Project management alternatives

Trello alternatives

A single board-and-card model and Enterprise-only admin controls are the documented reasons buyers compare Trello with other tools

Jira is the highest-scoring Trello alternative at 7.2/10, against 6.5/10 for Trello. Jira is labelled best for software teams, and the catch is simplicity for general task management. ClickUp follows at 7.0/10. The Trello review documents the reasons buyers look elsewhere, and they are listed below with their source types.

Why people look for a Trello alternative

  • Trello is built around one model, cards on boards, which limits breadth for teams that need more than boards (third-party reported).
  • AI features need a paid plan, and SAML single sign-on is documented for Enterprise only, listed at $17.50 per user per month (third-party reported).
  • Named customer results in the review come from Trello's own case studies (vendor-sourced).

The 6 best Trello alternatives ranked

1. Jira: 7.2/10, best for software teams

Compared with Trello, you gain Scrum and Kanban boards, backlogs and issue tracking built for software delivery, a $0 Free plan and published SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3 and ISO 27001 coverage (vendor-sourced). You give up simplicity for general task management, because Jira is built around issue types and workflows and takes more setup, and total cost grows with Confluence, Jira Service Management or marketplace apps.

2. ClickUp: 7.0/10, best free plan

Compared with Trello, you gain a free plan with unlimited tasks and unlimited users and paid plans from $7 per user per month billed annually (third-party reported), plus a Capterra rating of 4.6 from 4,558 reviews (review platform). You give up a simpler product, because reviewers report a learning curve, and AI costs $9 or $28 per user per month on top of every plan (third-party reported).

3. monday.com: 7.0/10, largest review base

Compared with Trello, you gain configurable boards, automations and dashboards, with 4.7/5 from 15,384 reviews on G2 and 4.6/5 from 5,945 on Capterra (review platform). You give up a low seat minimum, because paid plans start at three seats, Gantt views start at Standard, and SAML single sign-on is limited to the sales-quoted Enterprise tier.

4. Wrike: 6.9/10, best for resource planning

Compared with Trello, you gain workload views, time tracking and capacity forecasting that independent review coverage singles out as strengths, plus a free plan for unlimited users and a Team plan at $10 per user per month (third-party reported). You give up ease of setup, because G2 ease of use scores relayed by one review site place Wrike behind Asana and monday.com, and the price steps from $10 to $25 per seat past 15 users.

5. Asana: 6.5/10, best for timeline and goals

Compared with Trello, you gain list, board, calendar and timeline views, with goals, portfolios and approvals on Advanced and a free plan with unlimited tasks and projects (third-party reported). You give up free-plan room, because new free accounts are limited to 2 users, and the price per seat rises 127% from Starter to Advanced.

6. Smartsheet: 6.3/10, best for data-heavy projects

Compared with Trello, you gain a spreadsheet-style grid that independent reviewers say suits data-heavy projects, and public Pro and Business prices of $9 and $19 per member per month on annual billing (third-party reported). You give up a free plan, because Smartsheet has none, and reviewers describe it as complex and less suited to beginners and visual thinkers.

Score comparison

Trello and its alternatives at a glance

Category
Jira7.2/10Project management
ClickUp7.0/10Project management
monday.com7.0/10Project management
Wrike6.9/10Project management
Asana6.5/10Project management
Trello6.5/10Project management
Smartsheet6.3/10Project management

How these alternatives compare with Trello

Trello scores 6.5/10, so 4 of the 6 alternatives score higher, 1 scores the same and 1 scores lower. The page orders alternatives by overall score, with equal scores ordered by name. The reviews quote prices in different currencies, billing terms and tiers, so compare the tier that carries the features you need, and read the pricing section of each review for the source type behind every figure.

Which Trello alternative to choose

  • Your team builds software and tracks issues: Jira, for the Scrum and Kanban boards, backlogs and issue tracking.
  • You want a free plan for a larger team: ClickUp, for the free plan with unlimited users.
  • You want a large independent review base: monday.com, for the 15,384 G2 and 5,945 Capterra reviews (review platform).
  • You need workload views and capacity forecasting: Wrike, for the resource planning and time tracking strengths.
  • You want list, board, calendar and timeline views with goals and portfolios: Asana, for the views and the Advanced tier features.
Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Trello?

Yes. Jira has a Free plan at $0; ClickUp's free plan has unlimited tasks and unlimited users (third-party reported); monday.com's Free plan covers up to 2 seats with 3 boards and 3 Docs (vendor-sourced); Wrike's free plan covers unlimited users, with a reported cap of 200 active tasks (third-party reported); Asana's Personal plan is free and limited to 2 users on new accounts (third-party reported). Smartsheet has no free plan (third-party reported).

Which Trello alternative scores highest?

Jira scores 7.2/10, followed by ClickUp at 7.0/10. Trello scores 6.5/10.

Do the Trello alternatives score higher than Trello?

4 of the 6 alternatives score higher than Trello's 6.5/10, 1 score the same and 1 score lower. The scores combine six weighted criteria, so a lower overall score can still lead on one criterion that matters to you, which the reviews show in their score breakdowns.

Read the Trello review for its full score breakdown, or the best project management software roundup for all 7 tools.