Trello vs. Microsoft To Do Summary
Who is Trello for?
Trello is a project management app for individuals and companies and is built around the principles of Kanban.
Kanban is a work visualization method where you organize work into boards, and tasks have to traverse multiple boards from start to finish.
For example, let’s say you have a task called “Repair kitchen door”, and four Kanban boards:
- Define problem.
- Define requirements.
- Implementing solution.
- Quality assurance test.
In Kanban, the “Repair kitchen door” task starts in the “Define problem” board. There you write what exactly needs to be fixed: the hinges, handle, the door frame itself etc.
One that’s done, you move the task to the “Define requirements” board. There you specify how the problem can be fixed: getting new hinges, replacing the handle, fixing the door frame etc.
The task then goes to the “Implementing solution” board where you detail how the door was fixed, and from there to the “Quality assurance test” where you test the door to make sure it was fixed properly.
If you like this Kanban process, then Trello is the app for you. While primarily a project management app, the free version has a bunch of features found in traditional task management and to do apps such as reminders, completing tasks etc.
Who is Microsoft To Do for?
Microsoft To Do is a completely free task management apps with a decent number of features, but with the mention that Microsoft To Do wants to be used in a certain way. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending if your needs fit what Microsoft To Do can offer.
Microsoft To Do is also integrated with the Microsoft software ecosystem, but in our experience this integration isn’t as good as how Google Tasks is integrated into Google’s ecosystem.
Unfortunately, the interface isn’t as simple to use as other to-do apps. Because of this fact alone, we think only people and organizations that are deeply integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem should use this app.
Ease of use
Trello ease of use
As a project management app, Trello is more feature rich but a bit more complicated to use compared to personal task management and to-do apps such as Todoist or Google Tasks.
Properly using Trello requires an initial time investment to set everything up properly, but also learning how to integrate a project management tool into your life.
The reward is that Trello offers a more structured way of handling tasks and projects, excellent collaboration features, and a pleasant UI once you learn Trello’s work philosophy.
Microsoft To Do ease of use
The biggest problem with Microsoft To Do is its user interface. Most task apps let you see or create a task from the first screen when opening the app.
Microsoft To Do does things differently, and the first screen you see in the app shows you various subdivisions such as My Day, Important, Planned etc.
These subdivisions cause confusion whenever you open the app, since you spend a second or two each time trying to remember what each section does, or where a task is located.
Another problem with Microsoft To Do is that many common actions require extra clicks, taps or swipes compared to competing apps.
Over time, this creates frustration and makes using the app feel like work rather than as a tool to write stuff down quickly.
For example, creating a task requires two clicks in Microsoft To Do instead of a single one in most other to-do apps.
This is because you first click on a task list, and then click on the add task button.
Organization
Trello organization
Trello’s interface is built around Boards, Lists and Cards. A card represents an actual task, to which you can attach information such as photos, documents, descriptions etc.
A board contains lists, and lists contain cards.
Normally, boards in Kanban are supposed to represent what stage of work a certain task is in.
Trello however is quite flexible, so you can just as easily structure boards to be the equivalent of a list or a project in traditional to-do apps.
Besides boards and cards, Trello also lets you add labels to cards (tasks).
Using the search function, you can then filter through cards based on what is written in the label.
Finally, you can also add checklists to cards. Unfortunately, checklists in Trello are quite limited and don’t have many features found in task management apps such as Todoist:
- Checklist items cannot have individual reminders.
- Checklist items do not have their own start date and due date.
- You cannot add comments, attachments or descriptions to checklist items.
Microsoft To Do organization
Microsoft To Do has the following task organization options for tasks:
- Groups
- Lists
- My Day
Groups contain lists, and lists contains tasks. My Day is a pre-built filter that shows tasks that are due within 24-36 hours.
Microsoft To Do doesn’t have a tagging feature, which can be a valuable feature for some users since it helps them better organize and filter their tasks.
Another big missing feature is subtasks. In Microsoft To Do, you can break down a task into steps, but these steps mostly work as a simple checklist, instead of actual tasks that are subordinate to a main task.
In other to-do apps, subtasks have the same features as regular tasks: reminders, labels, priority signs, descriptions, file attachments etc.
For finding tasks, Microsoft To Do has a built in search where you can quickly navigate to tasks or lists. We like this feature, it’s very handy and surprisingly rare among task management apps.
Each task list also has a sorting feature for organizing tasks based on the following criteria: importance, due date, tasks in My Day section, alphabetically or by task creation date.
A minor criticism here is that Microsoft To Do doesn’t have a unified task list that contains all of your tasks from every group or list.
This would have been nice so you could see all your active tasks in one place, without constantly switching from one task list to another.
Scheduling and reminders
Trello scheduling and reminders
In Trello, cards (tasks) can have a start date and a due date. Task reminders are only triggered if there is a due date attached to the card. You are also limited to just one reminder per task.
Using standard settings, Trello lets you make only one-time cards/tasks, but not repeating tasks.
You can activate this feature, but it requires you to go to the desktop or web version, activate the “Card Repeater” plugin and then configure a card/task to repeat itself at certain intervals.
Unfortunately, you can only do this on the desktop or web version, so you cannot schedule repeating tasks on mobile.
Because repeating tasks are so tedious to use and limited only to desktop users, we consider that Trello doesn’t have a properly functioning repeating task feature.
Microsoft To Do scheduling and reminders
In Microsoft To Do, tasks can have both a reminder and a due date. The Due Date feature is mostly used to organize tasks based on urgency and when they must be completed.
The reminder feature lets you create single use or repeat tasks.
Reminders for tasks that repeat daily or weekly work great. However, repeating reminders for monthly and yearly tasks is a bit more limited.
Here are some of the configurations you can schedule a task in Microsoft To Do:
- Repeat every week, but only on certain days such as Wednesday or Tuesday.
- Repeat every 5 weeks, but only on certain days.
- Repeat every month, but only on a certain calendar day (the 3rd for example).
Monthly reminders could be better. For example, Google Tasks or Todoist lets you customize a monthly reminder to receive a notification on the first Monday of the month, or the last Tuesday of the month, or a certain day of the month, etc.
Finally, it would have been nice if Microsoft To Do let you attach multiple reminders to a single task, like 3 hours before, 2 hours before, on time of task etc.
Calendar and other integrations
Trello calendar and other integrations
Trello doesn’t have free native integrations for the Google or Outlook calendar apps.
Instead, this is a paid plugin which you must activate on the web or desktop version of Trello.
In fact, this is a common problem with Trello. A large number of Trello features must first be activated from the desktop or web version, but even then it might not work on the mobile version of Trello.
Most of these plugins are also paid, so you have to take that into consideration.
However, Trello has so many plugins available that you can personalize and add new features that might not be available on other to-do or task management apps.
Microsoft To Do calendar and other integrations
One reason to use Microsoft To Do is its integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, in particular with Outlook and Microsoft Teams.
Problem is that this integration isn’t automatic. Creating a task in Microsoft To Do and adding a due date and reminder to it doesn’t automatically add it to Outlook Calendar.
We’ve investigated this a bit more and it turns out that you must manually copy/paste tasks from the Microsoft To Do app to the Outlook Calendar as if it’s the year 2000.
Integrating with other calendars such as Google Calendar or iCal also isn’t possible directly, but requires complex workarounds.
Overall, we’ve found Microsoft To Do to poorly integrate with calendars, including Microsoft’s own Outlook Calendar.
AI Features and Integrations
Trello AI Features and Integrations
Trello’s free version doesn’t have any AI features integrated into the app.
You will need to subscribe to the $10 monthly plan to get access to AI and other features. Or you can try any of the various AI plugins available in the Trello plugin list.
Finally, Trello doesn’t have any natural language features that can transform written sentences into cards, reminders etc.
Microsoft To Do AI Features and Integrations
Microsoft To Do doesn’t have any AI features built into the app.
However, Microsoft does offer some basic natural language processing features on the Windows and iOS versions of the app, but is only available in English.
This natural language feature recognizes certain words such as “tomorrow”, “Friday” or “11 PM” and automatically transforms them into reminders.
Special or unique features
Trello special or unique features
Trello is an old and very feature rich project management app that has lots of unique features for the right users.
Here are the features we think set it apart:
- Intuitive Kanban UI. Many other task management or project management apps have integrated Kanban features, but in our opinion Trello still does Kanban better than everyone else.
- Plugins and ecosystem. If you need Trello to do a certain task, then it’s almost certain you can find a plugin for it.
Microsoft To Do special or unique features
Microsoft To Do feels distinct in comparison to its competitors, with a very particular philosophy on how tasks should be done.
Below are the features that make it stand out:
- The “My Day” list. We like this feature, it automatically lets you view tasks that are due today or a bit later than that. It’s simple and clean.
- Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. We wish the integration with Outlook Calendar would have been better, but overall this is a big advantage of Microsoft To Do.
- Flagged email. If you use Outlook as your main email client, this feature allows you to flag an email and it automatically appears in Microsoft To Do as a task. It’s a great feature that helps organize your tasks and declutters your emails.
Cross-platform compatibility
Trello cross-platform compatibility
Trello can be downloaded on the following platforms:
- Desktop/laptops: Windows and macOS.
- Mobile: Android and iOS.
- Web versions for both mobile and desktop.
Microsoft To Do cross-platform compatibility
Microsoft To Do can be downloaded on the following platforms:
- Desktop/laptops: Windows and macOS.
- Mobile: Android and iOS.
Microsoft To Do also has web versions for both mobile and desktop.
Collaboration and sharing
Trello collaboration and sharing
Trello is entirely built around working with others and has excellent collaboration features.
To start, you can even give someone access to your entire workspace (which contains all your boards and cards).
If that sounds too much, you can invite them to access only a certain board. From there, the other person can leave comments, create tasks, attach files etc.
As a board owner, you can also assign cards to other people, or approve/deny changes.
The free version of Trello allows up to 10 collaborators per workspace, which should be enough for families and small businesses.
Microsoft To Do collaboration and sharing
Microsoft To Do lets you collaborate with others by sharing task lists, but only to other users who have a Microsoft account.
The feature is also quite limited however since you cannot leave comments or assign tasks to different people.
We’ve found the feature to mostly be useful for families, or small projects with 2-3 people.
Microsoft To Do is only worth using for collaboration if your organization or company uses Microsoft for day-to-day operations. Apps such as Planner, Teams, Sharepoint or Outlook work well with Microsoft To Do, and allow users to send, assign or share tasks directly to the users todo app.
Pricing
Trello pricing
Trello has a very good free version, but the paid plans unlocks even more features.
For individual users, Trello offers a Standard plan ($5 per month) and a Premium plan ($10 per month).
Some of the features unlocked by paying include: native AI integration, custom fields, list colors, uploading files up to 250 MB, different views: calendar, timeline, table, map etc.
Microsoft To Do pricing
Microsoft To Do is completely free.