Slack vs. Trello 2024: Features, pricing, and reviews

Introduction

Trello vs Slack.

Wondering which one to pick?

Keeping your team on track can feel like an unattainable task these days. From managing tasks to communicating in real-time to delivering projects on time- there are endless goals to achieve.

And then comes your lifesaver in the form of project management tools.

Trello and Slack are two popular options, but they manage different things. Trello is your visual task organizer, while Slack keeps the team chat flowing.

We’ll break down both tools, but there might be a better option like ProofHub, meeting your both communication and project management needs easily.

Let’s first help you get a clear picture of Trello and Slack’s capabilities and limitations.

Slack vs Trello: An overview

Before getting into the nitty-gritty details that separate and distinguish these two software, let us start with their basic understanding and functionalities.

Slack

Slack is widely recognized as a communication tool. Teams across the globe use this tool for quick communication and seamless collaboration. Slack is not primarily designed for project management and is primarily designed to streamline and organize communication and collaboration among team members.

Slack lets you create different channels with enhanced privacy and helps you streamline and organize information. The messaging features help your team members to share important information quickly.

However, Slack relies on multiple integrations with third-party software to create a streamlined workflow. Functionalities like Slack Connect improve connectivity and collaboration with external stakeholders or partners. The Workflow Builder helps in automating repetitive tasks and sending reminders as per task requirements.

Tired of using Slack? You can explore the 27 Best Slack alternatives & competitors for enhancing your team communication

Trello

Trello is popularly known for its visual task management functionalities in the form of cards. This software provides you with pre-built templates for various workflows. By organizing your tasks in the form of cards on a Kanban board you can manage your projects with ease.

Contrary to Slack, Trello does not have built-in communication functionality. This makes this tool handicap to serve as full-fledged project management software.

You can integrate Trello with several different software platforms to build a seamless workflow as per your requirements.

Tired of switching over to a different platform for communication while working on Trello? Explore the 17 best Trello alternatives and competitors for managing your projects effectively.

Slack vs. Trello: Features

This section covers the features of both these software platforms. For every feature we discuss, we will try to spot a winner in that particular category. This will help you get a better understanding of the better tool.

1. Communication and collaboration

Slack primarily focuses on communication. By creating separate channels for different projects you can organize all information and communication with ease. Additionally, quick communication also ensures that you can keep all your team members on the same page. Additionally, you can collaborate with external stakeholders or collaborators with ease while using Slack.

Trello does not have native communication functionality. However, you can have discussions on cards, making this software suitable for collaboration among team members. Team members can post comments too. With the absence of a chat platform, team members cannot share important information easily.

The clear winner in this category is Slack because Trello lacks native communication functionality. Slack ensures that all your team members are on the same page eliminating confusion.

2. Project and task management

Trello consists provides task and project management functionalities with multiple views. Further, Trello provides you with power-ups to enhance the overall management process. You can forecast resources and plan project activities with ease. Team members have wide visibility of the projects and can identify potential roadblocks early. This ensures a steady progression of tasks and projects.

Slack has limited functionalities when it comes to project and task management. This means you can manage project progression in the form of chats and conversations only. There is no effective method to forecast resources and rectify potential roadblocks early. Although you can keep all your team members on the same page, managing projects is similar to one-way traffic and complicated.

The clear winner in this category is Trello because Slack does not have task or project management functionalities such as wide visibility or resource forecasting.

Learn the twisted way to manage projects on Slack – A detailed guide

3. Workflow automation

Trello provides an automation specialist functionality, Butler, for automated reminders and commands. Multiple views provide you with visibility over project progression and resolve potential roadblocks.

Slack on the other hand is primarily focused on building effective channels for organized internal communication. Slack automates the process of reminders or notifications to ensure that your team members do not miss out on important deadlines. However, Slack lacks functionalities such as recurring tasks or rule-based automation.

Trello comes out as a winner in this category too. This is because of its project management functionalities that make it easy for users to manage and automate workflows.

4. Integrations

Integrations can be likened to friction – a necessary evil. 

Both Slack and Trello rely heavily on integrations. Slack provides you with more than 2600 apps you can connect with. You can find the app that you want in the Slack app directory. You need to be using the paid plan to add integrations. The free plan limits the number of integrations to 10.

Trello provides integrations with more than 200 tools and software. These integrations are termed as Power-ups. These integrations help you build a seamless workflow platform.

Moreover, these integrations are not free. To add different apps to your workflow, you need to subscribe to those platforms as well. Hence, there is a significant increase in the overall budget you spend in the process.

This category does not bring out a specific winner. This is because Slack lacks project and task management functionalities and Trello lacks communication features.

Note: Trello and Slack are heavily dependent on integrations. At this point, it is worth noting that ProofHub is an all-in-one complete package and functions without the need for multiple integrations.

Explore the 14 Best Slack apps & integrations for exploiting the full potential of your Slack subscription.

5. Scalability 

Both Slack and Trello have per-user-based pricing. While the pricing of Slack starts from $7.25 per user per month, Trello’s pricing starts from $5 per user per month.

Let’s suppose a startup has 15 working employees. If they choose Slack for managing their day-to-day activities, it will cost them approximately $108.75 per month. On the other hand, Trello will cost $75 per month for the same team.

The comparison here should not only be based on pricing alone. Trello seems affordable, however it lacks communication functionality, forcing the team to use additional software. Contrary to the above, Slack is pricey, however, it lacks project management functionalities. A detailed review of the pricing plans and the features available in every plan have been discussed in detail in the next section.

In addition to the pricing dilemma, scalability and growth prospects are also hindered due to the per-user pricing. When adding in new users you will have to spend more on the cost of the software. This affects the financial balance, especially for small businesses and start-ups.

ProofHub fills in the gap by providing you with a flat pricing option. This means you can add as many users as you want. Further, this software is suitable for teams of all sizes and supports quick growth and scalability. So you need not worry about the increasing size of your team.

Explore the different pricing plans available in ProofHub and suit the one that matches your requirements. You also get a 14-day free trial. (No credit card required. No contracts.)

Slack vs. Trello: Pricing

When it comes to pricing both Slack and Trello provide a host of different packages and options. The functionalities and features differ depending on the package and the requirements of the end-users.

Let’s break this section into two parts – free plan and paid plans.

Free plans

Both Slack and Trello provide you with a free plan. However free plans have their limitations too.

Slack’s free plan is limited to 10 popular integrations only and a message history of 90 days. You have the functionality for audio and video calling in the free plan.

The free plan in Trello is suitable for small teams with 10 boards per workspace. However, this free plan provides you with unlimited users and integrations. In addition to the free plan, Trello provides a 14-day free trial of its premium plan.

Paid plans 

Slack provides you with 2 different paid plans-

1. Pro plan – priced at $7.25 per user per month, this plan provides you with unlimited message history and unlimited integrations.
2. Business + plan – priced at $12.50 per user per month. With this plan, you get all the features of the Pro plan along with priority support and the ability to export messages.

Trello provides you with 3 different paid plans-

1. Standard plan – priced at $5 per user per month, this plan includes unlimited boards, custom fields, and unlimited storage too. However, the workspace command runs are limited to 1000 per month.
2. Premium plan – priced at $10 per user per month, includes all the features available in the standard plan. Additionally, this plan provides you with different views like Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard, and Map. This plan also provides you with unlimited workspace command runs.
3. Enterprise plan – priced at $17.50 per user per month, includes all the features available in the premium plan. With the enterprise plan, you manage user access and permissions with effective administrative control over integrations and other entities.

Slack vs. Trello: User reviews and ratings

Let us see what users say about these two software:

Slack

Slack has a user rating of 4.5 of 5 on G2 and 4.7 of 5 on Capterra.

“Slack has a simple interface and newcomers quickly figure out how to work in it.” – review by head of marketing

“The constant stream of messages can sometimes lead to distractions and difficulty focusing on important tasks.” – review by customer service specialist

Trello

Trello has a user rating of 4.4 out of 5 on G2 and 4.5 of 5 on Capterra.

“Trello is a versatile tool for creating and tracking lots of tasks which are part of the project.” – review by a senior software engineer

“The least appealing aspect of Trello for me was its limited functionality for complex project management, particularly in areas like reporting” – review by a designer

Slack vs. Trello: Side-by-side comparison

A quick run-down comparison table between Slack and Trello is below:

Choosing the right tool: Slack or Trello?

Now that you have a detailed understanding of the features, reviews, and pricing of both these software, how will you make a final decision?

The choice between these two different platforms depends on your requirements. If your primary requirement is communication, Slack would be the right choice. However, if you are looking for a platform to visualize task management, then Trello would be the option for you.

Further, Trello provides you with a simple user-friendly interface with multiple task views for quick visualization of projects. This provides you with effective management of tasks and projects. On the other hand, Slack provides you with the ability to create separate channels for different projects and discussions. This ensures a streamlined and organized communication history.

Read more – Trello vs Jira vs ProofHub – Which tool to choose and why?

Can Slack and Trello be used together?

Slack and Trello can be likened to two different pieces in a jigsaw puzzle that fit each other perfectly. While Slack lacks project management functionalities, Trello lacks native communication functionalities. This makes both these platforms complement each other to form an effective team.

The choice of working on these two software together depends on which software you want to use on the other platform. For instance, you can use the Slack Power-up in Trello or the Trello app for Slack.

Trello misses out on built-in chat. This means team members require a different platform for communication and sharing information. To fulfill this void, you can use Slack together with Trello. By integrating Slack and Trello, you can build a seamless platform for better collaboration.

This is where ProofHub comes in as an effective alternative. The platform serves both the purpose of project management and communication on a single platform. You can do away with all such integrations. ProofHub provides you with a centralized dashboard for project management and communication.

We will discuss more about ProofHub and its place as an effective alternative in the next section.

ProofHub: A powerful all-in-one solution

ProofHub is an all-in-one project management and collaboration tool that serves as a centralized platform for managing your projects as well as for team communication and collaboration.

With flat pricing, this software is suitable for teams of all sizes and assists with effective scalability and team growth. Your team members need not switch between different apps, which ensures that they can focus on critical tasks with ease.

Trello and Slack are like river banks that need to be connected with a bridge. To effectively fill the gap between communication and project management, ProofHub comes in as that connecting bridge.

The following features make ProofHub a better alternative to both Slack and Trello.

• All-in-one platform – ProofHub combines the strength of Slack’s communication features and Trello’s visual project management feature. This makes ProofHub a one-stop solution for all your project management needs.

• Centralized collaboration – With functionalities like discussions, notes sharing, and comments with @mention your team members can work on the same platform without the need for switching between different tools for communication and project management.

• Built-in chat – ProofHub provides you with a built-in chat for sharing quick information, files, and other documents among your team members. You can have both one-on-one chats or group chats as per your requirements.

• Multiple views – Although Trello excels as a visual project management tool, ProofHub provides you with additional views like Gantt chart and calendar view.

• Cost-effective – ProofHub offers flat pricing. This means you can add as many users as you want without the need to pay anything extra.

• Scalability –  ProofHub assists you with the continuous growth of project size as well as team members.  By focusing on the critical tasks you can effectively improve the overall productivity and output of your team members.

Do you want to start right away with ProofHub, learn how you can do it-

All these features ensure that you do need not to worry about integrations and other third-party apps. ProofHub serves as your centralized source of truth for all your project management requirements.

Further, these are not just limited to theoretical instincts but are backed up with reviews and ratings on reputed review platforms too.

The user ratings for ProofHub are as follows:

• G2: 4.5
• Capterra: 4.6

Bid goodbye to multiple apps and manage all your work on a single platform with ProofHub. Start your 14-day free trial today. No credit card required.

Conclusion

Slack vs. Trello does not eventually bring out a typical winner. Both these tools are built for different fulfilling parameters. While Slack is more suitable for communication, Trello is suitable for visual project management.

However, both these tools fail to satisfy all the requirements of project management. Excessive reliance on integration also affects your overall financial planning.

Bottom line, you could simply skip these two software and go in for ProofHub, the all-in-one project management and team collaboration tool. With ProofHub, you can do away with the need for integrations and switching between multiple apps. You can manage your projects as well as communicate and collaborate with your team members on the same platform.

Sign-up today on ProofHub. Streamline your communication and manage projects with the centralized dashboard.

FAQs