Focalboard: My Search for a Trello Alternative That Doesn't Cost $15/Month

Needed a simple way to track tasks for my personal projects. Nothing fancy - just boards, lists, cards. Trello worked fine for a while, but then I hit the free tier limits.

Looked at the pricing: $15/month for features I'd actually use. That's $180/year. For a kanban board. Not happening.

Found Focalboard. Created by Mattermost (the team chat company). Open source. Does exactly what I need.

So how do you actually run it?

Focalboard gives you three options:

Desktop app is what I use for personal projects. Just download and run.

# Download from GitHub releases
sudo dpkg -i focalboard_*.deb  # Ubuntu/Debian
# Or install .exe (Windows) or .dmg (macOS)

# Run it
focalboard

Opens in your browser. Everything runs locally. Data stored on your computer. That's it.

For teams, Docker makes more sense:

docker run -d \
  --name focalboard \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v focalboard-data:/data \
  mattermost/focalboard:latest

First time setup is pretty straightforward

If you've used Trello, you'll feel right at home immediately.

Boards are your projects. Each board has lists and cards.

Here's how I organize my board:

Lists (left to right):
├── Backlog     (stuff to do someday)
├── To Do       (next up)
├── Active      (working on now)
├── Review      (need to check/test)
└── Done        (completed)

Cards can have:
├── Title and description
├── Due date
├── Labels (bug, feature, refactor)
└── Attachments (screenshots, files)

Features that actually matter

After using Focalboard for a while, most of the "features" don't matter. What I actually use:

Real-world use: my daily workflow

Morning:
├── Check "Active" list - what am I working on today?
├── Move cards from "Planned" → "Active"
└── Check due dates - anything overdue?

During the day:
├── Drag cards through workflow as I make progress
├── Add notes with findings, decisions
└── Attach screenshots or code snippets

End of day:
├── Completed cards → "Review"
├── Clean up "Done" list (archive old cards)
└── Plan tomorrow's tasks

So how does it compare to Trello?

Stuff that tripped me up

Data storage

Desktop app stores data locally. If you switch computers, export and import manually. Or use Docker with persistent volume to avoid this entirely.

Updates

Doesn't auto-update. You manually download new versions from GitHub releases when you remember to.

Mobile

Mobile support is basic. You can access the web interface, but it's not optimized for touch. For serious mobile use, Trello's native apps are way better.

So should you use it?

Use Focalboard if:

• ✓ You want free, self-hosted task management
• ✓ You're okay with basic features (don't need complex automations)
• ✓ You care about data privacy (want everything on your own server)
• ✓ You're managing personal projects or a small team
• ✓ You're comfortable with Docker or command-line tools

Stick with Trello if:

• ✗ You need lots of integrations (GitHub, Slack, etc.)
• ✗ You need powerful automation (Butler, rules, etc.)
• ✗ You rely heavily on mobile apps
• ✗ You have a large team that needs enterprise features

Bottom line

Focalboard works for me. It's simple, fast, does what I need without the subscription fee.

For personal projects, it's perfect. Boards are responsive. Data stays on my machine. No monthly payments.

The main tradeoff is fewer features than Trello. But honestly, I rarely miss them. Basic kanban is enough for 90% of my task management needs.

If you're paying for Trello or hitting free tier limits, give Focalboard a shot. It might not have all the bells and whistles, but it gets the job done.