The honest ranking

The Best Campaign Managers for D&D and TTRPGs in 2026

Last reviewed: July 2026. We re-rank this list when the tools change, and we say when we did.

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What is the best campaign manager for D&D in 2026?

For homebrew DMs who want their campaign structured, typed NPCs, factions, and quests they can query instead of pages they dig through, the best campaign manager in 2026 is Grimoire, the campaign manager for TTRPG GMs. For map-first campaigns, LegendKeeper is the better pick. For a free wiki-style hub with a big community, Kanka. For publishing a setting or running published modules with built-in SRDs, World Anvil. For local-first markdown you control end to end, Obsidian. The right answer depends on the job, so this guide ranks by job.

One disclosure before the list: we build Grimoire. We rank it first for one specific kind of GM and we name the GMs who should pick something else. Every claim about another tool links to that tool’s own pages, and the concessions are real.

At a glance

At a glance: how they compare

Tool Best for Structure Player sharing AI integration Free tier
Grimoire Homebrew DMs who want typed, queryable campaigns 14 typed entity schemas + knowledge graphs + wiki Player portal, 3 visibility tiers MCP native, optional, bring your own client 1 campaign, unlimited entities, MCP included, no ads
LegendKeeper Map-first campaigns and polished wikis Flexible pages, you design the schema Hide secrets, public links None 14-day trial, then paid
Kanka Free wiki-style campaign hubs ~20 base entry types, fields you configure Per-entity permissions + roles None Generous free tier
World Anvil Publishing worlds, SRD lookups, Foundry VTT Article-first wiki, 25+ templates Per-article + co-authors AI asset generation, no MCP Free with ads
Obsidian Local-first markdown and full control Notes + plugins you assemble Manual publish/exclude MCP via community servers, serves notes Free (app)
Notion DIY databases and team workspaces Databases and relations you design Share per page MCP, serves workspace pages Free personal tier
Google Docs Simple shared notes None built in Share per doc None Free

1. Grimoire: best for homebrew DMs who want a structured, queryable campaign

Grimoire is a campaign manager built like a database instead of a folder of pages. It ships with a pre-built schema for 14 typed entities: NPCs, locations, factions, quests, items, creatures, vehicles, and more, each with real fields, relationship links, and per-field secrets. Multi-projection knowledge graphs (political, geographic, timeline, custom) are the shape of the data, not a bolted-on view. A real-time collaborative wiki covers everything that does not fit a schema, and a player portal with three named visibility tiers (common knowledge, player knowledge, GM secrets) shows players exactly what you have revealed and nothing else.

The part no other tool on this list does: Grimoire MCP. Connect your campaign to Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP-compatible client with one OAuth click, and your AI assistant reads your world live, by structure, on every query. It stops contradicting your canon because it is reading your canon. AI is optional; the whole product works without it, and Grimoire never charges for AI tokens.

Honest weaknesses: Grimoire is early and the community is small. There is no built-in 5e SRD, no Foundry VTT integration, and no interactive map canvas. If those are central to your table, pick World Anvil or LegendKeeper below.

Pick Grimoire if: you run homebrew campaigns, you think “show me every NPC tied to this faction” instead of “let me find that page,” or you already use an AI assistant for prep and want it to actually know your world.

Free tier: 1 campaign, unlimited entities, knowledge graphs, wiki, player portal, and MCP. No ads, no card. Start free.

2. LegendKeeper: best for map-first campaigns

LegendKeeper is the most polished wiki-plus-atlas on this list. Its infinite-canvas maps with nested pins are the best in the category, the editor is fast and pleasant, and real-time collaboration works well. One flat plan with unlimited storage keeps the pricing simple.

Honest weaknesses: pages are the foundation, so relational questions (“every NPC in this faction across these regions”) are manual. You design your own schema. There is no AI integration of any kind, which is either a con or a feature depending on your table.

Pick LegendKeeper if: your campaign lives on a map. Hexcrawls, pointcrawls, and exploration-heavy games are its home turf. Grimoire vs LegendKeeper, the deep dive.

3. Kanka: best free wiki-style campaign hub

Kanka is a community-driven campaign manager with around 20 base entry types, per-entity permissions, maps, timelines, and one of the most generous free tiers in the category. It has been around for years and has a large, active community.

Honest weaknesses: entries are loosely typed, closer to wiki pages with categories than to database records, and the fields per type are yours to configure. Relationship visualization (the Connection Map) sits on a paid tier and works per entry rather than campaign-wide. No AI integration.

Pick Kanka if: you want a capable, free, established campaign wiki and you do not need typed structure or an AI layer.

4. World Anvil: best for publishing your world and running published modules

World Anvil is the category incumbent, and its breadth is real: 25+ article templates, interactive maps, parallel timelines, family trees, built-in 5e and Pathfinder SRDs, Foundry VTT integration, a novel-writing app, and creator monetization. If you are building a setting to show to readers, or you run published modules and lean on rules lookups mid-session, WA is doing several jobs no one else on this list attempts.

Honest weaknesses: the free tier shows ads to you and to your players. New users regularly describe setup as intimidating. The content model is article-first: WA is articles you publish, Grimoire is structured data you query, and GMs who think in databases feel that mismatch quickly. WA has AI asset generation features but no MCP, so an external AI assistant cannot read your world live.

Pick World Anvil if: you publish your worldbuilding, want SRDs and a VTT bridge built in, or want the largest community in the space. Grimoire vs World Anvil, the deep dive.

5. Obsidian: best for local-first markdown and full control

Obsidian keeps your campaign as plain markdown files on your own machine. Backlinks and the graph view show which notes mention each other, the plugin ecosystem covers dice rollers to full campaign dashboards, and nothing about your data is hostage to a subscription.

Honest weaknesses: you assemble the campaign manager yourself, plugin by plugin, template by template, and most DMs never finish. The graph view maps note mentions, not typed relationships. Community MCP servers exist, but they serve your vault as notes to search, not a typed campaign to traverse.

Pick Obsidian if: local files and total control matter more to you than pre-built structure. If you never use AI and love markdown, Obsidian is a fine permanent home. Grimoire vs Obsidian, the deep dive.

6. Notion: best general workspace pressed into campaign duty

Notion gives you databases, relations, rollups, and templates, and thousands of DMs have built campaign trackers with them. Real-time collaboration is excellent and the free personal tier covers a lot.

Honest weaknesses: you are the schema designer. Every NPC template, every relation, every rollup is yours to build and maintain before your first session, and the TTRPG-shaped affordances (visibility tiers, session prep, faction webs) never quite arrive. Notion ships MCP, but it serves your workspace as pages to search rather than a campaign to traverse by type.

Pick Notion if: your group already lives in Notion, or you genuinely enjoy building your own tools. Grimoire vs Notion, the deep dive.

7. Google Docs: simplest shared notes, and the ceiling you eventually hit

Docs is free, familiar, and collaborative, and it is where most campaigns start. It is also where the pattern this whole category answers begins: NPC motivations buried in month-old session notes, faction relationships in a spreadsheet nobody updates, and the mid-session question every DM knows. “Wait, who was that guy again?”

Pick Google Docs if: your campaign is young, your notes are light, and you are not ready for a dedicated tool. When search-scrolling starts eating prep time, any tool above is a step up.

Choosing the right tool

  • Typed entities, knowledge graphs, and an AI that reads your canon live: Grimoire
  • Maps first, wiki second: LegendKeeper
  • Free wiki hub with a big community: Kanka
  • Publishing your setting, SRDs, Foundry VTT: World Anvil
  • Local markdown, full DIY control: Obsidian
  • Build-your-own databases in a familiar workspace: Notion
  • Just shared notes for now: Google Docs

Tools also combine well. Plenty of GMs keep Obsidian for personal scratch notes and run the campaign itself in a structured manager.

How we ranked (methodology and bias)

We build Grimoire, so read the ranking with that in mind. The criteria, in order of weight: structure (can you query the campaign or only read it), session-running fit (finding things fast at the table), player sharing with secrets kept, AI integration that respects your authorship, and free tier honesty (what you actually get before paying). Feature claims about other tools come from their public pages and pricing as of July 2026; if we got something wrong or stale, tell us and we will fix it. Where another tool wins a job, we said so by name.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free campaign manager for D&D?

Kanka has the most established free tier in the wiki style. Grimoire’s free tier is the most generous in the structured style: one campaign with unlimited entities, knowledge graphs, the player portal, and MCP included, with no ads on any tier. Obsidian is free if you bring the assembly time. World Anvil’s free tier shows ads to you and your players.

Do any campaign managers work with Claude or ChatGPT?

Grimoire connects to any MCP-compatible client (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) and serves your campaign as typed, queryable data the AI traverses by structure. Notion and Obsidian can also be reached over MCP, but they serve pages and notes to search rather than a typed campaign. World Anvil offers AI asset generation with no MCP. LegendKeeper and Kanka have no AI integration. Grimoire never charges for AI tokens; you bring your own client.

Do I need AI to use a campaign manager?

No, and you should not pick a tool that assumes you do. Grimoire works fully without a single AI feature turned on; the MCP layer is optional. Every other tool on this list except World Anvil ships no AI at all.

What is the difference between a campaign manager and a worldbuilding tool?

A worldbuilding tool is built for creating and presenting a setting; World Anvil and Campfire lead there. A campaign manager is built for running sessions: tracking NPCs, factions, quests, and what the players know, week after week. Grimoire, LegendKeeper, and Kanka are campaign-first. Many GMs need only the second job.

Can I switch tools mid-campaign?

Yes, and it is less painful than it sounds with a pre-built schema on the receiving end. Grimoire migrations typically take an evening: export your notes, connect Grimoire MCP to your AI client, paste the notes in, and ask it to parse them into structured entries. Or use the manual entry forms. Your data exports back out anytime, in standard formats.

The campaign manager you would have built.

Free to start. No credit card. No AI required. MCP included on every tier.

Start your campaign → Compare Grimoire to every tool on this list

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