Project management · verified 2026-07
Jira vs Trello
The default agile tracker for software teams — sprints, JQL and scale
Kanban boards anyone can use in five minutes
Atlassian versus Atlassian: the same company sells the industry's deepest agile tracker and its simplest kanban board. That makes this the rare comparison with a clean answer — it depends almost entirely on whether you run software sprints.
Round-by-round scorecard
3 – 3 (1 even)
- Round 1 — Agile depthJira takes it
Sprints, backlogs, JQL queries, burndown reports and Git/CI integrations — Jira is the standard for a reason; Trello has cards.
- Round 2 — Ease of useTrello takes it
Trello onboards anyone in minutes; Jira's configuration surface is a running joke even among its fans.
- Round 3 — Free tiereven
Opposite shapes: Jira gives 10 users with unlimited projects; Trello gives unlimited users with 10 boards. Small dev team → Jira; big casual group → Trello.
- Round 4 — PriceTrello takes it
Trello Standard/Premium at $5/$10 undercut Jira's from-$7.91/$14.54 — and Trello's pricing doesn't need a calculator.
- Round 5 — EcosystemJira takes it
The Atlassian Marketplace's thousands of Jira apps dwarf Trello's Power-Up catalog.
- Round 6 — Beyond software teamsTrello takes it
Despite the 'Jira for all teams' rebrand, non-technical teams still bounce off it; Trello is genuinely general-purpose.
- Round 7 — Enterprise pathJira takes it
Rovo AI on Premium, Atlassian Analytics, Data Center self-hosting and compliance options — Trello is cloud-only and lighter.
Pricing, side by side
Per user/month in USD. Prices checked July 2026.
Jira
Free: 10 users with unlimited projects, 2 GB storage and 100 automation runs/month.
| Plan | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free |
| StandardFrom — per-user rate slides down with seat count | $6.52 | $7.91 |
| PremiumRovo AI, advanced planning, 99.9% SLA | — | $14.54 |
| EnterpriseCustom, annual only | — | — |
Trello
Free: 10 boards per workspace, unlimited cards, 250 automation runs/month, unlimited Power-Ups, up to 10 collaborators.
| Plan | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free |
| Standard | $5 | $6 |
| PremiumCalendar/Timeline/Dashboard views, unlimited automation | $10 | $12.5 |
| EnterpriseFrom 50 users, annual only | $17.5 | — |
Where each one wins — and hurts
Jira
- Industry-standard agile tooling: scrum/kanban boards, backlogs, sprint reports and deep Git/CI hooks
- JQL query language and reporting depth no rival matches
- The Atlassian Marketplace adds thousands of apps
- Scales gracefully: 10-user free tier, per-seat prices decline with size, Data Center path for compliance
- Notorious learning curve and admin overhead — configuration-heavy next to Trello or monday
- AI (Rovo) only reached the Standard plan in late 2025 and never the Free tier
- Tight low-tier quotas (2 GB, 100 automation runs) and a ~15% Data Center price rise in Feb 2026
Trello
- Near-zero learning curve — boards, lists and cards that anyone understands immediately
- Butler automation on every plan, including 250 free runs/month (rivals gate automation behind paid tiers)
- Unlimited Power-Ups per board on all plans, including Free
- Cheapest paid entry in the category ($5/user/mo) plus the new AI-powered Inbox and Planner capture layer
- Weak native reporting — no dashboards below Premium, and even those are shallow
- No native task dependencies or resource management at any tier
- Scales poorly for complex multi-project work: cross-board rollups are essentially absent
The decision
Choose Jira if…
You ship software in sprints, or you'll need JQL-grade reporting and marketplace apps. Nothing matches Jira's agile depth, and its free tier covers a whole 10-person dev team.
Try JiraChoose Trello if…
Your work is tasks, not tickets. Trello costs less, requires zero training, and its free plan scales to unlimited people — the right Atlassian product for everyone who isn't running a backlog.
Try TrelloHow we make money: some outbound links on this page may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up — at no cost to you. Commissions never decide a round or a verdict; our scoring method is documented in the methodology.
Frequently asked
›Aren't Jira and Trello the same company?
Yes — Atlassian has owned Trello since 2017 and deliberately positions them apart: Jira for structured (mostly software) delivery, Trello for lightweight visual collaboration. They integrate with each other well.
›Can Trello do sprints?
Not really. You can fake sprint columns and use Power-Ups for points, but there's no backlog, velocity or burndown. If you're asking this question seriously, you've already outgrown Trello — Jira's free tier is the natural next step.
›Is Jira overkill for a small team?
For a small software team, no — the free tier (10 users, unlimited projects, 100 automation runs) is one of the best deals in dev tooling. For a small non-software team, yes: you'll spend more time configuring than working.
›How do their free plans compare?
They're mirror images: Jira free caps users (10) but not projects; Trello free caps boards (10) but not users. Choose by which resource you'll exhaust first.
Sources
- https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing
- https://costbench.com/software/project-management/jira/
- https://www.usecarly.com/blog/jira-pricing/
- https://trello.com/pricing
- https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/new-trello-is-here
- https://tech.co/project-management-software/trello-review
Facts verified against both vendors' own pricing pages plus secondary sources. Spotted something stale? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Not convinced by either? Jira alternatives · Trello alternatives