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Crew vs Trello: when a simple board is enough, and when you outgrow it
Trello is a simple, visual board tool from Atlassian, and for many small teams a board is all they need. Crew starts to make sense when the work grows past the board: planning across weeks, time tracking, a client portal, and AI agents whose work a person approves at a gate. Crew is made by a Swiss company and hosted in Germany or Switzerland, your choice; on-premise on request.
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Where Crew leads, where Trello leads
| Where Crew leads | Where Trello leads |
|---|---|
| Agent runs with approval gates | Very low entry barrier: a board is understood in minutes |
| Client portal with approvals | Power-Ups and templates from a large community |
| Worklogs, timesheets, billing review | Free plan to try the idea with a small team |
| Gantt timeline, roadmap, resource planning | Light by design: few concepts to learn |
| Hosting in Germany or Switzerland, on-premise on request | Part of the Atlassian family and its sign-in |
Detailed comparison
| Criterion | Crew | Trello | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core model: starting point | Tasks with types (epic, story, task, sub-task), up to five hierarchy levels, workflow schemes per project, shown as board, timeline or roadmap. | The board is the starting point: you create a board and work on it. A light, visual layout for tracking tasks. | trello.com/guide |
| Core model: views | Board with workflow columns, Gantt timeline with milestones and releases, roadmap. | Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views are listed for Premium and above at time of writing. | trello.com/pricing |
| Automation: rules | Automations and scheduled tasks in the admin area. | Butler automation and Power-Ups. Command runs per month depend on the plan: limited on Free and Standard, unlimited on Premium and above. | trello.com/pricing, trello.com/guide |
| AI: agents | Agent runs are part of the task. Each stage can stop at a gate where a person approves, approves with changes or requests changes. | AI features from the Standard plan, for example AI-assisted quick capture. The plans page lists no agent runs with approval steps. | trello.com/pricing |
| AI: models | Own models possible, for example Qwen, Mistral or Apertus on Infomaniak. Or you bring your own API key. | Provided by the vendor as part of the plan. | Crew |
| Clients: access | Built-in client portal. Per client and per user you decide what clients see and do: tasks, comments, planning, documents, hours, approvals. | Guests: single-board guests on Standard, multi-board guests on Enterprise. No separate client portal is listed. | trello.com/pricing |
| Clients: review | Clients review a preview, pin a comment and approve in the same system. | Comments on cards. A structured client approval step is not listed. | trello.com/pricing |
| Time: tracking | Worklogs, weekly and monthly timesheets, team timesheets, billing review with PDF reports. | Not listed on the plans page. Other tools can be connected through Power-Ups. | trello.com/pricing |
| Planning: timeline | Gantt timeline with milestones and releases, roadmap, planning meetings. | Timeline view on Premium and above at time of writing. | trello.com/pricing |
| Planning: resources | Resource planner per person and day. | A Planner is listed from the Standard plan. The plans page does not describe it further. | trello.com/pricing |
| Documents: files | Documents and files per project, attachments with preview, notes with live editing. | File attachments. Maximum file size depends on the plan: 10 MB on Free, 250 MB on Standard. | trello.com/pricing |
| Documents: checklists | Structured checklists with columns and fields, CSV or XLSX import, CSV export. | Not covered on the pages we checked. | Crew |
| Data: export | Data is reachable through the REST API and the MCP server. | Export as JSON for board members and as CSV for Premium Workspaces. CSV leaves out comments; JSON board exports hold the 1,000 most recent actions. | support.atlassian.com/trello |
| Data: import | Jira import is built in. There is no Trello importer. | No generic import tool. Pasting text into a card turns each line into a card; import Power-Ups exist, or you use the API. | support.atlassian.com/trello |
| Hosting: location | Public instance at Hetzner in Germany. Germany or Switzerland, your choice; on-premise on request. Company in Zurich. | Atlassian cloud. The plans page lists no self-hosting and does not state data residency. | trello.com/pricing |
| Hosting: integrations and API | REST API v1 documented with OpenAPI, MCP server at /mcp, links to Jira, GitHub, Bitbucket and Slack. Tokens act as their owner. | Public REST API with OAuth scopes, and a large range of Power-Ups. | developer.atlassian.com/cloud/trello |
| Setup: templates | Preset workflow schemes (Simple, Development, Complex, Marketing), team presets, checklist templates. | Templates from Trello and its community for project management, sales, design, engineering and marketing. | trello.com/guide |
| Setup: learning curve | More concepts: task types, workflows, gates, portal. Defaults help, but it takes longer than a board. | Very short. This is where Trello is clearly ahead. | trello.com/guide |
| Admin: security | Roles, groups and per-project access; per-client portal permissions; API token scopes. | Admin and security features from Premium; organization-wide permissions on Enterprise. SSO through Atlassian Guard, a separate subscription. | trello.com/pricing |
| Licensing | From 20 EUR or 20 CHF per user per month, minimum 10 users. Agent usage billed separately. Quote on request. | Free, Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans. Current prices are on trello.com/pricing. | trello.com/pricing |
Moving from Trello to Crew
Trello cannot import JSON or CSV to re-create a board, and Crew has no Trello importer at time of writing. What works today:
- Export your boards from Trello as JSON, or as CSV if you have a Premium Workspace.
- Tell us how many boards and cards you have and how you use lists and labels today.
- We map lists to workflow statuses and move the open work. This is a guided migration done on request, not a self-service import.
- Crew has a built-in importer for Jira, in case part of your work already lives there.
Many teams only move active boards and leave old ones archived in Trello.
When Trello is the better choice
- A small team needs a shared to-do board and nothing more.
- You do not track time, do not share work with clients and do not run agents.
- People should be productive without any training.
- You want to try a free plan first.
- You already work in the Atlassian family and want to stay there.
Cost
Crew costs from 20 EUR or 20 CHF per user per month, with a minimum of 10 users. The price per user falls with more users; the tiers will be announced later. Agent usage is billed separately, or you bring your own API key. Setup of LXD or deployment environments is quoted separately.
For Trello, see its own pricing page. We do not quote Trello prices here because plans and prices change. There is no self-service trial for Crew: you request a test with the form on the pricing page.
Sources
Trello statements on this page come from these official pages, read in October 2026.
- Trello pricinghttps://trello.com/pricing
- Trello guidehttps://trello.com/guide
- Atlassian Support: exporting data from Trellohttps://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/exporting-data-from-trello/
- Atlassian Support: importing data into Trellohttps://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/importing-data-into-trello/
- Trello REST API referencehttps://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/trello/rest/
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Frequently asked questions
Is Crew a Trello alternative?
For teams that have outgrown a plain board, yes. Crew keeps the board and adds timeline, resource planning, time tracking, a client portal and agent runs with approval gates. For a small team that only needs a board, Trello is enough.
Can we import our Trello boards?
Not with a button. Trello cannot import JSON or CSV to re-create boards, and Crew has no Trello importer. Export your boards from Trello and we do a guided migration on request.
Does Crew have a free plan like Trello?
No. Crew has no free plan and no self-service trial. You can request a test with the form on the pricing page.
Can clients work with us in Crew?
Yes. The client portal is part of Crew. Clients sign in with an email link or a one-time code and see only what you allow: tasks, comments, planning, documents, hours or approvals.
Where is our data stored?
You choose Germany or Switzerland; on-premise on request. The public instance crew.avidia.ai runs at Hetzner in Germany. Own AI models are possible. US exposure under the CLOUD Act exists only through US sub-processors, and those can be swapped.
What does Crew cost compared with Trello?
Crew costs from 20 EUR or 20 CHF per user per month, minimum 10 users, agent usage billed separately. For Trello's current plans and prices, see trello.com/pricing.
See if Crew fits your team
Tell us how your team works today and which tools you use. We will look at it together.
Request a test