The best open source Trello alternative keeps the simple drag-and-drop board you like and adds what a growing team ends up missing: other views, time tracking, chat, reports and a place for AI to help. AlianHub does that as free, self-hosted software under the AGPL-3.0 license. You keep the board and your data stays on your own server.
Key takeaways
- Trello made the Kanban board famous. Most teams do not leave the board, they outgrow having only the board.
- A board shows where work is. It rarely shows when it will be done or who has room for it.
- An open source tool lets you read the code, run it yourself and keep every card in your own database.
- AlianHub gives you six views of the same tasks, built-in timers, chat and AI agents you control.
- You can import from Trello and undo the import if it does not look right.
Why people look for a Trello alternative
Trello is easy to start with, and for a small side project that is often all you need.
The friction shows up as the team grows. People start asking questions a board answers badly:
- Which of these cards are due this week, across every board?
- Who is overloaded, and who has free hours?
- How long did this work actually take compared to the estimate?
- Where did we decide this, and why?
Teams usually answer those with add-ons, spreadsheets and a separate chat app. Each one is another login, another place data lives and another bill. At some point it is simpler to move to a tool that does those jobs itself.
The data question
There is a second reason, and it is getting louder. Trello is a hosted service, so your cards, comments and attachments live on someone else's servers under their terms. For many teams that is fine. For agencies with client contracts, regulated teams or anyone who wants to choose where their data sits, a self-hosted option is a requirement, not a nice-to-have.
What "open source" actually gets you
Open source is not only about price. It changes who is in control.
- You can read the code. Nothing about your data handling is taken on trust.
- You can run it yourself. On a server you choose.
- You can change it. Under AGPL-3.0, if you run a modified version as a public network service, you publish your changes.
AlianHub has no per-seat pricing when you self-host, so adding the tenth or the fiftieth person does not change what you pay for the software.
Trello vs AlianHub at a glance
| What you need | Trello (general) | AlianHub |
|---|---|---|
| Kanban board | Yes, the core of the product | Yes, one of six views |
| List, Table, Calendar, Gantt, Workload | Some views depend on plan | All six, synced in real time |
| Time tracking and timesheets | Through add-ons | Built in, with weekly approval |
| Team chat | Separate app | Channels, direct messages and @mentions |
| Hosting | Vendor cloud | Your own server with Docker Compose |
| Source code | Closed | Open source, AGPL-3.0 |
| AI | Vendor features | Ask box, agents, AI Inbox, connect Claude or ChatGPT |
The point of the table is not that Trello is bad. It is that Trello is focused on one thing, and AlianHub is built to hold the whole project.
The board you know, plus five other views
In AlianHub the Board view works the way you expect: Kanban columns by status, and you drag cards between them. The difference is that the same tasks also show up in five other views.
- List for scanning every task, grouped by status.
- Table for status, owner, priority, due date and custom fields in rows.
- Calendar for tasks and milestones on a monthly grid.
- Gantt for a bar per task, links for blockers and milestones as diamonds.
- Workload for planned hours per person and day against capacity.
Changes appear for everyone at once, because views sync in real time. Move a card on the board and the Gantt bar updates. See the full list on the features page.
Tip: keep the board for the daily stand-up and use Workload when you plan the week. Same tasks, two questions answered.
How AlianHub's AI runs the board for you
This is the part Trello-style tools were never designed for. In AlianHub, AI agents are workspace members with an owner, a run budget and an autonomy level from L0 to L3. Low-risk, reversible changes can run with Undo. Wider changes, like moving tasks between lists or assigning them, wait for a person in the AI Inbox.
No agent closes a task. A person does. Deleting projects, removing people and touching billing do not exist as agent actions at all.
How to do this in AlianHub
- Import your Trello board, then open it in the Board view.
- Type into the Ask box in plain words, for example "find my urgent work" or "project status update". Answers come only from projects you can open.
- Give an agent the digest skill from the skill library. It reads the project's open work and posts what moved, what is stuck and what is at risk.
- Set the agent to L3 so it can also run on a schedule, such as every Monday morning, and set a daily AI budget for the workspace.
- Check the AI Inbox each day. Approve or decline what the agent proposes; decline with a reason and the agent sees it.
- Prefer your own assistant? Open AI, then Connect your AI, copy the address and add it to Claude or ChatGPT as a custom connector. See the Connect your AI guide.
A business scenario
A small design agency runs every client job on boards. On Trello, the owner spent Friday afternoons clicking through cards to write client updates. In AlianHub, a scheduled digest agent posts the summary for each project, and the owner edits it instead of writing it from scratch. Stuck cards show up in the digest days earlier, so fewer deadlines slip quietly, and the owner's Friday goes back to winning new clients.
Moving your cards over
AlianHub imports from Trello, as well as Jira, ClickUp, Asana, Monday.com and CSV files. Imports can be undone, so a test run costs you nothing.
A simple migration plan:
- Pick one active board, not your whole history.
- Import it and check lists, cards and assignees in the Board view.
- Open the same project in Table and Calendar to see what the extra views add.
- Invite the people on that board and run one week in parallel.
- Move the rest once the team stops opening the old board.
The safest migration is the one you can undo. That is why it pays to start small.
Is self-hosting hard?
Not for a team with someone comfortable on a server. AlianHub runs with Docker Compose and MongoDB 7. Three commands get it running, and the install wizard creates your first workspace and owner account. The self-hosting guide and the admin guide cover backups, upgrades and HTTPS.
If you would rather look before installing anything, the live demo is a ready-made workspace with the board, planner, agents and AI Inbox.
FAQ
Is AlianHub really free?
Yes. AlianHub is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no per-seat pricing when you self-host. Paid help with hosting, customization and support is available from Alian Software if you want it.
Can I import my Trello boards?
Yes. Trello is one of the supported import sources, along with Jira, ClickUp, Asana, Monday.com and CSV. Imports can be undone if the result is not what you expected.
Do I have to use the AI features?
No. Nothing in the product requires AI. If you do not configure a model, the AI pages simply stay empty and the rest of AlianHub works as normal.
Does it still feel like a simple Kanban tool?
The Board view is a plain Kanban board with drag and drop. You can stay there all day, and open the other views only when you need them.
If your team loves the board but keeps reaching for spreadsheets and side apps, try AlianHub in the live demo or self-host it free. Share this with whoever owns your project tools and see if it is time to move.