The Trello alternative for people, not teams.
Nobody leaves Trello because the board is wrong. The board is why you picked it — work on cards, moving left to right, done means done. People leave because everything around the board assumes you're a team: per-seat pricing, workspace admin, automation quotas, an inbox of notifications from yourself. If it's just you, you're paying team overhead with no team. Here's the honest way out — including what to pick if you actually do have a team.
The short answer
If it's just you and you're on Apple devices, Zoro keeps the kanban and drops the team tax — free with unlimited tasks and iCloud sync, Pro for $59.99 once. If you need Windows or Android, TickTick has the strongest personal kanban view across platforms. If your real problem is coordinating an actual team, an honest answer: stay on Trello or look at Asana or Notion — Zoro is deliberately single-player.
The math
What "per user, per month" costs a user of one.
Trello's paid tiers are priced per seat because they're built for seats. Run the math for a single person over three years and the model stops making sense.
Why people leave
The board was never the problem.
- You're one person paying a seat license. Every paid Trello feature is priced per user, per month. When the user count is one, you're subsidizing a sales model that wasn't designed for you.
- The free tier keeps steering you upward. Ten boards per workspace, automation quotas, views behind the paywall — the free plan is a team product's trial, and it nudges accordingly.
- Power-up sprawl. Calendar, custom fields, repeating cards — things that feel like table stakes arrive as add-ons to install, configure, and sometimes pay for.
- A board that only collects. Trello will happily let a card sit in "Doing" for eight months. Nothing in the product ever asks whether you're going to finish it — visualizing work and finishing work are different jobs.
- It's an Atlassian product now. The roadmap serves enterprise workflows. Personal boards are not where Trello is going.
The alternative
Keep the kanban. Add a method.
Zoro is a single-player kanban for iPhone and Mac. It keeps the part of Trello you actually use — a board where work moves left to right — and replaces the team scaffolding with the thing Trello never had: pressure to finish. WIP limits cap how much you can pull into In Progress. Tasks age visibly, so the card you've been avoiding stops hiding. Three priorities and S/M/L effort sizes keep planning fast. A weekly review makes you cut what you're never going to do — completing a task is a quiet strikethrough, not a confetti cannon. Your data syncs through your own iCloud, not a workspace on someone's server. And there are no seats, because there's no team: free with unlimited tasks and projects, Pro once if you want the deeper practice.
At a glance
Trello vs Zoro, for one person.
| Trello | Zoro | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Teams and workspaces | One person |
| Kanban board | Yes — its whole identity | Yes — with WIP limits |
| Pricing model | Per user, per month | Free · Pro $59.99 once (or $2.99/mo · $19.99/yr) |
| Helps you finish | No — cards can sit forever | WIP limits, task aging, weekly review |
| Where your data lives | Atlassian's cloud | Your own iCloud |
| Platforms | Web, mobile, desktop | iPhone + Mac (Apple-only) |
| Team features | Extensive | None, by design |
Feature by feature
Side by side.
| Feature | Zoro | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Built for one person | Yes | No — designed around teams |
| List + kanban views | Both | Board (+ list, calendar on paid) |
| Three priorities (P1/P2/P3) | Native | Labels / Power-Up |
| S/M/L effort sizing | Native | Labels / Power-Up |
| Subtasks | Yes Pro | Checklists / cards |
| iPhone + Mac native apps | Yes | iOS + web wrapper desktop |
| Sync between devices | iCloud | Atlassian cloud |
| Where your data lives | Your iCloud | Atlassian's servers |
| Works offline | Yes (local-first) | Limited |
| Team collaboration | No (by design) | Yes (real-time) |
| Power-Ups / integrations | None | Many |
| Automation | No | Butler |
| Runs on Windows / Android | No (Apple only) | Yes |
| Pricing (1 user) | $0, $19.99/yr or $59.99 once | Free, or ~$5–10/user/mo |
Honest picks
If Zoro isn't your answer.
If you're switching with a team…
- Structured projects and timelines → Asana — how it compares to Zoro.
- Docs, wikis, and tasks in one place → Notion — the comparison.
- Honestly? Trello is still a fine team tool. If the board works for your team, the grass isn't much greener.
If you're switching alone…
- On Apple, want a board with a method → Zoro.
- On Windows or Android → TickTick's kanban view — compared here.
- Want free and list-based → Microsoft To Do.
- More options → task managers for solo founders.
Switching
Leaving is lighter than it looks.
- Don't migrate your backlog — audit it. If a card has been on your Trello board for six months, it isn't a task, it's a guilt object. Bring over only what you'd genuinely start this month. (Our guide to a weekly review that kills tasks is the same muscle.)
- Rebuild as three columns. Todo, In Progress, Done. Zoro caps In Progress on purpose — if everything is in progress, nothing is.
- Size and prioritize on entry. Every task gets a priority (P1–P3) and an effort size (S/M/L) as it comes in. Thirty seconds now beats a planning session later.
FAQ
Trello alternatives, answered.
What is the best Trello alternative for personal use?
For one person on Apple devices, Zoro keeps what made you choose Trello — a kanban board where work moves left to right — and removes the team overhead: no per-seat pricing, no workspace admin, no notification noise. It's free with unlimited tasks and iCloud sync, and Pro is $59.99 once instead of a subscription. If you need Windows or Android, TickTick's kanban view is the strongest cross-platform pick, and Microsoft To Do is a capable free list-based option.
Is there a Trello alternative without per-user pricing?
Yes. Per-user pricing only makes sense when there are users, plural. Zoro is built for exactly one person: free with unlimited tasks, unlimited projects, and iCloud sync, with a Pro tier at $2.99/month, $19.99/year, or $59.99 once — a one-time purchase, not a seat license. Things 3 is also a one-time purchase, though it's a list app rather than a board.
Is Trello still free for personal use?
Trello has a free tier, and for casual use it holds up: unlimited cards on up to 10 boards per workspace, as of mid-2026. The friction shows at the edges — automation limits, restricted views, and features that assume you'll eventually invite a team and upgrade to a per-seat plan (Standard around $5 and Premium around $10 per user per month, billed annually). If you only ever use Trello alone, you're using a team product's loss leader.
Does a kanban board even make sense for one person?
Yes — arguably more than for teams. A board makes two things visible that a list hides: how much you've started, and how long it's been sitting there. Zoro builds on that with WIP limits that cap how much you can pull into In Progress, task aging that surfaces what you keep avoiding, and a weekly review that makes you cut. That's the part Trello never had: a board that pushes you to finish, not just visualize.
The board you liked. The bill you didn't.
Zoro is a single-player kanban for iPhone and Mac — WIP limits, three priorities, a weekly review, your data in your own iCloud. Free with unlimited tasks and sync; Pro is $2.99/mo, $19.99/yr, or $59.99 once. It is live on the App Store now. Download Zoro for iPhone and Mac — free with unlimited tasks and iCloud sync.
Download on the App Store →