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Redmineflux vs Trello
Built for the team that picked Redmine and outgrew Trello boards.
Who this comparison is for
Development and IT teams using Trello who need more workflow depth – structured issue tracking, test case management, or helpdesk – will find this comparison directly relevant. Organisations growing past Trello’s simplicity, hitting per-seat cost pressure, or needing data sovereignty will find the pricing and deployment sections most applicable. Teams evaluating both tools from scratch will find the feature matrix the clearest starting point.
Quick verdict
Scan the trade-offs here. The full feature matrix and pricing detail follow below.
| Consideration | Trello | Redmineflux |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Small teams that need simple visual Kanban boards for lightweight task and to-do management | Development and IT teams using Redmine that need structured issue tracking, engineering workflows, and end-to-end operational management |
| Primary strengths | Simple Kanban boards, card-based task management, Power-Ups, and fast onboarding | Deep issue tracking, QA workflows, timesheet approvals, Helpdesk, CRM, and purpose-built Redmine plugins |
| Deployment | SaaS only with hosting managed by Atlassian; no self-hosted option | Available as self-hosted or Redmineflux Cloud with the same plugins and features |
| Data ownership | Data is hosted on Atlassian’s cloud infrastructure | Self-hosted: full data ownership. Cloud: data hosted by Redmineflux with export support available |
| Pricing model | Free plan available with paid per user/month tiers; costs increase as additional users are added | Per user/month with all plugins included in the selected Cloud plan and no per-plugin add-on charges |
| Development-specific tools | Kanban boards and task cards, but no native issue tracking, backlog management, structured QA workflows, Helpdesk, timesheet management, or CRM | Native issue tracking, QA workflows, test case management, timesheet approvals, Helpdesk, CRM, and other Redmine plugins in one platform |
| AI / MCP support | AI-powered task capture and productivity features available on supported paid plans | MCP Server for Claude, Cursor, and custom AI agents; available with the Cloud Pro plan |
Pricing
Know what you’re investing in
| Feature | Trello | Redmineflux |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | Premium | Cloud Pro |
| Billing model | SaaS — Per User | Cloud — Per User |
| Price (25 users, annual billing) | ~$3,000/year25 × $10/user/month × 12 | ~$981/year25 × $3.27/user/month × 12 |
| Price (25 users, monthly billing) | ~$3,750/year25 × $12.50/user/month × 12 | $1,197/year25 × $3.99/user/month × 12 |
| Issue tracking & project management | ✗ NoBasic task boards only | ✓ Yes |
| Gantt / timeline | ✓ YesTimeline View (Premium) | ✓ YesGantt Chart — included |
| Agile / Kanban board | ✓ YesKanban Boards | ✓ YesAgile Board — included |
| Workload management | ✗ No | ✓ YesWorkload Plugin — included |
| Time tracking | ✗ No | ✓ YesTimesheet + Time Tracker — included |
| Knowledge base | ✗ No | ✓ YesIncluded |
| Helpdesk with SLA | ✗ No | ✓ YesIncluded |
| CRM | ✗ No | ✓ YesIncluded |
| Invoice / billing | ✗ No | ✓ YesIncluded |
| Test case management | ✗ No | ✓ YesIncluded |
| Custom dashboard | ✓ YesDashboard View (Premium) | ✓ YesIncluded |
| Issue templates | ✓ YesCard Templates | ✓ YesIncluded |
| Checklists | ✓ YesNative Checklists | ✓ YesIncluded |
| AI / MCP | ✓ YesAI-powered capture from Email, Slack & Teams (Standard+) | ✓ YesMCP Server — Claude, Cursor & custom AI agents |
| Self-hosted option | ✗ No | ✓ YesAvailable |
| Power-Ups / extensions | ✓ YesExtensive Power-Ups ecosystem | ✓ YesNative plugins included |
How they differ in practice
Trello and Redmineflux are built for different primary jobs. The differences come down to four practical areas.
Simplicity vs structure
Trello’s great strength is how quickly any team can get started. Cards, lists, drag-and-drop — no training required. Redmineflux trades that immediacy for structural depth: workflow gates, QA sign-off, billable time approval, commit-linked issues. Teams that need fast onboarding benefit from Trello. Teams that need enforced process benefit from Redmineflux.
Pricing
Trello Premium costs $10/user/month. A 25-person team pays ~$3,000/year — and a 50-person team pays ~$6,000/year. A 100-person team pays ~$12,000/year. The cost doubles with every doubling of the team. Redmineflux All Plugins Bundle is $5,183 one-time, Support renewal after 1 year 30% of pack price, regardless of how many users you add to Redmine.
Operations scope
Trello is a task board. It manages cards and lists effectively. For anything beyond basic task management — time tracking, QA, client invoicing, support tickets, finance reporting — Trello requires external tools with separate subscriptions. Redmineflux covers the full Lead → Deliver → Invoice → Account → Support loop in one platform, one renewal, one login.
Platform
Trello is a cloud product. Your data is on Atlassian’s infrastructure; there is no self-hosted option. For teams with data sovereignty requirements, compliance mandates, or a preference for owning their infrastructure, Trello cannot accommodate that. Redmineflux runs on self-hosted Redmine — on any server, in any region — or on Redmineflux Managed Cloud if you prefer managed infrastructure without SaaS lock-in.
Moving from Trello
Migrating from Trello to Redmine with Redmineflux follows a documented path. Complexity scales with the number of boards and custom field configurations in your Trello account.
Use Trello’s built-in JSON export per board to extract all cards, lists, checklists, members, labels, and attachments. Trello also offers CSV export per board for simpler data.
Typical time: 1 day depending on board count.
Map each Trello board to a Redmine project. Trello lists map to Redmine statuses or versions. Trello labels map to Redmine priorities or tags. Plan the schema before importing.
Typical time: half a day of mapping per 5–10 boards.
Convert the Trello JSON or CSV export to Redmine’s CSV import format. Map Trello cards to Redmine issues with subject, assignee, due date, status, and description. Import using Redmine’s built-in CSV import feature.
Typical time: 1–2 days for a medium-size account.
Install the plugins that replace the Trello Power-Ups and workflows your team used. Configure each plugin per project from Redmine project settings. Existing issues, users, and custom fields carry through.
Typical time: 1–2 days for configuration.
Run both Trello and Redmine in parallel for 30–60 days to verify data completeness and team readiness. Once confirmed, cut over to Redmineflux as the single system of record.
Typical time: 30–60 days parallel run.
Honest fit
Both tools are genuine options. The decision comes down to team type, workflow depth, and long-term pricing horizon.
When Trello is the right choice
When Redmineflux is the right choice
Try Redmineflux in your environment
Get a free demo link with every plugin included, or buy the ones you need for your Redmine.
Self-hosted or Managed Cloud · Every plugin in Cloud also runs on self-hosted Redmine.
Frequently asked
Common questions from teams researching the switch or comparing costs. If yours isn’t here, check pricing or contact support.
The Redmineflux Agile Board Plugin provides a Kanban board with swimlanes, WIP limits, and column-based issue management. It is a structured development Kanban – not a general-purpose visual canvas. Teams whose primary need is a developer Kanban board will find it equivalent to Trello. Teams using Trello for non-technical business workflows (marketing, HR) will not find a direct replacement in Redmineflux.
Trello Premium includes a Timeline view – a visual Gantt-like display for cards, based on card due dates. It does not support dependency tracking or critical path analysis. The view requires a Premium subscription ($10/user/month). The Redmineflux Gantt Chart Plugin provides a full Gantt with dependencies, milestones, baselines, and critical path – available on all plans without a per-seat premium.
Yes. Redmineflux plugins are licensed per Redmine installation, not per user. A team of 10 and a team of 100 pay the same plugin licence fee. This contrasts directly with Trello’s per-seat model – at Trello Premium, a team growing from 25 to 100 people sees the annual licence cost increase from $3,000 to $12,000.
All Redmineflux plugins are tested and maintained against the three most recent stable Redmine releases. Compatibility is verified with each update. Check the documentation for the confirmed supported version list before installing.
Yes. With the CRM Plugin (Lead), delivery plugins — Gantt, Workload, Agile Board, Timesheet (Deliver) — Invoice Plugin (Invoice), Custom Dashboard with finance templates (Account), and Helpdesk Plugin (Support), a 5–50 person team can run the full operations inside one Redmineflux installation. Trello covers one step — basic board-level task management — and requires separate tools for all others.