Trello vs WeKan: which to choose

When to choose Trello and when to choose a self-hosted WeKan board

Choose Trello when the main requirement is a managed kanban product that your teams can start using without operating anything. Trello suits organizations that value a large Power-Up ecosystem, prefer the vendor to handle upgrades and availability, and have no contractual or regulatory need to keep boards, comments and attachments on servers they control. A Trello renewal alone is not a reason to move. Before deciding, list the Power-Ups and automations your teams use every week, because each one is a dependency that a self-hosted board may not replace one for one. Confirm current Trello plan terms and identity options with Atlassian directly, since those are the terms your renewal will be measured against.

Choose a self-hosted WeKan board when boards, comments and attachments must stay inside your own infrastructure and you can run or contract the hosting. WeKan is MIT-licensed, supports SAML, LDAP and OAuth2 login providers, and can be deployed from Docker images, Kubernetes or a Linux Snap, so the operating model is closer to an internal application than a SaaS subscription. The trade-off is that you own availability, patching, backups and access control. Ask whether your team has someone to run a MongoDB or FerretDB-backed service, and whether the default FerretDB and SQLite setup is acceptable for your scale, or whether PostgreSQL is needed. Confirm which WeKan release you will pin and how you will test upgrades, given how often the project publishes releases.

The decision turns on four questions. First, which integrations your teams depend on, and whether each has a WeKan equivalent or can be rebuilt through its API. Second, which identity requirements apply, such as single sign-on through your existing provider and directory-based provisioning. Third, where boards and attachments must physically reside under your data residency rules. Fourth, who operates the server after go-live, including on-call coverage, backups and restore tests. If the answers point to managed convenience, Trello is the simpler choice. If they point to control over data and identity, WeKan on infrastructure you govern is the better fit, and the migration and cost pages describe what each path requires.

Which option fits which scenario

This table matches common Trello situations with the option that usually fits better and the reason. Read each row against your own hosting rules, integrations and identity setup. The main takeaway is that WeKan fits best when boards must stay on your servers or follow your own login rules, while Trello stays simpler when neither applies.

Scenario	Better fit	Reason
Small team on Trello with no hosting constraints	Stay on Trello	Hosted Trello needs no servers, backups or patching from your team.
Organization needs boards inside its own data center	WeKan	MIT license and Docker or Kubernetes images let you run it on your own hardware.
Team depends on Power-Ups	Trello until each Power-Up is mapped	Check every Power-Up against WeKan features, import options or API work before moving.
Identity-driven rollout using SAML or LDAP	WeKan, if your identity provider fits	Its README lists SAML, LDAP and OAuth2 login. Confirm group mapping and offboarding behavior first.
Pilot with no database administrators available	WeKan with the default setup	The default FerretDB and SQLite option needs no separate database server. Confirm the production database choice before rollout.
Need a vendor-backed support contract	Trello, or WeKan with paid support	WeKan's README lists official private pre-paid support from wekan.fi. Confirm scope, response terms and cost in writing.

Where Trello and WeKan data lives and who controls it

The biggest difference between these tools is who runs the servers, where the data sits and who signs users in. The cards below set out each side's model and the questions to put to Atlassian and to your own team before you choose.

Who operates the servers

Trello is a cloud product that Atlassian hosts and operates, so your organization depends on Atlassian for uptime, patching and physical security. WeKan runs on infrastructure you choose: a Linux host, Docker or Kubernetes, or a private cloud account. WeKan's README also describes a SaaS option, free with the app or paid with the admin panel, so confirm who would operate that instance. In a self-hosted deployment, your team owns the operating system, database and network path.

Data location and residency

Our research did not establish which regions Trello stores boards, comments and attachments in, so ask Atlassian in writing for the hosting region of each data type, the backup location and any subprocessors involved. With WeKan, residency is a decision you make when you choose the server, and an EU data center keeps boards and attachments under your control. Record the answers in your data map so an assessor can trace each category of data to a location and an operator.

Identity through Atlassian Guard

Single sign-on for Trello is handled through Atlassian Guard, administered from Atlassian's admin console. Confirm which Trello plan and Guard tier include it, which identity providers are supported and how user removal reaches boards and cards. WeKan's README lists SAML, LDAP and OAuth2 login providers plus passwordless login, so your existing directory can sign users in. Test group mapping and offboarding on the WeKan release you deploy, because login behavior can change between versions.

Database and backup ownership

WeKan's default setup uses FerretDB v1 with SQLite, which needs no separate database server. It also supports MongoDB 6 to 9, and FerretDB with PostgreSQL works as well, while MySQL, MariaDB and SAP HANA are listed as experimental. In a self-hosted deployment, your team takes the backups, encrypts them, stores copies away from the primary host and tests restores. For Trello, ask Atlassian to confirm backup retention and restore procedures in writing before you move sensitive boards.

Upgrades and patch responsibility

WeKan publishes releases very often: v12.52 came out on October 17, 2026, after v12.51 and v12.50 on the same day. The Linux Snap updates automatically, while Docker and Kubernetes images need a planned pull and restart. Atlassian applies platform changes to Trello, so your upgrade work there is mostly limited to admin settings. Set a patch window, keep a staging instance on the same version and read the release notes before each upgrade.

Compliance evidence and assessor work

Assessors will ask for evidence of access control, logging, change management and backup testing, whichever tool you use. For Trello, request Atlassian's compliance documents and confirm they cover the product and plan you buy. For WeKan, your team produces the evidence from its own systems. DeployOpen prepares systems, controls and evidence for compliance assessments, but it does not issue audit reports, attestations or certifications. Independent auditors and certification bodies perform that work.

How WeKan can be installed and which database it runs on

WeKan publishes ready-made bundles for Windows, Mac and Linux, which suit a team evaluating the board on a workstation or a small shared machine. These bundles package the application so it can run without building the Meteor and Node.js stack by hand. They are a practical starting point for a pilot, but a shared board used by many people normally belongs on a server that your platform team patches and backs up.

Windows and Mac bundles: Useful for evaluation and single-user testing, not for a shared production board.
Linux bundle: A portable archive for a Linux host you manage yourself, with updates applied by replacing the bundle.
Scope of responsibility: Whoever runs the bundle owns the service, its availability, TLS termination and backups.
Pilot value: Import a copy of a few Trello boards to test swimlanes, WIP limits and login before choosing a server design.

Before moving beyond a pilot, confirm with the WeKan README which bundle versions match the release you plan to run, and document who will apply each update.

What a Trello subscription and a self-hosted WeKan each cost over time

Trello costs are mostly recurring and scale with the number of seats and the plan tier, with single sign-on sitting in a separate Atlassian product. A self-hosted WeKan removes license fees but moves hosting, backups, upgrades and any support into your own budget. The cards below separate one-time migration work from recurring operating costs so you can build a like-for-like comparison.

Trello seats and plan tiers

Trello bills per user, and the plan you choose sets which features each seat can use, such as Premium features like CSV export and the Premium Workspace export. Your recurring cost is driven by seat count, plan tier and any annual or monthly billing choice. Before you compare, confirm the current per-seat price for each tier on Atlassian's pricing page, and check which members of your organization truly need a paid seat, such as occasional guests or read-only stakeholders.

Atlassian Guard for single sign-on

Enterprise-grade login controls such as single sign-on and user management for Trello are administered through Atlassian Guard, which is an additional recurring subscription on top of Trello seats. Ask your Atlassian account team whether Guard is included in the plan you are considering and how it is priced for your user count. This line item is often missing from early Trello budgets and is the easiest to underestimate.

WeKan licensing

WeKan is released under the MIT license, so there is no per-seat or per-instance license fee to pay. Your cost is the effort to deploy and operate it, not the software itself. Confirm that your legal team is comfortable with the MIT terms for any modifications you plan to make, and record the license in your software inventory alongside your other open-source components.

Hosting and database

A self-hosted WeKan recurs as infrastructure cost in your own cloud account or data center. WeKan's default setup uses FerretDB v1 with SQLite and needs no database server, while MongoDB 6 to 9 or FerretDB with PostgreSQL are alternatives with their own operating load. Hosting cost rises with user count, attachment volume and high-availability requirements, so ask your platform team to size it against your real board and attachment data.

Backups and upgrades

Backups and upgrades are recurring operational work that Trello's hosted service handles for you. WeKan's release cadence is very frequent, with v12.52 published on October 17, 2026 after two other releases that same day, so someone must schedule testing and patching. Budget for a staging instance, a tested restore procedure for boards and attachments, and time for each upgrade cycle, whether handled in-house or under a retainer.

Support and migration effort

WeKan's README lists official private pre-paid support from wekan.fi, which is an optional recurring or one-time purchase depending on the terms you agree. Migration from Trello is a one-time project cost covering export, import testing, user mapping and cutover, and it grows with the number of boards and attachments. Ask any provider for a fixed scope in writing, and confirm what happens to Trello comments and attachments that exceed the export limits.

How a move from Trello to WeKan usually runs

The sequence turns a set of Trello boards into a tested WeKan instance on your own servers, with comments and attachments checked against the source before users switch over.

Inventory boards, members and integrations
The Trello admin lists every board, its owner, its members, its open and archived cards, and each Power-Up or integration that feeds or reads it. Power-Ups have no direct equivalent in WeKan, so each one is recorded as keep, replace or drop. The output is a signed-off inventory that the migration team and board owners agree on before any data moves.
Decide what to keep and what to archive
Board owners decide which boards move, which stay in Trello until a set date, and which are closed. Archived cards and old activity are the first candidates to leave behind. The output is a written keep list with a named owner for each board, so the import scope is clear and nobody is surprised by missing history later.
Stand up WeKan on the chosen platform
The infrastructure team installs WeKan on the server, container platform or Kubernetes cluster the organization has chosen, and selects the database option. WeKan's default is FerretDB v1 with SQLite, while MongoDB 6 to 9 and FerretDB with PostgreSQL are the other supported paths. Done means a test instance is reachable over TLS, backups run, and an administrator can sign in.
Run the Trello import into a test instance
Import the kept boards into a staging WeKan instance, not production. Trello's JSON export includes only the 1,000 most recent actions per board, so older activity will not appear in WeKan. If full comments or raw attachments are required, a Premium Workspace export may be needed. The output is a staging instance with every kept board loaded. For the export options and import steps, see the sibling migration page.
Check comments and attachments against the source
Compare each imported board with its Trello original. Sample cards with long comment threads, attachments, checklists, labels, due dates and members, and confirm the counts and file contents match. Note any gap caused by the 1,000-action cap or the export type, and record it in the cutover notes. The check is complete when the board owners have signed off on each board and the list of known gaps is documented.
Configure identity and access
Set up WeKan's login method, such as SAML, LDAP or OAuth2, against the organization's identity provider, then map users to boards and permissions. Test sign-in with a pilot group, including users who leave and join. The step is done when every pilot user can sign in through the chosen method, and board access matches the inventory from the first step.
Cut over and retire the Trello boards
Schedule the switch with board owners, freeze edits in Trello for the moved boards, run a final import of changes made after the test, and tell users where the new boards live. Keep Trello read-only for a period agreed in advance so people can look up history. The output is a production WeKan instance, a dated cutover record, and a list of owners who confirmed their boards.

Questions buyers ask before switching from Trello to WeKan

What drives the total cost of moving from Trello to self-hosted WeKan?

The main cost is labor and infrastructure, not the software, because WeKan is released under the MIT license and carries no license fee. Cost components are the server or container host, the database choice, backups, staff time to install and operate WeKan, the migration effort, and any paid support you choose to buy. WeKan's README offers official private pre-paid support from wekan.fi, and its SaaS is free with the app or paid with the admin panel. Your Trello cost depends on your current per-user plan and whether you pay for Atlassian Guard. Ask each vendor for written pricing for your user count and seat model, and build a comparison that includes hosting, backup and staff hours on the WeKan side.

How long does a Trello to WeKan migration take?

The duration depends on the number of boards, the size of their history, and how many attachments and comments must be carried over. WeKan includes a Trello import, but Trello's JSON export only carries the 1,000 most recent actions per board, so older comment history may not arrive unless you use a Premium Workspace export. Other drivers are how cleanly your board structure maps to WeKan swimlanes and lists, how many login accounts must be recreated, and how much validation your team wants before cutover. No timeline is supplied here, so ask for a written plan with a per-board inventory before agreeing to a schedule.

What does the work need from our internal team?

Your team needs to own the decisions that only you can make: which boards move, who gets access, how roles map to WeKan users, and what the cutover date is. Technical staff must provide a host or Kubernetes namespace, a decision on the database, a certificate and DNS plan, and an identity provider connection if you use SAML, LDAP or OAuth2 login. Plan for a named business owner to test boards after import, because card layouts, labels and attachments are the first things users will notice. Confirm these responsibilities in the written scope so that neither side assumes the other will handle them.

Can we self-host WeKan without outside help?

Yes, many teams install and run WeKan with their own staff, using the Windows, Mac and Linux bundles, the Linux Snap or AppImage, or the Docker and Kubernetes images published on GitHub, Docker Hub and Quay.io. The default setup uses FerretDB v1 with SQLite, which needs no separate database server, while MongoDB 6 to 9 is also supported. Outside help is most useful for production hardening, backup design, identity integration and a tested restore process, which are the parts that fail when left unplanned. If you want outside help, DeployOpen plans, implements, hardens, backs up and documents self-hosted platforms in your own infrastructure under a fixed-scope written agreement.

Which Trello Power-Ups have no WeKan equivalent?

The honest answer requires an inventory of the Power-Ups your boards actually use, because WeKan does not offer a Power-Up marketplace that matches Trello's. Trello's integrations often connect to external SaaS products, and those connections will not carry over unchanged. Start by listing each Power-Up, the boards it touches and the data it writes, then check whether WeKan covers the same behavior natively, through its export formats such as CSV, Excel, PDF, HTML and an iCal calendar feed, or through your own scripts. Anything without a match needs a replacement plan or a documented decision to drop it.

How are WeKan upgrades handled, and how often do they ship?

WeKan publishes releases very frequently: v12.52 was published on October 17, 2026, after v12.51 and v12.50 on the same day. Frequent releases mean your upgrade process matters more than the version you start on. Use a staging copy of the database, read the release notes for each step, and take a backup before every upgrade. The Snap package updates automatically, which suits some teams but can conflict with change control, so decide which update channel you will use before go-live. Ask any implementation partner to document the upgrade runbook and the rollback path, and confirm whether ongoing upgrade support is included in the scope.

How does WeKan handle login, access control and security reviews?

WeKan's README lists SAML, LDAP, OAuth2 login providers and passwordless login, which lets you connect it to your existing directory instead of managing separate passwords. Whether those options meet your access, audit and session requirements must be checked against your own policy and configuration, since the README does not describe every control. Plan for TLS termination, secret handling, backup encryption and access logging in your environment. If you need evidence for an assessment, DeployOpen prepares systems, controls and evidence, but independent auditors and certification bodies issue any audit report or certification.

What changes for users, admins and Power-Up dependent teams

The first change to plan for is integrations, not the board itself. Trello Power-Ups are third-party add-ons that attach to boards, cards and the card back, and several teams rely on them for calendars, time tracking, approvals or reporting. WeKan does not offer a Power-Up marketplace with the same catalog, so each Power-Up your teams use must be mapped to a WeKan feature, a custom integration through its API, or a replacement tool. Before committing, list every Power-Up enabled on your boards, the people who depend on it and the data it writes back to Trello, then confirm with each vendor or your own test board whether an equivalent exists. Treat any Power-Up without a confirmed path as a blocking item for that team.

For users, the daily experience is close to Trello: boards, lists and cards, drag-and-drop reordering and a real-time interface. The differences show up in the features that go beyond Trello's card model. WeKan adds swimlanes, Scrum settings and WIP limit groups, which some teams will want to adopt and others will need to learn. Run a pilot with a small group that uses your real board layouts, and check how card labels, members, due dates, checklists and attachments appear after import. The import itself is covered in the migration section, so focus the pilot on how people work in the new interface.

For admins, the main shift is ownership. Under Trello, Atlassian Guard handles single sign-on and related administration for organizations on Atlassian's cloud products. With WeKan, your team configures SAML, LDAP or an OAuth2 login provider, decides how accounts are provisioned and removed, and sets up its own backups for the MongoDB or FerretDB database and attachment storage. Confirm which SAML attributes and LDAP groups your identity provider can supply, how deprovisioning works for departing users, and how restore testing will be scheduled. Also confirm with your security and compliance owners which Atlassian audit and admin controls you rely on today, since those will need equivalent evidence from your own environment.

How DeployOpen helps evaluate, implement and migrate WeKan

DeployOpen plans, implements, integrates, hardens, backs up and documents self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks. For Trello vs WeKan, that means turning a board-by-board comparison into a written scope, a tested WeKan deployment and a handover your administrators can run.

How we scope

We review which Trello boards, Power-Ups and member roles your teams depend on before recommending WeKan.
We confirm the database choice, login method (SAML, LDAP or OAuth2) and hosting target in writing before work starts.
Engagements are fixed-scope, so deliverables and timelines for WeKan are agreed in writing before any build begins.

How we build

We install WeKan in your environment using the packaging method your operations team already supports, such as Docker or Kubernetes.
We configure swimlanes, WIP limit groups and identity integration to match the board structure your teams use today.
We test imports from a Trello export on copies of real boards, checking comments, attachments and member mapping before cutover.

How we hand over

We document the deployed architecture, upgrade steps, backup and restore procedures and access controls for your administrators.
We deliver the migration record, listing which boards, cards and attachments moved and which gaps were accepted.
We walk your team through day-to-day administration so routine tasks stay with your staff after the engagement ends.

How we support

Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as retainers once WeKan is in production.
Because WeKan releases are frequent, a retainer can cover scheduled upgrades and regression checks on your own servers.
Ask any provider to confirm in writing who applies security patches, how backups are verified and who is on call.

Trello vs WeKan