What is the difference between Jira and Trello?

Jira is best for Large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting, while Trello is best for Small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management. Jira starts at $7.75/user/mo and Trello starts at $5/user/mo.

Is Jira or Trello cheaper?

Jira starts at $7.75/user/mo with a free tier. Trello starts at $5/user/mo with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Trello?

Both Jira and Trello offer free tiers.

Jira vs Trello

Jira is enterprise project management and issue tracking for software development teams, while Trello is simple, visual Kanban board for organizing tasks and projects. Trello comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Jira is built for large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting, whereas Trello targets small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management.

At a glance

	Jira	Trello
Best for	Large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting	Small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management
Starting price	$7.75/user/mo	$5/user/mo
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Automations	—	✓
Checklists	—	✓
Custom Workflows	✓	—
Dashboards	✓	—
Kanban Boards	—	✓
Marketplace	✓	—
Power-Ups	—	✓
Roadmaps	✓	—
Sprints	✓	—
Templates	—	✓

Jira

Strengths

Extremely customizable workflows and fields
Advanced reporting and dashboards
Massive marketplace of add-ons
Handles complex enterprise requirements

Weaknesses

Slow and bloated interface
Overwhelming complexity for small teams
Configuration often requires a dedicated admin
Simple tasks take too many clicks

Try Jira → Full review

Trello

Strengths

Dead simple to use — minimal learning curve
Visual Kanban boards are intuitive
Generous free tier
Power-Ups add functionality when needed

Weaknesses

Too simple for complex projects
Limited reporting and analytics
Boards don't scale well past ~50 cards
Fewer views than competitors (mainly boards)

Try Trello → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Both tools offer free tiers, so you can test each before committing. Jira's free plan: Free for up to 10 users. Trello's free plan: Free with up to 10 boards. When you outgrow the free tier, Trello is the cheaper option at $5/user/mo vs. $7.75/user/mo for Jira — roughly 55% less.

Feature gaps: Jira offers Custom Workflows, Dashboards and Marketplace that Trello lacks. Trello brings Automations, Checklists and Kanban Boards that Jira does not have.

Team fit: Jira is geared toward enterprise teams, while Trello is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Jira's biggest strengths are: extremely customizable workflows and fields. advanced reporting and dashboards. Trello's biggest strengths are: dead simple to use — minimal learning curve. visual kanban boards are intuitive.

Watch out for: With Jira, users commonly note that slow and bloated interface. With Trello, the main complaint is that too simple for complex projects.

Choose Jira if...

You need a tool built for large engineering teams that need customizable workflows and reporting
You specifically need Custom Workflows and Dashboards
You care about advanced reporting and dashboards
Your team size fits the enterprise profile Jira is designed for
The free tier works for you: free for up to 10 users

Choose Trello if...

You need a tool built for small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management
You want to save on per-user costs — Trello is $2.75/user/mo cheaper
You specifically need Automations and Checklists
You care about visual kanban boards are intuitive
Your team size fits the small teams profile Trello is designed for