Kaniban
Offline
A kanban board that works offline.
Kaniban does not go quiet when the connection does. Your cards are saved on your own device, so the board, the calendar and every running timer keep working on a train, on a plane, or on a network that has given up for the afternoon.
Why it works offline
Offline is not a mode you switch on. It is what happens naturally when a board lives on the device. Kaniban keeps every workspace, column, card, tag, note and timer in your browser's own storage, and after the first visit the browser keeps the app's code too. From then on, opening the board is a local operation. There is no server copy to reach, no session to refresh and nothing to reconcile when the connection comes back, because nothing left.
The Windows desktop app goes one step further: the installer carries the whole app inside it, so it works offline from the first launch.
What still needs a connection
- The first load. The app has to arrive once. After that the browser holds it.
- Updates. When you are online and a new build exists, the board fetches it and shows a small pill. It never swaps the app under a running session; you reload when you choose.
- Paid access. Supporter and Plus check in once a day while the board is used. Without a connection they carry on for up to seven days after the last check, within the pass's expiry. The free tier has no check at all.
- Ads on the free tier. No connection, no ads. The slot stays empty.
- Feedback and ratings. The two forms inside the app post to Kaniban and need the network when you send them.
None of these carries board contents, online or off.
Three ways to keep it on the device
- A browser tab. Open the board once while online. It is now available offline in that browser.
- An installed web app. In Chrome or Edge, use the install option in the address bar. Kaniban gets its own window and an icon, and shares the board with that browser.
- The Windows desktop app. A native window with everything inside, updated when you say so.
Offline and “no sync” are the same decision
A board that syncs has a server copy, and a server copy needs an account, a connection, and a rule for what happens when two devices disagree. Kaniban chose the other branch. The board on this device is the only board, and moving it is deliberate: export writes one file, import reads it on the other machine. It is a trade, and it is the trade that makes the rest of this page true.
Before a trip
- Open the board once while you still have a connection, so the latest build is cached.
- If you are on Supporter or Plus, that same visit renews the daily check and starts the seven days.
- Export a copy. It is one file, it takes a second, and it is the only backup a local board has unless Plus is writing one to a folder for you.
Questions
Do timers keep running offline?
Yes. A running timer is a start time, not a stopwatch that needs feeding; the elapsed time is worked out from the clock whenever the card is shown. It keeps counting with no connection, with the tab closed, and with the laptop asleep.
Will I lose anything if I am offline for weeks?
No. Cards, columns and notes stay exactly as they are; the free tier never expires. Paid features pause after seven days without a check and resume when you are next online. Everything you wrote stays readable and exportable throughout.
Is there a separate offline version of the app?
No. There is one app and one board, and both are already on your device. Being offline changes nothing except the ads and the daily licence check.
Can I use the same board on two computers without a connection?
Each computer keeps its own board. Export on one and import on the other to carry it across; the file works offline, over a USB stick, or however you like to move a file.
There is nothing to sign up for.
Open it, name a board, and start. If you do not like it, close the tab. You have not given anyone anything.