What is Focalboard used for?

Focalboard is an open-source, self-hosted project management tool with Kanban-style boards, positioned as an alternative to Trello, Notion and Asana. It is a good fit for personal task boards on the desktop and self-hosted team project tracking.

Is Focalboard open source?

Yes. Focalboard is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mattermost-community/focalboard and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Focalboard is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host Focalboard?

Yes. Focalboard can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Focalboard an alternative to?

Focalboard is an open-source alternative to Trello, Asana, Notion and monday.com. Other open-source alternatives to Trello include Vikunja, Leantime and Kanboard.

Is Focalboard actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Focalboard was on 18 May 2026, and the latest release is v8.0.0, published on 13 June 2024. The project has 26k stars on GitHub.

Focalboard: open-source alternative to Trello, Asana, Notion

About Focalboard

Focalboard is a multilingual, open-source, self-hosted project management tool that helps individuals and teams define, organize, track and manage work. It positions itself as an alternative to Trello, Notion and Asana, with boards, cards and goal tracking as its building blocks.

The project comes in two editions: a Personal Desktop app, a standalone single-user program for macOS, Windows or Linux for your own to-dos and personal projects, and a server edition for teams. The code is written in TypeScript and Go. Importantly, the README carries a warning that this repository is currently not maintained and invites volunteers to become maintainers. A separate repository holds the Mattermost plugin version of Boards.

The repository license appears as 'Other' on GitHub, reflecting a mix of license terms, so check them before use. Given its maintenance status, evaluate whether it fits long-term needs before adopting it for a team.

Key features

Kanban-style boards and cards
Goal tracking across projects
Personal desktop edition
Self-hosted server edition
Interface in multiple languages
Trello and Notion style views

Good fit for

→Personal task boards on the desktop
→Self-hosted team project tracking

Built with: TypeScript; Go
Tags: project-management; kanban; self-hosted; trello-alternative; notion-alternative; asana-alternative; unmaintained

Focalboard: questions and answers

What is Focalboard used for?: Focalboard is an open-source, self-hosted project management tool with Kanban-style boards, positioned as an alternative to Trello, Notion and Asana. It is a good fit for personal task boards on the desktop and self-hosted team project tracking.
Is Focalboard open source?: Yes. Focalboard is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mattermost-community/focalboard and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Focalboard free?: Yes. Focalboard is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host Focalboard?: Yes. Focalboard can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Focalboard an alternative to?: Focalboard is an open-source alternative to Trello, Asana, Notion and monday.com. Other open-source alternatives to Trello include Vikunja, Leantime and Kanboard.
Is Focalboard actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Focalboard was on 18 May 2026, and the latest release is v8.0.0, published on 13 June 2024. The project has 26k stars on GitHub.