Choosing the Right Mirror: Trello's Mirror Cards and Unito's Mirror Power-Up

Mirroring cards can increase visibility, but only Unito can enable true cross-board collaboration.

UPDATE: In 2021, Trello announced the release of Mirror cards, which it later discontinued. While this new feature shared a name with Unito’s Mirror Power-Up, there were important differences in the functionality offered by each, which this article covers. Visit the Unito Mirror Power-Up to learn more about our two-way card mirroring functionality.

Trello Mirror cards

Mirror cards, when they become available, will allow you to clone cards to multiple different Trello boards. Then, when the original source card is changed, updates will be reflected on all of the clones. Finally, there will be a link to the original card within the clones, allowing you to jump into the board where the source is hosted.

Unito’s Mirror Power-Up

Instead of creating clones, Unito’s Mirror Power-Up allows a single card to live on multiple boards. This is an important distinction.

With Unito's Mirror, changes can be made to that card on any of the boards where it lives. Those changes will then be automatically reflected on all instances of the card.

One-way versus two-way information flow

Trello Mirror cards provide one-way information flow. Card updates flow from the source to its clones, and that’s where it ends. Clones cannot be changed or updated to edit the original card.

Unito, on the other hand, provides two-way card syncing. Any instance of the card can be updated, allowing information to flow back and forth across multiple boards. This enables individuals and teams to collaborate within a single card from their own boards. They can share comments, provide feedback, offer approvals, and adjust key card details as work progresses.

When to use which Mirror

If your goal is to simply provide people with visibility into a card, Trello Mirror cards may be the right fit.

If your goal is to collaborate with people in different boards, get feedback, or otherwise exchange information in a bidirectional way, Unito’s Mirror Power-Up is the better option.

Other options for increasing information flow in Trello

Unito has a couple of other solutions to help you ramp up how your share and access information within Trello.

Our board syncing functionality allows you to connect entire boards, so key information from multiple cards can flow back and forth based on the rules you determine in advance. Learn more about this feature here.

Beyond our Power-Ups, Unito’s standalone app provides a visual workflow designer. This tool helps you map out complex workflows across multiple Trello boards or even between Trello and different tools. It’s a drag-and-drop map builder for your most important work. Learn more about this feature here.