Pipedrive vs. Trello: Differences, pros and cons in 2024

For managers and team leaders, Pipedrive and Trello are two powerful tools that you might be considering. “If you find your team struggling to keep track of tasks, deadlines and project progress, investing in project management software could significantly improve your efficiency and collaboration,” said Jon Morgan, CEO of Venture Smarter, a consulting firm for startups and small businesses.

While both of these software options can support both small and large organizations, they do so in different ways. Learning about the differences between Pipedrive’s and Trello’s features, integrations and pricing can help you choose the best program to meet your needs.

Pipedrive vs. Trello: Quick overview

Pipedrive and Trello can both help companies stay organized and on top of their projects. However, the specific needs of a business coupled with each platform’s varying features, integrations and pricing options may make one platform a better fit over the other.

Pricing and value

Verdict: Trello

Pipedrive pricing and value

Pipedrive offers five plan tiers, but there is no free plan available. However, customers can sign up for a 14-day free trial for any of the tiers, with no credit card required. The Essential plan is the least expensive option, costing $21.90 per user per month (or $14.90 per user per month with annual billing). This plan is designed for beginners and small businesses and includes capabilities such as managing a pipeline and importing data from other customer relationship management (CRM) solutions.

The Advanced plan, which costs $37.90 per user per month (or $27.90 per user per month with annual billing), adds features. It allows users to sync the Outlook, Gmail or company domain email account with the platform, offers automation options, makes it possible to share availability and schedule meetings with customers and implement automations.

Pipedrive labels the Professional plan as the most popular customer choice. It costs $59.90 per user per month (or $49.90 per user per month with annual billing). The plan is designed for smaller businesses with well-established sales teams. It allows for the creation of rules to automatically assign leads to team members and the ability to create and manage team goals, send contracts and proposals to clients and customize permissions and access.

Larger teams may find that the Power plan, which costs $74.90 per user per month or $64.90 per month with annual billing, is the right fit for their organization. The kanban board view enables members to sketch out and manage up to 200,000 deals, easily handle more complex projects and organize to-do lists. This plan is scalable and allows managers to provide visibility and permissions to members for different boards and teams. 

The Enterprise plan does not put any limits on deals, reports, teams and other features, making it a good fit for large organizations managing lots of projects. This plan, which costs $119 per user per month or $99 per month with annual billing, also allows for more advanced account protections, including two-factor authentication, time- and IP-based restriction and more. Users can also receive alerts for any potentially suspicious activity.

Trello pricing and value

Trello customers can choose from four different plan options. The first tier, which is free, offers features designed to help individuals or teams keep their projects organized. It includes a maximum of 10 boards on each Workspace with unlimited cards. This plan also provides for unlimited integrations and plug-ins, unlimited storage (for files up to 10 MB each) and the ability to create due dates for cards.

The Standard plan builds on the features included in the free plan. It costs $6 per user per month (or $5 per user per month with annual billing). Some of the added features with this option include unlimited boards, more advanced checklists and unlimited storage (for files up to 250MB each). Users can also run up to 1,000 workspace commands each month and can create custom fields for their cards. 

For $12.50 per user per month (or $10 per user per month with annual billing), businesses can sign up for Trello’s Premium plan. In addition to everything included in the Standard plan, this option adds additional views, such as calendars, maps and timelines. It also provides unlimited workspace command runs and special workspace templates. Teams also have access to security features that are not included with the lower-tier options.

The Enterprise plan is designed for larger organizations with multiple teams to manage. This option offers greater control to managers, allowing them to set attachment permissions and manage organization-visible boards. It also allows for multi-board guests, unlimited workspaces and management of public boards.

Key features

Verdict: Tie

Pipedrive and Trello are designed with different goals in mind. While Pipedrive is a customer relationship management (CRM) solution that supports building sales revenue and closing deals, Trello is more of a project management tool. 

Pipedrive features

Pipedrive’s features are designed to support businesses with marketing their products, generating and following up with leads and closing deals. Some of the sales software features include:

• Customizable pipelines based on the specific operations of the company.
• Automation of processes and lead distribution. 
• Customizable sales reports. 
• Centralized communication across the operation.

Pipedrive can also support a company’s email marketing campaigns through the use of the included templates and a drag-and-drop email builder, real-time sales reports and automated customer relationship sequences. There are also some project management features included with Pipedrive, such as the ability to automate lead qualification flows and some of the more mundane processes involved in executing a sales process.

Trello features

Trello offers several features designed to help users and businesses get the most out of the platform. Trello views include:

• Board
• Timeline
• Table
• Dashboard
• Map
• Workspace
• Calendar

These enable users to monitor the varying aspects of each project to better track its progress and see it through to completion.

With Trello, users can automate many processes, reducing your and your team’s workload. For example, Butler makes it possible to set rules and develop commands that will automatically move cards to the next step. Users can also design triggers that will alert team members to important steps they need to take. 

Trello offers several power-ups designed to further enhance user experience by, for example, replicating cards, implementing voting and creating calendars. There are also a variety of templates to choose from to customize the look of each board, including options related to marketing, productivity, sales, team management and education.

Software integrations

Verdict: Pipedrive

Pipedrive and Trello both offer several software integration options that allow businesses to connect the various tools needed to run their companies. However, since Pipedrive offers about double the number of integrations as Trello, it wins in this category.

Pipedrive software integrations

Pipedrive offers more than 400 integrations with different marketing, lead generation, email and customer support tools. Subscribers can browse through the available apps in the Marketplace or search for the specific ones their company already relies on. A few of the integrations that are available include:

• Microsoft Teams.
• Zapier.
• Google Meet.
• DocuSign.
• QuickBooks.
• Asana.

Trello software integrations

Trello users can integrate the software with around 200 different apps. The integrations section of the website houses all the different options, which can be filtered by categories, such as analytics and reporting, file management, developer tools, product and design and sales and support. Some of the available integrations include: 

• Telegram.
• Twitter.
• Tick Time Tracking.
• Mailchimp.
• Evernote.

Customer Support

Verdict: Pipedrive

Pipedrive and Trello offer similar customer support structures. However, we’d give the edge to Pipedrive. Subscribers to all plans have access to 24/7 email and chat support, while Trello only offers 24/7 support for Premium and Enterprise plan holders.

Pipedrive Customer Support

Pipedrive offers 24/7 live chat and email support in English and Portuguese for all plan holders. Live chat support is also available for Spanish, French or German speakers, but on a more limited basis. To access the live chat feature, you must be logged into your account.

The option to receive phone support is only available for Enterprise and Power plan subscribers. Phone support is also only available Mondays through Fridays. Support is only offered in English (6 a.m. to 10 p.m. UTC) and Portuguese (9 a.m. to 10 p.m. UTC). 

Trello Customer Support

Trello’s customer support features and capabilities look different depending on which plan they choose. Free plan subscribers do not have the option to connect with a representative. Instead, they can browse through the Trello section of the Atlassian community page to post questions, read through the featured articles or view discussions from other users.

All paid plan subscribers are able to connect with the support team, though the availability and response time vary between plans. For example, Standard plan subscribers can only reach a member of the team during local business hours, while Premium and Enterprise subscribers receive 24/7 support with faster response times for high-impact issues. Enterprise subscribers also have access to phone support.

User reviews

Verdict: Trello

User reviews for Pipedrive and Trello are comparable, with both companies receiving between 3.8 and 4.5 stars across various reputable sources, including G2, Trustpilot, Google Play and the Apple Store. However, reviews for Trello trend on the higher end of this range, with only one site displaying an average score below four.

Pipedrive user reviews

Reviews from Pipedrive users range from 3.8 to 4.5 stars across Trustpilot (4.5 stars with over 1,500 reviews), G2 (4.2 stars with nearly 1,700 reviews), Google Play (3.9 stars with over 3,100 reviews) and the Apple App Store (3.8 stars with around 500 reviews). 

Positive reviews mention the tool’s ease of using and creating sales pipelines and the different options for customizing them to a business’s specific needs.

However, not all customers are happy with Pipedrive’s performance and some feel that it isn’t the right fit for their needs. Several mentioned its lack of marketing features in their review of the company. Others expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s billing practices and felt that they were unjustly charged for canceled accounts.

Trello user reviews

Customer reviews for Trello are slightly more favorable than those for Pipedrive. Ratings range from 3.7 stars on Trustpilot to 4.4 stars on G2, with Google Play and the Apple App Store landing in the middle with 4.4 stars on both.

Positive reviews for Trello highlight the platform’s ease of use. Customers like that they can drag and drop cards from one category to the next. Several reviewers shared that the way Trello is set up gives all team members a clear view of projects’ statuses and who is assigned to which tasks.

However, some users shared that the platform was not as intuitive as others they have used. Other users felt that Trello is not sufficient for managing more complex projects and that it may be better suited for smaller teams.

Final verdict

Winner: Tie

As Venture Smarter CEO Jon Morgan says, “Comparing Pipedrive and Trello is like comparing apples and oranges.” 

While both of these programs offer a lot of great features to help businesses, they are designed with different goals in mind. The right one for you will depend on the specific needs of your business, or you may benefit from what they both have to offer.

Who is Pipedrive best for?

If your goal is to increase company sales and improve follow-up with leads, then Pipedrive may be the best program for you. This CRM tool is “designed to help businesses manage their sales pipelines and customer interactions. It’s fantastic for tracking leads, automating sales processes and improving conversions,” Morgan said.

Who is Trello best for?

While Pipedrive’s focus is more on sales pipelines, Trello is a project management tool designed to help teams collaborate and track the status of different tasks. Morgan said that “it’s excellent for visual thinkers and teams that need a flexible and intuitive way to manage projects.” Choose Trello if you want to streamline your workflow and processes.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Which is better, Pipedrive or Trello?

Pipedrive and Trello are both very different programs. While Pipedrive is a CRM designed to help teams set up and manage sales pipelines to ensure adequate follow-up and lead closing, Trello is more of a project management tool that allows organizations to create and track tasks assignments and progress. 

The specific features and functions that your company or business is looking for can help you decide which option is best for you.

Does my business need project management software?

While investing in project management software isn’t a requirement, you might find that it helps your company better monitor the status of various projects and identify priorities. The best project management software options will also make it easier for different team members to communicate and collaborate to improve efficiency and results.

What should I look for when choosing project management software?

When choosing project management software, it is important to keep the specific needs of your business or organization in mind. Edlyn Collanto, a SEO research associate with UpCity, shares that “the key is finding a solution that provides the necessary features to plan and coordinate tasks, resources, timelines and budgets without overly complicating workflows.” 

Collanto adds that business owners should “consider ease of use, flexibility, integration capabilities and pricing” as they compare the various project management software options. She also said that “the right software should seamlessly facilitate coordination while providing the controls and visibility needed at all levels to execute projects successfully.”

How much does project management software cost?

The cost to purchase project management software varies widely based on the product, plan level and the number of users in the organization. Many software companies offer free plan options that are typically best suited for individuals or smaller teams that only require basic features. 

Paid plan options start around $5 per user per month and may cost upwards of $100 per user per month for more advanced features. If you have a large number of employees, many software programs offer enterprise-level pricing, but you may have to contact the company for a custom rate for your business.