Switch from Trello

You can move a Trello board to Contals in a few minutes: export the board from Trello as JSON (or connect with a Trello API key), choose who each Trello member is in your workspace, and start the import. Contals creates a new board with your lists, cards, labels, checklists, custom fields, comments and due dates. Your Trello board stays untouched.

Free help with the move

Contals guides a limited number of organizations through the move in a 30-minute video call – free. You run the import in your own account while we explain each step; we never ask for passwords, never get access to your boards and never receive your export file. Ask for a place on the migration service page or with Free Trello migration on the Trello import page.

Large boards

The import runs on the server, so you can close the page while it works. A board can hold 5,000 cards; for larger Trello boards, leave out the archived cards (one switch on the preview page).

1. Export the board from Trello

In Trello, open the board, then the board menu (…) → Print, export and share → Export as JSON. Save the file.

Alternatively connect with an API key: on the import page choose Connect with an API key, paste your Trello API key and a token (Trello Power-Up admin page → API key → “Token”). Contals uses them for this import only and never stores them. The API import also brings every comment; the JSON export contains only Trello’s latest 1,000 actions.

2. Open the import page

In Contals: Boards → the import icon next to your workspace’s name (or workspace settings → Import boards) → Trello → choose the file. The file is read in your browser; nothing is imported before you confirm.

3. Check the preview

The preview shows what will be imported: lists, cards (and how many are archived), labels, checklists, comments, links, custom fields and due dates. You can rename the board, choose who can see it and whether archived cards and lists come along (they stay archived).

4. Map the people

Trello exports names, not e-mail addresses. For every Trello member, choose the matching person in your workspace (Contals suggests one when the name matches), invite them by e-mail, or leave them unassigned. No account is ever created for anyone: invited people get an e-mail and join only if they accept.

• Mapped people become the assignees of their cards, their votes are kept, and their comments show them as the author.
• Unassigned people keep their name on their comments (“imported from Trello”).

5. Start the import

Click Import … cards. A progress bar shows how far it is; you can leave the page. The result page lists what was imported and anything that needs your attention, with a button to open the board.

6. Invite the team and switch

Invite the rest of your team (board Settings → Members, or the whole workspace), agree on a switch date and set the Trello board to read-only.

What is imported

Trello	Contals
Board name, background color	Board name, the closest of our backgrounds
Lists (order, archived), list limits	Lists; limits via the List limits Power-Up
Cards (order, title, Markdown description, archived)	Cards; card numbers follow Trello’s card numbers
Due date, “due complete”, start date	Due date with the time you chose (Due dates Power-Up), the card is done; the start date becomes the card’s start – a start without a due date, or after it, becomes a date field
Labels (names and colors)	Labels, colors mapped to our palette
Checklists with items (done, order)	Checklists
Members	People you map (or nobody)
Comments (author, date)	Comments with the original date, marked “imported from Trello”
Attachments	Links (Links Power-Up). Files uploaded to Trello can then be copied into attachments with a Trello API key – see below
Custom fields (text, number, date, checkbox, dropdown)	Custom fields
Votes	Votes of mapped people (Voting Power-Up)

Contals turns on the Power-Ups your data needs (due dates, links, voting, list limits).

Not imported, by design

• Activity history: the board starts its own history; comments are imported.
• Stickers and card covers. Cover images stay available as links.
• Butler automations are not part of Trello’s export; set them up again with the Automation Power-Up.
• Trello’s default due time (12:00, also midnight) counts as “no time”: such cards are due all day in Contals.

Files uploaded to Trello

The import turns every Trello attachment into a link. Files that were uploaded to Trello can only be downloaded with a Trello login, so Contals copies them in a second step:

1. When the import is done, its page shows Files on Trello with the number of files.
2. After an import through the API, the key and token are still known to the page (in this tab only, never stored): click Copy files into Contals. After an import from a JSON file, enter an API key and a token first – how to get them is described under step 1, “Connect with an API key”.
3. The files are copied a few at a time; each becomes an attachment of its card and replaces the link. Photos lose their location and camera data like every upload.

A file that cannot be copied keeps its link, and the page says why – larger than your plan allows per file, the storage is full, a kind of file that is not accepted, or an archived card. You can start the copy again later.

Importing again

Import the same Trello board again later and Contals recognizes it: Add only what is new to that board adds the cards created in Trello since, and leaves the cards already in Contals as they are – nothing is duplicated. Or create a separate copy.

What is different in Contals

• Volunteers and guests are free on any number of boards.
• Card details open in a sidebar; titles are edited right on the card.
• Power-Ups are first-party and included; there is no marketplace.

Coming from another tool? See Import from other tools.