Trello is a great starting point for project management, but teams often outgrow it. No Gantt chart, limited automations, and weak reporting make it feel cramped as projects grow in complexity. Monday.com fills most of these gaps.
Switching tools is never zero-effort, but this guide makes it as smooth as possible.
Before You Switch: Is Monday.com Right for You?
Trello’s simplicity is its strength — if you’re happy with basic Kanban and don’t need more, switching for its own sake will just create friction.
Switch to Monday if you need:
- Timeline/Gantt views for deadline planning
- Dashboard reporting across multiple projects
- Built-in automations (if X happens, do Y)
- CRM features alongside project management
- Better views for executive stakeholders
Stick with Trello if:
- Your team is small and Kanban is genuinely all you need
- You rely heavily on Power-Ups that have no Monday equivalent
- Budget is very tight (Trello’s free plan is more generous)
For a full comparison, see Trello vs Monday.com pricing and features.
Step 1: Export Your Trello Data
Trello allows JSON exports per board — not a perfect migration format, but enough to capture your data.
- Open any Trello board
- Click Show menu (three dots) → More → Print and Export
- Select Export as JSON
- Repeat for each board you want to migrate
What exports: Cards, lists, labels, due dates, checklists, descriptions, and card members.
What doesn’t export: Attachments (download these separately), Power-Ups data, and card activity history.
Step 2: Map Your Trello Structure to Monday
Trello and Monday use different terminology. Here’s how they map:
| Trello | Monday.com |
|---|---|
| Board | Board |
| List | Group |
| Card | Item |
| Label | Tag or Status column |
| Due Date | Date column |
| Checklist | Subitem |
| Power-Up | Integration/App |
Key difference: In Trello, lists represent stages (To Do, In Progress, Done). In Monday, you achieve this with a Status column instead. This unlocks much more flexibility — you can have multiple status types per item (project status, priority, department, etc.).
Step 3: Set Up Your Monday Workspace
Start fresh rather than trying to replicate Trello exactly. The best Monday setups are designed for Monday’s strengths, not mapped from Trello’s limitations.
Create Your First Board
- In Monday, click + Add → New Board
- Choose a template or start blank
- Name it after your Trello board equivalent
Set Up Columns
Monday’s power comes from its column system. A typical project board setup:
- Item Name (default)
- Status (set your stages: To Do / In Progress / Review / Done)
- Assignee (person column)
- Due Date (date column)
- Priority (status column with High/Medium/Low)
- Notes (text column)
Create Groups (formerly Trello Lists)
Right-click in the board → Add new group. Name groups after project phases, client names, or sprint cycles — whatever made sense as Trello lists.
Step 4: Import Your Trello Cards
Monday has a built-in Trello import:
- In Monday, click + Add Board → Import
- Select Trello
- Authorize your Trello account
- Choose which boards to import
- Monday will create a new board with items mapped from your cards
Review after import:
- Due dates: Check these imported correctly
- Assignees: Team members need to accept their Monday invites first, or assignments won’t map
- Labels → Status: Review whether imported statuses match your workflow
Step 5: Recreate Automations
Trello Power-Ups often include automation via Butler. Monday’s automation builder is more powerful but requires rebuilding from scratch.
Common automations to set up in Monday:
- When status changes to “Done” → notify assignee
- When due date arrives → send email notification
- When priority is set to “High” → notify manager
- When item is created → assign to default person
Go to Automations tab in any board → browse the template library. Most common Trello automations have Monday equivalents.
Step 6: Onboard Your Team
The biggest migration risk isn’t the data — it’s the people.
Week 1: Run both tools in parallel. New work goes into Monday; existing work finishes in Trello.
Communication: Explain why you’re switching. “We couldn’t see timelines across projects” is a better explanation than “management decided.”
Training: Monday has free video courses at support.monday.com. Require 30 minutes of self-paced training before the cutover date.
Cutover date: Set a hard date (2–3 weeks after setup) when Trello becomes read-only. Archive Trello boards rather than deleting — keeps historical context accessible.
Step 7: Set Up Dashboards
Monday’s dashboards are the biggest upgrade from Trello. Once your boards are running:
- Click + Add → New Dashboard
- Add widgets: Table, Chart, Calendar, Battery (progress)
- Connect multiple boards to one dashboard for cross-project visibility
A useful starting setup: a dashboard showing all open items across every board, filtered by assignee — so each team member sees all their tasks in one place.
Timeline for Migration
| Day | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Export Trello JSON files |
| 1–2 | Set up Monday boards and columns |
| 3–5 | Import Trello data, clean up |
| 5–7 | Set up automations |
| 7–10 | Team training |
| 14 | Parallel running period ends |
| 21 | Trello archived, Monday only |
Monday vs Trello: What You Gain
After the migration, most teams report:
- Visibility — executives can see project health without asking for updates
- Time savings — automations eliminate 3–5 manual status updates per week
- Planning — timeline views make deadline conflicts obvious before they happen
The transition takes 2–3 weeks of adjustment, but teams that complete it rarely go back.
Compare Monday.com and Trello side by side → Trello vs Monday
Also worth reading: Best Monday alternatives | Best Trello alternatives
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does this take?
Most users can complete this process in 15-30 minutes by following the step-by-step guide above.
Do I need any technical skills?
No advanced technical skills are required. This guide walks you through each step with clear instructions.
What tools do I need?
See the requirements section above for the complete list of tools and accounts you’ll need to get started.