A kanban app for self-hosters, honestly reviewed. Free by default, but only if you’re already running Nextcloud.

TL;DR

What it is: A kanban-style project management app bundled into the Nextcloud ecosystem — think Trello, but living on the same server as your files, calendar, and notes [README][4].
Who it’s for: Teams and individuals already running a Nextcloud instance who want a free, integrated task board without paying for Trello or setting up a separate tool.
Cost savings: Trello Business Class runs $5/user/month; Nextcloud Deck is $0 on top of whatever you’re already paying to host Nextcloud. For a team of five, that’s $300/year back in your pocket.
Key strength: Deep integration with the Nextcloud suite — files, comments, activity logs, Circles groups, and mobile apps all work out of the box [README][4].
Key weakness: It’s not a standalone app. If you don’t already run Nextcloud, you’re not installing Deck — you’re standing up an entire self-hosted collaboration platform first. Also: no Gantt view, documented performance problems at scale, and 777 open issues on GitHub [README][2][4].

What is Nextcloud Deck

Nextcloud Deck is a kanban board application for the Nextcloud platform. You get boards, stacks (columns), and cards. Each card supports markdown notes, file attachments, labels, due dates, assignees, comments, and an activity stream. It’s the task management layer inside an already-large self-hosted collaboration stack [README].

The GitHub description is precise: “Kanban-style project & personal management tool for Nextcloud, similar to Trello.” That comparison is accurate and honest — Deck isn’t trying to be Jira or Linear. It’s a clean, functional kanban that works for planning a product sprint, tracking a house renovation, or assigning tasks to a small ops team [README][1].

What separates it from running a standalone Trello clone is the ecosystem glue. Deck is deeply wired into Nextcloud: you attach files directly from your Nextcloud storage, pull in team members managed through Nextcloud user groups or Circles, and see card activity alongside file edits in the same activity feed [README][4]. If your company already lives in Nextcloud Hub — sharing documents, scheduling meetings, chatting in Talk — Deck fits without friction.

The project has 1,373 GitHub stars and 324 forks as of this writing [4]. That’s modest compared to standalone kanban tools, which is the honest signal: Deck’s audience is people already invested in the Nextcloud stack, not people shopping for a project management tool first.

Why people choose it over Trello, Planka, and Wekan

The conversation around Deck in the community comes down to one argument and one complaint.

The argument for it: it’s already there. If you self-host Nextcloud for file sync or document collaboration, adding Deck is a one-click install from the app store. No new server, no new credentials, no new SaaS subscription. The Nextcloud team describes it as an app for “personal planning and project organization for teams integrated with Nextcloud” — and the integration angle is the real selling point [README][1].

The complaint against it: it doesn’t do enough. The most frequently requested missing feature — across multiple forum threads spanning years — is a Gantt view. A 2024 community thread [2] shows users raising money through crowdfunding to fund a third-party Gantt implementation because Nextcloud has explicitly said it’s not planning to build one itself. The thread runs to 62 replies and 9,100 views. That’s the shape of the frustration: the tool is solid for simple kanban but falls short when project planning gets more complex.

Compared to Trello, Deck has worse UX polish and fewer power-user features (no automation, no Butler-style rules, no large template library), but it’s free, runs on your server, and doesn’t require trusting Atlassian with your project data [5]. The Trello free tier limits you to 10 boards and removes most automation; Deck has no such limits.

Compared to Wekan (the other open-source Trello clone), Deck wins on ecosystem integration and loses on standalone flexibility. Wekan runs without Nextcloud; Deck doesn’t. Wekan also has WIP limits and swimlanes that Deck lacks [5].

Compared to Planka, the picture is similar — Planka is a cleaner, more Trello-faithful implementation that runs standalone, while Deck trades standalone flexibility for Nextcloud integration [5].

Features: what it actually does

Based on the README and primary sources:

Core kanban:

Boards, stacks (columns), and cards with drag-and-drop ordering [README]
Markdown support in card descriptions [README]
Labels with custom colors (including a color picker added in 2018) [README][3]
Card assignees — assign to any Nextcloud user [README]
Due dates and deadline tracking [4]
Checkboxes inside card descriptions (added in 2018) [3]

Collaboration:

Share boards with teams, Nextcloud Circles groups, friends, or family [README]
Comments on cards for threaded discussion [README]
Activity stream — all changes to a board tracked and surfaced [README]
Notifications through Nextcloud’s notification system [4]

File handling:

Attach files to cards directly from Nextcloud storage [README][3]
Embed attachments in markdown card descriptions [README][3]
Export user data as JSON via the occ command-line tool [3]

Mobile:

Android app available on F-Droid and Google Play [README]
iOS app available on the Apple App Store [README]

REST API: Listed as a canonical feature in the merged profile, though API documentation depth is not detailed in available sources.

Third-party integrations:

trello-to-deck — import your Trello boards [README]
mail2deck — create cards by email [README]
A Chrome extension for creating cards from browser tabs [README]
QOwnNotes integration for linking Markdown notes to cards [README]

What’s missing:

No Gantt view (explicitly not on Nextcloud’s roadmap, community has tried to fund third-party implementation) [2]
No built-in automation or rule-based triggers
No time tracking
No sub-boards or card hierarchies

Pricing: SaaS vs self-hosted math

Deck itself costs nothing. It’s AGPL-3.0 licensed and installs free from the Nextcloud app store [README][4]. The cost question is really about the Nextcloud instance underneath it.

Self-hosted Nextcloud + Deck:

VPS to run Nextcloud: $5–15/month on Hetzner, Contabo, or DigitalOcean
Nextcloud license: $0 (AGPL-3.0)
Deck license: $0

Nextcloud managed hosting (if you don’t want to self-host the server):

Nextcloud GmbH offers managed hosting; pricing varies by provider and plan
Third-party Nextcloud hosters (Hetzner, Infomaniak, etc.) typically start at $3–10/month for small teams

Trello for comparison:

Free: 10 boards, unlimited cards, basic features, no automation
Standard: $5/user/month — unlimited boards, custom fields
Premium: $10/user/month — dashboard, timeline (Gantt), calendar views
Business: $17.50/user/month

Concrete math for a team of five:

Running five people on Trello Standard costs $25/month ($300/year). On Trello Premium — which includes the Gantt/timeline view that Deck doesn’t have — that’s $50/month ($600/year). Self-hosting Nextcloud with Deck on a $6 Hetzner VPS costs $72/year total for any team size.

The catch: that $72/year is only worth it if you need Nextcloud for other things too (file sync, document editing, calendar). If you only need a kanban board, standing up a full Nextcloud instance to get Deck is like buying a chest freezer to store one pizza.

For teams already running Nextcloud, the savings are real and the math is obvious. For teams shopping only for a kanban tool, Planka or Wekan on a $5 VPS is a more proportionate solution.

Deployment reality check

Installing Deck assumes you have a working Nextcloud installation. Once you do, installing Deck is literally clicking “Install” in the Nextcloud app store. There’s no separate Docker container, no additional database, no configuration file to edit [README].

What you need before Deck:

A running Nextcloud instance (Linux VPS minimum 1–2GB RAM, PHP 8.x, database)
Docker or traditional LAMP/LEMP setup
Domain + SSL if you want external access

What can go sideways:

The README includes an unusually honest performance disclaimer: “Deck is not yet ready for intensive usage. A lot of database queries are generated when the number of boards, cards and attachments is high.” It gives a concrete example: a user with access to 13 boards, 100 cards per board, and 5 attachments per card generates 6,500 database queries just for file-related operations — significantly increasing page load times [README].

That’s not a theoretical warning. If you’re planning to run Deck as a team-wide project management tool for dozens of boards, benchmark first. Small teams with a handful of boards won’t hit this; medium-to-large deployments will.

The 777 open issues on GitHub is a number worth sitting with [4]. Deck is a community-maintained app within a large ecosystem — it gets updates, but it’s not the core Nextcloud product. Issues can sit for a long time.

The Gantt view gap is functionally a deployment consideration for project-heavy teams. A workaround (NextCloud-Gantt, a third-party alpha built by community members [2]) exists but is not officially supported and carries alpha-level stability.

Realistic time estimate: 10 minutes to install Deck if you already run Nextcloud. 2–6 hours to get Nextcloud itself running on a fresh VPS for a non-technical user following a guide.

Pros and cons

Pros

$0 on top of Nextcloud. No per-user pricing, no per-board limits, no per-automation charges. Install it and use it freely [README][4].
Deep ecosystem integration. Files, users, groups, notifications, and activity all connect to the rest of Nextcloud without any glue work [README].
Mobile apps on both platforms. Android (F-Droid + Play Store) and iOS (App Store) apps exist and are maintained [README].
Trello migration path. The trello-to-deck tool means you can import existing boards rather than rebuilding from scratch [README].
Email-to-card via mail2deck. A genuinely useful integration for teams that work heavily in email [README].
AGPL-3.0 and fully open source. No commercial licensing tiers, no feature gating, no “community vs enterprise” split within Deck itself [4].

Cons

Not standalone. You cannot run Deck without Nextcloud. Full stop. If that’s a blocker, look at Planka or Wekan instead.
No Gantt view. The most requested feature for years. Nextcloud has explicitly said they’re not implementing it. The community-funded alpha is not production-ready [2].
Documented performance problems at scale. The README warns about this directly — thousands of database queries for boards with many cards and attachments [README].
777 open issues. A large backlog relative to the project’s star count suggests issues don’t move fast [4].
No automation. No equivalent of Trello’s Butler rules or Zapier-style triggers. If you need workflow automation around your kanban board, you’re wiring it yourself via the REST API.
Tied to Nextcloud’s release cycle. Upgrading Nextcloud can break Deck if versions are mismatched. You manage this as a package, not independently.
AGPL-3.0, not MIT. If you’re building a commercial product that embeds or distributes Deck, the AGPL requires you to open-source derivatives. Worth understanding before you build on it.

Who should use this / who shouldn’t

Use Nextcloud Deck if:

You already self-host Nextcloud and want project management without adding another tool or subscription.
Your team is small (under 20 people) and your boards are modest (under 10 boards, under 50 cards each).
You want mobile apps that sync directly to your self-hosted instance.
You’re migrating off Trello and want a free landing spot.

Skip it (stay on Trello free tier) if:

You have fewer than 10 boards and the Trello free tier covers your needs.
You don’t run Nextcloud and don’t want to manage the overhead of a full Nextcloud installation just for kanban.

Skip it (pick Planka or Wekan instead) if:

You want a standalone kanban tool — not tied to a larger platform — that you can deploy with a single Docker command.
You need swimlanes or WIP limits that Deck doesn’t offer.

Skip it (pick a paid tool) if:

You need Gantt views, timeline visualization, or cross-board dependency tracking. Deck won’t get there anytime soon [2].
You need built-in automation rules — Deck has none.
Your boards will be large and heavily loaded. The performance disclaimer in the README is a real constraint [README].

Alternatives worth considering

From the SaaSHub and AlternativeTo listings, and the community discussions:

Planka — the cleanest standalone open-source Trello clone. MIT licensed, single Docker container, no Nextcloud required. The right choice if you want kanban without the Nextcloud dependency [5].
Wekan — older open-source kanban with WIP limits, swimlanes, and more Trello-equivalent features. Runs standalone [5].
Kanboard — lightweight, minimal, file-based option for solo use or very small teams. No frills [5].
Trello — the obvious incumbent. Best UX in the category, largest power-user feature set, Gantt/timeline on Premium tier ($10/user/month). Closed source.
Linear — if your team is software engineering focused and you want proper issue tracking with cycles and roadmaps. Not a kanban replacement, but where teams often land after outgrowing kanban.
Leantime — open-source, lean/agile focused, includes basic Gantt-style timelines that Deck lacks [5].

For a team inside the Nextcloud ecosystem, the realistic choice is Deck vs. nothing (use a spreadsheet or Nextcloud Tasks instead). For a team choosing a kanban tool from scratch, the realistic shortlist is Planka vs. Wekan vs. Deck+Nextcloud. Pick Deck only if you’re already paying the Nextcloud overhead.

Bottom line

Nextcloud Deck is a solid free kanban board for teams that already live in the Nextcloud ecosystem. The integration is genuine — files, users, and notifications all connect without friction — and the price is right. But the tool’s biggest limitation is structural: it’s not a kanban board, it’s a kanban board that requires a full self-hosted collaboration platform to run. That makes the decision tree short. If you self-host Nextcloud, install Deck and use it freely. If you don’t, spinning up Nextcloud just for Deck is the wrong ratio of infrastructure to feature. The documented performance degradation at scale and the multi-year absence of Gantt views are real constraints worth knowing before you build your team’s workflows around it. For small teams inside Nextcloud already, it’s the obvious choice. For everyone else, Planka or Wekan on a $5 VPS is a more proportionate answer.