Open source Trello alternatives for self-hosted Kanban boards
Wekan and Kanboard are maintained, openly licensed Kanban boards you can run yourself. We also explain where Planka and Focalboard stand in 2026.
A Kanban board is simple: columns for stages, cards for work, and a way to move cards along. That simplicity is why self-hosting one is a reasonable first project. The harder part in 2026 is knowing which “open source Trello alternatives” are still open source and still maintained.
We checked each project’s license file and recent activity on October 5, 2026. Two made our directory. Two more come up in every search, so we explain why they did not.
Quick comparison
| Project | License | Status | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wekan | MIT | Active, frequent releases | Teams who want a Trello-like board |
| Kanboard | MIT | Maintenance mode, still released | Minimal personal or small-team boards |
| Planka | PLANKA Community License | Active | Read the license first |
| Focalboard | AGPL-3.0 / MIT (compiled) | Not maintained | Avoid for new projects |
Wekan: the most Trello-like
Wekan looks and works much like Trello: boards, lists, cards, labels, checklists, due dates, and swimlanes. It can import boards from Trello, and it has been around long enough to be packaged for Docker, Snap, and several platforms. Version 12.18 shipped on October 4, 2026.
Choose it when your team already thinks in Trello boards and wants the same workflow on its own server. Test an import on a copy of one board before moving everything.
Kanboard: small, fast, and finished
Kanboard takes the opposite approach. It is a small PHP application focused on visualizing work and limiting work in progress. It runs well on cheap hosting and has a plugin system for extra features.
Its README says the project is in maintenance mode, meaning it is considered feature-complete. That is not the same as abandoned: version 1.2.54 was released in August 2026. Expect bug and security fixes rather than new features.
Planka: check the license
Planka is an attractive, real-time Kanban board that appears in most lists of open source Trello alternatives. Since version 2, its repository is licensed under the PLANKA Community License, which is not an OSI-approved open source license. A free Community edition is still available, alongside PLANKA Pro.
That may be fine for your use, but read the license and the project’s license guide before deploying it, especially inside a business. Because our directory only lists projects with an open source license, Planka is not included.
Focalboard: no longer maintained
Focalboard was Mattermost’s open source alternative to Trello and Notion. The standalone repository now says it is not maintained, and its last release was in June 2024. Mattermost’s Boards plugin is a separate project. We would not start a new board on standalone Focalboard.
How to choose
- You want the Trello experience on your own server: Wekan.
- You want the smallest, simplest board that just works: Kanboard.
- Your boards are turning into sprints, epics and roadmaps: look at our open source Jira alternatives instead.
Whatever you pick, back up the database and attachments, and restore that backup once before you rely on it. You can browse every project in the directory.
In the directory
MITWekan on GitHub (opens in a new tab)
Organize work on Trello-style boards with lists, cards, swimlanes, checklists, and labels.
Good to know +
Good for: Teams that want a familiar board on their own server.
Board import from Trello exists; test it on a copy first.
MITKanboard on GitHub (opens in a new tab)
Run a deliberately simple Kanban board with limits on work in progress and a small PHP footprint.
Good to know +
Good for: Personal boards and small teams on modest hosting.
The project calls itself feature-complete; expect fixes rather than new features.