Best-Reviewed Project Management Software Compared

Website: https://asana.com/

Best for: Cross-functional teams running campaigns and launches

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

Free plan: Yes (Personal plan, up to 2 users)

Pros: Timeline, board, and list views in one workspace; Portfolios and goals connect daily work to larger aims

Cons: Native time tracking and workload need the Advanced plan; Free Personal plan supports only two users

Asana organizes work as tasks inside projects, and one task can live in several projects at once, which suits teams that share work across departments. List, board, timeline, and calendar views cover most ways a team likes to see its work. Portfolios and goals give managers a way to check progress across many projects from one place.

Reviewers praise Asana for its clear structure and wide range of views, and they often criticise the way useful features sit on higher plans. Starter costs $10.99 per user each month on annual billing, while Advanced costs $24.99 and adds portfolios, workload, goals, and native time tracking. Seats are sold in bands, so price the tier you will end up on.

Website: https://monday.com/

Best for: Visual teams that manage work on boards

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

Free plan: Yes (Free plan, up to 2 users)

Pros: Boards adapt to many workflows with columns and views; Unlimited free viewers on the Basic plan

Cons: Basic plan includes no automation actions; Subscription plans start with a three-seat minimum

monday.com builds work around boards, where each item is a row and each column holds a status, a date, a person, or a number. Teams can switch between table, Kanban, timeline, and calendar views, and dashboards pull figures from several boards into one screen.

Reviewers praise the colour and clarity of the boards and the ease of shaping them to fit a process. The common criticism is that Basic, at $9 per user each month on annual billing, leaves out automation, guest access, and timeline views, so many teams move to Standard at $12. The free plan covers two users and three boards, and subscription plans start at three seats.

Website: https://clickup.com/

Best for: Small teams that want tasks, docs, and goals in one place

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

Free plan: Yes (Free Forever plan)

Pros: Free Forever plan covers unlimited members; Core includes goals, Gantt charts, and 1,000 automation actions a month

Cons: The range of features can feel crowded for new users; Legacy Unlimited pricing no longer applies to new workspaces

ClickUp packs tasks, docs, whiteboards, goals, and time tracking into one workspace, so a small team can run most of its work in one place. Views include list, board, calendar, timeline, and Gantt, and custom fields let a team track the details that matter to it. Core costs $9 per user each month on annual billing and adds unlimited storage, goals, and 1,000 automation actions a month.

Reviewers praise the breadth of the free plan and the low entry price, and they often criticise the learning curve that comes with so many features in one place. Business costs $17 per user each month on annual billing. New workspaces use the Core, Business, and Max plan family.

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

Best for: Teams that plan in spreadsheets and need Gantt charts

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

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Familiar grid layout with Gantt, board, and calendar views; Only Members take a subscription seat, while Contributors join free

Cons: Pro plan stops at 10 Members and 250 automation runs a month; No free plan for new signups, only a 30-day trial

Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet and acts like a project tool, which makes it a natural fit for teams that already plan in rows and columns. Sheets support dependencies, formulas, forms, and reports, with Gantt charts, card views, and dashboards on top of the same data. Pro costs $9 per user each month on annual billing and covers 1 to 10 Members, with unlimited sheets and 20 GB of storage.

Reviewers praise the familiar grid and the way it handles large plans with many linked rows. The common criticism is the ceiling on Pro: past 10 Members or 250 automation runs a month, a team must move to Business at $19 per user each month on annual billing. There is no free plan for new signups, only a 30-day trial, though Contributors can view and comment without a subscription seat.

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

Best for: Mid-size teams that need Gantt charts and dashboards

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Shareable dashboards and interactive Gantt charts on Team; Free plan covers unlimited users

Cons: Team plan caps at 15 users; Business and higher plans are annual subscriptions only

Wrike gives each project table, board, Gantt, and calendar views, plus dashboards a manager can share with the wider team. Team costs $10 per user each month on annual billing and covers 2 to 15 users, with custom fields, workflows, and 50 automation actions per seat each month. Request forms and approvals arrive on Business at $25.

Reviewers praise Wrike for its Gantt charts and reporting, and they often criticise the seat bands, since seats are sold in groups of five up to 30 seats. A team of six therefore pays for ten seats on Team. The free plan covers unlimited users with 2 GB of storage, though it lacks Gantt charts and dashboards.

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

Best for: Agencies and consultancies that bill clients for time

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

Free plan: Yes (Free plan, up to 5 users)

Pros: Billable time tracking and budgets sit beside tasks; Free plan covers up to five users and five projects

Cons: Timesheets and workload planning need the Accelerate plan; Basics plan caps at 300 projects

Teamwork is built for teams that deliver projects for clients, so budgets, billable time, and retainers sit next to the tasks. Projects carry time budgets and cost rates, and the workload view shows who has room for more. Basics costs $9.99 per user each month on annual billing, with a three-seat minimum, and covers 300 projects, 100 GB of storage, and 5,000 automation actions.

Reviewers praise Teamwork for tying time and money to each project, and they often criticise the way key agency features sit on higher plans. Timesheets, workload capacity, and critical path need Accelerate at $24.99 per user each month on annual billing, with a five-seat minimum. The free plan covers up to five users and five projects.

Website: https://www.notion.com/

Best for: Teams that combine docs, wikis, and task tracking

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flexible pages and databases adapt to many workflows; Plus adds unlimited file uploads and 30-day page history

Cons: Full AI features sit on the Business plan, not Plus; Page history on the free plan is limited

Notion starts as a docs and wiki tool and grows into project tracking through databases, where each row can be a task with a status, an owner, and a due date. Teams can build a roadmap, a meeting notes hub, and a task board from the same pages, and guests can join without taking a subscription seat. Plus costs $10 per user each month on annual billing and adds unlimited blocks, unlimited file uploads, and 30 days of page history.

Reviewers praise the flexibility and low cost of shaping Notion to fit an odd workflow. The common criticism is that it is not a project tool first: native reporting, workload views, and time tracking are thin compared with Asana or Wrike, and full AI features need Business at $20 per user each month on annual billing. Teams that want structure out of the box may find the blank page slows them down.

Website: https://www.airtable.com/

Best for: Teams that track structured data and build custom views

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Grid, calendar, Kanban, and Gantt views over the same data; Free plan covers small bases

Cons: Team plan bills collaborators with Commenter access or higher; Record and attachment limits rise only with a plan jump to Business

Airtable works like a database with a friendly face: each base holds tables, each table holds records, and each record can link to records in other tables. Teams can view the same data as a grid, a calendar, a Kanban board, or a Gantt chart. Team costs $20 per user each month on annual billing and covers 50,000 records per base, 20 GB of attachments per base, and 25,000 automation runs a month.

Reviewers praise Airtable for structured work such as content calendars, asset lists, and pipelines. The common criticism is the seat rule: Team bills collaborators with Commenter access or higher, so people who only comment still take a seat. Business costs $45 per user each month on annual billing and raises the limits to 125,000 records per base, a steep jump for a team that needs a little more room.

Website: https://basecamp.com/

Best for: Small teams that want one simple shared space

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

Free plan: Yes (Free plan, one project)

Pros: One flat interface with to-dos, messages, schedules, and files; Clients and contractors join projects at no extra charge

Cons: Time tracking needs a separate Timesheet add-on; No native Gantt chart or workload view

Basecamp keeps every project in the same simple shape: to-dos, a message board, a schedule, files, and group chat, with nothing to configure before work starts. Plus costs $15 per user each month on monthly billing and covers unlimited projects with 500 GB of file storage. Only employees take a seat, so clients and contractors join at no extra charge.

Reviewers praise Basecamp for its calm, plain design and the way a new team member can find everything without training. The common criticism is the lack of depth: no native Gantt chart, no workload view, and no time tracking without the Timesheet add-on, which costs extra. Pro Unlimited costs $299 a month on annual billing for unlimited users, and it becomes cheaper than Plus once a team passes 20 people.

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

Best for: Small businesses already using Zoho apps

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Low entry price with Gantt charts and time tracking on Premium; Free plan covers small teams

Cons: Premium supports up to 50 users; Advanced automation and custom roles need Enterprise

Zoho Projects covers the core of project work at the lowest entry price in this list: tasks, milestones, Gantt charts, time tracking, and custom fields all sit on Premium. Premium costs $4 per user each month on annual billing, or $5 on monthly billing, and supports up to 50 users with unlimited projects and 100 GB of storage. It also connects with the wider Zoho suite.

Reviewers praise the value for money and the breadth of features at the entry price, and they often criticise the dated feel of some screens and the way advanced features sit behind Enterprise. Enterprise costs $9 per user each month on annual billing and adds workflow automation, custom roles, and global Gantt charts. The free plan covers up to three users and two projects.