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It’s almost impossible to talk about project management without mentioning one of the oldest, most effective (yet simple) methods of visual project management – Kanban boards. Kanban boards are an Agile-based project management tool that displays project tasks or work items visually as cards within sorted columns. As work items make their way through designated milestones in the project lifecycle, the Kanban board reflects each task’s position in the pipeline visually.
If Kanban boards are a must-have in your next project management software, read on to learn about the top Kanban board software solutions.
Our Picks
| Our Picks | Best For | Pricing Starts At |
|---|---|---|
 Try Asana | Best Overall Kanban Software | Free to try • $10.99 per user/month See details |
 Try Trello | Best Budget-Friendly Option | Free to try • $5 per user/month See details |
 Try Kanbanize | Best For Agile Project Management | Free to try • $149 per month for 15 users See details |
 Try Jira Software | Best For Software Development Teams And Technical Users | Free to try • $7.75 per user/month See details |
 Try monday.com | Best Option For Project Flexibility Overall | Paid plans starting at $8 per user/month See details |
Featured Partners: Project Management Software
Methodology
Staff Writer & Researcher, project-management.com
In order to compile this selection of the top Kanban board software solutions, I analyzed dozens of project management software offerings based on the following criteria:
- Features and functionalities
- Usability
- Price
- Customer reviews
- Integrations
Our evaluation process included a combination of primary and secondary research, by way of industry research, vendor information and reviews, and hands-on testing.
Read More: 10 Best Project Management Software for 2023
Our Picks: Top 5 Kanban Board Software Solutions
Best Overall Kanban Software
With a wide range of work management features, such as the ability to assign subtasks, develop custom fields, submit forms in-app, and more, Asana makes it easy for users to organize and manage projects at a micro and macro level.
For teams juggling numerous projects and stakeholders, Asana has features that extract project insights and foster collaboration in real time. For example, status updates, milestones, and Portfolios empower users to track project goals, update stakeholders on new developments, and monitor the status of multiple projects. For less experienced software users, Asana offers a relatively intuitive user experience with a multitude of training and continued education resources through Asana Academy.
When it comes to visualizing your tasks and projects, Asana gives users the flexibility to choose from a variety of views, including Kanban board, list view, timeline view, and calendar view options. Asana’s approach to Kanban board view gives users the ability to attach files and images directly to task cards, while tagging and collaborating with teammates directly, making it an efficient option for Kanban-focused users.
Asana’s kanban style boards allow users to attach relevant task information, labels, and even images and documents. Source: Asana, accessed June 2023.
Key Features
- Templates – Asana includes numerous ready-made templates that make getting started and replicating work processes easy.
- Workload – Managing multiple team members? Workload allows users to take a high-level view of individual work capacities – including future forecasting to predict where tasks may fit in down the line.
- Portfolios – The Portfolio tool allows users to synchronize updates across numerous projects in one place to be shared with stakeholders, making it easier to keep everyone in the loop.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| •Asana Intelligence. Bonus AI capabilities for teams looking to explore artificial intelligence. •Manage projects your way. Extremely versatile and customizable features for teams and individual users alike. •Task and industry-specific templates. Multiple templates make for easy setup and project replication. •Made for project managers and team members alike. Extensive privacy and administrative control options. | •Lack of time tracking. Currently, Asana does not offer time-tracking capabilities. •Assignee limitations. Only one user can be assigned per task, with no multiple assignees. •Limited export functionality. CSV and JSON exports only. •Pricing can be steep. Compared to many other options, Asana’s paid pricing model is slightly more expensive. |
Pricing
While Asana is known for having one of the most generous free plans on the market, its paid plans offer users the ability to dive into more extensive functionality and controls. Asana’s Premium plan is a great choice for teams who are looking to enhance their experience with unlimited free guests, task templates, an admin console, and more. For large teams with complex business needs, the Business plan offers users advanced integrations with Salesforce, Adobe Create Cloud, and more, as well as the Portfolios and Workload features which are a big value add when managing large teams.
| Free Plan | Premium Plan | Business Plan | Enterprise Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $10.99 per user/month | $24.99 per user/month | Contact sales for pricing |
| Up to 15 users | Unlimited users, projects, and dashboards | Unlimited users, projects, and dashboards | Unlimited users, projects, and dashboards |
| Key Features: •Unlimited projects •Unlimited file storage (100MB per file) •Time tracking with integrations, •100+ free integrations •Unlimited tasks •Multiple views (list, board, and calendar view) | Key Features: •Reporting across unlimited projects •Advanced search and custom fields •Unlimited free guests | Key Features: •Lock custom fields •Advanced reporting and integrations •Time tracking •Custom rules builder | Key Features: •SAML authentication •Data export, and deletion •Custom branding •Priority support |
Why We Picked Asana
Overall, Asana is one of the best all-around project management solutions, especially for Kanban board users. With custom labels and the ability to attach numerous details and files to each individual task card, Asana’s Kanban board capabilities are extensive.
Despite its higher price point for paid plans, Asana packs in a ton of value for the price and offers users the opportunity to test-run its features with one of the most generous free plans on the market. Extensive functionality for project and team management, workflow optimization, and group collaboration make Asana a power-packed choice for teams who are ready to level up their project management strategy.
Best Budget-Friendly Option
Trello is a Kanban-board-focused project management solution for automating and organizing tasks, collaborating with teammates, and storing project files. Unlike other offerings, Trello’s primary focus is providing users with an enhanced Kanban experience, taking traditional board-style views a step further with multiple workspaces, automation, filters, templates, stars and labels, attachments, collaboration, and more. For users looking for extended views into project plans and schedules, Trello now offers calendar and timeline views for more precise project tracking.
Many praise Trello as one of the most user-friendly project management software offerings on the market, but the perks of Trello don’t stop there. It’s easy to learn, offers over 200 integrations, multiple project views, and even offers automation features for workflow optimization.
Trello’s Kanban board capabilities are focused on providing users a streamlined workflow, complete with labels and the ability to attach documents and images. Source: Trello, accessed June 2023.
Key Features
- Simple Drag-and-Drop Usability – Users can rearrange tasks and boards easily with drag-and-drop task card functionality
- Segmented Task Management – Advanced checklist options within tasks allow users to break down and assign micro-tasks
- Automation Features – Butler Automation, Trello’s own automation function allows you to automate tasks and establish rules for workflows
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| •Intuitive to use. For new and experienced users, Trello is simple to set up and use. •Popular with Kanban users. Trellos’ focus on Kanban-style boards allows users an optimized Agile experience. •Mobile friendly. For mobile and app users, Trello is easy to use on the go. •Straightforward pricing. Trello’s pricing model is extremely straightforward and affordable compared to many other competitors. | •Task limitations. Limited levels of task hierarchy. •Limited view functions. Main functionality relies on Kanban boards and lacks support for many other display types. •Less than optimal for multiple projects. It can be difficult to track multiple products at once with limited task overview options. |
Pricing
Much like Asana, Trello offers users an incredibly generous free plan, complete with unlimited boards and storage, advanced checklists, custom fields, and more. Yet, for users who are looking to dive into a paid plan, Trello offers users three straightforward pricing models to choose from. At the Premium level, users can unlock multiple work views, unlimited Workspace command runs, and admin and security features – making it a great option for teams who need a slightly more expansive range of functionality. For larger organizations looking to connect multiple projects and teams, the Enterprise plan includes public board management, organization-wide permissions and board visibility, and unlimited Workspaces.
| Free Plan | Standard Plan | Premium Plan | Enterprise Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $5 per user/month | $10 per user/month | Up to $17.50 per user/month (price decreases with more users) |
| Unlimited users | Unlimited users, boards, and storage (250MB per file) | Unlimited users, boards, and storage (250MB per file) | Unlimited users, boards, and storage (250MB per file) |
| Key Features: •250 workspace commands per month •Custom background and stickers •2-factor authentication | Key Features: •Custom fields •Advanced checklist •Single board guests | Key Features: •Additional views (timeline, table, dashboard, map) •Unlimited workspace command runs •Admin and security features | Key Features: •Attachment permissions •Public board management •Organization-wide permissions |
Why We Picked Trello
Trello stands out from the competition for its affordable price point, beginner-friendly design, and task customization options. Trello’s Kanban board functionality gives users a wide range of capabilities, from custom labels and a variety of attachments to work in progress limitations that limit the number of tasks that can be housed within any specific task column.
With three straightforward pricing options to choose from, Trello can be easily scaled for use by solo-prenurs and large organizations alike. Trello is an ideal choice for Kanban fans because of its easy-to-use Kanban board structure with drag-and-drop cards. Yet, its functionality is advanced enough to support workflow automations, team collaboration, and more.
Best For Agile Project Management
Kanbanize is a project management platform rooted in the Kanban methodology. While its interface is relatively plain, its functionality is extensive, relating back to three core “pillars of scale”: connecting strategy with execution, gaining visibility across projects and portfolios, and optimizing delivery workflows. Kanbanize’s approach to Kanban boards is unique in that it offers users the ability to interlink boards together, divide tasks into subcolumns, and even view Kanban cards themselves in a Swimlane-focused view.
With a visually engaging Kanban board-style dashboard, teams can manage and track tasks efficiently while personalizing their workflow with automations and custom fields. Across multiple projects and departments, teams can view task progress holistically through status reports and workflow maps, relieving bottlenecks.
Kanbanize’s Kanban style boards allow users to link individual tasks and projects together for better clarity of overall goals and maximum visibility across the organization. Source: Kanbanize, accessed June 2023.
Key Features
- Dashboards and Reporting – Analytics provide insights into business objectives, risks, and other performance metrics through Lean/Agile charts, all in one place.
- Interlinked Boards – Boards can easily be linked together for multi-project management.
- Subtasks and Task Dependencies – Break down and link tasks together based on your team’s unique needs.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| •Outstanding customer support. Kanbanize has frequently been praised for its responsive support team and variety of training resources. •Flexible applications. Agile functionality allows users to personalize task layouts, columns, swimlanes, and boards to fit various needs. •Great for larger teams and projects. Kanbanzie’s extensive functionality and board interlinking options make it a great choice for cross-departmental work and large-scale teams. | •Steep learning curve. Even routine users of other Kanban tools will likely struggle to learn how to navigate Kanbanize. •Patch updates affect automations. Frequent patch updates can affect existing APIs and automation. •Pricing is on the expensive side for larger teams. Kanbanzie has a unique pricing model, starting at $149 per month for 15 users. •Minimum user requirements. A paid subscription requires a minimum of 15 users, which can be a problem for small teams. |
Pricing
Unlike many other software offerings, Kanbanize offers just two paid subscription types, paid per seat: Standard and Enterprise. It’s important to note that Kanbanize requires a minimum of 15 users for a Standard subscription, priced at $149 per month (when paid annually). For larger organizations looking for more seats and advanced support options, the Enterprise plan allows teams to customize their subscription terms by working with the sales team. For new users and prospective customers, Kanbanize offers users a generous 90-day free trial.
| Standard Plan | Enterprise Plan |
|---|---|
| $149 per month (paid annually), or $179 billed monthly | Contact sales for pricing |
| 15 users | Unlimited users |
| Key Features: •Customizable workflows •Management Dashboards and project forecasting •Interlinked boards | Key Features: •Unlimited automation •24/7 help hotline •Free training and consulting |
Why We Picked Kanbanize
Numerous customization options and workflow management tools make Kanbanize a great choice for Agile teams of all shapes and sizes. The Kanban board abilities of Kanabanize are extensive, allowing users to link boards, include subcolumns, and even customize board backgrounds.
Kanbanize puts data and insights at the fingertips of users, with numerous features for dashboard management and project forecasting, and analytics. While the platform is known for its Kanban-style boards, it offers users multiple ways to personalize their projects, workflows, and task views.
Best For Software Development Teams and Technical Users
Originally launched in 2002 as an issue and bug tracking software, Jira Software is comprehensive issue tracking and project management software. Jira is based on four key concepts: issue, project, board, and workflow. Built for Agile and Scrum project management, Jira is a highly capable platform designed with software development teams and technical teams in mind.
Its’ varied and capable functionality allows teams to track issues, manage projects, and automate workflows flexibly. Jira Software’s Kanban board capabilities empowers users to organize task cards in a variety of ways, including setting work in progress limitations to avoid workload overloads. As part of the larger Atlassian software ecosystem, Jira Software also works seamlessly with other Jira products, such as Jira Work Management, which is included for paid license holders at no additional cost.
Read our review of Jira Software
Jira Software’s Kanban board features allow users to attach bugs, tasks, and more, while setting work in progress limitations to avoid workload overloads. Source: Atlassian, accessed June 2023.
Key Features
- Roadmapping capabilities – Great for mapping tasks, work items, dependencies, and release dates on a timeline.
- DevOps visibility – Helps users measure and track project progress
- Security options – Customizable security settings for a more secure experience
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| •Data-driven. Numerous dashboards and reporting features enhance insights on tasks and projects. •Built for Agile and Scrum management: With a focus on Agile project management, users can explore both Kanban and Scrum board views. •Easy automation options. Drag-and-drop automation features make it easy to optimize workflows. •Great for issue management. Jira’s roots as bug tracking tool help make Jira Software a powerhouse at identifying potential problems. | •Steep learning curve. Its complicated user interface can make onboarding and task management difficult for less experienced users. •Lack of milestone visualization. Jira Software does not include a built-in timeline to visualize or monitor your project progress. •Limited collaboration options. A lack of distinct collaboration features means it can be more of a challenge to communicate with team members. •Not the best choice for non-technical teams. Jira Software is mainly built for engineering and software development teams and might not be the best fit for non-technical users. |
Pricing
Jira Software offers a remarkably simple and transparent pricing system, priced per user. While the free plan is generous in offering teams the ability to add up to 10 users and unlimited project boards, users who switch to the Standard plan gain the ability to add up to 35,000 users, define user roles and permissions, and gain access to audit logs. For larger, data-heavy teams, the Premium plan increases users’ limitations to 35,000 and allows 250BG of file storage.
| Free Plan | Standard Plan | Premium Plan | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $7.75 per user/month | $15.25 per user/month | Contact sales for pricing |
| Up to 10 users | Up to 35,000 users | Unlimited storage | Unlimited sites |
| Key Features: •Unlimited project boards •Customizable workflows •Apps and integrations | Key Features: •User roles and permissions •Audit logs •Data residency | Key Features: •Admin insights •Project archiving •Capacity management | Key Features: •Atlassian Analytics access •Centralized user subscriptions •Data connectors |
Why We Picked Jira Software
Overall, Jira Software is a feature-packed, flexible option for teams who require extended functionality and support for highly technical projects. Software development teams will appreciate Jira Software’s strengths in bug tracking and analytics, and teams utilizing other Jira products will love the seamless integration between products. Jira Software’s approach to Kanban boards gives users a great deal of flexibility, including the ability to attach tasks, bugs, and user stories directly to task cards, making it a great choice for Agile teams.
Best Option For Project Flexibility Overall
monday.com consistently earns high rankings from users across the board as one of the premier work management applications on the market today. monday.com, or monday work management, is a collaborative, work operating system (Work OS) that helps teams manage projects and work functions at scale.
Known for its colorful and highly customizable user interface, monday.com empowers users to take project management into their own hands using low-code, modular building blocks.
Through items, columns, views, widgets, integrations, and automation, users can build out their own ideal project management solution for a wide range of work tasks. Users can also design their own Kanban board layouts, with extended functionality to support boards with embedded images, that can be rearranged easily by dragging and dropping.
Read our hands-on monday.com review
An example of a visual-focused Kanban board layout from monday.com. Source: monday.com, accessed June 2023.
Key Features
- Data insights and visualization – Dashboards and project data visualizations allow users to track KPIs visually.
- Colorful customization options. Highly customizable board and design options, including custom columns and color coding.
- Wide range of task views. Multiple task views are available to choose from, such as Kanban boards, Gantt charts, cards, table views, and more.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| •Diverse template options. Users can get started quickly with hundreds of industry and task-specific templates. •Designed for customization. Multiple display themes, color coding options, conditional coloring, column personalization options, and more make it easy to design custom work solutions for your unique team. •Great variety of customer support and education options. All users have access to 24/7 customer support, daily live webinars, a self-serve knowledge base, and a learning center. •Collaboration options for teams of all sizes. Team member tagging, commenting, automated update notifications, and online/offline status updates make it easy to keep your entire team connected. •Easy and fun to use. monday.com is intuitive to use, with a sleek dashboard and unique color customization options you won’t find in other competitors. | •Pricing and options can be confusing. monday.com’s per-seat pricing style can be confusing. Additionally, there’s a minimum team size requirement of 4 users for paid plans. •Activity log tracking limitations. For free and basic users, activity log tracking is limited to one week. •Limited views for non-Pro tier plans. Users of the free and Basic plans cannot view tasks in chart view, map view, calendar view, or timeline view. Standard plan users cannot view tasks in a chart view. •Time tracking limitations. Time tracking functionality is unavailable for free plan users. |
Pricing
monday.com offers a more extensive range of paid plans than many other software offerings, appealing to the various needs of specific teams. While monday.com offers a feature-packed free plan, which uniquely includes over 200 templates and over 20 column types, users who are craving a more expansive experience can explore the benefits of the Basic and Standard plans. At the Pro plan level, users can unlock the functionality of formula and dependency columns, as well as the power of time tracking, which can be valuable for larger teams.
| Free Plan | Basic Plan | Standard Plan | Pro Plan | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $8 per user/month | $10 per user/month | $16 per user/month | Contact sales for pricing |
| Up to two users | Unlimited users and boards | Unlimited users and boards | Unlimited users and boards | Unlimited users and boards |
| Key Features: •200+ templates •Unlimited docs •Over 20 column types •iOS and Android apps | Key Features: •5GB of storage •Priority customer support •Unlimited free viewers •1 week of back-dated activity log | Key Features: •Zoom integration •250 automations per month •250 integration actions per month •Ability to create a dashboard that combines up to 5 boards | Key Features: •25,000 automation and integration actions per month •Time tracking •Formula column •Dependency column | Key Features: •1000 GB storage •Unlimited guest access •Premium integrations •Dedicated customer success manager •HIPPA compliance |
Why We Picked monday.com
monday.com is a highly flexible and customizable work management platform that can be scaled for use by teams of all shapes and sizes. monday.com’s Kanban board features stand out from the competition with the added ability to embed cover photos and insert custom fields into each task card. Its wide range of capabilities, including multiple project views, dashboard reporting, data visualization tools, and workflow automation, make it a featured-packed option for fast-moving teams – without sacrificing usability and ease of use.
FAQs: Kanban Features, Benefits, Solutions, and More
How to Choose the Best Kanban Board Software Solution
When selecting a Kanban board-focused software solution, you want to consider multiple factors. While there are many reliable vendors offering appealing features and enticing usability, ultimately, you want to consider which solution is best for your individual needs. Here are a few tips for selecting the best-fitting solution for your organization:
Consider alternative views.
While Kanban board views are a great task visualization tool for project management, consider exploring other view options. The more view options a solution provides, the more flexibility you have to view projects on your terms.
Determine your budget.
Kanban board software solutions come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and price ranges. Before exploring software options, consider what your budget will look like and what pricing model is the best fit for your organization (monthly, annually, per user, per license).
Establish your own set of must-haves.
Before exploring Kanban software solutions, be sure to establish a personalized list of must-haves concerning the software functionality. Have an all-remote team? Collaboration tools will likely be a crucial component of your software selection. Do you frequently work with external clients? Perhaps a solution with guest access would be a good idea. Determine your own set of winning criteria to ensure the best-fitting solution possible.
Featured Partners: Project Management Software
1 Wrike
Tackle complex projects with Wrike’s award-winning project management software. Break projects into simple steps, assign tasks to team members, and visualize progress with Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and calendars. Manage resource allocation and forecasting with software that’s easy to launch. Automation and AI features strip away time-consuming admin tasks so you can do the best work of your life. Streamline your practices, align your team, and ensure you hit deadlines and stay on budget.
2 Jira
Simple and powerful way to track and manage issues. It handles all kinds of issues (bugs, features, enhancements, and tasks) and can be used for bug tracking, development help, project management, or group task cataloging.
3 Trello
Organize anything, together. Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, know what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in a process.
