project management tool · head to head
Todoist vs Trello
Comparison Summary
Trello scored 6.0 and Todoist scored 5.5 on our project management tool test script.
Trello: Trello is still the quickest way to put a list of tasks on a board, and its free automation rules work well. But it is a Kanban tool first: on the free plan you get the board only, priorities have to be colour labels, there are no dependencies, no CSV import and no project-wide AI, and adding hundreds of cards is slow and capped at 100 at a time.
Todoist: Todoist is the quickest way we found to type a project in: one paste turned 40 lines into dated, prioritised tasks, repeating tasks are effortless, and the Windows app is light and starts in under two seconds. But it is a task list, not a project tool. The free plan stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, our ordinary CSV was rejected, there is no automation, Gantt or dependencies, the calendar layout and AI are paid, and every free-team invitee becomes an admin.
Editor's Verdict
Choose Trello if…
Best for: Small teams and individuals who want a simple, visual Kanban board with a few automations.
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one card per line
- Free automation rules: ours moved a completed card within a second or two
- A recurring card rolls itself to next week when completed
Choose Todoist if…
Best for: Individuals and very small teams who want a fast, tidy task list with dates and repeats.
- One paste turned 40 lines into tasks with the right dates and priorities
- Natural-language dates and repeats, such as “every monday”
- Light, fast desktop app: window in 1.6 s, under 1 GB of memory
Head to Head
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, Todoist completed 1 and Trello completed 0.
| Task | Todoist | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 8 min | Partial≈ 20 min |
| P2 · Views | Partial≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P3 · Rules | Partial≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 8 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Fail≈ 5 min | Fail≈ 5 min |
| P5 · Scale | Fail≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 10 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Partial≈ 6 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P7 · AI | Fail– | Partial≈ 20 s |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 4 min |
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | Todoist | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Installer | 224 MB | Microsoft Store |
| On disk | 636 MB | 368 MB |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 8 min | ≈ 20 min |
| Views on the free plan | 2 / 4 | 1 / 4 |
| Cold start | 1.6 s | ≈ 7 s |
| Memory | 0.8 – 0.9 GB | 0.6 – 0.85 GB |
| Automation rule | None | ≈ 1–2 s |
| CSV export | 200 / 200 | 53 rows |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 214 MB | Nothing |
Pros and cons
Todoist
+ What works
- One paste turned 40 lines into tasks with the right dates and priorities
- Natural-language dates and repeats, such as “every monday”
- Light, fast desktop app: window in 1.6 s, under 1 GB of memory
- Did not add itself to startup or the firewall
- Pro is cheap at $5 a month billed yearly
− What falls short
- The CSV import only accepts Todoist's own template; our spreadsheet was rejected
- Free plan: 5 projects and 300 tasks per project; a 500-row import brought in nothing
- No automation rules, no dependencies and no Gantt or timeline view
- Calendar layout, AI (Task Assist) and backups are paid
- On a free team every invitee becomes an admin; the Member role is paid
- CSV exports use relative dates by default
Trello
+ What works
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one card per line
- Free automation rules: ours moved a completed card within a second or two
- A recurring card rolls itself to next week when completed
- The Store app installs in about a minute without admin rights and uninstalls without leaving anything behind
- Quick to learn, with a clean board
− What falls short
- Free plan: board view only; calendar, timeline and table are Premium
- No priority field (we used colour labels) and no task dependencies
- No CSV import: we could only paste titles, at most 100 cards at a time
- Bulk card creation is slow, and 13 of our 500 cards were lost when we reloaded before it finished
- No AI chat for summaries or overdue tasks; AI checklists are a paid feature
- A new account starts a 14-day Premium trial; free workspaces are capped at 10 boards
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
Todoist
Signed installer
Signed by Doist Inc. with a DigiCert certificate.
No startup entry or firewall rules
“Launch at startup” is off by default, and no firewall prompt appeared.
Admins by default
On a free team every invitee is an admin, and a team join link is on by default.
Extension permissions
Task Assist asked for access to read and update all tasks, projects, labels and filters.
Trello
Store app
Installed and removed through the Microsoft Store, with no startup entry, services or leftovers.
Silent card loss
Cards still being created when we reloaded the board were lost without a warning.
Deletion is two steps
A board must be closed before it can be permanently deleted, so closing alone keeps the data.
Features & Pricing
| Todoist | Trello | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $5/mo | $5/mo |
Todoist plans
- Beginner$0
- Pro$5/mo
- Business$8/user/mo
From Todoist's pricing page, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Trello plans
- Free$0
- Standard$5/user/mo
- Premium$10/user/mo
- Enterprise$17.50/user/mo
From Trello's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Who makes them
- Company
- Todoist:Doist Inc. (Todoist)
- Trello:Atlassian (Trello)
- Headquarters
- Todoist:Remote-first company, incorporated in Delaware, USA
- Trello:Sydney, Australia (Atlassian); Trello based in New York
- Founded
- Todoist:2007
- Trello:2011
- Funding
- Todoist:Developed without formal venture funding.
- Trello:Acquired by Atlassian in 2017 for about $425 million.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: Todoist · Trello.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
Todoist reviewSituational 5.5 Todoist is the quickest way we found to type a project in: one paste turned 40 lines into dated, prioritised tasks, repeating tasks are effortless, and the Windows app is light and starts in under two seconds. But it is a task list, not a project tool. The free plan stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, our ordinary CSV was rejected, there is no automation, Gantt or dependencies, the calendar layout and AI are paid, and every free-team invitee becomes an admin. Read the full review → Trello reviewSituational 6.0 Trello is still the quickest way to put a list of tasks on a board, and its free automation rules work well. But it is a Kanban tool first: on the free plan you get the board only, priorities have to be colour labels, there are no dependencies, no CSV import and no project-wide AI, and adding hundreds of cards is slow and capped at 100 at a time. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
Notion Situational Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup 6.9 Read reviewReview 
Airtable Situational Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out 6.8 Read reviewReview 
