pipeline is the PRD (`create-prd.md`, then `generate-tasks.md`)	✗ manual task creation	✗ manual task creation	✗ none documented, docs and notes are human-authored	✗ none documented	~ opt-in PRD artifact inside the planner conversation	✓ `parse-prd` pipeline
Agent integrations	any assistant that reads a file (Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, Amp documented)	Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Kiro, Cursor, MCP	`bd init` for Codex, Claude, Factory, Cursor, plus AGENTS.md and MCP	internal agents on any keyed model (Mastra runtime), external agents via @itsaplan/runner (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Antigravity, Copilot, custom), plus MCP and REST	operon-cli (typed requests, JSONL sessions), in-process Developer API, direct Markdown edits supported	runners Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode built in, plugins beyond; planner can be a coding agent or one of 25 API providers	MCP server and CLI, documented for Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, VS Code, Q CLI
Pricing	free	free	free	free self-hosted, no per-seat fees; commercial license unlisted	free, GPL-3.0	free	CLI free, Hamster $40 per creator per month
Current status	dormant, last push 2025-11-05, about 7.8k stars	active, about 7.0k stars	active, about 27.7k stars, 1,389 open issues, v1.3.2-rc.1 prerelease 2026-10-05 after v1.3.1 stable 2026-09-30	active, 905 stars, v1.3.0 (2026-10-04)	active, 250 stars, 3.12.0 (2026-10-06)	active, 187 stars, v0.7.2 (2026-10-07)	repo quiet since April 2026, product alive at Hamster

Reading the matrix
#

The storage row is the architecture decision: markdown files are diffable and agent-readable but race under concurrency, while Dolt gives beads cell-level merge and atomic claims at the cost of a database in your repo. Task Master’s file storage sits between the two but its concurrency story is unverified, which is the cell I would resolve first before adopting it for shared queues.

Ordewell is the category’s planner layer: where the others track work, it decomposes a goal into an editable plan with per-task model assignment and refuses to take the agent’s word for done, completing tasks on markers instead. Its 187 stars and v0.7.x release line make it the least proven column, and its note records the launch thread’s AI-written-replies episode as a transparency caution.

It’s a Plan is the platform column: a full team tracker where agents hold assignee slots, and the only member whose storage lives on a server outside your files. Its 905 stars thirteen weeks in keep it the fastest-climbing young entrant here, and its note records the near-zero HN footprint as the open question.

Operon is the knowledge-vault column: tasks live in the notes the human already keeps, and its sealed preview-and-apply runtime with receipts is the strongest agent-write contract in this category, though the runtime needs a running Obsidian and nothing works headless. Its 250 stars and 3.x release train make it young but steady, and its note records the zero-HN footprint as the open question.

AI Dev Tasks is the ancestor column: the two-file prompt pack that ran the PRD-to-checklist loop before any of these tools existed, dormant since November 2025 with 7.8k stars and 1.7k forks. It is the reminder that the stateful rows above are the whole product: a generated checklist has none of them.

PRD ingestion is the pipeline feature, and its provenance now splits three ways: the original pipeline (AI Dev Tasks) is dormant Apache-2.0 prompt files, the productized one (Task Master) went quiet inside a Commons-Clause commercial product, and Ordewell treats the PRD as an optional conversational artifact.

All seven converge on meeting agents where they already are, a readable file, MCP, or an editor config, so the integration row is nearly a tie and should not drive the choice.

Choosing from the matrix
#

Multiple agents sharing one queue: beads, for the atomic claims.
Human review as the bottleneck: Backlog.md, for the three review gates.
Want a self-hosted team board where agents hold assignee slots: It’s a Plan, the platform-style entrant, AGPL-3.0.
Want the tracker inside your Obsidian vault: Operon, the knowledge-base column with receipted agent writes, GPL-3.0.
Want the PRD pipeline and accept the vendor: Task Master, pinned to a version you control.
Want the pipeline’s zero-install ancestor: AI Dev Tasks, two prompt files, dormant since November 2025.
Want a planner that assigns the model per task and verifies by marker: Ordewell, newest and least proven, Apache-2.0.

Changes
#

2026-08-27 - Created with three columns (Backlog.md, beads, Task Master) and ten rows, tracing every cell to the member notes.
2026-09-16 - Extended from three to four columns with Ordewell (inserted alphabetically), every row gaining a cell traced to the new note, and the reading and choosing prose extended to the planner layer.
2026-09-21 - Refreshed the beads status cell (new v1.3.1-rc.1 prerelease and issue count).
2026-09-24 - Removed the verification preamble line on owner request.
2026-09-25 - Refreshed the Ordewell status cell (144 stars, v0.4.23 of 2026-09-23).
2026-09-27 - Refreshed the Backlog.md, beads, and Ordewell status cells (about 6.9k stars; about 27.5k stars and 1,270 open issues; 162 stars and v0.5.4 of 2026-09-26).
2026-09-29 - Refreshed the Ordewell status cell (179 stars, v0.5.5 of 2026-09-28); all other cells re-verified unchanged.
2026-10-02 - Refreshed the beads status cell (v1.3.1 stable of 2026-09-30, about 27.6k stars, 1,266 open issues) and the Ordewell status cell (183 stars, v0.5.6 of 2026-09-30), plus the matching prose figure.
2026-10-03 - Refreshed the beads status cell (1,299 open issues) and the Ordewell status cell (v0.6.1 of 2026-10-02), plus the matching prose release-line figure.
2026-10-06 - Refreshed the beads status cell (about 27.7k stars, 1,358 open issues) and the Ordewell status cell (185 stars, v0.7.0 of 2026-10-05), plus the matching prose release-line figure; all other cells re-verified unchanged.
2026-10-06 - Refreshed the beads status cell (1,373 open issues, v1.3.2-rc.1 prerelease of 2026-10-05) and the Ordewell status cell (184 stars), plus the matching prose figure; all other cells re-verified unchanged.
2026-10-07 - Extended from four to five columns with It’s a Plan (inserted alphabetically), every row gaining a cell traced to the new note; refreshed the beads status cell (1,388 open issues) and the Ordewell status cell (187 stars, v0.7.1 of 2026-10-06), plus the matching prose figure.
2026-10-08 - Extended from five to seven columns with AI Dev Tasks (the dormant prompt-file ancestor of the PRD pipeline) and Operon (the knowledge-vault entrant with the sealed-plan write path), inserted alphabetically, every row gaining cells traced to the new notes; refreshed the status cells (Backlog.md pushed 2026-10-07, beads 1,389 open issues, It’s a Plan 905 stars, Ordewell v0.7.2 of 2026-10-07) and the reading and choosing prose.