What is Trello?
Trello is a web and mobile app where each task is a card, each stage is a list and each project is a board. A card holds a description, checklist, due date, attachments, comments and assigned people. Moving a card from “To do” to “Doing” to “Done” shows progress at a glance, which is why marketing teams, agencies and freelancers use Trello for content calendars, campaign plans and client work.
History of Trello
Trello started as an internal product of Fog Creek Software and became part of Atlassian.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 13 September 2011 | Joel Spolsky presents Trello at a TechCrunch event |
| 2014 | Trello becomes a separate New York company and raises USD 10.3 million |
| May 2016 | 1.1 million daily active users, 14 million sign-ups |
| 9 January 2017 | Atlassian announces the acquisition for USD 425 million |
| December 2018 | Trello acquires Butler, the automation Power-Up |
| October 2019 | 50 million users |
The co-founders were Joel Spolsky and Michael Pryor of Fog Creek Software. The Atlassian deal combined USD 360 million in cash with USD 65 million in shares and options.
How does Trello work?
Trello works through 4 building blocks: Workspaces, boards, lists and cards.
Boards, lists and cards
A board represents one project or process, lists represent stages, and cards represent tasks. Labels, custom fields and card mirroring connect related work across boards.
Automation
Built-in automation, which grew out of Butler, moves cards, assigns people and sets due dates based on rules and triggers. The number of automation runs depends on the plan: 250 per month on Free and 1,000 on Standard.
Power-Ups and views
Power-Ups connect Trello with tools such as Slack, Google Drive and Jira. Premium adds Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views on top of the classic board.
Trello pricing
Trello pricing ranges from a free plan to USD 17.50 per user per month for Enterprise, according to the official pricing page in October 2026.
| Plan | Price per user per month (annual) | Key limits and features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | USD 0 | 10 boards and 10 collaborators per Workspace |
| Standard | USD 5 | Unlimited boards, custom fields, AI |
| Premium | USD 10 | Timeline, Calendar, Table, Dashboard and Map views |
| Enterprise | USD 17.50 | Unlimited Workspaces, organisation-wide controls |
Trello in marketing and SEO work
Trello suits marketing because most marketing work is a pipeline of small, visible steps. Typical boards I see in SEO projects are:
- Content calendar: idea, brief, writing, editing, published, updated.
- Technical SEO backlog: issue, ticket for developers, fixed, verified in Search Console.
- Link building pipeline: prospect, outreach, follow-up, live backlink.
- Market rollout: one list per country for translation, hreflang setup and local launch.
For a client-facing SEO strategy, a shared Trello board makes priorities and progress transparent without extra reporting. Teams that need deep dependencies, workload management or docs often outgrow it.
Trello vs Asana vs ClickUp
Trello is the simplest of the three popular tools, while Asana and ClickUp offer more structure out of the box.
| Criterion | Trello | Asana | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Kanban boards | Projects, timelines, goals | All-in-one workspace |
| Learning curve | Very low | Medium | Higher |
| Best for | Small teams, simple pipelines | Cross-team projects | Teams that want docs and tasks in one tool |
Many teams also connect Trello with Slack so card updates appear in project channels.
Frequently asked questions about Trello
Who owns Trello?
Trello is owned by Atlassian, the company behind Jira and Confluence. Atlassian announced the acquisition on 9 January 2017 for USD 425 million.
Is Trello free?
Yes, Trello has a free plan with unlimited cards, up to 10 boards and up to 10 collaborators per Workspace. Paid plans start at USD 5 per user per month billed annually.
What is the difference between Trello and Asana?
Trello is built around Kanban boards and is easier to learn. Asana adds more project structure, such as timelines, goals and workload views, which suits larger cross-team projects.
When was Trello created?
Trello was created by Fog Creek Software and launched on 13 September 2011 at a TechCrunch event. It became an independent company in 2014.
Related terms
- Trello · Wikipedia
- Trello pricing · Atlassian / Trello
- Change your language in Trello · Atlassian Support
