Monday.com vs Trello
Monday.com and Trello are the top project management platforms today. People debate which approach works best for their team structure. Monday.com provides a comprehensive, scalable work OS, but Trello champions visual simplicity.
Intuitive, Flexible Work Management Platform
We find Monday.com to be an extremely versatile AI work platform for unifying task management and enterprise execution. Its visual appeal and intuitive, no-code interface ensure rapid team adoption and customization for any complex workflow. Overall, we recommend Monday.com for mid-sized teams that need robust automation and detailed, company-wide project tracking capabilities.
Pros
- Visually appealing and intuitive user interface (UI) design.
- High flexibility and customization allow creation of unique workflows.
- Robust automations and integrations streamline processes efficiently.
- Effective tracking across multiple departments (e.g., CRM, marketing, IT).
Cons
- Base pricing model is perceived as too complex and costs quickly escalate with features.
- Mandatory minimum seat purchases increase expense for small teams.
- Users report occasional glitches and limits on data export functions.
- Canceling or unsubscribing from paid plans can be unexpectedly difficult.
Simple Project Management, Complex Login
We find Trello delivers exceptional value quickly due to its easy operation. Its Kanban visual organization is highly flexible for team workflows. Overall, Trello is a powerful tool, but stability issues and frustrating administrative friction points like the Atlassian login do hold it back.
Pros
- The simple, visual Kanaban board design offers great ease of use.
- A permanent Free plan is available and suitable for small teams or personal use.
- The platform is effective for team management and sharing context quickly.
- Supports extensive customization and functionality upgrades via Power-Ups.
Cons
- Users frequently report difficulty and friction with the Atlassian login process.
- Accessing billing information and invoices can be surprisingly complicated.
- The interface occasionally suffers from lag and server downtime.
- Key views like Calendar or Map require a paid Premium subscription.
AboutMonday.com
Monday.com is an AI work platform designed to unify your entire product suite. This system supports collaboration and execution for every team in your company. Whether you manage projects, accelerate sales, or handle IT support, tuesday.com offers specialized products for departmental needs. This comprehensive approach powers seamless operations across your whole organization.
It serves teams managing Projects, Sales, Marketing, IT & Ops, Product & Engineering, and Leadership. Leading brands and over 60% of the Fortune 500 trust this platform for enterprise execution. 💡
AboutTrello
Trello is designed to keep you at the top of your game by ensuring every to-do or idea, regardless of size, finds its proper place. The system helps you stay organized and efficient using three key components: Inbox, Boards, and Planner.
The Inbox quickly captures tasks as soon as they are on your mind, whether you are in the office or on the go. You manage your tasks using flexible Boards, where long lists become manageable by tracking items from “to-dos to tackle” to “mission accomplished!” Use the Planner to simply drag and drop your top tasks right into your calendar, ensuring you make time for what truly matters. 💡
Highlights
Feature Comparison
Features Overview
We highlight the main differences and pick a winner for each feature.
User Interface & Customization
Monday.com offers endless customization, while Trello sticks to visual Kanban simplicity.
Monday.com uses a colorful, spreadsheet-like interface for tracking projects. Its no-code platform allows extensive customization using various column types. Teams can build specialized boards for sales, marketing, or IT easily. Trello is defined by its clean, visual Kanban board layout structure. You move cards through lists, keeping the workflow simple and intuitive. Trello’s customization uses Power-Ups and flexible card arrangement. Monday.com is a toolkit for building any workflow structure required. Trello provides a simple, defined structure you stick to. If your team requires complex dependencies or calculations, Monday.com handles this better.
Automation Power
Trello offers unlimited runs on Premium; Monday.com Standard automations are very limited.
Monday.com Standard only includes 250 automation actions per month. The Pro plan significantly boosts this limit to 25,000 actions monthly. Monday.com focuses on robust, complex workflow automations. Trello Standard starts stronger with 1,000 Workspace command runs monthly. Premium and Enterprise users get unlimited Workspace command runs. Trello’s no-code automation is built directly into every board. Trello offers far more generous automation limits for Standard users. Monday.com caps Enterprise at 250K actions/month. Teams automating simple card movements will find Trello far more cost-effective.
Advanced Reporting & Views
Monday.com provides deep enterprise reporting; Trello locks essential views behind Premium.
Monday.com includes views like Timeline and Gantt starting at the Standard plan ($12/user/month). Enterprise provides advanced analytics and resource management. Dashboards can combine data from up to 50 boards. Trello requires the Premium plan ($10/user/month) to unlock Timeline, Calendar, and Dashboard views. Free and Standard plans are primarily restricted to the Kanaban board view. Monday.com starts offering crucial visual tools like Gantt on a lower paid tier. Trello reserves most professional views for Premium users. Monday.com aggregates complex, cross-portfolio reports better.
Pricing Model & Cost
Trello is budget-friendly with per-user scaling; Monday.com forces teams to buy 3 seats minimum.
Monday.com’s paid plans start at $9/seat/month (annual billing) but enforce a three-user seat minimum purchase. This mandatory minimum significantly increases the initial expense for small teams. Trello offers a competitive price structure, starting at $5/user/month for Standard, billed annually. The generous Free plan supports up to 10 colleagues per Workspace. Trello is designed for true per-user scaling without mandatory minimums. Monday.com inflates costs for micro-teams needing paid features. Small teams and startups will find Trello's transparent pricing far more accessible.
Ease of Use/Learning Curve
Trello's Kanban board is instantly intuitive; Monday.com requires more setup for complex needs.
Monday.com has an intuitive, colorful UI and offers fast time-to-value after setup. Customization requires thoughtful configuration, which increases the initial learning curve. Trello’s straightforward Kanban board design is instantly recognizable and simple to master. A significant 81% of customers chose Trello for its exceptional ease of use. Trello's structured simplicity leads to a faster zero-to-task completion rate. Monday.com's sheer breadth of features adds complexity in configuration. If you need to quickly onboard non-technical staff, Trello is the immediate, frictionless choice.
AI Capabilities
Monday.com integrates deep AI for strategy; Trello uses AI only for efficient task capturing.
Monday.com uses centralized, deep AI for risk prediction and CRM lead scoring. AI handles service ticket triage and aids software developers in bug resolution. It is a core 'AI work platform' unifying multiple functions. Trello uses Atlassian Intelligence (AI) to transform forwarded emails into organized task cards. AI adds summaries and necessary links to these new tasks. Trello primarily uses AI to improve efficiency and minimize manual data entry. Monday.com integrates AI into strategic business functions (Sales, IT, Leadership). Businesses seeking strategic intelligence benefit more from Monday.com’s AI deeper features.
Scalability & Enterprise
Monday.com is built as an enterprise Work OS; Trello focuses more on simple board management scaling.
Monday.com Enterprise supports complex resource management and portfolio visibility. Features include multi-level permissions and 250K automations monthly. Monday.com targets large corporate entities like the Fortune 500. Trello Enterprise provides unlimited Workspaces, 24/7 support, and organization-wide permissions. It offers free SSO services via Atlassian Guard. Trello scales horizontally via board replication, while Monday.com scales vertically into various business units (CRM, IT). Monday.com is better suited for tracking company-wide KPIs and resources across entire organizations.
Free Plan Value
Trello’s free plan supports 10 users; Monday.com heavily limits its free offering to 2 users.
Monday.com’s Free plan is highly limited, supporting only two users and up to three boards total. This tier functions mostly as a restrictive personal task manager. Trello’s Permanent Free plan supports up to 10 collaborators per Workspace. This generous plan also includes unlimited cards and unlimited Power-Ups per board. Trello's Free plan is vastly more powerful and functional for small teams and startups. Any team larger than two people wanting a free solution should immediately choose Trello.
Our Verdict
So, should your team choose Monday.com or Trello? Ultimately, this choice is between scaling complexity versus simple visual clarity. They target very different levels of organizational needs. Trello is the perfect starting point for visual task and project management. Monday.com shines when you need a powerful, centralized Work OS. Its true strength is unifying diverse teams like IT, Sales, and Marketing seamlessly. Monday.com provides robust AI features for precise resource management and early risk detection. Use Monday.com if you manage complex projects and require deep, cross-portfolio reporting. Trello is fantastic for visual simplicity and extremely fast user adoption. Trello’s pure Kanban structure is famous for being instantly understandable by anyone. The generous 10-user free plan makes Trello the top choice for startups. Trello also offers more competitive limits on entry-level paid automations compared to Monday.com. The main deciding factor often comes down to cost and required functionality depth. Monday.com forces a required three-seat minimum purchase for paid plans, increasing startup costs significantly. Trello allows true pay-per-user scaling while maintaining excellent ease of use. Choose Trello for budget-friendly team clarity, but pick Monday.com for enterprise resource rigor. If your organization is growing quickly and requires deep customization across multiple departments, commit to Monday.com. For small teams (under 10) who love Kanban and need powerful free-tier functionality, Trello wins easily. Both Monday.com and Trello offer excellent productivity gains based on user needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for small teams: Monday.com or Trello?
Trello is significantly better for small teams and startups. Its permanent Free plan supports up to 10 users per Workspace. Monday.com's Free plan is limited to only two seats. Furthermore, Monday.com requires a minimum of three paid seats, increasing cost.
Does Trello offer Gantt and Timeline views like Monday.com?
Yes, Trello offers Timeline, Gantt, and Calendar views for visual tracking. However, Trello locks these advanced views behind its Premium subscription tier. Monday.com includes Gantt and Timeline starting at its lower Standard plan.
Which tool offers better volume for workflow automation?
Trello wins on automation volume and cost efficiency. Trello Standard grants 1,000 runs, four times Monday.com's entry level. Trello Premium also offers unlimited automation runs, compared to Monday.com's 250K Enterprise cap.
Is Monday.com useful for Sales and IT processes like Trello?
Yes, Monday.com is built as an 'AI work platform' with specialized products. This includes an AI-first CRM for sales and ticket handling for IT and service desks. Trello focuses purely on task management flows, relying on Power-Ups.
Which platform is easier to adopt quickly?
Trello is extremely fast to learn thanks to its famous, unchangeable Kanban visual structure. Monday.com's highly flexible and feature-rich interface means a slightly longer configuration phase. Trello wins on simple adoption speed.
How does the minimum user requirement differ between Monday.com and Trello?
Monday.com requires purchasing a minimum of three user seats for any paid plan. Trello is billed per user with no mandatory minimum seat purchase. Trello is much more accommodating for growing and smaller organizations.
Ready to Choose?
Both tools have their strengths. Choose based on your specific needs.