Trello vs Monday.com
Trello is simple, visual Kanban board for organizing tasks and projects, while Monday.com is work management platform with colorful boards, automations, and dashboards for any team type. Trello comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Trello is built for small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management, whereas Monday.com targets non-technical teams wanting visual work management.
At a glance
|
Trello
|
Monday.com
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management | Non-technical teams wanting visual work management |
| Starting price | $5/user/mo | $8/seat/mo |
| Free tier | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | — | — |
| Free tier available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | — | — |
| Automations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Boards | — | ✓ |
| Checklists | ✓ | — |
| Dashboards | — | ✓ |
| Integrations | — | ✓ |
| Kanban Boards | ✓ | — |
| Power-Ups | ✓ | — |
| Templates | ✓ | — |
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)
Monday.com
Strengths
- Includes Boards as a core feature, purpose-built for project management workflows
- Built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
- Free for up to 2 seats — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
- Established product with 14+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem
Weaknesses
- Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
- Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
- Migrating existing projects from another tool can be time-consuming
- Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish
The bottom line
Pricing: Both tools offer free tiers, so you can test each before committing. Trello's free plan: Free with up to 10 boards. Monday.com's free plan: Free for up to 2 seats. When you outgrow the free tier, Trello is the cheaper option at $5/user/mo vs. $8/seat/mo for Monday.com — roughly 60% less.
Feature gaps: Trello offers Checklists, Kanban Boards and Power-Ups that Monday.com lacks. Monday.com brings Boards, Dashboards and Integrations that Trello does not have. Both share Automations.
Team fit: Trello is geared toward small teams teams, while Monday.com is aimed at mid-size 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: Trello's biggest strengths are: dead simple to use — minimal learning curve. visual kanban boards are intuitive. Monday.com's biggest strengths are: includes boards as a core feature, purpose-built for project management workflows. built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments.
Watch out for: With Trello, users commonly note that too simple for complex projects. With Monday.com, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.
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 $3.00/user/mo cheaper
- You specifically need Checklists and Kanban Boards
- You care about visual kanban boards are intuitive
- Your team size fits the small teams profile Trello is designed for
Choose Monday.com if...
- You need a tool built for non-technical teams wanting visual work management
- You specifically need Boards and Dashboards
- You care about built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
- Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Monday.com is designed for
- The free tier works for you: free for up to 2 seats
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