Kan Do vs Kanri
We give Kan Do a 2.6 GPA and Kanri a 3.4, out of 4.0. Kan Do grades higher on features. Kanri grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kan Do
Personal kanban boards for Mac, iPhone and iPad, bought once
From $2.99 one-time
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAKan DoGood | 3.4GPAKanriVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$2.99, one time, and that covers Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV and Apple Watch. No subscription and no in-app purchases. Most paid to-do apps charge more than that every month. | AFree and open source, with no paid version at all. Its FAQ says the project makes no money. You get unlimited boards, columns and cards. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing is free. It's a paid download with no free version and no trial. At $2.99 the risk is small, but you are buying it blind. | AThe whole app is free on Windows, Mac and Linux. No account, no limits and no usage tracking. |
| Features | ABoards with your own columns, Spaces, nested tags, smart lists and a Calendar view. Tasks take start dates, due dates, repeats and reminders that keep going until you're done. Each one has a notes editor with images, drawings and attachments. | BBoards with your own columns, and cards with a rich-text description, sub-tasks, a due date and tags. Trello boards import with all of that intact. But there's no cloud sync or collaboration, and the data file can't be moved into a synced folder yet. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. There's no account to make. Buy it, open it, and your boards sync through your own iCloud. | BNo rating is on record for us to go by, so a B. There's no sign-up and nothing to configure. One snag: the app isn't code-signed, so your computer may flag it, and on Apple Silicon Macs you may need a Terminal command to get it open. |
| Platforms and integrations | CApple only, and its FAQ says there's no web or Windows version. Inside that world it goes far: Siri, Shortcuts, and on the Mac a built-in MCP helper so assistants like Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can read and manage your tasks. | BWindows, Mac and Linux, so all three desktop systems are covered. But there's no phone app and no web version, and boards don't sync between machines. Importing from Trello is the one link to anything else. |
| Best for | personal kanban on Apple devices for $2.99 | private kanban boards on one computer |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Kan Do and Kanri. How we grade
Where they differ
- Kan Do starts at $2.99 one-time purchase. Kanri is free.
- Kanri has a free plan. Kan Do does not.
- Only Kan Do lists an iOS app.
- Only Kanri lists Windows and Linux apps.
- Kan Do can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Kanri is open source, according to its own site.
- Kan Do also covers calendar.
In commonmacOSLocal-firstTasksKanban boards
At a glance
| Kan Do | Kanri | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| Starts at | $2.99 one-time purchase | Free |
| Free plan | None | The whole app is free and open source under GPL v3, with no paid version, no account and no usage tracking. The FAQ says the project generates no revenue. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Stephen Robles | Kanri Team |
| Price read from | kandotasks.app | kanriapp.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Kan Do
- One person running kanban boards across Apple devices
- Buyers who want a low one-time price and no account
- People who let an AI assistant manage tasks through MCP
Kanri
- Personal kanban boards kept on one computer
- Solo developers who want boards without an account
- People moving a board off Trello to a local app
Worth knowing
Kan Do
- Apple platforms only: the FAQ says there is no web or Windows version.
- Boards cannot be shared with another person; sync runs only between one user's devices under a single Apple Account.
- It is a paid download with no free version or trial.
- Kan Do does not write tasks to the Calendar app, and Apple Reminders is the only app it imports from directly.
Kanri
- Desktop only: downloads are offered for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no mobile or web version.
- There is no cloud sync or collaboration, and the FAQ says the data file's location cannot be changed yet, so boards cannot be placed in a synced folder.
- The app is not code-signed, so the operating system may flag it as unsafe; Apple Silicon Mac users may need to run a Terminal command if macOS reports the app as broken.
- The README says the project is still in active development, is provided as is, and that users should make regular backups.
Key features
Kan Do
- Boards, columns and list view
- Every project is a board of user-defined columns. Cards are dragged between columns, dividers split long columns into sections, and any project can switch to a list.
- Spaces, projects and nested tags
- Spaces group projects, each with its own icon and color, and tags can be nested to any depth to cut across projects.
- Notes editor in every task
- A task's note takes headings, lists, to-do checkboxes, quotes, code blocks, highlights, images, drawings and file attachments, which sync with the task.
- Smart lists and Calendar view
- Inbox, Today, Upcoming and Flagged collect tasks across projects, custom smart lists filter by tag, date, priority or project, and a built-in Calendar view shows tasks and subtasks.
- Reminders that repeat until done
- Tasks take start dates, due dates and repeats. Alert Until Done reminders recur every 30 minutes, hour, 3 hours or day, and can be snoozed from the notification.
- Siri, Shortcuts and MCP connector
- Siri and Shortcuts actions add, edit, find and complete tasks. On the Mac, a built-in MCP helper lets assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor read and manage tasks.
Kanri
- Boards, columns and cards
- Unlimited boards, each with customizable columns for the stages of a workflow and cards that move between them.
- Card details
- A card can carry a rich-text description written in a Markdown-like format, along with sub-tasks, a due date and tags.
- Local storage with no account
- All data is stored on the computer in a single JSON file. The app needs no internet connection or sign-up and does not track usage.
- Themes and backgrounds
- Light, dark and Catppuccin themes are included, and custom themes and board background images can be set.
- Keyboard and click shortcuts
- Keyboard shortcuts create, rename and delete columns, add cards and change column zoom. Double-clicking renames a card or edits a sub-task without opening the card.
- Import and export
- Boards exported from Trello as JSON can be imported with their columns, cards, descriptions, sub-tasks, due dates and tags. Single boards or all data can be exported as a backup.
Plans
Kan Do
Kan Do$2.99
one-time purchase
One App Store purchase covers Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV and Apple Watch, with no subscription or in-app purchases.
Kanri
Free$0
The complete desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, with unlimited boards, columns and cards.
