Comparison
Trello or Etapo: a board for anything, or a board for client work
Trello (by Atlassian) is a card board you can put anything on: a card is whatever you make of it, and with Power-Ups and automation you can build any process. Etapo is a project board with one fixed shape: a project has a client, a deadline, a status and an owner, and sits in a section. Less freedom, faster to get in order, and built and hosted in Europe.
What Trello and Etapo have in common
- A board with columns you move work across: lists in Trello, sections in Etapo.
- Assign someone, set a deadline, tick off a checklist, leave a comment.
- Working together in the browser, with a colleague’s changes showing up straight away.
- Dutch: Trello is available in Dutch, Etapo is written in it.
The differences
What it is
Etapo: A project board with fixed fields: client, description, deadline, status, owner and section.
Trello: A kanban board with cards you shape yourself, with fields, labels and Power-Ups.
Who it is for
Etapo: Agencies and freelancers doing client work.
Trello: Anyone, from a shopping list to a software team.
Clients
Etapo: Built in: a client list, and each client’s projects.
Trello: Not built in. A client is a label, a list or a board, however you set it up.
Invoicing
Etapo: An invoice status per finished project (To invoice, Pro forma, Sent, Paid, N/A), as a hand-over to your accounting software. No amounts.
Trello: Not built in.
Automation and integrations
Etapo: Deliberately not: no automations, no integrations, no API.
Trello: Automation with a monthly number of runs per plan, and a catalogue of Power-Ups.
Views
Etapo: One board per workspace, plus Today (Overdue, This week, Waiting on client), Completed, and Invoicing if you track invoice status.
Trello: The board; on the Premium plan also calendar, timeline, table, dashboard and map.
Where your data lives
Etapo: In Frankfurt (EU), walled off per workspace, with a Dutch company.
Trello: With Atlassian, a US company.
Price
Etapo: €12.00 per month for one workspace, plus €4.00 per extra user. No minimum, 30-day free trial.
Trello: Free for up to 10 users and 10 boards per workspace; paid plans charge per user per month, in US dollars, with a discount for annual billing.
When you are better off staying with Trello
- You want a free plan. Trello is free for up to ten users per workspace; Etapo has a trial and then a subscription.
- Your board is not client work: a content calendar, a sprint board, a house move.
- You rely on automation or on integrations with other tools.
- You want an app on your phone. Etapo works in the browser, on your phone too, but there is no app.
- You want more views than a board, such as a calendar or a timeline.
Moving from Trello to Etapo
Export your board in Trello as CSV (on the Premium plan) and import that file under Settings: Etapo recognises Trello’s columns (card name, list, members, due date, description) and shows beforehand what lands on the board. Leave out what is not client work. Your lists become sections.
The other way always works: everything in Etapo exports to CSV, with or without a subscription.
Hosted in Frankfurt, made in the Netherlands
Etapo runs on servers in Frankfurt (EU), is made by a Dutch company in Leeuwarden, and support is in Dutch via support@etapo.io. A European alternative is not an extra option here, it is how it is built.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import my Trello boards?
Yes, through a CSV export from Trello (Premium). A Trello card can be anything and an Etapo project has a fixed shape, so you choose per column what goes where, and what stays behind.
Does Etapo have Power-Ups or an API?
No, deliberately not. Every integration is also an extra decision and an extra place where something can break. What is and is not coming is on the roadmap.
Is Etapo free?
You try it for free, then it is a subscription. There is no free plan: that always pays for itself somewhere else, and not here.
Where is my data?
In Frankfurt, with Supabase and Vercel in the EU, walled off per workspace at the database level. The details are in the privacy policy.
Sources
Written by Etapo. The facts about Trello come from Trello’s own website. Spotted a mistake? Email support@etapo.io.
See for yourself?
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