Migrate from Canny
Move your feature requests to IdeaLift
Why Teams Switch from Canny
Pricing that scales
Canny charges per tracked user. Get 500 customers submitting feedback and costs spike fast. IdeaLift charges per seat. Your team size sets the price, not your customer count.
Capture from where you work
Canny has basic Slack support via webhooks. IdeaLift captures natively from Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord. React with an emoji. Done. No portal, no form, no context switching.
Track decisions, not just requests
Canny tracks what people want. IdeaLift tracks what you decided and why. Full decision audit trail with rationale, context, and accountability. Stop re-litigating past choices.
AI-powered scoring
Canny relies on vote counts for prioritization. IdeaLift scores every signal against your strategic priorities automatically. No popularity contests. Signal-driven decisions.
Migration Overview
Migrating from Canny to IdeaLift is straightforward. Export your data from Canny as CSV, then import it into IdeaLift. The entire process takes about 10-15 minutes.
Export from Canny
Download your posts as CSV
Map Columns
Match Canny fields to IdeaLift
Import to IdeaLift
Upload and verify your data
What Gets Migrated
Will Migrate
- •Post titles (become idea titles)
- •Post descriptions (become idea summaries)
- •Categories/boards (become categories)
- •Post status (mapped to IdeaLift status)
- •Author names (become sourceUserName)
- •Creation dates (preserved)
- •Post URLs (preserved as reference)
Won't Migrate
- •Vote counts (IdeaLift uses different prioritization)
- •Individual voter identities
- •Comments and discussions
- •Custom fields specific to Canny
- •Roadmap configurations
- •Changelog entries
Step 1: Export from Canny
- 1
Log in to your Canny admin dashboard
Go to your-company.canny.io/admin
- 2
Navigate to Settings → Data Export
Or click the gear icon in the sidebar
- 3
Select "Posts" for export
Choose CSV format and include all boards
- 4
Click "Export" and wait for the download
Canny may email you a download link for large exports
Note: If you don't see the Data Export option, you may need to contact Canny support or have admin permissions enabled.
Step 2: Prepare Your CSV
IdeaLift's importer will auto-detect most Canny columns. Here's how they map:
| Canny Column | IdeaLift Field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Title | Required |
| Details / Description | Summary | Full post content |
| Board | Category | Feature, Bug, etc. |
| Status | Status | See status mapping below |
| Author Name / Created By | Author | Who submitted it |
| Created At | Created Date | Preserves original date |
| URL / Link | URL | Reference to original post |
Status Mapping
Canny statuses will be mapped to IdeaLift statuses during import:
Canny → IdeaLift
- Open→Captured
- Under Review→Inbox
- Planned→Approved
- In Progress→Approved
- Complete→Shipped
- Closed→Rejected
IdeaLift Statuses
- Inbox - Awaiting decision
- Captured - Acknowledged, not yet reviewed
- Committed - Ready to become work
- Shipped - Completed/released
- Not a decision - Won't action
Step 3: Import to IdeaLift
- 1
Log in to IdeaLift and go to Dashboard
- 2
Navigate to Import
Click "Import" in the sidebar or go to Dashboard → Import
- 3
Select "CSV File" as import source
Upload your Canny export file
- 4
Review column mapping
IdeaLift will auto-detect columns. Verify the mapping is correct and adjust if needed.
- 5
Configure import options
Enable "Skip duplicates" to avoid importing the same idea twice. Choose a default status for items without status.
- 6
Preview and import
Review the preview, then click "Import" to complete the migration.
After Migration
- 1.
Review imported ideas
Go to Dashboard → Search to see all imported ideas. Filter by status to review them.
- 2.
Connect your issue tracker
Set up GitHub, Linear, or Jira integration so you can push approved ideas as issues.
- 3.
Set up chat capture
Connect Slack, Discord, or Teams to start capturing new ideas from your team conversations.
- 4.
Consider running both tools temporarily
If you have a public Canny board with customer voters, you may want to run both tools during transition. IdeaLift can capture new internal ideas while Canny handles public voting.
Feature Differences
IdeaLift and Canny have different strengths. Here's what to expect:
IdeaLift Adds
- +Emoji reaction capture in Slack/Discord/Teams
- +Email forwarding capture
- +Decision Inbox
- +Automatic formatting and deduplication
- +One-click push to GitHub/Linear/Jira
You'll Miss
- -Public voting on features
- -Customer accounts with feedback history
- -Public roadmap display
- -Vote-based prioritization
Pro tip: Some teams use both tools - Canny for public customer voting and IdeaLift for internal idea capture. Ideas from IdeaLift can be manually promoted to Canny if they warrant public voting.
Need Help?
If you run into any issues during migration:
Canny vs IdeaLift at a Glance
| Feature | Canny | IdeaLift |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per tracked user | Per seat |
| Slack capture | Webhook only | Native app with emoji capture |
| Teams capture | No | Native app |
| Discord capture | No | Native bot |
| Decision tracking | No | Full audit trail |
| AI scoring | No | Strategic alignment scoring |
| Jira sync | One-way | Bidirectional |
| Public voting portal | Yes | Widget + portal |
| Free tier | 100 tracked users | 14-day trial |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I migrate from Canny to IdeaLift?
Export your Canny posts as CSV from Settings > Data Export, then upload the file to IdeaLift's importer at Dashboard > Import. IdeaLift auto-detects Canny columns and maps them to the right fields. The entire process takes about 10-15 minutes.
Can I export my data from Canny?
Yes. Go to your Canny admin dashboard, navigate to Settings > Data Export, select "Posts" and choose CSV format. Canny will generate a download or email you a link for large exports. The CSV includes titles, descriptions, categories, statuses, author names, creation dates, and post URLs.
How long does Canny migration take?
The export and import process takes about 10-15 minutes. Export from Canny takes 1-2 minutes. Uploading and mapping columns in IdeaLift takes another few minutes. Reviewing imported data and connecting integrations (Slack, GitHub, Linear) takes the rest.
Ready to Migrate?
Create your IdeaLift account and import your Canny data in minutes.