Kanba

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Inspiration

I was tired of bloated project management tools that tried to do everything and ended up doing nothing well. I wanted something fast, open-source, and designed for indie makers and small teams who care more about shipping than endless setup. So I built Kanba.

What it does

Kanba is a lightning-fast, open-source project management tool inspired by Trello, but redesigned for focus, speed, and real collaboration. It lets teams manage tasks visually using Kanban boards, with markdown-powered cards, real-time updates, and a clean, distraction-free UI.

How I built it

Kanba is built with Bolt.new, with Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Supabase, and Shadcn UI tech stacks. I used server components for performance, implemented optimistic UI updates for snappy interactions, and integrated Supabase Auth + Realtime to enable real-time collaboration. Everything is mobile-first and fully responsive.

Challenges I ran into

Finding the balance between simplicity and flexibility
Building real-time collaboration without performance trade-offs
Keeping the app lightweight while supporting rich features like markdown, labels, and drag-and-drop

Accomplishments that I was proud of

Launched a working MVP in less than a week
Designed a clean UI that's actually enjoyable to use
Made the entire codebase open-source from day one

What I learned

Real-time UX is hard, but incredibly rewarding when done right
Shipping fast doesn’t mean cutting corners, it means focusing on what matters
Indie-style tools need indie-style decision-making: opinionated, bold, and user-first

What's next for Kanba

Launching on Product Hunt & promoting on Reddit
Adding more features like notes, analytics, and integrations
Integrating with GitHub issues and deploying a hosted version for non-technical users
Growing the open-source community around it