Kaniban
Compared
Kaniban vs Focalboard
Focalboard is the board people find when they search for a kanban tool they can keep on their own machine. It and Kaniban share that instinct, and not much else. This page is for anyone weighing the two.
The short version
Focalboard is open source, from Mattermost, and shaped like a project-management tool: boards, tables, galleries and calendars over cards with custom properties. It comes as a server edition for teams and as personal desktop editions. Mattermost stepped back from its development in 2023 and left the repository to its community, so check the project's own page for where it stands today. Kaniban is a personal kanban board that runs in your browser with nothing to install or host, has no account, and is actively released; the changelog lists each version.
Side by side
| Focalboard | Kaniban | |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Server edition: users sign in. Desktop edition: none | None |
| Where the board lives | Your server, or your machine with the desktop edition | Your browser, or your PC with the desktop app |
| Needs a server | The server edition does; the desktop edition does not | No |
| Offline | The desktop edition, yes | Works once loaded |
| Built for | Teams on the server edition; individuals on the desktop edition | One person |
| Time tracking | Not built in | A timer on every card, sessions kept |
| Source | Open source | Not open source |
| Price | Free | Free; Supporter from $3 for 30 days; Plus $10 once |
| Maintained by | Its community, since Mattermost stepped back | Kaniban, with regular releases |
What Focalboard has that Kaniban does not
- Open source. You can read the code and run it yourself. Kaniban is not open source; its promise is enforced by design instead. There is no server copy of a board, so there is nothing for a server to leak, and the privacy page lists every call the app makes.
- Self-hosting for a team. A Focalboard server gives several people one set of boards. Kaniban has no sharing at all.
- Custom properties, table and gallery views. Focalboard is closer to a database of cards. A Kaniban card has a fixed set of fields.
What Kaniban has that Focalboard does not
- Nothing to install or host. The board runs in the browser and is ready in a second. If you want a window of its own, there is a Windows desktop app; if you want it on your home screen elsewhere, install it from the address bar.
- A timer on every card, with each session kept and a summary view of where the hours went.
- A calendar you can drag cards onto, and a timeline of the weeks ahead, over the same cards as the board.
- A command deck. Ctrl K reaches any card, view or board, and slash commands add columns and cards without a mouse.
- Steady releases. The app updates itself and tells you with a quiet pill; you choose when to reload.
Questions
Is Kaniban open source?
No. What you can verify without the source: there is no account, the board sits in your browser's storage where you can inspect it, export produces a readable file at any time, and the privacy policy names every outbound call. None of those calls carries board contents.
Can I self-host Kaniban?
There is nothing to host. The board runs entirely in your browser or in the desktop app. The only server-side part is the licensing service for paid tiers, and it never receives a board.
Can I import a Focalboard board?
No. Kaniban imports its own export files only. Bring the cards that are in flight across by hand; /nc:the title in the command deck makes one each.
Does Kaniban run on Linux or macOS?
In the browser, yes, on any of them, and it can be installed from the address bar as a web app that opens in its own window and works offline. The native desktop app is Windows only for now.
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.