What is the difference between Trello and Plane?

Trello is best for Small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management, while Plane is best for Teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management. Trello starts at $5/user/mo and Plane starts at Free.

Is Trello or Plane cheaper?

Trello starts at $5/user/mo with a free tier. Plane starts at Free and is free.

Is there a free alternative to Plane?

Both Trello and Plane offer free tiers.

Trello vs Plane

Trello is simple, visual Kanban board for organizing tasks and projects, while Plane is open-source project management tool for software teams. Self-hostable alternative to Jira and Linear. The biggest difference up front: Plane is free, while Trello starts at $5/user/mo. Trello is built for small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management, whereas Plane targets teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management.

At a glance

	Trello	Plane
Best for	Small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management	Teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management
Starting price	$5/user/mo	Free
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	✓
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	✓
Automations	✓	—
Checklists	✓	—
Cycles	—	✓
Kanban Boards	✓	—
Modules	—	✓
Open Source	—	✓
Power-Ups	✓	—
Self-Hosted	—	✓
Templates	✓	—
Views	—	✓

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

Plane

Strengths

Open source and self-hostable
Clean, modern interface inspired by Linear
Free for unlimited users (self-hosted)
Active development and growing community

Weaknesses

Less mature than established alternatives
Fewer integrations
Self-hosting requires infrastructure management
Some features still in development

Try Plane → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Plane is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Trello starts at $5/user/mo, but Free with up to 10 boards. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Trello offers Automations, Checklists and Kanban Boards that Plane lacks. Plane brings Cycles, Modules and Open Source that Trello does not have.

Team fit: Both tools target small teams teams, so the decision hinges on features and workflow fit rather than scale.

Open source: Plane is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Trello is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Trello's biggest strengths are: dead simple to use — minimal learning curve. visual kanban boards are intuitive. Plane's biggest strengths are: open source and self-hostable. clean, modern interface inspired by linear.

Watch out for: With Trello, users commonly note that too simple for complex projects. With Plane, the main complaint is that less mature than established alternatives.

Choose Trello if...

You need a tool built for small teams and individuals who want simple visual task management
You specifically need Automations and Checklists
You care about visual kanban boards are intuitive
The free tier works for you: free with up to 10 boards

Choose Plane if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: teams that want open-source, self-hosted project management
Budget is a hard constraint — Plane is free, Trello is not
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Cycles and Modules
You care about clean, modern interface inspired by linear