Trello boards start clean and end abandoned. $5/seat/month for cards nobody moves, lists that get stale, and a "Done" column that's more aspirational than accurate. The board is only as current as the last time someone logged in.
The question isn't which tool has more features. It's which one your team will actually use tomorrow.
| Feature | Trello | Maven |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $5/seat/month (Standard) | Free solo; $6/mo per active collaborator |
| Setup time | Board creation, list setup, card creation, label configuration, team invites | 0 — email a brief and go |
| Login required | Yes, separate app | No — it's email |
| Team adoption | Must train everyone | If they can reply to email, they're in |
| Lurkers / viewers | Paid seats | Free — only active collaborators cost |
| Project tracking | Manual updates | Automatic from email thread |
| Follow-ups | Manual | Automatic nudges at 24/48/72h |
| Deliverable tracking | Manual | Auto-extracted from emails |
| Works offline | No (web app) | Yes (email works offline) |
Your team is already in email. Maven meets them there instead of asking them to go somewhere else.
With Trello, everyone needs a seat — including the client who just reads updates. With Maven, you only pay for people who actually participate.
Teams whose Trello boards are beautiful on Monday and abandoned by Friday. Project managers who spend half their time updating cards instead of managing projects. Anyone who's tried Trello three times and watched it die three times.
No signup. No credit card. No onboarding. Email your project brief to maven@maven-pm.com and you have a PM in seconds.
Email maven@maven-pm.com →