Best Project Management Software Comparison: 8 Tools

Website: https://asana.com/

Best for: Team tasks and portfolios

Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clear portfolios and workload views; strong integration library

Cons: Gantt and advanced reporting need a subscription tier; no native time tracking

Asana is the most polished task manager in this comparison. Work is organized into projects, tasks and subtasks, with list, board, timeline and calendar views that suit different teams. The Starter plan costs $10.99 per user per month on annual billing and adds Gantt charts, dashboards, forms and workflow builder, while the free Personal plan covers up to 10 teammates. Portfolios roll many projects into one view, and workload shows who is over capacity before a deadline slips.

Asana has no native time tracking, so teams that bill by the hour add an integration such as Harvest or Toggl Track. Advanced reporting and approvals sit on higher tiers, and the Advanced plan at $24.99 per user per month on annual billing is where the deeper controls live. The interface is clean and easy to learn, which keeps adoption high on teams that have struggled with heavier tools.

Asana suits teams that want structure without complexity: marketing, operations, product and agency teams that run many projects at once. It is less suited to heavy scheduling or cost control, where a dedicated tool fits better. For everyday project coordination, it is one of the most reliable choices here.

Website: https://monday.com/

Best for: Visual boards and workflows

Starting price: $9 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Visual boards are easy to read; strong automations

Cons: Time tracking sits on Pro; Basic has a 3 seat minimum

monday.com is built around boards, and the board is the reason many teams choose it. Columns show status, owner, date, budget and priority at a glance, and views switch between table, Kanban, timeline, Gantt and calendar. The Basic plan costs $9 per seat per month on annual billing with a 3 seat minimum, and the free plan covers up to 2 seats. Automations move items, send reminders and notify owners, which cuts manual follow up.

Time tracking only ships on the Pro plan, and dashboards with deeper reporting also sit above Basic, so the entry price buys the board and the basics rather than the full system. The interface is colorful and friendly, which helps non technical staff adopt it quickly, and the template library covers marketing, sales, HR and operations work out of the box.

monday.com suits teams that want a visual, flexible workspace and are willing to pay for Pro when they need time tracking and reporting. It is less suited to strict scheduling or cost control, and the per seat price rises with the team. For visual project tracking, it is a strong pick.

Website: https://clickup.com/

Best for: All in one work management

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Docs, goals and time tracking in one tool; generous free plan

Cons: Feature depth can overwhelm new users; interface can feel busy

ClickUp tries to replace several tools at once, and it mostly succeeds. Tasks, docs, whiteboards, goals, time tracking, dashboards and chat live in one workspace, and the free Forever plan covers a surprising amount for small teams. The Core plan costs $9 per user per month on annual billing and adds unlimited storage, more automations and advanced views, while Business at $17 adds more automation, workload and timeline controls.

The breadth is also the main complaint. New users face many menus, views and settings, and a team needs time to agree on how to use the tool before it feels simple. Once that setup is done, ClickUp covers more ground than any other tool in this list at the same price, and the customization options let a team shape it around its own process rather than the other way around.

ClickUp suits teams that want one tool for tasks, docs, goals and time, and that are willing to invest a day or two in setup. It is less suited to teams that want a minimal tool they can use in five minutes. For value per dollar, it is the strongest option here.

Website: https://trello.com/

Best for: Simple boards and cards

Starting price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Simplest tool in this list; cheapest entry price

Cons: Gantt and reporting need Power-Ups; weak for large programs

Trello is the simplest tool in this comparison, and it is also the cheapest. Work lives on boards made of lists and cards, and moving a card from one list to the next is the whole workflow. The Standard plan costs $5 per user per month on annual billing and adds unlimited boards, advanced checklists and custom fields, while the free plan covers up to 10 collaborators per board with 10 boards per workspace. Premium at $10 adds timeline, calendar, dashboard and workspace views.

The simplicity has a ceiling. Gantt charts, workload views and advanced reporting come through Power-Ups and higher tiers, and Trello is not built for large programs with dependencies, budgets and resource planning. For a small team tracking a handful of projects, that ceiling rarely matters, and the low price and zero learning curve are hard to argue with.

Trello suits small teams, startups and simple workflows where a board is enough. It is less suited to teams that need portfolios, cost tracking or formal reporting. For getting started fast and cheap, it is the easiest choice in this list.

Website: https://www.wrike.com/

Best for: Cross team project tracking

Starting price: $10 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Strong cross team visibility; Gantt and workload views

Cons: Budgets and cost tracking need Business; learning curve is steep

Wrike is built for teams that work across departments and need one place to see everything. The Team plan costs $10 per user per month on annual billing and covers task management, Gantt charts, dashboards and shared views, while the free plan supports unlimited users with basic boards. Workload views show capacity across people and teams, and request forms and approvals standardize how work enters the system.

Budgets and cost tracking only arrive on the Business plan at $25 per user per month on annual billing, so the entry price does not cover the financial side. The interface carries many options, and new users often need training before they use it well. That investment pays off for larger teams that need structure, but it is more than a small team wants.

Wrike suits mid sized and larger teams that need visibility across functions and can invest in setup. It is less suited to small teams that want a tool they can start using in an afternoon. For cross team coordination at scale, it is a solid choice.

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com/

Best for: Spreadsheet style planning

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Familiar spreadsheet grid; Gantt and card views included

Cons: No free plan for new signups; resource management is an add on

Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet and acts like a project tool, which makes it easy to adopt for teams that already plan in grids. The Pro plan costs $9 per user per month on annual billing and includes Gantt charts, card views, dashboards and forms, with a 30 day free trial and no free plan for new signups. Bulk edits are fast, and formulas, conditional formatting and reports work the way spreadsheet users expect.

Resource management is sold as a separate add on, and advanced reporting sits on the Business plan at $19 per user per month on annual billing, so the entry price does not cover the full planning stack. Smartsheet also lacks a true critical path engine, which means formal scheduling still needs a dedicated tool. The Control Center add on covers program management for teams that need it.

Smartsheet suits teams that plan in grids and want Gantt charts, dashboards and forms without learning a new interface. It is less suited to teams that need resource planning or critical path scheduling on the entry plan. For grid based planning, it is a flexible and proven choice.

Website: https://www.teamwork.com/

Best for: Client work and delivery

Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Built for client projects; time tracking included on subscription tiers

Cons: Interface feels dated next to rivals; some features need Accelerate

Teamwork is built for agencies and service teams that deliver client work. The Basics plan costs $9.99 per user per month on annual billing, and Accelerate at $24.99 adds more reporting, workload and automation. The free plan covers up to 5 users with basic projects and tasks. Time tracking, milestones, task lists and client facing views are core to the design, and the platform shows profitability and utilization on higher tiers.

The interface feels dated next to Asana or monday.com, and some features that rivals include on entry tiers sit on Accelerate here. The trade off is focus: Teamwork is shaped around client delivery, with features such as billable time, project budgets and client users that general tools treat as an afterthought. Integrations cover accounting, chat and file storage, and the mobile app handles time entry on the go.

Teamwork suits agencies, consultancies and service teams that live on client projects and need time and budget tracking built in. It is less suited to internal teams that do not bill clients. For client delivery work, it is one of the best fits in this list.

Website: https://basecamp.com/

Best for: Flat rate team projects

Starting price: $15 per user/month (billed monthly)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flat rate Pro Unlimited at $299 per month; very simple to use

Cons: Few views and no Gantt chart; limited reporting

Basecamp is the simplest tool in this list after Trello, and its pricing is the most unusual. The Plus plan costs $15 per user per month on monthly billing, and Pro Unlimited costs $299 per month flat for unlimited users on annual billing, which makes it cheap for large teams and costly for small ones. The free plan covers one project with up to 20 users. Each project has to dos, message boards, schedules, docs and group chat in one place.

Basecamp deliberately leaves out Gantt charts, workload views, time tracking and advanced reporting, which keeps it simple but limits it for teams that need those controls. There are no per seat surprises on Pro Unlimited, and the interface is so plain that new users need almost no training. That simplicity is the product: Basecamp does a few things well and refuses to do the rest.

Basecamp suits teams that want simple project spaces and a predictable bill, especially larger teams that benefit from the flat rate. It is less suited to teams that need scheduling, reporting or time tracking. For straightforward collaboration, it is a calm and honest choice.