Trello

Visual collaboration with a shared perspective on projects

4.8•113 reviews•

1.3K followers

Visual collaboration with a shared perspective on projects

4.8•113 reviews•

1.3K followers

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Project management software

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Team collaboration software

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Issue tracking software

Trello is a web-based Kanban-style list-making application. Originally made by Fog Creek Software in 2011, it was spun out to form the basis of a separate company in 2014 and later sold to Atlassian in January 2017.

The Best Trello Alternatives

The best Trello alternatives are Asana, Jira, Todoist, Plane, and Superthread.

Asana

4.6 ·

Choose Asana if...

✓you need timelines, dependencies, and critical path planning
✓you want list, board, and calendar views
✓you run cross functional projects with clear ownership

See details ↓

Jira

4.7 ·

Choose Jira if...

✓you need sprint planning, backlogs, and agile reporting
✓you want deeply customizable workflows and issue types
✓you manage complex engineering dependencies across multiple teams

See details ↓

Todoist

4.8 ·

Choose Todoist if...

✓you want lightning fast personal task capture
✓you rely on natural language due dates
✓you need strong calendar sync across devices

See details ↓

Plane

5.0 ·

Choose Plane if...

✓you want Jira like structure without the clutter
✓you need list, board, calendar, plus Gantt views
✓you want open source with self hosting option

See details ↓

Superthread

5.0 ·

Choose Superthread if...

✓you want tasks and docs in one workspace
✓you manage partner rollouts with shared collaboration
✓you prefer a fast moving responsive vendor

See details ↓

What to Consider

Trello is a staple for visual, card-and-board project tracking—lightweight, flexible, and easy for teams to adopt quickly. The alternatives landscape largely splits between tools that add “real planning” (timelines, dependencies, reporting) like Asana, engineering-grade delivery systems like Jira, and faster personal execution tools like Todoist; newer options like Plane bring a simpler Jira-like feel with open-source/self-hosting potential, while Superthread leans into an all-in-one workspace that combines tasks with documentation for rollouts and partner collaboration.

In evaluating Trello alternatives, the key considerations were how well each tool supports different work styles (board vs list vs calendar/timeline), collaboration and accountability (ownership, due dates, blockers), integration depth, and how smoothly it scales from lightweight use to complex, multi-team workflows. Pricing and plan gating, onboarding/learning curve, and overall speed/reliability were also weighed, since the best fit often depends on whether you prioritize simplicity, structure, or enterprise-grade process control.

Asana

Track, manage, and connect your projects across any team

4.6 · 80 reviews

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When your projects need real planning mechanics, Asana steps in with timelines, dependencies, and stronger stakeholder visibility than a typical board-first workflow. It’s a better fit than Trello when work has sequencing, handoffs, and a critical path that needs to be tracked rather than implied.

Asana’s strength is that the same work can be viewed as a list, board, calendar, or timeline, so different teams can collaborate without forcing a single visualization style. That flexibility helps cross-functional groups keep due dates, owners, and blockers explicit, while still letting individuals organize tasks in the way that feels fastest.

It also goes deeper on structure: subtasks, templates, and the ability to connect tasks across multiple projects make it easier to run repeatable programs and keep work from fragmenting. The main trade-off versus Trello is that Asana can feel heavier and gets more expensive as headcount grows, but it’s worth it when predictable execution matters more than lightweight simplicity.

Best for

Best for cross-functional teams that need timelines, dependencies, and repeatable execution across many projects.

Standout features

✓Timeline view with dependencies
✓Multiple views on the same work
✓Templates and repeatable workflows
✓Task ownership, due dates, and blockers
✓Integrations across common work tools

Jira

How teams do great

4.7 · 154 reviews

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Jira is built for teams that treat work as trackable issues with clear workflows, not just cards moving across columns. Compared with Trello, it brings deeper agile tooling: backlogs, sprint planning, epics and stories, and reporting that supports real delivery management.

Where it stands out is customization and rigor. You can shape workflows, fields, statuses, and automation rules to match how engineering and QA actually operate, which helps larger teams avoid ambiguity and keep updates from falling through the cracks.

Jira also scales better when projects become complex and interdependent across multiple teams, with linking and structure that makes relationships between work items explicit. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve and a heavier interface than Trello, so it’s best when process control and visibility outweigh the need for immediate simplicity.

Best for

Ideal for product and engineering organizations running sprints, managing backlogs, and tracking complex dependencies.

Standout features

✓Sprint planning and backlog management
✓Custom workflows, fields, and issue types
✓Epics, stories, subtasks, and linking
✓Agile reporting and dashboards
✓Automation rules for routing and updates

Todoist

The to-do list to organize work & life

4.8 · 53 reviews

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Speed is the point with Todoist: it’s designed for quick capture and daily execution rather than visual project boards. It’s a stronger Trello alternative when the goal is to reliably manage personal tasks, recurring work, and priorities without maintaining lots of project structure.

natural-language input is a major differentiator, turning a thought like “tomorrow 9am” into a scheduled task in seconds. That lightweight flow makes it easier to keep the system current, which is often the real challenge with heavier team tools.

Todoist also shines when tasks need to live alongside a calendar and follow you across devices consistently. The trade-off versus Trello is that it’s not trying to be a full team workflow engine with rich dependencies and multi-stage pipelines, so it’s best when individual productivity and clean scheduling matter most.

Best for

Best for individuals and small teams who want fast task capture, recurring schedules, and calendar-driven planning.

Standout features

✓Natural-language task scheduling
✓Recurring tasks and routines
✓Fast capture across devices
✓Google Calendar integration
✓Powerful integrations and API

Plane

AI-native project management

5.0 · 17 reviews

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Plane offers a middle path between Trello’s lightweight boards and Jira’s heavyweight configuration. It’s compelling when teams want more product-management structure—like multiple views and planning tooling—without adopting an overly complex interface.

A key advantage is view flexibility: list, board, calendar, and timeline or Gantt-style planning help each function work in the format that fits, while keeping a shared source of truth. That makes it easier to align product, marketing, sales, and engineering around the same initiatives.

Plane also stands out with templates and intake-style request collection, which helps turn incoming asks into trackable work without messy copy-paste and status chasing. For teams that care about control and ownership of their stack, the open-source and self-hosting option can be a deciding factor versus Trello’s typical hosted model.

Best for

Great for startups and cross-functional teams that want structured planning, flexible views, and optional self-hosting.

Standout features

✓List, board, calendar, and timeline views
✓Gantt-style planning for roadmaps
✓Templates for repeatable projects
✓Intake for collecting requests
✓Open-source with self-hosting option

Superthread

Project management tool with integrated tasks, notes & docs.

5.0 · 2 reviews

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Superthread focuses on keeping tasks and documentation together, which reduces the “board in one place, docs in another” problem that shows up in many Trello setups. It’s a strong alternative when the work requires context—project briefs, rollout notes, technical decisions, or customer feedback—living right next to execution.

This approach is especially useful for rollouts and partner-facing projects where communication and coordination are as important as task tracking. Instead of scattering updates across email threads and separate docs, teams can collaborate in a single workspace that keeps decisions, artifacts, and progress aligned.

Superthread also appeals to teams that value speed and responsiveness from the product itself, rather than a sprawling platform that requires heavy configuration. The trade-off versus Trello is that it’s optimized for integrated tasks-plus-docs workflows more than pure kanban flexibility, making it ideal when shared narrative and accountability are the core needs.