Custom fields, views, templates and automations matter more than a long feature list, because they decide how closely a tool can match the way your team already works.
Entry prices in this guide run from $5 to $10.99 per user per month on annual billing, so a 10 person team can expect about $600 to $1,319 a year at list price before tax.
Seven of the eight tools offer a free plan, while Smartsheet offers a 30 day free trial instead, so you can test most options before you commit to a yearly term.
Tools with a 3 seat minimum, such as monday.com and Teamwork, cost more than the headline rate for a team of one or two people.
Pick the tool that fits your main workflow first, then check its limits on automations, storage, guests and reports before you move a whole team onto it.
Comparison
How these compare
Tool
Best for
Price range
Free plan
monday.com
Visual boards and colourful workflows
$9 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
ClickUp
All in one workspaces with docs and goals
$9 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
Asana
Cross functional teams and repeatable processes
$10.99 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
Wrike
Gantt charts and dashboards for small teams
$10 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
Smartsheet
Spreadsheet style grids and reports
$9 per user/month (billed annually)
Free trial (30 days)
Notion
Docs, wikis and flexible databases
$10 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
Trello
Simple kanban boards for small teams
$5 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
Teamwork
Client work, time tracking and budgets
$9.99 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
How we choose
We reviewed the pricing pages, plan comparison tables, feature lists and help centre pages for each vendor on 12 November 2026, and we compared the entry monthly plan for each tool on annual billing. We looked at custom fields, custom statuses, templates, views, automations, guest access, storage limits and free plan limits, because those details decide how far a team can shape a tool without moving to a higher tier. We did not run live team projects, and we did not claim hands on testing in this guide.
Prices in this guide are list prices in US dollars before tax, taken from the vendor pricing pages linked in Sources. Vendors change prices and plan limits without notice, so check the pricing page again before you buy.
The table below gives a quick way to match a team size and a budget to a starting point. Figures are list prices for one year on annual billing, before tax, for the entry monthly plan of each tool.
Team size
Lowest yearly cost at list price
Tools to start with
5 people
$300 on Trello Standard
Trello, Smartsheet, monday.com
10 people
$600 on Trello Standard
Trello, ClickUp, monday.com
25 people
$1,500 on Trello Standard
Trello, ClickUp, Wrike Business check
50 people
$3,000 on Trello Standard
Trello, ClickUp, Asana Starter
100 people
$6,000 on Trello Standard
Trello, ClickUp, Notion Plus
A 10 person team would pay $1,080 a year on monday.com Basic, $1,080 on ClickUp Core, $1,319 on Asana Starter, $1,200 on Wrike Team, $1,080 on Smartsheet Pro for 10 members, $1,200 on Notion Plus, $600 on Trello Standard and $1,199 on Teamwork Basics at list price. Those figures exclude tax, add ons and seat minimums, so a team of 3 would pay for 3 seats on monday.com and Teamwork even if only 2 people use the tool each day.
TThe best customizable project management software
2
Mmonday.com
Best for Visual boards and colourful workflows
Website: https://monday.com/
Best for: Visual boards and colourful workflows
Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Flexible boards with many column types; large library of templates and integrations
Cons: Basic plan has no automation or integration actions; 3 seat minimum on monthly plans
monday.com builds work around boards, and each board can hold groups, items, subitems and columns that match the data your team tracks. You can add status labels, dates, people, numbers, files and formulas, then switch the same board between table, kanban, timeline, calendar and dashboard views. That range makes it a strong fit for marketing, operations, sales and creative teams that want one place to see tasks, owners and deadlines without building a system from a blank page.
The Basic plan costs $9 per user per month on annual billing and includes unlimited items, unlimited boards and unlimited free viewers. The free plan covers up to 2 seats and 3 boards. Teams that need timeline views, guest access or automation actions will need Standard at $12 per user per month on annual billing.
3
CClickUp
Best for All in one workspaces with docs and goals
Website: https://clickup.com/
Best for: All in one workspaces with docs and goals
Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Wide range of views, custom fields and task types; generous automation allowance on Core
Cons: Large feature set can feel busy for new users; every member takes a billed seat
ClickUp brings tasks, docs, whiteboards, goals, chat and dashboards into one workspace, which helps teams that want fewer separate tools. You can build custom fields, custom task types, custom statuses and templates for spaces, folders and lists. Views include list, board, calendar, Gantt, timeline, table and mind map, and each view can be saved for a team or a single person. That depth suits operations leads who want to shape one system around several kinds of work at once.
The Core plan costs $9 per user per month on annual billing, or $12 on monthly billing. It includes unlimited storage, 1,000 automation actions a month, goals, custom fields, forms and Gantt charts. The Free Forever plan includes 100 MB of storage, 100 automation actions a month and a limit of 60 Gantt uses per workspace. Business costs $17 per user per month on annual billing.
4
AAsana
Best for Cross functional teams and repeatable processes
Website: https://asana.com/
Best for: Cross functional teams and repeatable processes
Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Clear task ownership and timelines; strong templates and workflow builder
Cons: Free Personal plan is limited to 2 users; time tracking and portfolios need Advanced
Asana organises work as tasks inside projects, and those projects can roll up into portfolios and goals. Each task has one assignee, which keeps ownership clear, and tasks can live in more than one project without duplication. Custom fields, forms, rules and templates let a team shape Asana around campaigns, product launches, onboarding and client work. Timeline and Gantt views show dependencies and dates in one place, which helps managers spot clashes before they cause delays.
The Starter plan costs $10.99 per user per month on annual billing, or $13.49 on monthly billing. It includes timeline and Gantt views, dashboards, forms, custom fields and unlimited automations, plus unlimited free guests. The free Personal plan covers up to 2 users. Advanced costs $24.99 per user per month on annual billing and adds portfolios, goals, workload and time tracking.
5
WWrike
Best for Gantt charts and dashboards for small teams
Website: https://www.wrike.com/
Best for: Gantt charts and dashboards for small teams
Starting price: $10 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Interactive Gantt charts and shareable dashboards; custom fields and workflows on Team
Cons: Team plan is limited to 15 users; no time tracking on Team
Wrike is built for teams that plan with dates, dependencies and dashboards. The Team plan includes interactive Gantt charts, shareable dashboards, calendars, custom fields, custom workflows and custom statuses. You can shape request forms and task templates around the way work arrives, then track progress in a dashboard that pulls live data from several projects.
The Team plan costs $10 per user per month on annual billing for 2 to 15 users, and Wrike publishes no monthly rate for it. It includes 2 GB of storage per user and 50 automation actions per seat per month. The free plan covers unlimited users with 2 GB of storage for the whole account. Business costs $25 per user per month on annual billing for 5 to 200 users.
6
SSmartsheet
Best for Spreadsheet style grids and reports
Website: https://www.smartsheet.com/
Best for: Spreadsheet style grids and reports
Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Free trial (30 days)
Pros: Familiar grid layout with Gantt, board and calendar views; strong reports and forms
Cons: No free plan for new signups; Pro plan is limited to 10 members
Smartsheet will feel familiar to any team that already plans work in spreadsheets. Each sheet is a grid with rows, columns, formulas and attachments, and the same data can be shown as a Gantt chart, a board or a calendar. Dashboards pull figures from several sheets, reports combine rows from different projects, and forms collect requests from people outside the team. Custom fields, conditional formatting and automated workflows let a team shape sheets around budgets, schedules and approvals.
The Pro plan costs $9 per user per month on annual billing, or $12 on monthly billing, for 1 to 10 members, with unlimited free contributors. It includes unlimited sheets, forms and reports, 250 automation runs a month and 20 GB of storage. Business costs $19 per user per month on annual billing. There is no free plan for new signups, and a 30 day free trial is offered instead.
7
NNotion
Best for Docs, wikis and flexible databases
Website: https://www.notion.com/
Best for: Docs, wikis and flexible databases
Starting price: $10 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Flexible databases with many views and relations; strong docs and wiki features
Cons: Full AI features need Business; project features need more setup than a task tool
Notion starts as a workspace for pages, docs and wikis, and its databases turn those pages into a project system. You can build a database for tasks, clients, content or hiring, then add properties for status, owner, date, priority and budget. The same database can be shown as a table, board, timeline, calendar or gallery, and relations link one database to another. Templates cover project plans, meeting notes, roadmaps and team wikis, and each one can be changed to match local terms and steps.
The Plus plan costs $10 per user per month on annual billing, or $12 on monthly billing. It includes unlimited blocks for teams, unlimited file uploads, 30 days of page history and custom database automations. The free plan includes unlimited blocks for one member, a 5 MB file upload limit and up to 10 guests. Business costs $20 per user per month on annual billing and adds full AI features and private teamspaces.
8
TTrello
Best for Simple kanban boards for small teams
Website: https://trello.com/
Best for: Simple kanban boards for small teams
Starting price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Lowest entry price in this guide; simple boards that need little training
Cons: Timeline, calendar, table and dashboard views need Premium; free plan caps boards at 10
Trello keeps project work on boards, lists and cards, which makes it one of the easiest tools in this guide to learn. A card can hold a checklist, a due date, an owner, an attachment, a comment and a custom field. Power Ups add calendar views, integrations and extra features, while Butler automations move cards, set dates and send reminders based on rules you define. Custom fields, advanced checklists and card mirroring let a small team shape a board around a repeatable process without a long setup.
The Standard plan costs $5 per user per month on annual billing, or $6 on monthly billing. It includes unlimited boards and collaborators, custom fields, advanced checklists, card mirroring and 1,000 automation runs a month. The free plan covers up to 10 collaborators per workspace and 10 open boards, with 250 automation runs a month. Premium costs $10 per user per month on annual billing and adds timeline, calendar, table and dashboard views.
9
TTeamwork
Best for Client work, time tracking and budgets
Website: https://www.teamwork.com/
Best for: Client work, time tracking and budgets
Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: Built in time tracking and client users; project templates and budgets on higher plans
Cons: Timesheets and workload planning need Accelerate; 3 seat minimum on Basics
Teamwork is built for agencies, consultancies and service teams that bill clients for their time. Projects can hold tasks, milestones, files, messages and time logs, and each project can carry a budget, a rate and a client. Custom fields, task templates, project templates and workflows let a team shape Teamwork around retainers, fixed fee work and internal projects. Client users can view their own projects without taking a billed seat, which keeps the cost down for client facing teams.
The Basics plan costs $9.99 per user per month on annual billing, or $13.99 on monthly billing, with a minimum of 3 users. It includes 300 projects, 100 GB of storage, 5,000 automations and billable time tracking. The free plan covers up to 5 users and 5 projects. Accelerate costs $24.99 per user per month on annual billing and adds timesheets, workload capacity, budgets and invoicing.
What to check before you buy
Check the seat minimum first, because it changes the real monthly cost for small teams. monday.com and Teamwork both start monthly plans at 3 seats, while Asana Personal stops at 2 users and Wrike Team stops at 15 users. Count every person who will edit work, not just the people who manage projects, because most tools in this guide charge for every member.
Check automation limits next, because a team that relies on rules can hit a cap in the first month. ClickUp Core allows 1,000 automation actions a month, Trello Standard allows 1,000 runs a month, monday.com Basic allows none, Wrike Team allows 50 actions per seat per month, and Smartsheet Pro allows 250 runs a month. Ask how many actions your current workflow would trigger in a normal week, then compare that figure with the limit on the tier you plan to buy.
Check guest access, storage and file limits as well. Asana Starter includes unlimited free guests, monday.com Basic includes unlimited free viewers, and Teamwork includes free client users. File uploads range from 5 MB on the Notion free plan to 250 MB per file on Trello Standard, and storage ranges from 2 GB per user on Wrike Team to unlimited storage on ClickUp Core. If your team shares large design files or video, storage will matter more than the headline price.
Try the tool with one real project before you move a whole team. Set up the fields, views and templates you will use every week, invite three or four colleagues, and run the project for two weeks. Keep a short list of the features you missed during the trial, then check which tier adds them and what that tier costs for your full team.
FAQ
What is the most customizable project management software for a small team?
ClickUp and Notion offer the widest range of custom fields, views and templates in this guide, and both start at $9 or $10 per user per month on annual billing. ClickUp suits teams that want tasks, docs and goals in one workspace, while Notion suits teams that want docs and databases first.
How much does customizable project management software cost per month?
Entry monthly plans in this guide cost from $5 to $10.99 per user per month on annual billing, which is $60 to $132 per user per year at list price before tax. A 10 person team would pay $600 a year on Trello Standard or $1,319 a year on Asana Starter.
Which tool has the best free plan for customization?
ClickUp Free Forever offers the most room to shape a workspace without a subscription, with custom fields, many views and 100 automation actions a month. Trello and Notion also offer useful free plans, while Asana Personal stops at 2 users and monday.com stops at 2 seats and 3 boards.
Do I need a higher tier to use custom fields and automations?
It depends on the tool. ClickUp Core, Asana Starter, Wrike Team and Trello Standard all include custom fields, while monday.com Basic includes custom fields but no automation actions. Smartsheet Pro includes 250 automation runs a month, and Notion Plus includes custom database automations.
Can I change templates and workflows after I set them up?
Yes, all eight tools in this guide let you edit templates, fields, statuses and workflows after setup. Keep the first version simple, with a small set of statuses and fields, then add more only when the team asks for them.
Which tool is best for client work and billing?
Teamwork is the clearest match for client work in this guide, because it links tasks, time logs, budgets and client users in one project. Basics costs $9.99 per user per month on annual billing and includes billable time tracking, while Accelerate at $24.99 adds timesheets, workload planning and invoicing.