Trello review: A data-backed look

Trello overview

Trello is a project management platform that uses Kanban-style boards for visual organization. Each board includes lists where you create and move task cards, letting you track progress by dragging items across various stages. The boards update in real-time to show what's being worked on and who's responsible for each task.

How much do businesses spend on Trello?

The chart below illustrates the average quarterly spend on Trello across different business segments:

Very small businesses maintain the lowest quarterly spend on Trello, ranging from $363 in Q1 to $318 in Q4. This modest and stable investment reflects Trello's accessible pricing for smaller teams, with only a slight 12% decrease throughout the year, suggesting consistent value.

Small and medium-sized businesses show a more variable spending pattern, starting at $762 in Q1 and declining to $560 by Q4—a 27% reduction.

Larger organizations (hundreds to thousands of employees) display the most interesting spending pattern, beginning at $729 in Q1, dropping to approximately $500 in Q3, before rebounding to $713 in Q4.

The relatively modest spending across all segments highlights Trello's positioning as an economical solution regardless of organization size. For prospective buyers, these figures provide realistic benchmarks for budgeting purposes, with the expectation that your quarterly investment will likely fall between $300-$800 depending on your company size, user count, and specific feature requirements.

Who is Trello best for?

This pie chart shows the distribution of businesses using Trello across three segments: very small businesses, small and medium-sized businesses, and larger businesses (mid-market and enterprise).

Trello's user base is remarkably balanced across all business sizes: small and medium-sized businesses (39.4%), mid-market/enterprise organizations (31.3%), and very small businesses (29.2%). This distribution demonstrates that Trello works effectively for companies of all sizes.

Very small businesses (1-24 employees) appreciate Trello's simple interface and free tier options. Small and medium-sized businesses (25-99 employees) benefit from Trello's visual workflows that are powerful enough for team collaboration without being overly complex.

Despite having access to more robust enterprise tools, teams at larger companies still find value in Trello's visual simplicity and quick implementation for departmental use and specific project tracking needs.

Trello key features

Project boards

• What it does: Creates dedicated workspaces for projects, allowing you to organize all tasks and workflows in one interface.
• Key benefit: Shows project progress in real-time, helping teams track work and resolve bottlenecks.

Lists within boards

• What it does: Organizes tasks into columns within boards, typically representing different stages of work (like "To Do," "In Progress," "Done").
• Key benefit: It lets you and your team move tasks through task stages, maintaining clarity on what’s next.

Cards

• What it does: Houses individual tasks with supporting details such as descriptions, attachments, checklists, and team discussions.
• Key benefit: Consolidates all relevant information and conversations in one spot, reducing the need to switch between multiple tools.

Labels

• What it does: Adds color-coded tags to cards to signify priorities, departments, or task types.
• Key benefit: Makes it easier to visually group and filter tasks, allowing you to quickly distinguish different work categories.

Reminders

• What it does: Assign card deadlines with automatic reminders as the date nears.
• Key benefit: Drives accountability and punctual project completion through transparent deadline tracking.

Power-ups

• What it does: Links Trello to third-party apps or custom integrations like calendars.
• Key benefit: Expands Trello’s core features by adding the tools your team needs without switching between different apps.

Trello pricing

All prices reflect annual billing. The Standard plan meaningfully extends beyond the free option, offering unlimited boards and greater file storage. The Premium tier introduces advanced visualization tools and expanded automation, while the Enterprise plan emphasizes enterprise-grade security and organizational oversight—key for larger companies.

Trello pros and cons

Trello is a good fit if:

• You value visual task management. Different from other project management tools like Wrike, Trello offers Kanban-style boards.
• You manage simple to medium-complexity projects. Trello’s flexible board-list-card structure delivers clarity without adding unnecessary complexity.
• Your team size is small to medium. While it can be used by specific departments within larger organizations, it's particularly effective for focused teams.
• You want fast onboarding. Trello has a simple interface that helps new teams get started quickly.

Explore alternatives if:

• You oversee advanced or complex projects that call for Gantt charts, intricate dependencies, or deep analytics. Trello’s simplified framework may not suffice.
• You demand rich analytics. Trello’s reporting capabilities are limited. Advanced insights may require additional tools or a different product.
• Your projects involve multiple dependencies. Trello lacks native dependency mapping, making it more challenging to handle complex, interconnected efforts.
• You require enterprise-grade controls or your organization needs comprehensive security features or extensive workflow automation, Trello may feel restrictive.