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mattermost-community/focalboard

📈 Trending★ 26,161TypeScriptAudience · pm founderComplexity · 3/5ActiveLicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Free, self-hosted project management tool with kanban boards and task cards, like Trello or Notion, but you control the server.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Kanban boards
      Task cards
      Team workspaces
      Self-hosted
    Versions
      Desktop app
      Server version
      Mattermost plugin
    Use cases
      Personal projects
      Team collaboration
      Task tracking
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      React
      Node.js
    Audience
      Cost-conscious teams
      Self-hosting fans
      Notion/Trello users

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Run a personal kanban board on your laptop to track to-do lists and projects without a subscription.

USE CASE 2

Deploy a team workspace on your own server so your whole team can collaborate on tasks while keeping data private.

USE CASE 3

Replace Trello or Notion for small teams who want familiar board-and-card workflows without monthly SaaS costs.

Tech stack

TypeScriptReactNode.jsPostgreSQLSQLite

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

PostgreSQL or SQLite database must be configured and running before the app can start.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice and license text.

In plain English

Focalboard is a free, open-source project management tool that works like a self-hosted alternative to Trello, Notion, or Asana. If you've used those tools to organize tasks with boards, cards, and columns, Focalboard does the same thing, but you run it on your own computer or server instead of paying a monthly subscription to someone else's cloud. It comes in two versions: a standalone desktop app for personal use (available on Mac, Windows, and Linux) and a server version that your whole team can use. Both are free. The desktop app is great for individuals tracking personal projects and to-do lists. The server version is for teams who want a shared workspace and prefer to keep their data on infrastructure they control. For founders or small teams who are cost-conscious and comfortable with a bit of setup, Focalboard offers a familiar kanban-board (the column-and-card style of project management made popular by Trello) and more structured Notion-like features, all without a recurring SaaS fee. One important caveat: this standalone version is currently unmaintained, the team behind it has shifted focus to a version that integrates with Mattermost, which is an open-source messaging platform. The code is still here and functional, but no one is actively updating it unless a new community maintainer steps up. For teams already using Mattermost, the Mattermost Boards plugin is the actively supported version.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I set up Focalboard as a standalone desktop app on my Mac to manage personal projects?
Prompt 2
What are the steps to deploy Focalboard on a Linux server for my team to use together?
Prompt 3
Can I import my Trello board into Focalboard, and how do I migrate existing tasks?
Prompt 4
How do I customize Focalboard boards with different views, filters, and card properties for my workflow?
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Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.