#1★ TOP PICK
Wekan
The closest open-source, self-hosted match to Trello's own card-and-list model.
90
OPEN SOURCEMITSELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Wekan is a free, open-source Kanban board that deliberately mirrors Trello's UI: boards, swimlanes, lists, and cards with labels, checklists, due dates, and attachments. It self-hosts via Docker, a Linux Snap package (with automatic updates), or from source, and stores everything in MongoDB you control. It even ships a dedicated Trello-import tool for migrating existing boards and attachments.
Strengths
- +Free MIT license, no per-seat cost ever
- +UI and workflow are the most Trello-like of any open-source option, so the switch is low-friction for a team used to Trello
- +Dedicated Trello JSON/attachment import tool eases migration
- +Active project with regular releases and a large, engaged community (20k+ GitHub stars)
Trade-offs
- −Interface is functional but less visually polished than Trello's current design
- −Advanced reporting/analytics views are limited compared to Trello Premium
- −You are responsible for your own backups, updates, and uptime once self-hosted
- −MongoDB dependency adds a small extra piece of infrastructure to operate versus a single-binary tool
Free / self-host (commercial support available separately) #2
OpenProject
A full open-source project management suite for teams that outgrow a simple board.
91
OPEN SOURCEGPL-3.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST★ 16k·updated today
OpenProject is a complete, self-hostable project management platform: Kanban-style boards sit alongside Gantt charts, backlogs, roadmaps, work packages, time tracking, and fine-grained permissions. The Community edition is the entire open-source codebase and is fully functional with no feature paywall; paid Enterprise tiers add professional support and a handful of add-ons (which are themselves open source and periodically folded back into Community).
Strengths
- +Genuinely not an open-core product — the vendor states plainly that Enterprise plans pay for support and add-ons, not for unlocking withheld features
- +Covers a much broader project-management surface than Trello: Gantt charts, backlogs, budgeting, and formal work-package tracking
- +Strong documentation and an active global community with regular releases
- +Enterprise add-ons are periodically released back into the free Community edition
Trade-offs
- −Heavier to run than a Kanban-only tool — a Ruby on Rails + PostgreSQL stack needs more server resources than Wekan or Kanboard
- −The extra structure (work packages, roadmaps, backlogs) is more than most Trello users need if all they want is a simple card board
- −Steeper learning curve for a team used to Trello's minimalism
- −Professional support requires an Enterprise subscription; community-only support is the default on Community edition
Free / self-host (Community edition); paid Enterprise on-premises support from ~$5.95/user/month, or Enterprise Cloud hosting from ~$4.95/user/month #3
Vikunja
A modern task manager with List, Kanban, Gantt, and Table views in one app.
89
OPEN SOURCEAGPL-3.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Vikunja is an open-source task and project manager that goes beyond a pure Kanban board: the same tasks can be viewed as a list, a Kanban board, a Gantt-style timeline, or a table. It ships as a single Go binary plus a Vue.js frontend, supports PostgreSQL/MySQL/SQLite, and includes CalDAV sync so tasks show up in any calendar app. A small set of admin-oriented features (admin panel, audit logs, time tracking) require a paid 'Pro' license key even for self-hosted instances; every core feature — including Kanban, Gantt, and the full API — remains free.
Strengths
- +Four task views (List, Kanban, Gantt, Table) cover more workflows than a Kanban-only tool
- +Natural-language 'Quick Add Magic' parses due dates, priority, labels, and assignee from one line of text
- +CalDAV support integrates tasks into existing calendar apps
- +Very actively developed with a comprehensive test suite and seven built-in importers, including one specifically for Trello
Trade-offs
- −AGPL-3.0 requires anyone who modifies and network-serves Vikunja to release those changes — a real consideration for companies building a hosted product on top of it
- −A handful of genuinely useful admin/audit features sit behind a paid license even when self-hosting, so 'fully free' has a practical asterisk
- −More moving parts (Go backend + Vue frontend + DB) than a single-file tool like Kanboard
- −Newer project than Wekan or OpenProject, so its long-term enterprise track record is shorter
Free / self-host for all core features; Pro add-ons (admin panel, audit logs, time tracking) via a paid license from ~$5/user/month; managed Cloud hosting also available #4
Kanboard
A minimalist, low-overhead Kanban board for teams who want speed over features.
86
OPEN SOURCEMITSELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Kanboard is a lightweight, self-hosted PHP Kanban application focused on simplicity: boards, swimlanes, task automation rules, subtasks, and time tracking, extendable through a plugin system. It runs on very modest hardware (a small VPS is plenty) and has no external database service dependency by default (SQLite works out of the box, with MySQL/PostgreSQL supported for larger installs).
Strengths
- +Very low resource requirements — runs comfortably on a small, cheap VPS
- +Free MIT license with a genuinely simple, fast interface
- +Built-in automation rules and time tracking without needing plugins
- +Plugin ecosystem covers common gaps (Gantt, LDAP, extra integrations)
Trade-offs
- −Visual design is utilitarian — noticeably plainer than Trello or Wekan
- −Smaller contributor base than Wekan or Vikunja, so feature velocity is slower
- −Fewer native views than richer PM tools (no built-in Gantt or table view without a plugin)
- −Collaboration features (comments, mentions, notifications) are narrower than larger suites
Free / self-host (paid cloud hosting plans available from the maintainer)