Trello alternatives for developers

By Darko Bačić, founder of App Tube · 9 October 2026 · Facts checked 9 October 2026

Pick devBoard if you like Trello's board but miss epics, releases and a timer. Pick Linear if you are a growing product team that wants sprints and Git links. Pick GitHub Projects if your code is on GitHub and you want a free board next to it. Pick Asana for work shared with people outside engineering, and Notion if docs matter more than tasks. We make devBoard. It is first on the list. We say where the others are better.

Why developers leave Trello

Trello is a kanban board. A kanban board is a set of columns, one for each stage of work, with a card for each task. Trello's building blocks are boards, lists and cards, and a card can hold checklists. That small model is easy to learn, and it is where developers hit walls.

• No epics. An epic is a big piece of work split into smaller tasks. No Trello card can hold other cards. Below a card there are only checklist items.
• No built-in time tracking. You add a Power-Up, which is an add-on, such as Everhour, Harvest or Toggl.
• No releases. A release is a group of tasks that ship together, with a target date. Trello has nothing like it.

A 2026 reviewer on Capterra found that boards get cluttered and limited for large, complex projects. Another said detailed reports need paid add-ons. On Hacker News in April 2026, a commenter said Trello got heavier as visual extras piled up.

The short list

Paid prices are for the cheapest paid plan, billed yearly, unless the cell says otherwise.

devBoard

devBoard keeps the board and adds the parts developers miss. Work has three levels: epic, task and subtask. A subtask is a step inside a task, with its own status. Epics, tasks and subtasks shows how they fit.

Releases have a name and a target date, and you mark them shipped. A timer runs on any task or subtask. A pull request is a set of code changes waiting for review. If one names a task key like APP-42, it shows on that task.

Pick it if

You are a freelancer or a small dev team. Trello feels too flat, and Jira feels like too much. You want the same board on your phone and your Mac.

Skip it if

• You need a web version. devBoard is an app only.
• You want your Trello boards copied over. There is no importer.
• You keep docs or a wiki next to your tasks. devBoard has none.
• Someone on the team uses Windows or Linux. Those apps are not out yet.
• You rely on Butler rules or custom fields. devBoard has neither.

Linear

Linear is an issue tracker for software teams. Work is grouped into projects, and cycles act as repeating sprints.

Pick it if

You are a growing product team that wants sprints, Git links and little setup. See devBoard vs Linear if you are weighing the two.

Skip it if

You bill by the hour, because there is no timer. Or you want to stay free with a busy backlog, since the free plan caps issues.

GitHub Projects

GitHub Projects puts a board on top of GitHub Issues. It keeps issues, pull requests and the board in one place. Projects are on GitHub's free plan, and the GitHub Mobile app can open them.

Pick it if

Your code already lives on GitHub, and you want the board at no extra cost.

Skip it if

You want a timer or a desktop app for the board. There is neither. Or you need filters with "or", such as mine or unassigned. One user found that Projects filters cannot do that. Our GitHub Projects alternatives list has more options.

Asana

Asana plans projects across a company. Paid plans add timelines, and the Advanced plan adds built-in time tracking, portfolios and goals.

Pick it if

You share projects with people outside engineering, like design or marketing.

Skip it if

You are more than two people and want to stay free. Or you want a timer without paying for Advanced.

Notion

Notion is docs first. Tasks live in a database that you can show as a board, a table or a calendar.

Pick it if

Your team wants docs, a wiki and simple task lists in one place. devBoard vs Notion covers the trade-off with us.

Skip it if

You want a timer, and Notion has none built in. Or you keep big task lists. A 2026 reviewer on Capterra says large databases respond slowly.

Who should stay on Trello

Trello is still the best pick for a lot of teams. Stay if the board is all you need, since the free plan covers up to 10 people in a workspace. Stay if clients or other people outside the dev team use your boards. Trello runs in a browser, so they never install anything.

Stay if you use Butler, the built-in rules that come on every plan, or if Power-Ups already fill your gaps. Trello also has its own MCP server, on by default on Premium and Enterprise. MCP is a standard way for AI assistants to read and change your cards. Our devBoard vs Trello comparison lists what Trello does better.

How we chose

We picked tools that fit a small dev team and fix at least one of Trello's gaps. We read each vendor's pricing and docs pages on 9 October 2026. We make devBoard and put it first, and we say when to skip it too. More lists like this, such as Jira alternatives, are on our alternatives page.

Moving off Trello

devBoard has no importer, so moving is by hand. Our Trello move guide walks through it.

Notion has a Trello importer. Asana has a written guide for bringing Trello boards over with a CSV export. A CSV file is a plain table that a spreadsheet can open. Off this list, ClickUp and Jira import from Trello too. For Linear and GitHub Projects, we could not confirm a Trello importer.