Project Management
Trello
Simple Kanban.
What it is
Trello is the world's most popular and simple Kanban board system. It brings the 'To Do, Doing, Done' logic into the digital world in its purest form. You manage your workflow by dragging cards between columns. Its success is rooted in providing instant usability for those who don't want to get lost in complex features. With 'Power-Ups,' it can connect to tools like Slack or GitHub, while 'Butler' automation handles routine chores easily.
Key features
Kanban Boards
Create a visual workflow by dragging and dropping cards between lists.
Butler Automation
Set up rules triggered by card movements without writing any code.
Power-Ups
Add calendars, voting, or external app integrations directly to your cards.
Checklists
Break large tasks into smaller pieces within individual cards.
Strengths and trade-offs
What works well
- Zero Training: Anyone can understand how to use it at first glance.
- Fast and Light: Low CPU usage and very responsive in both browser and mobile.
- Visual Simplicity: Lets you see exactly where work stands with one look.
- Free Plan: Generous enough for personal use and small projects without a card.
Where it falls short
- Complexity Cap: Can become difficult to manage for projects with hundreds of tasks.
- Reporting: Has very low capacity for deep data analysis and advanced charting.
- Hierarchy: Not as flexible as rivals for breaking projects into layers or sub-tasks.
Who it is for
Freelancers, Small Teams, and Personal Planners.
Pick it or skip it
Pick Trello if
- Small groups working for free: up to 10 collaborators per Workspace with unlimited cards, 10 boards, unlimited Power-Ups and 250 Workspace command runs per month
- Teams that hit the board cap — Standard ($6 per user/month billed monthly, less annually) gives unlimited boards, advanced checklists, custom fields and 1,000 command runs
- Teams that need views: Premium at $10 per user/month billed annually ($12.50 monthly) adds Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views plus unlimited command runs and admin controls
Skip it if
- You need SSO and user provisioning below the top tier — those come with Atlassian Guard on Enterprise at $17.50 per user/month billed annually ($210.00 per user per year)
- You attach large files: storage is unlimited but capped per file at 10MB on Free and 250MB on Standard
- Your Workspace has more than 10 collaborators and you wanted to stay free — that is the hard limit on the Free plan
Our verdict
A card-based board that stays simple on purpose; you will feel its limits on complex projects.
Closest alternatives we track
Same category, ordered by verified starting price.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the limits of Trello's free plan?
- Free covers up to 10 collaborators per Workspace with unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per Workspace, unlimited Power-Ups per board, unlimited storage with a 10MB per-file cap, 250 Workspace command runs per month, unlimited activity log, assignee and due dates, iOS and Android apps and two-factor authentication. The board count and the collaborator count are the two limits most teams hit first.
- How much does Trello cost?
- Trello starts at $5/user/mo per user. We verified this against the vendor's pricing page; see "What we checked" below for the date.
- Who is Trello best for?
- Freelancers, Small Teams, and Personal Planners.
- What are the closest alternatives to Trello?
- In the same category we track Jira, Linear and Monday.com. Each has its own review page with verified pricing, and the comparison links above show them side by side.
- What are the main drawbacks of Trello?
- The trade-offs we noted: Complexity Cap: Can become difficult to manage for projects with hundreds of tasks.; Reporting: Has very low capacity for deep data analysis and advanced charting.; Hierarchy: Not as flexible as rivals for breaking projects into layers or sub-tasks..
- When should you not use Trello?
- Skip Trello if: You need SSO and user provisioning below the top tier — those come with Atlassian Guard on Enterprise at $17.50 per user/month billed annually ($210.00 per user per year); You attach large files: storage is unlimited but capped per file at 10MB on Free and 250MB on Standard; Your Workspace has more than 10 collaborators and you wanted to stay free — that is the hard limit on the Free plan.
What we checked
- Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
- Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.Yes
- Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
- SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes
“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.
Evidence and freshness
Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-09
- Trello — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-09 · Supports: Free: up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per Workspace, unlimited Power-Ups per board, unlimited storage at 10MB/file, 250 Workspace command runs per month, unlimited activity log, iOS and Android apps, 2-factor authentication, Standard: '$6 billed monthly', lower per user/month if billed annually — unlimited boards, AI, advanced checklists, card mirroring, custom fields, list colors, collapsible lists, unlimited storage at 250MB/file, 1,000 Workspace command runs per month, single board guests, saved searches, Premium $10 per user/month if billed annually ($12.50 billed monthly): Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views, Workspace views, unlimited Workspace command runs, admin and security features, Workspace-level templates, collections, observers, simple data export, Enterprise $17.50 per user/month billed annually ($210.00 annual price per user): unlimited Workspaces, organization-wide permissions, public board management, multi-board guests, attachment permissions, Power-Up administration, free SSO and user provisioning with Atlassian Guard, 24/7 Enterprise Admin support
Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change. The Standard annual per-user figure is rendered separately from its label on the page and is not quoted; only the explicit '$6 billed monthly' is recorded.
Compare Trello with alternatives
More Project Management tools: see the full Project Management category