The tenth board will not fit. Trello free workspaces cap at 10 boards and 10 collaborators, and a team that hits that cap has two choices. Pay for Standard at 5 dollars a user a month, or move to a tool that does not cap the boards at all. That is the moment most teams start asking how to switch from Trello to ClickUp, and it is a fair question.
Trello is a simple board tool with a clean interface and a price that climbs fast once the team needs more than Kanban. ClickUp is a broader workspace that charges more per seat on the cheapest paid plan, but bundles docs, goals, time tracking and whiteboards into the same login. A team of ten that pays for Trello Premium spends about 100 dollars a month. The same team on ClickUp Core spends about 90 dollars a month, and gets Gantt charts, docs and time tracking that Trello locks behind Premium or does not offer at all.
The switch is not about which tool is better in general. It is about which price and which feature set match the way the team actually works. Trello charges per user and gates timeline, calendar and dashboard views behind Premium. ClickUp charges per user too, but at 9 dollars a user a month for Core, and puts Gantt, calendar, docs and time tracking on that plan. For a team that lives in boards and wants more for the same money, the gap is real. For a team that loves Trello calm interface and only needs cards on a board, ClickUp can feel busy, and this guide says so plainly.
This guide walks through how to switch from Trello to ClickUp in seven steps, with a checklist, a cost comparison, and a clear account of what transfers, what does not, and what to test before cancelling Trello. Follow the steps in order, run both tools side by side for two weeks, and the move will be boring in the best way. Skip the steps, cancel early, and Butler automations, Power Up data and cover images can vanish without a trace.
The Price Gap That Starts the Conversation
Cost is the reason most teams switch, and the numbers explain why. Trello Free costs nothing, with unlimited cards, 10 boards per workspace, 1 Power Up per board and 10 MB attachments, capped at 10 collaborators. Standard costs 5 dollars per user per month on annual billing, with unlimited boards, 250 MB attachments and custom fields. Premium costs 10 dollars per user per month on annual billing, and adds timeline, calendar, table and map views, unlimited automation and dashboards. Enterprise costs 17.50 dollars per user per month, with a 50 seat minimum, and adds SSO and audit logs.
ClickUp Free Forever costs nothing and, unusually for this category, has no seat limit, though storage is capped at 60 MB on the new free plan. Core costs 9 dollars per user per month on annual billing, or 12 dollars monthly, and adds Gantt charts, docs, chat, whiteboards, native time tracking and 1,000 automation actions a month. Business costs 17 dollars per user per month on annual billing, and adds goals, workload management, timeline view and 10,000 automations a month. Older workspaces may still see the classic Unlimited plan at 7 dollars a user a month and Business at 12 dollars, so check which plan names your workspace shows before you compare.
A ten person team on Trello Premium pays about 100 dollars a month on annual billing. The same team on ClickUp Core pays about 90 dollars a month, a saving of about 10 dollars a month, or about 120 dollars a year, and the ClickUp plan includes the docs, Gantt and time tracking that Trello does not offer at any price on Premium.
A five person team on Trello Standard pays about 25 dollars a month against about 45 dollars on ClickUp Core, so the saving does not appear at the entry tier. The gap appears when the team needs timeline, calendar and dashboards, because Trello charges 10 dollars a user for those views while ClickUp includes Gantt and calendar at 9 dollars.
The free plans tell the same story. Trello Free caps at 10 boards and 10 collaborators, so it is a plan for a small team with a small board count. ClickUp Free Forever has no seat limit, so a whole small team can run on it, with list, board and calendar views, before paying anything. A team that wants to test ClickUp with real work can do it free, which makes the trial cheap and the decision easy.
Trello vs ClickUp at a Glance
| Feature | Trello | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per user seat | Per user seat, broader bundle |
| Free plan | 10 boards, 10 collaborators | Unlimited members, 60 MB storage |
| Entry paid plan | Standard 5 dollars a user a month annual | Core 9 dollars a user a month annual |
| Mid plan | Premium 10 dollars a user a month annual | Business 17 dollars a user a month annual |
| Timeline and calendar | Premium only | Core plan |
| Gantt charts | Not offered | Core plan |
| Docs and whiteboards | Not offered | Built in docs, whiteboards, mind maps |
| Time tracking | Not offered | Core plan |
| AI | Not included on Standard or Premium | Brain add on, 9 dollars a user a month |
| Automations | Unlimited on Premium | 1,000 actions a month on Core |
| Guest access | Guests count toward the collaborator cap on free | Paid guest seats on paid plans |
ClickUp bundles more into each tier, and that bundling is the point of the switch. Docs, whiteboards, mind maps, goals and time tracking all live in the same workspace, so a team stops paying for a separate docs tool and a separate time tracker. Trello stays cleaner and calmer, with fewer menus and a gentler learning curve, and that calm is worth real money to a team that values simplicity over breadth. Check which side of that trade your team sits on before you move.
The Trade-Offs Nobody Mentions First
A switch guide that only lists the savings is not honest, so this section states the trade plainly. Trello is a focused board tool. ClickUp is a workspace that tries to do everything, and the difference shows in the daily work. A team that opens Trello, checks its cards and closes it will find ClickUp busier, with more menus, more views and more settings to learn. The first week in ClickUp feels slower, even when the bill is lower, and a team that hates setup will feel that friction daily.
A team that already pays for a docs tool, a time tracker and a whiteboard app will not miss the simplicity, because ClickUp replaces three subscriptions at once. The question is not which tool is better. The question is whether the team wants one deep workspace or one calm board list, and learning how to switch from Trello to ClickUp starts with answering that question honestly.
The board cap deserves a second look, because it decides the saving for teams with many boards. Trello Free caps at 10 boards, so a team with 12 boards must pay for Standard at 5 dollars a user a month even if it only needs Kanban. ClickUp Free has no board cap, so a team with many boards can run free until it needs paid features. Count the boards before deciding, and the math will make the choice. A team with many boards and few staff can find ClickUp free is enough, and the saving is the whole subscription.
The AI pricing also changes the bill. Trello does not include AI on Standard or Premium, so a team that wants AI must buy a separate tool. ClickUp Brain is a separate add on at 9 dollars a user a month, so a ten person team that wants AI everywhere pays 90 dollars a month extra, which eats the saving against Trello Premium. A team that does not need AI saves the full amount. A team that does should price Brain into the comparison before moving.
How to Switch from Trello to ClickUp in 7 Steps
Step 1. Audit the Trello workspace before touching anything
Open Trello and list every workspace, every board, every list, every card count, every Butler automation, every Power Up and every member. Export each board as JSON, and note the renewal date and the contract terms, because cancelling mid contract can carry a fee. Pay special attention to Butler automations, Power Up data, cover images and archived cards, because the importer does not move those cleanly. This audit takes an hour and prevents the most common switch failure, which is discovering a workflow only after it was deleted.
Step 2. Set up ClickUp and map the hierarchy
Create the ClickUp workspace, choose the plan that matches the team size, and decide the hierarchy before importing anything. Trello boards become Spaces or Folders with Lists inside, and Trello lists become statuses or Lists, your choice during the import. Map lists to statuses if your team uses lists as workflow stages like to do, in progress and done. Do not import yet. A clean hierarchy decided on paper saves a week of reorganizing later.
Step 3. Run the Trello importer on one board first
Open ClickUp settings, choose Import, pick Trello, and authorize the connection. Import a single small board first, not the whole workspace. The importer brings across boards, lists, cards, checklists, labels, descriptions, comments, dates and attachments up to 1 GB, and asks you to map each Trello user to an existing ClickUp member. Check the imported board carefully, count the cards against the Trello original, open a few cards to confirm comments and dates survived, and fix the mapping before the big import. A pilot import that takes an afternoon prevents a workspace wide mess.
Step 4. Import the rest and rebuild what does not transfer
Once the pilot looks clean, import the remaining boards in batches, checking each one as it lands. Then rebuild what the importer leaves behind. Butler automations, Power Up data and cover images do not transfer, and must be rebuilt in ClickUp. Attachments transfer up to 1 GB, but cover images are not supported, so re-add them by hand. This is the largest single task in the switch, so budget a full afternoon for a normal workspace and do not promise a one hour migration.
Step 5. Move the team and set permissions
Invite the team to ClickUp and set access levels. Remember that guest seats cost extra on paid plans, so decide who needs a full seat and who can be a guest. Assign each person to the Spaces they manage, and run a short training session on the views the team will actually use, because ClickUp has more views than Trello and a new user can drown in options. A teammate who cannot find their cards will fall back to Trello, and the switch will stall.
Step 6. Run both tools side by side for two weeks
Work from ClickUp for two weeks while Trello stays open and the old boards finish. Watch the card counts daily, check that due dates and assignees match, and confirm the automations you rebuilt actually fire. Compare a ClickUp dashboard with the Trello export from step 1 to spot any gap in reporting. Fix the problems while Trello is still available as a fallback, not after it is cancelled. Two quiet weeks of parallel running cost nothing and catch every problem early.
Step 7. Cancel Trello and confirm the data is safe
Once two weeks of ClickUp work look clean, export the final board data and any remaining reports from Trello, then cancel the subscription before the renewal date. Confirm the cancellation email arrives, and check that no auto renewal is set. Keep the Trello export files for six months, because the importer does not move everything and the old exports are the only record of Butler automations, Power Up data and cover images. The switch is done when ClickUp has run cleanly for two weeks and Trello is cancelled without a surprise charge.
What Comes Across and What Stays Behind
The ClickUp Trello importer moves the core work well. Boards become Spaces or Folders with Lists. Cards become tasks, with descriptions, comments, assignees, due dates, checklists and labels coming across. Attachments transfer up to 1 GB, and you map each Trello user to an existing ClickUp member during the import. For a normal board, that covers most of what a team needs to keep working on day one.
What does not transfer is specific, and the team should name it before starting. Butler automations do not transfer, so list each one and rebuild it as a ClickUp automation. Power Up data does not transfer cleanly, so note what each Power Up held and rebuild it by hand. Cover images are not supported, so re-add them after the import. Attachments are optional during import, and on the free plan bringing over attachments can make storage the immediate constraint, because ClickUp Free caps storage at 60 MB.
It is a one time copy, not a live sync. Trello stays as it was, and later changes in either tool do not sync back. Check the import report afterwards, because ClickUp notes that some tasks can fail or duplicate. That is the full picture of how to switch from Trello to ClickUp without losing the work that matters.
The Go-Live Checklist
Use this checklist before starting step 1, and do not skip a line.
- List every Trello workspace, board, list, card count and Butler automation. – Export each board as JSON and save the files. – Note the Trello renewal date and any contract term. – Flag Butler automations, Power Up data, cover images and archived cards. – Choose the ClickUp plan by team size and automation volume. – Decide how Trello lists map, to statuses or Lists.
- List the Trello Power Ups the team actually uses. – Count guest seats, because ClickUp charges for guests on paid plans. – Plan a replacement for any Trello feature ClickUp lacks. – Set a switch date in a quiet week, not during a launch. – Tell the team the switch date and the new workflow before step 1.
What the Switch Saves in Real Money
The saving depends on team size and plan, because the two tools charge different rates for similar work. A five person team on Trello Premium pays about 50 dollars a month on annual billing. The same team on ClickUp Core pays about 45 dollars a month, a saving of about 5 dollars a month or 60 dollars a year. The same team on Trello Standard pays about 25 dollars a month against about 45 dollars on ClickUp Core, so at the entry tier ClickUp costs more, not less.
A ten person team on Trello Premium pays about 100 dollars a month on annual billing. The same team on ClickUp Core pays about 90 dollars a month, a saving of about 10 dollars a month or about 120 dollars a year. The same team on Trello Standard pays about 50 dollars a month against about 90 dollars on ClickUp Core, so the saving only appears when the team needs the Premium views. Those figures use annual billing on both tools, and monthly billing widens the gap further, since ClickUp Core costs 12 dollars a month on monthly billing against 12 dollars for Trello Premium.
The saving shrinks when the team adds AI or many guests. ClickUp Brain at 9 dollars a user a month adds 90 dollars a month for a ten person team, which eats the saving against Trello Premium. A team that runs free on ClickUp, with no board cap and unlimited members, saves the whole Trello bill. Count the AI users and the guests, run the two totals, and the answer will be clear. For most teams without heavy AI use, ClickUp saves money once the team outgrows Trello free.
Run the same math for your own team before you commit to how to switch from Trello to ClickUp, because the totals decide the plan.
Your First Two Weeks in ClickUp
The parallel run only helps if the team tests the right things, so set the tests before the first ClickUp task is assigned. Create tasks across every Space the team uses, including one with subtasks, one with a custom field, and one with an attachment, and confirm each one shows the right assignee and the right due date. Then compare the ClickUp task counts against the Trello export from step 1, checking totals by board and by assignee. That test plan is the part of the switch that most teams skip, and it is the part that catches the problems while Trello is still available as a fallback.
Test the automations and the views next, because those are the workflows that break quietly. Trigger one rebuilt automation and confirm it fires, open the List, Board and Calendar views for the same project, and have a second teammate confirm they see the same tasks. Also test a task that needs a recurring setup, since recurrence must be rebuilt by hand and trips up teams that rely on it. A test that covers tasks, automations, views and recurrence in the first week leaves the second week for fixing what failed, which is exactly how a quiet switch is supposed to work.
Five Mistakes That Stall the Move
The first mistake is cancelling Trello before the ClickUp import is checked. A team that cancels on day one loses the Butler automations, the Power Up data and the cover images in one move, and the rebuild takes days instead of hours. Keep Trello until step 7, and the switch stays boring. The second mistake is importing the whole workspace at once without a pilot. A mapping error on lists repeats across every board, and fixing it after the fact costs more than the pilot ever did.
The third mistake is forgetting the board cap math. A team that pays for Trello Standard only because it has 12 boards will find ClickUp free is enough, and a team that pays for Premium only for timeline views will find ClickUp Core cheaper. Count the boards and the views before choosing a plan. The fourth mistake is skipping the two week parallel run. A team that switches overnight discovers the automation gaps during a live sprint, when fixing them costs the most. Two quiet weeks of parallel running cost nothing and catch every problem early.
The fifth mistake is underestimating the manual rebuild. Butler automations, Power Up data and cover images do not transfer, and a team that budgets an hour for the rebuild will run out of time. Budget an afternoon, rebuild the top automations first, and leave the long tail of old Power Ups behind. The switch is a good time to clean the workspace, not a reason to move every old report into the new tool.
Life After the Switch
The first month after the move is when the saving becomes real, and it is also when the new habits form. Set a weekly review in ClickUp, one hour where the team checks overdue tasks, clears the inbox and updates the dashboards, because a workspace with more views needs a steadier rhythm than Trello did. Tune the rebuilt automations after two weeks, not on day one, because the first fortnight shows which rules fire too often and which never fire at all. The work of learning how to switch from Trello to ClickUp does not end on cancel day. It ends when the team stops opening the old tool out of habit, and that usually takes a full month.
Revisit the plan choice after 90 days. A team that started on Core may find it needs Business for the automation cap or the workload view, and a team that started on Business may find it can drop the Brain add on it never used. Count the seats again too, because ClickUp bills the whole workspace, and a contractor who finished their project should come off the plan. The switch saves money once. The habits save it every month after.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to switch from Trello to ClickUp?
Most small teams finish the switch in one to two weeks. The setup takes an afternoon, the pilot import and the manual rebuild take another afternoon, and the two week parallel run catches the problems while Trello is still available. A team with many boards or heavy Butler automation should budget three weeks. Do not promise a one day switch, because the manual rebuild and the parallel run are what make the move safe.
Will I lose my cards when I switch from Trello to ClickUp?
Cards, descriptions, comments, assignees and due dates transfer through the native Trello importer, so export each board first and run a pilot import on one board to confirm the mapping. Butler automations, Power Up data and cover images do not transfer, so flag them in the audit and rebuild them by hand. Keep Trello running until the ClickUp import is checked, and no card will be lost.
Is ClickUp really cheaper than Trello?
For most teams that need more than Kanban, yes, by a small margin. ClickUp Core costs 9 dollars per user a month on annual billing against 10 dollars for Trello Premium, so a ten person team saves about 10 dollars a month. At the entry tier, Trello Standard at 5 dollars a user a month is cheaper than ClickUp Core, so a team that only needs Kanban should stay on Trello Standard. Count the views the team actually uses before deciding.
Does ClickUp have the same views as Trello?
ClickUp has more views than Trello, including List, Board, Calendar, Gantt, Timeline, Table, Mind Map and Workload, but views do not transfer, so the team rebuilds its preferred views by hand. Trello lists map to statuses or Lists during import, so the structure survives even though the saved views do not. Pick the two or three views the team actually uses and rebuild those first.
Can I keep my Trello automations when I switch?
No, Butler automations do not transfer. Trello Butler rules must be rebuilt as ClickUp automations, and ClickUp caps automation actions at 1,000 a month on Core and 10,000 a month on Business. List the automations the team actually uses, rebuild the top ones first, and count monthly runs before choosing a plan. A team with heavy automation should check the cap against its real volume.
The Call
Switch to ClickUp if the team has hit the Trello free board cap, if the team is paying for Trello Premium and only using boards, timelines and calendars, or if the team wants docs, goals and whiteboards in the same login. A team of five to twenty people will save a small amount each month, get Gantt and time tracking that Trello does not offer, and lose nothing it actually uses, as long as the audit flags the Butler automations and the Power Ups first. For those teams, learning how to switch from Trello to ClickUp is worth an afternoon, and the saving repeats every month.
Stay on Trello if the team loves the calm board interface and only needs cards on a board, if the team is on Standard at 5 dollars a user a month and does not need timeline views, or if the team is mid sprint and cannot afford a week of parallel running. A team that values simplicity over breadth will feel ClickUp as noise, and a team with few boards can find Trello Standard cheaper than ClickUp Core. Stay also if the contract renewal is close and the team is mid launch. A switch during a launch costs more in chaos than it saves in subscription fees.
The decision rule is simple. Count the boards, count the people, list the views the team actually opens every week, and run the two totals with AI and guests included. If ClickUp covers the weekly workflow and costs less, switch in a quiet week and follow the seven steps. If Trello covers a weekly workflow that ClickUp cannot match, stay and renegotiate the Trello plan instead. The right tool is the one that matches the work, not the one with the lower headline price.
