Plaky is a good fit for teams that want simple, inexpensive boards with table, Kanban and Gantt views. Roomwork is the better fit when the work around the task matters as much as the task: the discussion, the meeting, the hours, the delivery, and an assistant that already knows all of it.
Not a feature count, but the decisions that change which one fits your team.
| Decision area | Plaky | Roomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Primary orientation | Boards, groups and items | Connected work: rooms, tasks, time and delivery |
| Views | Table, Kanban and chart views, with Gantt on Pro and above | Grid, Kanban and Gantt task views, saved Views with subscriptions. No chart views today |
| Conversation | Comments and @mentions on items | Project rooms with chat, Jams and client messaging, linked to the tasks they create |
| Meetings | Outside the product | Meeting capture: summaries, decisions and action items filed into the project |
| Time tracking | Through an integration with a separate timer | Roomwork Time: desktop clock-in agent, screenshots every 5 minutes, AI review of each session, hour and dollar budgets with runway alerts, payroll |
| Subscriptions | A boards subscription, with separate chat, calls and a timer | Free with every Paying.co engagement: chat, projects, issues, time, video calls and meeting notes |
| Automation | No-code board automations on paid plans | Slash commands, Rōrk actions, and Alva following up on overdue or stuck work |
| AI approach | No built-in AI assistant listed on its plans | AI-first: Rōrk, Alva and Sten are part of the room, not a bolt-on |
| Best fit | Small teams wanting simple, low-cost boards | Teams wanting one place for conversation, execution, time and verification |
A task is overdue. In a board tool, someone notices, or someone is chased. In Roomwork, Alva asks the owner for an update, reminds them, and tells the manager if there is still no reply. The discussion, the hours and the answer all sit next to the task, and Rōrk can summarize it all.
Nothing here asks you to relearn how your team works. The concepts map over directly.
| Capability | Plaky | Roomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Boards / projects | Boards with groups and items | Projects with rooms, tasks and Canvas |
| Task views | Table, Kanban and chart, with Gantt on Pro and above | Grid, Kanban and Gantt, saved Views |
| Custom fields | Yes | Task fields plus labels, blockers and priorities |
| Dashboards | Yes | Home dashboard with what is waiting, blocked, overdue and due, plus Rōrk answers |
| Chat | Comments on items | Persistent rooms with internal and external messaging |
| Live calls | Not included | Jams, recorded into room history |
| Meeting notes | Not included | Meeting capture to Canvas, with PDF and Word, and action items turned into tasks |
| Time tracking | Integration with a separate timer | Native Roomwork Time: screenshots every 5 minutes, AI session review, hour and dollar budgets, payroll |
| GitHub | Not a focus | Native issue creation and commit activity |
| Security checks | Not included | Sten runs Flaw.co Detect scans and Code reviews |
| Email to ticket | Not included | Email help@ becomes a ticket in the right client project |
| Templates | Board and task templates (Pro and above) | Project templates, and Alva flags projects that were never set up |
References: Plaky, Plaky pricing. Plaky is a product of CAKE.com. Competitor details reflect public information as of October 2026 and change over time, so check the vendor's own site for current plans and pricing.
Plaky's Gantt view needs Pro, and time tracking comes through a separate Clockify integration.
Roomwork is free with every Paying.co engagement, and in limited beta for new teams. Chat, Jams, tasks, time tracking, Rōrk, Alva and Sten are built in, not sold as add-ons, so there is no stack of extra subscriptions to stitch together.
Start a room and bring your next project conversation, task, and delivery into one connected place, with AI built in from the start. Roomwork is free with every Paying.co engagement, and in limited beta for new teams. It replaces separate chat, project, issue-tracking, time-tracking and video-calling subscriptions.
Start a room →