Self-hosted alternatives to Trello
Trello turned the kanban board into a habit, and it's still good at it — until you want your boards (and your team's plans) on infrastructure you control rather than rented by the seat. The self-hosted kanban scene is healthy; here are the three alternatives worth running.
Planka — the modern Trello clone
Planka is the one that feels most like Trello, done well and done modern. Boards, lists, cards, labels, due dates, attachments, and real-time collaboration so a card someone else moves updates on your screen. If your team knows Trello, they'll know Planka in about a minute.
- A clean, familiar, modern interface.
- Real-time collaboration — changes appear live for everyone.
- The Trello vocabulary — boards, lists, cards, labels, due dates.
Pick Planka if: you want the most direct, polished Trello replacement.
Wekan — the feature-rich veteran
Wekan is the established, feature-heavy option. It's been around a long time, and it shows in the depth: swimlanes, per-board permissions, custom fields, rules and automation. If your boards get complicated — lots of members, lots of process — Wekan has the knobs for it.
- Deep feature set — swimlanes, custom fields, rules, permissions.
- Mature and battle-tested.
- Highly configurable for teams with real process.
Pick Wekan if: you need power and configurability over minimalism.
Focalboard — boards, but not only boards
Focalboard takes a slightly broader swing — it's a project and task tool that does kanban boards but also table and calendar views of the same data, closer to the "Trello meets a light Notion database" idea. If you want to look at the same tasks as a board and as a table, Focalboard is the one.
- Multiple views of the same data — board, table, calendar.
- A bit more structure than a pure card wall.
Pick Focalboard if: you want board and table views of your tasks in one tool.
Which one should you pick?
| If you want… | Run |
|---|---|
| The most direct, polished Trello clone | Planka |
| Power, depth and configurability | Wekan |
| Board plus table and calendar views | Focalboard |
For most teams migrating off Trello, Planka is the easiest, happiest landing. Reach for Wekan when you've outgrown simple, and Focalboard when a board alone isn't enough of a view.
The self-hosting reality
Each is an app with a database and a volume behind TLS — the standard, gentle tax of self-hosting a small collaborative tool: updates, backups, a certificate. Run it on a VPS, or deploy any of them in one click and get your team's boards onto a server that answers to you, not to a per-seat invoice.
Deploy Planka → · Wekan → · Focalboard → — or see the full catalog.