The price anchor
| Boardly | Trello | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 — no subscription | $5/user/mo |
| Annual | $0 after purchase | $60 |
| 5-year total | $49 | $300 |
| 10-year total | $49 | $600 |
Subscription figures from the vendor's published pricing ($5/user/mo, ~$60/yr); the Boardly column is the full price, paid once.
Break-even analysis
Boardly costs less than ten months of a single Trello seat — for a team it pays for itself the day you install it.
- After 1 year: Boardly has cost you $49 total — Trello has cost $60.
- After 3 years: Boardly is still $49 — the subscription is at $180.
- After 5 years: Boardly is still $49 — the subscription is at $300.
What you get for $49 once
- Multiple boards. Color themes, emoji icons, starred favorites — organize work, clients or your whole life.
- Drag & drop everything. Reorder lists, drag cards between lists — order persists exactly where you dropped it.
- Rich cards. Markdown descriptions, due dates with overdue highlighting, colored board-scoped labels.
- Checklists. With live progress bars right on the card front.
- Attachments. Upload files straight onto cards — stored on your disk, with your limits, not a 250 MB plan cap.
- No renewal, ever. The license does not expire and there is no per-seat meter — $49 is the whole price.
Pricing questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/boardly-kanban-mvp, always. $49 buys the packaged installer, updates and setup support.
How do team members log in?
One shared password protects the whole install — there are no per-user accounts, permissions or assignee fields yet. That's fine for small teams on a trusted server or VPN; if you need granular roles and member management, Trello still wins there.
Does it have automations like Butler?
No — no rule engine, no scheduled commands. Boardly bets that most Trello boards never touch Butler, and most don't. If yours does, keep Trello.
Is there a mobile app?
No native app — the web UI works in a phone browser when you host it on a VPS. Desktop mode is Windows-first, and the MIT source builds anywhere Electron runs.
Boardly — $49, one time
Or get Boardly plus every other app in the suite: the OneTimeSuite bundle is currently $97, one time.