6 Best Kanban Swimlane Tools

Kanban was quick to gain popularity amongst Agile practitioners and most of it is due to the flexibility and visual insights brought on by the Kanban board. Today, most project management tools offer their version of the Kanban board, however, few go further than a simple application with columns. When in reality, much more is needed to create a true Kanban system and to manage projects effectively.

To see which Kanban tools are worth your time, let’s take a look at the best Kanban Swimlane tools on the market. Yes, those that allow users to divide their boards into Swimlanes as well as columns. Below you will find a comparison table that lists all the tools and their features. More information on each tool is available just below it.

Best Kanban Swimlane Tools Comparison

Criteria for the Best Kanban Swimlane Software

Unfortunately, most Kanban tools on the market still do not support the swimlane functionality. Thus, there are only a handful of options to pick from. However, these are truly the best Kanban-focused tools on the market. Most of them offer advanced Kanban application features that both practitioners and beginner users will love. Moreover, tools on this list allow teams to use Kanban for projects small and large, not just to track one-off initiatives.

So, what makes a Kanban tool a true Kanban system? Here are the features that we looked for in this comparison.

• Kanban swimlane functionality – is it efficient, and easy to use?
• Other Kanban-specific features – WIP, lead and cycle time, reporting
• Additional Agile-focused features
• Project management features – can the tool do more than just Kanban?
• Resource management features – is it easy to manage larger teams?
• Integrations – can you add other tools for easier collaboration?

Without further ado, let’s dive into each tool on the shortlist.

1. Teamhood

Teamhood is a visual tool that offers a unique approach to Kanban. Here you will find all of the essentials like WIP limits, Swimlanes, and lead and cycle time reports. However, Teamhood does not stop there. It also offers a great variety of project management features as well as a secondary process status for the Kanban board.

As you can see in the image above, Teamhood allows you to create secondary process columns where you can easily track the progress of subtasks. Making the process much more transparent and easily predictable. Learn more about the Teamhood Kanban system.

Top Kanban features:

• Fully featured Kanban board
• Secondary process columns for more accurate tracking
• Gantt and List views in addition to the Kanban board
• Workload management and time tracking features

Price: Free plan available for unlimited users, professional plans start at €9 per user/month.

Teamhood user reviews on G2

2. Kanbanize

Kanbanize is a Kanban swimlane tool that is calibrated for larger teams and enterprises. Just like Teamhood, it offers all the traditional Kanban functionality and features you would expect for such a solution. However, even though it is focused on enterprise users, Kanbanize is strictly Kanban-based. This means there are no traditional project management features included in the suite.

Thus, if your company is not strictly on Kanban it would not be a good fit. As you would find there is a lack of traditional planning and reporting tools which are common in other project management systems.

Top Kanban features:

• Enterprise-focused Kanban
• Traditional Kanban features included in the package
• Integrations with other solutions

Price: Starts at €149 per month for 15 users.

Kanbanize user reviews on G2

3. Planview AgilePlace

Planview is a collaboration platform with several options to choose from. The one discussed in this comparison is the AgilePlace, a tool optimized for the Kanban approach and geared towards engineering teams. While it can be used by other teams, this Kanban swimlane tool is quite technical and might be a bit intimidating at first.

The Kanban board layout in AgilePlace is a bit different from other tools and suggest that you handle all planning and execution phases in one board. As such, swimlanes are not defined for the whole board but instead defined per column. Which can mean you will have to spend more time in setting up the tool before you begin.

Top Kanban features:

• Kanban swimlanes defined per status
• Efficient Kanban feature set – WIP, lean metrics
• Technical approach

Price: Free trial, $20 per user/month for the subscription.

Planview user reviews on G2

4. YouTrack

YouTrack is a Kanban swimlane software that is geared toward project management. Here, you will be able to visualize items on a Kanban board, categorize them further with swimlanes and limit the work in progress. While YouTrack does provide some lean reports, there is a lack of traditional lead and cycle time metrics. If this is something you use often, having to work around for a solution may be a deal breaker.

On the other hand, with the flexible functionality, you can use this solution for Scrum and other Agile approach applications.

Top Kanban features:

• Kanban swimlanes to separate items on the board
• Cumulative flow chart for tracking
• Scrum implementation
• Gantt chart functionality

Price: Free for up to 10 users, then €3,67 per user/month.

YouTrack user reviews on G2

5. Kanban Tool

Kanban Tool is a swimlane software for those that want a really simple and straightforward tool. This will be a great fit for smaller projects run purely on Kanban. This solution offers all the traditional Kanban features as well as time tracking and some integrations. However, you will not find any common project management tools here.

Select this Kanban swimlane option for easy visualization of your efforts.

Top Kanban features:

• No-thrills Kanban application
• Kanban metrics reporting
• Time tracking

Price: Free for up to 2 users, then €5 per user/month.

Kanban Tool user reviews on G2

6. Zenkit

Zenkit is a Kanban swimlane tool focused on collaboration. While the Kanban view here is just one of the options to work in, it does carry the main functionality you would need for an effective setup. The Kanban board can be divided into swimlanes and categories, and you can track the WIP. However, there is no out of the box tracking for the Kanban metrics. You would have to set up custom reports in the tool to achieve those.

If you are looking for other project management features, there is an option to use the Gantt chart, track workload and create mindmaps. All which caters nicely to the collaboration aspect of the tool.

Top Kanban features:

• Base Kanban functionality
• Reports have to be customized by the user
• Additional project management tools

Price: Free for up to 3 users, then €9 per user/month.

Zenkit user reviews on G2

Summary

While there is a limited selection of Kanban swimlane tools on the market, the ones that do carry the functionality bring a lot to the table. Allowing you to implement a true Kanban system as well as enjoy more traditional project management approaches like workload and time tracking. Surely, you have found your favorite Kanban swimlane software within this list.

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Dovile Miseviciute

Passionate content marketer looking to bring better solutions to the project management space.

2020 - Present Marketing specialist at Teamhood.
2014 - 2020 Marketing manager for Eylean.