Kanban Zone vs Kanbanchi (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kanbanchi grades higher than Kanban Zone: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Kanban Zone grades higher on value for money. Kanbanchi grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kanban Zone
Kanban boards with flow metrics, automation and built-in AI
Kanbanchi
Kanban boards and Gantt charts for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
Which one is for you
Pick Kanban Zone if
- Fits if you run work as Kanban and want flow metrics
- Works for teams that want boards connected across projects
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Navigator, which has 10 boards, 10 automations and 10 AI credits a month
- Pricey if you use AI heavily, as AI Packs are $29 to $139 a month on top
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as only a trial is listed
- Not for you if you want phone or desktop apps, as none were found
- Watch out: plans also cap API calls
Pick Kanbanchi if
- Fits if your organization runs on Google Workspace
- Works for schools and non-profits, which get 25% off yearly plans
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want the Gantt chart, dependencies, swimlanes or time tracker, as Professional is $30.97 a seat for 2 seats
- Tight if you're staying free, because each board stops at 36 cards and then goes read-only
- Skip it if you want a proper iPhone app, since there's no App Store app, only the web app on your home screen
- Watch out: Essential has caps such as 1 checklist per card, and the trial of the paid features lasts 7 days
- Watch out: the 'from' prices assume more seats; for 2 seats Premium is $11.97 each, not the $6.47 listed
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAKanban ZoneFair | 2.2GPAKanbanchiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$8.80 per license a month billed yearly for Navigator, between the cheaper quarter and the middle of the category. That plan has 10 boards. | DEssential is $3.97 a seat a month billed annually, which looks low until you read the caps, like 1 checklist per card. Everything the tagline promises, the Gantt chart, dependencies, the time tracker, sits on Professional: listed from $24.47 and $30.97 a seat for two seats, three times this category's middle price. |
| Free plan and trial | D30-day free trial, but no free plan and card terms are not stated. | CWhen the 7-day trial ends you drop to a free plan that keeps every feature but allows 36 cards per board, and a board that goes over turns read-only. One real project will hit that. |
| Features | CFlow metrics, connected boards, automation and templates. It does the Kanban job fully, which is a smaller job than full project management. | BBoards with real-time updates, a Gantt chart you drag to reschedule, task dependencies, swimlanes, a time tracker that exports to Google Sheets, a team workload view, and burn-up, burn-down and cumulative flow reports. The job is covered; it's just spread across five plans. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You design boards and automations yourself. | CNo store rating on record. Signing in with the Google account you already have is quick, and board sharing uses plain Drive permissions, but you still build every board yourself and then work out which of five plans holds the feature you wanted. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb app with Zapier, Make, Trello and an API. No desktop or phone apps; the site is responsive web design. | BWeb plus an Android app, and no App Store app at all: on an iPhone or iPad you add the web app to your home screen. It ties deep into Google Drive, Calendar, Gmail, Sheets and Forms, or OneDrive and Outlook on the Microsoft side. |
| Best for | Kanban boards with flow metrics | teams that live in Google Workspace |
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: Kanban Zone and Kanbanchi. How we grade
Price against what you get
Kanban Zone starts at $8.80 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kanbanchi starts at $3.97 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Kanbanchi scores higher and starts $4.83 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, 29 score higher than Kanban Zone for less, and 2 score higher than Kanbanchi for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Kanban Zone also covers workflow automation and AI agents.
- Kanbanchi also covers Gantt & timelines and time tracking.
At a glance
| Kanban Zone | Kanbanchi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.80 per license / month, billed yearly | $3.97 per seat / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | Free plan once the trial ends: every feature stays available, but each board is limited to 36 cards and becomes read-only when it goes over. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial | 7-day free trial of all premium features |
| Web | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Kanban Zone | Kanbanchi LTD |
| Price read from | kanbanzone.com | kanbanchi.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Kanban Zone
- Plans are sold per license with limits on boards, automations, AI credits and API calls.
- AI Packs are extra: $29 for 250 credits, $79 for 750 and $139 for 1,500, each per month.
- The pricing page shows yearly-billed figures with a 20% saving; no monthly rate is displayed in the text we read.
- No desktop or mobile apps were found; the site describes a responsive web design.
Kanbanchi
- The free plan limits each board to 36 cards, and a board over the limit becomes read-only.
- The Gantt chart, time tracker, swimlanes and team workload view are only on Professional and Enterprise.
- Per-seat prices depend on team size: Premium is listed from $6.47, but the calculator shows $11.97 per seat for 2 seats on annual billing.
- There is no App Store app. iPhone and iPad users add the web app to their home screen; Android has a Google Play app.
Key features
Kanban Zone
- Flow metrics
- Advanced metrics include cumulative flow, cycle time, throughput, arrival rate, flow efficiency and abandoned effort.
- Connected boards and portfolio views
- Boards can be linked and mirrored across teams, with organization and portfolio views and table, list and calendar layouts.
- Automation and AI agents
- Board automations and AI agents work inside cards, with monthly AI credits that vary by plan. A page covers connecting to Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini through MCP.
- Service level expectations
- Boards support service level expectations, classes of service, custom fields, card templates and recurring cards.
- Integrations and API
- Zapier and Make connections, an API with webhooks, card creation by email and a Trello import are listed.
- Templates for methods and teams
- Ready-made boards cover Scrum, Waterfall, GTD, OKR, Flight Levels and business uses such as hiring or sales leads.
Kanbanchi
- Kanban boards stored in Google Drive
- Boards are kept as files in Google Drive and shared with the same access permissions as other Drive files. Changes appear for collaborators in real time.
- Gantt chart
- A board can be switched to a Gantt chart, where dragging the edge of a bar changes the schedule on the board as well. It comes with the Professional plan, as do task dependencies.
- Time tracker
- The Professional plan tracks time spent on cards and can export time tracker data to Google Sheets.
- Google Workspace integration
- Cards can be created from Gmail and Google Forms, dates pushed to Google Calendar, and files attached from Drive. Shared Drives and Vault integration need Enterprise.
- Reports
- Built-in reports drawn from board data include burn-up and burn-down charts, a cumulative flow diagram and a performance chart.
- Microsoft 365 version
- With a Microsoft account, data is kept in OneDrive and tasks can be created from Outlook emails. Creating boards in SharePoint is limited to the Enterprise plan.
Plans
Kanban Zone
Navigator$8.80
per license / month, billed yearly
10 boards, 10 automations, 10 AI credits a month, 25 free guests, email support. $105.60 per license a year.
Coordinator$16.80
per license / month, billed yearly
100 boards, automations and AI credits, 25 to 250 free guests, email and call support. $201.60 per license a year.
Operator$24.80
per license / month, billed yearly
500 boards, automations and AI credits, 50 to 500 free guests, direct support, 10-year data retention. $297.60 a year.
Kanbanchi
Free$0
All features with a limit of 36 cards per board; a board over the limit becomes read-only. Accounts move here when the trial ends.
Essential$3.97
per seat / month, billed annually ($5.99 billed monthly)
Fixed price. Unlimited kanban boards, cards and collaborators, board templates and Drive attachments, with caps such as 1 checklist per card.
Premium$11.97
per seat / month, billed annually, for 2 seats
Listed as from $6.47; the per-seat price falls as seats are added. Adds multiple board views, subcards, card templates, roles, saved filters and backups.
Professional$30.97
per seat / month, billed annually, for 2 seats
Listed as from $24.47; the per-seat price falls as seats are added. Adds the Gantt chart, task dependencies, swimlanes, time tracker and team workload view.
Enterprisefrom $9.95
per seat / month, billed annually, from 100 seats
Custom price from 100 seats; the calculator shows $79.95 per seat for 2 seats. Adds multi-level admin, Google groups sharing and Google Vault integration.
Ways to pay less
Kanban Zone
- Annual discount
20% off with yearly billing
The pricing page says yearly plans include a 20% discount, and plans can be switched between monthly and yearly at any time.
Kanbanchi
- Annual discount
Lower per-seat price with annual billing
Essential is $3.97 per seat / month billed annually against $5.99 billed monthly. The listed minimums are $6.47 against $9.49 for Premium and $24.47 against $32.49 for Professional.
- Education
25% off for educational institutions
Educational institutions are eligible for a 25% discount on the Premium, Professional or Enterprise plan with yearly billing, arranged by contacting Kanbanchi.
- Nonprofit
25% off for non-profit organizations
Non-profit organizations are eligible for a 25% discount on the Premium, Professional or Enterprise plan with annual billing. An application form is required.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Kanban Zone or Kanbanchi?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kanbanchi is cheaper to start with: $3.97 a month for each person, against $8.80 a month for each person for Kanban Zone. Kanban Zone starts at $8.80 per license / month, billed yearly, and Kanbanchi starts at $3.97 per seat / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Kanban Zone or Kanbanchi?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Kanbanchi has a free plan. Kanban Zone does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Kanban Zone and Kanbanchi run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Kanbanchi lists an Android app. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.