Trello
Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.
Kanban boards: lists of cards you drag from one column to the next. It is deliberately simple, which is why it ends up used for everything from a sprint to a house move, with checklists, due dates and automations layered on.
Build me a kanban board where reordering a card writes one row, not the whole list. STACK - Astro with a Node adapter, SQLite via better-sqlite3 - Vanilla JS for drag and drop, no frontend framework THE MODEL - Boards, lists and cards; a card has a title, Markdown description, labels, due date, assignees and a checklist ORDERING - Fractional indexes, so moving a card writes one row instead of renumbering the list - A rebalance job for when the fractions get too small, run rarely and logged MOVING A CARD - HTML5 drag and drop, plus keyboard move commands as an equal path rather than an afterthought - Optimistic update with a server round trip, and a visible reconciliation when the server disagrees HISTORY - Card activity appended: moved, assigned, commented - Rendered as a history on the card, never summarised away FILTERS - By label, assignee and due date, held in the query string, so a filtered board is a shareable link SHARING - A read-only board link signed with an HMAC token, no account needed to view GETTING IN - A JSON import accepting a Trello board export, because migrating in is the first thing anyone tries Include a README on the fractional index scheme, the rebalance job and the share token.
What you lose
- Mobile apps, which is where a good part of card-shuffling actually happens
- Power-Ups and the integration catalogue built around them
- Real-time updates when several people move cards at once
- Attachment storage and previews handled for you
- Butler automation rules, which teams quietly come to depend on
If you would rather not build
- Wekan — long-running open-source kanban
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Focalboard
$0Project boards in kanban, table and calendar views; runs standalone.
mattermost-community/focalboardfree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
76/100
Verdict yes at 76: lists, cards and ordering are a solved problem, and the fractional-index trick removes the only genuinely fiddly part. Score held below the eighties because real-time multiplayer and mobile apps are where the remaining value sits.
History
tracked since 6 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Questions about Trello
answered from the record above
Is Trello free?
No — the plan we track is $6 a month. Standard, $6 per user per month on monthly billing ($5 billed annually). Premium is $12.50 monthly.
Can you replace Trello by building your own?
YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 76 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Trello cost?
$6 a month on Standard — $72 a year. Recorded 6 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Trello?
Mobile apps, which is where a good part of card-shuffling actually happens; Power-Ups and the integration catalogue built around them; Real-time updates when several people move cards at once; Attachment storage and previews handled for you; Butler automation rules, which teams quietly come to depend on. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Trello?
Yes: Planka, Focalboard. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
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