How it compares
Four kinds of tool answer "run tasks with my own AI key or a local model". Here is where Borago Board sits, row by row.
Chat workspaces such as Jan, Open WebUI and AnythingLLM. Workflow builders such as n8n. Agent Kanban tools such as Hermes Agent Kanban, ai-agent-board, BatonBot and Kanbots. Hosted boards such as Heym Board. The columns for the other kinds describe the category as a whole. Each product's own site is the source for its current facts.
| Borago Board | Chat workspaces | Workflow builders | Agent Kanban tools | Hosted boards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you interact with | A Kanban board. Cards are tasks in plain language | A chat window | A node graph | A Kanban board | A Kanban board in a browser |
| Where the AI's work runs | In a Docker container per project on your own computer | Mostly answers in the chat, tools vary | On the machine running the builder | Usually as processes or worktrees on your machine | On the vendor's servers |
| Isolation from your machine | A container per project, gVisor on Linux where it is installed, a policy proxy when the agent manages containers | Varies | Varies | Often a directory or branch per task, no sandbox | Not your machine at all |
| Your own API key | Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Grok | Yes, commonly | Yes | Yes, commonly | Varies |
| A model on your own hardware | Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp, LM Studio, on this or another machine | Yes, commonly | Yes | Varies | Rarely |
| Unattended runs | A per-project queue, prerequisites, questions that pause and resume, scheduled flows | No | Yes, by trigger | Yes | Yes |
| From a browser and a phone | Yes, with a paid cloud plan or the trial. Containers and terminals from the phone while your desktop is online | Some, self-hosted | Yes, self-hosted | Some, often without a login page | Yes |
| Sign-in and two-factor on the web board | Yes. Email and password, authenticator codes, one linked desktop | Varies | Varies | Often none by default | Yes |
| What the cloud can read | Board content, for the phone. It never stores your credentials in a form it can read, and never your repository | Nothing, local | Nothing, local | Nothing, local | Everything |
| Needs Docker | Yes. The app installs it for you where it can | Usually no | Optional | Usually no | No |
| Price | Desktop free. Cloud sync is a paid plan with a free 30-day trial. Your provider bills you directly | Free, mostly open source | Free community editions | Free, mostly open source | Subscription |
| Source | Proprietary | Mostly open source | Source-available | Mostly open source | Proprietary |
| Built for teams sharing one board | No. One person's boards, by design | Some | Yes | Some | Yes |
When Borago Board is the wrong choice
- You want to chat with your documents. A chat workspace is built for that.
- You want to wire services together on triggers without an agent writing code. A workflow builder is built for that.
- You want a team on one board. Borago Board is single-user by design.
- You cannot run Docker and cannot let the app install it.
- You want the agent to run on a server with no desktop. The desktop is the runner.
When it is the right one
- You have an API key or a capable GPU and want coding or scripted work done unattended on your own machine, in a sandbox, watched from a phone.
- You want the agent's credentials encrypted under a key the vendor never stores.
- You want a terminal into the exact environment the agent worked in.
Related: Features, Security, Cloud, browser and phone.