What is the real difference between Kanban and Scrum?
Scrum ships in batches (sprints) with fixed ceremonies; Kanban ships in continuous flow with WIP limits. The same team can use one, the other, or both — it depends on how predictable demand is.
The difference is not "Kanban is simpler, Scrum is more complex" — they are two workflow systems with different assumptions about how demand arrives. Scrum works when scope can be planned in iterations; Kanban works when demand is continuous and unpredictable (support, maintenance, ops). Many teams run Scrum for feature work and Kanban for bugs and ops in parallel.
1. Fixed iterations vs continuous flow
Scrum batches work into iterations (sprints) of 1-4 weeks. At the start you commit to a scope, at the end you ship an increment. Ceremonies are fixed: planning, daily, review, retro.
Kanban has no iterations. Work flows continuously through the board: when a task closes, another comes in. You do not commit to a fixed-period scope — you commit per item, as you pull it into "In Progress". Delivery cadence is set by flow speed, not the calendar.
2. WIP limits: the core of Kanban
Kanban enforces explicit limits on how many tasks can sit in each column at once (Work In Progress limits). If the limit for "In Progress" is 3, the 4th task does not enter — the team has to finish an existing one first.
WIP limits force the team to finish what they started before grabbing something new — they cut context-switching dramatically, surface blockers fast and produce faster end-to-end flow. Scrum does not require explicit WIP limits (though good teams use them anyway).
3. Roles and ceremonies: dense vs minimal
Scrum prescribes roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team. And ceremonies: Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective.
Kanban prescribes neither roles nor fixed ceremonies. In practice Kanban teams run a short daily stand-up around the board and a monthly retro, but with no mandated cadence. Adoption is far more incremental — you can "add Kanban" on top of an existing process without restructuring the team.
4. Estimation: story points vs cycle time
Scrum estimates in story points (relative size) and measures velocity (SP shipped per sprint). Predictability on scope comes from historical velocity.
Kanban does not estimate — it measures cycle time (from "In Progress" to "Done") and throughput (tasks shipped per week). Predictability comes from the cycle time distribution: "85% of our tasks close in under 5 days." For support or maintenance teams, this model is much more useful than story points.
5. Which one when
Scrum: product with a clear roadmap, stable team, scope predictable 1-2 sprints ahead, stakeholders who want regular demos.
Kanban: support, operations, maintenance, teams that receive unpredictable requests, flows where work unit size varies a lot. And hybrid: feature work on Scrum, bug fixing on Kanban in parallel, on the same backend and the same team — exactly what 4myprojects supports natively.
Scrum and Kanban in one portal
See the same backlog as a Kanban board with WIP limits or as a sprint with story points and burndown — one click, no shuffling tasks between tools.