Written by Fernanda Alvarez Piñeiro Reviewed by James Macey Updated on March 21, 2023 On this page ClickUp monday.com Notion Smartsheet Airtable Why is some well-known project management software not on this list? Is choosing a Trello competitor really the right option for me? What's the best free alternative to Trello? Expert Verdict How We Test Project Management Software FAQs Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. After lots of meticulous analysis, our independent research finds that ClickUp is the best alternative to Trello. Its great affordability, ease of use, and customer satisfaction all make it a solid bet if you’re looking for a new project management tool.For as little as $5 per user, you have access to a wide range of features like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, custom and preset templates, all of which can help your project management savinness.Trello may be a recognizable name within the project management sphere but it does have a few downsides, such as very few collaboration features, and its customer support is far from being the best. So if you’re looking for an alternative, we honestly don’t blame you. That’s why we’ve put the best 5 Trello alternatives under a microscope, ensuring you feel confident in your next project management investment.When you’re looking for your next project management platform, your shopping list should include three main criteria: ease of use, pricing, and project and workflow creation. We’ve used these as guiding principles to help you find the best Trello alternatives. However, keep in mind Trello is very unique, so the alternatives you’ll find here are similar – but better– to Trello in a number of ways. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Very basic projects Trello All-round Trello alternative ClickUp Modern design monday.com Collaboration features and integrations Notion Ease of use Smartsheet Spreadsheet fans Airtable Best For Very basic projects Best For All-round Trello alternative Best For Modern design Best For Collaboration features and integrations Best For Ease of use Best For Spreadsheet fans Price $5 – $17.50 Price $5 – $19 per month Price $9 – $19 per month Price $8 – tailored Price $7 – $25 per month Price $10 – tailored Key features Robust automation builderNice, customizable interfaceEasy-to-tweak systemsKanban board and custom fieldsPreset and custom project templates Key features Preset chartsCustom project templatesCustom automationsGantt chartMilestones24/7 live support Key features Gantt chartOver 200 templates for projects and itemsSub-task milestones and dependencies Key features Shared team calendarFile sharingGantt chart, sub-tasks, dependencies Key features Email customer supportGantt chartKanban boardCustom project templatesCustom automationsTeam instant-messenger Key features Kanban boardSlack, Github, WordPress and Stripe integrationsCustomized fieldsReporting and analytics Compare Prices Try ClickUp Try monday.com Compare prices Try Smartsheet ClickUp – Best Trello Alternative ClickUp 4.6 Pricing $5 - tailored Try ClickUp Quick overview Compared to Trello, ClickUp is an impressively powerful project management tool because of its wealth of security features, ease of use, affordability, and customer satisfaction, which is why it scores a stellar overall 4.6/5 in our research. Keep in mind it also equalizes or outcompetes Trello across all the criteria we reviewed, which includes usability, pricing, customer support, features, and customer support.What we like about ClickUp is its generous range of task management tools. Across all plans you can use a Gantt chart, Kanban board, custom and preset templates, and a spreadsheet view, as well as letting you set milestones, subtasks, and dependencies. ClickUp is also a very safe option, featuring two-factor authentication, guest access, and user permissions, which help keep your project management away from prying eyes.However, where ClickUp falters is with its customer support. Scoring an average 3.8/5 in this category in our research, you don’t have access to onboarding assistance or a community forum. Even if it isn’t the highest score, it’s still a strong alternative to Trello, which scores a dismal 1.8/5 for customer support. Read more + Read less - Strengths Strong project creation and workflow features Extremely affordable Very fast and easy to use Weaknesses Not many post-project features available Collaboration features could be expanded Few integrations available Pricing See more See less ClickUp PlanPrice (per user, per month)Trello PlanPrice (per user, per month) Unlimited $5 Standard $5 Business $12 Premium $10 Business Plus $19 Enterprise $17.50 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand ClickUp vs Trello: Ease of UseIn our research, ClickUp definitely wins this round for usability, scoring a 4/5 – compared to Trello’s 3.6/5.. Here is what our senior researcher had to say: Research Insight “Setting up a project in ClickUp was a quick and easy process. Upon opening a project, users are straightaway provided with a task list which can be customized with different columns. This enables users to input all the details they need without going through multiple menus or needing to navigate the platform. Their key point of improvement here is their automation builder, which proved difficult to use when setting up the two example workflows.” James Macey, Senior researcher - ClickUp vs Trello: IntegrationsWhen it comes to integrations, Trello definitely has a better offering than ClickUp, so if integrations are a must on your search for a Trello alternative, we’d recommend looking at Smartsheet instead.IntegrationsClickUpTrelloCRM SalesforceFreshdesk, Pipedrive, SalesforceMarketing integrationsXMailchimpData/reporting XBridge24FinanceXXCommunication48+ integrationsSlacks, Teams, Hangouts, Telegram monday.com – Best Trello Alternative For Modern Design monday.com 4.6 Pricing $9 – tailored Try monday.com Quick overview monday.com is another worthy Trello alternative, smashing our research rankings with an overall 4.6/5 score. This is thanks to its numerous features and its simple (yet powerful) user interface, which allows for complex project management and an intuitive interaction with the tools that monday.com has to offer. In addition to this, monday.com has a streamlined modern design that makes it easy to understand and adapt to.Outranking Trello across all of our research categories (with the exception of pricing, where both platforms score a 4/5), monday.com also deserves praise for its customer score. With an average review score of 4.5/5 on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot, monday.com users have been more than satisfied with their experience with the platform.Where we think monday.com has some work to do is in its customer support. Scoring a disappointing 2.8/5 in our research for this category, you miss out on 24/7 live support, live chat, and phone support, leaving you out in the cold if you have an urgent project management fire to put out. Read more + Read less - Strengths Strong range of features Great user experience Easy automation builder Weaknesses Disappointing customer support Arbitrary limits on lower tiers Pricing See more See less monday.com PlanPrice (per user, per month)Trello PlanPrice (per user, per month) Basic $9 Standard $5 Standard $12 Premium $10 Pro $19 Enterprise $17.50 Enterprise Tailored Gallery See more See less Click to expand monday.com vs Trello: Ease of Usemonday.com strides ahead when it comes to usability, scoring 4.1/5 ahead of Trello’s 3.6/5. Here’s what our senior researcher had to say: Research Insight “monday takes a highly customizable approach to project management, enabling users to add as much or as little detail as they want. This is facilitated by their system called ‘Items’ which are customizable rows which can be used to represent tasks. Most of what you create on a monday ‘board’ can be edited in a matter of clicks. This approach naturally enables projects to be set up quickly. Users also aren’t required to fill in multiple fields or navigate the platform to set everything up.” James Macey, Senior Researcher - monday.com vs Trello: IntegrationsWhen it comes to Integrations, monday.com does have a wider range of options, but keep in mind that to access integrations you’ll need to be subscribed to the Standard projects plan, or above. If you’re looking for a cheaper option for integrations, we’d recommend Notion or Smartsheet.Integrationsmonday.comTrelloCRM 14 integrations, including Pipedrive, Salesforce, and ShopifyFreshdesk, Pipedrive, SalesforceMarketing integrationsHubSpot, Mailchimp, HootsuiteMailchimpData/reporting ✔Bridge24FinanceStripeXCommunicationSlack and Microsoft TeamsSlacks, Teams, Hangouts, Telegram Did You Know? Organizations that use proven project management practices waste 28 times less money than their counterparts who do not have a PM practice in place. Notion – Best Trello Alternative For Collaboration Features and Integrations Notion Pricing $8 – tailored Quick overview One of the keys to success for project management is having many collaboration channels, and Notion offers precisely that. Through our first-hand testing, we like that Notion has no limit on the number of people who can view and edit the same page or database at the same time.Alternatively, you can also ‘lock’ pages to avoid too many people editing things simultaneously, making it a handy organizational tool. You also can create teamspaces, which is a dedicated area for every team that can be customized to suit their way of working. Considering Trello only gives you task comments for collaboration features, we think Notion is a great alternative to have on your radar.Where we think Notion has room for improvement is in its set up. Even though it has a bunch of nifty tools and features that streamline your workflow, it takes a bit of time to customize to your liking. Notion also falls short in its customer support, as you can only email them or send a message if you need help. Read more + Read less - Strengths Great range of collaboration features Lots of integrations on offer Affordable Weaknesses Customer support isn’t very comprehensive Takes some time to personalize to your liking Pricing See more See less Notion PlanPrice (per user, per month)Trello PlanPrice (per user, per month) Personal Pro $4 Standard $5 Team $8 Premium $10 Enterprise Tailored Enterprise $17.50 Gallery See more See less Click to expand Notion vs Trello: Ease of UseBased on our testing of Notion, it’s a worthy competitor of Trello because it has a streamlined interface that makes finding tools and features an easy task. Here is what Notion users on Trustpilot say: User Review “The app itself is very robust with an amazing customization potential. It’s accessible on all your devices. The way it allows you to very easily embed images, links, toggles, bullet points, and more is great. It’s great if you like to create your own systems and customize them a lot. However, Notion is not for you if you expect an out-of-the-box solution to all of your problems and you don’t like spending much time setting up productivity systems.” , Trustpilot reviewer - Notion vs Trello: IntegrationsNotion is a great alternative for Trello is you want a project management tool that can double as an army knife for integrations. Although it misses out on finance integrations, it has a great range of CRM, marketing, and data integrations on offer.IntegrationsNotionTrelloCRM HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho, Capsule, AgileFreshdesk, Pipedrive, SalesforceMarketing integrations30+ platforms, including Mailchimp and HubSpotMailchimpData/reporting MySQL, Snowflake, Airtable, and moreBridge24FinanceXXCommunicationSlack, Teams, Google MeetSlacks, Teams, Hangouts, Telegram Smartsheet – Best Trello Alternative For Spreadsheet Fans Smartsheet 4.6 Pricing $7 - tailored Try Smartsheet Quick overview Smartsheet stands out from the rest because it has an intuitive and powerful interface fueled by – you guessed it – spreadsheets. Earning a commendable overall score of 4.6/5 in our research, Smartsheet allows you to quickly set up projects. This is made possible because it gives users a pre-populated spreadsheet template, loaded up with task name, duration, start date, finish date, and assignee.Smartsheet is also great because it has a very generous range of data visualization features, allowing you to access dashboards, custom chart builders, preset charts, custom widget builders, and preset widgets across all subscription plans. Because it has such an easy interface to adapt to, Smartsheet scores a 4.3/5 in usability – the highest score of all the providers we researched in this list.However, as seems to be the trend with the providers on this list, Smartsheet has an average customer support, scoring a 2.5/5 in this category in our research. You’ll only have access to email support, a knowledge base, and a community forum if something goes wrong. Read more + Read less - Strengths Excellent usability score (4.3/5) Fits like a glove for spreadsheet fans Strong range of project creation and workflow features Weaknesses Unimpressive customer support Somewhat expensive Not too many collaboration features on offer Pricing See more See less Smartsheet PlanPrice (per user, per month)Trello PlanPrice (per user, per month) Pro $7 Standard $5 Business $25 Premium $10 Enterprise Tailored Enterprise $17.50 Gallery See more See less Click to expand Smartsheet vs Trello: Ease of UseSmartsheet is the top of the top when it comes to usability, pulling the highest score (4.3/5) in this category in our research. This outranks Trello, which trails behind at 3.6/5. Here is what our senior researcher had to say: Research Insight “For users familiar with Excel or Google Sheets, Smartsheet would be quite an appealing choice. It provides users with a project management template which is a pre-populated spreadsheet with columns for task name, duration, start date, finish date, and assignee. This makes setting the project up a speedy process. It also takes quite a customizable approach which enables you to quickly implement workarounds for features they don’t provide” James Macey, Senior Researcher - Smartsheet vs Trello: IntegrationsWhen it comes to integrations, Smartsheet is a worthy Trello competitor. Although it comes short in the number of CRM platforms on offer, it makes up for it in data and reporting. Do keep in mind that Trello is better for communication integrations, so if you want an alternative that does well in this category, take a look at ClickUp.IntegrationsSmartsheetTrelloCRM SalesforceFreshdesk, Pipedrive, SalesforceMarketing integrationsXMailchimpData/reporting Power BI, Qlik, Data, TrackerBridge24FinanceAchievanXCommunicationSlackSlacks, Teams, Hangouts, Telegram Airtable – Best For Easy Set Up Airtable Pricing $10 - tailored Quick overview From our first-hand testing of Airtable, we found that it is an intuitive spreadsheet-esque software that takes some of the best features from Excel or Google Sheets and presents them in a simple user interface. The best part is that its simple language, helpful icons, and color schemes do a lot of heavy lifting, so you don’t have to be an expert in Excel to dominate this platform.It also is equipped with drag-and-drop elements to design a completely custom-made interface, which allows you to highlight all the project management details you need your team to be aware of. Its user-friendly customization makes it a great alternative to Trello.Where we think Airtable has room for improvement is in the number of integrations it offers and its customer support. Although it covers CRM, marketing, finance, and communication integrations, the number of compatible platforms is quite low. Also, if you run into a project management SOS, you’ll need to wait one to two business days for a reply from Airtable. Read more + Read less - Strengths Light and intuitive interface Highly customizable and versatile Weaknesses Few integrations on offer Customer support isn’t great Pricing See more See less Airtable PlanPrice (per user, per month)Trello PlanPrice (per user, per month) Plus $10 Standard $5 Pro $20 Premium $10 Enterprise Tailored Enterprise $17.50 Gallery See more See less Click to expand Airtable vs Trello: Ease of UseBased on our first-hand testing, and on what other users have to say, Air Table is a user-friendly alternative to Trello. Here is what users had to say: User Review “I enjoy how flexible the system is, as well as how it is mobile compatible with native cell phones and desktop apps. Airtable allows us to arrange anything, with anybody, from anywhere, at any time. It’s not intimidating for individuals new to Airtable when sharing amongst users, and I love how we can modify and arrange multiple Airtable databases. However, I dislike the lack of organizational capabilities in the free version; there is no ability to highlight a row and alter its color; this is only accessible in a premium version, which eventually forces you to upgrade” , G2 Reviewer - Airtable vs Trello: IntegrationsAirtable isn’t a great replacement for Trello when it comes to integrations. Although it covers CRM, marketing, finance, and communication integrations, its range of compatible platforms is narrower than Trello’s. If integrations are a must on your project management checklist, we’d recommend looking at Notion or monday.com instead.IntegrationsSmartsheetTrelloCRM ZendeskFreshdesk, Pipedrive, SalesforceMarketing integrationsMailchimpMailchimpData/reporting XBridge24FinanceStripeXCommunicationSlack, TwilioSlacks, Teams, Hangouts, Telegram Did You Know? 8 out of 10 project managers believe that project portfolio management is becoming a critical factor in influencing business success. Why Is Some Well-Known Project Management Software Not On This List?When it comes to comparing project management tools, placing Trello in the same bracket as other well-known names, like Jira or Asana, just doesn’t make sense. Trello doesn’t offer the same service as other project management software, namely because less features are on offer. Instead, users tend to leverage its sleek interface to visualize their pipeline in a simple manner. So, even though it can still be a helpful organizational tool, it doesn’t make sense to compare it against powerful project management platforms. Is choosing a Trello competitor really the right option for me?While Trello is definitely in our hall of fame for project management platforms, it’s not the most powerful of them all because its features offer is comparatively narrow. Whether you’re on the hunt for the perfect blend of modern design with functionality, want an easy set up, or just want to keep working with a spreadsheet-esque interface that is familiar to you, we think monday.com, ClickUp, Notion, Smartsheet, and Airtable are all choices that could fit your business. What’s the best free alternative to Trello?The best free alternative to Trello is ClickUp. As companies and individuals alike tighten their belts with the looming threat of recession, a free solution can be more appealing. With ClickUp’s free plan, you have access to virtually all the task management features (with the exception of burndown charts), and almost all of the workflow creation features (with the exception of billing and invoicing). You also can access all the collaboration features ClickUp comes equipped with, including resource management, task comments, and document editing – for free! Overall, you get a lot for paying nothing.Read more about the best free project management software. Verdict While Trello is a well-known project management tool, if you feel it’s not for you, our favorite alternative is ClickUp. With its wealth of features and its intuitive, slick interface, you can manage all sorts of complex projects. It also has an impressive average customer score of 4.5/5, so if you go for monday.com, it’s likely you’ll join a crowd of satisfied customers.If you think monday.com isn’t for you either, we’d advise you to steer your gaze towards Notion. With a generous range of collaboration features, it makes coordinating tasks and providing feedback a painless experience.Regardless of which supplier you choose, project management software is an essential tool that we highly recommend to any business looking to undertake a long-term or complex project. How We Test Project Management Software for BusinessesWe tested 14 market-leading project management software to evaluate them in terms of functionality, usability, accuracy, customer support, and more so we can make the most useful recommendations to US businesses.Our rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in five main categories of investigation and nine subcategories – in fact, we covered 51 areas of investigation in total. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers – and that's our algorithm in a nutshell!Our main testing categories for project management software are:Customer Score: external customer opinion; the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular project management provider – the market position and reputation a project management tool holds.Features: the functionalities and capabilities offered by the project management solution, including features such as task management, team collaboration, and project planning and scheduling.Customer Support: the assistance and resources provided by the project management solution provider to users, including phone support, email or chat support, and online forums.Usability Testing: this is where we get people just like you to test out the products to focus on evaluating the ease of use and user experience of the project management solution. We assess factors such as the user interface, navigation, and task organization.Cost Factors: the financial considerations associated with using a project management solution, e.g. licensing fees, subscription plans, or additional charges for advanced features or add-ons. FAQs What is the best alternative to Trello? Based on our in-depth research, the best alternative to Trello is monday.com. It has lots of features for you to get your hands on to supercharge your project management, as well as a stellar average customer score of 4.5/5. Is there a free alternative to Trello? Yes, and lots of them too! ClickUp, monday.com, Notion, Smartsheet, and Airtable all have free plans. However, our favorite free alternative is Click Up because you get lots of access compared to the rest. What is simpler than Trello? Trello, in itself, is already a pretty simple platform, but if you want something simpler, definitely take a look at Airtable. It’s easy to set up and very intuitive. Written by: Fernanda Alvarez Piñeiro Fernanda is a Mexican-born Expert Market writer, specialising in providing in-depth insights about business software to help businesses of all shapes and sizes thrive. From VoIP systems to project management software, she’s passionate about helping businesses find the tools and methods that will help give them an edge over their competitors. Fernanda has ample journalistic experience, having written for a multitude of online magazines about topics ranging from Latin American politics to cryptocurrency. Reviewed by: James Macey Senior Business Software Researcher James thinks all businesses can improve if they use the right technology. At Expert Market, he utilises his 4+ years experience as a researcher to offer specialised advice on a wide range of categories from CRM to Fleet Management.