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Wekan

★ 21k

Open-source kanban board with swimlanes, WIP limits, and rules automation

Wekan does the job of Trello, self-hosted. It is MIT-licensed, so you can do essentially what you like with it, and setting it up is an afternoon, not a weekend. Trello bills $5-6/user for it. 21k stars on GitHub.

Open-source replacement for Trello.

Licence
MIT
Self-hosting
Medium
The paid one costs
$5-6/user
GitHub stars
21k
view the code →official site →

Is it actually a replacement?

We have written a verdict on what it replaces — what you lose, and why people still pay:

How Wekan runs

Where it runs

Wekan runs on your server.

Installing it

Install with Docker Compose or the official Snap package; many other platform packages are community-supported.

Where your data lives

Boards, cards, users, comments, and settings live in MongoDB; uploaded files and backups must be persisted with the deployment rather than left inside an ephemeral container.

What setup takes

The app starts easily compared with larger suites, but a non-expert still needs an always-on host, persistent MongoDB storage, backups, an external URL, TLS, and mail configuration.

The catch compared with Trello

Wekan reproduces boards and cards but gives up Trello's Butler automation, Power-Ups, polished mobile apps, integrations, and managed reliability.

Wekan questions

Is Wekan open source?

Yes — it is released under MIT.

Can Wekan replace Trello?

Our verdict on Trello is YES. Plane (55k stars), Focalboard (26k stars), Wekan (21k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Trello — self-host with docker and stop paying $12.5/mo.

Can I self-host Wekan?

Yes — we rate it medium to self-host, and it runs on your server. Install with Docker Compose or the official Snap package; many other platform packages are community-supported.

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