The Best Trello Alternatives in 2026
Tolodora Editorial Team
Independent software reviews for founders and small businesses.
Quick answer
The best Trello alternatives in 2026 are ClickUp, Plaky and Asana. ClickUp is our top overall pick, best for teams that want to grow well beyond simple boards. See the full ranked comparison below.
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Trello's kanban boards are brilliant for their simplicity, drag a card, feel productive. The problem shows up when a project grows: no timelines, limited reporting, and workflows that start to feel cramped once you need more than lists of cards. The good news is you can step up to more power without losing the visual, drag-and-drop feel that made Trello nice in the first place.
Here are six Trello alternatives worth a look in 2026, ranked on value, features, ease of use and support. They range from 'basically free Trello with more views' to full work platforms that do a great deal more. Our Asana alternatives and monday.com alternatives guides cover neighbouring options. More in project management.
Prices below are each tool's published 2026 pricing (most per user per month), but project tools tweak plans often, so check the current figure before you commit. Ratings are our own editorial calls to help you compare.
| Tool | Starts at | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ClickUp | Free; from ~$7/user/mo | Yes | Teams that want to grow well beyond simple boards |
| Plaky | Free; from ~$4/user/mo | Yes (generous) | Budget-minded teams who want free boards without tight limits |
| Asana | Free; from ~$10.99/user/mo | Yes | Growing teams that want structured, professional project management |
| Notion | Free; from ~$10/user/mo | Yes | Teams who want projects and documentation together |
| monday.com | From ~$9/seat/mo | Yes (small) | Teams who want a visual, customizable work platform |
| Jira | Free; from ~$7.75/user/mo | Yes | Software and engineering teams running agile development |
| Tool | Value | Support | Ease of use | Features | Overall | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClickUp | 9.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 8.3 | Teams that want to grow well beyond simple boards |
| Plaky | 10.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 8.3 | Budget-minded teams who want free boards without tight limits |
| Asana | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | Growing teams that want structured, professional project management |
| Notion | 8.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.8 | Teams who want projects and documentation together |
| monday.com | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 7.8 | Teams who want a visual, customizable work platform |
| Jira | 7.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 7.5 | Software and engineering teams running agile development |
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| # | Tool | Best for | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ClickUp | Teams that want to grow well beyond simple boards | 4.1/5 |
| 2 | Plaky | Budget-minded teams who want free boards without tight limits | 4.1/5 |
| 3 | Asana | Growing teams that want structured, professional project management | 4.0/5 |
| 4 | Notion | Teams who want projects and documentation together | 3.9/5 |
| 5 | monday.com | Teams who want a visual, customizable work platform | 3.9/5 |
| 6 | Jira | Software and engineering teams running agile development | 3.8/5 |
ClickUp
- Pricing
- 9.0/10
- Functionality
- 10.0/10
- Ease of use
- 7.0/10
- Support
- 7.0/10
What I like
Keeps the boards you love, then adds every view and feature Trello never had.
Best for
Teams that want to grow well beyond simple boards
ClickUp is the natural 'Trello, but it can grow with us' upgrade. You still get kanban boards, but alongside them sit list, timeline/Gantt, calendar and other views, plus docs, goals, automations and dashboards, far more than Trello offers. The free plan is genuinely capable, and paid tiers start around $7 a month. The honest trade is that all that power means more to set up and a steeper first hour than Trello's instant simplicity. But if you like Trello's visual style and just keep bumping into its limits, ClickUp gives you room to grow into serious project management without paying premium prices.
Plaky
- Pricing
- 10.0/10
- Functionality
- 7.0/10
- Ease of use
- 9.0/10
- Support
- 7.0/10
What I like
A genuinely free, generous Trello-style board tool, no artificial squeeze.
Best for
Budget-minded teams who want free boards without tight limits
Plaky (from CAKE.com, the team behind Clockify) is the pick if you basically want Trello but with a more generous free plan. It offers colorful, flexible boards and tables for managing tasks and projects, with a free tier that doesn't squeeze you nearly as hard on the essentials, and very cheap paid plans (from around $4 a month) when you need more. It's simpler and less feature-stacked than ClickUp, which is kind of the point, it stays close to Trello's easy spirit. It won't give you deep Gantt charts or heavy automation. But for a small, budget-conscious team that wants straightforward, affordable (or free) boards, Plaky is a smart, no-fuss alternative.
Asana
- Pricing
- 7.0/10
- Functionality
- 9.0/10
- Ease of use
- 8.0/10
- Support
- 8.0/10
What I like
The polished step up, boards plus timelines, workflows and reporting that actually scale.
Best for
Growing teams that want structured, professional project management
Asana is the polished, grown-up option for teams that have outgrown cards-on-a-board. It keeps a board view but surrounds it with lists, timelines, workflow rules and reporting, all in a clean, reliable interface that scales smoothly as your team and projects get more complex. The free plan covers small teams, with paid tiers from around $10.99 a month. It's pricier than Trello and a bit more structured, so it's less 'toss some cards up' and more 'run projects properly.' But for a growing team that wants dependable, well-designed project management, without ClickUp's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink sprawl, Asana hits a very professional sweet spot.
Notion
- Pricing
- 8.0/10
- Functionality
- 8.0/10
- Ease of use
- 8.0/10
- Support
- 7.0/10
What I like
Boards living right next to your docs, notes and wikis in one flexible workspace.
Best for
Teams who want projects and documentation together
Notion is the alternative for teams whose work is as much about documents as tasks. You can build kanban boards from its databases, but the real appeal is that those boards live alongside your notes, docs, wikis and roadmaps, all linked together in one workspace. If you've ever felt annoyed flipping between Trello and a separate doc tool, Notion collapses that into one place. The free plan is generous, with paid tiers from around $10 a month. It's less of a dedicated, out-of-the-box project tool than Asana, you assemble your own system. But for teams that want tasks and knowledge in one connected home, Notion is uniquely flexible.
monday.com
- Pricing
- 6.0/10
- Functionality
- 9.0/10
- Ease of use
- 8.0/10
- Support
- 8.0/10
What I like
Colorful, visual and highly customizable, with automations Trello can only dream of.
Best for
Teams who want a visual, customizable work platform
monday.com is the bright, visual work platform that keeps Trello's colorful, drag-friendly feel but adds serious muscle: multiple views (board, timeline, Gantt, calendar), powerful automations, dashboards and integrations. It's genuinely enjoyable to look at and set up, which helps adoption across non-technical teams. Pricing starts around $9 per seat a month (with a small free plan and a three-seat minimum on paid tiers). It can get pricey as your team grows, and there's more to configure than Trello. But if you want that visual, customizable style with a lot more power under the hood, monday.com is a popular and polished step up from Trello.
Jira
- Pricing
- 7.0/10
- Functionality
- 9.0/10
- Ease of use
- 6.0/10
- Support
- 8.0/10
What I like
The serious choice for software teams, agile boards, sprints and dev workflows done right.
Best for
Software and engineering teams running agile development
Jira (like Trello, made by Atlassian) is the heavyweight for software development specifically. If your 'projects' are really sprints, backlogs, bugs and releases, Jira is built for exactly that, with agile boards, sprint planning, roadmaps, and deep integration with developer tools. It's far more capable than Trello for engineering workflows, and since it's in the Atlassian family, moving over is well-supported. The catch is complexity: Jira is overkill and genuinely confusing for simple, non-technical task tracking. It has a free tier and paid plans from around $7.75 a month. For a general team, pick something friendlier. But for a software team that's outgrown Trello, Jira is the serious, agile-native answer.
The verdict
If you want Trello's feel with room to grow, ClickUp adds every view and feature you were missing, and Plaky is the genuinely-free, generous pick if budget is the priority. Asana is the polished step up for growing teams, Notion is perfect when projects and docs belong together, monday.com brings colorful power and automations, and Jira is the serious choice for software teams running agile. Pick based on how much structure (and complexity) you actually want.
Whatever you shortlist, run your real work through it for a week before committing — the right tool is the one that quietly disappears and lets you get back to it. And if you build software like this yourself, you can list it on Tolodora free.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best free alternative to Trello?
Plaky and ClickUp have the strongest free plans, Plaky stays close to Trello's simple, board-based style with a generous free tier, while ClickUp's free plan packs in far more features (multiple views, docs, automations). Asana, Notion and Jira also have useful free tiers, so you can trial several before paying.
Which Trello alternative adds timelines and Gantt charts?
ClickUp, Asana, monday.com and Jira all offer timeline/Gantt views, which is one of Trello's biggest gaps. ClickUp and monday.com give you the widest range of views (board, timeline, calendar, and more), so if 'I love boards but need a timeline too' is your situation, those two are ideal.
Which alternative is simplest, like Trello?
Plaky is the closest to Trello's easy, board-first simplicity (with a better free plan), and Notion can be kept simple if you just use its boards. ClickUp, monday.com and especially Jira are more powerful but take more setup, so if you specifically want to keep things Trello-simple, Plaky is the most natural swap.
Which Trello alternative is best for software teams?
Jira, without question, it's purpose-built for agile software development (sprints, backlogs, bug tracking, roadmaps) and is made by Atlassian, the same company behind Trello, so migration is well-supported. ClickUp also works well for dev teams that want a lighter, more general tool, but Jira is the agile-native specialist.
Can I import my Trello boards into these tools?
Yes, most offer a Trello importer. ClickUp, Asana, Jira and monday.com all have dedicated Trello import options that bring over your boards, lists and cards, and since Jira and Trello are both Atlassian, that path is especially smooth. Expect to tidy up and set up new features (like timelines or automations) after importing.
Sources & further reading
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