Trello is a simple way to keep projects and tasks organized, but it may not give every team the flexibility or control they need. Open-source alternatives can offer more freedom to customize your workflow, manage your data, and adapt the software to your team. Here are some of the best open-source Trello alternatives to consider in 2026.
Kanban Features That Matter Most
A useful Kanban board should make work visible without forcing every task through the same process. Look for flexible columns, clear ownership, due dates, filters, and a quick way to move work forward.
Custom fields matter when cards need structured data, such as account type, priority, budget, or approval status. Permissions matter when different teams should see different projects. Search matters once the board becomes a long-term record rather than a temporary task list.
You should also test the boring parts before committing:
- Can you export your data?
- Can you restore a backup?
- Can you move a card between projects?
- Can you control who can edit a board?
- Can you find old attachments?
- Can you update the system without downtime?
- Can you connect it to the tools your team already uses?
Plane
Plane is an open source project management tool aimed at teams looking for an alternative to Jira, Linear, or Monday. It offers a self-hosted Community Edition under the AGPL-3.0 license, alongside hosted options.
Plane is a strong candidate when a simple board is no longer enough. It is designed for structured project work, rather than only visual task tracking.
It is built around projects, issues, cycles, and broader planning workflows. That makes it more suitable for engineering teams that need to connect daily tasks to planned work.
Plan is a strong fit, if your team needs:
- Issue-based project tracking
- Cycles for planned work
- Product or engineering workflows
- More structure than a basic card board
- Self-hosted deployment
- Code-level customization
Focalboard
Focalboard is a lightweight, open source Kanban-style tool associated with Mattermost. It is aimed at teams that want a visual board with less process overhead than a full project management suite.
Focalboard can make sense when your workflow is straightforward:
- Tasks move through a few clear stages
- The team wants a visual board
- You do not need extensive agile planning
- You prefer to run the tool yourself
- You want a smaller system to understand and maintain
Taiga
Taiga is an open source platform built around agile project work. It supports teams that need more than a basic Kanban board but do not want to adopt a large enterprise system.
Taiga offers cloud and self-hosted deployment options. Its cloud plans include Starter, Standard, and Premium tiers.
Taiga's Scrum and Kanban Hybrid Workflow
Taiga is useful when your team moves between Kanban and Scrum. You can organize work visually while also using a more structured agile process for planned development.
That makes it a reasonable fit for:
- Software development teams
- Product teams
- Agile project managers
- Teams running sprints
- Organizations that need self-hosting
- Groups that want a board with more planning structure
Wekan
Wekan is a self-hosted, open source Kanban board designed to stay close to the core Trello experience. It is a practical option when your priority is visual task movement rather than roadmaps, Scrum planning, or enterprise reporting.
Wekan may fit a small team that wants:
- Lists and cards
- A familiar Kanban workflow
- Self-hosted data
- A focused interface
- Code-level control
- A small operational footprint
Leantime
Leantime is an open source planning tool aimed at small teams and organizations that want to connect ideas, goals, and execution. It is broader than a basic Kanban board, with a focus on planning and project direction.
It can be a fit when your team needs to connect:
- Goals to projects
- Projects to tasks
- Planning to execution
- Strategy to day-to-day work
Vikunja
Vikunja combines personal task management with team-oriented project organization and Kanban views. It is worth considering if some users need individual to-do lists while teams also need shared boards.
This hybrid model can work for small companies where the same people manage both personal tasks and team projects. It may be less suitable if your main requirement is Scrum, software issue tracking, or detailed portfolio management.
As with any self-hosted project tool, confirm the current license, deployment instructions, and maintenance activity before making it the system of record for your team.
Head-to-Head Comparison: Which Open Source Trello Alternative Wins?
Comparison Table: Features, Hosting, and Community
Tool | Best fit | Workflow style | Hosting model | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Plane | Software and product teams | Issues, projects, and cycles | Self-hosted Community Edition and hosted options | More structure to manage |
Focalboard | Teams wanting a light board | Simple Kanban-style work | Self-hosted | Check current project maintenance before relying on it |
Taiga | Agile teams | Kanban and Scrum | Self-hosted and cloud | More process than a basic board |
Wekan | Small teams wanting a Trello-like board | Minimal Kanban | Self-hosted | Limited planning depth compared with larger tools |
Leantime | Small teams connecting goals and projects | Strategic planning and tasks | Self-hosted options | Broader system may require more setup |
Vikunja | Individuals and small teams | To-do lists and Kanban | Self-hosted options | Not focused on full Scrum or software delivery |
How to Migrate Your Trello Boards to an Open Source Alternative
Migration is not only a file export. Your board contains names, labels, due dates, attachments, comments, and habits that may not map directly to the new system.
Start with one active board, not your entire workspace. Use it to test the export, import, permissions, notifications, and day-to-day workflow before moving more data.
Exporting Your Trello Data
First, list the boards you need to move and separate active work from archived material. Old boards may be useful for records, but importing everything can create noise in the new system.
Then export your data using the options available in Trello. Keep the original export in a protected location. Do not delete the source boards until the new system has been checked by the people who use it.
Before importing, review:
- Board and list names
- Card titles and descriptions
- Members and owners
- Labels
- Due dates
- Checklists
- Attachments
- Comments
- Archived cards
- Links between cards and other systems
Some data may require manual cleanup. User accounts may not match, attachments may need to be moved, and custom fields may need a new design.
Importing Your Board
Map the old Trello structure to the new tool before you import. A Trello list may become a workflow state, a project, or a sprint depending on the destination.
Run a small test migration first. Ask users to verify that:
- Cards are assigned to the right people
- Dates and labels survived
- Attachments open correctly
- Comments are present where required
- Permissions match the old workspace
- Notifications work as expected
- Reports and filters still support the workflow
Once the test passes, migrate the remaining boards in groups. Keep a read-only copy of the original export and document any fields that were intentionally changed.
If you like one of these tools but do not want to run the servers yourself, you can import an open source alternative into Founding.dev's platform and try it out to see if it works for you. If it does, you can customize and maintain it as software you own, for a flat monthly fee per company, with no per-seat charges and the option to cancel anytime. See how owned software compares to your current stack.
FAQ
Can I migrate my existing Trello boards without losing data?
You can usually move the main board information, but a perfect one-to-one migration is not guaranteed. Cards, lists, labels, dates, and some attachments may transfer, while permissions, comments, custom fields, and integrations may need cleanup.
Run a test migration before moving every board. Keep your original export and source workspace until users confirm that the new system contains the records they need.
Is Plane a good replacement for Trello for software development teams?
Plane can be a good fit when your development team needs issues, projects, cycles, and more planning structure than Trello provides. It is less appropriate if your team only wants a very simple visual board.
Do any of these open source alternatives support scrum in addition to kanban?
Taiga is the clearest fit for teams that need both Scrum and Kanban workflows. Its agile focus makes it useful for teams that plan sprints while still needing visual flow management.
Plane can also suit software teams with planned cycles and issue-based work.
Are these open source Trello alternatives really free to use?
The self-hosted software may be available without a license fee, but running it still costs money and staff time. Servers, storage, backups, monitoring, updates, and security are part of the real operating cost.
Some projects also offer hosted plans with recurring fees.