Jira is an enterprise-grade project management platform designed for complex workflows with advanced reporting and customization, while Trello is a lightweight, visual kanban tool optimized for simplicity and small-to-medium team collaboration. Jira costs 3-5x more and requires significantly steeper learning curves, making Trello better for teams prioritizing ease of use over sophisticated tracking.
Jira vs Trello — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Enterprise project management platform with advanced agile workflows, reporting, and automation.
Visual kanban-based project management tool emphasizing simplicity and ease of collaboration.
Pricing (Per User/Month). Learning Curve (Hours to Proficiency). Custom Workflows Supported. Reporting & Analytics Features. Max Team Size (Recommended). API Rate Limits (Calls/Hour). Integration Ecosystem
Choose Jira if your team needs advanced agile workflows, detailed reporting for compliance, complex dependency management, or scaling beyond 50 people — it's the standard for enterprise development teams. Choose Trello if you prioritize simplicity, visual collaboration, faster onboarding, and cost efficiency for small-to-medium teams managing straightforward projects or multiple concurrent initiatives.
Jira: Full Scrum with sprints, backlogs, velocity tracking | Trello: Basic Kanban only, no sprints
Jira: 10+ users, enterprise scale | Trello: 1-10 users, small teams
Jira: Highly customizable workflows and fields | Trello: Limited customization
Jira: Advanced dashboards, burndowns, velocity charts | Trello: Basic progress tracking only
Jira: Unlimited custom workflows and fields | Trello: N/A
Jira: Advanced (SOC 2, HIPAA) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Enterprise-grade bug tracking | Trello: N/A
Jira: Deep CI/CD & DevOps integration | Trello: N/A
Jira: $14.54/month (Premium) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Full agile reporting suite included | Trello: N/A
Jira: Built-in cycle time metrics | Trello: N/A
Jira: Full cross-project and portfolio reporting | Trello: N/A
Jira: External integration via webhooks and apps | Trello: N/A
Jira: Available at Premium ($14.54/user/month) | Trello: N/A
Jira: 15-500+ with complex workflows | Trello: N/A
Jira: Steeper learning curve, more heavyweight | Trello: N/A
Jira: 1000+ apps in Marketplace | Trello: 240+ Power-Ups available
Jira: Steep (Advanced features require training) | Trello: Minimal - intuitive interface
Jira: Via marketplace add-ons | Trello: N/A
Jira: Native with Confluence, Bitbucket, and 400+ apps | Trello: N/A
Jira: Small (1-10) to Enterprise (1000+) | Trello: N/A
Jira: 60-80% of teams require professional services | Trello: N/A
Jira: Project Management & Issue Tracking | Trello: N/A
Jira: Full sprint planning with burndown charts and velocity tracking | Trello: N/A
Jira: Limited to issue descriptions and project documentation | Trello: N/A
Jira: Issue and project-level search capabilities | Trello: N/A
Jira: Standard mobile interface for viewing and managing issues | Trello: N/A
Jira: 10+ users for optimal use | Trello: N/A
Jira: Seamless integration with Confluence for context and documentation | Trello: N/A
Jira: iOS, Android, native apps | Trello: N/A
Jira: Yes, limited | Trello: Yes (unlimited basic features)
Jira: Native GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket support | Trello: N/A
Jira: Pages (limited collaboration) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Advanced with burndown charts | Trello: N/A
Jira: Code-based scripting and automation | Trello: N/A
Jira: Up to 10 (limited features) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Issue tracking, sprint planning, agile boards | Trello: N/A
Jira: Requires third-party tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Data Center available (enterprise) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Full support (Scrum, Kanban, custom) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Deep two-way integration | Trello: N/A
Jira: No (requires external integration) | Trello: N/A
Jira: No (Bitbucket integration required) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Advanced (unlimited custom fields, swim lanes, automation) | Trello: N/A
Advanced Agile Features (Sprint Velocity Tracking)
Jira: Advanced with historical trending | Trello: N/A
Jira: Limited offline access | Trello: N/A
Jira: Native deep integration (GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, etc.) | Trello: N/A
Jira: Automation through scripting only | Trello: N/A
Jira: Yes - up to 10 users | Trello: N/A
Jira: Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Scrumban | Trello: N/A
Jira: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps | Trello: N/A
Jira: 30+ (burndown, velocity, CFD, etc.) | Trello: 4 (timeline, calendar, map, table)
Jira: Native sprint planning, capacity planning, scope management | Trello: Manual board cloning required
Jira: Free tier for up to 10 users | Trello: Free tier for unlimited users (basic features)
Jira: 500+ apps via Marketplace | Trello: 150+ Power-Ups available
Jira: 50+ to unlimited | Trello: Up to 50 optimal
Jira: Web app + Jira Mobile (limited) | Trello: N/A
Jira: $7.16 (Standard) - $29 (Enterprise) | Trello: $5 (Standard) - $17.50 (Business)
Jira: 40+ (burndown, velocity, CFD, sprint) | Trello: 5 (calendar, timeline, table, map, dashboard)
Jira: Unlimited with Jira Automation + Scripts | Trello: Limited kanban/scrum with Butler rules
Jira: 1000+ (higher tiers unlimited) | Trello: 300
Jira: Unlimited in free tier | Trello: Unlimited in free tier
Jira: N/A | Trello: Unlimited boards and cards
Jira: N/A | Trello: Not natively supported
Jira: N/A | Trello: Mobile offline access available
Jira: N/A | Trello: Board, List, Calendar, Map
Jira: N/A | Trello: Comments, mentions, activity feed
Jira: N/A | Trello: $5 per user (Standard)
Jira: N/A | Trello: Basic with Butler automation
Jira: N/A | Trello: Emerging AI Power-Ups available
Jira: N/A | Trello: No - requires integrations
Jira: N/A | Trello: Checklist-based subtasks
Jira: N/A | Trello: Low - intuitive visual interface
Jira: N/A | Trello: No, manual tracking only
Jira: N/A | Trello: 3 (Kanban, Calendar, Table)
Monthly Cost (Single User, Standard Plan)
Jira: N/A | Trello: $99 (Standard at $10/user)
Professional Plan Price (Per User/Month)
Jira vs Trello — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Jira vs Trello. Contains 166 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Jira vs Trello — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Jira vs Trello.
Which tool is better for small startups?
Trello is better for startups under 15 people. Its $5/user/month cost, 2-4 hour onboarding, and visual simplicity reduce overhead. Jira becomes cost-effective only when you need multi-sprint planning, burndown charts, or 50+ contributors — typically at Series A+ funding levels. Trello's free tier supports unlimited cards, making it viable while bootstrapping.
Can Trello handle Scrum methodology like Jira does?
Trello can visualize basic Scrum with boards, lists, and cards representing sprints, but it lacks native sprint automation, velocity tracking, and burndown charts. Jira provides 8+ Scrum-specific reports, automated sprint duration enforcement, and story point estimation. For teams doing strict Scrum with velocity metrics, Jira's $18/user/month is a necessary cost; Trello requires workarounds via Butler automation.
How do Jira and Trello differ in reporting for stakeholders?
Jira provides 40+ native reports including cumulative flow diagrams, sprint velocity trends, and cycle time analytics — critical for C-suite visibility in regulated industries. Trello offers 5 basic views (calendar, timeline, dashboard) but no burndown, velocity, or predictive analytics. Trello's gaps require exporting data to Excel or using third-party tools, adding 3-5 hours/month of manual work for stakeholder dashboards.
Can both tools handle enterprise security requirements?
Jira Enterprise supports SSO, SAML 2.0, audit logging, IP whitelisting, and 8+ permission roles needed for SOC 2 Type II compliance. Trello Business tier supports SSO and audit logs but lacks fine-grained role-based access controls. For companies with compliance audits (healthcare, finance), Jira's $29/user/month Enterprise plan is required; Trello Business ($17.50) is insufficient for HIPAA/PCI-DSS environments.
Which tool integrates better with development tools (GitHub, Jenkins, Slack)?
Jira has 1000+ integrations with native GitHub/Bitbucket auto-linking, Jenkins pipeline visibility, and Slack workflow automation. Trello has 240 Power-Ups but relies on Zapier (third-party, $19-$99/month) for similar GitHub-to-Trello ticket syncing. Jira's developer-centric design saves engineering teams 4-6 hours/week on context-switching; Trello requires external tools, increasing toolchain complexity.
Pricing (Per User/Month): Jira has $7.16 - $29, while Trello has $5 - $17.50.
Consider: Learning Curve (Hours to Proficiency)
Learning Curve (Hours to Proficiency): Jira has 20-40 hours, while Trello has 2-4 hours.
Custom Workflows Supported: Jira has Unlimited with automation, while Trello has Limited to kanban/scrum.
Consider: Reporting & Analytics Features
Reporting & Analytics Features: Jira has 40+ native reports + burndowns, while Trello has 3-5 basic reports.
Max Team Size (Recommended): Jira has Unlimited (designed for 50+), while Trello has Up to 50 optimal.
API Rate Limits (Calls/Hour): Jira has 1000+ unlimited tiers, while Trello has 300 standard tier.
Integration Ecosystem: Jira has 1000+ apps via Marketplace, while Trello has 240+ Power-Ups available.