Frequently asked questions

What is kanban?

Kanban is a dead-simple way to manage work visually. You have columns (like To Do → Doing → Done) and a card for each task. As work progresses, you drag cards from one column to the next — so at a glance you can see what's queued, what's in flight, and what's finished.

It started on Toyota's factory floors in the 1940s and has since become one of the most popular ways for teams and individuals to track anything — software sprints, content calendars, wedding plans, you name it. The magic is the flexibility: name your columns to match your work, and the board shows you the flow.

Do I need to create an account?

Nope. Click Create board, give it a name, and you're in. Anonymous boards work fully — lists, cards, labels, colors, due dates, checklists, the lot. You only need an account if you want a permanent dashboard of your boards, swimlanes, or to invite teammates.

How do anonymous boards work?

An anonymous board lives at its own unguessable link, with no login. We remember the boards you've made on this device (in a private cookie) so you can find them again from the homepage. If you sign up later, you can claim an anonymous board into your account with one click.

Who can see my boards?

Anonymous boards are reachable by anyone who has the link — so treat the link like a password and don't put anything sensitive on them. Boards inside an account are private to you and the teammates you've invited to that workspace.

Is it really free? What's the catch?

No catch. Every feature is free — there's no "Pro" tier and nothing important hidden behind a paywall. It's a passion project built to be useful and to stay simple.

How do you make money, then?

Mostly we don't — and that's fine. Kanbans.free is intentionally cheap to run and part of a family of free tools we build for fun and to learn. There's no venture funding to pay back and no growth targets, which is exactly why we can keep it free and ad-free.

Do you track me or show ads?

No ads, ever. We use privacy-friendly, aggregate analytics (just to see which pages are popular) — no invasive cross-site tracking, and nothing sold to third parties. See our Privacy Policy for the details.

What can I put on a card?

Quite a lot: a Markdown description, colored labels, a card color, story points, start and due dates, checklists, assignees, comments, a milestone, and even "blocked by" links between cards. Every card also gets a human-friendly ID (like PROD-42) so it's easy to reference.

What are swimlanes?

Swimlanes are horizontal rows that cut across your columns, so you can group cards by team, priority, or epic while still moving them through the same stages. (Swimlanes are an account feature.)

What does it mean to "ship" a card or cut a "release"?

Shipping a card marks it done and clears it off the board without deleting it — much nicer than letting a "Done" column pile up forever. A release bundles a batch of finished cards into a milestone and ships them together, like closing a sprint. Everything shipped stays available in the Shipped view and your Insights.

Can I start from a template?

Yes — there are 56 ready-made templates across categories like Business, Events, Healthcare, Restaurants, and Weddings, each pre-filled with best-practice cards. Pick one and it becomes your own board to edit. Browse them here.

Can I import or export my data?

Yep. Export any board's cards to CSV (a spreadsheet), or import cards from a CSV file. Your data is yours — take it with you anytime.

Can I use this with my team?

Yes. Sign up, create a workspace, and invite people by email. Everyone in the workspace shares its boards, and you can assign cards to teammates and filter a board by assignee.

Does it update live when a teammate changes something?

Right now, changes appear when you refresh the board. Live real-time sync is something we're actively working on.

How do I change my email or password?

From your Profile page. Forgot your password? Use the "Forgot password?" link on the login page and we'll email you a reset link.

How do I delete a board or my data?

Open a board's Settings to delete it (or "reset" it to clear all cards). To delete your whole account and its data, just email us and we'll handle it.

Is there a mobile app?

There's nothing to install — Kanbans.free runs in any browser on your phone, tablet, or computer.

How is this different from Trello or Jira?

It's simpler and free. No signup wall, no per-seat pricing, no overwhelming settings — just the genuinely useful parts (boards, cards, labels, due dates, checklists, templates, small-team collaboration) without the enterprise bloat.

Still have a question?

Email us at support@kanbans.free — we read everything.