Focalboard vs Plane
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Focalboard
Open-source project and task management boards
VS
Plane
Open-source project and issue tracking tool
| Feature | Focalboard | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 69 · Good | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 26,483 | ★ 59,805 |
| First released | 2021 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Trello, Asana, Notion | Jira, Linear, Asana |
What are Focalboard and Plane?
Focalboard
Focalboard is an open-source project management tool with kanban boards, tables, and calendar views for organizing work. It targets teams wanting a self-hosted Trello-style board. It is deployed via Docker or as part of Mattermost.
- Kanban, table and calendar views
- Personal and team boards
- Integrates with Mattermost
- Templates for common workflows
Plane
Plane is an open-source project management tool for tracking issues, sprints, and product roadmaps with multiple views. It targets software and product teams. It is deployed via Docker.
- Issues, cycles and modules
- List, kanban and gantt views
- Roadmaps and pages
- Modern fast UI
Focalboard vs Plane: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Focalboard versus AGPL-3.0 for Plane. Focalboard is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Plane. Focalboard is the more established project (first released 2021), while Plane arrived in 2023. Plane has the considerably larger community, at 59,805 GitHub stars versus 26,483.
Why pick each one
Choose Focalboard if…
- Clean Trello-like UI
- Lightweight
- Mattermost integration
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Fewer power features
Choose Plane if…
- Polished modern interface
- Good for product teams
- Active development
Watch out for
- Resource heavy
- Some features still maturing
Frequently asked questions
Is Focalboard or Plane better?
Neither is universally better. Plane has the larger community, while Focalboard is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Focalboard and Plane free and open-source?
Yes. Focalboard is licensed under MIT and Plane under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Focalboard and Plane with Docker?
Focalboard: yes. Plane: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Focalboard or Plane?
Focalboard has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Plane. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.