A free Kanban app with no subscription: what Hense includes free, and what Pro costs once
The exact free limits (2 boards, 5 columns, 3 labels, 5 checklist items, 1 attachment per card), what the one-time $9.99 Pro unlock adds, and how to decide whether you need it.
The short answer. Hense is free to download and use on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no subscription and no account. The free version includes 2 boards with up to 5 columns each, 3 labels per board, 5 checklist items per card, 1 attachment per card, drag and drop, board search, and iCloud sync. Hense Pro is a single $9.99 USD purchase that removes every limit and adds copying, end-state columns, global search, and search filters. Pay once, keep it, free updates included.
“Free” and “no subscription” usually mean different things
When people search for a free Kanban app, they are usually asking one of three questions, and it helps to answer each separately:
- Can I use it without paying? With Hense, yes, indefinitely. The free version is a complete personal board, not a trial.
- If I pay, is it a subscription? No. Hense Pro is a one-time in-app purchase of $9.99 USD. There are no monthly or yearly fees, and updates are included.
- Is there a catch? The free version has limits on quantity (boards, columns, labels, checklist items, attachments) and holds back four power features. There are no ads and no data collection tied to your boards.
Hense started in January 2026 as a paid-upfront app at $11.99. It moved to free with a one-time Pro upgrade in June 2026, because a price wall meant people could not try it. The reasoning is written up on the blog. Anyone who bought the paid version was moved to Pro automatically.
Exactly what free includes
| Free | Pro ($9.99 USD, once) | |
|---|---|---|
| Boards | 2 | Unlimited |
| Columns per board | 5 | Unlimited |
| Labels per board | 3 | Unlimited |
| Checklist items per card | 5 | Unlimited |
| Attachments per card | 1 | Unlimited |
| Cards | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Drag and drop, due dates, board colors | Yes | Yes |
| Search within the current board | Yes | Yes |
| Search across every board | No | Yes |
label: and column: search filters |
No | Yes |
| Copy boards, columns, and cards | No | Yes |
| End-state columns (finished work stops showing as overdue) | No | Yes |
| iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac | Yes | Yes |
| Sidebar, board windows, keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac | Yes | Yes |
| Account required | No | No |
Cards are unlimited in both tiers. The free version is limited in structure, not in how much work you can put on a board.
Who never needs Pro
Plenty of people. If you run one personal board (To Do, Doing, Waiting, Done) and maybe one project board, with a few labels, the free version is the whole product for you. Two boards, five columns, three labels, and unlimited cards is a real system, and iCloud sync, offline use, and the native iPad and Mac apps are all included.
The honest test: run the free version for a month. If you never hit a limit, you do not need Pro, and nothing in the app will nag you into it beyond the moment you actually hit a cap.
Who benefits from Pro
Pro pays for itself in three situations:
- You want a board per project. A move, a launch, a course, a client. The 2-board cap is the limit most people hit first.
- You reuse boards. Copy Board turns a finished project board into a template with the same columns and labels. Copy Card duplicates a repeating task into next week’s board. Both are Pro.
- You search across boards. Global search finds a card wherever it is, and
label:clientorcolumn:waitingnarrows a busy set of boards to exactly the cards you mean.
End-state columns are the quiet fourth reason: once a Done column is marked as an end state, finished cards show a green check instead of a red overdue date, which keeps a long-running board calm.
How the purchase works
- One purchase, three platforms. Hense is a universal purchase, so buying Pro on your iPhone unlocks it on your iPad and Mac signed in with the same Apple Account.
- Restore on a new device. Open Hense, go to the Pro screen, and tap Restore Purchases.
- No account. The purchase is tied to your Apple Account through the App Store, the same as any app.
- Free updates. New features arrive with app updates; there is no “Pro 2” to buy later.
Setting up a free board that stays within the limits
In Hense
- Board 1: your running list. To Do, Doing, Waiting, Done (4 of 5 columns), with labels for the three areas of life that carry the most cards.
- Board 2: the current big thing. A project board with its own stages (for example Ideas, Drafting, Review, Published for a writing project), using the fifth column if you need it.
- Keep checklists to the essential steps (5 per card), and attach the one file that matters to a card rather than several.
- Search within a board from its search field; it is free and it scrolls straight to the card.
- When a project ends, delete its board (or clear it) and reuse the slot for the next one. If you would rather keep the old board as a record, that is the moment Pro starts to make sense.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hense really free, or is it a trial?
It is free indefinitely. The free version has limits on the number of boards, columns, labels, checklist items, and attachments, but it never expires and never requires payment to keep using it.
Is Hense Pro a subscription?
No. Hense Pro is a one-time in-app purchase of $9.99 USD. There are no recurring fees, and future updates are included.
Does buying Pro on iPhone unlock it on Mac and iPad?
Yes. Hense is one universal purchase. Pro unlocks on every device signed in with the same Apple Account; use Restore Purchases on a new device if it does not appear automatically.
What happens to my boards if I hit a free limit?
Nothing is removed. You keep every board and card; you just cannot add a third board, a sixth column, and so on, until you upgrade or delete something.
Are there ads or tracking in the free version?
No. Hense has no ads and no analytics tied to your boards. Your data stays on your devices and in your own iCloud account.