- [/] repaint the hallway #home 📅 2026-06-20
A kanban board for your own tasks, that works offline
Trello is built around boards other people join, and it lives on Atlassian's servers. If the board is only for you, TaskForge shows your tasks as cards in columns on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows, read from markdown files on the device, so it keeps working with no signal. Before you go further: there are no shared boards, no comments and no Power-Ups, nothing imports from Trello, and there is no web app. The built-in Kanban board is free. Your own boards, and dragging cards into a manual order inside a column, are Premium.
- Built-in Kanban board on the free plan
- Works offline, no account
- Just you: no shared boards, no web app
What Trello gives a single person
Trello's free plan allows up to 10 boards and up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, with unlimited cards, unlimited Power-Ups, 250 automation runs a month and files up to 10MB. The Calendar, Timeline and Table views come with Trello Premium. Every Trello account is an Atlassian account, and your boards are kept on Trello's servers.
Offline, it depends on the device. The iPhone and Android apps keep working and sync your edits when you reconnect, but logging out or clearing the cache before then erases them. The Mac and Windows desktop apps, like Trello on the web, need an active internet connection and do not sync offline.
Checked against Trello's and Atlassian's own pages in October 2026:
Each card is a line in a file
The line at the top of this page is one card. The / between the brackets marks it as in progress, so it sits in the In progress column. 📅 2026-06-20 is the due date and #home a tag, and both show on the card. Drag it to the Done column and the line in the file becomes - [x]. There is no board file and no database, only your notes.
The built-in Kanban board shows every task, with a column per status: To do, Planned, In progress, On hold, Done and Cancelled. The last three start collapsed. Statuses can be renamed, so In progress can read Doing if that is what your Trello list was called. A card can also be its own .md file with the status in the frontmatter, and it lands in the same columns.
Trello and TaskForge, side by side
The Trello column is as of October 2026, from the Trello and Atlassian pages linked above.
| Feature | Trello | TaskForge |
|---|---|---|
| Account | An Atlassian account | None |
| Where cards live | On Trello's servers | Markdown files in a folder you choose |
| Offline | iPhone and Android apps, synced when you reconnect. Web and desktop apps need a connection | Every app, because the files are on the device |
| Apps | Web, iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows. No web app, no Linux |
| Sharing | Up to 10 collaborators per Workspace on the free plan | None. The board is yours alone |
| Power-Ups and automation | Unlimited Power-Ups, 250 automation runs a month free | None |
| Boards on the free plan | Up to 10 per Workspace | The built-in board, every task by status. Your own boards are Premium |
| Getting your data out | JSON export of any board. CSV on Trello Premium | Nothing to export. The files are the data |
What is free and what needs Premium
Free: the built-in Kanban board and dragging cards from one column to another, collapsing columns, renaming statuses, the task list in every format, recurring tasks, quick add, the other built-in spaces, and viewing your calendar events.
Premium: your own boards and spaces, such as one board per project or a board grouped by priority or tag; changing the built-in board's filters; dragging cards into a manual order inside a column; bulk edits; reminders and every other notification; and creating and editing calendar events.
Premium is a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase, priced by country. A purchase stays with the store you bought it in: the App Store covers iPhone, iPad and the Mac App Store build, Google Play covers Android, and Windows is a separate web checkout. The App Store and Google Play offer a free trial where they have one, once per customer. Windows has no trial.
When Trello fits better
Plenty of people searching for a Trello alternative still need Trello. Stay with it if any of these matter more than offline cards in files you own.
Someone else uses the board
A Trello board can be shared, cards assigned and comments left on them. TaskForge has no sharing of any kind, so a family chore board or a team sprint belongs in Trello.
Power-Ups and automation
Trello adds features to a board through Power-Ups and has built-in automation, with 250 runs a month on the free plan. TaskForge has neither.
A browser or Linux
Trello opens in any browser. TaskForge has no web app and no Linux app, so a work laptop where you cannot install anything is out.
Sync with nothing to set up
Trello syncs through your account. TaskForge leaves that to a sync tool you choose for the folder. On iPhone, iPad and Mac iCloud Drive needs no setup; on Android and Windows you pick a service.
Moving a board over
TaskForge does not read or import Trello boards, and it cannot open Trello's JSON export. You move a board by writing its cards into a markdown file, one line per card, with the list each card was in written as a status between the brackets.
Nothing in TaskForge touches your Trello account, so the old board stays where it is while you try this one.
[ ] is To do, [>] Planned, [/] In progress and [x] Done. The character between the brackets decides the column.
Where it runs
- iPhone and iPad: from the App Store, iOS 15.6 or later.
- Mac: from the Mac App Store or as a direct download, macOS 13 or later.
- Android: from Google Play, Android 11 or later.
- Windows: a signed installer from this site, Windows 10 version 1809 or later, on x64 and ARM64.
TaskForge has no account and no sync server, which is why the board needs no connection. To see the same board on a second device, a sync tool you choose moves the folder: iCloud Drive on iPhone, iPad and Mac, or Syncthing, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Pick one service per folder, because two services fighting over the same files can corrupt them.
Questions about leaving Trello
Is there a free Trello alternative for personal use?
TaskForge's free plan includes its built-in Kanban board, with every task in a column by status and cards you drag between columns. Making your own boards, and ordering cards by hand inside a column, needs Premium.
Does TaskForge work offline?
Yes, on every platform. Your cards are lines in markdown files on the device, so the app reads and edits them with no connection. A sync tool you choose copies the changes to your other devices once you are back online.
Can I import my Trello boards?
No. TaskForge has no Trello import and cannot read Trello's JSON export. You copy cards into a markdown file as - [ ] lines, and the status between the brackets puts each one in its column.
Can I share a board with someone?
No. TaskForge has no shared boards, members or comments. If other people need to move the cards too, Trello is the better fit.
Is there a web version?
No. TaskForge runs as an app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows. There is no browser version and no Linux app.
Do I need an account?
No. TaskForge has no account on any platform. The board is built from files in a folder you pick, and buying Premium goes through your app store or, on Windows, a web checkout.
Do I need Obsidian?
No. TaskForge works on any folder of markdown files, or it can make a new one with a few sample tasks. If you already keep an Obsidian vault, it opens that as well.
Put your own tasks on a board you can use offline
Free to download, with the built-in Kanban board on the free plan. Start fresh with a few sample tasks, or open a folder you already have.