Ora vs Trello

Ora and Trello are the top contenders in visual task management, but they serve different needs. Ora is a true productivity command center with robust built-in features. Trello focuses purely on ultimate simplicity, leveraging the classic Kanban board style. We'll show you which platform provides the best toolset for your team.

Ora
Ora

The Modern, User-Friendly Command Center

Ciroapp review
4.6
#1 in Project Management

We found Ora provides an impressive balance between comprehensive features and usability, positioning itself as a strong alternative to established systems. Its generous free tier and unique calendar-focused organization greatly benefit small, growing teams and individuals. Overall, we recommend Ora highly for collaborative organizations seeking a focused, effective project management solution.

Pros

  • Generous free plan available for small teams (up to 10 users) forever.
  • Exceptional user-friendliness; users prefer it over competitors like Trello.
  • Comprehensive task cards support RTF, Markdown, and custom code highlights.
  • Agenda Calendar helps users achieve better focus and plan dedicated work time.

Cons

  • External review volume is currently very limited (only 3 Trustpilot reviews).
  • File size limit is restrictive on the Basic (free) tier (a maximum of 10mb).
Pricing
$0/mo
Free trial30 days
Money-back
Best for
Small teams (under 10) who need robust built-in features for free, Project managers requiring native time tracking and estimates, Creative teams that rely on image, PDF, and video annotation for feedback
Trello
Trello

Simple Project Management, Complex Login

Ciroapp review
3.8
#9 in Project Management

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.
Pricing
$0/mo
Free trialYes
Money-back
Best for
Startups prioritizing ultimate visual simplicity and quick adoption, Managers needing advanced visual views like Timeline and Map (Premium), Teams that capture action items instantly from email and chat apps using AI
Quick verdict
Choose Ora if you are a team of 10 or less needing built-in time tracking and advanced task relationships right out of the box.
Choose Trello if you need the ultimate, simple Kanban visualization tool for quick wins and fast onboarding and rely heavily on Power-Ups.

AboutOra

Ora is a powerful platform designed for productive individuals and collaborative teams. It serves as your daily planner and central hub for managing work. The core Agenda Calendar helps you organize your time and be more effective. Instead of dealing with separate tools, all your critical information, tracked time, and completed tasks appear directly on your calendar. You can quickly view both your tasks and those of your teammates, ensuring smooth collaboration. 💡

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

Quick winners by category at a glance.
Ease of Use
Trello defined the simple visual Kanban experience for millions. Ora is user-friendly, but Trello’s pure simplicity is unmatched.
Feature Set
Ora includes essential tools like time tracking and task relationships natively. Trello requires Power-Ups for most advanced functionality.
Value for Money
Ora’s free tier is less restrictive (unlimited projects) and includes more built-in features for its price point.
Automation Capabilities
Trello's built-in Butler automation system is more robust and offers unlimited command runs on paid tiers.
Project Views
Trello Premium provides five advanced visual views including Timeline, Map, and Table views. Ora is limited to essential views.
Daily Focus & Productivity
Ora’s Agenda Calendar centralizes time management, tracked hours, and tasks to improve planning efficiency.

Feature Comparison

Compare key features side by side
Core Interface Style
Ora:Kanban, List, Agenda Calendar
Trello:Kanban (Primary), List
Tie
Generous Free Plan (Small Teams)
Ora:True (Up to 10 users, unlimited projects)
Trello:True (Up to 10 collaborators, 10 boards/workspace)
Ora
Built-in Time Tracking & Estimates
Ora:
Trello:Requires Power-Up
Tie
Task Relationships (Dependencies/Blocking)
Ora:
Trello:Requires Power-Up/Advanced Feature
Tie
Daily Planner View
Ora:Agenda Calendar
Trello:Planner (Drag-and-drop tasks)
Tie
Advanced Project Views (Timeline, Map)
Ora:Basic only
Trello:True (Premium+)
Tie
Email/Chat to Task Conversion (AI)
Ora:Requires integration
Trello:
Tie
Feedback Annotation (Image/PDF/Video)
Ora:
Trello:Requires Power-Up
Tie
Custom Fields
Ora:True
Trello:True (Standard+)
Tie
Task Description Flexibility
Ora:RTF, Markdown, Code Highlights
Trello:Standard Text
Tie
Max File Size (Paid Tier)
Ora:1 GB
Trello:250 MB
Trello
Free External Observers/Guests
Ora:True (Professional+)
Trello:No (Requires admin feature/paid seat)
Ora
Workflow Automation (No-Code)
Ora:List Actions
Trello:Built-in Automation (Butler)
Tie
Enterprise Security (SSO/Encryption)
Ora:
Trello:
Tie
Lowest Paid Plan ($/user/month, annual)
Ora:$5.99
Trello:$5.00
Tie
Feature Comparison Summary
2
Ora
12
Ties
1
Trello

Features Overview

We highlight the main differences and pick a winner for each feature.

Ease of Use

Trello is famously simple, but Ora is universally praised for its modern interface.

Tie

Ora is consistently noted by reviewers for being exceptionally user-friendly. Users find Ora’s visual layout intuitive and easy to manage daily work. Ora's built-in Agenda Calendar consolidates work into one centralized view. Trello is the gold standard for simple, drag-and-drop Kanban visualization. Its interface is minimal, making Trello incredibly fast to adopt and implement across teams. Trello’s simplicity is ideal for those who fear complex software. While Ora is friendlier to deep tracking, Trello focuses on board simplicity and quick task movement. Ora provides centralized context; Trello provides visual process flow. However, Trello's users complain about the complicated Atlassian login process creating friction.

Built-in Features

Ora delivers far more essential features built-in, avoiding extra costs or Power-Ups.

Ora

Ora includes essential project management tools that are native to the application. This includes built-in time tracking and advanced task relationships (blocking/dependent). Ora also features collaborative tools like PDF and image annotation natively. Trello offers a simplified core experience, pushing most advanced features to paid Power-Ups. To achieve time tracking or detailed dependencies in Trello, you often need these Power-Ups or external tools. Trello keeps the core board free of clutter and complexity. Ora bundles these productivity tools, giving you immediate value and depth for focused work. Trello is simpler but requires add-ons or upgrades for deeper functionality. Ora is ideal if you value an all-in-one approach. The ability in Ora to annotate shared files directly streamlines the crucial feedback process significantly.

Task Documentation

Ora allows rich documentation, supporting code and Markdown within task cards.

Ora

Ora task cards are comprehensive documentation centers for complex projects. Ora supports rich task description formatting, including RTF, Markdown, and even specific code highlighting. Teams can consolidate specifications, attachments, and context with one click in Ora. Trello tasks rely on standard text descriptions for simplicity and speed of entry. Detailed documentation in Trello often requires external linked documents or additional Power-Ups. Trello prioritizes quick capture over detailed internal context creation. For technical teams or those requiring precise specifications, Ora provides superior documentation flexibility. Trello is efficient for simple, quick checklists or brief descriptions. Ora’s 1 GB file size limit on paid plans also greatly exceeds Trello’s 250 MB cap for attachments.

Task Capture & AI

Trello uses Atlassian Intelligence (AI) to transform messages into organized tasks easily.

Trello

Trello excels at turning unstructured communication quickly into actionable tasks. Trello lets you forward emails to your Inbox, where AI transforms them into organized to-do cards with links and summaries. This feature speeds up action item creation dramatically. Ora supports standard task creation, focusing on detailed planning through the Agenda Calendar view. Ora relies on traditional integrations or manual entry for tasks originating outside the app. Ora’s focus is on task execution, not ingestion. Trello's modern AI approach reduces friction between communication apps and the work board. Ora requires a more deliberate process to move items from email into the platform. If your team gets many requests via email or Slack, Trello’s AI feature delivers immediate productivity gains.

Workflow Automation

Trello's built-in Butler is the superior automation engine for rule-based workflows.

Trello

Trello provides powerful, built-in no-code automation using Butler on every board. Trello allows you to configuration rules to automate card movement and assignment, even on the Free plan. Premium users get unlimited command runs per month. Ora utilizes 'List actions' for workflow automation to streamline repetitive processes. These list actions are available starting on the Professional plan. Ora excels at managing relationships using blocking or dependent tasks. While both offer automation, Trello’s Butler system is more widely known and utilized for complex, rule-based workflows. Ora is perhaps better for managing sequential dependencies between tasks. For teams needing high-volume automation, Trello Premium offers unlimited commands, a major advantage over Ora's functionality.

Project Views

Trello Premium provides extensive advanced views that Ora simply does not offer.

Trello

Trello Premium unlocks multiple powerful visual views for advanced project management. Users gain access to Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard, and Map views in Trello. This flexibility is essential for managers tracking complex, multi-faceted projects. Ora features the standard Kanban and List views, plus the unique Agenda Calendar view. The Agenda Calendar is tailored for individual focus and planning, showing tracked time and completed tasks. If broad managerial oversight requiring multiple visual dashboards is key, Trello Premium is the clear winner here. Ora is focused more on individual and team productivity flow. Trello's Card Mirroring also helps managers view one task across multiple boards, simplifying complex, company-wide process tracking.

Free Tier Value

Ora’s free plan is robust, offering free observes and unlimited projects for 10 users.

Ora

Ora offers a very generous Basic plan that supports up to 10 users entirely for free, forever. This plan provides unlimited projects, tasks, and attachments (up to 10MB per file). Ora is an excellent choice for a team consolidating projects onto one tool. Trello also provides a permanent Free plan, supporting 10 collaborators per workspace. However, Trello limits users to just 10 boards per workspace. This limit can feel restrictive when managing many smaller projects. Ora wins on overall generosity and flexibility regarding project counts for smaller teams. Its free observer feature starts on the Professional tier, adding flexibility for client viewing. If your small team needs deep features without paying, Ora provides built-in time tracking immediately that Trello does not.

Pricing Structure

Trello offers slightly cheaper entry points, but Ora's upper Enterprise tier is simpler.

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Ora’s Professional plan begins at $5.99/user/month (annual billing), slightly higher than Trello Standard. Ora offers two clean paid tiers: Professional and Enterprise ($27.99/month annually). Ora adjusts billing automatically for members added or removed mid-cycle. Trello’s Standard plan entry point is $5.00/user/month (annual billing), making it cheaper to start. Trello’s Premium plan is $10.00/user/month, and Enterprise is $17.50/user/month annually. Trello provides four price points. Ora's upper-tier pricing is significantly higher than Trello Enterprise ($27.99 vs $17.50). Trello provides better pricing for large organizations needing maximal scale. However, Ora’s inclusion of advanced features like free observers and time tracking at competitive rates still offers better value for money in the mid-range.

Our Verdict

Objective guidance based on features, pricing, and user fit.

Deciding between Ora and Trello depends entirely on whether you value depth or native simplicity. Ora wins if you need a comprehensive, built-in productivity suite for your daily work. Trello is the best choice if you prioritize visual simplicity and fast task capture. Ora excels as your true centralized command center and daily planner. The Agenda Calendar helps users organize time and block dedicated focused work periods. Ora includes powerful native tools like time tracking and direct file annotation on its affordable paid plans. Trello is the undisputed champion of simple, visual workflow management via Kanban boards. Trello’s powerful AI transformation captures emails and creates structured tasks instantly. Trello also offers many advanced managerial views like Timeline and Map (Premium) for complex projects. The core difference is native features versus add-ons. Trello handles most advanced features via extensive Power-Ups requiring setup or cost. Ora ships with robust items like task dependencies and documentation flexibility natively. Choose Ora if you run a focused team of 10 or less needing deep features without paying for upgrades. Pick Trello if you are a manager who demands simple visualization, easy scaling, and powerful AI-driven task capture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for small teams: Ora or Trello?

Ora is arguably better for small teams due to its generous free tier. Ora supports up to 10 users with unlimited projects and tasks for free. Trello's free plan restricts you to only 10 boards per workspace.

Does Ora have advanced project views like Trello Premium?

No, Ora focuses on Kanban, List, and the Agenda Calendar for management. Trello Premium offers a wider range of views, including Timeline, Table, Dashboard, and Map views.

Which tool offers built-in time tracking: Ora or Trello?

Ora includes time tracking and estimates as a core, built-in feature. Trello users must rely on external tools and apps or require a Power-Up for time tracking functionality.

Is Trello worth the higher Enterprise cost compared to Ora?

Surprisingly, Trello’s Enterprise plan is significantly cheaper at $17.50/user/month annually. Ora's Enterprise tier is $27.99/user/month annually. Trello provides a better price point for major corporations.

Which tool provides better task documentation capabilities?

Ora is better for comprehensive documentation and technical teams. Ora supports Markdown, RTF, and code highlighting right within the task description. Trello uses standard text formatting.

Can I invite external clients or guests to view projects in Ora and Trello?

Yes, but Ora is superior; its Professional plan allows you to invite observers for free. Trello typically requires paid seats or complex administrative controls for external guest access.

Ready to Choose?

Both tools have their strengths. Choose based on your specific needs.