Not all card layouts in ClearCRM work the same way. While both Kanban view and Card view present information in a visual grid of cards, they serve different purposes and offer different functionality. Here’s a breakdown to help you understand the difference.
What is Kanban View?
Kanban view is an interactive board layout designed to represent progress through a pipeline or workflow. It is available for Leads, Deals, and Tasks in ClearCRM.
Columns represent stages: Each column reflects a status or stage in the pipeline (e.g., “New,” “In Progress,” “Closed”).
Cards represent items: Leads, deals, or tasks appear as individual cards within the relevant column.
Drag-and-drop supported: You can drag cards from one column to another to update their stage instantly.
Ranking within columns: Items can also be reordered within the same column to reflect priority.
This makes Kanban view a perfect fit for sales, task management, and other processes that depend on a clearly defined pipeline.
What is Card View?
Card view is a static, grid-style layout that displays information in card format without pipeline-based organization. It is available for Projects, Project Templates, and System Templates in ClearCRM.
Cards are arranged in neat rows and columns: The layout is clean but not tied to statuses or stages.
No drag-and-drop: Unlike Kanban, you cannot move cards between columns or reorder them within a column.
No pipeline meaning: The layout is purely visual—columns do not represent progress or workflow stages.
Cards show key details: Depending on the item, you’ll see the image, title, and quick action buttons (like “Open” or “Edit”).
This makes Card view better for browsing libraries of projects or templates rather than managing workflow.
Quick Comparison
Feature | Kanban View | Card View |
Available For | Leads, Deals, Tasks | Projects, Project Templates, System Templates |
Columns Represent | Pipeline stages/statuses | None (purely visual layout) |
Drag-and-Drop | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Reordering Within Column | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Best For | Managing workflows and pipelines | Browsing and organizing templates/projects |
Summary
Kanban view = interactive, drag-and-drop, pipeline-based workflow management.
Card view = static, grid-based, visual browsing of projects and templates.
When searching for help in ClearCRM, keep in mind that “Kanban” refers to workflow-driven boards (Leads, Deals, Tasks), while “Card view” refers to grid-based project and template displays.
This distinction is also important when you want to change the image on a card, since the steps vary depending on whether the card belongs to a project, template, task, or deal. (See our separate article: How to Change Card Images in ClearCRM.)