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Trello vs Jira: which is better?
Trello vs Jira compared on boards, agile features, price and ease of use, including when a simple Kanban board is enough.
By AIStackMatch Editorial · Updated
Quick verdict
Quick verdict
Trello and Jira share a board, and almost nothing else. Trello is the simple Kanban tool you can learn in an afternoon. Jira is the agile issue tracker for software teams. Pick Trello for straightforward cards. Pick Jira when you need a backlog, sprints and developer workflows.
Choose Trello if...
- The workflow fits lists and cards with almost no setup
- Non-technical teammates need to use it without training
- You want a low price: Standard is $5 per user/month billed annually
Choose Jira if...
- You run Scrum or Kanban for a software team
- You need backlogs, sprints, roadmaps and agile reports
- You want the Atlassian ecosystem, including Confluence and Bitbucket
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Comparison table
Scroll sideways on small screens. Scores are editorial assessments from our methodology.
| Criteria | Trello | Jira | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Individuals and small teams who want simple, visual Kanban task tracking | Software and engineering teams running agile sprints and issue tracking | - |
| Free plan | Yes. Free plan with up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace, plus 250 automation runs per month. | Yes. Free for up to 10 users with 2GB of storage. | - |
| Starting price | Free, paid from $5 per user/month | Free (10 users), paid from about $7.91 per user/month | - |
| Ease of use | 5/5 Arguably the easiest to learn in this group. | 2/5 Powerful but complex. Non-technical users often struggle. | Trello |
| Project management | 3/5 Fine for simple flows, limited for dependencies and complex plans. | 5/5 Best-in-class for agile software projects, backlogs and sprints. | Jira |
| Collaboration | 4/5 Cards, comments and shared boards are easy for teams to use. | 4/5 Good for engineering collaboration; docs live in Confluence. | Tie |
| Customization | 3/5 Power-Ups and labels help, but structure is intentionally simple. | 5/5 Highly configurable workflows, fields and issue types. | Jira |
| Integrations | 4/5 Many Power-Ups and common integrations are supported. | 5/5 Huge Atlassian Marketplace and developer tool integrations. | Jira |
| Value for money | 4/5 Low entry price and a usable free plan. | 4/5 Free for 10 users and competitively priced for engineering teams. | Tie |
Pricing
Trello
Standard costs $5 per user/month billed annually ($6 monthly), Premium $10 annually ($12.50 monthly) and Enterprise $17.50 per user/month billed annually.
Jira
Jira is free for up to 10 users. Standard costs about $7.91 and Premium about $14.54 per user/month, with Enterprise on custom pricing. Per-user prices vary with team size.
Winner by category
- Ease of useTrello
- Project managementJira
- CollaborationTie
- CustomizationJira
- IntegrationsJira
- Value for moneyTie
Category wins: Trello 1, Jira 3, ties 2. The right pick depends on your workflow, not the tally.
Final recommendation
Trello for a board the whole company understands. Jira for engineering. If you want one board that can grow into dependencies, docs and reporting, ClickUp is the middle path.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Trello or Jira better for Kanban?
Trello is better for simple Kanban. Jira is better when the board is part of sprint planning, issue workflows and release tracking.
Which is cheaper, Trello or Jira?
Jira is free for up to 10 users. Trello's free plan allows up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace. Trello Standard is $5 per user/month billed annually. Jira Standard is about $7.91 per user/month.
Can you use Trello and Jira together?
Yes. Trello lists Jira among its integrations, and some teams keep a simple Trello board for non-engineering work while engineering stays in Jira.