Focalboard vs Plane
Focalboard
Open-source Trello/Notion/Asana alternative
Plane
Modern open-source project management
| Feature | Focalboard | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Project Mgmt | Project Mgmt |
| Sub-category | Kanban | Project Tracker |
| Maturity | stable | stable |
| Complexity | beginner | beginner |
| Performance tier | medium | medium |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| License type | copyleft | copyleft |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 22.0K | 32.0K |
| Contributors | 0 | 0 |
| Commit frequency | weekly | weekly |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | none |
| Docs quality | good | good |
| Backing org | Mattermost | Makeplane |
| Funding model | open_core | vc_backed |
| Min RAM | 256 MB | 1 GB |
| Min CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | single_node | single_node |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | No | No |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | Go, TypeScript | TypeScript, Python |
| API type | REST | REST |
| Protocols | HTTP | HTTP |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| SDK languages | — | — |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium | small, medium, enterprise |
| First release | 2020 | 2020 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use Focalboard
- ✓ Team task management with Kanban boards
- ✓ Personal project tracking
- ✓ Mattermost-integrated project management
When to use Plane
- ✓ Primary: agile-project-management
- ✓ Primary: issue-tracking
- ✓ Primary: sprint-planning
Focalboard anti-patterns
- ✕ Development has slowed (Mattermost focus shifted)
- ✕ Less feature-rich than dedicated PM tools