Top 7 Trello Alternatives For Project Management
- Posted on January 8, 2023
Trello was one of the early project management tools that helped kanban-style workflows become mainstream for almost any type of business. Trello has continued to improve since its launch in 2011 with added features like dashboards, timelines and tables. It has also completely revamped its card system, which allows for connecting across different boards and even apps. In that same time, more project management alternatives have entered the marketplace, and many have exciting features that match Trello’s latest offerings. If your team’s requirements have surpassed Trello’s features, or if you’re just researching whether there may be a project management tool that is a better fit for your organization, check out how the top Trello alternatives compare to Trello’s features set. SEE: The complete project management bundle (TechRepublic Academy) Jump to: Trello’s main strength is its simplicity and easy learning curve; teams and individuals can quickly add new boards and cards without menu-diving or other navigation hassles. However, some users may have outgrown Trello and need features that can handle more complex projects and workflows. SEE: Hiring kit: Project manager (TechRepublic Premium) Thankfully, there are numerous project management tools to choose from, and each has its own features, strengths and unique abilities. Here are the top alternatives to Trello with explanations of key features, integrations and potential use cases. As a Trello alternative, Asana might just be one of the closest comparisons but with more flexibility — so much so that Asana has a built-in tool to import your Trello boards with one click. Asana breaks away from the strict board views of Trello and instead focuses on projects. Once Asana is set up, projects can be displayed in multiple views, including kanban. Asana focuses more on collaboration than Trello by offering tools to facilitate communication and sharing between teams and departments. This can be helpful for creative teams and any other teams that need to share information quickly and repeatedly during projects. These added benefits do come at a cost, with Asana’s first premium tier coming in at $10.99 per monthly user compared to Trello’s $5.00 per user rate. However, Asana does offer a free version with unlimited tasks, projects, messages, activity logs and collaboration with up to 15 teammates. SEE: Asana review (TechRepublic) Airtable is a unique project management tool that’s based on a spreadsheet and database model. Think of it like a version of Excel or Google Sheets supercharged specifically for project management. Airtable is perfect for teams with data-intensive workflows. By incorporating the tools of a spreadsheet and database, Airtable helps organize projects that involve large data sets or asset management. This Trello alternative is also a great fit for teams that prefer to work in spreadsheets as their main way of visualizing and entering data. However, users are not locked into a spreadsheet view with Airtable; they can quickly swap between kanban, calendar and other popular views. Airtable’s pricing is set higher than Trello, with its initial premium tier coming in at $10 per monthly user. This is double Trello’s rate. SEE: Airtable review (TechRepublic) Hive is a great alternative for larger teams that have outgrown Trello. In particular, Hive’s analytics tools allow project managers to quickly visualize project and performance data to identify any issues that need attention. In addition, Hive offers stronger communications features than Trello’s Mention system. Hive includes real-time notifications and a built-in instant messaging system. Pricing for Hive starts at $12 per user per month, and there is also a 14-day free trial available. ProofHub builds on some of the core features of Trello without adding undue complexity — this includes ProofHub’s powerful proofing and project management tracking tools that are easily accessible. Some advanced tools offered by ProofHub include custom reporting and workflows, which are strong communication features and project tracking tools that work particularly well for project managers. ProofHub is a great alternative to Trello for teams needing more advanced features than what Trello offers while still wanting a highly accessible tool. ProoHub has a unique pricing structure that is flat-rate instead of per-user like other Trello alternatives. Pricing starts at $45 per month, billed annually for unlimited users and projects. Its premium tier is $89 per month. Similar to Airtable, Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-focused project management tool. It is ideal for teams that work with large amounts of data and need support for complex budgeting or asset tracking. Smartsheet lacks some collaborative features that come with many project management tools. For example, communication is not a priority in Smartsheet, so organizations or departments that rely heavily on collaborative software will probably find Smartsheet too limiting. Smartsheet is priced similarly to Trello, offering its first premium tier at $7 per monthly user. SEE: Smartsheet review (TechRepublic) ClickUp is a powerful project management tool that most closely resembles the Asana project management tool format. ClickUp’s dashboards are slightly more graphical than in Asana but less so than Trello. In terms of features, ClickUp offers more functionality than Trello. For instance, ClickUp can do kanban boards just as easily as Trello, but with added features like embedded email and the ability to easily customize the dashboard or switch between views. ClickUp is ideal for small to medium-sized organizations that may have outgrown Trello’s feature set. Its pricing is comparable to Trello, with its first premium tier priced at $5 per monthly user. SEE: ClickUp review (TechRepublic) Wrike is a great alternative for users who want to take a big leap in features, even beyond what Asana and many other project management tools offer over Trello. Wrike’s feature set includes many built-in integrations, making most third-party tools unnecessary; its suite of features goes beyond comparable tools like Asana or ClickUp. Wrike also offers users standard project management views, including kanban and timeline. Wrike is almost double the price of Trello at the initial premium tier, with a cost of $9.80 per monthly user compared to Trello’s $5.00 per user rate, but this increased cost per user comes with additional advanced features that Trello doesn’t offer. SEE: Wrike review (TechRepublic) For project leaders who enjoy the core functions of Trello but need more customization and workflow options, Asana is likely the best choice for your next project management software solution. Asana takes the core functions of Trello and adds the ability to customize workflows beyond Trello’s set processes. Breaking up projects into smaller categories and assigning individual parts to specific team members is easy in Asana, but Trello does not offer this flexibility. If you need more features and scalability than Asana or Trello, Wrike should be one of your top considerations. However, for project teams with detailed data they need to track above all else, Airtable and Smartsheet are the top choices. With so many choices, there is definitely a Trello alternative that can accommodate whatever project or team workflow you need to manage. Read next: The 10 best project management software and tools (TechRepublic) Visit website Tackle complex projects with Wrike’s award-winning project management software. Break projects into simple steps, assign tasks to team members, and visualize progress with Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and calendars. Manage resource allocation and forecasting with software that’s easy to launch. Automation and AI features strip away time-consuming admin tasks so you can do the best work of your life. Streamline your practices, align your team, and ensure you hit deadlines and stay on budget. Learn more about Wrike Visit website The PlanMinder is a project planning tool that uses automatic scheduling to make it easy to change and keep plans up to date. It performs uncertainty analysis to give you insight on risks and to let you make better decisions. The PlanMinder is best for teams where you need to plan and coordinate, but where estimates are uncertain, and priorities and scope change over time. Learn more about The PlanMinder Visit website Construction software for project managers and site managers. LetsBuild’s cloud-based apps support planning, progress reporting, snagging, communication, and reporting, and information is updated in real-time, whether at the office on on-site. Learn more about LetsBuild
Asana
Airtable
Hive
ProofHub
Smartsheet
ClickUp
Wrike
Why would you need a Trello alternative?
Trello alternatives: Comparison table
Best Trello alternatives
Asana
Key features of Asana
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Asana Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Native messaging No Yes Integrations 181+ 158+ Airtable
Key features of Airtable
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Asana Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Native messaging No Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Integrations 181+ 32+ Hive
Key features of Hive
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Hive Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Native messaging No Yes Integrations 181+ 1000+ ProofHub
Key features of ProofHub
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Hive Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Native messaging No Yes Integrations 181+ Not mentioned Smartsheet
Key features of Smartsheet
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Smartsheet Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Native messaging No No Integrations 181+ 70+ ClickUp
Key features of ClickUp
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Smartsheet Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Native messaging No Yes Integrations 181+ 80+ Wrike
Key features of Wrike
Use cases
Integrations
Feature graph
Features Trello Wrike Kanban Yes Yes Gantt charts No Yes Workflow automation Yes Yes Timeline view Yes Yes Native messaging No Yes Integrations 181+ 400+ How to choose between the best Trello alternatives
Top project management software recommendations
1 Wrike
2 The PlanMinder
3 LetsBuild
Asana Airtable Hive ProofHub Smartsheet Show more (2 items) ClickUp Wrike Trello was one of the early project management tools that helped kanban-style workflows become mainstream for almost any type of business. Trello has continued to improve since its launch in 2011 with added features like dashboards, timelines and tables. It has also completely revamped…