Here are five free or low-cost Kanban tools to consider for your team.
Kanbanize
Emphasis on lean management.
Excellent model for task dependencies.
Free 30-day trial period.
Probably too much for small teams and light projects.
Businessmap’s Kanbanize is entirely focused on lean collaboration and tracking.
Notifications and board messaging in real-time help teams manage constant workflow and communication.
Managed roles also give added flexibility for fine-tuning permissions on projects and tasks.
Flexible pricing plans range from free to $99 per month, with optional add-ons available.
KanbanFlow
Light app, no extra bells and whistles.
API integrations with other popular apps.
A per-user/per-month license model gets pricey for large teams with light requirements.
CodeKick AB, developers of the KanbanFlow app, offers a basic visual Kanban workflow tool.
KanbanFlow offers a powerful free version and a $5 per-user per-monthpremium versionwith additional features.
Kanban Tool
Interesting approach to managing agile projects.
Three tiers of accounts, including a free tier.
Must register for a trial account to understand the service’s capabilities.
Pricey on a per-user basis.
The Dashboard is a workspace for notes and status updates.
LeanKit
Optimized for technically complex workflows.
API-fed integrations designed for engineers and developers.
Some may find the emphasis on engineering to be distracting.
Planview LeanKit combines Lean and Agile methods.
It uses base work-in-process (WIP) limits, with lanes lighting up when exceeding the limit.
LeanKit demonstrates a 20-personAudit groupwith finely detailed criteria for managing their publication process.
Enterprise custom options are also available.
Trello
One of the original and best-known online kanboard sites.
Great for small teams and individuals.
True collaboration requires a paid account.
Not as powerful for technical, dependency-driven work.
Trello uses boards, which contain lists, which are made up of cards.
Boards can represent projects, lists can be used for tasks, and cards can contain sub-tasks or options.
Windows 8, iPhone, and iPad apps are available.
