ZenHub vs GitHub Projects: Agile Planning Inside GitHub (2026)
Teams that want to plan work without leaving GitHub have two main options. GitHub Projects is GitHub's own planning layer, free and steadily improving with custom fields, iterations, and roadmap views. ZenHub is a long-standing add-on that layers agile features like epics, estimates, sprints, and velocity reporting on top of GitHub issues.
The question is how much agile structure you need. GitHub Projects covers flexible planning for many teams. ZenHub targets teams that want Scrum-style planning, reporting, and multi-repo roadmaps without moving to Jira.
Comparing ZenHub and GitHub Projects? Four questions, one straight answer.
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ZenHub
ZenHub is a project management tool built on top of GitHub issues. It adds pipelines (boards), estimates, sprints with automatic planning, epics across repositories, dependencies, roadmaps, and reports like velocity, burndown, and cumulative flow. Data stays in GitHub issues, so engineers keep working where they are, while ZenHub provides the planning and reporting layer, including AI-assisted features.
GitHub Projects
GitHub Projects is GitHub's built-in planning tool. Projects pull in issues and pull requests from any repository and display them as tables, boards, or roadmaps. Custom fields (text, number, single select, iteration, date) support estimates and sprints, and built-in workflows automate status changes. Sub-issues and issue types add hierarchy, and charts provide basic insights.
Feature comparison
| Feature | ZenHub | GitHub Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Sprints | Sprints with automated planning, rollover, and capacity. | Iteration fields with configurable lengths and breaks. |
| Estimates | Native story points with velocity tracking. | Custom number fields; no native velocity calculation. |
| Epics and hierarchy | Epics spanning repositories, with dependencies. | Sub-issues and issue types for hierarchy across repos. |
| Reporting | Velocity, burndown, cumulative flow, and release reports. | Insights charts on project data; more limited agile reporting. |
| Roadmaps | Roadmap views across epics and projects. | Roadmap layout based on date or iteration fields. |
| Automation | Automated sprint planning and workflow rules. | Built-in workflows plus GitHub Actions for custom automation. |
| Pricing model | Free for small teams or public repos; per-user paid plans. | Included with GitHub at no extra cost. |
ZenHub pros
Scrum-style planning and velocity reporting without leaving GitHub
Epics and dependencies across multiple repositories
Automated sprint planning saves time for engineering managers
Data stays in GitHub issues, so there's no sync layer to break
ZenHub cons
An extra paid tool on top of GitHub
Less useful for teams not deeply committed to Scrum
Smaller user base than GitHub's native tooling
Still limited for non-engineering stakeholders
Pricing: Free for small teams and public repositories with limited features. Paid plans priced per user per month, with a custom top tier for larger organisations and self-hosted options.
GitHub Projects pros
Free and native, with no extra vendor or permissions
Flexible fields and views fit many planning styles
Automation through built-in workflows and GitHub Actions
Improving quickly with sub-issues, issue types, and better views
GitHub Projects cons
No native velocity or burndown reporting
Sprint management is more manual than ZenHub
Large projects can become slow and cluttered
Portfolio-level planning across teams is limited
Pricing: Included with every GitHub plan, including Free. Some limits on project items and features vary by plan.
Choose ZenHub if you need
- - You run Scrum and want velocity, burndown, and sprint reports
- - You manage epics across many repositories
- - Engineering managers want automated sprint planning
- - You want more agile structure but don't want to move to Jira
Choose GitHub Projects if you need
- - You want planning inside GitHub at no extra cost
- - Your team prefers flexible Kanban-style workflows over formal Scrum
- - GitHub Actions automation covers your needs
- - You want to avoid adding another vendor
How Vantage fits in
Vantage connects to your GitHub repositories so PMs can query the codebase while writing the spec, then turns the PRD into dependency-aware tickets. Today Vantage pushes tickets to Linear and Jira with bi-directional sync. For teams planning in GitHub, Vantage still covers the upstream work: grounding the PRD in how the code actually works, extracting requirements, and sequencing the work into waves before it becomes issues.
Frequently asked questions
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Generate PRDs grounded in real data. Track dependencies. Detect conflicts. Rebuild when context shifts.
Comparing ZenHub and GitHub Projects? Four questions, one straight answer.
Tell us how your team works. We’ll say where Vantage fits next to your tracker, and where it doesn’t.
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