There are so many project management tools that it can be difficult to choose one. In many cases, project management solutions offer very similar feature sets.
In this software comparison, we have one project management tool with just the right feature set for most projects and a fairly shallow learning curve versus a platform that has more features than you need that almost any user can get started with. Those project management tools are: ClickUp and Trellorespectively.
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What is ClickUp?
ClickUp is project management software promoted as ‘the one app to replace them all’. In other words, ClickUp wants to replace all the apps you use so that they can be housed in one location. To that end, the company has squeezed as much of your productivity needs into one project management platform as possible. For the most part, ClickUp succeeded.
SEE: Hiring kit: Project manager (Tech Republic Premium)
Within a single ClickUp workspace, you can work with lists, boards (kanban), calendars, Gantt, timelines, tables, mind maps, workloads, activities, maps, whiteboard, documents, chats, and forms. You can create dashboards, add attachments, comment, collaborate and share. And with the ability to create multiple workspaces (Image A), you can refine each of these using templates that cover operations, project management, personal use, engineering and product, HR and recruiting, sales and CRM, IT, professional services and support.
Image A
What is Trello?
Trello is project management software that provides the basics and has a very user-friendly interface. And while Trello may not have all the bells and whistles like ClickUp, the project management software does a really good job.
Unlike ClickUp, Trello doesn’t want to be the only app that controls them all. Instead, Trello aims to be your project management tool. Period.
Trello’s learning curve is very shallow. Create an account and start building plates (Figure B† Create multiple workspaces from simple templates, then view kanban boards, timelines, tables, calendars, dashboards, and maps.
Figure B
Common Features of ClickUp and Trello
kanban
Kanban is one of the most popular project management tools. With the ability to view the status of all aspects of a project in an easy-to-use view, kanban makes it incredibly easy to break down a project into its component parts and see exactly where each of those parts is in the workflow .
Both ClickUp and Trello do kanban just right. With the ability to drag and drop cards across lists, you’ll find little in either product to trip you or your teams. If one service has an edge over the other in this area, it would be Trello because you can do more with individual tasks like adding members, labels, checklists, dates, attachments, covers, custom fields, dropdowns, powerups and buttons (some of those features are only available with paid accounts).
However you go, ClickUp and Trello offer some of the best kanban boards on the market.
Work flow
Workflow is an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activities enabled by a systematic organization to improve the efficiency of particular or related tasks. The smoother and clearer the workflow, the more productive a team can be.
This is where ClickUp has the advantage because it offers so many options within a single interface. ClickUp allows team members to do a fairly large percentage of their work in one space. This is not the case with Trello. Yes, Trello allows you to do things like add attachments to tasks, but it doesn’t provide a built-in CMS tool found in ClickUp. And while the CMS tool is quite rudimentary, it adds an important part to the workflow that eliminates the need to use another third-party tool.
Collaboration
Another benefit of ClickUp is collaboration. This is mainly because the platform includes several built-in collaboration tools such as chat, whiteboard, and forms. But with Trello, you can add an unlimited number of collaboration integrations (like Slack) using Powerups.
ClickUp also allows you to manage permissions for features such as the whiteboard. Create a new whiteboard and share it with team members for easy collaboration.
Templates
ClickUp and Trello offer plenty of templates to choose from to take your project management workspaces to new heights. This means you don’t have to do so much work in advance to get your workstations up and running. Create a new space and select a template to base it on, and you’re good to go. The advantage in this area goes to Trello because not only does it contain hundreds of templates, but you can also choose from community-developed templates and even build your own templates.
Feature Comparison: ClickUp vs. Trello
| Functions | ClickUp | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| kanban | ||
| Gantt | ||
| Calendar | ||
| Document management | ||
| Templates | ||
| Integration with third parties | ||
| Simple interface | ||
| whiteboard | ||
| Multiple workspaces | ||
| Collaborative Tools | ||
| Automation Tools | ||
| Free subscription | ||
| Paid Subscription |
Choosing ClickUp vs Trello
When it comes to features, ClickUp wins by a big margin as it offers a lot more features than Trello. While both project management solutions are easy to use, Trello walks away with this category.
If you’re looking for a project management platform that’s everything for your teams, ClickUp might be just what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a project management tool that just about any employee, regardless of their skills, can use to get started, you can’t go wrong with Trello. However you go, ClickUp and Trello are excellent project management tools.
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