Kanka

Kanka is a worldbuilding website and role-playing campaign manager for organizing settings, ideas, and campaign material. It works with any tabletop RPG system or without a system, and is aimed at game masters, worldbuilders, players, writers, and content creators. Campaigns can organize material in about 20 categories, including characters, locations, items, quests, journals, calendars, events, and abilities; owners can disable categories for an individual campaign. Owners can invite members, assign roles, set what members can see and do, and preview the campaign from a member’s perspective. Worldbuilding tools include linked relationships, timelines, custom calendars, layered interactive maps, and a rich-text editor with @mentions. The REST API is available to all accounts for integrations such as scripts, backups, Discord bots, dashboards, virtual tabletop connections, and data synchronization. Kanka offers a free plan, while paid plans start at $4.16/mo (annual). It runs on the web and can be self-hosted. The interface adapts to smaller screens, but there is no dedicated mobile app. Self-hosting lacks premium features such as larger uploads, plugins, and custom CSS, and the team does not provide support for self-hosting.

Kanka combines campaign organization, worldbuilding tools, and collaboration controls with a free plan and paid plans from $4.16/mo (annual). Consider its lack of a dedicated mobile app and self-hosting limitations when choosing how to use it.

Kanka suits game masters, worldbuilders, players, writers, and content creators organizing campaign settings, whether or not they use a particular tabletop RPG system. It may also suit groups that need campaign roles and permissions or integrations through an API.

Kanka is a campaign manager and worldbuilding workspace for tabletop groups and creative projects. It suits game masters, players, writers, and creators who want a shared, structured place for a setting, whether or not it follows a particular game system. Its strongest case is the combination of flexible records and campaign-level permissions; buyers should weigh those tools against the premium limits and lack of a dedicated mobile app.

Overview

A Kanka campaign can hold roughly 20 kinds of entries, including characters, locations, families, items, quests, journals, calendars, events, and abilities. Campaign owners can disable categories that do not fit their project, keeping a workspace for a specific game or fictional world from feeling overbuilt. The free Kobold plan allows unlimited entries and campaigns, so users can develop multiple settings without a basic campaign-count cap.

Kanka is designed for collaboration as well as organization. Owners can invite members, assign roles, set what people can see and do, and preview a campaign from a member’s perspective. That makes it a more fitting choice for groups that need to manage different levels of access than for users who only want a private collection of notes.

Key features

Tools for connected settings

Linked relations, timelines, custom calendars, and interactive maps with layers and pins help tie people, places, and events together. The rich-text editor supports @mentions. These features are useful for settings with interconnected lore; a group looking only for simple session notes may not benefit from the extra structure.

Extensions and integrations

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. These options give campaign owners ways to tailor the workspace, but they are not part of the free plan. The REST API is available to all accounts and supports uses such as campaign backups, Discord bots, dashboards, VTT integrations, scripts, and data synchronization. Its default limit is 30 requests per minute, rising to 90 for subscribers.

Data and hosting

Kanka says user data is hosted in the EU, encrypted in transit using SSL, and backed up twice daily, with backups regularly tested. Users can download their content at any time, including a whole campaign export. The free version can be self-hosted, but premium capabilities such as larger uploads, plugins, and custom CSS are unavailable on that installation, and Kanka’s team does not provide self-hosting support. That is a meaningful tradeoff for users who want to control their hosting but also expect paid features or help from the team.

Pricing

Kanka has no free trial, but its Kobold plan is free forever at no cost, with unlimited entries and campaigns. It is the sensible starting point for users who want the core campaign organization tools without paying, although premium campaign features and larger file and map sizes require a subscription.

Owlbear costs $49.92 a year (= $4.16/month, billed annually) and includes one active premium campaign, 10 MiB file and map sizes, ad-free use, a private Discord channel, and roadmap voting. It fits an individual or group that needs premium features for one campaign and can work within the smallest upload allowance.

Wyvern costs $99.96 a year (= $8.33/month, billed annually). It raises the allowance to three active premium campaigns and 25 MiB file and map sizes, while retaining ad-free use, private Discord access, and roadmap voting. It is the middle tier for users managing a few premium campaigns who need more upload room than Owlbear provides.

Elemental is priced at $20.82 a year (billed $20.82/month, billed yearly) and allows seven active premium campaigns with 100 MiB file and map sizes. It also includes ad-free use, a private Discord channel, roadmap voting, and high impact on future features through Discord. Its larger campaign and upload allowances suit users with several active worlds, though the published billing wording gives both a yearly amount and a monthly billed figure.

All three paid plans list a private Discord channel and roadmap voting; Elemental additionally highlights high impact on future features through Discord. The free plan has unlimited entries and campaigns, but these paid campaign quotas apply to active premium campaigns, not all campaigns. Kanka lists a 3 GB storage limit, so users with substantial media libraries should account for that alongside each tier’s file and map size limits.

Platforms

Kanka is available on the web and through an API, and offers a self-hosted free version. It has no dedicated mobile app, though its interface adapts to smaller screens and features work on mobile devices. That supports occasional phone access, but users who want an app built specifically for mobile should look elsewhere. The team handles email and Discord messages, while its knowledge base directs bug reports and user help requests to Discord.

Who it's for

Kanka is a strong fit for game masters and groups building a campaign together, especially when they need linked lore, maps, calendars, and differentiated member permissions. It also suits writers and worldbuilders who want to manage a setting independently of a TTRPG system. Users who mainly need a simple notes app, a dedicated mobile experience, or supported self-hosting with premium tools are less well served.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Unlimited entries and campaigns on the free plan let users build multiple settings without a basic content-count limit.
• Pro: Role assignments, visibility controls, and member-perspective previews support groups with different access needs.
• Pro: The API is available to all accounts, enabling integrations and campaign backups without requiring a paid subscription.
• Con: Premium campaigns are capped by plan, from one on Owlbear to seven on Elemental, and each tier also sets file and map size limits.
• Con: Self-hosting excludes premium features such as larger uploads, plugins, and custom CSS, with no self-hosting support from the team.
• Con: There is no dedicated mobile app, despite the responsive interface.

Alternatives

Game Wiki Software is a broader category to explore when comparing wiki-focused tools.

Campfire is worth considering for users who want a worldbuilding and writing option with Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows support; its free tier provides limited access to writing and worldbuilding modules and requires no credit card.

Wikily may suit users who want a free wiki that can be created on iOS, web, or Windows, with free reading.

Saga20 is an alternative for users interested in voice recognition and unlimited text sessions, with a free option that includes one session summary and a campaign wiki.

World Anvil is another freemium worldbuilding option, with a free plan that allows two worlds and 42 articles.

AnvilWiki is a free alternative for users who prefer an open-source MIT template and Cloudflare Pages hosting.

Huijiwiki is a free web-based wiki-hosting option; its application process is not guaranteed to be approved.

LegendKeeper may fit users who want a basic free project view and export option, with collaboration on project owners’ work.

Miraheze is a free wiki-hosting alternative with 300+ extensions and skins.

Verdict

Choose Kanka if you want a flexible campaign workspace that can organize connected worldbuilding and let a group control access by role, while keeping unlimited campaigns and entries on the free plan. Its API and campaign export add useful flexibility, but users who need a dedicated mobile app or premium tools on a supported self-hosted installation should choose another approach.