Wekan vs Kanboard
Both are alternatives to Trello. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Kanboard vs Wekan — same comparison, one verdict.
Wekan and Kanboard are closely matched on ownership (90 vs 86) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Wekan
TOP PICKThe closest open-source, self-hosted match to Trello's own card-and-list model.
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.
Kanboard
A minimalist, low-overhead Kanban board for teams who want speed over features.
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).
Side by side
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Wekan | Kanboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 90 | 86 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Pricing | Free / self-host (commercial support available separately) | Free / self-host (paid cloud hosting plans available from the maintainer) |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 4 GB total, the README's production minimum | 1 GB for Kanboard plus PostgreSQL on one box. It is a PHP app, and no source I found says a small team needs more |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $12–24/mo for a 5–20 user instance on a 4 GB VPS | $5–6/mo for a 5–20 user instance on a 1 GB VPS |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 30 minutes with Snap or docker compose | 15 minutes with Docker, 30 on an existing PHP host |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Constant. New versions land every few days (v10.00 on 18 July 2026, v11.00 on 17 August, v12.00 on 24 September), and only the newest is supported. The README asks for a database backup at least once a day because there is no undo. | Low. The author calls it maintenance mode: small fixes and no major features. The community still ships releases: six between January and August 2026. Pin a version tag and read the ChangeLog before each upgrade, as the docs advise. |
Wekan is Macrostack's recommended Trello alternative, so it's our pick here.
Weighing both against staying on Trello? Is Trello free? What it actually costs →
Wekan
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
Kanboard
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
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Wekan
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and free MIT license, no per-seat cost ever.
Choose Kanboard
if very low resource requirements — runs comfortably on a small, cheap VPS.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — interface is functional but less visually polished than Trello's current design, and visual design is utilitarian — noticeably plainer than Trello or Wekan. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Self-hosting Wekan
4 GB total, the README's production minimum RAM · 30 minutes with Snap or docker compose
$12–24/mo for a 5–20 user instance on a 4 GB VPS
Self-hosting Kanboard
1 GB for Kanboard plus PostgreSQL on one box. It is a PHP app, and no source I found says a small team needs more RAM · 15 minutes with Docker, 30 on an existing PHP host
$5–6/mo for a 5–20 user instance on a 1 GB VPS
Wekan vs Kanboard — common questions
Is Wekan a better fit than Kanboard for project management?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Wekan scores 90 to Kanboard's 86 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Kanboard earns its place on a different axis — very low resource requirements — runs comfortably on a small, cheap VPS. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Wekan keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Kanboard is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Wekan or Kanboard?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Wekan and Kanboard both alternatives to Trello?
Yes — both appear in our Trello comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Trello and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-07-18. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.