Trello alternative from the EU: the board – and everything that comes after

In short

• Trello is a simple Kanban board of cards and lists – owned by Atlassian, a US company.
• According to Trello's help pages, the data is stored with Amazon Web Services in the US; Atlassian's EU data residency does not cover Trello.
• The free plan allows 10 collaborators per Workspace; beyond that, boards become read-only.
• CloudyBird has a board like Trello, plus files, time tracking, leave, invoices and chat – developed in Germany, hosted in the EU.
• You bring boards along by importing the Trello JSON export: lists, cards, checklists, dates and labels – without comments and attachments.
• If real jobs that you bill by the hour sit on your board, CloudyBird fits; for quick personal lists or many Power-Ups, Trello often remains the simpler choice.

Who Trello is made for

For many small teams, Trello is where it starts: create columns, move cards, done. The interface is available in several languages. According to the pricing page, more views such as calendar, timeline and table come with the "Premium" plan, and Power-Ups connect more than 200 other apps.

At the latest when real jobs sit on the board, more questions come up: who worked on it, and for how long? Where are the plans and photos? When do we invoice? Time tracking, invoices and leave do not appear in the feature comparison on Trello's pricing page – for those you need Power-Ups or other tools.

Where your data is stored

• Contracting party for Trello, according to Atlassian's product-specific terms, is Trello, Inc.
• Storage location: Atlassian runs its cloud products on Amazon Web Services. Trello's help pages name data centres in the US. Atlassian's data residency, which lets customers choose the region, applies according to Atlassian's help pages to products such as Jira and Confluence; Trello is not on the list.
• Transfers to the US: According to its data processing addendum, Atlassian is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and also uses the Standard Contractual Clauses. The Data Privacy Framework is being challenged before the Court of Justice of the European Union (appeal C-703/25 P); the outcome is open.

CloudyBird runs entirely on Scaleway, a French provider: application, database and files in Amsterdam, encrypted backups in Paris – on every plan. Optional features such as signing in with Google use US services only if you choose them.

What CloudyBird does differently

In CloudyBird, the board is one of several views of a project: sections are the columns, tasks the cards, movable by drag and drop. You see the same tasks as a list, on a timeline and in the calendar. On top of that:

• A folder per project: attachments are real files with versions and previews, including PDFs and Office files.
• Time tracking directly on tasks and projects, with breaks and checks against the German Working Hours Act (ArbZG).
• Billing: recorded hours become the invoice, as an e-invoice in the German/EU formats XRechnung or ZUGFeRD.
• Leave and absences with requests, approval and leave balance.
• Team chat with chats for projects and tasks, plus calls and meeting rooms.

All of these areas are included in the free plan as well.

Trello and CloudyBird compared

As of the date above. Information on Trello according to Trello's pricing page and Atlassian's pages (sources below).

When CloudyBird is the better fit

Choose CloudyBird if …

• your boards hold jobs for customers and you want to record the hours on them and bill them as an e-invoice,
• your project, customer and staff data should stay in the EU – with a provider that also hosts there,
• plans, photos and quotes should live with the project – as files with versions and previews instead of attachments on individual cards,
• you want to see the same tasks as a list, on a timeline and in the calendar without changing plans for it,
• today you keep the board, timesheets, leave requests and team chat in separate tools and want to bring them together in one app with one login and one set of permissions,
• conversations about a task should happen right there – in the task's chat or on a call, instead of in yet another messenger.

When Trello is the better fit

Stay with Trello if …

• you mainly need personal lists or a single, simple board,
• customers or freelancers should work directly on your boards – that is not possible in CloudyBird,
• you have built your workflow with many Power-Ups that you do not want to replace,
• you need to bring the comments and attachments of your cards along in full – the import does not take them over,
• time, invoices and HR already run well in other tools and you do not want to merge any of them.

How to switch

1. Back up your boards: according to Trello's help pages, every board can be exported as JSON on every plan, and as CSV in Premium Workspaces. You need the JSON file for the import.
2. Import the board: upload the JSON file in CloudyBird under Projects → "Import". Lists become sections, cards become tasks, checklist items become subtasks; labels are taken over as labels. In the preview you match people to your team. Archived cards, comments and attachments stay in Trello.
3. Attachments into the project folder: upload plans, photos and documents instead of attaching them to cards. From Google Drive you can take them over directly on the paid plans.
4. Time in CloudyBird from next month: this keeps timesheets and billing cleanly separated.