Focalboard — Open-Source Project Management Alternative to Trello and Notion

What it is

Focalboard is an open-source project management application built by Mattermost. It provides kanban boards, table views, gallery views, and calendar views in a single self-hostable package. It positions itself as an alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana for teams that want to own their project management data.

It targets small-to-medium teams, open-source projects, and organizations that prefer self-hosted tools over SaaS subscriptions for task tracking and project coordination.

How it saves time or tokens

Focalboard consolidates multiple project views into one tool. Instead of maintaining a Trello board for kanban, a spreadsheet for tracking, and a calendar app for deadlines, teams get all views on the same data set. The self-hosted model eliminates per-seat SaaS costs for teams that already run their own infrastructure.

How to use

1. Deploy Focalboard using Docker, the standalone binary, or as a Mattermost plugin (integrated with team chat).
2. Create a new board and choose a template (project tasks, content calendar, roadmap, etc.).
3. Add cards, assign team members, set due dates, and switch between board, table, gallery, and calendar views.

Example

# docker-compose.yml for Focalboard
version: '3'
services:
  focalboard:
    image: mattermost/focalboard
    ports:
      - '8000:8000'
    volumes:
      - ./data:/opt/focalboard/data
    environment:
      - FOCALBOARD_PORT=8000

Related on TokRepo

• Task management tools — Project planning and task tracking solutions
• Self-hosted tools — Run your own productivity software

Common pitfalls

• Focalboard's standalone version stores data in a local SQLite database by default. For team use, configure PostgreSQL for reliability and concurrent access.
• The Mattermost plugin version requires a Mattermost server. If you do not use Mattermost for chat, the standalone deployment is simpler.
• Data migration from Trello or Notion requires manual export/import. There is no automatic sync between platforms.