Activepieces
Focalboard
| Feature | Activepieces | Focalboard |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10/mo | Free only |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, startups, privacy-focused-teams, automation-builders | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates |
| Founded | 2022 | 2021 |
| Visual Builder | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Copilot | ✓ | ✗ |
| Branching Logic | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pieces Framework | ✓ | ✗ |
| Webhooks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Kanban Boards | ✗ | ✓ |
| Table View | ✗ | ✓ |
| Calendar View | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Filters | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Activepieces Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- AI helps build automations from descriptions
- Clean visual workflow builder
- Growing piece (connector) library
✗ Activepieces Cons
- Fewer integrations than Zapier/Make
- Community still growing
- Self-hosted requires maintenance
✓ Focalboard Pros
- Completely free and open-source
- Self-hostable for data control
- Multiple view types (board, table, gallery)
- Integrates with Mattermost
✗ Focalboard Cons
- Limited to basic project tracking
- No built-in time tracking
- Smaller community than alternatives
The Verdict
Activepieces is built for developers and startups, with a focus on visual-builder and ai-copilot. Focalboard targets self hosters and mattermost users and leads with kanban-boards and table-view.
Focalboard uses custom enterprise pricing, while Activepieces starts at $10/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Bottom line: Activepieces has a slight overall edge — but if completely free and open-source matters most to you, Focalboard may still be the right call.