Focalboard
Wrike
| Feature | Focalboard | Wrike |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | self-hosters, mattermost-users, small-teams, open-source-advocates | enterprise, marketing-teams, professional-services, product-teams |
| Founded | 2021 | 2006 |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Table View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calendar View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Filters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Gantt Charts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom Workflows | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cross Tagging | ✗ | ✓ |
| Request Forms | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dashboards | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Assistant | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Wrike Pros
- Cross-tagging lets tasks live in multiple projects
- Powerful Gantt charts with dependencies
- Custom request forms for intake workflows
- AI-powered risk prediction and status updates
✗ Wrike Cons
- Interface can feel cluttered and overwhelming
- Free tier limited to basic features
- Steep learning curve for full capabilities
The Verdict
Focalboard is built for self hosters and mattermost users, with a focus on kanban-boards and table-view. Wrike targets enterprise and marketing teams and leads with gantt-charts and custom-workflows.
Focalboard uses custom enterprise pricing, while Wrike 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.
Feature-wise, Wrike offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Focalboard takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
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.
