Best Free Kanban Boards 2026: 8 Options Compared

A kanban board is the simplest project tool there is: columns, cards, and a rule that work moves from left to right. That simplicity means the free options are strong, and the real differences are in limits and in who controls the data. Trello is the benchmark, with 10 boards and 10 collaborators on its free plan, which is enough for most small teams but not for a company-wide rollout. Hosted competitors cap seats harder, so Asana and Monday stop at two, while ClickUp lifts the seat cap and limits storage instead. Self-hosted boards remove the caps completely: Wekan and Kanboard are MIT-licensed, Vikunja is AGPL, and Planka is free but source-available, with a licence that bars reselling it as a hosted service. The trade-off is plain. A self-hosted board costs nothing per user, but someone has to patch it and back it up. A hosted board costs nothing until the cap, then costs per seat. Before choosing, decide whether you need swimlanes, work-in-progress limits or calendar views, because the lightest tools skip them. Export once a month, since a board holds your team's working memory.

Trello

The reference kanban tool: free for up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace, with 250 command runs a month and 10 MB per file. Fast to learn, but extra views and automation are paid.

Price: Free (up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace, 250 Workspace command runs a month, 10 MB per file); paid from $5 per user/month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly) (Trello pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.

Best for: Small teams and personal task boards.

Compare: Trello alternatives

ClickUp

Free Forever gives unlimited members and a board view, but 60 MB of storage and 5 Spaces. A heavier tool than Trello, which pays off if you want lists, docs and boards in one place.

Price: Free (Free Forever plan with unlimited members, 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month) (ClickUp pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.

Best for: Larger groups on a zero-seat-cost budget.

Compare: ClickUp alternatives

Asana

The Personal plan lets 2 users run unlimited tasks and projects with board, list and calendar views. Good for a pair, but a third user means a paid plan from $10.99 per user per month on annual billing.

Price: Free (Personal plan for up to 2 users with unlimited tasks and projects and list, board and calendar views); paid from $10.99 per user/month, billed annually ($13.49 billed monthly) (Asana pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.

Best for: Pairs who want one board plus a task list.

Compare: Asana alternatives

PLANKA

A self-hosted kanban board. The free Community edition covers personal, internal and nonprofit use, but the license is source-available rather than open source and bars hosting it for third parties.

Price: Free (Free Community edition for personal, internal and nonprofit use); paid from EUR 36 per month for 5 users, Pro Self-Hosted, billed annually (EUR 7.20 per user) (PLANKA pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. PLANKA Community License (source-available, not open source).

Best for: Internal teams who want a board they host.

Worth knowing: The license bars running it as a commercial hosted service for third parties.

WeKan

MIT-licensed kanban you host yourself, with no user cap and no paid tier on the repository. The GitHub page also lists a hosted option without a price, so the free route is self-hosting.

Price: Free (MIT-licensed Kanban app you host yourself) (WeKan pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. MIT (open source).

Project activity: 21.1k GitHub stars · latest release v12.65 (Oct 25, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Teams that need a truly open-source board.

Kanboard

MIT-licensed free self-hosted kanban with no paid tier listed. A fit when you want a small board on your own server and can accept a plain interface.

Price: Free (Free self-hosted Kanban) (Kanboard pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. MIT (open source).

Project activity: 9.9k GitHub stars · latest release v1.2.56 (Oct 21, 2026) · last commit Oct 24, 2026

Best for: Small teams wanting a lightweight board on their own server.

Vikunja

AGPL-3.0 task and kanban app that is free to self-host. Vikunja Cloud Personal costs 4 EUR a month if you would rather not run it, and the Organization plan is 5 EUR per user a month.

Price: Free (Self-host free forever); paid from EUR 4 per month, Vikunja Cloud Personal (Organization EUR 5 per user/month) (Vikunja pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).

Project activity: 5.9k GitHub stars · latest release v2.7.1 (Oct 20, 2026) · last commit Oct 28, 2026

Best for: Individuals and families who want lists with boards.

Plane

AGPL-3.0 project tool with board views, free for up to 12 users on the hosted plan or self-hosted. Kanban is one of several views, so it feels heavier than a pure board.

Price: Free (up to 12 users with basic roles and views); paid from $6 per user/month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly, Pro) (Plane pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).

Project activity: 61.6k GitHub stars · latest release v1.4.2 (Aug 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Teams that want boards now and issue tracking later.

Worth knowing: SSO (SAML, OIDC), wiki, time tracking and intake forms are paid features.

Which one to pick

• You want the quickest start with no setup: Trello
• You have lots of people and few paid-seat dollars: ClickUp
• You must keep the data on your own server and want true open source: WeKan
• You want a minimal board that stays out of the way: Kanboard
• You want a self-hosted board for internal use: PLANKA