Focalboard vs Kanboard

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureFocalboardKanboard
CategoryProject Management & TasksProject Management & Tasks
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageTypeScriptPHP
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 26,376★ 9,776
First released20212014
ReplacesTrello, Asana, NotionTrello

Why pick each one

Choose Focalboard if…

  • Clean Trello-like UI
  • Lightweight
  • Mattermost integration
Focalboard details

Choose Kanboard if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Easy to learn
  • Stable
Kanboard details

Frequently asked questions

Is Focalboard or Kanboard better?

Neither is universally better. Focalboard has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Focalboard and Kanboard free and open-source?

Yes. Focalboard is licensed under MIT and Kanboard under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Focalboard and Kanboard with Docker?

Focalboard: yes. Kanboard: yes.

Related comparisons