Trello vs Jira: Which one to choose?

According to the latest project management statistics, 69% of project managers use project management (PM) software.

The right software allows you to easily organize your project, make a project task list, assign people responsible, and then follow how the project progresses.

However, with so many apps available on the market, it’s sometimes difficult to opt for the right one.

In this blog post, we’ll compare 2 popular project management apps, Trello and Jira, in terms of:

• Pricing,
• User Interface,
• Task management,
• Team collaboration,
• Progress tracking,
• Administration,
• Integrations,
• Support, and
• Security.

So, which one is better — Trello or Jira?

By the end of the article, you’ll know exactly what Trello and Jira have to offer. 

Keep reading to find out our final verdict!

Trello vs. Jira overview

Trello is an easy-to-use work management tool that functions as a Kanban board. 

With its simple 3-level organization, Trello allows a clear overview of any type of project. Due to its flexibility, it can be customized according to any team’s unique preferences. 

Trello is available for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android.

Jira, sometimes referred to as Jira Software, is more advanced issue and project tracking software. 

It’s packed with more complex features suitable for software development, though you can adapt it to other purposes. 

Jira is available for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android.

Both Trello and Jira are owned by a single company — Atlassian. 

Here’s a quick overview of Trello’s and Jira’s main features:

Feature	Trello	Jira
Pricing	Free plan ✓ Paid plans start from $5 per user per month	Free plan ✓ Paid plans start from $7.75 per user per month
User Interface	Easy-to-use, and interactive	Comprehensive but purposeful
Task management	Well-organized for simpler projects	Well-organized for more complex projects
Team collaboration	Communication within the comments section Notifications	Communication within the comments section Notifications
Progress tracking	Kanban view Dashboard*, Timeline*, Table*, Calendar*, Map* view	Reports and insights Board (Scrum and Kanban), Backlog, and Roadmap view
Administration	Admin, Normal, and Observer* settings	Admin permissions User roles and permissions* Anonymous access*
Integrations	200+ Power-Ups.	3,000+ integrations
Support	Articles and guides  Community Support Customer Support Priority support*	Self-help guides  Community Support  Customer Support* Phone support*
Security	Advanced	Advanced

* Paid feature.

Trello vs. Jira pricing 1:0

Pricing is one of the determining factors when deciding what to buy or whether to buy it. So, let’s analyze Trello’s and Jira’s pricing plans to help you make that decision.

Trello’s Free plan comes with up to 10 boards (or projects) per Workspace. 

So, in case you’re managing multiple projects (more than 10 to be specific) — you’ll probably need one of Trello’s paid plains.

The free plan also includes the following features:

• Unlimited number of users,
• Unlimited Power-Ups per board, and
• Unlimited storage (10MB/file).

Trello’s Standard plan ($5 per user/month if billed annually) offers:

• Unlimited boards,
• More storage, and 
• More automations (1,000 Workspace command runs per month).

Trello’s Premium plan ($10 per user/month if billed annually) comes with unlimited Workspace command runs and other extra features, such as different views.

Trello Premium is available for a 14 days trial, no credit card information required.

For large teams, there’s an Enterprise plan, which is billed annually. 

While there’s no limit to the number of users in Trello, this is not the case with Jira. 

Jira’s Free plan is available only for up to 10 users, including features such as:

• Unlimited project boards,
• 2 GB of storage,
• Backlog and basic project roadmaps,
• Reporting and insights, etc.

As for the paid plans, the pricing changes depending on the number of users — the system some may find too complicated.

Here are Jira’s 3 paid plans:

• Standard plan — $7.75 per user/mo (estimated),
• Premium plan — $15.25 per user/mo (estimated), and
• Enterprise plan — only available for more than 800 users and is billed annually. You’ll need to contact the sales for the pricing.

However, the good thing is that you can try Jira Premium for 30 days free, no credit card information required.

Trello vs. Jira pricing verdict

We must admit that Atlassian played it nicely when creating the pricing plans. 

Namely, both apps’ Free plans somehow limit you. With Trello — you’re limited to 10 boards or projects, while with Jira — you’re required to pay for more than 10 users. 

So, to fully benefit from both apps, you’ll probably need to opt for one of the paid versions. 

Though Jira’s paid plans offer more features, Trello’s are slightly cheaper. 

However, as Trello’s pricing system is simple and more transparent — it wins a point in this category.

Pricing	Trello	Jira
Free version	✓	✓
Free Premium plan trial	✓ (14 days)	✓ (30 days)
Starting price	$5	$7.75
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs. Jira user interface 2:0

One of Trello’s main advantages is that it is easy to interact with. 

You can seamlessly navigate the board and move your lists and cards around it simply by dragging them.

The ability to choose from a range of colors and backgrounds when customizing your boards makes Trello especially appealing to creative teams. 

To make things even more fun, add stickers to your cards or celebrate success with confetti.

More importantly, you can automate your workflow with the built-in Butler Automation tool to create:

• Rules, 
• Buttons,
• Due date commands, and
• Calendar commands.

And, if you don’t want to build your board from scratch, you can opt for one of Trello’s community templates for free. 

Jira, on the other hand, is slightly more complex to use, as it’s intended primarily for software projects.

However, to make navigation easier, try one of the Jira Software templates: 

• Scrum — to track your work across sprints, 
• Kanban — to visualize your work in kanban style, or
• Bug tracking — to track and report bugs.

You can further customize these templates according to your specific needs. 

Also, you can use Jira’s automation system to save time and increase efficiency. For example, with Jira’s automation rules, you can automatically: 

• Notify a specific team when an issue needs attention,
• Assign an issue that’s created without an assignee, or 
• Update an issue’s due date when it transitions to ‘In Progress’.

Admittedly, you’ll need more time to master Jira, but once you’re done with it, you’ll be able to fully benefit from all its robust features.

Trello vs. Jira user interface verdict

Though Jira’s user interface is quite comprehensive, it’s only because it’s intended for complex projects. And, it’s only natural that more complex projects require more complex solutions.

However, Jira still loses the point in this category due to its steep learning curve. 

So, congratulations to Trello, which scores once again!

Trello vs. Jira task management 3:1

What needs to be done, who will do it, and when — you’ll need to answer all these questions first to organize properly. 

Let’s see how Trello and Jira help you deal with task management.

Within the Trello workspace, you’ll find 3 organizational units:

• Boards, 
• Lists, and 
• Cards. 

In a way, a board represents the project you’re managing. Within that board, you can keep track of all of the important project information.

The number of lists, as well as cards (i.e. specific tasks within the list, e.g. “plan marketing campaign”), is unlimited in all plans. 

Cards can be further specified by adding: 

• Descriptions,
• Members, 
• Labels,
• Checklists, 
• Dates, 
• Attachments,
• Comments, etc.

In Jira, the terminology is slightly different. It contains the following units:

• Issues — individual work items,
• Projects — a collection of issues, and 
• Boards — a visual display of work progress.

Depending on the project, an issue can be anything from a project task, or support ticket, to a leave request form, or any other piece of work that needs to be completed. 

Issues can be further specified with the following issue fields:

• The issue key — a unique identifier, 
• Summary — the issue name, 
• Attachments and links — relevant media, links, or URLs,
• Description — additional issue details, 
• Comments — short messages to teammates, 
• Due dates — issue deadlines,
• Assignees and reporters — people responsible, etc.

To categorize issues, you can add different issue types. Here are the default issue types in Jira:

• Epics — large bodies of work, or “parent” issues,
• Tasks — most common issue types,
• Stories — requirements from the user’s perspective, and 
• Bugs — problems and errors, and
• Subtasks — subtasks within tasks and stories.

You can either choose from the default issue types or customize them to fit your specific needs.

Trello vs. Jira task management verdict

Both apps score in this category as each satisfies their target users’ needs. 

However, if you’re asking yourself whether Trello can replace Jira and vice versa — our advice is to think carefully about your needs before making any final decisions.

Otherwise, you might make a simple project more difficult with Jira’s overly advanced features, or overburden Trello’s simple board with large-scale project information.

Trello vs. Jira team collaboration 4:2

This category is dedicated to communication in project management. Team collaboration features within your PM app facilitate sharing updates about specific tasks and issues in one place, as opposed to storing such information in other apps.

In Trello, you can communicate with team members by leaving comments within Cards, as well as comment or react to any attachments uploaded to the Card. 

Mentioning people by typing “@Member name” or “@board” will immediately get their attention with a notification that appears in the Activity list.

The storage in the Free plan is unlimited (10MB/file).

Also, you can set reminders and notify team members about upcoming project-related deadlines.

With the Watch feature, you can choose to receive notifications on any changes to a card, list, or board, regardless of whether you’re an assignee on that card, list, or board.

In Jira, you’ll mostly communicate through the comments issue field where you can ask any questions related to the issue, or share any important updates. 

Like in Trello, you can @mention your team members to get their attention and use the Watch issue feature to stay up to date with the changes.

Every time someone mentions you in the comment field, Jira will notify you via email. 

The storage for the Free plan is 2 GB.

Trello vs. Jira team collaboration verdict

Again, both Trello and Jira score a point in this category. 

Their team collaboration features are more or less similar — both apps allow you to communicate about a specific task in the comments section. 

Trello vs. Jira progress tracking 4:3

Progress tracking features facilitate staying on top of your project at all times. Let’s see how Trello and Jira manage progress tracking.

We’ve already mentioned that Trello’s distinct feature is its Kanban-style workspace. The Kanban view allows you to track progress in one of the simplest ways possible — through boards, lists, and cards.

Apart from the Kanban view, paid plan users can track progress in other views, such as:

• Dashboard,
• Timeline,
• Table,
• Calendar, and
• Map.

Also, you can search for cards across all your boards, or filter single boards by labels, members, due dates, and keywords.

With Jira, you get to track progress through 2 additional views apart from the default Board view (Scrum or Kanban):

• Backlog view — to view issues that you plan for the future, and 
• Roadmap view — to view all issues in a linear timeline and help the team plan dependencies.

You can use Jira’s Search bar to scan through all boards, issues, and issue fields.

Best of all, you can get a visual display of your work’s progress in real-time with Jira’s Reports feature.

Trello vs. Jira progress tracking verdict

Nothing gives a better overview of your progress than colorful charts, diagrams, and reports.

So, thanks to its strong Reports feature, Jira scores 1:0 in this category!

Trello vs. Jira administration 5:4

Now, it’s time to analyze how Trello and Jira handle administration permissions.

In Trello, there are 3 types of member permissions: 

• Admin — they can view and edit cards, remove members, and change all board settings.
• Normal — they can view and edit cards and change some board settings, and
• Observer — they can access all board content and leave comments and reactions but can’t edit or change anything. 

Observer settings are great for keeping all stakeholders in the loop with the project’s progress, though only Premium or Enterprise members can enjoy this feature.

On the other hand, if you want to share your Workspace publicly — for example, your product roadmap — you can set your Workspace to Public for free. But, be cautious, as this option makes your Workspace visible to the entire internet. 

In Jira, the Free plan doesn’t allow you to edit project permissions or roles. So, everyone who can access the board is considered a project admin. 

Some more advanced permissions come with paid plans. 

The Standard plan allows you to assign roles to different users (e.g. admin or end-user) and set different permissions based on these roles (e.g. whether users can create new projects).

Premium and Enterprise plans offer:

• Admin Insights — to access information about the level of security or activity over time,
• Sandbox — to test products and apps before their release, and 
• Release tracks — to control when and how changes are released to end users.

Paid plans allow you to use Anonymous access to let people outside of your organization view and create issues.

Trello vs. Jira administration verdict

Both Trello and Jira score this time! 

What got them points is the ability to invite people outside of your organization to view your project, or even leave a comment or a reaction. 

Trello vs. Jira integrations 5:5

Now, let’s analyze how well Trello and Jira integrate with other tools.

Trello allows connecting your work across external tools via the so-called Power-Ups. Trello integrates with 200+ apps and tools, such as:

• Slack,
• Google Drive,
• Microsoft Teams, 
• Jira, 
• Salesforce, etc.

And, here are some other examples of how certain Trello Power-Ups can help in project management:

• Last Seen — to see when team members have last seen the boards or opened the card.
• Clockify — to track time within Trello, 
• Card Duration — to view card duration, time left, and time overdue, etc.

The number of Power-Ups is unlimited with every Trello plan, though not all of them are free. 

Jira has quite an extensive list of apps and tools it integrates with. With over 3,000 integrations, you can connect Jira with other Atlassian products, such as:

• Confluence, 
• Trello, or 
• Bitbucket. 

Or you can integrate with other tools available in the Atlassian Marketplace, such as:

• Slack, 
• Zoom,
• Github, or
• Clockify.

Trello vs. Jira integrations verdict

Jira takes the point in this category with 3,000+ integrations available, compared to Trello’s mere 200+.

At this point, it’s 5:5 for Trello and Jira.

Keep reading to find out the final result of this battle. 

Trello vs. Jira support 6:5

There’s no doubt that support significantly impacts overall customer satisfaction. That’s why we’ll pay special attention to this category.

On Trello’s help site, you can:

• Read help articles,
• Ask the community, and 
• See FAQs. 

If you have any specific questions, you can contact support. But, if you want those questions answered within a day, you’ll need to become a Premium or Enterprise member. 

To help you grasp all its features and possibilities, Jira offers comprehensive self-help guides. Community Support is also available within the Free plan.

The Standard plan offers 9/5 support (during local business hours), while Premium and Enterprise plans provide you with 24/7 support with slight differences in favor of the Enterprise users, such as Phone support.

Trello vs. Jira support verdict

Apart from articles and resources available on the Trello help site, you can always ask the community or contact support. 

Jira, on the other hand, requires you to pay for customer support.

Therefore, a well-deserved point goes to Trello!

Trello vs. Jira security 7:6

Now, let’s see how Trello and Jira protect your data. 

Trello includes 2-factor authentication (2FA) in all plans, all its data is encrypted, and it possesses the following certifications and compliances:

• SOC 2 and SOC 3,
• ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27018,
• PCI-DSS, 
• FedRAMP,
• SAML 2.0 SSO (for Enterprise and Access customers), and
• GDPR.

Also, it runs automated vulnerability scans every 7 days minimum, as well as participates in an active bug bounty program on Bugcrowd.com.

Jira enhances customer data security with:

• Password policies,
• Encryption in transit and at rest,
• Disaster Recovery Program, and
• Built-in mobile device management support for iOS and Android. 

Here’s what Jira’s compliance program looks like:

• SOC 2 and SOC 3,
• PCI DSS,
• ISO/IEC 27001,
• ISO/IEC 27018, and
• GDPR.

Trello vs. Jira security verdict

Atlassian takes the issue of security quite seriously, so both Trello and Jira win a point in this category.

Security	Trello	Jira
2FA	✓	✓
Data encryption	✓	✓
Relevant certifications	✓	✓
Overall impression	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trello vs. Jira: verdict

And finally, the moment of truth has arrived! The winner is — Trello! 

Well done, Trello! 

Now, let’s take a look at the final scoreboard:

Feature	Trello	Jira
Pricing	1	0
User Interface	1	0
Task management	1	1
Team collaboration	1	1
Progress tracking	0	1
Administration	1	1
Integrations	0	1
Support	1	0
Security	1	1
Total score	7	6

It was a tight battle that ended with just 1 point difference in favor of Trello. 

The scoreboard shows that Trello won against Jira in terms of pricing, user interface, and support, while Jira won in the progress tracking and integrations categories.

If you’re still not sure which app to use, you should carefully consider your project’s and team’s needs first. 

After all, both apps are owned by the same company, so they can work well together through integrations.

Looking for a Trello or Jira alternative? Try Plaky

If you feel that neither Trello nor Jira are a good match for your company — you can always try Plaky. 

Plaky is an easy-to-use project management tool that can serve as a great Trello alternative as it offers:

• Unlimited tasks, and
• Unlimited projects for free.

You can also use Plaky as a Jira alternative as it provides:

• Unlimited users, and
• Unlimited files for free.

Alongside the most popular work management apps, Plaky offers some other top-notch features for free, including:

• Email and In-app notifications, 
• Table and Kanban view,
• Various project management templates, 
• Advanced filtering,
• Public and Private boards, and
• 27/7 support.

Most importantly, Plaky has only 1 plan — the Free plan.

So, if you’re looking for an app that’s secure, easy to learn, and without limitations — you can stop your search now, and sign up for a Plaky account for free.

✉️ Have you already tried Trello or Jira? If yes, what are your impressions? If not, which one would you like to try and why? We would be more than happy to hear your insights. You can always email us at blogfeedback@plaky.com and share your experience and advice, which we may include in some of our future posts. If you know anyone who would find this article interesting, please share it with them.