Joinery Core vs Trello — Kanban Boards Won't Run Your Workshop
Trello is simple and free. You create a board, add some cards, drag them between columns. For personal to-do lists and simple projects, it's brilliant. But can you run a joinery workshop with it? Short answer: no. Here's why.
The Comparison
| Feature | Joinery Core | Trello |
|---|---|---|
| Gantt chart / timeline | ✓ Production Gantt | ✗ Kanban only |
| Joinery-specific phases | ✓ Cutting, spraying, glazing... | ✗ Generic cards |
| Stock control | ✓ Built-in | ✗ Not available |
| Team scheduling | ✓ Per-worker view | ✗ No scheduling |
| Financial tracking | ✓ Per project | ✗ No |
| Timesheets & wages | ✓ Built-in | ✗ No |
| Client management | ✓ Linked to projects | ✗ No |
| Date dependencies | ✓ Phase sequences | ✗ No |
| Price | From £49/month | Free (basic) |
Why Kanban Doesn't Work for Joinery
Kanban boards show cards moving from "To Do" to "In Progress" to "Done". That's fine for software bugs or marketing tasks. But in a joinery workshop, a project isn't a single card — it's ten phases happening across weeks, assigned to different workers, dependent on materials and each other.
You can't see that your sprayer is overloaded next Thursday on a kanban board. You can't see that two kitchens need the same timber sheet on a kanban board. You can't see your workshop capacity three weeks out on a kanban board. You need a timeline.
Where Trello Still Works
Trello is excellent for quick internal lists — ideas, punchlist items, office tasks. Some workshops use Trello alongside Joinery Core for non-production work like marketing ideas or supplier follow-ups. Nothing wrong with that.
Choose Joinery Core when you need
- A production timeline, not a task board
- Stock control with low-stock alerts
- Worker scheduling across multiple projects
- Financial tracking per job
- Everything connected: project → client → stock → money
The Bottom Line
Trello is free. Joinery Core costs £49/month. But Trello can't tell you which projects are profitable, whether you have enough oak in stock, or if your team is overbooked next week. For £49/month, you get a system that actually runs your workshop — not just a digital sticky note wall.
Your workshop deserves better than kanban
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