Project types explained: Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban

Every Flying Donut project starts with a type that shapes your board, workflow, and sprint model. Pick the one that matches how your team works — and change it any time.

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Three project types, one flexible platform

When you create a project in Flying Donut, you choose one of three types. Each type configures the board layout and sprint model differently, but all three share the same backlog, card, task, and collaboration features.

CapabilityScrumKanban
Sprints (time-boxed iterations)✓—
Customizable board columnsFixed: To Do / Doing / DoneFully customizable
WIP limits—✓
Backlog buckets✓✓
Burndown chart✓—
Task board inside cards✓ (expanded card)Tasks on card detail
Best forTeams with sprint cadenceContinuous flow teams

Scrum — sprint-based delivery

Choose Simple Scrum when your team works in time-boxed iterations. You create sprints with start and end dates, pull cards from the backlog into each sprint, and track progress with a built-in burndown chart. The board uses three fixed columns — To Do, Doing, and Done — and card completion is determined by the status of its tasks.

  • Create sequential or parallel sprints with clear goals
  • Drag cards from the backlog into the sprint during planning
  • Expand cards on the board to reveal the task board (To Do / Doing / Done)
  • Track sprint health with the real-time burndown chart
  • Complete the sprint and move unfinished cards to the next sprint or back to the backlog

Example: A mobile app team runs two-week sprints. At the start of each sprint, the product owner drags the top-priority cards from the backlog into the sprint. Developers expand each card on the board, add tasks, estimate hours, and move tasks across the board throughout the sprint. The burndown chart shows daily progress in the team standup.

Kanban — continuous flow

Choose Kanban when your team works without fixed iterations. Cards move through customizable columns that represent your workflow stages. Set WIP (Work In Progress) limits on columns to prevent overloading and bottlenecks.

  • Define your own columns — e.g., Triage → Ready → In Progress → Review → Done
  • Set WIP limits to encourage finishing before starting
  • Drag cards from the backlog into the board at any time
  • No sprint deadlines — work flows continuously
  • Ideal for support teams, ops, and continuous delivery

Example: A customer support team uses a Kanban board with columns: New Tickets → Investigating → Waiting on Customer → Resolved. A WIP limit of 5 on Investigating ensures no one is juggling too many issues at once. New tickets flow in from the backlog, and resolved tickets accumulate in the Done column for weekly review.

Scrumban — the best of both worlds

Scrumban combines Scrum's sprint structure with Kanban's customizable board. You get time-boxed iterations, a customizable board with WIP limits, and all the planning and reporting features of both approaches. This is the recommended type for most teams.

  • Sprint planning with drag-and-drop from the backlog
  • Fully customizable board columns (add, remove, rename, reorder)
  • WIP limits on any column
  • Burndown chart for sprint tracking
  • Flexibility to adapt your workflow as the team evolves

Example: An engineering team starts with the default Scrumban columns (To Do, Doing, Testing, Done) and later adds a Code Review column between Doing and Testing. They run two-week sprints but use WIP limits to manage flow within each sprint, blending the predictability of Scrum with the flexibility of Kanban.

Creating and configuring a project

To create a project, click the + button on the Projects or Dashboard page. You will fill in a name, choose visibility (private or public), and select the project type.

  • Private projects are only visible to invited members — ideal for production work
  • Public projects are visible to all registered users — great for open-source or community projects
  • You can change visibility and project type at any time from Project Settings → Admin
  • Board columns can be customized after creation (Scrumban and Kanban types)

Switching project types

Go to Project Settings → Admin and click Change next to the board type. Flying Donut handles the conversion automatically:

  • Switching from Scrum to Kanban: completed sprints become archived; the active sprint becomes the Kanban board
  • Switching from Kanban to Scrum or Scrumban: your board is preserved and sprint features are enabled
  • Cards, tasks, backlog, and team members are never lost during a type change
  • If you have multiple active or pending sprints when switching to Kanban, you will need to complete or delete the extras first

Common questions

Can I have multiple projects?+
Yes. The free plan allows unlimited public projects and one private project. Paid plans allow unlimited private projects.
What happens to my data if I change the project type?+
All cards, tasks, labels, and backlog buckets are preserved. Sprint data is archived or converted depending on the direction of change.
Is Scrumban the same as Kanban with sprints?+
Essentially, yes. Scrumban gives you a fully customizable Kanban board plus the ability to create time-boxed sprints, plan from the backlog, and track burndown.

Create your first project and start delivering

Choose Scrum, Kanban, or Scrumban — and change your mind any time. Flying Donut adapts to your workflow.

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