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REPLACEMENT BRIEF

project management

Can AI replace Trello?

EDITORIAL ANSWERKINDACurated prompt

Kanban boards with cards, checklists, labels, and due dates are a solid multi-day build. Trello's edge is Power-Ups, the Atlassian ecosystem, mobile apps, Butler automation, and reliable real-time collaboration.

Reviewed · DeepFeather editorial

known limits Atlassian ecosystem, Power-Ups, mobile apps, automation, and reliable collaboration; deep integrations

Rather switch to a ready-made tool?AI Alternatives to Trello →

Run kanban boards with cards, checklists, labels, dates, and simple automation, and keep comments and a searchable activity history for a small team.

Build the personal version →

AT A GLANCE

price
$12.50/mo
listed annual price
$150/yr
replaceable scope
small-team tracker
build time
12–24 h
Build promptreviewed prompt · not run

the prompt

Curated prompt
Build a personal replacement for Trello in an empty repository.
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: run kanban boards with cards, checklists, labels, dates, and simple automation, and keep comments and a searchable activity history for a small team.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Implement organizations, projects, members, issues, labels, cycles, and milestones.
Provide list, kanban, and simple timeline views backed by one canonical issue model.
Add comments, mentions, assignments, watchers, and a complete activity log.
Implement project roles for owner, member, and viewer and test every mutation.
Add search, CSV import or export, email notifications, and daily database backups.
Ship Docker Compose, health checks, migrations, seed data, and an admin recovery command.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out hundreds of external integrations.
Deliberately leave out enterprise portfolio planning and SSO.
Deliberately leave out native mobile clients and vendor-operated uptime.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.
Copy or open in an agent

The prompt stays readable first. Choose a launch option when you are ready.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter) or copy it raw

Build Pack

Build a Trello replacement: the plan

What to build, what to skip on purpose, and how to tell it works. Use any agent or prompt you like — the acceptance tests decide whether it worked.

Estimated time
12–24 h
Estimated monthly cost
$0–25/mo
Subscription, for contrast
$12.5/user/mo · Premium

Editorial estimate, not a measured run · Reviewed · the subscription recurs monthly with none of your hours; the build costs one-time hours first

In scope

  • Boards, lists and cards with an HTML5 drag-and-drop that works on touch as well as mouse
  • Card details: title, markdown description, colored labels, a checklist with progress, due dates and card-to-card links
  • Board-level filters: by label, by due date (overdue / this week) and a plain text search across open cards
  • Multi-user boards through share links: invited people see and move cards, only the owner can delete a board
  • Activity log per board (who moved what, when) and a per-user "assigned to me" view across boards
  • Email-in address per board that files the message as a card in a list you choose

Non-goals

  • Public sign-up, org charts, guest roles beyond the share link
  • Butler-style no-code automations — hooks for your own scripts instead
  • Templates gallery, observers, Jira/Microsoft integrations, power-ups
  • Native mobile apps — a responsive web app that installs as a PWA
  • SLA or uptime promise: your database, your backups

Recommended stack

App
Next.js (App Router) + TypeScriptServer components for board rendering, one language front to back
Drag & drop
dnd-kitAccessible list dragging with touch support, no jQuery legacy
Data
PostgreSQL + Drizzle ORMRelational board/list/card model with typed queries
Hosting + DB
Vercel + Supabase PostgresGenerous free tiers for a personal or small-team board
Auth
Owner password + share links (Lucia)No user accounts to moderate; invite = URL with a token

Data model

  • boardsidownerIdtitleshareToken?emailInAddress?createdAtshareToken grants card-level access to invited people
  • lists / cardsidboardIdtitlepositioncard: description, dueAt?, labels[], checklistItems[], assigneeId?position is a fractional rank so a drag never renumbers the board
  • activityidboardIdcardId?actorIdverbpayloadatFeeds the board log and the cross-board assigned view

Steps

  1. Schema and owner loginDrizzle migration for boards/lists/cards/activity plus an owner password login; seed one empty board.
  2. Board read pathServer-render board by share token or owner session: lists as columns, cards with label dots, due badges and checklist progress.
  3. Drag & drop writesdnd-kit moves within and across lists; each drop persists a fractional position server-side and appends an activity row in the same transaction.
  4. Card editorSheet-style editor for description, labels, checklist, due date and linked cards; optimistic UI, server as source of truth.
  5. Filters and my-cardsBoard filter bar (label, due window, text) and an /assigned page querying open cards across boards for the logged-in user.
  6. Share links and email-inRotate-able share token per board; an inbound webhook files emails as cards in the chosen list.
  7. Deploy and backupsDeploy to Vercel with Supabase connection string as an env secret; turn on daily Supabase backups and write the restore drill into the README.

Acceptance tests

  • Drag a card across lists on a phone and reloadThe card stays in the new list, and the board log names the move
  • Open a board with a share link in a private windowCards render and can move; delete buttons do not appear
  • Filter by a label plus overdueOnly matching cards stay visible; clearing the filter restores the board
  • Email the board addressA card appears in the chosen list within a minute with the subject as title
  • Two people drag different cards at onceBoth saves land; fractional positions keep the board order stable
  • Drop the production database in stagingYesterday's backup restores the board in under 15 minutes

Only you can do this

  • Create the Vercel and Supabase accounts and connect the deployment
  • Choose the owner password and the board email-in address
  • Decide who gets share links and rotate them when someone leaves
  • Verify the Supabase backup schedule and run one restore drill yourself

What drives the cost

$0 of the range is real: a personal board fits Vercel Hobby (free, non-commercial) plus Supabase Free — 500 MB of Postgres, with the database pausing after a week of inactivity until you wake it. The top of the range is the first paid step: Supabase Pro at $25/month per project once you outgrow the free database (or $20/month for Vercel Pro when the use turns commercial). A custom domain adds roughly $10 a year. Your time is the real first cost — this is a weekend-or-two build, not a one-evening script.

Cost sources: supabase.com (checked ) · vercel.com (checked ) · trello.com (checked )

what AI can build

Run kanban boards with cards, checklists, labels, dates, and simple automation, and keep comments and a searchable activity history for a small team.

The prompt was editor-reviewed; no completed build is recorded.

The honest tradeoff

why people still pay

what you lose

Atlassian ecosystem, Power-Ups, mobile apps, automation, and reliable collaboration

deep integrations

enterprise permissions

large-scale reporting

battle-tested notifications and mobile apps

Start with existing software

prior art · use these instead of building, if you'd rather

PlaneActive open-source project and issue tracking platform.↗

EVIDENCE LEDGER

What this page can prove

The verdict judges replaceability. The evidence level records what DeepFeather actually checked.

Read the methodology →
evidence level
Curated prompt

The prompt was editor-reviewed; no completed build is recorded.

replacement boundarysmall-team tracker

known limits · Atlassian ecosystem, Power-Ups, mobile apps, automation, and reliable collaboration; deep integrations

editorial reviewreviewed

BUILD FEEDBACK

Did you try this build?

Report the outcome. Submissions enter a manual evidence queue and never auto-upgrade the verdict.

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questions

Can AI replace Trello?

Possibly for a narrower core workflow. Expected gaps include: Atlassian ecosystem, Power-Ups, mobile apps, automation, and reliable collaboration, deep integrations. This is an editorial catalog judgment, not a verified build; validate any result against your own acceptance criteria.

How much does Trello cost?

Trello is listed at about $12.50/month (Premium, checked 2026-07-31), or $150 per year. This is a pricing reference, not evidence of a completed replacement or realized savings.

What do I lose by replacing Trello?

Honestly: Atlassian ecosystem, Power-Ups, mobile apps, automation, and reliable collaboration; deep integrations; enterprise permissions; large-scale reporting; battle-tested notifications and mobile apps. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Trello?

Yes — Plane (Active open-source project and issue tracking platform.). Using prior art is also a valid exit; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.