Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Podio

Focalboard is an open source project management and work-tracking tool designed around boards, cards, and customizable properties. It helps individuals and teams organize tasks, plan projects, and collaborate in a shared workspace.

Key Features

• Kanban-style boards with cards for tasks and projects
• Multiple views such as board, table, gallery, and calendar views
• Filters, grouping, sorting, and saved views for focused workflows
• Comments and @mentions for collaboration on cards
• Board permissions for controlling who can view or edit
• Templates and custom attributes/properties for structured planning
• File sharing on cards for centralizing project context
• Archiving and backup snapshots for preserving historical work

Use Cases

• Team project tracking with kanban workflows and task assignments
• Personal task management and planning using a local or small server setup
• Managing roadmaps, OKRs, content calendars, and meeting agendas with templates

Limitations and Considerations

• The standalone Focalboard repository is currently not maintained, which may affect future updates, security fixes, and long-term support.

Focalboard fits teams that want a Trello/Notion-style workflow with flexible views and collaboration features. It is particularly useful when you need customizable boards and permissions without relying on a proprietary SaaS service.

WeKan is an open-source, Trello-like Kanban board application for organizing personal and team work. It provides a real-time, collaborative interface for managing boards, lists, and cards while keeping data under your control.

Key Features

• Kanban boards with lists and cards for visual task tracking
• Real-time collaboration and live updates
• Access controls and permissions to restrict board and user access
• Internationalization support with extensive community translations
• Multiple packaging/deployment options (including container images)

Use Cases

• Team project management and lightweight agile workflows
• Personal task tracking and planning (to-do lists, trips, side projects)
• Replacing hosted Kanban tools for privacy, compliance, or cost reasons

Limitations and Considerations

• Uses MongoDB; insufficient disk space can risk database corruption, so monitoring and backups are important
• Upgrades are important for security due to upstream dependency updates (for example Node.js/Meteor stack)

WeKan is a solid option for organizations and individuals who want a familiar Kanban workflow with real-time collaboration and self-managed data. Its broad platform support and mature feature set make it suitable from small teams to larger deployments.

Grist is a modern relational spreadsheet that combines the flexibility of spreadsheets with the structure and robustness of a database. It’s designed for building collaborative, spreadsheet-like data apps with strong data modeling, views, and access controls.

Key Features

• Relational tables with typed columns and references between records
• Spreadsheet-style formulas with full Python syntax and access to the Python standard library
• Multiple views and dashboards, including charts, card views, calendar widgets, and linked widgets
• Import/export tools (including CSV and Excel formats) and incremental imports for updating existing datasets
• Built-in forms that write directly into tables
• REST API, outgoing webhooks, and support for external/custom widgets
• Granular sharing and access control, including rules for rows, columns, and tables
• Portable document format based on SQLite for easy backup and migration

Use Cases

• Replace complex spreadsheets with a structured, collaborative system for operational data
• Build lightweight internal tools (CRMs, inventory trackers, project trackers) with no-code layouts
• Collect data via forms and produce dashboards and reports for teams

Grist is a strong fit for teams that want spreadsheet familiarity while gaining relational modeling, safer collaboration, and integration-friendly workflows. It can be self-managed for tighter control and supports a broad range of data-driven workflows without requiring a full custom app build.

Kan is an open-source project management app focused on Trello-style kanban boards for organizing work, tracking progress, and collaborating with a team. It aims to stay minimal and familiar while adding modern collaboration and administration features.

Key Features

• Kanban boards with drag-and-drop cards
• Workspaces and member invitations for team collaboration
• Board visibility controls for viewing and editing
• Labels and filters to organize and find cards quickly
• Comments on cards for discussion
• Activity log to track changes and history
• Reusable board templates
• Trello board import

Use Cases

• Replacing Trello with a self-managed kanban board for teams
• Managing personal or small-team projects with a minimal interface
• Importing existing Trello workflows and continuing them in an open-source tool

Kan provides a clean, focused kanban experience with core collaboration features and practical migration support. It is well-suited for teams that want a simple Trello-like workflow without unnecessary complexity.

Baserow is an open-source platform for building and collaborating on databases with a spreadsheet-like interface. It combines structured data management with no-code tools for creating views, forms, automations, dashboards, and simple applications, with an API-first architecture for integrations.

Key Features

• Spreadsheet-style database with relational data modeling and multiple field types
• Multiple views to work with data, including grid, kanban, calendar, timeline, and forms
• No-code automation builder with logic (triggers, conditions/branches, loops) and actions
• Integrations via native actions such as HTTP requests, email, and webhooks
• Application builder for creating internal tools, portals, and simple apps from your data
• API-first design with a REST API for programmatic access and integration
• Extensible architecture with support for frontend and backend plugins
• Built-in AI assistant/agents features for creating databases and workflows from natural language

Use Cases

• Replace spreadsheets and Airtable with a self-managed collaborative database
• Build internal tools (asset tracking, task management, risk management) on top of structured data
• Automate data workflows and sync processes across systems using HTTP and webhooks

Limitations and Considerations

• Some advanced capabilities are offered as premium/enterprise features (open-core model)

Baserow fits teams that want the usability of a spreadsheet UI while keeping the rigor of a database and the flexibility of an extensible, API-driven platform. It is suitable for both lightweight data apps and larger-scale deployments where integrations and governance matter.

Nextcloud Deck is a Kanban-style organization and task management app that runs inside Nextcloud. It helps individuals and teams plan projects using boards, stacks, and cards, with collaboration features integrated into the Nextcloud ecosystem.

Key Features

• Kanban boards with stacks and sortable task cards
• Card details with Markdown notes and rich descriptions
• Labels for organizing and filtering work
• Comments for team discussion on cards
• File attachments with embedding into card descriptions
• Activity stream integration to track changes
• Sharing and collaboration, including integration with Nextcloud Circles

Use Cases

• Personal task planning and organizing work in Kanban boards
• Team project coordination with shared boards and comments
• Managing lightweight workflows tied to Nextcloud files and activity

Limitations and Considerations

• Can generate a high number of database queries with many boards, cards, and attachments, which may impact performance at scale

Nextcloud Deck is a practical choice if you want Trello-like Kanban workflows tightly integrated with Nextcloud users, sharing, files, and activity features. It fits especially well for small-to-medium team planning where data should remain inside your Nextcloud environment.