Trello vs. ClickUp: Choosing the Best Project Management Software

Project planning is essential for every team’s success, and trying to manage work manually via email, sticky notes, notepads, and spreadsheets doesn’t work effectively.

According to a Wellingtone study conducted in 2020 involving 111 organizations spread across 29 countries, more than a quarter of all project teams reported working under the frustration of a lack of proper collaboration tools.

The easier way to communicate priorities and ensure everyone is on the same page is by using project management software that places all communication in a centralized place and makes it easy for every team member to know their assigned tasks and priority areas.

If you’re tired of dealing with droopy sticky notes, messy whiteboards, or shouting all over the office demanding results from fellow team members, project management software such as Trello & ClickUp is the modern way to regain control and overcome workspace chaos as you tackle your deliverables with peace of mind.

While both tools remain popular among individuals, teams, and organizations across the globe, choosing the best tools for your business can be an uphill task.

This article will closely examine project management (PM) software Trello vs. ClickUp, assessing their strengths and weaknesses to help you make the right decision based on your needs. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Overview

Overview of ClickUp

ClickUp is project management software that seeks to replace all PM tools and house them in a singular location.

ClickUp workspace comprises significant features like boards, lists, calendars, tables, timelines, charts, activity maps, mind maps, documents, comments, workloads, and forms.

Besides the ability to create dashboards and multiple workspaces, you can also add attachments and comments in addition to customizing templates to cover personal usage, operations, project management, and human resources. Additional functionalities include:

• Sales and customer relationship management.
• Recruiting.
• IT professional services and support.    

From the onset, ClickUp presents as a feature-packed sophisticated PM tool with the capacity to satisfy different use cases involving complete automation, task management, and team collaboration.

Users can set milestones, visualize reports and assess project goals in real-time. And thanks to its many integrations, ClickUp is the proper management tool for running a project involving a large clientele. Its dedicated users include firms like Samsung, IBM, and Presidio.    

Overview of Trello

Trello is designed to offer a primary and highly user-friendly interface that doesn’t include the many features provided by competitor ClickUp. Christened the “productivity powerhouse,” Trello still does well by offering a PM visualization tool enabling teams and individuals to collaborate on projects they’re working on efficiently.

Trello users can access cards, boards, lists, and other related features that facilitate easier tracking, managing, and organizing tasks. 

For users who want to get into things quickly, Trello presents a simple learning that only requires one to create an account and begin building boards as soon as they’re done.

Moreover, a user can use a simple template to create multiple workspaces, which they can view via Kanban boards, dashboards, calendars, timelines, and maps. Other available elements include the ability to manage, track and organize tasks.   

Trello is popular among users, enabling them to streamline operations in their business spaces with some reputable organizations like Zoom, Coinbase, and Google. Also, Trello’s versatility traverses the corporate space and beyond to incorporate personal issues like creating content calendars, writing books, or even planning weddings.  

Trello vs. ClickUp: Feature Summary

Feature	Trello	ClickUp
Integration with Other Tools	✅	✅
Customization and Flexibility	✅	✅
Ease of Use	✅	❌
Collaboration	✅	✅
Time Tracking and Reporting	❌	✅
Mobile Compatibility	✅	✅
Customer Support	✅	✅
Budgeting	❌	✅
Drawbacks and Limitations	✅	✅

Trello vs. ClickUp: Pricing

Both Trello vs. ClickUp present different pricing lists, meaning a breakdown is necessary so you can make an informed decision. 

Trello

• Free plan: Designed for small teams dealing with basic tasks, available as the free version. 
• Standard plan: Starts at $6 monthly per user but drops to $5 monthly when you pay annually. The package incorporates all aspects of the free plan but has additional custom fields, including saved searches and unlimited storage. 
• Premium plan: Designed for people running multiple projects as it comprises tables, calendars, map views, and dashboards. The plan costs $12.50 per user but drops to $10 monthly if billed annually.  
• Enterprise plan: The Enterprise plan that costs $17.50 per user monthly when billed annually is designed for large organizations. It comes with all the features of premium projects, multi-board guests, and unlimited workspaces. 

ClickUp

• Free plan: ClickUp’s free program allows unlimited projects, tasks, and members besides securing access via two-factor authentication and accessing 24/7 customer support. 
• Unlimited plan: starting at $9 per user monthly or $5 when billed annually, this plan has all the features of the free program in addition to custom fields, unlimited storage, and numerous integrations.   
• Business and Business Plus plan: The former goes for $19 monthly or $12 when billed annually, with the latter costing $29 monthly or $19 when billed annually. They include all the unlimited plan features but introduce advanced features like subtasks in multiple lists or granular time estimates. 
• Enterprise plan: The Enterprise plan offers tailor-made pricing based on large organizations’ specific needs and desired features. Users can enjoy a 30-day free trial for users interested in the Unlimited, Business, and Enterprise plans.

Our Verdict 

ClickUp offers the most appealing pricing plan considering the features it provides with the free plan and more dynamic elements in the paid plans. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Integration

Trello

As with all other project management tools, integrations enhance productivity; you can integrate Trello with tools like Slack, Zapier, Evernote, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Dropbox, Jira Software, GitHub, Asana, and Salesforce.

ClickUp

A shortlist of ClickUp’s eligible interactions includes tools like Zoom, Hubspot, Harvest, Trello, Google Drive, JIRA, Zapier, Evernote, GitHub, and Slack.

Our Verdict

While both Trello vs. ClickUp has an almost equal number of integrations, ClickUp beats its rival as it integrates with Trello. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Customization

Trello 

Trello allows you to create your workspace, design lists, board, and cards from scratch and just how you want them. Nonetheless, there are custom templates you can choose from to avoid the hassle of creating one. Users can attach mockups and photos to illustrate ideas to other team members. 

ClickUp 

Users can control the notifications they wish to receive or mention team members during a discussion by pressing “@” or editing comments they have already sent. Besides offering numerous customizable pre-build templates, users can create custom field and task-based statuses. 

Our Verdict

ClickUp takes the crown by offering more customizable features for handling tasks effectively. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Ease of Use

A project management tool is only as good as its intuitiveness, including how you can navigate the platform without much assistance, as that will determine how well a project runs. 

Trello 

To use Trello, sign up, create your workspace, include other team members, and begin assigning task cards. The app’s drag-and-drop interface enables users to move items around the board as the need arises quickly. 

ClickUp

The ClickUp setup appears cumbersome with the vast array of features a user has to choose from, making it cumbersome for the uninitiated. Moreover, the user interface doesn’t look too appealing. 

Our Verdict

Trello is the winner here; you can be up and running in a few minutes.

Trello vs. ClickUp: Collaboration

Trello 

Trello provides a commenting feature where members freely communicate on detailed cards or tasks. It also offers enhanced collaboration by integrating with third-party tools like Slack.   

ClickUp 

ClickUp offers collaboration tools enabling users to share screens and files, create reports, and mention themselves in real-time chats. A built-in activity feed enables team members to track changes on the move.    

Our Verdict 

ClickUp wins here as it offers more independent collaboration features.

Trello vs. ClickUp: Time Tracking and Reporting

Trello 

Trello runs a reporting and time-tracking function via third-party integration with a calendar power-up you can use to display cards with due dates, plus the ability to switch between weeks or months, whatever is preferable. The tracking feature also allows the creation of checklists, marking resolved tasks or those in progress, and tailor-made statuses for describing progress.  

ClickUp 

ClickUp has an in-built time-tracking feature that enables team members to monitor the time spent on a task or project. You can choose between tracking time manually within the platform and using a timer. Moreover, you can generate task management reports and export them in different formats, including spreadsheets or PDFs.   

Our Verdict 

ClickUp offers better tracking and reporting features with its built-in time tracker, identifying issues of monitoring progress a walk in the park. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Customer Support

Trello 

The Trello customer support department allows users to make queries using a request form on their website or via email. The tool also offers a dedicated YouTube channel and a knowledge base comprising hundreds of articles for user assistance. Trello has at least ten on-demand webinars addressing the basics, automation, hacks, etc. 

ClickUp 

ClickUp users can contact customer care via email or a request form on the website in addition to live chat. The live chat feature makes ClickUp stand out from other PM software since it’s less common in this domain.

Moreover, ClickUp has other communication channels, such as a user’s private Facebook group, a YouTube channel, numerous live and on-demand webinars, and a ClickUp University offering over 20 self-paced user classes.   

Our Verdict 

Both Trello vs. ClickUp offer different ways for users to seek help, but our vote on this metric goes to ClickUp because of the live chat support. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Budgeting

Trello 

Trello needs functionalities dealing with invoicing, billing, or budgeting. If your project requires these particular features, you must use additional software alongside this tool. 

ClickUp 

ClickUp is designed to track your project’s budget, meaning you can easily tie your financial goals to your project’s progress. However, the billing and invoicing features aren’t so advanced since you can’t use them to make direct payments. 

Our Verdict 

ClickUp may have a slight advantage over Trello on this vote.

Trello vs. ClickUp: Drawbacks

Trello

Trello doesn’t fit the bill for a PM tool for large teams or organizations since you can’t interact between boards. Also, its design is such that workflows become complicated unless you integrate external tools.

That you must be fully connected to the internet to enjoy maximum functionality can become an impediment, as the free plan is limited to only 10MB storage. At the same time, the rest have a 250 MB caveat. All these make Trello unsuitable for medium to large-scale organizations. 

ClickUp

ClickUp’s setup can look intimidating for beginners due to its overloaded features and UI design. Moreover, its learning curve is high, meaning you’ll need longer to understand using the tool entirely. Customer reviews suggest the tool is easily affected by bugs, and just like Trello, you can’t access it unless you’re fully connected to the internet, and paid plans can be out of reach for most people. 

Trello vs. ClickUp: Use Cases

Trello

Emerging Austin, Texas-based entrepreneur and owner of Desk Plants Lawrence Hanley report a 30% growth after adopting Trello. After struggling to keep his team connected with current information and getting entangled with the ups and downs of running a small business, Trello became his savior, helping him streamline his business within six weeks.

ClickUp

David Corner of Stanley Security had relied on email and Excel for task management and internal communications, but the COVID-19 pandemic complicated matters. Their search for a scalable project management tool to boost productivity and eliminate information silos saw them integrate ClickUp. The result was an 80% improvement in teamwork, a 50% reduction in reporting time, and 8 hours saved weekly on meetings.

What’s the Best Project Management Software for You?

Our ClickUp vs. Trello guide has looked at several standard features and slight differences between the two PM software. Are you still struggling with making comparisons in your mind? Below is an executive summary of what we’ve said so far:  

Why Choose ClickUp over Trello

• ClickUp has more features than Trello, which must have additional Power-Ups to function
• ClickUp is more customizable and flexible  
• ClickUp has extended workflow automation abilities 
• You can track metrics, and performance indicators and build custom dashboards 
• ClickUp could be cheaper than Trello in the long run when you consider the extra fees you pay for Power-Ups

Why Choose Trello over ClickUp

• Trello is easy to set up compared to the reasonably complex ClickUp configuration
• Trello has fewer features; therefore, easier to grasp
• Trello offers a selection of integrations and Power-Ups for extended functionality  
• Trello offers a free plan for smaller project owners

Trello’s features make it ideal for individuals with small projects or small project teams doing basic tasks. Trello may be slow in responding to users’ concerns, but the team is primarily handy when you need assistance. 

ClickUp, on the other hand, is designed for large corporate bodies that prefer to find all the necessary tools on a single platform. Customer reviews show that the customer service department is among the most responsive in the market, meaning you can get swift responses when you reach out. Our final vote goes to ClickUp. 

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