Trello vs monday.com: which is the best tool for your project and task management?

Trello or monday.com? This is a question that more and more professionals are asking themselves in their search 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:

• organize workflows,
• prioritize tasks,
• monitor deadlines,
• keep an overview without complexity.

Trello, pioneer of the kanban board, relies 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 fits your needs.

What is Trello?

Trello overview

Trello is the tool that democratized the digital kanban board for project teams around the world. Launched in 2011 and acquired by Atlassian, the platform has established itself as a standard for visual task management. Simple, but not simplistic, Trello adapts to a wide range of work contexts:

• agile project management,
• individual task tracking,
• product roadmap,
• event organization,
• customer request management.

It is now used by over 2 million teams worldwide, from solo startups to well-established enterprises.

🎯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, appeals as much to freelancers as to product, marketing or development teams.

Trello's key features

🛠️ Trello shines in its simplicity of use, but under the hood 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 organize projects into columns and visualize tasks at a glance.
• Customizable cards with due dates, attachments, checklists, comments, labels, etc.
• Lists and workflows for easy structuring of process or sprint steps.
• Assignable team members: each task can be assigned to one or more team members, with tracking.
• Automations via Butler to create automatic rules without coding (e.g. 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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Innovative and Collaborative Project Management Tool

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Advantages and disadvantages of Trello

Trello's appeal lies in its immediate ease of use, but it also shows its limitations as soon as projects become more complex.

✅Trello's strength lies in its ability to deliver 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 a technical background.
• Great freedom of use, for a wide variety of projects.
• Generous free version, with all the basics.

❌ But as you get more complex or larger, certain limitations become apparent. These may 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 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 wants to centralize everything: tasks, teams, planning, automations, 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 over 180,000 companies worldwide, monday.com appeals as much to creative agencies as to IT, HR or marketing departments. It is particularly appreciated by organizations that need to personalize 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 clearly targets structured teams who want to control their workflows from end to end.

Key features of monday.com

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

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

monday.com

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Advantages and disadvantages of monday.com

monday.com shines in terms of functionality and flexibility. But it also implies 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, more data, and more customization, because it offers :

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

❌ But beware: more options also mean more configuration. monday.com takes a little time to master.

• A steeper learning curve than a simple tool like Trello.
• Can become complex to manage if you multiply tables and automations without a clear structure.
• Free version limited for team use.
• Higher prices, especially to unlock 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 summary: Trello remains an excellent kanban tool that's quick and easy to get to grips with, perfect for teams who want to get straight to the point.

monday.com goes one step further, offering a comprehensive, flexible platform that's better suited to complex, multi-actor or highly structured projects.

Which tool best facilitates team collaboration?

A good project management tool is also (and above all) a collaboration tool. Assigning tasks, comments, notifications, real-time visibility... everything must 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, multiple 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, 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 pleasant to use on a daily basis. An interface that's too complex means wasted time and teams that lose interest. Here, Trello and Monday.com take very different approaches.

👉 Trello is all about simplicity:

• its interface is based on a drag-and-drop system of 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.

Trello is therefore 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. You'll find :

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

It's all visual, colorful 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 tracking.

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 available integrations

• 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 each table's interface. A real plus for streamlining workflows.

👉 Customization and automation

• Trello: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  Limited possibilities if you don't use Butler or external tools like Zapier. Useful integrations, but not very modular without tweaking.
• 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 its fluid and powerful integration + automation logic, ideal for saving time and centralizing information.

When to choose Trello or monday.com?

Trello and Monday.com don't exactly appeal to the same profiles. The former focuses on simplicity and speed, the latter on power and personalization. Here are a few 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 tool that's simple, visual and 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 team project 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 organize their deliverables without functional overload.
• If you're looking for event coordination or agile marketing, Trello offers campaign organization, 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 organization, editorial planning, to-do lists and so on. This encourages your employees' autonomy.

🗣️Témoignage customer: UNICEF

We can't afford to waste time sending content by e-mail and then spending hours searching for those e-mails, or figuring out where to retrieve tasks over several working days when we're dealing with vital information that impacts 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

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're an SME with several projects and stakeholders to synchronize, monday.com offers multi-project tracking, 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're a growing startup requiring more rigorous structuring, centralized information and workflow automation.
• If you're a company with cross-functional needs: HR, finance, IT, marketing collaborating on the same platform with distinct permissions.
• If you have complex or multi-team customer projects, monday.com enables time tracking, customized views by department, formalized processes.

🗣️Témoignage customer : DANONE

The tool's UX is exceptional. Any information can be found intuitively by clicking on a simple link: magic! What's more, the dashboard templates available on the tool make it easy to set parameters.

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

What to learn from the Trello vs. monday.com battle

The right tool depends above all on your needs, the maturity of your organization 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, customizable 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 advantage. It's aimed at more mature project teams, growing SMEs, or any organization that wants to centralize its management.

☝️ Our final tip: it's easiest to test each one on a pilot project to see which one best fits your way of working.

FAQ on Trello vs monday.com

Which tool is easier to get to grips with, Trello or monday.com?

Trello is clearly easier to use right from the start.
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 in parallel with Trello or monday.com?

Yes, but with some notable differences:

• Trello manages multiple projects via separate boards, but multi-project aggregation is limited without Power-Up.
• monday.com lets you centralize several projects in customized 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 Butler automations, but these are more limited in the free version.

Can Trello and monday.com be used on the move?

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

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

Depending on your needs, here are a few popular alternatives:

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