Migration guide
Migrate from Trello to Planoda
Trello's simplicity is its charm — and its ceiling. This guide moves your boards, lists, and cards into Planoda so you keep the kanban feel while gaining issues, estimates, and roadmaps when you need them.
Updated
Should you move?
Trello's simplicity is its charm, and for a small, single-board team it's hard to beat. The ceiling shows up as you grow: no estimates, no cross-board roadmap, and a pile of Power-Ups standing in for features that should be built in. Move when you've outgrown one board and want the kanban feel to stay while issues, cycles, and roadmaps become available underneath it.
Migration in short
- Migrating from Trello to Planoda is a 7-step path: export, map, import, verify, then cut over.
- Start by exporting from Trello — Export from Trello, then map every field to its Planoda equivalent.
- 9 Trello concepts map onto Planoda fields (issues, workflow states, cycles, estimates, labels, and more), previewed before anything is written.
- Run both tools in parallel for a short overlap, reconcile the counts, then make Planoda the system of record — no work is left behind.
Step by step
How to move from Trello
Export from Trello
Export each board as JSON (Board menu → More → Print and Export → Export as JSON) or CSV on paid plans. JSON includes cards, lists, labels, checklists, and comments for the fullest import.
Map boards, lists, and cards
A Trello board becomes a Planoda board, lists become board columns or workflow states, and cards become issues. Checklists convert to sub-issues so nested to-dos aren't flattened.
Carry labels, members, and due dates
Trello labels map to Planoda labels, card members to assignees, and due dates straight across. Power-Up data without an equivalent can be summarized into the issue description.
Import into Planoda
Drop your cleaned export into the CSV importer, or push records through the public REST API for large or incremental loads. The importer previews the mapping and flags any rows that need attention before anything is written.
Verify the imported data
Spot-check a sample of issues against the source: titles, assignees, states, priorities, comments, and links. Run a count reconciliation so the totals match before you trust the new workspace.
Run both tools in parallel
Keep the old tool read-only for a short overlap window while your team learns the new workflows. Route all new work into Planoda so nothing is created in two places.
Cut over and archive the source
Once the team is comfortable and open work is in sync, freeze the source tool, export a final backup, and make Planoda the system of record. Update bookmarks, integrations, and team docs.
Field mapping
What maps to what
How Trello concepts map onto Planoda.
| Trello | Planoda |
|---|---|
| Board | Board |
| List | Board column / Workflow state |
| Card | Issue |
| Checklist item | Sub-issue |
| Label | Label |
| Member | Assignee |
| Due date | Due date |
| Comment | Comment |
| Attachment | Attachment / Link |
Pro tips
Make the move smoother
Prefer the JSON export — it preserves checklists, comments, and labels that CSV drops.
Map lists to workflow states (not just columns) to unlock cycle and progress reporting after the move.
Consolidate scattered Trello boards into Planoda teams to finally see work across boards in one place.
Common pitfalls
What to avoid
The mistakes that actually trip teams up moving off Trello.
Exporting CSV instead of JSON: CSV silently drops checklists, comments, and labels — use the JSON export so nested to-dos become sub-issues and discussion survives.
Mapping lists to columns only: if lists become mere columns you lose cycle and progress reporting, so map them to workflow states to unlock the metrics Trello never had.
Leaving boards scattered after import: the whole upside is seeing work across boards, so group related Trello boards under Planoda teams rather than recreating the same silos.
FAQ
Migrating from Trello — FAQ
A note from the founder
“I'm building Planoda in the open and putting my name on it. No borrowed logos, no invented stats — just the work, shipped and auditable. If it doesn't earn your trust, tell me.”
Dmitrii Selikhov is the founder of Planoda and a lead full-stack engineer with 15+ years building developer tools and leading teams as a technical lead, software architect, and CTO.
Still deciding?
Make the switch
Leave Trello behind this weekend.
Bring your Trello export — we'll match every workflow, field by field.