Todoist is a task list that can also show a board; Trello is a board of cards that can also hold a checklist. Pick Todoist if your work is a stream of small things with dates, and Trello if your work moves through stages that you want to see side by side. Both have a free plan, and the paid price is a few dollars per person per month, so the choice rarely comes down to money.
We build a third tool, a small kanban board, so we have a view on where each of these two stops being the right shape. The prices below were read from Todoist's pricing page and Trello's pricing page in October 2026. Where a figure could not be confirmed, it is left out.
What is the real difference between Todoist and Trello?
The difference is what the tool treats as its main object. In Todoist the main object is the task, and the main screen is a list of tasks sorted by when you need to do them. Projects, labels and filters help you slice that list. In Trello the main object is the board, and the main screen is a row of columns that cards travel across from left to right.
That sounds cosmetic until you try to answer a question. "What do I have to do today?" is one click in Todoist. "Where is each of my twelve client projects right now?" is one glance in Trello. Each tool can answer the other question, and neither answers it well.
What does each one cost?
| Todoist | Trello | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 5 personal projects, 3 filter views | 10 boards per Workspace, unlimited cards |
| Free collaborators | up to 5 people per project | up to 10 per Workspace |
| Paid entry price | Pro, $4/month billed annually | Standard, $5/user/month billed annually, $6 monthly |
| Next tier up | Business, custom pricing | Premium, $10/user/month annually, $12.50 monthly |
| File size on free | 5 MB | 10 MB per file |
Two things are worth reading out of this. Todoist's free plan is limited by projects, five of them, and its filter views are limited to three. Trello's free plan is limited by structure instead: you get ten boards, but automation, extra views and the Planner sit on paid tiers. Someone with one large personal system fits Trello's free plan better. Someone with a dozen small areas of life hits Todoist's five-project ceiling quickly.
Is Todoist better for personal tasks?
Usually yes. A to-do list rewards speed of entry, and Todoist is built around that. You type a sentence, it works out the date, and the task lands in the right place. A recurring task, a reminder, a due-today view that empties as you work: this is the part of personal organisation that Todoist does without ceremony.
Trello can hold the same tasks, but each one is a card you have to open, date and place. For a long list of small chores that overhead is the cost you notice every day.
Is Trello better for work that moves through stages?
Yes, and it is the reason boards exist. If a piece of work has a path (idea, draft, review, published; lead, call, proposal, signed), then the position of the card is the status. You do not need to open anything to know where it stands, and a column that fills up tells you where the work is getting stuck.
This is the kanban method, and the part that makes it more than a tidy picture is a limit on how many cards a column may hold. Trello has no such limit natively; you add one with a Power-Up. Todoist has no equivalent because it does not think in stages at all. Our guide to WIP limits explains why that cap does the real work, and what kanban is covers the method from the start.
Can you use Todoist and Trello together?
Yes, and plenty of people do. The split that works is simple: Trello holds the projects and their stages, Todoist holds the daily list. A card moves to "In progress" on the board, and the next physical step goes into Todoist with today's date. The board answers "what am I working on", the list answers "what do I do next".
The cost is two places to look and two places to forget. If you find yourself copying the same item into both, you have picked the wrong pair of tools, and one of them should go.
How do you choose in one question?
Ask what you are trying to see. If it is "what is due, and in what order", choose the list. If it is "what stage is each thing in", choose the board. If you honestly want both and nothing else, a board with a due date on each card covers most personal work, and that is where a smaller kanban tool fits.
Three situations push the answer one way or the other:
- Mostly recurring chores and reminders. Todoist. Boards are poor at "every second Tuesday".
- A handful of projects with clear stages. Trello, or any board.
- Several people sharing one body of work. Trello, for the board view of who holds what, though its price scales per person.
Where does a smaller kanban tool fit?
A third option is a board without the surrounding platform. EasyKanban gives you columns, cards, colour tags and a due date per card, with a limit you can set on any column that colours its header when you go over it. The free plan has 3 boards with unlimited cards and up to 3 members per board. Pro is €6 a month or €60 a year for the whole account, so adding teammates does not raise the bill, which is the opposite of Trello's per-seat model.
It does not have Todoist's natural-language entry or Trello's Power-Ups, and it is not trying to. You can also try it with no signup before deciding, which neither of the other two allows. For a side-by-side with Trello, see EasyKanban vs Trello, and for Trello against another all-rounder read Trello vs Asana.
Frequently asked questions
Is Todoist a kanban board?
Partly. Todoist offers a board layout for a project, so you can see tasks as columns. It remains a task manager first, and it has no work-in-progress limits, so it shows stages without enforcing any of the discipline kanban is known for.
Which is cheaper, Todoist or Trello?
For one person, Todoist Pro at $4 a month billed annually is slightly cheaper than Trello Standard at $5 a month billed annually. Both are free to start. Trello charges per user, so the gap changes as a team grows.
Is Trello free?
Yes. The free plan includes up to 10 boards per Workspace, unlimited cards and up to 10 collaborators. It is enough for a personal system or a small team, while extra views, higher automation limits and the AI features need a paid tier such as Standard or Premium.
Can I use Todoist and Trello together?
Yes. A common setup keeps projects and their stages on a Trello board and puts the next action for each into Todoist with a date. It works as long as you do not copy every item into both.
Do I need an account to try a kanban board?
Not with every tool. EasyKanban lets you open one board with up to 20 cards without signing up, saved in your browser. Most hosted task tools ask you to register before you see anything.