Focalboard
Moodle
| Feature | Focalboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $9.17/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Best For | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates | universities, schools, corporate-training, institutions |
| Founded | 2021 | 2002 |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Table View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Filters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Course Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Quizzes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Forums | ✗ | ✓ |
| Grading | ✗ | ✓ |
| Plugins | ✗ | ✓ |
| Completion Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Moodle Pros
- Free and open-source
- Highly customizable
- Large community
- Plugin ecosystem
✗ Moodle Cons
- Requires hosting
- Dated design
- Setup complexity
The Verdict
Focalboard is built for self hosters and mattermost users, with a focus on kanban-boards and table-view. Moodle targets universities and schools and leads with course-management and quizzes.
Focalboard uses custom enterprise pricing, while Moodle starts at $9.17/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.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.