Cleo vs Trello.
Trello is a flexible card board, and it can turn emails into cards. Cleo files each email to a client or project and drafts the tasks and dates (Cleo Pro).
Pick Cleo if
- One email often holds several asks, and you want them drafted as separate tasks and dates (Cleo Pro).
- You want each email matched to a client or project, with the history in one record.
- You want to review the draft before the tasks and dates are saved.
Stay with Trello if
- You want a board you design yourself, with Power-Ups and automation.
- Price matters most: Trello Standard is about half the price of Cleo Pro per seat.
- You need Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard or Map views over your cards.
Side by side
| Topic | Cleo | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| What an email becomes | With Cleo Pro, an email becomes a draft you review: the client or project it belongs to, a summary, an urgency, tasks with due dates, and calendar entries. One email can give several tasks, and you tick the ones to keep. No tasks or dates are saved until you confirm. On the free plan the email still lands in your queue as a draft, and you fill in the details yourself. | A card, created when the email arrives at a board's address or your Inbox address. The subject is the title and the body the description. With Trello's AI summary switched on, both become summaries, a due date can be extracted, and action items become a checklist.[1] |
| Price to start | The workspace is free with no card: clients or projects, a task board, a calendar feed, team invites and reports. Cleo Pro (the AI, and linking clients to projects) is the only paid part. | Free for up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace. Standard is $5 per user a month billed annually, or $6 billed monthly.[2] |
| The AI | Cleo Pro: $15 a month for a solo workspace, or $12 a seat a month for a team ($120 a seat a year). The first 14 days are free; a card is required. | AI, including AI-powered quick capture from email, is part of Standard and above. Free has quick capture without the AI.[2][3] |
| One person, one month | $0 for the workspace. With Cleo Pro: $12.50 on annual billing ($150 a year), $15 on monthly billing. | Standard for one: $5 on annual billing, $6 on monthly billing.[2] |
| Five people, one month | $0 for the workspace. With Cleo Pro for all five: $50 on annual billing, $60 on monthly billing. | Standard for five: $25 on annual billing, $30 on monthly billing (5 × $5, 5 × $6).[2] |
| Where the work lives | Each client or project is a record that holds its emails, tasks, notes and files, with an activity history. A task board shows the work across all of them. | Boards, lists and cards, as you set them up. Paid plans have unlimited boards.[2] |
| Views and extras | A task board by status or priority, a list and a calendar, and reports you can export to CSV. | The board on every plan. Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard and Map views on Premium ($10 per user a month billed annually). Power-Ups and automation on every plan, with 250 command runs a month on Free.[2] |
Where Trello is ahead
Where Cleo is behind
- Cleo has no timeline or Gantt view, no time tracking and no custom fields.
- A Cleo task has a checklist but no subtasks, and tasks cannot depend on each other.
- Cleo takes email by forwarding and gives you a calendar feed to subscribe to in Google or Apple Calendar, and that is all it connects to: no Slack, no Zapier and no public API.
- There is no iPhone or Android app. Cleo runs in the browser, on a phone too.
Cleo and Trello: common questions
Does Trello turn emails into cards?
Yes. Every board has its own email address, and your Inbox has one too. An email sent there becomes a card, with the subject as the title and the body as the description. On Standard and above, Trello's AI summary can shorten both, extract a due date and turn action items into a checklist. With Cleo Pro, Cleo drafts several tasks and calendar entries from one email, matches the client or project, and waits for your confirmation before saving them.
Is Cleo cheaper than Trello?
No, once you want the AI. Trello Standard is $5 per user a month on annual billing ($6 monthly). Cleo Pro is $15 a month for one person ($12.50 on annual billing), or $12 a seat a month for a team ($10 on annual billing). Cleo's workspace without the AI is free, and so is Trello's board, within its limit of 10 collaborators.
Does Cleo have a Kanban board?
Yes. Cleo has a task board where you drag tasks between statuses (Not Started, In Progress, Blocked, Done, Cancelled), assign them and set dates. It is simpler than Trello's: no Power-Ups, and fewer views (a board, a list and a calendar).
Can I use Cleo and Trello together?
You can, but they are not connected: a card in Trello does not become a task in Cleo, or the other way round. Choose one for day-to-day work, or copy across what belongs in both.
Where this comes from
Everything said here about another product comes from the pages below, last read on 1 November 2026. Plans and prices change, so check the source before you decide. Cleo's side comes from Cleo itself. Asana and Trello are trademarks of their owners, and Cleo is not affiliated with either.
Try it on your next email.
The workspace is free, no card. Paste or forward an email and see what Cleo drafts: the drafting is Cleo Pro, free for 14 days with a card. No tasks or dates are saved until you confirm.