What is Trello?

Trello is a project management software known for its simplicity and efficiency. It adopts the Kanban board style, making work and workflow visualization easy.

Since 2014, Trello has been widely used in various fields such as:

       
• Content management
       
• Marketing
       
• Customer support
       
• Sales pipelines
       
• Human resources tracking
       
• Agile project management
   

Trello is a versatile tool suitable for all types of projects and teams. Whether you are in:

       
• A content team
       
• A marketing project
       
• Tracking customer support
   

Trello Features

Trello is not a complete project management software. It's a task management and collaboration tool, and Trello's developers know this.

The company focuses on this market by ensuring that each feature is simple, intuitive, and visually pleasing, while covering most of the basic elements of project management. Not to mention that if you're looking for additional features such as indicators, issue tracking, or live team discussions, you can choose from hundreds of integrations.

Management and Planning

       
• Task planner and prioritization: Trello uses a Kanban board system to plan, schedule, and prioritize tasks, with due dates and labels.
       
• Team shared calendar: Trello offers a view of the team's shared calendar with its complementary "power up" options (or Trello application). This view displays tasks, due dates, and the owners involved in each task.
       
• Time tracking: Time tracking is available as an additional "power-up" option. With this feature, you can track the time spent on tasks and either bill this time to clients or use it to improve project execution.
       
• Documentation features: Each card in Trello includes an attachment button that allows you to upload files and images and connect to other services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
   

Collaboration

       
• Communication: Each Trello card includes a comment section at the bottom that allows you to upload attachments, tag other users, add emojis, or even attach other Trello cards.
       
• File sharing: As we've already mentioned, each Trello card includes an attachment button as well as a file upload function in the comment of each card.
       
• Team dashboards: The entire main page of Trello serves as a team dashboard, which includes tasks, their progress status on the board, and who is working on what.
   

Budgeting

This tool does not offer specific budgeting functions.

Power-Ups

Besides the board, Trello allows you to integrate additional modules.

Some of these modules were created by Trello, but the vast majority of them were created by third parties. Before the latest update, you were only allowed one module per board in the free formula, but now you can add as many as you want.

This is an excellent option for anyone who wants to do more with Trello than just moving cards on a board.

We particularly appreciate the add-ons created by Trello, as they are free and their operation is simple and efficient.

However, we are less enthusiastic about third-party add-ons. On the one hand, many of them are paid - or at least require you to create a free account to use them - and there is not the same guarantee that they will work. While most integrate seamlessly with Trello, others do not, leaving you to determine whether the problem can be solved and, if so, how.

Automations

The last major feature offered by Trello is automation through its Butler application.

Butler is accessible via the main board and will allow you to set up automations yourself or assist you in the process.

We like the way Trello handles this, which earns it a place in the ranking of the best productivity software (it's not as complete as a Zapier or Integromat but it's still worth highlighting)

Calendar Views, Timeline, and Dashboard

The calendar is really nice.

It addresses one of the biggest criticisms of Trello, which previously did not have an integrated calendar, except for a mediocre Power-Up.

The timeline view is appreciable because, unlike many competitors, it is a complementary alternative to the calendar, allowing you to manipulate different views to manage your tasks.

The dashboard view is of quality, it gives you an overview of what you and your team are doing thanks to simple charts.

Overall, Trello's new set of enhanced features is really good even if you leave aside the Power-Ups.

For example, monday.com and Asana offer more features for about the same price as the Premium plan.

Even though Trello's redesign is of quality, we always come back to the same conclusion we've always had with the paid plans, namely that we're not sure they're worth it.

However, this is a point that we will address in the next section of this Trello Avis.

Trello Usability

Trello is a real pleasure to use and has many templates available.

Whether it's moving cards or creating new boards, you'll hardly need to resort to anything other than common sense. The experience is essentially the same, whether you're on the Web or using the desktop or mobile apps.

Web Client Use

The Web application offers a larger screen, perfect for setting up boards, lists, and cards for pAvis purposes like the interface below.

Moving cards and lists is done by drag-and-drop, and you can scroll through lists with your mouse wheel.

Left-to-right navigation can only be done using the scroll bar at the bottom, which can become annoying.

       
• Lists are simple: click on "add another list" at the top of the screen and a list will appear. Name it and it's ready to use.
       
• Cards are just as simple: click on "add a card", name it and you're ready to use it.
   

When you click on the card to reveal the back, a pop-up window fills your screen with all sorts of options. You can add a label, a description, and a due date. You can also assign tasks to team members, so you and they can track what they're doing.

Basic task management options are integrated, such as the ability to attach files and add a checklist.

Overall, however, we recommend managing subtasks by creating separate lists and cards, as Trello does not allow you to easily track what's on the back of cards.

Mobile Application

The experience is essentially the same with the Trello mobile application.

It is available for Android and iOS and can be downloaded via their respective stores.

Once it is downloaded and you have passed the Trello login screen, a view similar to that of the main application is offered to you, although it is reduced and more basic.

There is no big difference - the menu is even on the right, under the three dots - but the whole process of using Trello on mobile is still more delicate than on the Web.

This is probably due to the fact that boards are overview views that do not translate well on a small smartphone screen.

Ease of Use

Trello stands out for its intuitive interface and ease of use. Since my first experience with it five years ago, nothing has changed in this regard.

Everything in Trello is intuitive. Even if you're not familiar with the Kanban board system, Trello makes the learning process simple.

How to Use Trello for Project Management: A Guide by Neil Patel

Key Features of Trello

       
• Creating Lists: Use these as steps in your project process with Trello cards.
       
• Creating a Board: Trello shows you how to create your own board right from the start.
       
• Task Management: Create milestones for your Trello cards, add due dates, create task checklists, add users, create task labels, and move tasks along the board easily.
       
• Task Details: Trello makes filling in the details of each individual task easy.
   

User Experience with Trello

       
• Interface: Trello's interface has remained the same for six years. The main dashboard is simple and easy to understand.
       
• Navigation: All tasks are visible and navigating between them is a breeze.
       
• Customization: You can customize Trello's interface to make it colorful and visually appealing.
       
• Task Progress: To see the details and progress of a task, just click on it. Everything is in view, from comments to attachments.
   

Unique Feature of Trello: Task Completion

In the past, I've criticized the use of percentages to measure task completion with tools like Microsoft Project and TeamGantt, as these tools leave it up to users to arbitrarily decide how complete their tasks are.

Trello is unmatched when it comes to ease of use. It's one of the few project management tools to score a perfect 10 in this area.

In terms of user experience, it's simply unmatched.

Security and Privacy

Trello does not disappoint when it comes to security, offering good overall data protection for small businesses.

However, it stores your data using Amazon Web Services, which does not have an unblemished reputation [source].

Is Trello Safe?

Trello is owned by Atlassian, which gives it access to several advanced security features.

The biggest security risk when using Trello is you. Many people foolishly make their boards public [source] when they create them, which means anyone can access them and they are accessible to Google's crawling bots (so they show up in searches).

Atlassian's privacy policy clearly states that the company records what we do and the information we input.

It also shares this data with third parties who can use it for targeted advertising.

By using Trello, you won't be inundated with spam but your data is not private with Trello.

Trello Pricing

Trello, used by millions of people worldwide, is particularly known for its free plan, great versatility, and user-friendliness.

It has established itself among the best free project management software thanks to its flexible and intuitive approach to the Kanban board, allowing the addition of various elements to each card and as many columns as needed.

Its smooth interface, coupled with powerful features, has established Trello as a leader in the field of project management.

This may seem like a small addition, but custom fields are handy.

Trello Free Plan

The Trello free plan, although limited to one Power Up, still offers a variety of compelling features.

It not only allows adding varied elements to each card, but also offers integrations with other apps, workflow automation, and unlimited file storage (although file size is capped at 10 MB). This plan is perfect for personal use and small projects.

Trello Paid Plans

       
• Standard Plan: This is an upgrade from the free plan, offering additional features. It increases automation limits to 1000 actions and attached file size to 250 MB. Plus, it allows adding custom fields to cards, making it a good option for small teams needing a bit more features.
       
• Premium Plan: This plan offers a range of additional features such as advanced templates, removal of automation cap, and view management (including a calendar, timeline, and dashboard).
   

Trello offers a 14-day trial for its paid plans and discounted rates for educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

Is Trello Premium Worth It?

Unlike the industry trend, Trello has made its free plan much more attractive than it used to be.

With unlimited Power-Ups, the main reason to upgrade has disappeared. The appeal of the Standard and Premium plans are their extras, but you can add them as power-ups. They may not work as well as the built-in versions, but you'll save a lot of money.

With monday.com pricing, $10 gets you a lot more than that same $10 at Trello. Even though Trello's Kanban board and calendar are nice, monday.com lets you have these features and a few extra views. The same goes for Asana, which offers a similar feature set for comparable prices, and ranks among the best alternatives to Trello.

Overall, we're not sure about Trello's paid plans. While there have been a lot of improvements, we still don't understand who the upgrades are for.

That said, at $5 or $10 per user per month, the price is average for the market, and so it may be worth it for some businesses.

Comparison of the Best Project Management Software

Check out our selection of the best project management tools to discover popular alternatives to Trello.

       
1. ClickUp - Best project management software for most businesses
       
2. Asana - The best balance between power and simplicity
       
3. Teamwork - Ideal for customer-focused and service businesses
       
4. Monday.com - The best for pairing sales with project management
       
5. Smartsheet - The best way to turn spreadsheets into project management gold.
   

Trello is a great project management solution for small projects. It's not as feature-rich as other tools on the market today, but it's more than suited for simple projects. If your team has advanced needs for complex projects, you may find an alternative to Trello among one of our top recommendations listed above.

Customer Support

Trello shines with its ease of use and support for users. Whether you're a beginner or advanced user, it offers:

       
• Guides: Varied, easily understandable resources to get you familiar with the tool.
       
• Webinars: Specific training sessions to answer your particular questions.
       
• Support Portal: Access to a multitude of tutorials, which will help you master Trello quickly.
       
• Interactive Tutorials and Pop-ups: Right from the first start, Trello offers interactive tutorials to help you get started. Trello's pop-ups are also there to guide you when using the tool.
       
• Trello Community: For more specific help, Trello directs you to its active community - the Trello forum. Here, you can interact with other users and Trello team members, to get answers quickly.
       
• Technical Support: If you can't find the help you need on the forum, Trello has a contact form on its support page. Help questions are usually redirected to the appropriate guide or forum, but responses are prompt, even for free plan users.
   

Final Thoughts

Trello is, and has always been, a solid project management app that can handle everything from simple task management to complex projects.

Trello's free plan is awesome, as its basic features are what it does best. The question of whether you should pay for its advanced features is trickier, and it depends on what you're trying to do.

A good workaround is to use Trello's unlimited Power-Ups to add the features you need.