NOTE: As of May 8th, 2025, we have changed our pricing. Older plans may be mentioned in the video above. You can view our current pricing and plan information on our pricing page at canny.io/pricing.
Overview
Anonymous boards hide user identities from each other, maintaining privacy and allowing for more candid discussions. Admins maintain access to real names while users see automatically generated aliases.
Benefits
Encourages honest feedback: Users feel more comfortable sharing genuine opinions without fear of judgment
Reduces bias: Ideas and feedback are evaluated on merit rather than who posted them
Maintains accountability: Admins retain visibility of real identities while preserving user privacy
How it works
All end-users are assigned an automatically generated alias, which will display instead of their name:
An end-user will see their own name with their alias displayed next to it in (parentheses) when posting or commenting:
Making a board anonymous
Go to the Boards tab in your Canny settings and enable the toggle labeled "Anonymize users":
Things to note:
End-users will still see the real names of Canny admins (designated with a star and colored text).
Canny admins will always see everyone's real name if logged as an admin.
Anonymous boards are available on the Pro (or legacy Growth) and Business plans
The Slack integration also has the option to show aliases instead of names if it's a private board: