Best Project Management Software for Small Teams

Website: https://trello.com

Best for: Simple boards on a small budget

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Simple boards anyone learns in a day; low price at $5 per user

Cons: Timeline and calendar views need Premium at $10; no native time tracking

Trello is the simplest tool in this guide, and the cheapest way to start. Standard costs $5 per user per month when billed annually, or $6 billed monthly, and Premium costs $10. The free plan covers up to 10 collaborators per workspace and up to 10 boards, which suits a small team that is just getting organised. Each project becomes a board, each task becomes a card, and each card moves across lists from to do to done.

Cards hold checklists, due dates, attachments and comments, so the whole team can see the state of a project at a glance. Automation runs move cards, set due dates and send reminders without manual work. The limits are clear: calendar, timeline, table, dashboard and map views sit on Premium at $10 per user per month, and Trello has no native time tracking, so teams that need those add a separate tool or move to a fuller tracker.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: Flexible tracking with a free plan

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free Forever plan with unlimited tasks; custom fields and many views

Cons: Feature depth can overwhelm new users; some views slow down with large workspaces

ClickUp gives small teams a lot of function for little money. The Free Forever plan includes unlimited tasks and unlimited members, and Core costs $9 per user per month when billed annually, with Business at $17. Custom fields carry priority, budget and owner, so a task holds the facts a small team needs without a separate sheet. List, board and calendar views let the team switch between a task list and a project schedule without moving data.

Sprint features include points and custom statuses, and docs and whiteboards sit in the same workspace, so meeting notes and project plans stay next to the work. Goals track quarterly targets, and dashboards show progress across projects. The weak point is focus: ClickUp ships so many features that a new team can spend its first week clicking through settings instead of doing the work. Large workspaces with thousands of tasks can also load slowly in some views, so keep the structure simple.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Structured work and milestones

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clear task lists with subtasks and approvals; timeline view for project plans

Cons: Timeline and workload need the Advanced plan at $24.99; no native time tracking

Asana suits small teams that want clean, structured work instead of a deep configuration project. Starter costs $10.99 per user per month when billed annually, and Advanced costs $24.99. The Personal plan is free for up to 10 teammates. Each project becomes a list of tasks with subtasks for the steps, and milestones mark the deadlines and decision points that the team works toward.

Timeline view maps project phases against a launch date, and rules can route a completed task to the reviewer who owns that area. Asana integrates with Slack, Google Drive and GitHub, so tasks can link back to the files and discussions behind them. The limits are clear: Asana has no native time tracking, so teams that bill by the hour add a separate tool, and the timeline and workload views that matter for planning sit on the Advanced plan.

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Visual boards and timelines

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Board views with timeline and calendar; automations for status changes

Cons: Free plan covers only 2 seats; time tracking sits on higher tiers

monday.com starts at $9 per seat per month when billed annually on the Basic plan, with Standard at $12 and Pro at $19. A free plan covers up to 2 seats, and Basic plans carry a 3-seat minimum. The board layout fits small team work well because each project becomes a row, each status column shows the stage, and each date column shows the deadline. Timeline and calendar views show project work against a launch date.

Automations move a task to review when the work is marked done, assign the next task to the person on duty, and send a reminder when a deadline slips. Forms collect requests from clients or colleagues in a standard format, which feeds the backlog without manual entry. The main limits are the small free plan and the fact that time tracking, which many small teams want for client billing, sits on higher tiers rather than Basic.

Website: https://basecamp.com

Best for: Flat pricing for small teams

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Simple projects with chat and docs in one place; flat Pro plan at $299 a month

Cons: No Gantt chart or workload view; per user price rises with every hire

Basecamp keeps project work simple, with message boards, to-do lists, schedules, docs and chat in one place. Plus costs $15 per user per month, and Pro Unlimited costs a flat $299 per month for unlimited users and unlimited projects, billed annually. A free plan covers 1 project with up to 20 users, which suits a very small team that wants to try the tool before it commits.

Each project has its own home with a to-do list, a schedule, a message board and a file store, so the team does not need a separate chat tool or a separate docs tool for the basics. The flat Pro price is the draw for a team near 20 people: $299 a month covers the whole team, while per user tools charge $15 to $20 per head. The limits are reporting and planning: there is no Gantt chart or workload view, and the per user Plus price rises with every hire until the team moves to Pro.

Website: https://www.notion.com

Best for: Docs and projects in one place

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Databases, docs and boards in one workspace; flexible pages for any workflow

Cons: Project features need setup work; no native time tracking or Gantt on Plus

Notion combines docs, databases and project boards in one workspace, which suits a small team that wants fewer tools. Plus costs $10 per member per month when billed annually, or $12 billed monthly, and Business costs $20. The free plan covers unlimited blocks for one member and limited blocks for two or more members. Projects live in databases with views for boards, timelines, calendars and tables, and each task page can hold notes, files and discussion.

Templates for project plans, meeting notes and roadmaps give a small team a starting point without building from scratch. Guests are free on Plus and Business, so clients and contractors can see a project without taking a seat. The limits are setup and depth: project features need configuration work before they feel like a tracker, and there is no native time tracking, so teams that bill by the hour add a separate tool.

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: Client work and time tracking

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Tasks, milestones and time tracking in one place; client facing project views

Cons: Free plan covers up to 5 users; reporting depth needs higher tiers

Teamwork fits small teams that serve clients. Basics costs $9.99 per user per month when billed annually, and Accelerate costs $24.99. A free plan covers up to 5 users. Tasks, milestones, time tracking and workload views sit in one workspace, so a team can run its projects and track the billable hours behind them without a second tool.

Boards show project work by status, and milestones mark the dates that clients see. Client facing views let a customer check progress without seeing internal discussion, which suits agencies and consultancies. Invoicing links time entries to billable work, which cuts the admin at month end. The limits are scale and depth: the free plan ends at 5 users, and the reporting depth that larger teams want sits on higher tiers, so a growing team should check the Accelerate price early.

Website: https://www.zoho.com/projects/

Best for: Lowest cost structured tracking

Starting price: $4 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Structured projects at $4 per user; Gantt charts and time tracking included

Cons: Interface feels dated next to newer tools; fewer third party integrations

Zoho Projects is the lowest cost structured tracker in this guide. Premium costs $4 per user per month when billed annually, and Enterprise costs $9. A free plan is available. Each project carries tasks, milestones, Gantt charts and time tracking, so a small team gets the planning and billing basics without a second tool or a higher tier.

Task lists, kanban boards and Gantt views show the same work in different shapes, and the team can switch between them as the project changes. Timesheets log hours against tasks, and reports show time by project, by person and by client. Zoho Projects connects to Zoho Books, Zoho CRM and Google Drive, which suits teams already inside the Zoho suite. The limits are the interface, which feels dated next to Asana or monday.com, and a smaller set of third party integrations than the bigger tools offer.