Our verdict
Wekan and Focalboard (Mattermost Boards) are both kanban tools for restaurants. On our independent rubric, Wekan scores 3.9/5 versus 3.6/5 for Focalboard (Mattermost Boards). Choose Wekan if you're Privacy-focused teams wanting a self-hosted Trello alternative or Self-hosters who prefer a permissive MIT license with no limits; choose Focalboard (Mattermost Boards) if you're Mattermost users wanting integrated boards alongside team chat or Small teams wanting a self-hosted Trello/Notion-style board.
Side-by-side comparison
| Metric | Wekan | Focalboard (Mattermost Boards) |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score | 3.9/5 | 3.6/5 |
| G2 rating | — | — |
| Capterra rating | — | — |
| Starting price | Free (self-hosted, MIT license) | Free (self-hosted, open source) |
| Free tier | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Integrations | 5 · Webhooks, REST API, LDAP… | 3 · Mattermost, Webhooks, REST API… |
| Best for | Privacy-focused teams wanting a self-hosted Trello alternative, Self-hosters who prefer a permissive MIT license with no limits, Boards needing swimlanes, custom fields, and fine-grained permissions | Mattermost users wanting integrated boards alongside team chat, Small teams wanting a self-hosted Trello/Notion-style board, Self-hosters comfortable with a community-maintained project |
| Category | kanban | kanban |
| Founded | 2016 | 2021 |
| HQ | Finland | Palo Alto, California, USA |
A teal check marks the stronger option on each measurable row. Ratings are sourced from G2/Capterra with attribution on each listing.
Wekan
- Completely free and unlimited under MIT license
- Swimlanes, custom fields, and granular permissions
- Real-time collaborative board with webhooks and API
- Multiple self-host options (Docker, Snap, source)
- Kanban-only: no Gantt, sprints, or reporting suite
- Built on Meteor, which adds resource overhead
- Support is community/commercial; not enterprise-backed
Focalboard (Mattermost Boards)
- Free and self-hosted with multiple board/table/calendar views
- Integrates tightly with Mattermost as Boards
- Mature codebase with broad adoption (~26k stars)
- Standalone Personal Server option for non-Mattermost use
- Community-maintained since 2023; limited new feature development
- No Gantt, sprints, or reporting suite
- Future direction depends on community contributors
Not sure which fits your restaurant?
Answer five quick questions and get a ranked, honest shortlist for your operation.