Trello vs. Monday.com: A feature-by-feature comparison

Having the right tool in your arsenal brings you one step closer to success. ( Trust me, I have seen the impact firsthand as a manager.)

And when it comes to Trello vs. monday.com, companies often struggle with choosing the right one for their needs.

Sure, Trello and monday.com stand out for their distinct strengths and capabilities, but both are not without drawbacks.

So, if you have Trello and monday.com in your consideration list, already have a favorite in mind, or comparing it against the competition. Here is the lowdown. 

Let me help you dig into how Trello and monday.com stack up against each other with their feature-by-feature analysis. And break down their strengths, weaknesses, and suitability for you to make an informed decision. 

Also, do not forget to keep an eye out for other project management software, like ProofHub that brings you the best of both worlds. And that too with some additional functionalities that both monday.com and Trello are missing.

But let’s just hold off on it for a bit. And get into the nitty-gritty first.

Trello vs Monday.com overview

Trello is one of the renowned platforms with basic project management capabilities. The platform takes a simple approach to the Kanban board, collaboration capabilities, and task scheduling. For advanced operations, it is highly dependent on power-ups to turn into a powerful source. Trello’s free plan, however, is quite popular because of its comprehensive features to get tasks done.

Monday.com might be called a project management tool, but it majorly deals in work management. Beyond this core functionality, monday.com also offers two more products: Sales CRM and monday Dev. These products cost you extra bucks if you want to purchase them. If we talk about monday.com’s free plan, it is limited in comparison to Trello, in terms of features and storage. 

See how Trello stands in comparison with ProofHub. Read now – Trello vs ProofHub

Trello vs Monday.com features analysis 

1. Project management

When it comes to project management, Trello follows a basic Kanban-based approach. The three-hierarchy visual Trello infrastructure comprises boards, lists, and cards. The basic working of this simple and flexible platform revolves around moving cards across various task lists representing stages. 

As discussed above, Monday.com is a work management software that still manages to offer a promising feature set for project management. From project planning and resource allocation to tracking project progress and team performance, you can do it all in this centralized platform. 

Read more: Choose from the top 55 best project management tools & software for your team

2. Task management

Trello is a favorite among project managers who prefer a visual workflow outlook. Its cards represent the tasks and the task list reflects the task stages, named, “To Do”, “In Progress”, and “Completed. A card is a repository of all the task-related information, including, assignees, due dates, work details, file attachments, etc. where users can collaborate using comments.

With Monday.com assigning tasks to multiple team members, setting task priorities, and managing multiple tasks is convenient. Its color-coded work status and progress bars make it easy to get visual task status updates. You can also attach & share files, brainstorm ideas, and leave comments on the tasks for enhanced collaboration. But you cannot track task dependencies and time until you commit to a high-tier plan.

3. Collaboration

In the name of collaboration, Trello offers pretty basic functionalities and lacks real-time collaboration tools. It allows you to create cards (tasks) on boards, set due dates on cards, and use @mentions to grab someone’s attention on cards. You can even comment on these cards to ask for updates, ask questions, and share feedback. 

Monday.com, on the other hand, gets an edge over Trello with its slightly more advanced collaboration capabilities. Along with mentioning team members in comments like Trello, you can utilize whiteboard discussions to collaborate with team members. Users can also use the activity feed widget to keep track of the team’s activity in real-time. 

Read more: Explore the 52 best online collaboration tools for your team’s optimal efficiency 

4. Integrations

Trello offers 200+ integrations called power-ups to extend its functionality beyond its existing tech stack. Some of these include Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Basecamp, Zoom, ClickUp, etc. These add-ons are not limited to any specific plan but are even available on the free plan.

Monday.com supports 72+ integrations with apps such as Google Drive, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Calendar, Shopify, PipeDrive, Microsoft OneDrive, etc. The integration actions, however, vary as you move up the pricing plans, with no integration action available in the free and basic plan. 

5. Customization

The Only customization that Trello can offer you is to customize card details and user interface. That too with pretty basic customization options.  

Monday.com has a stronger customization game than Trello. Users can customize the platform for any workflow, be it project management, marketing, human resources, and more. Also, teams can tailor the dashboard and report with its simple drag-and-drop widgets to fit their user-specific needs.

6. Learning curve

When it comes to ease, Trello outshines monday.com. The platform’s simple user interface and intuitive board-based approach offer no minimal learning curve to its users. Despite the simplicity, the tool is not recommended for complex projects, due to the increasing number of cards and boards. 

Monday.com is a bit overwhelming due to its extensive set of features. The platform eases out user onboarding process by walking them through the platform with its various knowledgeable resources. This makes it suitable for both simple and complex project types. 

7. File management

Trello falls short in its capabilities when it comes to file management. It doesn’t have any central repository for file storage. While no doubt you can attach files to the cards, you are in serious trouble if you forget the actual name. Because Trello doesn’t offer file search functionality within the cards, making browsing difficult. 

monday.com takes the lead here with its centralized document library. This eliminates the need to go through various cards by consolidating everything in one space. With its File gallery view, you can not only see all your files but even upload your assets directly from there. 

8. Reporting

Trello lacks depth when it comes to providing insights. Where Trello’s dashboard view provides clean metrics, you cannot expect advanced insights into the project. All that you can expect is several closed and open cards and cards per list. Also, you cannot create tailor reports to your specific needs and must rely on third-party integrations for advanced reporting.

Alternatively, Monday.com is highly valued by data-driven teams. Its highly customizable dashboard collects information from all the dashboards to enhance visibility. Apart from that, you get charts, workload reports, project overviews,  pivot boards, and performance insights for improved transparency.

10. Time tracking

Time tracking is not in-house to Trello. But that doesn’t mean you cannot track time spent on tasks in Trello. Because Trello allows you to integrate this feature into the platform with time-tracking integration like Everhour.

In contrast, Monday.com offers built-in time tracking. But here’s the twist. You can access them only after switching to higher pricing plans, be it Pro ($19/user/month) or Enterprise. 

Read more: Dive into the list of 9 best time-tracking tools to boost your team’s productivity for successful results

11. Customer support

Trello’s customer support varies across all its pricing plans. Where on the free plan you receive community support only, the Standard plan users get 9/5 support during local business hours. For the premium and enterprise customers, 24/5 and 24/7 support is available respectively. Trello also offers webinars, knowledge base guides, and community forums for seamless product adaptation. 

Monday.com does no partiality in providing customer support apart from its free plan. You get 24/7 customer support, no matter whichever pricing plan you are subscribed to. Users also get access to a self-serve knowledge base, community forums, daily webinars, and video tutorials. 

Trello vs monday.com pricing

Both Trello and monday.com have competitive pricing structures. What suits you best depends on your needs, users, and budget.  

Trello

• Free plan: Limited to 10 boards per workspace
• Standard plan: $ 5/user/month on annual billing
• Premium plan: $ 10/user/month on annual billing
• Enterprise plan: $ 17.50/user/month on annual billing

(The cost of this plan decreases as the user count increases)

Though Trello’s free plan is pretty wholesome to get started, but lacks many advanced powerful features. For that, you need to upgrade to its higher-pricing plans. Also, Trello gives you an average estimate on its Enterprise plan for dedicated customer support and advanced security features. But that is still expensive to the value offered. 

Monday.com

• Free plan: Limited to 3 boards and 2 seats
• Basic plan: $ 9/seat/month on annual billing
• Standard plan: $ 12/seat/month on annual billing
• Pro plan: $19/seat/month on annual billing
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales to get a quote

Monday’com offers four pricing tiers, requiring users to purchase the plan for a minimum of 3 seats. This means if you want to purchase a plan for 12 users, you’ll have to pay for 15 seats, making it pretty expensive. 

Also, many essential features like time-tracking, Gantt charts, timeline view, and calendar view are limited to monday.com’s higher pricing tiers. 

This means you’ll pay extra for features available in other tools at no added cost. Plus, monday.com’s not-so-transparent enterprise pricing structure is a major turn-off. 

While Trello and Monday.com both present per-user pricing models, ProofHub overshadows the two with its flat-fee pricing model. It helps you scale and make your every spent penny count without breaking the bank.

Explore ProofHub’s transparent flat (no-per-user) pricing plans and save yourself from the hassle of user-based charges

Trello vs monday.com ratings and user reviews 

User reviews and ratings reflect real-life user experiences and present what users like and dislike about the platform. Also, these platforms evaluate the user rankings based on the user reviews gathered from the community and data aggregated from online sources. 

Below mentioned are the user ratings of Trello and monday.com. And also both positive and negative user reviews of both the tools for better comparison.

Trello: Best suited for small teams and simple projects

G2: 4.4

Capterra: 4.5

GetApp: 4.5

User positive reviews

• The most likeful thing about Trello is its easy-to-use project management dashboard. Its drag drop-based feature makes it very easy tool for all types of user regardless of their previous experience. – Bikash P., Product Research Analyst, Financial Services
• I love that I can set up a Trello board in just a few minutes and it’s functional and ready to be used. – Matt, Director in US, Marketing & Advertising
• Trello is simple and easy to use and I can manage my projects from anywhere. – Bento F, Consumer Services, self-employed

User negative reviews

• Costly for more number of users. – Brajesh S., Senior Software Engineer, Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
• The web version becomes laggy when there are too many cards on the board. – Kantapat A., Web Development Manager
• It is not easy to switch works. Not optimized for complex work. – Jomon F., E-Learning

Read more: Discover 17 best Trello alternatives & competitors and choose the right fit for your needs

Monday.com: Best suited for large teams and complex projects

G2: 4.7

Capterra: 4.6

GetApp: 4.6

User positive reviews

• Customizable, User-Friendly, Collaborative, & Well-organized – Emily B., Marketing & Administrative Associate
• I liked the visual clarity, flexibility, and intuitive interface of monday.com. It made project planning and tracking progress straightforward and efficient. – Gulam G., Senior Software Engineer, Computer Software
• It was really good for the purposes of organising information. – Snethemba N., Professional Training & Coaching

User negative reviews

• Automations are too limited and Customer Service help is a JOKE! – Alex V., General Manager]
• Some features are hard to understand, we need a little bit more comprehension of the platform. – Carmen R., General Manager, Insurance
• Monday.com is a very expensive solution, and most add-ons add additional costs. – Lee F., Marketing and Advertising

Read more: Struggling with monday.com’s add-on complexity? Choose from the 27 Best Monday.com Alternatives & Competitors

Choosing the right platform: A side-by-side comparison table

Here is a brief outlook of how Trello and monday.com stand in comparison: 

Which is better: Trello or monday.com? 

Since now we are done with the detailed feature inspection of Trello and monday.com, let me give you a breakdown of what the platform is best suited for:

You can use Trello if,

• You want to handle simple projects with a simplified approach to the Kanban-based approach.
• You don’t want to spend a dime. You can use Trello’s free plan for limited storage and 10 boards per workspace.
• You don’t require high-end customization and in-depth reporting.

You can use Monday.com if,

• You want to handle complex projects with intricate workflows, task dependencies, and extensive customization
• You want advanced project management features like task management views, time tracking, and more.
• You prefer a data-driven approach to project management. 

But don’t forget that both of these platforms are going to test your budget limits when you think of scaling. So, is it the right choice for you? 

Do you want to drain down your business budget when you can opt for a budget-friendly tool like ProofHub instead? 

Let’s get to know ProofHub in detail:  

ProofHub: A better alternative for project management 

With the 10.67% growth in CAGR expected by 2026, the importance of project management software is crystal clear. And ProofHub stands out in this arena, making its presence felt strongly.

ProofHub is an all-in-one project management and team collaboration software that combines Trellos’ simplicity and Monday.com’s advanced features together in one central place. From crafting a project management plan to executing tasks efficiently, it helps you keep a finger on the pulse of your entire project. 

This is a commendable alternative to seek after due to its flat-fee pricing structure. It makes scaling effortless and gives you a bang for your buck. Unlike Trello and Monday.com, which add to your budget with every user onboarding. 

Some of its robust features are:

• Seamless task management to create, assign, and manage tasks using distinct task views.
• Built-in chat to have seamless and real-time one-on-one or group interactions, and share files. (Missing in both Trello and Monday.com) 
• Powerful collaboration features like announcements for sharing updates, discussions for brainstorming sessions, and notes to jot down crucial details. Also, use task comments using @mentions to grab someone’s attention and ask for updates. 
• A highly intuitive and customizable user interface to help users plan, organize, and deliver projects seamlessly. 
• Customize workflows to tailor them to your team’s operations and user-specific needs. 
• Define custom roles to maintain user hierarchy and limit user access accordingly.
• Online proofing tool to review, approve, and leave feedback on creative assets and have ultimate version control. 
• Gantt charts to streamline project planning set task dependencies, and visualize project schedules.
• Native time tracking and timesheets to record time spent on tasks and for billing and invoicing.
• Insightful and customizable reports to look into project progress, team performance, and employee workload, and spot bottlenecks in time to make informed decisions.
• 24/7 customer support. Also, a Help & Support guide and video tutorials are available for assistance. 

ProofHub’s user ratings and reviews on different websites:

G2: 4.5

Capterra: 4.6

GetApp: 4.6

The easiest tool for non-stop collaboration and communication – Gerry D., Marketing Copywriter & Consultant

Its online proofing feature is something that stole our hearts from the very beginning. Also, we don’t need Slack anymore due to the built-in chat available. – Verified Reviewer in Information Technology & Services

Gather in-depth knowledge about the core features of ProofHub and unlock a comprehensive project management experience

Conclusion

In the Trello vs. Monday.com battle, the choice between the two is highly subjective. Both are different in their propositions and cater to different user needs. Where Trello keeps it a bit simple, Monday.com embraces comprehensiveness but with added complexity.

My clear-cut verdict is that monday.com is best suited for larger and complex projects. Whereas Trello excels in handling smaller and simplified projects. However, major parameters where both Trello and Monday.com fall short are in facilitating seamless collaboration and scaling. 

ProofHub, on the other hand, beats both Monday.com and Trello to provide a comprehensive solution. You can consider switching to the platform if you want the best of both together along with some additional features and parameters, without breaking the bank.

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