Kanka vs World Anvil
Kanka
kanka.ioWorld Anvil
worldanvil.comSide by side
| Figure | Kanka | World Anvil |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $1.74/mo | $2.08/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 7 |
| Spec score · Game Wiki Software | 8.9 (#2) | 8.3 (#4) |
| API authentication | Personal access tokens are bearer credentials, while multi-user applications require an approved OAuth flow. | API calls use an application key and user authentication token supplied in request headers. |
| API availability | Kanka provides a REST API at https://api.kanka.io/1.0 and says every account has free API access. | World Anvil exposes JSON APIs with GET, POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE endpoints and Swagger documentation. |
| Collaboration | Campaign owners can invite members, assign roles and preview the campaign from another member's perspective. | World owners can add co-authors, editors and writers while controlling permissions and removing collaborators. |
| Documentation | The public documentation covers getting started, advanced API use and self-hosting, and is described as actively updated. | The Learn center contains beginner courses, workflow guides and feature tutorials covering articles, maps, manuscripts, access rights, campaigns, timelines, styling and APIs. |
| Founded | 2017 | 2017 |
| Product | Kanka is a community-driven worldbuilding website and RPG campaign manager for organizing ideas, creations, and campaign worlds. | World Anvil describes itself as a set of worldbuilding tools for creating, organizing, and storing a world setting, with wiki-like articles, interactive maps, timelines, an RPG campaign manager, and novel-writing software. |
| Support | The team says it handles user emails and Discord messages, and its knowledge base directs bug reports and user help requests to Discord. | The FAQ directs users to its tutorials and Learn guides, support by email, and the community Discord help channel; the pricing comparison lists Fast Lane Support as a Guild feature. |
| 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. | The service requires an internet connection and an updated Chrome-based browser; it is optimized for desktop, laptop and smartphone browsers. |
| What it does | Kanka is an online worldbuilding and tabletop RPG campaign manager for organizing linked campaign content. | World Anvil is a browser-based platform combining worldbuilding wikis, interactive maps, timelines, RPG campaign management and novel-writing software. |
Plans
Kanka
- KoboldFree
- KoboldFree
- Owlbear$4.16 a month
- Wyvern$8.33 a month
- Elemental$20.82 a month
- Elemental$20.82 a year
- Owlbear$49.92 a year
- Wyvern$99.96 a year
World Anvil
- FreemanFree
- Master$4.50 a month
- Grandmaster$8.25 a month
- Sage$25 a year
- Sage$25 a month
- Master$54 a year
- Grandmaster$99 a year
In their own words
Kanka
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.
World Anvil
World Anvil is a browser-based set of tools for creating, organizing and storing settings for games, novels and comics. Its wiki supports linked articles, categories, tags and search across a world. Interactive maps connect locations to articles, while timelines track events across eras or parallel histories. Campaign tools provide a digital GM screen, statblocks, NPC creation, character sheets and session reports connected with campaign notes. Online novel-writing software works with the wiki, allowing setting details to be referenced and edited while drafting. Listed integrations include Discord, Google Analytics and Patreon links. Private material is visible only to the user and authorized collaborators, and autosaved work is backed up across multiple servers and in the cloud. World Anvil requires an internet connection; mobile use is through an optimized browser, with no mobile app. The Freeman plan allows two worlds, 42 articles and 100 MB storage.