Monday.com is a comprehensive work operating system with advanced automation and reporting for complex teams, while Trello is a lightweight, visual card-based tool designed for simplicity and quick adoption. Monday.com costs 2-3x more but offers significantly more features, whereas Trello excels at ease-of-use for small teams and straightforward workflows.
Monday.com vs Trello — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Choose Monday.com if your team manages complex projects with multiple dependencies, needs advanced reporting/dashboards, and operates with 10+ people across departments. Choose Trello if you prioritize simplicity, have a small team (under 15 people), work on straightforward workflows, and want to get started in minutes without extensive training.
Intuitive, visual project management platform optimized for quick implementation and ease of use.
Visual, card-based task management platform enabling teams to organize work using customizable boards.
Structured comparison data for Monday.com vs Trello with 264 attributes.
Enterprise Governance & Permissions Granularity
Ease of Use Score (Average User Feedback)
Monthly Cost (Single User, Standard Plan)
Professional Plan Price (Per User/Month)
Advanced Agile Features (Sprint Velocity Tracking)
Average Onboarding Time (Non-Technical User)
Monday.com vs Trello — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Monday.com vs Trello.
Which tool is better for a 5-person startup?
Trello is the clear winner for small teams. At 5 people, you don't need Monday.com's complexity—Trello's simplicity means your team is productive within 24 hours. You'll save $20-30/month and avoid unnecessary features. Only switch to Monday.com when you hit 12+ people managing cross-functional projects.
Can I use Trello for complex project management with dependencies?
Not effectively. Trello lacks native dependency tracking, timeline views (without paid add-ons), and resource allocation tools. Monday.com is purpose-built for this with built-in Gantt charts, task dependencies, and workload management. If you need to track which tasks block other tasks, Monday.com is required.
How much more expensive is Monday.com really?
For a 10-person team: Trello costs $50/month (at $5/user) while Monday.com costs $90/month (at $9/user) on base plans. On Pro tiers, the gap widens to $100 vs $150. However, Monday.com can eliminate the need for separate tools (reporting software, time tracking), potentially offsetting the premium.
Monday.com dominates with unlimited automation rules on all plans—you can build complex conditional workflows without coding. Trello's free plan has zero native automation; paid plans have limited capabilities. For repetitive task processes, Monday.com saves your team hours per week through automation that Trello cannot match.
Can I migrate from Trello to Monday.com later?
Yes, but it requires manual effort. Both platforms support CSV export/import, but Monday.com's richer field structure means you'll lose some data nuance in the transfer. If you think you'll outgrow Trello within 6 months, consider starting with Monday.com—the switching cost and data loss isn't worth the initial savings.