Three subscriptions for one project. That is the default for most small teams: a Kanban board, a chat tool, and a docs tool. Each one started free, then added seats, then put the features you actually need behind a paywall. Now you are paying for all three, switching between them constantly, and pasting links to keep them in sync.
That stack has a better alternative.
Comuna is a free Kanban board with built-in project chat, notes, and wiki — plus an optional AI coworker (Claude or ChatGPT) that works real cards on the same board as you do. One workspace, no per-seat pricing, no features gated behind a paid plan.
Why the three-tool stack became normal
Trello launched as pure Kanban and executed it beautifully. Slack launched as pure messaging. Notion came later as a documents-first tool. Each was so good at its single job that teams naturally combined all three.
The problem: each of these tools then added paid tiers around the features teams needed most. Trello put Timeline and automations behind Business Class. Slack limited message history and key features to Pro plans. Notion's most powerful database features live on paid plans. The stack got expensive before anyone stopped to ask whether one well-designed workspace could do all three jobs.
The cost is not just three bills. It is the constant context-switch between them. A card lives in Trello. The conversation about that card lives in a Slack thread buried three channels down. The spec for that feature links to a Notion page that is two edits behind. Tracking one task through all three apps is a task in itself.
What's inside a Comuna workspace
Every workspace includes all of the following, free, with no feature gating:
- Kanban board — cards with descriptions, multiple dates, recurrence, checklists, labels, assignees, dependencies, file attachments (up to 50 MB), polls, and resolution tracking.
- Table, Calendar, Gantt, Diagrams and Canvas — switch views on the same project without importing anything. The board is Kanban; the same data becomes a timeline in Gantt, a schedule in Calendar.
- Built-in project chat — project-linked channels and direct messages. Conversations stay next to the cards they belong to — not buried in a general Slack channel you have to search.
- Notes and wiki — write specs, meeting notes, and documentation inside the workspace. The docs live where the work lives.
- AI coworker — connect Claude or ChatGPT via MCP and your AI becomes a real board member with its own identity, not a sidebar that only summarises.
The AI coworker — what it actually is
Most project tools that call themselves "AI-powered" mean they added a summarization sidebar. You write a card; the AI summarises it. That is a chatbot wearing a project management label. Convenient for some things. Not a coworker.
In Comuna, the AI is a member of the board. Connect Claude or ChatGPT once — under two minutes via OAuth, no API keys — and it gets an account on your workspace. It can create cards, move them between columns, write notes, and post comments, all signed with its own identity. When it reaches a decision it is not certain about, it does not guess or skip: it raises a small escalation in the app and waits for your call before continuing.
One thing to say plainly: the AI works when you trigger it — through your Claude or ChatGPT client, or via a scheduled prompt you configure. It is not running in the background watching your board continuously. MCP is pull, not push — you direct it, it works, it stops. That is intentional, and it is the right model.
More on how this works in practice: AI coworker.
Where this does not fit
We would rather say this now than have you switch and be disappointed.
Large existing Notion wikis. If your team has years of documentation in Notion and everyone lives there, that is a real migration cost. If docs are 80% of your work and the board is 20%, Notion is still the right home base. If it is the other way around — board-heavy, doc-light — a workspace that includes both makes more sense.
Deep third-party integrations. Our integration catalog is smaller than Trello's or ClickUp's today. If you depend on a specific native integration — Salesforce, GitHub, Jira, Zapier recipes — check our integrations page before switching. We are building them, but we do not have everything yet.
Enterprise SSO or compliance tooling. Not there yet.
A fair word on the tools this competes with
Trello is a great pure Kanban board with a large Power-Up ecosystem. What you give up with Trello's free plan: built-in chat, notes, wiki, and the AI coworker. Several views require a paid plan. If you are evaluating both, the detailed comparison has the full breakdown.
Notion is genuinely excellent for document-heavy teams. If docs are most of your work, do not uproot it. But if you are using Notion mainly as a sidebar wiki for a project board, that is the use case a board-first tool with built-in docs is designed to replace.
Slack remains the best dedicated messaging app for large organizations. For teams under 20 that do not need enterprise messaging features, maintaining a separate chat platform adds overhead rather than removing it.
FAQ
Is there really a free Kanban board with built-in chat and notes?
Yes. Comuna includes Kanban, Table, Calendar, Gantt, Diagrams, Canvas, built-in project chat, direct messages, notes, and wiki — all free, with no per-seat pricing and no features behind a paywall. No credit card required to sign up.
Does the AI coworker need a separate subscription?
No. You use your own Claude or ChatGPT account. Comuna does not charge for AI usage, does not proxy your tokens, and does not add a margin. A free Claude or ChatGPT account works; a paid plan gives the AI more capacity for longer tasks.
Does built-in chat fully replace Slack?
For small teams focused on project work: yes, for day-to-day project discussion. For large organizations that depend on Slack's app directory, enterprise compliance, or hundreds of active channels: not fully. The built-in chat is designed to keep project conversations next to the project, not to replicate everything Slack does at scale.
Can the AI coworker work while I am away from my desk?
If you configure a scheduled prompt in Claude or ChatGPT, the AI can run on a schedule — daily reviews, stale-card checks, end-of-week summaries. See how to set that up with Claude. The AI executes when the prompt fires, not continuously.
Comuna is free forever — no credit card, bring your own AI. Spin up a workspace and try it.