Before I dive into this Trello review, it’s worth noting that I’ve been using this platform for years now. It’s one of my favorite tools for managing simple projects and tasks. However, it’s not the most advanced project management solution around.

Trello is an intuitive solution for companies that want a convenient way to manage tasks and deadlines. However, if you want the more advanced project management features of something like Asana, you’ll need to invest in a few add-ons (or Power-Ups).

Here’s my behind-the-scenes review of Trello, designed to help you decide whether it’s the best project management solution for your business.

Quick Verdict, Pros and Cons

Trello is one of the most straightforward and convenient tools I’ve used for task management. It’s a flexible, highly customizable app ideal for teams of all sizes. I particularly love the focus on Kanban project management, which is my preferred approach for managing workflows.

However, the fact that you’ll need to use add-ons for certain things like time tracking and billing could make this platform less appealing to some larger companies with advanced needs.

Pros:

  • Incredibly easy to use and intuitive
  • Flexible and customizable interface
  • Built-in solutions for workflow automation
  • More than 200 integration options
  • Feature-packed and generous free plan
  • Lots of views (beyond Kanban) on premium plans

Cons:

  • Requires add-ons for certain features
  • No built-in permission settings on free plans
  • The standard plan is a little restrictive

Trello Review: The Pricing and Plans

Before I dive into the details of this Trello review, remember that the experience you get on the platform will vary drastically depending on your chosen plan. A lot of the top-end features are reserved for Premium plan users and above. However, you still get an excellent and intuitive experience with any plan.

In fact, the free plan is one of the most generous I’ve seen in this industry. It’s ideal for individuals and smaller teams, offering access to unlimited cards and lists, and 10 team boards. You also get unlimited Power-ups, mobile apps, 2-factor authentication, custom backgrounds and stickers. Plus, there’s unlimited storage (10MB per file), and you can run 250 workspace commands per month.

The premium plans include:

  • Standard: $5 per user/month: All the features of the free plan, plus unlimited boards, custom fields, advanced checklists, upgraded storage (250MB per file), 1,000 workspace commands per month, single board guests, and saved searches.
  • Premium: $10 per user/month: All the features of Standard, plus new views (map, calendar, dashboard, timeline, table) and new workspace views (table and calendar). You also get unlimited workspace command runs, Atlassian intelligence features, security and admin features, workspace-level templates, project collections, observers, and data exporting.
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing starting at $17.50 per user/month: All the features of Premium plus unlimited workspaces, public board management, organization-wide permissions and multi-board guests. You also get Power-up administration, free SSO and provisioning with Atlassian Access, and attachment permission options.

One point worth noting is that you need a minimum of 50 users to access the Enterprise plan. Additionally, you can add the Atlassian Access add-on to any plan for an extra $3 per month/user.

Trello Review: Overview and Core Features

Trello is a Kanban-style task management solution that’s perfect for keeping track of important deadlines. It’s part of Atlassian’s broader spectrum of solutions, like Jira, and integrates seamlessly with dozens of workplace tools like Microsoft Teams.

Let’s take a closer look at the core features.

Project Views and the Kanban Experience

As mentioned above, Trello is a Kanban-first project management app, which is great for people like me, who love organizing tasks using simple cards and columns. On every plan, you can easily break down projects into steps with cards, and assign team members to specific tasks.

I also love the fact that you can see attachments added to cards, as well as how many tasks in a checklist are already done or left to do. You get unlimited cards on every plan, and up to 10 boards per workspace on the free plan (or unlimited on paid plans).

The issue is that you’re really only restricted to Kanban project management on Trello unless you upgrade to a more expensive subscription. Even the “Standard” plan only adds advanced checklists and custom fields to your Kanban boards.

If you do upgrade to the “Premium” plan, however, you will gain access to a range of workspace views (table and calendar), and task views (calendar, timeline, table, dashboard, and map). These additional views will be particularly useful for business leaders who need a comprehensive overview of the progress happening in their organization at a glance.

Notably, though, even on advanced plans, Trello doesn’t support genuine Gantt charts. The calendar view does give you a sort of “miniaturized Gantt chart”, but this doesn’t include dependencies and other advanced features offered by other project management tools.

Role Assignment and Workplace Management

The permission settings in Trello are a little different to what you’d see from other project management solutions. They depend heavily on the plan you choose. For instance, on the free plan, you can manage your personal settings and email notifications yourself, but that’s about it.

Team leaders can also assign employees to tasks with due dates, and you can keep track of your “activity log” in a dedicated space. The Standard plan doesn’t include any upgrades to role assignment and workplace management. However, upgrading to the Premium plan will give you admin and security features.

That means you can choose who creates, deletes, and shares boards. However, you can only control workspace permissions on the enterprise plan. The premium plan also includes an option to create “observers” for boards that can only see content but not contribute anything. However, you can’t add guests until you upgrade to the Enterprise plan.

If you need a lot of administrative control, this means your only real option is the Enterprise subscription. On the plus side, this plan does come with the “Administration Power-Up” built-in, which also allows you to control what kind of power-ups and add-ons your team uses.

I do like that two-factor authentication and mobile device management are included on all plans, however, for enhanced workplace security.

Collaboration and Integrations

From a collaboration perspective, Trello doesn’t offer quite as many built-in options as some of the other top project management apps. You can comment on cards and tasks, and share files and links with other team members, but there’s no integrated chat function.

The good news is you don’t need to rely on Trello for collaboration if you connect it to one of your existing tools, like Microsoft Teams. Trello’s integration with Microsoft Teams is extremely intuitive, giving you access to a range of new features, like the ability to notify employees in Teams when a Trello card is updated.

Beyond standard integrations with tools like Teams, Trello also offers access to a range of unique “Power-Ups”, which are basically add-ons for your Trello experience. Users can access unlimited Power-Ups on any plan, and there are plenty of free options too, such as time-tracking tools, and a WYSIWYG card description editor.

However, if you need to fill the gaps in Trello’s feature set with more advanced solutions, like Gantt charts, you could spend quite a bit on these extra integrations. For instance, the Gantt chart by Placker, “Power-Up,” will cost you $15 per month for just two users.

Trello Review: Automation

One thing that really gives Trello an edge over some other straightforward project management apps I’ve tried is the automation features you get. Similar to most task management software, you can create basic rules with triggers and actions to streamline workflows. However, what really makes Trello great is how easy it is to create more complex automation.

The no-code workflow builder (Butler) makes it simple to add rules to boards and processes that can make your team more productive. For instance, you can ensure cards are automatically moved from one column to the next once a checklist is completed and ask the app to send you email notifications when tasks move along the pipeline.

You can even create buttons for cards that enable rapid actions, like @mentioning someone to remind them that a deadline is approaching. Plus, the power of Trello’s workflow automation tools extends to the other applications you integrate with the platform. For instance, Butler can post messages to Slack channels for you, or create new Jira tickets in an instant.

As you use your boards, the Butler system also uses AI to recognize repetitive actions, and suggest automations you might want to set up.

Trello Review: Ease of Use

I mentioned at the start of this Trello review that the platform is one of the most intuitive options for today’s teams, and I stand by that. People love this platform’s user-friendly interface. You can manage tasks, drag and drop cards into place, and set up streamlined automation with ease.

Of course, there is a risk that your boards could get cluttered if you’re working on more complex, multi-stage projects. However, you can always use labels and archive cards when you’re done with them to minimize this issue.

Another thing that makes Trello so easy to use is the number of customizable templates you get. You’ll be able to choose from various task templates for different purposes, such as HR projects, or personal to-do lists, so you can spend less time designing your boards and cards.

It’d be nice to have an AI assistant that can build boards and create cards for you, like you’ll get with Microsoft Planner and Copilot, but the lack of AI doesn’t make Trello much less user-friendly.

I also love that both the mobile and desktop versions of Trello include fun extras to enhance your experience. You can add Giphy stickers to your board, and use animations to show when projects are completed, which is a nice touch.

Trello Review: Security and Customer Service

If you’re worried about the security of the data you share in your project management app, Trello has you covered. Not only do you get two-factor authentication on all plans, but Trello is also PCI-DSS compliant and FedRAMP authorized. It also runs encrypted backups for all of your documents and details every 24 hours for peace of mind.

Like most of the top project management tools, Trello encrypts data both at rest and in transit, and it performs weekly vulnerability scans and penetration tests. It’s also ISO/IEC 27001 and 27018 certified. Plus, it offers enterprise customers access to SAML 2.0 SSO. However, you can’t host your platform on a private server, and Trello doesn’t offer any insights into how add-on apps might use your information. This could cause some compliance concerns for some businesses.

Customer support is a bit of a pain point for Trello. Users on the free plan can only access community forums for insights, Trello’s free educational resources, or submit a support ticket. However, it can take a while for anyone to respond to a support request.

Unsurprisingly, users on paid plans get more support. Standard users get email guidance from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on weekdays. Premium users get 24-hour support on weekdays, and Enterprise plan users get premium support 24/7. However, all plan users still only get email guidance; there’s no option for live chat or phone support.

Trello Review: The Verdict

This Trello review should have highlighted that Trello is an excellent tool for a lot of companies. It’s great for small businesses that are looking for an accessible, intuitive solution for task management. Plus, it’s a highly flexible platform that can easily work alongside all the tools you use, from Google Drive to Salesforce.

I also love how straightforward the automation capabilities of this platform are. It’s really simple to minimize tedious tasks in just a couple of clicks.

However, Trello does have some limitations too. You’ll need to rely on add-ons if you want access to time management tools, billing features, and Gantt charts, which can be expensive. Additionally, the customer support isn’t perfect. But I do think that Trello is excellent value for money, and a great resource all around for hybrid teams.



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