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monday.com vs Trello for Agencies (2026): Which Is Better?
By Red Kite Search Agency Created Updated 8 min read
Summary
Choose Trello if you are small, your workflows are simple, and budget matters. Choose monday.com if you want visual boards with strong automation and dashboards and can pay per seat for them. Prices and ratings were checked in October 2026.
monday.com vs Trello: which is better for agencies in 2026?
monday.com and Trello both build on boards, but they sit far apart. Trello is the simple kanban card that anyone learns in minutes. monday.com is a visual work platform with automations, dashboards, and a large integration catalog.
We compared price, automation, and how well each works for client-facing work.
| Tool | Editorial score | Review-site ratings | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| monday.com | 4.2 / 5 | G2 4.7, Capterra 4.6 | Free for up to 2 seats. Paid plans from about $9 to $19 per seat per month (billed annually), minimum 3 seats. | Mid-size agencies |
| Trello | 3.8 / 5 | G2 4.4, Capterra 4.5 | Free plan. Standard $5 and Premium $10 per user per month (billed annually). | Freelancers and small agencies |
How do monday.com and Trello compare on price?
Trello is much cheaper: Free, then $5 and $10 per user per month on annual billing. monday.com has a free plan for two seats and charges $9, $12, and $19 per seat per month for Basic, Standard, and Pro, with a three-seat minimum on paid plans. The gap matters most for teams that need monday.com Pro features such as time tracking and larger automation limits.
| Tool | Plan | Price | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| monday.com | Free | $0 | Up to 2 seats, 3 boards |
| monday.com | Basic | $9 per seat/month (annual billing) | Unlimited items, no guests |
| monday.com | Standard | $12 per seat/month (annual billing) | Timeline, Gantt, guests, 250 automation actions |
| monday.com | Pro | $19 per seat/month (annual billing) | Time tracking, 25,000 automation actions, advanced dashboards |
| Trello | Free | $0 | 10 boards per Workspace, 250 automation runs |
| Trello | Standard | $5 per user/month (annual billing); $6 monthly | Unlimited boards, custom fields, AI features |
| Trello | Premium | $10 per user/month (annual billing); $12.50 monthly | Timeline, calendar, dashboard views, unlimited automation |
| Trello | Enterprise | $17.50 per user/month (annual billing) | Unlimited Workspaces, org-wide permissions |
Which has stronger automation?
monday.com. Reviewers call automations a major time-saver, though Standard limits them to 250 actions a month and Pro raises that to 25,000. Enterprise goes much higher.
Trello has built-in Butler automation with 250 runs a month on Free, 1,000 on Standard, and unlimited on Premium. It is capable for simple rules but not designed for heavy workflows.
Which is easier for clients to use?
Trello. Its cards and lists are familiar and quick to understand. An agency reviewer of monday.com said clients were lost in the tool and flooded with notifications, which led them to a simpler tool for client work.
Trello offers single-board guests on Standard and multi-board guests on Enterprise, and monday.com offers guest access from Standard.
Which scales better as the agency grows?
monday.com scales further, with dashboards, time tracking on Pro, and separate workspaces per client. Reviewers note that cost rises with every seat.
Trello is easier to afford, but boards multiply across clients, reporting is thin, and cross-board views sit on Premium. Many growing agencies move up to a heavier tool.
How do monday.com and Trello compare on integrations, security, and support?
Beyond price, agencies ask about connections to their other tools, what to tell clients about security, and how quickly they can get help. This is what each vendor states publicly, as checked in October 2026.
| Area | monday.com | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Integrations | 850+ integrations stated; Notable: Salesforce, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Zendesk, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Microsoft Teams | 200+ integrations and Power-Ups stated on the pricing page; Notable: Google Drive, Slack, Voting, Card Time In List, Unito card mirroring, Reports by Blue Cat |
| Security | SOC 2, ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 listed in its security FAQ; GDPR referenced; HIPAA compliance shown on the pricing page for higher tiers; SSO, SAML, 2FA and audit log details were not stated on the pages we checked | SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001, and PCI-DSS listed; Two-factor authentication on all plans; SAML SSO through Atlassian Guard, included with Enterprise and sold separately for other plans (from $4 per user per month) |
| Support | 24/7 support through the help center on all plans; Enterprise adds 24/7 expert support with tailored onboarding | Community support on Free; Local business hours support on Standard; 24/5 premium support on Premium; 24/7 enterprise admin support on Enterprise |
| Apps | iOS and Android apps | iOS, Android, and desktop apps |
What are the pros and cons of monday.com and Trello?
Here is where each tool helps agencies and where it can get in the way, based on plan details and public feedback.
monday.com pros
- Boards are easy to build and read, so non-technical staff adopt them quickly.
- Automations and integrations save real time once client workflows are standardized.
- Separate workspaces per client keep accounts tidy.
- Dashboards link work across departments.
monday.com cons
- Paid plans start at 3 seats, and per-seat cost climbs quickly as the team grows.
- Time tracking and the more useful automation limits only appear on the Pro plan.
- Reviewers say clients struggle with it and get flooded with notifications.
- Large boards can feel slow, and reporting is lighter than in dedicated analytics tools.
Trello pros
- Takes minutes to learn, which helps with clients and part-time collaborators.
- Very low price: Free, then $5 and $10 per user per month (annual billing).
- Power-Ups and email, Slack, and Teams capture cover many basic workflows.
- Card mirroring and custom fields (paid) help with simple multi-client setups.
Trello cons
- Reporting and cross-board views are limited and mostly gated to Premium.
- Boards multiply quickly across clients, which causes sprawl.
- Automation runs are capped on Free (250 per month) and Standard (1,000 per month).
- Free Workspaces are capped at 10 collaborators, and paid plans bill per Workspace.
What do reviewers say about monday.com and Trello?
monday.com shows 4.7 on G2 and 4.6 on Capterra. Trello shows 4.4 on G2 from 14,064 reviews and 4.5 on Capterra. Written feedback praises monday.com for per-client workspaces and automations and criticizes cost growth, while Trello is praised for simplicity and price and criticized for reporting and sprawl.
| Tool | Source | Rating | Number of reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| monday.com | G2 | 4.7 / 5 | 17,144 |
| monday.com | Capterra | 4.6 / 5 | 6,040 |
| Trello | G2 | 4.4 / 5 | 14,064 |
| Trello | Capterra | 4.5 / 5 | 23,628 |
Reviewer themes for monday.com
- G2 rates monday.com 4.7 from 17,144 reviews, and Capterra rates it 4.6 from 6,040.
- Agency reviewers on Capterra like separate workspaces per client and call automations a major time-saver.
- A marketing agency reviewer found dashboards particularly useful for work that spans departments.
Reviewer themes for Trello
- Capterra shows Trello at 4.5 from 23,628 reviews, and G2 shows 4.4 from 14,064.
- Independent reviewers praise the visual approach and easy setup for mixed-skill teams.
- Reviews note it works well for lightweight coordination and is priced accessibly.
How does setup differ between monday.com and Trello?
Getting value from either tool depends on how you set it up, and the first steps differ. Here is the practical starting point for each.
monday.com: Pick two or three board templates and resist building more. monday.com makes it easy to create boards, which is its strength and its risk, because teams end up with dozens that nobody maintains.
Trello: Create one board per client or per service line and keep the list names identical across boards, for example Backlog, In progress, In review, and Done. Consistency matters more than clever structure.
What should agencies check before choosing between monday.com and Trello?
Small details in plans and limits decide whether a tool works in practice. Check these points for each tool during a trial on a real client account.
Before you buy monday.com
- Count seats carefully, including part-time staff and freelancers.
- Check automation and integration action limits against how much you plan to automate.
- Confirm that time tracking, which needs Pro, is in your plan.
- Decide how clients will see work, since guests start on Standard.
Before you buy Trello
- Count Workspaces, since paid plans bill per Workspace.
- Check the 10-collaborator limit on free Workspaces.
- Test whether automation run caps will limit you.
- Decide how you will avoid board sprawl across clients.
How should you test monday.com and Trello before deciding?
The fairest test is to run both tools on the same real client account for two weeks, with the same people, and compare the results rather than first impressions.
What to measure
- How long it takes a new team member to be productive in monday.com versus Trello.
- How often people open each tool without being reminded.
- Whether the plan you need includes the features you tested, not just the entry price.
- How a client reacts if you invite them to either tool.
- How much time the team spends on notifications, setup, and cleanup each week.
Which should you choose: monday.com or Trello?
Choose Trello if you are small, your workflows are simple, and budget matters. Choose monday.com if you want visual boards with strong automation and dashboards and can pay per seat for them.
If clients will be inside the tool, Trello is the easier of the two. For internal operations at a growing agency, monday.com is the more capable.
Choose monday.com if
- Your team loves visual boards and wants automations that remove repeated steps.
- You want separate workspaces per client with dashboards across them.
- You can budget for the Pro plan and a three-seat minimum.
Skip monday.com if
- Clients will be inside the tool daily and need a gentle interface.
- Per-seat pricing would be painful as the team grows.
- You need heavy analytics beyond dashboards.
Choose Trello if
- You are a freelancer or tiny team with simple pipelines.
- You want something clients understand in minutes.
- Your budget is tight and you only need boards and light automation.
Skip Trello if
- You need reporting across many clients or portfolio views.
- You depend on heavy automation beyond the plan caps.
- You need workload or resource planning.
Frequently asked questions
- Is monday.com better than Trello?
- For automation, dashboards, and scale, yes. For simplicity and price, Trello wins.
- Which is cheaper?
- Trello is cheaper on every paid tier and has no seat minimum.
- Does monday.com have a minimum seat count?
- Yes, paid plans start from three users.
- Which is better for clients?
- Trello, because it is simpler and quicker for clients to understand.
- Can I move from Trello to monday.com?
- Yes. Boards import, but Power-Ups and Butler rules need rebuilding.
Sources
Prices, plan limits, and ratings were gathered in October 2026 from:
- monday.com pricing page
- Trello pricing page
- G2
- Capterra
- GetApp