Focalboard
Portainer
| Feature | Focalboard | Portainer |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $12/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates | devops-engineers, system-admins, small-teams, docker-users |
| Founded | 2021 | 2017 |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Table View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Filters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Container Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Stack Deployment | ✗ | ✓ |
| User Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Registry Access | ✗ | ✓ |
| Monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| Edge Computing | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Portainer Pros
- Visual UI for Docker/K8s management
- Free for up to 5 environments
- Simplifies container deployment
- Role-based access control
✗ Portainer Cons
- Enterprise features are paid
- Can lag behind Docker CLI capabilities
- Limited CI/CD features
The Verdict
Focalboard is built for self hosters and mattermost users, with a focus on kanban-boards and table-view. Portainer targets devops engineers and system admins and leads with container-management and stack-deployment.
Focalboard uses custom enterprise pricing, while Portainer starts at $12/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.
Portainer edges out on user ratings (4.4 vs 4). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Both tools are a solid fit for small teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Portainer has a slight overall edge — but if completely free and open-source matters most to you, Focalboard may still be the right call.