Microsoft Lists vs Trello for a small team

Disclosure first: I build on Microsoft 365. That is the work 250 High Street does, so I lean toward Microsoft Lists. I still try to be fair here and I name the cases where Trello is the better call.

Choose Trello if you want simple drag-and-drop cards, no Microsoft 365, and a free start. Choose Microsoft Lists if your company already pays for Microsoft 365 and you need typed columns, owners and rules next to your files and Teams.

What each tool is

In Trello the unit is the board. Columns on a board are called lists, and the cards sit inside them. As a job advances, you drag its card into the next column. Plain on purpose.

Microsoft describes Lists as a way to share data in a list format, and says a list can start in SharePoint, the Lists app in Microsoft 365, or Microsoft Teams. A row is one item, and every column has a type, for example date, person or choice.

The big difference is the shape. Trello is a wall of cards. A Microsoft list is a table with typed columns. A wall of cards is easy to scan. A table is easier to sort, filter and count.

Where Trello wins

Trello earns its place. These are the cases where I would not talk a team out of it.

Cards are the product. Lists has a board view too, but dragging a card is the whole point of Trello, and each card can show more on its face.
Day-one use. A new board can be in use the same afternoon, with no plan for columns or permissions.
No Microsoft needed. A company without Microsoft 365 cannot use Lists. Trello has no such condition.
A free tier. The pricing page lists a Free plan, capped at 10 boards per Workspace.
More ways to look at cards. Premium adds Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views.

Where Microsoft Lists wins

Each Trello limit below has a Lists answer.

Over 5,000 open cards. Trello's developer pages give that as an example threshold for one board. Microsoft says a list can have up to 30 million items.
Files over 10 MB. That is the Free cap on Trello's pricing page. Microsoft lists a 250 MB limit for a file attached to a list item.
Questions labels cannot answer. A card holds text and labels. A list keeps date, person, choice and number as separate column types, so "which jobs are late for Client 12?" becomes a filter.
Rows only some people may see. You can give single items their own permissions. Microsoft supports up to 50,000 such items and recommends staying at 5,000 per list or library. A view only hides rows from the screen.
No new bill. Microsoft's service description names Business Basic, Standard and Premium as plans that include SharePoint, and Microsoft treats Lists and SharePoint lists as one lists platform. Your admin can confirm what your own plan allows.

Limits side by side

Trello's plan caps, read from its pricing page:

Free allows 10 boards in a Workspace, 250 Automation command runs a month and files up to 10 MB.
Standard drops the board cap, raises runs to 1,000 a month and allows 250 MB files.
Premium has no run cap and adds the Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views.
Enterprise adds unlimited Workspaces on top of Premium.

Trello's developer pages add example thresholds for a single board and a single card. For a board the figure is 5,000 open cards (warnings begin near 4,500) and 2,000,000 cards overall. For one card it is 950 attachments. Trello labels all of these as examples, and your boards and accounts may see different limits.

On the Microsoft side, the limits page gives up to 30 million items per list and 250 MB per attached file.

A huge list has its own trap. Past a certain size, only filtered views open cleanly. The guide "SharePoint list over 5,000 items: what breaks and the fix" explains it.

What it costs

I print no Trello or Microsoft prices here, because they vary by plan and move over time. Check Trello's current pricing page: https://trello.com/pricing. For Microsoft, check Microsoft's current pricing page: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business. If your company already pays for a Microsoft 365 business plan that includes SharePoint, Lists comes with it. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: count the people who edit, then compare what each side charges for that headcount.

Automation

Trello ships its own automation feature. Its pricing page caps command runs per Workspace each month on Free and Standard and removes the cap on Premium.

Lists pairs with Power Automate, and Microsoft's own one-line description of the service reads "create automated workflows between apps and services to synchronize files, get notifications, collect data and more." An extra license may or may not be needed for a given flow, so ask your admin.

A good first flow is a nudge before a deadline. See the guide "Send a reminder before a due date in a SharePoint list".

Comparison table

Swipe sideways to see all columns.

Topic	Trello	Lists
Fits	cards that move across steps	records with owners, status and dates
Shape	boards, lists and cards	table with typed columns
Where it lives	a separate site with a separate sign-in	Microsoft 365 apps, including Teams and SharePoint
Cost model	charged per seat on paid tiers	bundled with Microsoft 365 business plans
Free option	yes, 10 boards per Workspace	no separate free product
Size	5,000 open cards per board is the example threshold	30 million items per list at most
Attachments	10 MB files on Free, 250 MB on paid tiers	250 MB per attached file
Automation	native, with monthly run caps below Premium	Power Automate
Extra views	Premium unlocks Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map	list, calendar, gallery and board
Privacy	board and Workspace settings	permissions set on the list or on single items

Pick Trello if

Your company does not use Microsoft 365.
Your work is a simple flow of steps and you want to drag cards.
A free tier lets you begin this week.
Your list of jobs stays small.
You can budget a per-user price if you outgrow Free.

Pick Microsoft Lists if

You would pass 10 boards on Free, and Microsoft 365 business plans are already paid for.
You need to know who owns a job, when it is due and what it cost, not only which column it sits in.
Files over 10 MB travel with each job.
Approvals and reminders should run in Power Automate instead of Trello command runs, which are capped on Free and Standard.

How to decide in five minutes

Count the separate boards you would run. Past 10 on Free, price Standard before you commit.
Estimate the automation runs you need in a month. Free stops at 250 command runs per Workspace.
Find the largest file you attach to a job. Anything above 10 MB rules out Free.
Ask your admin whether the company pays for Microsoft 365. A no points to Trello.
Move Vendor 12 through Vendor 30 into both tools and use them for one week. Keep the tool people open on their own.
Count the people who edit and compare what each side charges for that headcount.

If your data is still in a spreadsheet, the fastest way to see a list in action is the guide "Replace a spreadsheet tracker with a SharePoint list".

Also see "SharePoint list vs Excel for team tracking: which one fits?" and "Microsoft Planner vs SharePoint list for tracking team work".

@@KEEP@@

What to avoid

Planning around Free without counting boards. The 10-board cap per Workspace arrives sooner than a growing team expects.
Building every rule as a Trello automation on Free or Standard. Command runs are capped per month, so a busy board can use them up.
Attaching large files to Free cards. The limit there is 10 MB per file.

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

Is Microsoft Lists free?

It is included in Microsoft 365 business plans. It is not a separate free product. I print no Microsoft prices here. Check with your admin or Microsoft's pricing page.

Does Trello have a free plan?

Yes. Trello's pricing page shows a Free plan with up to 10 boards per Workspace, 250 command runs per Workspace per month and 10 MB per file.

How many items can each tool hold?

Microsoft says a list can have up to 30 million items. Trello shares example thresholds of 5,000 open cards per board and says limits may vary by board and account.

Can I share work with people who should not edit?

Trello's Standard plan lists single-board guests. In Lists, you set permissions on the list or on items. Views alone are not security.

Is Microsoft Lists a good alternative to Trello?

It depends on the work. Lists fits records with typed columns, owners and dates inside Microsoft 365. Trello fits cards moved across steps, with or without Microsoft 365.

Can I move from Trello to Lists later?

One way to start: write down your card fields, build a list with matching columns, and copy over a small batch. Test a copy first and check column types. The card layout will not carry over, so plan to rebuild your statuses as a Choice column.