Trello is one of the most popular collaboration software applications around, with millions of users and a strong presence on the app stores. But how does it make money? The short answer is by offering premium plans that unlock additional features.
The longer answer involves the company’s relationship with its users and how it offers a wide variety of third-party integrations, called Power-Ups. These features – which range from Google Drive and Salesforce to Slack – provide users with extra functionality and help them get more value out of the application. However, these add-ons do come at a cost. The free plan allows a single user to use one Power-Up at a time, while the paid plans – targeted at individuals or businesses – allow more.
Atlassian is best known for its Jira and Confluence software development tools, but the company also makes other products like HipChat. It’s seeking growth from all of its offerings, and has started to limit how much free use a team can enjoy of Trello before it needs to start paying.
Many people initially saw Trello as a tool for developing software using Agile methodology, but it can be used in countless other settings and by anyone looking for a way to organize their work or life. For example, Mackenzie Kincaid writes about using Trello to develop her book ideas and track submissions to short story markets, while Sonia at Mummy Constant uses the boards to plan her crochet projects.
