Restya

Overview

Restya is an open-source kanban project management tool released in 2015, built on the MIT open-source license and a PHP stack, focused on giving teams a Trello-like card-based team collaboration experience. Users can deploy the system on their own servers for full control over data security and privacy, or use the official hosted service, making it an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Trello.

Restya is built around a three-level structure of boards, lists and cards, with drag-and-drop workflow management and built-in collaboration such as comments, @mentions, labels, attachments and due dates. It provides a RESTful API and plugin system for integrating third-party tools such as Slack and GitHub, supports PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB databases, and can be deployed with Docker Compose, suiting teams of different sizes and technical backgrounds; see remote team management tool comparison.

Key Strengths

• Open source, free and controllable: Fully open source under the MIT license, freely deployable, modifiable and distributable with no license fees, and 100% data control.
• Flexible self-hosted deployment: Supports Docker Compose and manual deployment across 3 databases — PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB — running on private cloud or your own servers.
• Trello-like experience: Board, list and card 3-level structure with drag-and-drop interaction has a fast learning curve, with near-zero switching cost for teams.
• Open integration: A RESTful API and webhooks integrate with 10+ third-party apps such as Slack and GitHub, with a plugin system for extending functionality.
• Multi-language and multi-device: The interface supports 10+ languages including Chinese, with responsive design covering phones and tablets.

Product Ecosystem

Restya Boards

The core kanban application supports multiple boards, lists and card management with per-board member permissions, covering workflows from personal to-do lists to team projects.

Restya Cards

Task cards support descriptions, comments, labels, attachments and due dates, with assignees and progress tracking, and status changes by drag-and-drop.

Restya API

A RESTful API supports third-party integration and custom development, connecting Slack, GitHub and other tools to build automated workflows.

Restya Plugins

A plugin extension framework supports feature customization and third-party plugin installation, adding or removing capabilities as needed.

Restya Cloud

The official hosted plan removes the operations burden of self-hosting and provides fuller support and advanced features.

Limitations

• Small ecosystem and community: Compared with mainstream tools such as Trello and Asana, templates, plugins and tutorials are limited and community activity is modest.
• Operations burden on you: Self-hosting means maintaining servers, databases and security patches yourself, requiring technical capability and effort.
• Limited community edition features: Advanced capabilities such as video conferencing and advanced reports depend on paid hosted plans or plugins, so the feature boundary must be checked.
• Basic interface polish: Interaction and visual details are relatively simple, trailing commercial tools in experience.

Use Cases

• Teams that value data sovereignty (Recommended ★★★★★): Self-hosted deployment keeps data on your own servers, meeting privacy and compliance needs.
• Budget-constrained teams (Recommended ★★★★★): Open source and free with no license fees, a cost-effective alternative to paid tools such as Trello.
• Technical teams with operations capability (Recommended ★★★★): Teams familiar with Docker and databases can deploy and customize quickly.
• Organizations needing deep integration (Recommended ★★★★): The REST API and plugin system support integration with existing systems; see Notion project management practices.
• Teams seeking out-of-the-box experiences (Recommended ★★★): Without operations resources, choose the official hosted plan or evaluate SaaS tools such as Trello and Asana.

Pricing

Note: The Restya community edition is fully free and open source; official hosted plans and advanced plugin pricing follow current official quotes.

FAQ

• How does Restya differ from Trello? Restya is open-source, self-hosted kanban with full data control and no license fees; Trello is commercial SaaS that is more out-of-the-box but billed per seat; choose based on data sovereignty and operations capability; see remote team management tool comparison.

• What environment does Restya need? It is built on a PHP stack with PostgreSQL, MySQL or MariaDB, deployable via Docker Compose or manually on your own servers or private cloud; environment requirements are in the official docs, and see remote team toolchain.

• Is the Restya community edition free? Yes, the community edition is fully open source under the MIT license and free to use and modify; advanced features and official hosting are paid, per the official site; see productivity tool roundup.

• Does Restya support Chinese? The interface supports multiple languages including Chinese, covering local team needs; see website localization for multilingual options.

• What team size is Restya suitable for? It fits scenarios from personal to-do lists to mid/large team collaboration, with board-level permissions supporting multiple projects and departments in parallel; see remote team management tool comparison.