Linear vs Trello
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings.
Detailed Comparison
Overview
This memo compares Linear and Trello for a team deciding between a purpose-built product development system and a general visual project management tool. Linear targets software teams building products, with features like AI agents, sprint planning, and code integration. Trello serves broader teams with flexible boards, lists, and cards, emphasizing simplicity and visual task tracking. The choice hinges on whether your team needs structured product development workflows or adaptable, board-based project management.
Key Differences
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Target audience and workflow: Linear is built for software product teams—issues, sprints, roadmaps, and code integration. Trello is a general-purpose tool for any team that wants visual task management with boards and cards.
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AI and automation depth: Linear includes Linear Agent, Triage Intelligence, and Code Intelligence (beta) for AI-driven issue management and development workflows. Trello offers AI-powered task capture from email, Slack, and Teams, plus Butler automation for board-level rules and commands.
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Team and project structure: Linear organizes work into teams, issues, and sprints with unlimited members and teams on paid plans. Trello uses boards, lists, and cards with per-board Power-Ups and workspace-level views.
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Pricing model and entry cost: Linear’s Free plan supports unlimited members but limits to 2 teams and 250 issues. Trello’s Free plan offers unlimited cards but caps at 10 boards per workspace. Linear’s paid plans start at $10/user/month; Trello’s at $5/user/month (annual).
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Integration ecosystem: Linear integrates with Zendesk and Intercom on Business plan. Trello offers unlimited Power-Ups per board on Free, enabling connections to hundreds of third-party services, but specific integrations beyond that are not verified in the evidence.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Linear | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Primary structure | Issues, sprints, teams, roadmaps | Boards, lists, cards |
| Free plan limits | 2 teams, 250 issues | 10 boards per workspace, unlimited cards |
| Paid plans start | $10/user/month (Basic) | $5/user/month annual (Standard) |
| AI features | Linear Agent, Triage Intelligence, Code Intelligence (beta) | AI-powered task capture from email, Slack, Teams |
| Automation | Linear Agent automations (beta, Business plan) | Butler (built-in, unlimited on Premium) |
| Mobile apps | Not verified | iOS and Android with offline support |
| SSO/SAML | Enterprise plan | Enterprise plan (Atlassian Guard) |
| Integrations | Zendesk, Intercom (Business plan) | Unlimited Power-Ups per board (Free plan) |
| File storage | Unlimited on Basic plan (size not verified) | 10MB/file on Free, 250MB/file on Standard |
| Guest access | Private teams and guests (Business plan) | Single board guests (Standard), multi-board (Enterprise) |
Pricing
Linear: Free ($0, unlimited members, 2 teams, 250 issues). Basic ($10/user/month, 5 teams, unlimited issues). Business ($16/user/month, unlimited teams, private teams, AI features). Enterprise (custom, includes SAML/SCIM, priority support). Note: Annual vs monthly billing not verified.
Trello: Free ($0, unlimited cards, 10 boards, 250 Butler command runs/month). Standard ($5/user/month annual, $6 monthly, unlimited boards, 1,000 command runs). Premium ($10/user/month annual, $12.50 monthly, unlimited command runs, advanced views). Enterprise ($17.50/user/month annual, SSO, unlimited workspaces). Pricing verified from evidence.
When to Choose Linear
- Your team builds software products and needs structured issue tracking, sprint planning, and roadmaps.
- You want AI agents to triage issues, automate workflows, and integrate with code repositories.
- You need unlimited members on a free plan and are willing to accept a 250-issue cap for evaluation.
- Your organization requires private teams, guest access, or enterprise SAML/SCIM for compliance.
- You value purpose-built development tooling over flexible, board-based task management.
When to Choose Trello
- Your team needs a simple, visual tool for task tracking that works across departments (marketing, HR, operations).
- You want to start for free with unlimited cards and only 10 boards, scaling up with paid plans.
- You rely on a wide variety of third-party integrations via Power-Ups, available even on the Free plan.
- Your team works on mobile devices and needs offline support for task management.
- You prefer a lower per-user cost ($5/user/month Standard) and don’t need product development-specific features.
Trade-offs and Limits
- Linear’s Free plan caps at 250 issues, which is very restrictive for any active team. Trello’s Free plan caps at 10 boards but offers unlimited cards, making it more scalable for lightweight use.
- Linear lacks verified mobile app support, while Trello offers iOS and Android apps with offline functionality—a critical gap for field or remote teams.
- Trello’s Butler automation is limited to 250 command runs/month on Free and 1,000 on Standard, which may constrain heavy automation users. Linear’s automation is in beta and only on Business plan.
- Neither tool is open source. Migration friction: moving from Trello boards to Linear issues requires restructuring workflows; moving from Linear to Trello loses sprint and roadmap structure.
- Evidence gaps: Linear’s file upload size limits, specific Power-Up integrations for Trello beyond what’s listed, and annual billing details for Linear are not verified. Do not assume capabilities not explicitly stated.
Verdict
Choose Linear if you lead a software product team that needs structured issue management, AI-driven triage, and sprint planning, and you can pay $10+/user/month for full functionality. Choose Trello if your team needs flexible, visual task management across departments, values low cost and mobile access, and can work within board-based limits. For a mixed team (e.g., product + marketing), Trello’s broader ecosystem and lower entry cost make it the safer default unless product development workflows are the primary use case.