Monday.com vs Trello: Features, Pricing and Verdict
Monday.com is a full work platform from $9 per seat a month; Trello is a simpler board tool from $5 a user a month. Compare pricing and features.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-13T10:21:37+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-13T10:21:37+00:00
Monday.com vs Trello: Features, Pricing and Verdict
Monday.com and Trello both organize work on boards, but they serve different teams. Monday.com is a full work platform with timelines, dashboards, automations, and time tracking. Trello is a simpler board tool built around cards, lists, and drag-and-drop. Monday.com starts at $9 per seat a month on annual billing. Trello starts at $5 per user a month on annual billing. Both have free plans. This comparison covers pricing, features, and the free tiers, then gives a verdict for each team size.
Monday.com vs Trello pricing compared
Monday.com sells its Work Management plans per seat, with a 3-seat minimum on paid plans. Basic costs $9 per seat a month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly. Standard costs $12 per seat a month billed annually, or $14 monthly. Pro costs $19 per seat a month billed annually, or $24 monthly. Enterprise is custom priced. Yearly billing saves about 18 percent. A 10-seat team pays $90 a month on Basic, $120 on Standard, or $190 on Pro with annual billing. Plans above 40 seats need a custom quote. There is a free plan for individuals, plus a 14-day free trial of the Pro plan.
Trello sells per user with no seat minimum. Free costs $0 for up to 10 collaborators per workspace. Standard costs $5 per user a month billed annually, or $6 billed monthly. Premium costs $10 per user a month billed annually, or $12.50 monthly. Enterprise costs $17.50 per user a month billed annually, or $210 per user a year. A 10-person team pays $50 a month on Standard or $100 on Premium with annual billing. That is less than half the cost of the matching Monday.com tier.
| Plan level | Monday.com (annual, per seat) | Trello (annual, per user) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, for individuals | $0, up to 10 collaborators |
| Entry paid | Basic $9 | Standard $5 |
| Mid paid | Standard $12 | Premium $10 |
| Top paid | Pro $19 | Enterprise $17.50 |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Included in Enterprise tier |
The price gap has a reason. Monday.com charges more because each seat carries more structure. Trello charges less because it stays simple. The cheapest Monday.com plan that includes automations is Standard at $12 per seat. Basic has no automations and no integrations at all. That makes Standard the real entry price for most teams.
Monday.com vs Trello features compared
| Feature | Monday.com | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Boards, items, groups, and dashboards across projects | Boards, lists, and cards |
| Views | Timeline, Gantt, Calendar, Kanban, and dashboards | Board, Timeline, Calendar, Table, Dashboard, and Map on Premium |
| Automations | None on Basic; 250 actions a month on Standard; 25,000 on Pro | Built-in no-code automation on every board |
| Integrations | None on Basic; 250 actions a month on Standard | Unlimited Power-Ups with 200+ apps on paid plans |
| Time tracking | Pro plan and above | Through Power-Ups, not built in |
| Storage | 5 GB on Basic; 20 GB on Standard; 100 GB on Pro | Unlimited cards; attachments vary by plan |
| Admin controls | Private boards on Pro; advanced security on Enterprise | Admin controls on Premium; Atlassian Guard on Enterprise |
| Mobile apps | iOS and Android | iOS and Android, plus desktop app |
The biggest difference is depth. Monday.com treats a board as a database. Each item can hold many columns: status, person, date, formula, dependency, and more. You can roll many boards into one dashboard and track a whole department. Trello treats a card as a task. A card holds a description, a checklist, members, due dates, and attachments. That is enough for most small projects, and it is faster to learn.
Automations show the same split. Trello includes built-in automation on every board, even on the free plan. You can set rules such as moving a card when its due date passes. Monday.com locks automations behind Standard. Basic buyers get none. But Monday.com automations scale further. Pro allows 25,000 automation and integration actions a month, against 250 on Standard. Enterprise allows 250,000.
Free plans: Monday.com vs Trello
Trello's free plan is the stronger of the two. It covers up to 10 collaborators per workspace, with unlimited cards, unlimited Power-Ups, and built-in automation. Its limits are the number of boards per workspace and the absence of advanced views. For a small team or a personal project, the free plan can last for years. Monday.com's free plan is built for individuals and freelancers. It has no seat minimum problem, but it lacks the collaboration depth of the paid tiers. A team that needs shared boards will outgrow it fast.
Which tool fits which team
Pick Trello if you want simple task boards
Trello fits small teams, freelancers, and anyone who wants to start in minutes. Content calendars, hiring pipelines, and event checklists all work well as boards. The Standard plan at $5 a user is cheap, and the free plan is genuinely usable. Trello struggles when work needs reporting across many projects, or when tasks need dependencies and time tracking. At that point the board model starts to bend.
Pick Monday.com if you manage projects across a team
Monday.com fits teams that run many projects at once and need one view of all of them. Marketing teams, operations teams, and agencies get the most from it. The Timeline and Gantt views, the dashboards, and the automation caps matter here. Budget for Standard at $12 per seat, not Basic. Basic has no automations and no integrations, which removes much of the reason to pick Monday.com. Also budget for the 3-seat minimum. A solo user pays for three seats on any paid plan.
Ease of use and learning curve
Trello wins on ease of use. A new user understands boards, lists, and cards in minutes. There is almost no setup. Monday.com takes longer. You need to design your boards, choose your columns, and set up your automations. That setup pays off on large projects, but it is overhead on small ones. Both tools offer iOS and Android apps. Trello also offers a desktop app. Monday.com offers a 14-day free trial of Pro, which is the best way to test whether the extra structure helps your team.
AI credits: a newer cost on Monday.com
Monday.com now bundles AI credits with paid seats. Basic includes 1,000 credits a month, Standard includes 2,000, and Pro includes 3,000. The credits power tools such as AI agents and meeting notetakers. Monday.com says a typical 3-person team uses about 800 to 1,200 credits a month. As a guide, 1,000 credits cover roughly 50 resume screenings, 5 hours of meeting summaries, and hundreds of automated workflow updates. You can track usage in real time and buy more credits when you need to scale. Trello also has AI features, such as summarization, organization, and AI-generated boards. Trello includes them on paid plans without a separate credit meter. If you plan heavy AI use, check the credit math on both tools before you commit. A team that burns through credits each month will pay more than the headline seat price on Monday.com.
Bottom line
Choose Trello if you want the cheapest capable board tool and your work fits on cards. Standard at $5 a user a month covers most small teams, and the free plan is strong. Choose Monday.com if you need timelines, dashboards, and heavy automation across many projects. Start at Standard, not Basic, and budget $12 per seat a month on annual billing. For a team of 10, that is $120 a month against Trello Premium at $100. The price gap is small at that size. The real choice is not price. It is whether your work needs a board or a platform.