Focalboard
Teamwork
| Feature | Focalboard | Teamwork |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $13.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates | agencies, professional-services, client-work-teams, project-managers |
| Founded | 2021 | 2007 |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Table View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Filters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Resource Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Billing Invoicing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Gantt Charts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Teamwork Pros
- Excellent for client-facing work
- Built-in time tracking and billing
- Unlimited free client users
- Comprehensive project templates
✗ Teamwork Cons
- Interface can feel cluttered
- Learning curve for full feature set
- Mobile app has limited features
The Verdict
Focalboard is built for self hosters and mattermost users, with a focus on kanban-boards and table-view. Teamwork targets agencies and professional services and leads with task-management and time-tracking.
Focalboard uses custom enterprise pricing, while Teamwork starts at $13.99/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: Teamwork has a slight overall edge — but if completely free and open-source matters most to you, Focalboard may still be the right call.