Kanka
Free tier
Obsidian Portal
Free tier
Kanka vs Obsidian Portal: Which Should You Use?
Last updated: 2026
Choose Kanka if…
GMs with complex homebrew settings who need a relationship-aware wiki without paying a subscription.
Visit Kanka →Choose Obsidian Portal if…
GMs who want a shareable, player-friendly campaign website with minimal setup.
Visit Obsidian Portal →Side-by-side comparison
| | | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Free tier | ||
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Game systems | System agnostic | System agnostic |
| Self-hosted | ||
| AI-powered | ||
| Open source | ||
| Works offline | ||
| Official content | ||
| Launched | 2018 | 2008 |
Pricing breakdown
Kanka
Free tier is generous with most features included. Owlbear plan $9/mo for campaign theming and premium features.
Obsidian Portal
Free tier available; Ascendant plan $5.99/mo for CSS customisation, extra storage, and forum features.
Pros & cons
Kanka
Pros
- Generous free tier covers most campaign needs
- Flexible entity system fits any genre or setting
- Collaborative editing for the whole group
Cons
- Interface can feel cluttered when campaigns grow large
- No built-in dice rolling or VTT features
- Learning curve for the entity/attribute system
Obsidian Portal
Pros
- Polished player-facing campaign pages out of the box
- Free tier is usable for ongoing campaigns
- Long history — stable, established platform
Cons
- Dated UI compared to newer tools like Kanka or LegendKeeper
- Limited relationship or entity-linking features
- Development pace is slower than competitors
Frequently asked questions
Is Kanka or Obsidian Portal cheaper?
Both Kanka and Obsidian Portal have free tiers, so you can try both at no cost.
Can I use Kanka and Obsidian Portal together?
Kanka and Obsidian Portal overlap in the campaign-managers category, so most users pick one or the other rather than using both. That said, some GMs use them for different parts of their workflow if the tools serve genuinely different purposes.