The short answer: Notion — if you set it up right.
Trello is great for one thing: moving cards across a board. If your freelance workflow is purely linear — task comes in, task gets done, task gets invoiced — Trello works fine. But the moment you need to connect clients to projects, track time, manage invoices, and see your revenue in one place, Trello falls apart.
Notion handles all of this in one workspace because it's built on databases that can relate to each other. Your client database links to your project database. Your project database links to your time log. Your time log rolls up into your revenue dashboard. Change one thing, and everything updates.
Where Trello wins
- Simpler learning curve for basic task boards
- Better mobile drag-and-drop experience
- Free tier is generous for basic use
Where Notion wins
- Connected databases replace 3-4 separate tools
- Views (table, kanban, timeline, calendar) on the same data
- Formulas and rollups for automatic calculations
- Notes, docs, and wikis alongside your project boards
- Free plan handles everything a freelancer needs
The real question
The choice isn't really Notion vs Trello. It's whether you want a task board or a business operating system. If you're managing more than 3 clients, tracking billable hours, or chasing invoices, you need the latter.
The Freelancer Command Center gives you the complete system — CRM, projects, invoicing, time tracking, and revenue dashboard — pre-built and ready to duplicate into your Notion workspace.