Trello vs monday.com: which is the best tool for managing your projects and tasks?

Trello or monday.com? This is a question that more and more professionals are asking themselves when looking for simple, visual and collaborative project management software.

Faced with dispersed teams, accumulating tasks and ever tighter deadlines, choosing the right management tool can make all the difference. Whether you're an entrepreneur, project manager or team manager, the objective is clear:

• organise workflows
• prioritise tasks
• monitor deadlines,
• keep an overview without complexity.

Trello, the pioneer of the kanban board, focuses on visual simplicity and intuitiveness. monday.com, on the other hand, offers a more structured platform with a wealth of functions designed for more complex project contexts.

👉 In this article, we compare the two solutions in depth: features, pricing, interface, integrations, use cases... to help you choose the tool that really suits your needs.

What is Trello?

Overview of Trello

Trello is the tool that has democratised the digital kanban board for project teams around the world. Launched in 2011 and acquired by Atlassian, the platform has become a standard for visual task management. Simple, but not simplistic, Trello can be adapted to a wide range of working contexts:

• agile project management
• tracking individual tasks
• product roadmaps
• event organisation
• managing customer requests.

It is now used by over 2 million teams worldwide, from solo start-ups to well-established companies.

🎯Trello is clearly aimed at those looking for a visual project management tool that's intuitive and quick to learn, with no complex configuration required. Its minimalist interface, based on a system of lists, cards and columns, will appeal as much to freelancers as to product, marketing or development teams.

Trello's main features

🛠️ Trello shines in its simplicity of use, but under the bonnet it hides a series of well thought-out features for managing tasks and projects in teams:

• Collaborative Kanban boards for a clear view that lets you organise projects into columns and view tasks at a glance.
• Customisable cards with due dates, attachments, checklists, comments, labels, etc.
• Lists and workflows for simple structuring of the stages of a process or sprint.
• Assignable team members: each task can be assigned to one or more members, with tracking.
• Automations via Butler for creating automatic rules without coding (examples: move a card, send an alert, etc.).
• Integrations ("Power-Ups"): Slack, Google Drive, Jira, Dropbox, Asana, Microsoft Teams, etc. More on that later in this article 🤫.
• Calendar, timeline and dashboard view (in paid versions).

Trello

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Visual collaboration tool for tasks and project management

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Advantages and disadvantages of Trello

Trello's appeal lies in the fact that it's easy to get to grips with, but it also shows its limitations as soon as projects become more complex.

✅Trello's strength lies in its ability to offer a fluid, visual experience, with no learning curve. Ideal for getting started quickly and efficiently, even with a team:

• Ultra-intuitive interface, with no need for training.
• Efficient Kanban view, ideal for tracking tasks through stages.
• Simple automation with Butler, even without technical knowledge.
• Great freedom of use, for a wide variety of projects.
• Generous free version, with all the basics.

❌ But as soon as you increase the complexity or volume, certain limitations appear. These can hold back teams managing several projects at once or looking for a more structuring tool :

• Lack of advanced structure for managing complex projects (no dependencies, free native Gantt...).
• Single view per table, which complicates multi-project coordination.
• Limited reporting without using third-party tools or the premium version.
• Interface too light for certain teams used to a more rigid framework (e.g. IT, consulting).

What is monday.com?

Overview of monday.com

monday.com is the project management tool that aims to centralise everything: tasks, teams, planning, automation, and even CRM or budget tracking. Launched in 2014, the platform quickly established itself as a more structured alternative to Trello, with a modular and visual approach to work management.

🎯The promise? To offer an all-in-one platform for planning, collaborating and tracking the progress of any project. Used by more than 180,000 companies worldwide, monday.com appeals as much to creative agencies as to IT, HR or marketing departments. It is particularly popular with organisations that need to customise their task management while maintaining an easy-to-use interface.

With its numerous views (tables, kanban, timeline, Gantt, workload), powerful automations and extensive integrations, monday.com is clearly targeted at structured teams who want to control their workflows from start to finish.

Key features of monday.com

monday.com is much more than just a task board. It's a truly customisable work management platform, capable of adapting to all types of project thanks to a host of features:

• Highly customisable tables with multiple column types (text, deadline, person, status, number, etc.).
• Multiple views, such as Kanban view, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart, workload view.
• Powerful automation: custom triggers to manage alerts, status, assignments, deadlines, etc.
• Integrated time tracking for manual or automatic tracking by user and by task.
• Dependency management with a link between tasks to track blockages and sequences.
• Dashboards and visual reporting via multi-project data aggregation to monitor overall progress.
• Native integrations with Slack, Teams, Google Workspace, Zoom, Asana, Jira, Notion, Zapier, etc. More on that below!
• Advanced enterprise features: rights management, roles, audits, SSO security.

monday.com

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The Most Intuitive Work Management Platform for Teams

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Advantages and disadvantages of monday.com

monday.com stands out for its rich functionality and flexibility. But it also requires a minimum of structuring and learning to get the most out of it.

✅ monday.com is the perfect toolbox for teams who want more control, data and customisation, because it offers :

• a modern, clear interface that's easy to adopt despite the wealth of options,
• highly flexible tables and customised columns
• multiple, powerful views, including Gantt, timeline and workload,
• intuitive automations, to avoid repetitive tasks,
• integrated time tracking, useful for teams that bill by the hour,
• Multi-project reporting, ideal for managers,
• Scalable, from freelancer to major account.

❌ But be warned: more options also means more configuration. monday.com requires a little time before you get the hang of it.

• A steeper learning curve than a simple tool like Trello.
• Can become complex to manage if you multiply the tables and automations without a clear structure.
• Free version is fairly limited for team use.
• Higher prices, especially for unlocking advanced views and reporting.

Trello vs monday.com: compare features

Trello and monday.com both cover the classic needs of task management, but with very different approaches.

☝️En To sum up: Trello remains an excellent kanban tool that's quick and easy to learn, perfect for teams who want to get straight to the point.

monday.com goes one step further by offering a complete and flexible platform, better suited to complex, multi-actor or highly structured projects.

Which tool makes team collaboration easier?

A good project management tool is also (and above all) a collaboration tool. Assigning tasks, comments, notifications, real-time visibility... everything needs to make teamwork more fluid, not more cumbersome.

👉 If you're looking for fluid, lightweight collaboration without complex structuring, Trello is perfect. But if you're managing a larger project team, with defined roles, several levels of responsibility or a need for precise history, monday.com offers more advanced and better integrated collaboration.

Trello vs monday.com: compare prices

Trello and monday.com both offer price plans tailored to different team sizes and functional needs.

☝️Ainsi :

• Trello offers an affordable and easy-to-learn solution, ideal for small teams or simple projects.
• monday.com offers a more robust platform with advanced features, suitable for larger teams or complex projects requiring advanced automation and integration.

Trello vs monday.com: which interface is more intuitive?

A good project management tool needs to be powerful, but also easy to use on a day-to-day basis. If the interface is too complex, time is wasted and teams lose interest. Here, Trello and Monday.com take very different approaches.

👉 Trello is all about simplicity:

• its interface is based on a system of drag-and-drop tables, lists and cards. It's minimalist, visual and, above all, ultra-intuitive.
• Anyone can create a table, add cards and move them between columns in a matter of seconds.
• It's easy to get to grips with, even for non-techies.

So Trello is perfect for teams who want to get straight to the point, without drowning in options.

👉 monday.com, on the other hand, offers a richer, more structured interface. The tool relies on visuals to make it easier to grasp and structure information. It includes :

• customisable tables with columns of various types (status, people, dates, figures, etc.),
• multiple views (table, calendar, Gantt, workload),
• self-build dashboards.

It's all visual, colourful and well thought-out. However, this tool takes some getting used to before you've mastered all its possibilities. This is clearly a more professional platform , designed for teams that need structure and advanced monitoring.

Trello vs monday.com: compare integrations

A good project management tool doesn't live in a silo. The more it integrates with your other apps (messaging, storage, CRM, time tracking...), the more it becomes a true collaboration hub.

👉 Number of integrations available

• Trello: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  Over 200 Power-Ups available, including Slack, Google Drive, Jira, Dropbox, Microsoft Teams, Asana... but some advanced integrations require a paid plan.
• monday.com: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  Over 200 native integrations directly accessible, with a clear configuration interface: Slack, Zoom, HubSpot, Google Sheets, Outlook, Zapier, Notion, etc.

👉 Easy configuration

• Trello: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  Power-Ups are easy to activate, but each integration works independently. Little overall logic or centralization of data.
• monday.com: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  Well thought-out integrations with linked automations, accessible directly from the interface of each table. A real plus for streamlining workflows.

👉 Customisation and automation

• Trello: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  Limited possibilities if you don't use Butler or external tools such as Zapier. Useful integrations, but not very modular without tinkering.
• monday.com: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  Possibility of linking integrations and automations (e.g. creating a task automatically after a Google Calendar event). More control, without coding.

☝️ The conclusion is that Trello is still very effective for quick and easy integrations, especially if you're already using the Atlassian ecosystem. But monday.com has the edge when it comes to more advanced scenarios, with a fluid and powerful integration + automation logic that's ideal for saving time and centralising information.

When should you choose Trello or monday.com?

Trello and Monday.com are not aimed at exactly the same people. The former focuses on simplicity and speed, the latter on power and customisation. Here are some typical use cases to help you make the right choice for your context.

Examples of Trello use cases

Trello is ideal if you're looking for a simple, visual tool that's quick to set up. To help you choose your project management tool, here are the situations in which Trello is the best choice:

• If you want to launch a project as a team without going through a dedicated project manager, then Trello is perfect for structuring tasks with a Kanban board.
• If you're a freelancer or small creative team: agencies, studios, consultants, who want to organise their deliverables without functional overload.
• If you're looking for event coordination or agile marketing, Trello offers campaign organisation, progress tracking and visual feedback.
• If you want to make it easy to track internal requests or basic customer support, Trello offers cards that represent requests, easily sorted by status or priority.
• If you have a hybrid business/personal use: managing customer projects, but also personal organisation, editorial planning, to-do lists, etc., Trello is the ideal tool. This encourages the autonomy of your staff.

🗣️Témoignage customer: UNICEF

We can't afford to waste time sending content by email and then spending hours searching for those emails, or working out where to retrieve tasks over several working days when we're dealing with vital information that impacts on the lives of communities. Thanks to Trello, our conversations and activities are fluid and efficient.

Tanya Accone, conseillère principale en innovation et responsable de l'équipe du GIC de l'UNICEF

Examples of use cases for monday.com

monday.com is best suited to structured teams, complex projects or multi-stakeholder environments. Here are a few examples of where monday.com is the optimal choice:

• If you are an SME with several projects and stakeholders to synchronise, monday.com offers multi-project monitoring, consolidated dashboards and visual reporting.
• If you're an agile product or tech team, monday.com offers Gantt views, a timeline, dependencies and sprint management with automation.
• If you are a growing start-up with needs for more rigorous structuring, centralisation of information and workflow automation.
• If you are a company with cross-functional needs: HR, finance, IT, marketing working on the same platform with separate permissions.
• If you have complex or multi-team customer projects, monday.com provides time tracking, customised views by department and formalised processes.

🗣️Témoignage customer : DANONE

The tool's UX is exceptional. You can find any information intuitively by clicking on a simple link: magic! As an added bonus, the dashboard templates available on the tool make it easy to set up.

Claire Petit, Chargée de Communication Digitale et Projets Evénementiels pour le Programme EVE chez Danone.

Things to remember from the Trello vs monday.com battle

The right tool depends above all on your needs, the maturity of your organisation and the complexity of your projects.

👉 If you're looking for a task management tool that's simple, visual, quick to set up and frictionless for your team, Trello remains an excellent option. Its intuitive interface, customisable cards and generous free version make it a frighteningly effective choice for getting started effortlessly.

👉 If you need a more structuring, scalable and automation-rich tool, with multiple views, time tracking, dependencies or consolidated dashboards, then Monday.com takes the lead. It is aimed at more mature project teams, growing SMEs, or any organisation that wants to centralise its management.

☝️ Our final piece of advice: the easiest thing to do is to test each one on a pilot project to see which one fits in best with the way you work.

FAQ on Trello vs monday.com

Which tool is easier to learn how to use between Trello and monday.com?

Trello is clearly easier to use as soon as you log on.
monday.com takes a little getting used to, but quickly becomes very powerful once you understand the basics. If you're just starting out or if your teams are not very technical, Trello is more accessible.

Can I manage several projects at the same time with Trello or monday.com?

Yes, but there are some notable differences:

• Trello manages several projects via separate tables, but multi-project aggregation is limited without Power-Up.
• monday.com allows you to centralise several projects in customised dashboards, with consolidated reporting.

Which platform offers the best automation?

monday.com has the edge: its automations are more powerful, more numerous and more flexible, with conditional triggers.
Trello also offers automations via Butler, but they are more limited in the free version.

Can Trello and monday.com be used on mobile?

Yes. Both Trello and Monday.com offer effective mobile applications on iOS and Android. Monday is a little denser, but very well optimised.

What's the best alternative to Trello or Monday.com?

Depending on your needs, here are some popular alternatives:

• Asana: for those who like a mix of list, calendar and timeline.
• ClickUp: ultra-complete and highly customisable, all-in-one.
• Notion: flexible, especially if you like to create your own basics.
• Wrike: for teams with complex validation workflows.