Focalboard vs Rowboat

Comparing two open source alternatives to Notion . Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

Focalboard

AGPL-3.0

Focalboard is an open-source, self-hosted project management tool — a free alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana for boards, docs, and team planning across every workflow.

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Rowboat

Apache-2.0

Open-source desktop AI coworker with a living knowledge graph, built-in email, browser, meeting notes, and code mode.

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Side-by-side comparison

	Focalboard	Rowboat
License	AGPL-3.0	Apache-2.0
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	26,417	17,338
Forks	2,577	1,720
Open Issues	784	159
Last Commit	May 18, 2026	Aug 20, 2026
First Released	Oct 6, 2020	Jan 13, 2025
Categories	Time & Task Management Tools Knowledge Management Tools Collaboration & Communication Tools	Note Taking & Knowledge Management Tools Automation Tools AI Coding Agents
Tags	#kanban #project management #collaboration #docker #self hosted	#ai #ai agent #desktop-app

GitHub stars over time

Focalboard26,417

Rowboat

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