Kanka
kanka.io
What it is
Kanka is a web-based worldbuilding service and RPG campaign manager for organizing ideas, creations, and campaign settings. It is intended for game masters, worldbuilders, players, writers, and content creators, and can be used with any tabletop RPG system or without one. Campaigns can organize material across about 20 categories, including characters, locations, items, quests, journals, calendars, events, and abilities; owners can disable categories they do not need. Members can receive roles that control what they can see and do, and owners can preview a campaign from a member’s perspective. Worldbuilding tools include linked relations, timelines, custom calendars, layered interactive maps, and a rich-text editor with @mentions. The REST API is available to all accounts and can support scripts, backups, bots, dashboards, VTT integrations, and data synchronization. Kanka has a free plan and annual paid plans from $4.16/mo. It can also be self-hosted, though premium features are unavailable there and the team does not provide self-hosting support. There is no dedicated mobile app, but the interface adapts to smaller screens.
Spec sheet
- What it does
- Kanka is an online worldbuilding and tabletop RPG campaign manager for organizing linked campaign content.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Product
- Kanka is a community-driven worldbuilding website and RPG campaign manager for organizing ideas, creations, and campaign worlds.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Audience
- The service is aimed at game masters, tabletop players, authors and worldbuilders.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Support
- The team says it handles user emails and Discord messages, and its knowledge base directs bug reports and user help requests to Discord.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Headquarters
- Geneva, SwitzerlandRead 28 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Founded
- 2017Read 28 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Company
- The company history lists the founding of Owlchester SNC in October 2020.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Abilities
- Entries support abilities with charges and properties for tracking powers or effects.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- API authentication
- Personal access tokens are bearer credentials, while multi-user applications require an approved OAuth flow.Read 15 Oct 2026 · app.kanka.io
- API availability
- Kanka provides a REST API at https://api.kanka.io/1.0 and says every account has free API access.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- API capabilities
- The API can read, create, update and delete campaign entries subject to the authenticated user's permissions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · app.kanka.io
- API limit
- The API documentation lists a default limit of 30 requests per minute and 90 requests per minute for subscribers.Read 29 Sep 2026 · app.kanka.io
- API token lifetime
- Tokens documented in the user documentation remain valid for 364 days before expiring.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.kanka.io
- Calendars
- Custom calendars support configurable days, months, seasons, moons and automatic age calculations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Collaboration
- Campaign owners can invite members, assign roles and preview the campaign from another member's perspective.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Company founded
- LinkedIn lists Owlchester SNC as founded in 2020, while Kanka's history says the product began as a hobby project in October 2017.Read 15 Oct 2026 · ch.linkedin.com
- Company legal name
- The operating entity is Owlchester SNC, a Swiss general partnership registered in Geneva for IT services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · moneyhouse.ch
- Company size
- LinkedIn lists Owlchester SNC as having one employee and headquarters in Geneva.Read 15 Oct 2026 · ch.linkedin.com
- Customization
- Campaigns can rename or reorder categories and use custom CSS, themes and community plugins.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Data export
- Kanka says users can download their content anytime and export a whole campaign.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Documentation
- The public documentation covers getting started, advanced API use and self-hosting, and is described as actively updated.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.kanka.io
- Entries and categories
- Campaigns support about 20 categories, including characters, locations, families, items, quests, journals, calendars, events, and abilities; categories can be disabled per campaign.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Entry types
- The product provides roughly 20 entry categories including characters, locations, families, items, quests, journals, calendars and timelines.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Hosting and security
- Kanka says its servers and user data are hosted in the EU, user data is encrypted in transit via SSL, and database backups are made twice daily and regularly tested.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Independent classification
- AlternativeTo lists Kanka as an online, freemium subscription product with proprietary licensing.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Independent review volume
- AlternativeTo shows three user comments, four likes and notes that two displayed five-star reviews are excluded from its app rating because the accounts are low activity.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Integrations and API
- The REST API is available to all accounts and supports integrations such as scripts, campaign backups, Discord bots, dashboards, VTT integrations, and data synchronization.Read 29 Sep 2026 · app.kanka.io
- Inventory
- Every entry can have an inventory for possessions, shop stock, quest rewards or other item collections.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Journals
- Journals record session plans or recaps and can link events to real-world and in-game calendars.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Licence
- The repository applies the Commons Clause condition, which excludes the right to sell the software; AlternativeTo classifies the hosted product as proprietary and freemium.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Limit: worldbuilding focus
- An AlternativeTo reviewer said Kanka is oriented more toward campaign play than pure worldbuilding and is not formatted specifically for that use.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Linked entries
- Entries can reference one another with @mentions so related characters, places and events are connected.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Maps
- Users can upload maps, add layers and pins, and control pin visibility for players.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Mobile
- Kanka says it has no dedicated mobile app, but its interface adapts to smaller screens and features work on mobile devices.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Notable news: editor
- Kanka's history says a new modern text editor was introduced in early 2026.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Notable news: Kanka 3.0
- Kanka's history records the launch of version 3.0 and custom categories in January 2025.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Praise: value
- An AlternativeTo reviewer called Kanka a good free alternative to comparable services and praised its continuing feature updates.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Praise: workflow fit
- Another AlternativeTo reviewer said Kanka fits their approach to worldbuilding and game management.Read 15 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Premium features
- Premium campaigns can use community plugins, custom CSS and themes, family trees, role-specific dashboards, and webhooks that send updates to Discord and other tools.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Properties
- Entry properties can store values such as hit points or population and calculate values from other properties.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Quests
- Quest records track destinations, participants, organizations, rewards and completion status.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Relations
- A relations tool records connections between entries and can keep individual relations private.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Scale
- Kanka reports more than 400,000 users, 350,000 campaigns and over 9 million entries.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- SDKs
- Kanka documents the REST API but points developers to community-created language wrappers rather than listing official SDKs.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.kanka.io
- Security controls
- The maker says traffic is SSL-encrypted, databases are backed up twice daily, backups are tested and card data is processed by Stripe rather than stored by Kanka.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Security hosting
- Kanka states that it uses Hetzner and Amazon Cloud Europe infrastructure, with servers and data inside the European Union.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Self-hosting
- Kanka publishes its code and installation documentation, but self-hosted deployments do not include premium upload sizes, plugins or custom CSS.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.kanka.io
- System requirements
- The developer Docker setup uses Docker, MariaDB, Redis, MinIO, Thumbor and Mailpit and can run on a roughly €4-per-month Hetzner virtual machine.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Team and history
- Kanka says Jay created it in October 2017 and serious work began in 2020 when Jon joined; the About page identifies Jay as founder and lead developer and Jon as co-founder and business manager.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
- Timelines
- Timelines organize history into eras whose text elements can link to campaign entries.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Webhooks
- Premium campaigns can send entry-change updates to Discord and other tools through webhooks.Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
- Worldbuilding tools
- Features include linked relations, timelines, custom calendars, interactive maps with layers and pins, and a rich-text editor with @mentions.Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
Plans and prices
Kobold Free Unlimited entries · Unlimited campaigns · Free forever Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
Kobold Free Unlimited entries · unlimited campaigns · core features Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
Owlbear $4.16 a month billed yearly 1 active premium campaign · 10 MiB uploads · roadmap voting · private Discord · ad-free Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
Wyvern $8.33 a month billed yearly 3 active premium campaigns · 25 MiB uploads · roadmap voting · private Discord · ad-free Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
Elemental $20.82 a month billed yearly 7 active premium campaigns · 100 MiB uploads · roadmap voting · private Discord · ad-free · high-impact feature input Read 15 Oct 2026 · kanka.io
Elemental $20.82 a year $20.82/month, billed yearly 7 active premium campaigns · 100 MiB file and map sizes · Ad-free · Private Discord channel · Roadmap voting · High impact on future features through Discord Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
Owlbear $49.92 a year $49.92 per year (= $4.16/month, billed annually) 1 active premium campaign · 10 MiB file and map sizes · Ad-free · Private Discord channel · Roadmap voting Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
Wyvern $99.96 a year $99.96 per year (= $8.33/month, billed annually) 3 active premium campaigns · 25 MiB file and map sizes · Ad-free · Private Discord channel · Roadmap voting Read 29 Sep 2026 · kanka.io
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Campaigns cover about 20 configurable categories.
- Roles control what members can see and do.
- Maps, timelines, calendars, and linked relations support worldbuilding.
- REST API is available to all accounts.
- Users can export an entire campaign.
Limits
- No dedicated mobile app.
- Self-hosting receives no team support.
- Premium features are unavailable on self-hosted installations.
- API defaults to 30 requests per minute.
Who it suits
Kanka suits game masters and worldbuilders who want to organize campaign material and control collaborator access. Its flexible categories and system-independent audience also suit writers, players, and content creators.
Verdict
Kanka combines structured campaign organization, collaborative permissions, and worldbuilding tools with an API open to all accounts. The free plan and annual paid plans from $4.16/mo offer different routes, but self-hosting excludes premium features and lacks team support.
Where Specifiction places it
- Game Wiki Software#2 of 198.9
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