10 Best Kanban Board Software Programs In 2024 (Compared)
Are you looking for the best kanban board software? Do you want to know what kanban is and how it can help you be more productive? Then keep reading..
Kanban is a Japanese phrase for signboard or billboard. In the business world, kanban is a system that helps businesses track their work and improve their efficiency.
Toyota originally developed the kanban system to help improve its manufacturing process. However, you can use it in any business.
There are many benefits to using kanban, including:
- Increased productivity
- Reduced waste
- Improved quality
- Better communication
If you are looking for an approach to improve your business, you should consider kanban. Kanban board software can help you track your work, communicate with your team, and improve overall efficiency.
Are you ready to explore the best kanban software available in 2023?
The 10 Best Kanban Board Software
- Chisel – Best for Multi-functional Product Management
- Smarstsheet – Best Work Management Platform
- Businessmap – Best Flexible Kanban Software
- Teamhood – Best for High-Performing Teams
- ClickUp – Best Productivity Platform
- Wrike – Best Work Management Software
- SwiftKanban – Agile Visual Project Management Tool
- Jira – Best for Issue Tracking
- Teamwork – Best Tool for Client Work Management
- Zoho Sprints – Best Agile Report Features
1. Chisel – Best for Multi-functional Product Management
If you’re a product manager, you know that one of the most critical aspects of your job is creating and managing a product roadmap.
But what if there was a tool that could help you create a roadmap but also help you align your team and connect with customers? Enter the best product management software available in the market today: Chisel.
Chisel is a product management tool combining all three pillars into one easy-to-use platform.
With Chisel, you can:
- Create a product roadmap,
- Manage it on a kanban board,
- Ensure there is team alignment on the prioritization of specific features. Survey your potential customers on the features you are working on.
Chisel Features
Chisel’s Kanban board enables teams to efficiently plan and manage feature development within an agile framework, specifying which features are currently in progress and their scheduled timelines.
How can Kanban Board View by Chisel help you?
Product planning can be complex and chaotic, with many different tasks and team members involved.
It can be challenging to keep track of progress, identify bottlenecks, and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Chisel’s Kanban board offers an effective solution to address this challenge. It provides a user-friendly platform for organizing your product development status, offering clear visibility into ongoing tasks and progress.
By using Chisel’s Kanban board, you can ensure that your team stays on the same page and easily monitors the product planning process, making it the ideal tool for agile and coordinated product development.
Teams can plan out which features are being worked on in an agile manner using the kanban board provided by Chisel. Working on new features and components in the kanban view is easy once you’ve added them using the treeview.
Creating a Status:
You can add status to any of the current releases. Adding a status to your kanban board can help you visualize the progress of your project or your current position in the process.
Updating a Status:
Once you’ve added them to your kanban board, you can reorganize your kanban statuses. Regularly updating the status can also help you identify areas where there are bottlenecks or teams may need extra resources.
Kanban Status:
The kanban status provides a visual depiction of the product’s current state. It may reflect your current situation or the state of a project. Using the kanban status, you can locate bottlenecks and areas where teams require additional resources.
It is also a fantastic tool for teamwork since it enables everyone to see how much work each team member currently has. It also helps you to see how much they have achieved thus far.
Chisel Integrations
Chisel offers seamless integration with a versatile array of essential tools, making your workflow more efficient and effective:
- Jira Integration: Streamline your project management by integrating with Jira.
- Azure Dev Ops (ADO) Integration: Enhance your development process with seamless integration with Azure Dev Ops.
- Slack Integration: Keep your team connected and informed by integrating with Slack.
- Microsoft Teams Integration: Foster collaboration and communication with Microsoft Teams integration.
- Zendesk Integration: Deliver top-notch customer support by integrating with Zendesk.
- Intercom Integration: Enhance customer interactions and support with Intercom integration.
- Salesforce Integration: Seamlessly connect with Salesforce to optimize your sales and CRM processes.
- Email Integration: Stay in control of your communication with easy email integration.
- Hubspot Integration via Zapier: Elevate your marketing and sales efforts by integrating with Hubspot through Zapier.
Chisel Pricing
- Free forever plan.
- Premium Plan: $49 per month billed yearly.
- Enterprise Plan: Contact sales.
Sign up for Chisel’s Free Forever Version here.
Chisel Customer Reviews
Chisel has been honored with the prestigious title of “High Performer of Fall 2023,” and this recognition is well-deserved.
With an impressive overall rating of 4.9 out of 5, Chisel has received exceptional praise in various areas, including ease of use, support quality, and setup. This acknowledgment highlights the unmistakable value and excellence that Chisel offers.
Here are the highest-rated features that contributed to Chisel’s outstanding reputation:
- Kanban Board – Product Management: Rated 11% above the average
- Custom Workflows – Product Management: Rated 11% above the average
- Task Ranking – Product Management: Chisel continues to excel and deliver exceptional results for its users.
2. Smarstsheet – Best Work Management Platform
Most businesses understand the importance of tracking their budget, inventory, and strategies.
Spreadsheets are a popular way to do this. However, kanban board software from Smartsheet provides a more efficient and effective way to manage projects and processes.
Smartsheet successfully combines the best spreadsheet usability with visual timeline management and group file sharing. Plus, it encourages collaboration, which is essential for making decisions.
Smartsheet Features
- Drag-and-drop capabilities make it simple to move tasks around.
- Many visual customization options highlight important task information.
- Access data from all of your sheets in one location.
- Smartsheet is an automation tool that interfaces with various additional tools software development teams use. You can set up alerts or generate reports using the tool’s automation features.
- The Smartsheet kanban feature uses the software’s excellent teamwork capabilities.
- Kanban boards help manage work in real-time and enhance workflows across all departments and industries.
- Examine how your team may use kanban boards to enhance task requests, product roadmaps, workflow management, goal tracking, and project planning.
- Smartsheet reports and dashboards can get customized entirely to combine important data from several projects.
Smartsheet Integrations
Integrates with myriad of tools such as Slack, Tableau, Zapier, Jira and many more.
Smartsheet Pricing
- Pro Plan: $7 per month if billed annually.
- Business Plan: $25 per month if billed annually.
- Enterprise Plan: Contact sales.
Smartsheet Customer Reviews
Smartsheet has earned an overall 4.4 out of 5 on G2.
3. Businessmap – Best Flexible Kanban Software
Businessmap is a project management tool that uses the kanban method. It is perfect for businesses that require a long-term perspective, thanks mainly to its project forecasting capabilities.
This tool allows you to create a clear and concise project plan that you can easily follow and implement. In addition, it provides you with the ability to monitor and control the progress of your project at every stage.
Businessmap Features
- Businessmap is an intuitive and user-friendly software that can build simple or intricate boards to track work progress in your company.
- Building interconnected boards that grow vertically across management levels or teams give businesses a clear view of how work is developing.
- Establishing processes across each level makes handling tasks interdependent. It also helps in stopping inefficiencies simple.
- Sub-columns are a great way to divide each section of your kanban board into distinct stages.
- This kanban board tools lets you create user accounts. It also grants specific employees the right to create tasks, manage workflows, see reports, and more.
Kanban card template
- You have complete control over the workflow in your company because you can add more than 100 employees based on your Businessmap license.
- Create several kanban projects and boards, Unlimited rows, columns, and horizontal swim lanes, copy, move and remove kanban boards from projects, and WIP Limits per the main column and sub-column.
Businessmap Integrations
Businessmap offers various integrations such as GitHub, Google’s Looker Studio (Google Data Studio), Slack, and more.
Businessmap Pricing
If billed yearly:
- $149 per month for 15 users.
- $249 per month for 25 users.
- $449 per month for 50 users.
- $799 per month for 100 Users.
- $1879 per month for 250 users.
- 500+ users: get in touch with sales.
Businessmap Customer Reviews
Businessmap has an overall 4.7 out of 5 on Gartner and 3.7 out of 5 on G2.
4. Teamhood – Best for High-Performing Teams
If you’re looking for a kanban tool that can help optimize your process, regardless of sector or size, Teamhood is an excellent option. Although you’re not required to use the framework with Teamhood, kanban boards are the inspiration behind its design.
It gives you access to features like task prioritization, kanban metrics, reports, and a customized task board that you can tailor to fit your process.
Teamhood Features
- Teamhood offers an advanced kanban board that gives you complete control over the appearance of your kanban board.
- You can add secondary workflows to as many progress columns as necessary, making it simple to construct a comprehensive picture of everything in your project.
- Teamhood kanban boards aim to show complexity, which is crucial for managers of challenging projects and effective teams.
Multi-board workspaces
- You may follow the progress of subtasks by using Teamhood kanban boards, which you can customize with custom columns, column groups, rows, and secondary workflows.
- The tool has different features that make it versatile and easy to use, including task dependencies, timelines, and time tracking.
- The Gantt chart feature makes it easy to map project objectives and track progress.
Teamhood Integrations
Azure DevOps, Zapier, Slack and many more.
Teamhood Pricing
- Free plan available.
- Professional Plan: $9.5 per user per month if billed annually.
- Premium Plan: $15 per user per month if billed annually.
- Enterprise Plan: Contact sales.
Teamhood Customer Reviews
Teamhood has an overall 4.6 out of 5 customer rating on G2.
5. ClickUp – Best Productivity Platform
ClickUp aims to replace all the other productivity apps you use, consolidating everything into one convenient location. For the most part, ClickUp has been successful in this goal.
The platform offers a variety of features to help you get work done, including task lists, kanban boards, Gantt charts, and more. Plus, it’s constantly adding new features and improving existing ones.
ClickUp Features
- ClickUp is a versatile office tool that you can use for various use cases.
- You can create workflows and dashboards.
- The column can display jobs according to their stage, or you can arrange it so that the columns display the work by task assignee, due date, or any tags you’ve given.
- You can set out your work in a Gantt chart, calendar view, mind map, and kanban board view.
Calendar view
- Eliminates the need to toggle between multiple boards to get a holistic view of your project.
- Gives you a single view of all the data related to your project, regardless of which board it is on.
- Enables you to see all the data associated with your project in one place, making it easier to track and manage.
ClickUp Integrations
Slack, GitLab, GitHub, Outlook and many more.
ClickUp Pricing
- Free forever plan is available.
- Unlimited plan: $5 per member per month if billed annually.
- Business Plan: $12 per member per month if billed annually.
- Business Plus Plan: $19 per member per month if billed annually.
- Enterprise Plan: Contact sales.
ClickUp Customer Reviews
ClickUp has an overall 4.7 out of 5 rating on G2.
6. Wrike – Best Work Management Software
Wrike is a project management application that supports kanban. It focuses on helping businesses get work done efficiently and effectively.
Wrike’s services range from those supporting HR to those supporting web design departments.
Wrike Features
- Wrike is a project management tool that lets you make dashboards for various purposes.
- It contains robust kanban features that function in unison with all of its other capabilities.
- You can manage task progress, add deadlines, create boards, and assign team members to different work items.
- Wrike helps keep everyone updated by allowing anyone on your team to annex new information to tasks.
- The kanban boards can communicate with other Wrike functionalities, such as the team calendar.
- Wrike’s time-tracking software can help you see how long someone spends on a specific job.
- Wrike is a task management tool that helps you to communicate with your team and keep everyone informed of deadlines and progress.
- The tool integrates with various other software, including CRM, communication, and BI tools, making it easy to get data about your projects and tasks.
Wrike Integrations
PowrerBI, Salesforce, Miro, Jira and many more.
Wrike Pricing
- Free forever plan is available.
- Professional Plan: $9.80 per user per month.
- Business Plan: $24.80 per user per month.
- Enterprise Plan: Contact sales.
Wrike Customer Reviews
Wrike has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5 on G2.
7. SwiftKanban – Agile Visual Project Management Tool
SwiftKanban provides a visual representation of your project, making it easy to see what’s going on and identify potential risks. It also integrates with other popular project management tools like kanban and Scrum, giving you a complete solution for managing your projects.
SwiftKanban Features
- SwiftKanban’s SmartLanes Swim Lane design offers strong workflow mapping capabilities, spanning numerous work items, service classes, and many other properties. It makes it easy for customers to map even the most complex processes on the kanban Board.
- In addition to statistical analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, flow analysis, and process control, several Lean/Kanban-based analytics are available.
SwiftKanban Kanban board
- It connects you to your team via the most well-liked office and productivity apps, like MS Teams, Slack, GSuite, Outlook, and thousands more via Zapier.
- More than 60 well-known enterprise-class solutions, including TFS/Azure DevOps, JIRA, CA Agile Central, and many others, are supported by SwiftKanban.
- Teams can examine their “Kanban Movie” to see how their board and process performed over the previous week, month, quarter, or any other review timeframe.
SwiftKanban Integrations
MS Projects, MS Teams, Slack, Zapier and many more.
SwiftKanban Pricing
- Team Plan: Free of cost.
- Group Plan: $7 per user per month.
- Enterprise Plan: Contact sales.
SwiftKanban Customer Reviews
SwiftKanban has an overall 3.8 out of 5 rating on G2 and 4.4 out of 5 pon getApp.
8. Jira – Best for Issue Tracking
Jira is an effective task management tool for IT companies. It provides various features that simplify managing and tracking work for development teams.
Most functions are designed with the IT process in mind and enable users to plan, execute, release code, register, and resolve any concerns.
To keep track of work, Jira uses kanban boards. In addition to visualizing work to be done, this system ensures a fair distribution of tasks within the team. Additionally, it allows team members to track a project’s progress.
Jira Features
- Jira offers various reports that let you see the issue more clearly. These reports also provide project statistics for every stage of the project’s life.
Reports overview
- The Burndown chart shows the actual and expected quantity of work that needs to get completed during the sprint.
- Easy use of all the capabilities of scrum boards and kanban boards prompts you to choose between the kanban and scrum types.
- Jira is a digital variation of kanban with the fundamental board-and-paper interface but also combines some additional capabilities.
- If you still have work items written on cards, you can still use the drag-and-drop method to shuffle them. You are, however, allowed to add further details to your needs, such as source code, links, attachments, screenshots, and more.
- Jira makes it seamless for team members and clients to post project-related ideas. The commitment point is the team’s decision to start working on a particular concept.
Jira Integrations
Figma, Invision,Lucidchart, Miro and many others.
Jira Pricing
- They offer a free version.
- Standard plan: $75 per month ($7.50 per user on average).
- Premium Plan: $145 per month ($14.50 per user on average).
- Enterprise Plan: Connect with the sales team.
Jira Customer Reviews
Jira has an overall customer rating of 4.3 out of 5 on G2.
9. Teamwork – Best Tool for Client Work Management
With its kanban board capability, Teamwork makes it easy to keep track of your projects, whether you’re using a table, list, or Gantt chart format. Plus, Teamwork makes it easy to collaborate with clients and freelancers, making it an excellent option for managing all your projects in one place.
Teamwork Features
- You can create boards, assign team members, and drag-and-drop cards to manage projects efficiently.
Kanban board
- The tool includes features specifically for agencies, like granting clients free access to the message board or utilizing templates to enroll new customers.
- It also includes tools for invoicing and time tracking.
- Teamwork is a platform tightly integrated with the Teamwork chat software, which is available for desktop and mobile devices.
- Teamwork enables you to create Gantt charts and manage the progress of your projects in real-time.
- You can get visual updates on the status of every task, see who is doing what, and identify possible bottlenecks before they arise.
- Teamwork provides deeper insights into the effectiveness of your workflow and spots any roadblocks. If your kanban board accurately describes each stage of your process, it can also offer adjustments.
- Boards in Teamwork are entirely customizable, so you can work in the way that best suits your project management style.
- The software includes triggers that automate administrative activities, such as reassigning tasks when they move between columns. You can use it to obtain a deeper understanding of the efficiency of your workflow and make any necessary improvements.
Teamwork Integrations
MS Teams, Slack, Skyvia, Hubspot, ClickUp and many others.
Teamwork Pricing
- Free version is available.
- Deliver plan: $9.99 per month if billed yearly.
- Grow plan: $17.99 per month if billed yearly.
- Scale Plan: Contact sales.
Teamwork Customer Reviews
Teamwork has an overall 4.4 out of 5 customer rating on G2.
10. Zoho Sprints – Best Agile Report Features
Zoho Sprints is a no-cost web-based solution designed for agile planning and monitoring. With it, you can craft user stories, incorporate estimation points, set up agile meetings, and utilize timesheets to monitor working hours.
Zoho Sprints Features
- Customize your Kanban board to match your team’s workflow beyond the traditional “To-do,” “In Progress,” and “Done” statuses.
- Get a high-level view of your project’s progress and track release schedules.
- Compare your original timeline with the actual one and project timelines based on your team’s average velocity.
- Focus on the work that needs to get done with the help of the swimlane display of items in the backlog and current sprint.
- Create and manage Epics, assign owners, map user stories and tasks, label items, and measure efforts with burndown and burnup charts.
- Visualize your workflow with Kanban cards.
- Limit the number of tasks in the “In Progress” status to improve focus.
Zoho Sprints Integrations
With all other Zoho apps, collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, and workflow automation tools like Zapier.
Zoho Sprints Pricing
- Free Forever Plan is available
- Starter Plan: $0.85 per user per month billed annually
- Elite Plan: $2.12 per user per month billed annually
- Premier Plan: $4.24 per user per month billed annually
Zoho Sprints Customer Reviews
Zoho Sprints has an overall 4.4 out of 5 customer rating.
A Kanban Board Software That Teams Love
When it comes to Kanban board software, Chisel is the undisputed leader, and for good reason. It’s easy to use, has a beautiful design, and goes beyond task management to incorporate crucial elements like team alignment and user research into the product development lifecycle.
What users are saying:
- “Chisel has a beautiful design and is easy to use.”
- “Roadmap tools in the past, but I have never thought of having a concept of team alignment and user research in our product development life cycle.”
How Chisel can help your team:
- Improve team alignment and collaboration
- Elevate your product development lifecycle
- Transform your workflows
- Unlock your team’s excellence
How To Choose the Right Kanban Board Software?
There are many excellent kanban software products on the market these days. So, how do you pick the best kanban software for you and your team?
Here are a few things to remember when choosing kanban software.
WIP Limits
Kanban board software should include WIP limits so you can limit the amount of work in progress. It will help you manage your workflow and prevent bottlenecks.
Automatic Dependency Management
The best kanban board tools will also allow for automation of dependencies so that you can automatically link tasks together without having to create them manually. It will save time and make your workflow more efficient.
Addressing Bottlenecks
The best kanban board software will allow you to identify bottlenecks in your process by showing where the most work is getting done and where it is not. This way, you can address any issues quickly and easily!
Backlog Indicators
The best kanban software will allow you to track how many tasks are on each backlog to check how many opportunities there are for growth within your company.
Templates for Organizing Workflows
It is an essential tool for a kanban board. You will need to be able to set up your workflow management templates and then use these templates as a basis for your company’s processes.
Ability to Track Time
You need a time-tracking feature in your kanban software to track how much time employees spend on different tasks and projects.
Seamless Work Dependence
It is essential if you want your team to see how much work they need to do for another task or project to get completed.
Recurrent Responsibilities
Some tasks are constantly recurring in nature. Therefore, it can be helpful in these kinds of tasks if you have a recurring task type available on your kanban board software.
Anyone on Your Team Can Manage the Kanban Board Software
It would help if you had kanban board software that anyone on your team can manage, whether they’re an expert or a newbie. You have to give your team members access to the tool, so they can use it in their own time and learn how to use it as they go along.
The Kanban Board Software Is Easy to Use
The best kanban board software should be easy to use, whether a small business owner, no matter who you are, whether a small business owner or a large corporation. You don’t want someone who knows nothing about kanban having to spend hours trying to figure things out before they could get started using the tool effectively.
The Kanban Board Software Has A Great User Interface (UI)
The best kanban board software has an intuitive user interface. The UI makes it easy for people new at using kanban tools to pick up where they left off last week or even last month.
The UI needs to be simple enough that anyone from entry-level employees to executive management levels can understand what needs to get done without any trouble.
Kanban Board Software Should Be Easy To Integrate
Kanban software frequently collaborates with other workforce tools because they might not handle all aspects of a team’s daily operations. Is it simple to integrate the tool through an API to other tools? Does it function with prominent PM applications?
The 10 Best Kanban Board Software Comparison Chart
Tool | Feature | Starting Price | Overall Rating |
Chisel | Kanban Board, Release View, Timeline View | $49 per user per month billed annully | 4.9/5 |
Smartsheet | Visual customization, Generate reports, Kanban boards | $7 per month if billed annually | 4.4/5 |
Businessmap | Interconnected boards, Sub-columns, Manage workflows, Reports | $149 per month for 15 users | 3.8/5 |
Teamhood | Advanced kanban board, Workflow management, Custom columns, Timelines | $9.5 per user per month if billed annually | 4.6/5 |
ClickUp | Various use cases, Dashboards, Mind map | $5 per user, per month billed annually | 4.7/5 |
Wrike | Dashboards, Kanban features, Task progress, Add deadlines | $9.80 per user per month | 4.2/5 |
SwiftKanban | SmartLanes Swim, Lane Lean/Kanban-based analytics, Kanban Movie | $7 per user per month | 3.8/5 |
Jira | Burndown chart, Scrum boards, Kanban boards | $75 per month ($7.50 per user on average) | 4.5/5 |
Teamwork | Kanban board, Invoicing, Time tracking | $9.99 per month if billed yearly | 4.4/5 |
Zoho Sprints | Kanban board, Track releases, Swimlane, Epics | $0.85 per user per month billed annually | 4.4/5 |
Getting Started With Chisel
Are you looking for a Kanban tool that can revolutionize your product management process? Look no further than Chisel.
Chisel is a unified platform that seamlessly integrates the core pillars of product management: roadmap creation, customer feedback collection, and team alignment.
Let’s explore how Chisel can elevate your Kanban toolset and why it’s the superior choice for your needs.
Agile and Customizable Roadmaps
Chisel empower product managers to craft agile roadmaps that are finely tuned to prioritize and deliver products at the precise moment needed. Here’s how Chisel enhances your roadmap creation process:
- Detailed Scoring: Chisel allows you to assign scores to your tasks, helping you prioritize them effectively. It ensures that you’re focusing your efforts on the most critical items on your Kanban board.
- Flexibility: One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to product management. Chisel recognizes this and offers customizable roadmaps that adapt to your unique workflow, ensuring you can manage your tasks in a way that makes the most sense for your team.
Strengthening Team Alignment
In the world of Kanban, team alignment is paramount. Chisel’s Team Radar pillar plays a pivotal role in keeping your team and stakeholders connected and engaged. Here’s how Team Radar can transform your Kanban process:
- Continuous Communication: Chisel fosters ongoing communication and collaboration among team members, even outside of formal meetings. This continuous engagement ensures everyone is on the same page and working toward shared goals.
- Intuitive Interface: Chisel boasts an intuitive interface that seamlessly transitions to Kanban. You can effortlessly create Kanban boards for any process or project and invite team members to collaborate. No steep learning curve here!
Workflow Optimization
Chisel goes beyond basic Kanban functionality to help you optimize your workflow. Here are some standout features:
- Task Management: You can set due dates and priorities for tasks, streamlining your workflow and ensuring that critical items don’t fall through the cracks.
- Collaboration: Add comments and attachments to tasks, facilitating clear communication and documentation within your team.
If you want to supercharge your Kanban process and take your product management to the next level, Chisel is the ultimate choice. Give it a try, and experience the difference for yourself!
Sign up for Chisel’s Free Forever Version here.
FAQs About Kanban Board Tool
Q: What is the easiest Kanban tool?
A: Chisel offers the easiest Kanban tool. It has a clean and intuitive interface that makes it easy to get started with Kanban. Chisel Labs also provides various features that can help teams improve their workflow, such as timeline view, release view, and task dependency capabilities.
Q: Are Kanban Boards worth it?
A: Yes, Kanban boards are worth it. They offer many benefits, including:
- Improved visibility
- Increased efficiency
- Improved collaboration
- Increased focus
- Waste reduction
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- 7 Tips for Working Productively With Kanban
- Boost Your Personal Productivity with Personal Kanban
- 5 Best Kanban Certifications for Beginners
- Kanban Vs Scrum – Which Should You Use?
- The Power of Visual Management with Kanban Boards