Smartsheet vs Trello

2021. Trello is redesigning its project management platform for a remote work future



Productivity app Trello, known for its virtual whiteboard-style platform designed for project organization and management, has unveiled a significant redesign and introduced new features to assist businesses in managing third-party integrations. The platform's visual elements, including the logo and illustrations displayed on its website and apps, have undergone a revamp. Moreover, Trello now offers enhanced customization options for cards and alternative ways to view workloads, expanding beyond the traditional whiteboard column view. The introduction of mirror cards and link cards aims to simplify the management of other applications and services within Trello. Additionally, Trello has introduced five new board views, deviating from its iconic column layout that has gained widespread popularity.


2019. Smartsheet acquires Slope to help creatives collaborate



Smartsheet, the renowned project management and collaboration tool, has recently completed the acquisition of Slope, a collaboration tool specifically designed for sharing creative assets. This integration of Slope into the Smartsheet platform empowers users to seamlessly share assets such as videos and photos directly within the application. Moreover, it introduces the functionality to annotate, comment on, or approve these assets. Smartsheet envisions this native integration from a broad enterprise perspective. It facilitates various scenarios, including HR teams sharing training videos, marketing departments exchanging product photos, or construction company employees inspecting a site and collaboratively addressing code violations by sharing annotated photos to highlight the issues at hand.


2018. Trello acquired business process automation tool Butler



Trello, the collaborative tool under the ownership of Atlassian, has recently made an acquisition of Butler, a lightweight business process automation tool. With the integration of Butler, Trello gains the capability of automation, enabling users to streamline complex tasks through a series of automated commands. Over time, teams have recognized the value of automating processes on Trello boards using the Butler Power-Up, allowing them to allocate more time to essential responsibilities and enhance overall productivity. Butler empowers teams to systematize business rules and procedures, transforming a ten-step process into a single-click automation. This signifies that Trello transcends its static organizational role and ventures into the realm of agile business process automation.


2018. Smartsheet got $1.9 billion valuation after IPO



Upon its debut in the public markets, online project management and crowdsourcing company Smartsheet witnessed a surge in its share prices. Smartsheet concluded at $19.50, representing a 30 percent increase from its initial price of $15, resulting in a market capitalization of $1.9 billion. Although the company recorded net losses in its financial statements, it exhibited robust revenue growth. In its IPO filings, Smartsheet disclosed a substantial user base of 3.6 million, including notable business clients such as Cisco and Starbucks. For the fiscal year 2018, the company generated $111.3 million in revenue. However, similar to many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, Smartsheet is going public while reporting a loss.


2018. Trello gets a newsfeed and improved notifications



The project management service Trello, which is owned by Atlassian, is undergoing a makeover. Trello is renowned for its cards and boards, but this simplicity often led power users to sift through numerous boards to determine their next focus. To address this, Trello is introducing a personalized newsfeed that will showcase activity from your Trello teams. The newsfeed will include sections like "Up Next" and "Highlights," providing a comprehensive overview of the ongoing developments within your projects. Furthermore, Trello is introducing enhanced notifications. Users will now have the ability to modify due dates and disable notifications for specific cards directly from the notifications interface. Additionally, users can mark alerts as "read" or "unread" to manage their notification status effectively.


2017. Trello comes to the desktop, gets Stride integration



Popular project management tool Trello, which was recently acquired by Atlassian, has introduced desktop applications for both Mac and Windows operating systems. Previously, Trello was exclusively available as a web-based platform. With the new desktop apps, Trello users can enjoy all the familiar features they are accustomed to using in the browser, along with the added convenience of native desktop notifications. Furthermore, the desktop apps offer the flexibility to add cards from any application using a variety of keyboard shortcuts, allowing users to stay focused without the distraction of navigating to other websites like Facebook. If you are using an Apple laptop equipped with the Touch Bar, you can also take advantage of its capabilities to effortlessly create new cards and open boards in separate windows with a single tap. In line with Atlassian's recent launch of Stride, a competitor to Slack, it is unsurprising that Trello now integrates with Stride as well. This integration enables users to initiate Stride audio and video conferences directly from within Trello, facilitating instant conference calls with all Trello board members without the need to switch between different applications.


2017. Collaboration service Smartsheet gets $52M



The spreadsheet software service, Smartsheet, has recently secured $52 million in funding. With approximately 70,000 businesses currently subscribed to its product, ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises, Smartsheet has amassed around 550,000 licensed customers. Additionally, there are "a few million" individuals who utilize the service free of charge. Since its establishment in 2006, Smartsheet has positioned itself as an early entrant in the market, offering an alternative to Google Docs, Excel, and other spreadsheet applications. Its distinctive focus lies in facilitating collaboration among multiple users within these documents, allowing for dynamic utilization and efficient teamwork.


2017. Atlassian acquired Trello



Atlassian, the renowned software company, has made a significant acquisition by purchasing the project management service Trello for a whopping $425 million. Similar to its approach with previous acquisitions, Atlassian intends to maintain the Trello service and brand, ensuring that existing users will not experience immediate changes. By acquiring Trello, Atlassian gains access to one of the rapidly growing project management services, boasting approximately 19 million users. Trello enhances productivity for both individuals and teams by providing a comprehensive view of all projects within a single glance. Assigning projects is simple—just place them in the respective person's or team's list, and upon completion, drag them to the "completed" list. Each task, referred to as a "card," allows for comments and the addition of links. Trello is compatible with multiple devices and facilitates file uploads from platforms such as Dropbox or Google Drive.


2016. Trello makes its Power-Ups available to free users



The project management service Trello has expanded access to its Power-Ups feature, making it available to all users, including those on the free tier. Previously, only paying users had access to this functionality, which includes integrations with various products such as SurveyMonkey, join.me, Github, and Slack, among others. Free users were limited to three basic Power-Ups: Calendar for viewing Trello's calendar, Card Aging for gradually fading out cards as they age, and Voting for adding voting options to cards. Additionally, Trello is introducing integrations with Intercom, Github Enterprise, and Screenful. Moreover, Trello is launching two new Power-Ups of its own. The first is custom fields, enabling users to create new data fields and visual cues for their cards. The second is Card Repeater, allowing users to set intervals for recurring tasks. For instance, with Card Repeater, users can automatically generate copies of specific cards for tasks that repeat periodically, such as expense report due dates. Currently, this feature is in public beta, and admins need to request access to it.


2016. Trello launched platform for developers



Project management tool Trello has opened its Power-Ups Platform to developers, providing them with the opportunity to seamlessly integrate their services with Trello. Notable partners in Trello's new developer platform include SurveyMonkey, Zendesk, join.me, and Giphy. Currently, Trello's directory offers around 22 add-ons. By accessing these third-party tools within the Trello service itself, users can avoid frequent context switching to perform routine tasks and automate more aspects of their workflow directly within Trello. It is important to highlight that Trello has long provided an API that enables developers to utilize certain Trello features within their own applications. However, with the introduction of this new platform, developers can directly integrate specific features into the Trello user interface.