Agile Kanban Software Boards and Tools

Version 4.0 - Updated May, 2017

Below you can see our recommendations for a variety of Agile Kanban tools, including Kanban-Ace. We start with Kanban board software, and follow with many more. The Best Kanban board section has been updated fully in May 2017.

TOP FIVE: Best Kanban Board Software - Reviewed, Recommended and Ranked

1. Kanbanery
   • Solid features, good UI, and metrics
   • Reasonable prices and including one free free plan.
   • One of the few options with mobile apps for iOS and Android.
2. Blossom.io
   • In our view a great balance of elegant UI, and good features.
   • Reasonable prices, and a 2 week trial.
   • Now that AgileZen is about to be decommissioned, Blossom.io is the only elegant product that reminds us of them, and AgileZen was great.
3. LeanKit
   • Powerful feature set, and plenty of options to customize a board. Focused in Kanban, with support for SAFe as well.
   • Pricing is moderately high, but reasonable for their target audience: medium and large businesses; as well as Agile Consultants who want a strong feature set. We have used LeanKit for years and consider it a very good option.
   • Mobile clients for iOS and Android.
4. Kanbanize
   • Monthly prices, but at about $99 per team of 15 users the price is reasonable, but not cheap.
   • One free trial available
   • Well done, and extensive feature set that includes metrics and exporting of data.
5. KanbanTool 
   • Good feature set, including project planning features, and even an option to host on-premise.
   • Kanban focused and advanced features.
   • Very good prices prices, including a free option, and a 30 day trial.

SECOND TIER: Best Kanban Board Software - Other Options  

• Jira Agile (it's old name was GreenHopper)
  • Good Kanban support, but confusing feature set, and confusing use of Scrum tooling.
  • Jira Agile is a powerful piece of software. But the UX and the overall user experience feels clunky, and not intuitive.
  • The main advantage is that it can be installed on-premise, and that it integrates with Confluence, Bamboo, and many Atlassian tools.
  • Average prices.
• Swift-Kanban
  • A powerful Kanban board, with a large feature set. However it is complicated to use, and the user experience and UI have several shortcomings.
  • Prices are reasonable and a trial option and a free plan are available.
• Agile Zen
  • One of the best User Interfaces in the industry, very easy to use, and great prices. It was one of our top 5 boards.
  • The reason we downgraded this product from the top 5 is that it is not longer being offered by Rally or CA, and it will be discontinued soon according to several sources.
• CA Agile Central - Previously Rally Enterprise
  • Rally was an important player in the Agile Tool and solution market, now is part of CA. CA is fully supporting the product.
  • Pricing is relatively high, but the features are extensive. There is a focus on enterprise features and Scrum, not so much on Kanban.
  • CA Agile Central has full SAFe support, and many SAFe SPCs have confirmed to me that is one of the best options they have used.
• MS Team Foundation Server
  • MS has added support for Kanban and Scrum; which means the tool does not focus on Kanban, but supports it.
  • Software works only on windows, and offers a variety of features.
  • Worth evaluating for companies who use the MS stack and Windows.
• Tools for Agile
  • One of the few that allows an on-premise installation of your Kanban board
  • Not focused on Kanban, many features are Scrum only
  • Average prices
• VersionOne - Kanban Board
  • Another major Agile Tool firm, but their tool is not Kanban focused
  • Pricing is quite high compared to other alternatives. They do have a free option but without Kanban support, which is disappointing.
• TargetProcess
  • Initial focus was quite strong for Scrum only, but lately they have added Kanban.
  • We can not give an evaluation yet, since we have not used it.
  • However, the feature set seems extensive.

OPEN SOURCE OR FREE: Agile Kanban Boards and Tools

• Open Kanban
  • A free, open source Kanban method that is Agile and Lean, brought by your friends at AgileLion Institute
  • Open Kanban is extremely light and can work in something as simple as a text document, or any outliner or spreadsheet.
  • An introduction to Open Kanban can be read here, and a free webinar on Open Kanban is also available from AgileLion.
• Kanboard
  • An MIT licensed and free to install open source Kanban board.
  • Kanboard also offers an online version to their software for an affordable price.
  • Developed using PHP and PostgreSQL.
• Portable Kanban
  • It is for Windows only, but looks promising
  • It is not open source, but it is freely available.
• Simple Kanban
  • Web based, and open source, needs to be installed to function. Java based.
  • The code can be found here: https://github.com/ericlemerdy/web-kanban
• Kanbanik
  • Scala & Java web application with a rich frontend optimized for Google Chrome. Tthere is a runtime for Windows and for Linux.
  • Solid feature set, but UI could use some work.

Personal Kanban, Pomodoro Technique and Trello

• The Pomodoro technique, a powerful personal focus way to getting things done
  • Physical Tools
    • Any watch that has a timer function
  • Software Tools
    • Pomodoro App for OSX and Windows
    • Another timer / pomodoro tool just for Mac
    • Chrome Plugin for Pomodoro works anywhere Chrome runs
• Personal Kanban method, a way to apply Kanban to your daily life
  • Physical Tools
    • From pen and paper, to any physical board
  • Electronic Tool
    • Official Personal Kanban App for iOS - iKan
• Trello
  • It is basically a mix of Kanban like visualization, and a to-do list.
  • It has no real support for Kanban, only basic visualization.
  • Because their main plan is free, it may be an option for Open Kanban, Personal Kanban or other light Kanban approaches.
  • It was acquired by Atlassian, makers of Jira Agile. But so far nothing has changed.

iPad Compatible Tools

• Kanbana
  • On beta, they have iPad and web versions.
• Kanbanery
  • Web version, and okay iPad version.

Physical - Electronic Board Bridging Tools

These tools allow you to have a large physical, and an electronic board in sync.

• BoardSync
  • From $8 per month, add $1 per extra user, and $7 per extra project
  • It can use your Cell phone camera.
• JimFlow
  • Requires some Canon camera firmware.

Kanban Simulators

• KanbanSim
  • A Windows only simulator, but free of charge.
  • Related presentation
• Kanban Sim Online
  • Based on Heroku, it works online on most browsers.
  • Once WIP is selected it works on it’s own, given little explanation of WHY it behaves the way it does. However it shows how bigger lots, or WIP slow down overall cycle time
  • It creates a Cumulutative Flow Diagram of the simulation
  • Free, created by IT-Agile from Germany, Arne Rock was behind it’s development
  • Twitter handle: @kanbansim
• GetKanban Online
  • Another Kanban simulator by CorporateKanban.com
  • Video of their tool here

Kanban Ebooks and Guides

• The Kanban Kick-start Field Guide URL
  • It has a creative commons license.
• Open Kanban's Official Presentation
  • With a creative commons license, and downloadable in PDF format.

Updates, or additions to our list are welcome, submit your tools via our contact page; comments are closed until the new edition of this list is published. We also welcome sponsorship opportunities, if you would like to advertise on our website contact us.