What are Trello alternatives for project managers?

Having a successful project typically includes having a clear plan, with an organised team. To help with this, there are software and online tools project leaders can use to manage their tasks, such as Trello. Understanding what management tools are right for your team and tasks can help you determine the exact one to implement. In this article, we provide several easy-to-use alternatives to Trello, including their benefits and uses.

What are Trello alternatives?

Trello is a great option for small project teams due to its simple interface. Although, for more complex projects with multiple layers and schedules, you may feel that Trello is not quite enough to oversee every aspect of a big project. To provide the answer to, 'What are Trello alternatives?', here's a list of project management tools that bolster smart collaboration utilities, all-in-one solutions and powerful planning utensils, to help you create a more efficient task management system easy for your team to use:

ClickUp

One Trello alternative is ClickUp, which ranks high among project management software with comprehensive free plans. ClickUp is very useful if your project requires customised task views, and even on its free plan, this project management app offers an impressive 11 different task views, including premium features such as Gantt charts and mind maps. This puts ClickUp ahead of other rivals that offer similar features but at added costs. If you are looking for a free Trello alternative with a more diverse set of features built for overseeing different team styles, ClickUp is a worthy contender.

Key features:

• hundreds of features available in its free plan updated weekly alongside paid plans with additional tools for bigger businesses

• in addition to its extensive task views, ClickUp offers four different page views such as Chat, Doc, Embed and Form for a great degree of project tailing towards your business needs

• customisable dashboards with 20-plus intuitive, informative widgets

• integration with your favourite apps like Google Drive

• real-time chat and in-app video recording

• easy file and comments sharing, documenting and reporting

Related: Examples of task management software and their features

ProofHub

Easy to set up, ProofHub is a popular project management software with over 85,000 businesses in use, including giants such as Netflix, NASA and TripAdvisor. It is an all-in-one project management and collaboration solution that is perfect for small teams, as it provides ultimate control over team member and client tasks, with a range of layers and customisation options. With two competitive fixed price plans, ProofHub is an efficient platform if you have a project that encompasses different departments and you want maximum customisability, allowing you to set up your interface based on specific group requirements.

Key features:

• cross-department collaboration in one all-inclusive platform

• project & resource reports

• seamless integration with popular file-sharing apps

• easy to use in-house discussion boards

• custom roles and workflows

• multiple viewing options such as list view, Kanban boards, Gantt charts and calendar view

Related: What are project management tools (with 15 examples)

Wrike

Improve performance and increase business success with Wrike, a project management app with class-leading features that makes it an appealing alternative to Trello, even on its impressive free plan. Wrike is all about offering you an all-in-one platform with customisation for your project, from colour coding and alert warnings to personalised workflows and activity streams to keep all teams on track and in communication.

Key features:

• a diverse set of tools to meet the needs of any team

• 360 visibility across every department in real-time so you never miss out on your project's progress

• work Intelligence AI that automates tasks, evaluates project risk and forecasts results

• custom request forms that obtain and assign important details to each team

• a variety of resourceful, pre-built templates for all areas of project management for an easy set-up process

• spreadsheet-style tracking of tasks to keep your team and project organised

Related: Project monitoring: importance and how to do it effectively

Workzone

Another easy-to-use Trello alternative for project management is Workzone. Recognised for being one of the oldest yet simplest management tools to use, this straightforward software focuses on excelling at the basics, providing a hassle-free workspace for all of your project's needs. What it lacks in excess features, Workzone succeeds in usability and efficient project handling.

Key features:

• specialised workspaces and task lists

• clear project dashboard gives instant visibility to project status, subtasks, important dates and assigned team members

• easy team collaboration with comment sections under ongoing tasks

• a variety of customisable reports on specific performances, project progress and task management

• very simple to use

• quality customer assistance to help you get the most out of your project

Related: 13 milestones in project management (with definitions)

Teamwork

Trusted by a host of industry-leading companies, Teamwork has an all-in-one purpose solution, striking a balance between functionality, price and usability. Increase team performance with its initiative, visually informative workspace and monitor every detail of the project all in one space. It also enables you to track each billable minute and deliver projects on time, with real-time collaboration options. With its project templates, easy task management and Gantt charts, Teamwork is beneficial for those with small teams looking for a quick, simple-to-set-up project management alternative to Trello.

Key features:

• useful features for free, and even more if you pick one of its four flexible pricing options

• simple, customisable tools like custom client permissions make it easy to scale alongside your business needs and growth

• manage projects, clients and teams all in one space

• clear display of your whole project from key dates to milestones, time monitoring and budgeting

• includes billing and invoicing with no added costs

• collaborate with your team and clients in real-time whenever you want to keep projects on track

Paymo

Supported by a large community, Paymo is another easy project management software and adjustable alternative to Trello. Housed all in one place, Paymo has everything to see your project from start to finish. Reports, schedules, comments, tasks, team groups and invoices are all displayed in your project overview, making it an efficient tool to manage each aspect of your project. It has an extensive free plan and paid options to ensure there is a use for all business and project sizes.

Key features:

• stores every file and part of projects in the same seamless place

• easily create accurate project estimates with past timesheets, templates and a range of time tracking tools

• build a visual timeline of your team's progress and track workflow status so that tasks distribute efficiently across a project

• time tracking tools to create transparency and a constant stream of communications between managers and employees

• track time spent on each task and easily produce client invoices, estimates and expenses

• list, table, board and calendar views give your project greater flexibility

Related: Why use job tracking software? (Benefits, functions and tips)

Asana

One of the closest Trello alternatives is Asana, which is a clear and customisable project management tool that lets you assign tasks, share links and images, and communicate with your team across projects. With four payment plans, including a free version, Asana has all the features necessary to guide your projects to success. This is a great option for small and large businesses and teams, as the competitive pricing allows you to expand your project tools according to your company's needs. Its collaboration tools make planning and execution easy to learn and implement.

Key features:

• multiple project views to suit different team strengths and styles

• visually informative lists enable role organisation and assignment and monitor ongoing and finished tasks

• customisable boards make it simple to group tasks and teams to get the most important stages done

• initiative integration with over 200 apps

• real-time charts and task highlights help keep projects in shape and alert potential problems

What to look for in Trello alternatives

Trello is a popular and successful project management tool due to its simplicity, range of free tools and intuitive design. When choosing an alternative project management software, there are a few things to consider. Project management is only as good as the features and resources available, and if you're managing big teams, it is highly beneficial to have as many customisable and tracking options available so that your project is successful in completing all of its targets.

Here are some project features to look for when choosing an alternative to Trello:

• a range of viewing options to suit all types of teams and departments, so that the right team has access to the right information in the best way

• able to assign projects with multiple tasks

• real-time tracking options so you can generate accurate reports and invoices for clients

• flexible file storage and sharing options

• ability to view the entire project and its many components, such as due dates, tasks and teams in one place

• plans that include multi-user access so your team operates under one master account

• seamless, widespread app integration to make setting up your project easy and quick

Please note that none of the companies mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.

Read more:

• 8 project management apps to improve organisational skills

• Communication in project management (definition and types)

• The importance of coordinating projects effectively