Do you remember your first Trello board? It might’ve listed to-dos for college applications, training goals, or even Christmas gifts. For many of us, Trello was the first work management tool we tried. Whether to keep track of high school assignments, organize household tasks, or visualize work projects, it was a great solution for those of us who liked to stay organized in our private and professional lives.
The big attraction was, and is, Kanban boards. This is where it all began for Trello, and it continues to offer an attractive way for users to view their work. At its heart, it’s still a simple, easy-to-use visualization and task management tool, and that’s what makes it popular.
Nowadays, there are many more Trello alternatives to choose from, with complex capabilities and advanced functionalities. In this blog post, we’ll compare the most common choices including Asana, ClickUp, Jira, and Monday.com. Learn the benefits and challenges that come with each, and discover why, when it comes to combining power, versatility, and flexibility, Wrike comes out on top every time.
Want to see for yourself? Try Wrike for free.
Best Trello alternative: Wrike.com
Modern teams need modern work management solutions. Wrike is by far the best of the Trello alternatives because it’s got so much more to offer than colorful Kanban boards.
Its powerful features include:
- Organization-wide collaboration: Trello users can comment at task level, but what if you need to discuss multiple projects, OKRs, or strategy? That’s all possible with Wrike. Comment in real time, collaborate in context, and keep disparate teams connected — anywhere, anytime.
- Adaptable request forms: Streamline your work intake by customizing request forms to gather all the information you need from the get-go. You can even generate a dynamic response, create tasks, initiate projects, and automate workflows — all from one flexible form.
- Full resource management: Need to do more with less? Wrike makes it easy with expert resource management features. Track your organization’s needs, measure team capacity, and assign and allocate resources easily using dashboards, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards.
- Built-in proofing features: Trello has no native proofing or approval features, but Wrike has them all. Review in context, add instant commentary, view versions side by side, edit using your favorite tools like Adobe CC, and publish instantly through a range of DAM integrations.
- Sophisticated reporting: High-performing teams need much more than basic metrics. Show off your hard work with one-click reports featuring detailed insights and infographics — available on all plans, not just top-tier Enterprise options.
If you want to take a tour of Wrike’s intuitive platform, try Wrike for free. See for yourself why it’s the expert’s choice, every time.
Trello vs. Asana
When reviewing project management software, many people will compare Trello and Asana. Asana is one of the best-known platforms, designed to help team collaboration by “organizing work in one connected space.” It’s used by a million people worldwide (compared to Wrike’s 2.4m) and has some 200 ready-made integrations (compared to Wrike’s 400+). Asana’s paid plans are also more expensive than Wrike’s, starting at $10.99 billed annually or $13.49 billed monthly.
Request forms are important to many teams, as they’re the origin of work initiation. Trello has limited functionality in this regard, but Asana’s request forms can be customized, automated, and embedded, which all add extra versatility for their teams. Wrike’s request forms can do all that, but also generate entire workflows, kick-starting pre-planned projects and arriving automatically in an assignee’s to-do list.
Ultimately, many users will choose Wrike over Asana and Trello, as it offers a less cluttered user experience, increased visibility, and more powerful work management features.
Trello vs. Smartsheet
If you’ve been managing your work via spreadsheets, you’ll probably be drawn to Smartsheet when looking at Trello alternatives. Much like Trello, Smartsheet’s cloud-based project management software helps team members visualize and organize their work. It offers a “tabular user interface” that will be familiar to teams who lean on Excel or similar tools. Its paid plans start at a reasonable $7 per month (billed annually) but teams needing any Wrike-style advanced functionality will need to upgrade to Business or Enterprise plans.
A key feature that differentiates Trello from Smartsheet is native analytics. Trello offers plug-ins that can help provide insights and reporting assistance, but Smartsheet has built-in features that allow users to analyze and create custom reports by grouping and filtering data. That said, Smartsheet’s analytics do require some time and effort to set up, whereas Wrike’s project dashboards, advanced analytics, and instant reports can all be accessed in seconds.
Teams that are attached to simple Kanban board tools or traditional spreadsheets will find themselves comfortable with Trello or Smartsheet. But as an alternative to both, Wrike is far more powerful, offering more flexibility, functionality, and opportunity for growth. Try Wrike for free to see what we mean.
Trello vs. Jira
Jira Software, Jira Core, and Jira Work Management are all tools that help businesses and organizations manage their work and collaborate with colleagues. While Jira’s free plan makes it one of the more attractive Trello free alternatives, both providers’ subscription plans are billed on a per user basis ($5 per user per month for Trello if billed annually, and $7.75 per user per month for Jira Software), which is something to consider for growing teams.
Many people don’t realize that Trello and Jira are actually owned by the same company — the Atlassian Group — which provides similar functionality across many of its products. Because of this, it can be tough to decide which platform to choose. Both use a Kanban board as their main project view, but the level of complexity differs significantly: Trello is easier to use, but Jira offers much more context into task and project details. Wrike can take this visibility to a whole new level by offering built-in analytics, unlike the other two providers.
Users who are already using other Atlassian products will enjoy having access to new features using Trello or Jira. However, for teams looking for an all-in-one solution, Wrike is the easier, more comprehensive choice.
Trello vs. ClickUp
Another of the most popular project planning tools, ClickUp is often cited as a strong option for free Kanban board software. In a nutshell, it’s a “productivity platform and project management software program that helps teams get more done.” It has solutions for many different use cases, offering automations, chat tools, templates, and more.
Its $0 plan has a strong offering of basic features, including a Kanban board free for limited users. It has four paid plans instead of Trello’s three, which gives bigger teams and business users more choice.
When comparing ClickUp to Trello and other work management platforms, many users focus on proofing and approval capabilities. Trello allows users to add proofs to boards via a plug-in called PageProof, and ClickUp offers the ability to mark changes or leave comments on up to six uploaded file types. Unlike Wrike, neither has approval tasks, HTML/web proofing, or native integrations with popular design tools such as Adobe CC or DAM platforms like MediaValet.
For this reason and more, teams looking for high-functioning, bug-free collaboration solutions may benefit from reliable and powerful platforms like Wrike.
Trello vs. Basecamp
Basecamp started life as a design firm and even though it has evolved into a work management and collaboration platform, it still has a nice, clean look that stays true to its roots. It prides itself on rejecting complexity in favor of simplicity, and this will appeal to teams who have limited requirements. Those anticipating growth or expansion may need alternatives to scale, but Basecamp does offer good value plans that are priced in bulk, rather than per user (starting at $89 per year if billed annually, for up to 10 users).
One big point to consider when comparing Trello to Basecamp is that the latter doesn’t have what Trello’s most known for: a Kanban view, along with table views and Gantt charts. While it does offer a standard list view, if your team is highly visual or prefers to use the Kanban method, this could be a deciding factor for you.
If you’re comparing Basecamp with alternative project management software, you might be interested in knowing that both Trello and Wrike offer the use of a Kanban board free on their $0 plans, while Basecamp doesn’t have a free plan at all.
Trello vs. Monday
If you’re looking for a Kanban tool, Monday.com is definitely going to appear on your radar. It’s one of the better-known work management solutions on the market, helping teams to boost their “alignment, efficiency, and productivity.” It has a wide range of features including dashboards, automations, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards. Like Trello, Monday.com has a free plan (for up to two users.) Its paid plans do have minimum users (or seats), which makes the starting price €24 per month (billed annually.)
Where Trello and Monday.com differ is in the range of their offering. Monday.com includes more work management capabilities, in addition to the task management features Trello provides. One of these is resource management, which Monday.com is stronger at. Trello Views, templates, and budgeting plug-ins will help users visualize and organize their resourcing, but Monday.com’s features have more configurability, including a status, time tracking, and people column to assign project tasks.
However, users seeking a complete resource management solution may want to compare Wrike’s offering to Monday.com’s and Trello’s. Wrike’s 360° workload view allows users to drag and drop tasks, check budgets, and monitor progression to prevent delays and burnout. It’s a much simpler and more dynamic choice if your organization needs to maximize resources this year.
Trello vs. Workfront
Workfront is bound to pop up when you’re reviewing Trello alternatives. Owned by the creative powerhouse Adobe, Workfront’s project management software is designed to help organizations manage projects, tasks, resources, and people. It doesn’t list its prices, which can make it difficult to compare to other providers. It also doesn’t have a free plan, if you’re looking for a Kanban board free of charge.
The biggest contrast between the two is that Workfront is designed for enterprise-sized organizations, while Trello is often favored by smaller teams and start-ups. As a result, Workfront has a formal, business-like interface which some users might find complex and clunky. Another key differentiator is built-in proofing and approval features, which Workfront offers, but Trello doesn’t. Trello also offers more native integrations than Workfront. An area they could both improve on is customization: both have custom fields, but neither has custom item types yet.
Flexibility is something that will stand out when comparing Trello vs. Workfront vs. Wrike, for example. Wrike is the most versatile solution on the market, allowing teams to customize, tailor, and shape their workspaces without the need for time-consuming training, complex coding, or endless back-and-forths to admins.
Learn why people choose Wrike over Trello today
As a Kanban tool, Trello is great. It makes task management fun, with attractive boards, an easy-to-use interface, and a host of integrations.
However, if your team needs to manage more than a task list — for example, projects, goals, business plans, or strategies — you might be better off with comprehensive project management software like Wrike.
- An all-in-one platform: Wrike offers a lot of functionality such as proofing, time tracking, and project reporting as standard, whereas these require plug-ins with Trello. Third-party apps are good when they work seamlessly, but they can be buggy and require some getting used to — something busy teams don’t have time for.
- The ultimate collaboration hub: Designed for small, large, and remote organizations alike, Wrike offers the ability to collaborate at much more than task level like Trello. With Wrike’s mobile app, real-time chat, in-context approval comments, and ability to share tasks and projects across teams, users can stay connected 24/7 — even with external stakeholders.
- Future-proofed solutions: Wrike is the most cutting-edge solution for managing for our new way of working. It’s pioneering the fields of automation, reporting, and customization. Unlike Trello, it includes built-in advanced analytics, empowering modern teams with the information they need to plan effectively, execute efficiently, and deliver consistently.
If you want to see for yourself just how powerful Wrike’s platform is, dive into a two-week free trial today. No credit card, no commitment, no downloads needed — just easy access to the world’s most versatile project management software.
We have the 21st-century solution you’ve been waiting for.
