Best Project Management Software for Schools

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Visual boards across departments

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flexible boards and dashboards; easy sharing with staff and parents

Cons: Time tracking and budgets need higher tiers; seats sell in fixed buckets starting at 3

monday.com gives a school a visual board for each project, with columns for phase, owner, deadline and budget. A head teacher can open a dashboard that shows every department at once, with status and risk flags, while each teacher works from a board for their own class or event. Timeline and workload views show which staff are free for the next trip or event. Files and approvals live on each item.

The Basic plan costs $9 per user each month on annual billing, and the free plan covers up to two seats. Every plan starts at a 3-seat minimum, and seats sell in fixed buckets, so a 4-person team pays for 5 seats. Time tracking, formula columns and deeper automations need the Standard or Pro tiers, so a school that tracks hours and budgets should price the Pro tier before deciding. For schools that value visual clarity, monday.com is a strong fit.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Multi-project tracking and timelines

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clean portfolios and workload views; strong templates

Cons: Free plan caps at 2 users; native time tracking needs Advanced at $24.99 per user

Asana suits a school that runs many projects in parallel and wants a clean view of all of them. Portfolios group projects by department, term or event, and the timeline view shows how exam preparation, trips and building work overlap. Workload views show which staff are overloaded. Templates for a school trip or an event keep every project consistent.

The Starter plan costs $10.99 per user each month on annual billing, and the free Personal plan covers up to 2 users. Native time tracking only arrives on Advanced at $24.99 per user each month, so a school that tracks hours should budget for that tier. Asana has no built-in tools for parent communication or student records.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: All-in-one tasks, docs and goals

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Docs, tasks, whiteboards and goals in one place; generous free plan

Cons: Free plan caps storage at 60 MB and allows only 1 form; timesheets need Business at $17 per user

ClickUp combines tasks, documents, whiteboards and goals, so a school can keep a trip plan, a staff handbook and a task list in one workspace. Custom fields track event type, budget and approval status, and dashboards roll those numbers up for the leadership team. Templates for a typical school event cut setup time for each new project.

The free plan is generous, with unlimited tasks and members, and the Core plan costs $9 per user each month on annual billing. The free plan caps storage at 60 MB and allows only 1 form, and timesheets need the Business plan at $17 per user each month. ClickUp offers many settings, so a school should spend time building templates and a clear folder structure before rolling it out. Once set up, it replaces several tools.

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com

Best for: Term plans with Gantt charts

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

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Spreadsheet style that office staff learn fast; strong Gantt and critical path views

Cons: Pro caps at 10 members, so larger teams pay Business at $19 per member; no free plan for new signups

Smartsheet feels like a spreadsheet with project tools built in, which suits schools whose office staff already work in rows and columns. A school can plan each term as a phased schedule with Gantt charts and dependencies, then share views with teachers and governors. Automated alerts flag late tasks and budget overruns. The Pro plan costs $9 per user each month on annual billing, with a 30-day free trial and no credit card needed.

The limits are real. Pro caps at 10 members, so a growing team must move to Business at $19 per member each month, more than double the per-seat price. The free plan has been closed to new signups since August 2024, so a school starts on the trial and then pays. Smartsheet fits a school that plans in spreadsheets and wants Gantt charts.

Website: https://www.wrike.com

Best for: Structured approvals and timelines

Starting price: $9.80 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Strong approval workflows and request forms; clear Gantt and workload views

Cons: School templates are generic; reporting and time tracking need higher tiers

Wrike gives a school structured workflows for the approvals that slow a project down. Request forms collect trip proposals and budget requests, and the Gantt view shows how a delay affects the term plan. Workload views show staff capacity across departments. The Team plan costs $9.80 per user each month on annual billing, and the free plan covers basic task work.

The drawback is that Wrike is a general tool, so its school templates are generic and it has no built-in parent communication system. Reporting and time tracking need higher tiers, so a school that wants detailed reports should check the Business plan price. For a school that values approvals and structured timelines, Wrike is a solid choice at a low entry price.

Website: https://trello.com

Best for: Simple boards for classes and clubs

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: The simplest boards here, learned in minutes; lowest starting price at $5 per user

Cons: Free plan caps at 10 boards per workspace; timeline and calendar views need a higher tier

Trello is the simplest tool in this list, and that is its strength in a school. A teacher can set up a board for a class project in minutes, with lists for to do, doing and done, and cards for each task, file and deadline. Students can move their own cards and attach work, which makes Trello useful for group projects. The mobile app works well on a phone.

The Standard plan costs $5 per user each month on annual billing, the lowest entry price here. The free plan caps at 10 boards per workspace, so a school with many classes needs the Standard plan or several workspaces. Timeline, calendar and dashboard views need a higher tier, and automation runs are capped. Trello suits a single class, club or small department best.

Website: https://www.notion.so

Best for: Wikis, lesson plans and notes

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Pages, wikis and databases in one place; strong templates for lesson planning

Cons: File uploads are capped on the free plan; advanced permissions need Business at $20 per user

Notion is part wiki, part planner, and it suits a school that wants lesson plans, handbooks and project tracking in one place. Teachers can build a shared wiki for each subject, with lesson plans and resources, and link those pages to task databases. Templates for lesson planning and meeting notes cut setup time.

The Plus plan costs $10 per user each month on annual billing, and the free plan covers individuals and small teams. File uploads are capped on the free plan, and advanced permissions and audit logs need the Business plan at $20 per user each month. Notion is less of a strict project tracker than Asana or monday.com, so a school that needs Gantt charts should look elsewhere.

Website: https://www.airtable.com

Best for: Tracking students, assets and events

Starting price: $20 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Powerful tables with filters and views; good for inventories and event lists

Cons: Free plan caps at 1,000 records per base; Gantt and extensions need Team at $20 per user

Airtable works like a spreadsheet with a database behind it, which suits a school that tracks lists: students on a trip, equipment in a lab, books in a library, or fixtures in a season. Each list is a base with tables, filters and views, so the office can see the same data as a grid, a calendar or a Kanban board. Automations can send reminders when a deadline approaches. The Team plan costs $20 per user each month on annual billing.

The free plan caps at 1,000 records per base, so a school tracking many students or assets must move to the Team plan. Gantt views and extensions need the Team plan, and the per-user price is the highest in this list. Airtable is best for a school that thinks in tables and lists.

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: Admin projects and deadlines

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clear client-style project tracking; time tracking built into the entry tier

Cons: Free plan caps at 5 users and 5 projects; workload planning needs Accelerate at $24.99 per user

Teamwork was built for client work, and that structure fits a school office that runs projects for departments and governors. Each project has tasks, milestones, time tracking and files, and the dashboard shows deadlines and budgets across all projects. Time tracking is built into the entry tier, which helps schools that record staff hours, and templates cut setup time. The Basics plan costs $9.99 per user each month on annual billing, and the free plan covers up to 5 users and 5 projects.

The free plan caps at 5 users and 5 projects, so a whole school will need the Basics plan. Workload and capacity planning, time budgets and the HubSpot and QuickBooks connections need the Accelerate plan at $24.99 per user each month. Teamwork suits an admin team that wants clear project tracking with time built in.

Website: https://basecamp.com

Best for: Whole-school projects and messages

Starting price: $29 per month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flat monthly price with no per-user fees; free for K-12 schools for class work

Cons: Freelancer plan caps at 3 projects and 5 users; time tracking only on Pro Plus at $99 per month

Basecamp is different from every other tool here because it charges a flat monthly price instead of per user. The Freelancer plan costs $29 a month for 3 projects and up to 5 users, Pro costs $79 a month for 8 projects and 10 users, Pro Plus costs $99 a month for 12 projects and 15 users, and Pro Unlimited costs $199 a month billed annually for unlimited projects and users. Each project has message boards, to-dos, schedules, docs and files.

The strongest point for schools is the discount. Basecamp is 100 percent free for K-12 schools, homeschoolers and universities, as long as it is used for class work. The free plan covers 1 project, 3 users and 1 GB of storage. Time tracking only appears on Pro Plus at $99 a month, and the flat price means a very small school pays the same as a larger one. For a school that wants simple projects and messages without per-user billing, Basecamp is worth a look.

The table uses entry prices from the vendor pricing pages checked for this article. A school with 10 staff would pay about $50 a month for Trello Standard, about $90 a month for monday.com Basic, and about $110 a month for Asana Starter. A school with 100 staff would pay about $500 a month for Trello Standard, about $900 a month for monday.com Basic, and about $2,000 a month for Airtable Team, while Basecamp Pro Unlimited costs $199 a month billed annually for unlimited users. K-12 schools can use Basecamp free for class work.