Trello is a good fit for teams that want simple Kanban boards that anyone can pick up in minutes. Roomwork is the better fit when the work around the card matters as much as the card: the discussion, the meeting, the hours, the delivery, and an assistant that already knows all of it.
Not a feature count, but the decisions that change which one fits your team.
| Decision area | Trello | Roomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Primary orientation | Kanban boards, lists and cards | Connected work: rooms, tasks, time and delivery |
| Views | Board view, with calendar, timeline, table, dashboard and map views on higher plans | Grid, Kanban and Gantt task views, saved Views with subscriptions. No map view today |
| Conversation | Comments on cards | Project rooms with chat, Jams and client messaging, linked to the tasks they create |
| Meetings | Outside the product | Meeting capture: summaries, decisions and action items filed into the project |
| Time tracking | Through Power-Ups from other vendors | Roomwork Time: desktop clock-in agent, screenshots every 5 minutes, AI review of each session, hour and dollar budgets with runway alerts, payroll |
| Automation | Butler rules, buttons and commands | Slash commands, Rōrk actions, and Alva following up on overdue or stuck work |
| Extensions | Power-Ups | Built in: chat, Jams, tasks, time, GitHub and security checks |
| AI approach | Quick capture and AI-assisted features | AI-first: Rōrk, Alva and Sten are part of the room, not a bolt-on |
| Best fit | Small teams wanting simple boards | Teams wanting one place for conversation, execution, time and verification |
A card is overdue. In a board tool, someone notices, or someone is chased. In Roomwork, Alva asks the owner for an update, reminds them, and tells the manager if there is still no reply. The discussion, the hours and the answer all sit next to the task, and Rōrk can summarize it all.
Nothing here asks you to relearn how your team works. The concepts map over directly.
| Capability | Trello | Roomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Boards / projects | Boards with lists and cards | Projects with rooms, tasks and Canvas |
| Task views | Board view, with more views on higher plans | Grid, Kanban and Gantt, saved Views |
| Custom fields | Custom fields on paid plans | Task fields plus labels, blockers and priorities |
| Automation | Butler | Slash commands, Rōrk actions and Alva follow-ups |
| Chat | Comments on cards | Persistent rooms with internal and external messaging |
| Live calls | Not included | Jams, recorded into room history |
| Meeting notes | Not included | Meeting capture to Canvas, with PDF and Word, and action items turned into tasks |
| Time tracking | Through Power-Ups | Native Roomwork Time: screenshots every 5 minutes, AI session review, hour and dollar budgets, payroll |
| GitHub | Through a Power-Up | Native issue creation and commit activity |
| Security checks | Not included | Sten runs Flaw.co Detect scans and Code reviews |
| Email to ticket | Not included | Email help@ becomes a ticket in the right client project |
References: Trello, Trello Premium overview. Trello is a product of Atlassian. Competitor details reflect public information as of November 2026 and change over time, so check the vendor's own site for current plans and pricing. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners, and Roomwork is not affiliated with or endorsed by Trello.
Trello extends its boards through Power-Ups and Butler automation, and time tracking typically comes through a Power-Up from another vendor.
Roomwork is free with every Paying.co engagement, and in limited beta for new teams. Chat, Jams, tasks, time tracking, Rōrk, Alva and Sten are built in, not sold as add-ons, so there is no stack of extra subscriptions to stitch together.
Start a room and bring your next project conversation, task, and delivery into one connected place, with AI built in from the start. Roomwork is free with every Paying.co engagement, and in limited beta for new teams. It replaces separate chat, project, issue-tracking, time-tracking and video-calling subscriptions.
Start a room →