Kanbanq is a minimal, real-time project management tool built around a dual-board system: one kanban board for your current sprint and a separate backlog board for future work. It targets small teams, indie makers, and solo developers who want agile structure without the complexity of tools like Jira, and it bakes in an AI assistant called Nova for task breakdown and sprint summaries.

For small teams and indies who want a fast, clean kanban board with real-time collaboration and built-in AI, Kanbanq is worth trying, especially since the free tier is generous. If you need Gantt charts, time tracking, reporting, or deep integrations, it is too early-stage to rely on yet.

Kanbanq Review 2026: 6.8/10, from $4.90/mo

Q: How much does Kanbanq cost?

Kanbanq has a free plan with unlimited users, workspaces, and projects, capped at 250 active tasks per workspace. The Pro plan costs EUR4.50 (roughly $4.90) per user per month and adds unlimited active tasks, unlimited AI summaries, one free seat for every four paid users, and priority support.

Q: What are the best Kanbanq alternatives?

The closest alternatives are Trello (the classic kanban tool, free with paid plans from around $5/user/mo), Linear (a polished issue tracker for product teams, free tier plus paid from $8/user/mo), and Notion (an all-in-one workspace with kanban boards, free with paid plans from $10/user/mo).

Q: Does Kanbanq offer a free plan?

Yes. Kanbanq's free plan includes unlimited users, workspaces, and projects, real-time collaboration, and up to 250 active tasks per workspace, with AI summaries available as a trial. You can even start a board without signing up.

Q: Who is Kanbanq best for?

Kanbanq is best for small teams, indie makers, creative studios, students, and solo developers who want lightweight sprint planning and a clean real-time kanban experience. It is not built for large enterprises that need advanced reporting, governance, or a mature integration ecosystem.

TLDR

Kanbanq is a minimal, real-time kanban project management tool for small teams and indie makers, built around a dual sprint-and-backlog board with a built-in AI assistant. It is fast, clean, and refreshingly simple, but still early-stage. Best for: small teams and solo devs. Price: free plan, Pro from $4.90/user/mo. Rating: 6.8/10.

What is Kanbanq?

Kanbanq is a lightweight project management app for makers, indie hackers, and small teams who want agile structure without the bloat of enterprise tools. It is built around a dual-board system: one real-time kanban board for your active sprint and a separate kanban-style board for your backlog, so future work stays organized instead of buried in endless lists.

Launched in open alpha and recognized on Product Hunt, BetaList, and SaaSHub, Kanbanq leans hard into speed and simplicity. The whole site runs as a snappy real-time app, you can spin up a board without even signing up, and AI is woven in from the start through an assistant called Nova that helps you plan and recap your work.

What Are Kanbanq’s Key Features?

Dual sprint and backlog boards

Instead of one cluttered board, Kanbanq splits work into a live sprint board for what you are doing now and a dedicated backlog board for everything else. Both are kanban-style, so dragging items from backlog into the sprint feels natural and your current focus never gets lost.

Real-time multiplayer collaboration

Kanbanq is fully real-time. You see teammates’ cursors live on the board as they move cards and edit tasks, which makes async and remote collaboration feel less like guessing who touched what. Permissions are flexible too, with open, approval-required, or invite-only board access.

Nova, the built-in AI assistant

Nova can break down a big task into subtasks, suggest new cards, tidy up the board, rename items, and turn messy stand-up notes into structured action items. When you complete a cycle, Kanbanq also generates a full AI summary of everything that shipped and emails it to every collaborator on the board.

Public roadmaps and rich cards

You can share progress through public roadmap URLs so your community sees what is coming next. Task cards support text, checklists, and bullets, with priority levels (urgent, high, medium, low), assignees, and visual customization like card colors and gradient or Unsplash backgrounds.

How Much Does Kanbanq Cost?

Kanbanq starts free and the free plan is genuinely usable: unlimited users, workspaces, and projects, real-time collaboration, and up to 250 active tasks per workspace, plus a trial of the AI summaries. The Pro plan is EUR4.50 (about $4.90) per user per month and unlocks unlimited active tasks, unlimited AI summaries, one free seat for every four paid users, and priority support.

That undercuts most competitors. Trello’s paid plans start around $5/user/mo, Linear’s paid tier begins near $8/user/mo, and Notion’s paid plans start around $10/user/mo. For a real-time kanban tool with built-in AI, Kanbanq’s pricing is aggressive, especially with the every-four-users free seat.

Plan	Price	Plan Features	Best For
Free	Free	Unlimited users, workspaces, and projects; up to 250 active tasks per workspace; real-time collaboration; AI summaries (trial)	Solo makers and small teams testing real-time kanban
Pro	$4.90/user/mo	Everything in Free; unlimited active tasks; unlimited AI summaries; 1 free seat per 4 paid users; priority support	Growing teams that outgrow the 250-task limit and want unlimited AI

Who Is Kanbanq Best For?

Use Kanbanq if you are a solo dev, indie maker, small studio, or scrappy team that wants clean sprint planning, real-time collaboration, and AI help without paying for or wrestling with a heavy tool. The no-signup start and generous free tier make it easy to try with zero commitment.

Skip Kanbanq if you need enterprise-grade features: Gantt charts, time tracking, detailed reporting dashboards, automation rules, or a deep catalog of integrations. As an open-alpha product it is still maturing, so larger orgs with complex workflows will hit its limits quickly.

What Are the Best Kanbanq Alternatives?

Trello

The original mainstream kanban tool. Trello is more established with a huge Power-Up ecosystem, but it lacks Kanbanq’s native real-time cursors and built-in sprint/backlog split. Free plan available; paid from around $5/user/mo.

Linear

A polished issue tracker built for software product teams, with excellent keyboard-driven speed and roadmaps. It is more opinionated and dev-focused than Kanbanq, and pricier. Free tier plus paid plans from about $8/user/mo.

Notion

An all-in-one workspace where kanban boards are just one view alongside docs, wikis, and databases. More flexible but heavier and slower for pure sprint work. Free plan available; paid from around $10/user/mo.

Final Verdict: Is Kanbanq Worth It?

Kanbanq nails the thing it set out to do: give small teams and indies a fast, beautiful, real-time kanban board with just enough AI to be useful and none of the enterprise weight. The dual sprint/backlog setup, live cursors, and emailed AI cycle summaries are smart, and the free plan plus $4.90/user Pro tier make it one of the better-value options in this space.

The catch is maturity. As an open-alpha product it lacks the integrations, reporting, and automation depth of established tools, so it is a confident recommendation for solo makers and small teams but a wait-and-see for anyone needing serious project management firepower. If you want simplicity and speed today, it is well worth trying for free.

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