Trello vs VA Growth Suite
Trello is the gold-standard kanban — but it's purely a board, so VAs end up adding 3 more tools around it.
| Feature | Trello | VA Growth Suite |
|---|---|---|
| Time tracking with running timer | ||
| Multi-client dashboard | ||
| PDF invoice generation | ||
| Branded client portal | ||
| Kanban task board per client | ||
| Starts at $0 (free plan) | ||
| No per-user pricing | ||
| Built for VAs specifically | ||
| Starting price | Free / $5/user/mo paid | $0 free, $19/mo paid |
Trello — strengths
- Free tier covers most VA use cases
- Best-in-class kanban UX
- Power-Ups extend functionality
Trello — limits for VAs
- No time tracking, invoicing, or client portal
- Power-Ups multiply the monthly cost quickly
- Multi-client setups become messy without templates
Our honest take
Trello is fine as a free task board if you already have invoicing and time tracking covered. VA Growth Suite folds the kanban directly into client records, so you're not toggling apps to invoice the work.
When Trello is the right choice
If you're already on Trello and it's working, don't switch just to save a few dollars. But if you're just starting out as a VA — or you're paying for Trello plus a second tool for invoicing or a client portal — we built VA Growth Suite to replace that stack.
When VA Growth Suite wins
- You're a solo VA or small agency (not a 20-person design studio)
- You need time tracking and invoicing and a client portal
- Flat pricing matters more than deep workflow automation
- You want to get set up in 5 minutes, not 5 days
What you actually use Trello for
Trello is the world's most-loved free kanban board, and it earns that reputation honestly — drag, drop, comment, done. VAs use it as their daily task hub: one board per client, lists for Backlog / This Week / Doing / Done, cards for individual deliverables. The board itself is genuinely best-in-class. The problem is everything around it: no time tracking, no invoicing, no client portal, and the Power-Ups (Trello's add-on system) multiply your monthly cost quickly once you add a timer and a calendar. Most VAs end up with Trello + Toggl + an invoicing tool + a Notion doc per client.
Moving from Trello to VA Growth Suite
Trello exports each board individually as JSON via Board menu → Print, export, and share → Export as JSON. There's no native CSV bulk export across all your boards — you'll export one board per client. To move: take the JSON for each client board and recreate the lists/cards as VA Growth Suite tasks against the matching client. For most VAs with 5-8 active clients, this is a one-hour Saturday job. Clients you share boards with stay in Trello — you can keep using shared boards collaboratively while moving your own admin to VA Growth Suite.
Frequently asked questions
Is Trello free?
Trello offers a free tier, but the features most VAs actually need (invoicing, portal, or unlimited clients) typically sit behind the paid plan starting at Free / $5/user/mo paid.
Can I import my data from Trello into VA Growth Suite?
Yes. Trello supports JSON per board (no bulk CSV), which covers the migration cleanly. Most VAs move clients and the last 90 days of time entries in under an hour. Older records can stay in Trello as a read-only archive.
What does VA Growth Suite do that Trello doesn't?
VA Growth Suite bundles time tracking, multi-client invoicing in multiple currencies, a branded client portal, and a per-client kanban task board into one app — at a flat $19/mo for 50 clients, with no per-user pricing. Trello typically requires you to combine it with at least one other tool to cover that workflow.
Why does VA Growth Suite charge $19/mo instead of per-user pricing like Trello?
Per-user pricing punishes VAs the moment they add a subcontractor or VA partner. Flat pricing means a two-person VA team pays the same as a solo VA — $19/mo for up to 50 clients. It's the model that makes sense for the way VAs actually grow.
Try VA Growth Suite free — no Trello required
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