switchpoint

Project management · 2026

Plane·vs·Trello

Two solid choices in project management. Here's how they stack up on pricing, fit, and trade-offs — so you can decide in a minute.

Reviewed by Switchpoint Editors ·

Take on Trello

Trello hasn't meaningfully evolved in five years; Atlassian put product investment into Jira. If your team still uses it and is happy, don't fix what isn't broken. If you're hitting limits, the question isn't 'better Trello' — it's whether you actually need a different paradigm (Linear for shipping, Notion for context, ClickUp for ops).

Contender A

Plane

Open-source project management.

Best for

Teams wanting Linear's vibe without the lock-in.

Pricing

Free self-hosted. Cloud from $7/user/mo.

Pros

  • Open source
  • Self-hostable

Trade-offs

  • Younger product

Contender B

Trello

Kanban-style boards owned by Atlassian.

Best for

Small teams that want low-friction boards.

Pricing

Free. Standard $5/user/mo.

Pros

  • Dead simple
  • Affordable

Trade-offs

  • Limited beyond boards
  • Power-Up limits on free plan

The matrix

Side-by-side

Best for

Plane

Teams wanting Linear's vibe without the lock-in.

Trello

Small teams that want low-friction boards.

Pricing

Plane

Free self-hosted. Cloud from $7/user/mo.

Trello

Free. Standard $5/user/mo.

Top strength

Plane

Open source

Trello

Dead simple

Biggest trade-off

Plane

Younger product

Trello

Limited beyond boards

The verdict

Which should you pick?

If…Pick Plane

Teams wanting Linear's vibe without the lock-in.

If…Pick Trello

Small teams that want low-friction boards.

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