Before we get into where Start Page HQ goes further, credit where it's due.
Specific differences, not vague claims.
Trello is a destination you have to open. Start Page HQ puts a Kanban board on your start page, so today's cards are visible the moment you open a browser — no app launch, no workspace navigation.
Trello is a single-purpose board tool. Start Page HQ ships Kanban tasks alongside notes, todos, RSS, weather, AI tools, dev utilities, and calendars — all on the same dashboard.
Build a Work page with Tasks and Calendar, a Personal page with Habits and Todo, a Reading page with Feed and Hacker News. Switch with a click instead of opening different boards.
Trello bills $5-$17.50 per user per month for Standard through Enterprise. Start Page HQ is a flat $25/year or $49 lifetime — single user, no per-seat upsell, every widget included.
Pomodoro timer, habit tracker, JSON formatter, regex tester, currency converter, QR generator — included. Trello requires Power-Ups (paid tier) for most of these.
Use startpagehq.com on any browser — including locked-down work computers — or install extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. No admin install required for the web app.
An honest line-by-line look at how the two stack up.
| Feature | Trello | Start Page HQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free or $5-$17.50/user/mo | $25/yr or $49 lifetime |
| Free tier | Yes (10 collaborators) | Free demo only |
| Lives on every new tab | No | Yes |
| Chrome | Yes | Yes |
| Firefox | Yes | Yes |
| Safari | Yes | Yes |
| Edge | Yes | Yes |
| Hosted web app | Yes | Yes |
| iOS / Android apps | Yes | Web app (PWA) |
| Cross-device sync | Included | Included |
| Kanban tasks | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-page dashboards | Workspace boards | New tab dashboards |
| Notes / quick capture widget | Card descriptions | Yes |
| Pomodoro timer / habit tracker | Power-Ups | Built-in |
| RSS / Hacker News / podcasts | No | Yes |
| AI tools (image gen, translation, summary) | Add-ons | Included |
| Developer tools (JSON, regex, diff) | No | Yes |
| Calendar / Timeline / Gantt views | Premium tier | Calendar widget |
| Team collaboration / assignees | Yes | No |
| Power-Ups / integrations ecosystem | 200+ | Built-in widgets |
Drop these onto your dashboard and you've covered Trello's core features — plus a lot more.
For personal Kanban — daily tasks, side projects, content pipelines — yes. The Tasks widget covers the core workflow. For team collaboration with assignees, comments, and mentions on shared boards, Trello still wins. Many users keep Trello for team work and use Start Page HQ for personal new-tab Kanban.
There is a free public demo at startpagehq.com/demo where you can try the Tasks widget and every other widget without signing up. Full access requires a paid plan: $25/year or $49 one-time. Both plans include all 50+ widgets, cross-device sync, and AI credits.
Trello is free for personal use, then $5/user/month Standard, $10/user/month Premium, or $17.50/user/month Enterprise (annual billing). Start Page HQ is a flat $25/year or $49 lifetime with no per-seat math — every widget included.
Yes. Cross-device sync is included in the base price. Sign in once and your boards, cards, and dashboards sync across every browser and device automatically.
There is no automated Trello importer. Most users keep their team Trello workspace and rebuild personal boards in the Tasks widget — it takes a couple of minutes. Paste your most-used Trello URLs into the Links widget for one-click access alongside your new Kanban.
Start Page HQ doesn't have a Power-Ups marketplace. Instead, the things people install Power-Ups for — calendars, time tracking, custom fields, automation — are built-in widgets you drop directly onto a page.