Trello brings all your tasks, teammates, and tools together
Trello is a Kanban project management tool, acquired by Atlassian 2017 for $425M. Trustpilot: 2.6/5 from 208 reviews. Complaints: 'impossible to unsubscribe', 'visually cluttered' after 2025 redesign, nonexistent support. Simple but controversial.
Patterns extracted from real user feedback — not raw reviews.
The May 22, 2025 redesign fundamentally changed Trello's interface, removing beloved features like the left sidebar, direct card actions, and the ability to add comments easily. Users must now click through multiple menus for basic tasks. The r/Trello subreddit (11,000+ members) has been 'dripping with collective rage' for months. Atlassian PM stated they're 'changing Trello to become an entirely different product.'
Atlassian PM explicitly stated they're 'changing Trello to become an entirely different product' - transforming it from a team collaboration tool to a personal productivity app. The 2025 redesign deliberately makes team features harder while pushing professional users toward Jira. Users feel Trello is 'no longer interested in serving its actual users.'
As boards grow with more cards and lists, they become cluttered and overwhelming. G2 reviews note Trello 'can feel limited when managing more complex projects' and 'the platform cannot handle a high volume of team members and tasks.' Finding information quickly becomes difficult, and users need strict discipline to keep things tidy.
Trello lacks built-in advanced reporting, time tracking, and detailed analytics. G2 reviews note 'when you generate performance reports for the project, it doesn't go much in detail.' Users must rely on Power-Ups or external tools for basic project insights, adding complexity and cost.
Trello lacks the ability to show task dependencies, which is essential for critical path analysis and complex project planning. Users needing Gantt charts or dependency tracking must use workarounds or switch to alternatives. This makes Trello unsuitable for project professionals who need to understand how tasks relate to each other.
Calendar view, Timeline view, Dashboard view, and Map view are only available on Premium ($10/user/month) or higher. The free plan's 10-board limit fills up quickly. Since Trello was always just a Kanban board, competitors like ClickUp offer Gantt, Sprints, and 15+ views without paying extra.
Trello Enterprise has a minimum of 50 users at $17.50/user/month, meaning the minimum commitment is $10,500/year. Smaller teams needing enterprise features like SSO, organization-wide controls, or advanced security are forced to overpay for unused seats or use inadequate lower tiers.
Atlassian announced 'maximum quantity billing' for monthly subscriptions effective October 2025. Your bill reflects the highest number of active seats in the month, not the average or end-of-month count. If you add seats mid-month then remove them, you're still billed for the peak - punishing flexibility.
Trello is an online-only application with no offline mode. Users cannot access or modify their boards without an internet connection. G2 reviews specifically cite 'missing offline access' as a frustration (32 mentions). For users who travel or work in areas with spotty connectivity, this is a dealbreaker.
Capterra reviews note that 'security controls and permission settings are insufficient for sensitive data and complex team structures.' Users report difficulty configuring access to comment on cards or view them by teams. One reviewer stated 'the permission management is a bit nascent' and 'hard to follow if many people use same board because no way to see who changed what.'
Simple, visual Kanban interface - easy to start
Trello's drag-and-drop Kanban boards are intuitive and require minimal learning. New users can be productive within minutes. The visual approach makes task status immediately clear. Best suited for simple task tracking and small teams who don't need complex project management.
Generous free plan for individuals and tiny teams
The free plan includes up to 10 boards, unlimited cards, unlimited Power-Ups (integrations), and 250 automation runs per month. It's genuinely free forever, not a trial. Good for freelancers and small projects that don't exceed 10 boards.
Extensive Power-Up ecosystem for extending functionality
Trello integrates with hundreds of apps via Power-Ups including Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Jira. While some advanced features require Power-Ups rather than being built-in, the ecosystem allows customization to specific workflows.
75% discount for education and nonprofits
Students, teachers, and nonprofit organizations receive 75% off Standard and Premium plans, and 50% off Enterprise. This makes Trello very affordable for educational institutions and charitable organizations.
Butler automation included in all plans
Trello's Butler automation allows creating rules, buttons, and scheduled commands to automate repetitive tasks. Free users get 250 command runs/month, and Premium users get unlimited. Good for basic workflow automation without third-party tools.
Users: Unlimited users
Storage: 10MB per file
Limitations: Only Kanban view available, No advanced reporting, No SSO, No organization-wide controls, Cannot export data easily
Users: Per user pricing
Storage: 250MB per file
Limitations: No advanced views (Timeline, Calendar, Dashboard, Map), No Atlassian Intelligence AI, No admin/security features, No priority support
Users: Per user pricing
Storage: Unlimited
Limitations: No organization-wide admin, No public board management, No attachment permissions, No SCIM user provisioning
Users: 50 user minimum (price drops with scale)
Storage: Unlimited
Limitations: Annual billing only, 50 user minimum, Complex pricing tiers based on user count
Individual freelancers and personal task management
The free plan with 10 boards, unlimited cards, and Power-Ups is genuinely useful for personal organization. Simple Kanban interface is quick to learn. Just don't expect it to scale to team or complex project needs.
Small teams needing simple visual task tracking
For teams with straightforward workflows who don't need dependencies, reporting, or advanced views, Trello's simplicity is a feature. The visual Kanban approach makes status obvious at a glance.
Marketing teams
Visual campaign boards, content calendars, and simple workflow. Marketing loves Trello's drag-and-drop simplicity for managing campaigns and editorial schedules.
Small teams under 50 needing enterprise features
Enterprise plan requires 50 user minimum ($10,500/year floor). Smaller teams needing SSO, organization-wide controls, or SCIM provisioning are stuck with Premium's limited admin capabilities or forced to overpay.
Project managers
Good for simple projects but lacks Gantt charts, resource management, and advanced reporting. PMs managing complex projects outgrow Trello quickly.
Teams with complex project dependencies
Trello has no task dependency features, no Gantt charts, and no critical path analysis. Project professionals who need to understand how tasks relate to each other should use Asana, Monday.com, or dedicated PM tools instead.
Teams needing detailed reporting and analytics
Built-in reporting is minimal - 'doesn't go much in detail' per G2 reviews. Time tracking requires paid integrations. Teams needing project insights, resource planning, or performance metrics need external tools or alternatives.
Organizations requiring robust security/permissions
Permission management is described as 'nascent' with insufficient controls for sensitive data and complex team structures. No way to see who changed what on shared boards. Enterprise security features require 50+ user commitment.
Teams who relied on the pre-2025 interface
The May 2025 redesign removed many features and changed core workflows. Users call it 'worst update in tech history.' If you loved the old Trello, the new version may frustrate you. Consider alternatives that haven't disrupted their UX.
Users needing offline access
Trello is online-only with no offline mode. You cannot view or edit boards without internet. For travelers, remote workers in areas with spotty connectivity, or anyone needing offline access, look elsewhere.
Engineering teams
No sprint planning, no velocity tracking, no Git integration. Software teams need Jira, Linear, or ClickUp - Trello is too simplistic for agile development.
Common buyer's remorse scenarios reported by users.
Teams that started with Trello for its simplicity find boards becoming cluttered chaos as projects scale. With no dependency tracking, limited reporting, and overwhelming card counts, teams realize too late that Trello can't grow with them. Migration to proper PM tools requires recreating everything from scratch.
Teams that built processes around Trello's interface discovered the May 2025 redesign broke their workflows. Features they relied on were removed or buried behind clicks. With Atlassian explicitly stating they're transforming Trello into a different product, these teams wasted their process investment.
Users starting with free plan for 'simple task tracking' quickly hit the 10-board limit when creating boards for different projects, clients, or departments. The choice becomes pay $5/user/month or constantly delete/archive boards, losing organization.
Growing teams that need SSO, organization-wide admin, or SCIM provisioning discover Enterprise requires 50 users minimum ($10,500/year). With 25 employees, they must either overpay for 25 unused seats or accept Premium's limited admin capabilities.
Scenarios where this product tends to fail users.
When projects need to show which tasks block others, Trello fails completely. There's no dependency feature, no Gantt view, no critical path analysis. Teams must use workarounds like labels or switch to proper PM tools like Asana or Monday.com.
Large boards with hundreds of cards become cluttered and hard to navigate. Finding specific cards, tracking updates, and maintaining organization requires strict discipline. Trello's search helps but filtering complex boards is time-consuming.
When stakeholders ask for project status reports, time tracking, or resource allocation data, Trello's basic reporting falls short. Users must export data manually, use Power-Ups, or build external dashboards - adding complexity and cost.
Teams under 50 people needing SAML SSO discover it requires Enterprise ($10,500/year minimum). Premium's admin controls are insufficient for security-conscious organizations. They must overpay or accept security gaps.
When internet is unavailable, Trello is completely inaccessible. No offline viewing, no offline editing, no cached content. Users on planes, in remote areas, or during outages cannot access their tasks at all.
ClickUp
Cost-conscious teams switch because ClickUp offers Gantt, Sprints, and 15+ views without paying extra, unlike Trello's view paywalls. More features at a lower price point.
Jira
Atlassian is actively pushing professional users from Trello to Jira. Development teams and those needing sprint management, bug tracking, or agile workflows switch despite the steeper learning curve.
Asana
Teams switch when they need timeline views and dependencies. Gain: Gantt charts, workload management, goals tracking. Trade-off: steeper learning curve, more expensive.
Monday.com
Teams switch for better automation and multiple view types. Gain: powerful automations, dashboards, time tracking. Trade-off: expensive per-seat pricing, can feel bloated.
Notion
Users switch to combine docs + project management. Gain: databases, docs, wikis in one tool. Trade-off: slower performance, no native mobile offline.
