Focalboard
Harbor
| Feature | Focalboard | Harbor |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free only |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates | enterprise-devops, container-teams, security-teams, regulated-industries |
| Founded | 2021 | 2016 |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Table View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Filters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Container Registry | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vulnerability Scanning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Rbac | ✗ | ✓ |
| Image Signing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Replication | ✗ | ✓ |
| Garbage Collection | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audit Logs | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Harbor Pros
- Completely free and CNCF graduated project
- Built-in vulnerability scanning (Trivy integration)
- Image signing and policy enforcement
- Multi-registry replication for geo-distribution
✗ Harbor Cons
- Requires self-hosting and infrastructure management
- UI is functional but not modern
- Initial setup complexity for production
The Verdict
Focalboard is built for self hosters and mattermost users, with a focus on kanban-boards and table-view. Harbor targets enterprise devops and container teams and leads with container-registry and vulnerability-scanning.
Both tools use custom enterprise pricing — you'll need to contact sales for a quote, which makes direct cost comparison difficult.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Harbor offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Focalboard takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Harbor has a slight overall edge — but if completely free and open-source matters most to you, Focalboard may still be the right call.