monday.com is a popular project management tool that has been gaining traction in recent years. Its appealing user interface has made it a go-to solution for businesses of all sizes - but common complaints include cluttered layouts, poor time tracking for client billing, and pricing that scales quickly as teams grow.
However, its complex platform and complicated pricing structure suggest it might not be the best bet for client services firms. Specifically, monday.com lacks robust time tracking (no billable vs non-billable distinction), budget management (basic expense tracking only), and resource utilization reporting (can't see percentage of capacity used) - features essential for agencies managing profitability.
In this list, we'll give you a run down of the best monday.com alternatives for managing client work. As a Content Marketing Manager at Teamwork.com, I've spent the past year testing how these alternatives handle real agency workflows - from client project coordination to resource planning to profitability tracking - so I know what works when you need more than monday.com's visual boards can provide.
Choose Teamwork.com ($10.99-$54.99/user/month) if you manage client work and need time tracking, resource management, and profitability reporting - best for agencies.
Pick Asana ($10.99-$24.99/user/month) for clean task management without monday.com's visual clutter.
Use ClickUp ($5-$19/user/month) for extreme customization if you don't mind 5-10 hours setup time.
Choose Wrike ($9.80-$24.80/user/month) for enterprise-grade features with advanced tracking.
Pick nTask ($3-$8/user/month) for basic project management at lowest cost.
Use Trello ($5-$10/user/month) for simple visual boards without complexity.
Choose Freedcamp (free or $7.49/user/month) for nonprofits needing free CRM and invoicing.
Pick ProofHub ($89/month flat rate) for unlimited users managing multiple projects.
Use Jira ($7.75-$15.25/user/month) if you're a development team needing agile workflows.
Choose Basecamp ($15/user/month or $299/month unlimited) for simple to-do lists and all-in-one collaboration.
Decision rule: client services = Teamwork.com; task focus = Asana; visual simplicity = Trello; budget-conscious = nTask or Freedcamp; developers = Jira. Test with 2-3 real client projects in a 14-day trial before committing.
Why look for monday.com alternatives?
monday.com is a powerful visual platform, but teams report four main pain points that drive them to alternatives. First, cluttered interface - monday.com's boards become visually overwhelming with 20+ columns or 50+ tasks, making it hard to focus on priorities. Second, weak time tracking - monday.com's time tracking is basic (start/stop timer only) with no billable vs non-billable distinction, budget comparison, or utilization reporting essential for client services. Third, poor mobile experience - the mobile app doesn't mirror desktop functionality well, making it harder to update complex boards or view detailed timelines on the go. Fourth, no task dependencies on lower tiers - dependencies are only available on Pro plan ($16/user/month), forcing teams to manually manage task sequences on cheaper plans.
These limitations make monday.com frustrating for agencies managing client work (need robust time tracking and budgets), teams wanting simplicity (visual clutter creates cognitive overload), or mobile-first teams (weak mobile app limits flexibility). If you're spending more time managing monday.com's complexity than managing projects, it's time to consider alternatives optimized for your specific use case.
Top 10 monday.com alternatives
I tested 10 monday.com alternatives over 30 days each, focusing on four criteria: client work features (time tracking for billing, budget management, resource utilization), interface clarity (can you focus on priorities without visual clutter?), mobile experience (does the app work well on phones?), and value (features per dollar spent). Each tool was evaluated with real client projects - campaign coordination, content production, stakeholder collaboration - not just feature demos.
1. Teamwork.com - Best for agencies and client work
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Teamwork.com is project and resource management software built for client work, with time tracking, budget management, utilization reporting, and client collaboration features. It's best for agencies and marketing teams (5-50+ people) managing multiple clients who need to track profitability, prevent burnout, and prove ROI. Pricing starts at $10.99/user/month for Deliver (projects, tasks, Gantt charts, time tracking), scaling to $19.99/user/month for Grow (budgets, invoicing, profitability reports) and $54.99/user/month for Scale (resource management, utilization reports, advanced automations). Unlike monday.com's visual focus, Teamwork prioritizes client services workflows with features monday.com lacks - billable vs non-billable time tracking, budget alerts, utilization reporting, and unlimited free client access.
Founded in 2007, Teamwork.com is trusted by more than 20,000 companies (including over 6,000 client services firms) to better track and manage projects from start to finish. As one of the only project management platforms designed specifically for agencies and client work, this intuitive software provides everything you need to manage the full lifecycle of client work in one place - from initial brief through delivery, billing, and retrospective.
Key features
Advanced client work features: Advanced client work features such as subtasks (unlimited depth), task dependencies (automatic rescheduling when predecessors change), unlimited free client users (don't pay per seat for external collaborators), and uncapped integration actions (no monthly limits like monday.com's automation caps) - providing more options, more freedom, and more opportunities to empower your team. These features are essential for agencies but missing or limited in monday.com.
Robust reporting and analytics: Powerful reporting and analytics tools allow you to gain deep insights into your business' performance, team productivity, and financial metrics. Track team utilization (percentage of capacity used - e.g., 85% means 34 hours scheduled of 40 available), project profitability (actual cost vs revenue), budget health (spend vs planned), and project status (on track, at risk, overdue) in real-time dashboards. monday.com's reporting is more limited - basic task completion and timeline views without financial depth.
100+ integrations without limits: Unlimited integration actions with over 100 integrations to choose from compared to monday.com's 40 so you can focus on streamlining your workflows and getting work done. Connect Teamwork to Slack, Gmail, HubSpot, QuickBooks, Xero, and more without hitting monthly automation limits (monday.com caps automations at 250-25,000 actions/month depending on plan).
Key insight: Teamwork trades monday.com's visual flexibility for client services depth
Teamwork is more opinionated than monday.com - it assumes you're doing client work and structures features accordingly (time tracking for billing, budgets for profitability, resource management for capacity planning). This focus means less visual customization (you can't create as many custom column types as monday.com) but deeper client services features. Trade-off: monday.com's infinite visual customization vs Teamwork's optimized client services workflows. Action: Choose Teamwork if you bill by the hour, manage multiple clients, or need to prove profitability. Choose monday.com if you prioritize visual board customization over financial features. Test both with 2-3 real client projects in a 14-day trial, focusing on time tracking and budget management - if those features save 5+ hours weekly, Teamwork justifies the investment.
Pricing
Free Forever: $0 (up to 5 users) - includes 2 projects, basic tasks, 100 MB storage
Deliver: $10.99/user/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited projects, tasks, Gantt charts, time tracking, 100 GB storage
Grow: $19.99/user/month (billed annually) - adds budgets, invoicing, profitability reports, advanced permissions, 250 GB storage
Scale: $54.99/user/month (billed annually) - includes resource management, utilization reports, workload planner, advanced automations, 500 GB storage
Enterprise: Custom pricing - adds dedicated support, custom onboarding, enterprise security, unlimited storage
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit Teamwork.com pricing for the latest details and to start a free 30-day trial (no credit card required).
2. Asana – Best for task management
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Asana is a work management platform with tasks, projects, timelines, and portfolios for clean task tracking without visual clutter. It's best for marketing teams (5-30 people) that prioritize task management and collaboration over visual customization. Pricing starts free (unlimited tasks, 15 team members max), then $10.99/user/month for Premium (timeline view, workflow builder, advanced search), scaling to $24.99/user/month for Business (portfolios, goals, workload management).
Asana is another popular name in the project management field. It offers powerful productivity tools that help teams stay on top of tasks and projects. It's perfect for small teams that need plenty of customization and flexibility, and has more advanced features and tools than monday.com - specifically better mobile app, cleaner interface (less visual clutter), and stronger portfolio management for tracking multiple projects simultaneously.
Key features
Collaboration features: Task comments (threaded discussions on specific tasks), proofing (review and approve files with annotations - available via integrations), and project messaging (team conversations organized by project) for better collaboration and communication. Communication stays contextual instead of scattered across email or separate chat tools.
Customizable reporting: Reports with customizable goals (set and track OKRs or KPIs), milestones (mark key deadlines), and status updates (project-level announcements) keep stakeholders informed. Build custom dashboards showing task completion rates, upcoming deadlines, and project health across portfolios. Available on Business plan ($24.99/user/month).
Integration ecosystem: Multiple integrations with tools like Dropbox (file storage), Slack (notifications), Zoom (start meetings from tasks), and Salesforce (sync deals to projects) extend Asana's functionality. Over 200 integrations available, though fewer than Teamwork's 100+ with unlimited actions.
Pricing
Basic: Free - includes unlimited tasks, projects, messages, 15 team members max, 100 MB file storage
Premium: $10.99/user/month (billed annually) - adds timeline view, advanced search, workflow builder, unlimited free guests
Business: $24.99/user/month (billed annually) - includes portfolios, goals, workload management, advanced integrations, 100 GB storage per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing - adds advanced security, data export, admin controls, priority support
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit Asana pricing for the latest details.
3. ClickUp - Best for large teams
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ClickUp is a productivity platform with tasks, docs, wikis, goals, and dashboards for highly customizable project management. It's best for large teams (10-50+ people) or power users wanting extreme flexibility and don't mind 5-10 hours setup time. Pricing starts free (unlimited tasks, unlimited members, 100 MB storage), then $5/user/month for Unlimited (unlimited storage, unlimited integrations, Gantt charts), scaling to $12/user/month for Business (Google SSO, timesheets, workload management) and $19/user/month for Business Plus (advanced automations, custom permissions).
ClickUp is a monday.com alternative designed for large teams needing many different integrations and features to manage their project management needs. It has advanced customizations and a detailed onboarding process that you don't get in many other project management tools - though this complexity can be overwhelming for teams wanting simple, out-of-box usability.
ClickUp is a solid monday.com alternative that has more features without a high price tag. Its free version is great for teams that don't need a ton of customization options - though ironically, ClickUp's strength (customization) becomes a weakness if you don't use it, as the interface remains complex even on simple workflows.
Key features
Guided onboarding: Advanced onboarding with step-by-step instructions and tools walks new users through ClickUp's hierarchy (Spaces → Folders → Lists → Tasks → Subtasks), view options (list, board, calendar, Gantt, timeline, workload, table, mind map), and core features. However, expect 1-2 weeks before team members feel comfortable navigating ClickUp's complexity.
Highly customizable tasks: Customizable tasks with automation (if/then logic, status triggers, scheduled actions) and custom fields (text, number, dropdown, date, person, formula, relationship) let you tailor ClickUp to any workflow. Create custom statuses beyond standard To Do/Done, add fields for client, campaign, priority, budget, or any data point you track. This flexibility surpasses monday.com's column types.
Relationship and documentation features: Relationship management with links (connect related tasks), documentation (ClickUp Docs with nested pages and embeds), and integrations (1,000+ apps including Slack, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce) keeps everything connected. Link tasks to docs, docs to tasks, and tasks to other tasks for full context.
Pricing
Free - includes unlimited tasks, unlimited members, 100 MB storage, Kanban boards, calendar view
Unlimited: $5/user/month (billed annually) - adds unlimited storage, unlimited integrations, Gantt charts, goals, custom fields
Business: $12/user/month (billed annually) - includes Google SSO, timesheets, workload management, mind maps, custom permissions
Business Plus: $19/user/month (billed annually) - adds team sharing, advanced automations, custom roles
Enterprise: Custom pricing - adds white labeling, enterprise API, dedicated success manager
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit ClickUp pricing for current details.
4. Wrike – Best for advanced project tracking
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Wrike is an enterprise work management platform with projects, tasks, proofing, and reporting for complex workflows. It's best for large marketing teams (20-100+ people) or enterprises needing advanced permissions, custom workflows, and robust reporting. Pricing starts free (unlimited users, 2 GB storage), then $9.80/user/month for Team (Gantt charts, dashboards, integrations, 5 GB storage), scaling to $24.80/user/month for Business (custom fields, advanced integrations, 50 GB storage, time tracking).
Wrike is another popular name in the project management tools category. It's great for teams of all sizes, and helps you manage your projects in multiple ways depending on your preferred management style - offering similar visual flexibility to monday.com but with more enterprise-grade features and better performance in large workspaces.
With Wrike, you can create task lists, action items, and subtasks, assign those tasks to different team members, and update progress. Additionally, you'll be able to add notes so that new users understand the details of every line item - providing context that prevents "what does this task mean?" confusion.
Key features
Template library: Prebuilt templates to get up and running quickly including marketing campaign templates, creative requests, editorial calendars, and project plans. Templates include pre-configured tasks, workflows, and custom fields - customize to match your process. This speeds up project setup compared to building from scratch in monday.com.
AI-powered task creation: AI technology to automatically add tasks from bulk notes or meeting transcripts. Paste unstructured text (e.g., meeting notes with action items), and Wrike's AI extracts tasks, assignees, and due dates automatically. This feature saves 10-15 minutes per meeting compared to manually creating tasks.
Task editing and updates: Straightforward editing and updating features for tasks so they are always accurate including inline editing (click to edit task names, dates, assignees without opening modal), bulk updates (change status or assignee for 10+ tasks at once), and real-time sync (changes appear immediately for all team members). Editing is faster and cleaner than monday.com's modal-heavy interface.
Pricing
Free - includes unlimited users, 2 GB storage, board and table views, basic task management
Team: $9.80/user/month (billed annually, 2 users minimum) - adds Gantt charts, shareable dashboards, integrations, 5 GB storage, subtasks, dependencies
Business: $24.80/user/month (billed annually, 2 users minimum) - includes custom fields, advanced integrations, reports, request forms, approvals, 50 GB storage, time tracking
Enterprise: Custom pricing - adds advanced security, admin controls, custom access roles, 100 GB storage
Pinnacle: Custom pricing - adds work intelligence, performance analytics, workload management, 200 GB storage
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit Wrike pricing for current details.
5. nTask – Best for small teams
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nTask is a task management platform with Kanban boards, Gantt charts, time tracking, and meeting management for basic project coordination. It's best for small marketing teams (3-15 people) on tight budgets needing simple project management at the lowest price point. Pricing starts free (5 workspaces, 100 MB storage), then $3/user/month for Premium (unlimited workspaces, 5 GB storage, time tracking), scaling to $8/user/month for Business (10 GB storage, risk management, issue tracking).
nTask is another monday.com alternative that provides the same level of project management capabilities while adding some other interesting features at a fraction of monday.com's cost ($3-$8/user/month vs monday.com's $9-$16/user/month). With nTask, you can create habits that you can track and follow each day to ensure better work management and task completion - a unique feature not found in monday.com or most competitors.
nTask uses a similar easy-to-use interface as monday.com (visual boards, drag-and-drop), making it a good option for novices and easy for teams to switch over and hit the ground running. However, nTask lacks some of monday.com's advanced features (complex automations, extensive integrations, advanced reporting) - the trade-off for its lower price.
Key features
Recurring tasks and habits: Recurring tasks that automatically reset each day, week, or month help you track habits and routine work. Set tasks to repeat on custom schedules (e.g., daily standup, weekly report, monthly review), and nTask creates new instances automatically. The habits feature (unique to nTask) lets you track personal productivity goals alongside project work.
Progress tracking: Tracking tools for progress through each week and month show task completion rates, time spent, and milestone achievement. View progress by project, team member, or time period to identify trends and bottlenecks. These reports are simpler than monday.com's but sufficient for small teams.
Issue management: Issue management software to prioritize tasks and updates helps you track bugs, blockers, and problems separately from regular tasks. Categorize issues by severity (low, medium, high, critical), assign owners, and track resolution time. This feature is more robust than monday.com's basic task tracking.
Pricing
Free - includes 5 workspaces, 100 MB storage, basic task management, unlimited users
Premium: $3/user/month (billed annually) - adds unlimited workspaces, 5 GB storage, time tracking, Gantt charts, custom fields
Business: $8/user/month (billed annually) - includes 10 GB storage, risk management, issue tracking, meeting management, project templates
Enterprise: Custom pricing - adds dedicated support, advanced security, custom integrations
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit nTask pricing for current details.
6. Trello – Best for visual and ease-to-use project management
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Trello is a visual project management tool using boards, lists, and cards for simple task tracking. It's best for small marketing teams (1-10 people) wanting visual simplicity without monday.com's complexity or ClickUp's overwhelming features. Pricing starts at $5/user/month for Standard (unlimited boards, advanced checklists), scaling to $10/user/month for Premium (unlimited Power-Ups, Calendar view, dashboard view).
If you're looking for a visual project management tool, Trello is another great monday.com alternative to consider. This platform is designed with basic agency project management in mind, offering a simple interface and straightforward controls. Trello strips away monday.com's complexity and focuses on one thing: visual task boards that anyone can understand in under 5 minutes.
This tool allows you to organize your tasks on a digital bulletin board (boards with lists and cards), which can be colored and customized to your needs. It is designed to help you deliver projects quickly and streamline your workflow - though it lacks monday.com's advanced features like automations (limited on free plan), time tracking (requires Power-Up), and resource management (not available).
Key features
Template library: Pre-built templates for common workflows (content calendar, campaign tracker, sprint planning, team onboarding) help you get started fast. Pick a template, customize lists and cards to match your workflow, and invite your team. Templates get you 80% there without building from scratch.
Butler automation: Automation features for almost every action using Butler (Trello's automation engine). Create rules (when card moves to Done, send notification), buttons (click to assign all cards in list to person), and scheduled commands (every Monday, create new card for weekly report). Available on Standard plan and higher - free plan has limited automation.
Power-Ups for extensions: "Power-Up" plugins and integrations with other software like Jira (link cards to issues), InVision (attach design prototypes), and Slack (notifications) extend Trello's functionality. Free plan allows 1 Power-Up per board; paid plans allow unlimited. Over 200 Power-Ups available in the marketplace.
Pricing
Free - includes unlimited cards, 10 boards per workspace, 1 Power-Up per board, 10 MB file attachments
Standard: $5/user/month (billed annually) - adds unlimited boards, advanced checklists, custom fields, 250 MB file attachments
Premium: $10/user/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited Power-Ups, Calendar view, dashboard view, admin controls
Enterprise: $17.50/user/month (billed annually, 50 users minimum) - adds organization-wide permissions, unlimited workspaces, attachment permissions
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit Trello pricing for current details.
7. Freedcamp - Best for nonprofits
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Freedcamp is a cloud-based project management platform with tasks, CRM, invoicing, and wikis for managing projects affordably. It's best for nonprofits, startups, or small teams (5-20 people) needing full features at minimal cost. Pricing is free (unlimited users, unlimited projects, 200 MB storage) with paid add-ons ($1.49-$7.49/user/month per feature) or Business plan ($7.49/user/month for all features unlocked).
Freedcamp is a cloud-based project management tool that helps you collaborate better in the workspace and juggle multiple projects at the same time. With the power of cloud computing, Freedcamp helps you improve your project management by simplifying collaboration between internal and external teams. The key differentiator: Freedcamp's generous free plan includes features that cost extra in monday.com (CRM, invoicing, time tracking) - making it attractive for budget-conscious teams.
Key features
Free core features: Free tools like invoices (create and send invoices to clients), CRM (manage contacts and deals), calendars (schedule view of tasks and events), and files (unlimited storage on free plan) provide functionality that costs extra in most tools. This makes Freedcamp uniquely valuable for nonprofits or bootstrapped startups.
Cloud-based collaboration: Advanced cloud computing for quicker collaboration with real-time updates, file syncing, and multi-user access from any device. All data lives in the cloud (no local installations required), making it accessible for remote teams across time zones.
Simple interface: Simple interface, perfect for new project managers or non-technical teams. Freedcamp's layout is cleaner and less cluttered than monday.com's, with straightforward navigation and minimal learning curve (most users are productive within 1-2 hours).
Pricing
Free - includes unlimited users, unlimited projects, 200 MB storage, tasks, CRM, invoicing, calendars, wikis (with ads)
Minimalist: $1.49/user/month (billed annually) - removes ads
Business: $7.49/user/month (billed annually) - unlocks all features including subtasks, Gantt charts, time tracking, custom fields, advanced permissions, priority support, unlimited storage
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Freedcamp also offers à la carte add-ons ($1.49-$2.49/user/month per feature) if you only need specific features. Visit Freedcamp pricing for current details.
8. ProofHub – Best for multiple projects
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ProofHub is a team collaboration and project management platform with tasks, proofing, chat, and files for managing multiple projects. It's best for marketing teams (10-50 people) managing 5+ projects simultaneously who want flat-rate pricing instead of per-user costs. Pricing is $89/month for Essential (unlimited users, 40 projects, 100 GB storage) or $150/month for Ultimate Control (unlimited everything) - making it cost-effective for larger teams compared to monday.com's per-user pricing.
ProofHub is a team collaboration and project management tool that helps you stay on track with multiple projects, unlike monday.com which can become cluttered with many active projects. With ProofHub, you can manage all your projects and files in a single location, while also tracking who has been assigned to tasks and what still needs to be done for projects - all under one flat monthly fee regardless of team size.
They also have many integrations to make project management easier on-the-go, though fewer than monday.com's 200+ integrations.
Key features
Custom fields for flexibility: Custom fields for any document, task, or project let you track data specific to your workflow (client, campaign, priority, budget, status). Add dropdown fields, text fields, number fields, or date fields to capture information that matters to your team. This customization rivals monday.com's column types.
Advanced search: Advanced search and discovery features to find documents, tasks, or files across all projects using keywords, filters (by assignee, date, status, custom field), or tags. Search is more robust than monday.com's basic search, making it easier to find information in large workspaces with 20+ active projects.
Built-in calendar: Built-in calendar tool for tracking deadlines shows all tasks and milestones across projects in one calendar view. Filter by project, team member, or date range to see what's coming up. Sync with external calendars (Google Calendar, Outlook) via iCal feeds.
Pricing
Essential: $89/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited users, 40 projects, 100 GB storage, all core features
Ultimate Control: $150/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited users, unlimited projects, unlimited storage, white labeling, custom roles, priority support
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. ProofHub's flat-rate pricing becomes cost-effective at 10+ users ($89 flat vs $90-$160 on per-user tools). Visit ProofHub pricing for current details.
9. Jira – Best for agile project management
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Jira is an issue tracking and agile project management platform built for software development teams using Scrum or Kanban. It's best for development teams (5-100+ people) managing sprints, bugs, and releases - not marketing teams needing general project management. Pricing starts free (up to 10 users, 2 GB storage), then $7.75/user/month for Standard (250 GB storage, user roles, audit logs), scaling to $15.25/user/month for Premium (unlimited storage, advanced roadmaps).
Another great monday.com alternative is Jira - though it's important to note that Jira is optimized for software development workflows, not general project management or client services. It is highly customizable, making it a great choice for teams that have complicated project workflows and detailed task lists - specifically development teams managing agile sprints, bug tracking, and release planning.
Jira helps you assign tasks (called "issues" in Jira), track the progress of projects (via sprint boards and burndown charts), and create detailed workflows (define stages, transitions, and validators) while letting you track team milestones and set up advanced user permissions at the same time. However, marketing teams may find Jira overly technical compared to monday.com's more general-purpose approach.
Key features
Agile boards and methodologies: Project layouts and dashboards for Lean, Scrum, and Kanban methodologies help development teams manage work. Scrum boards support sprint planning, backlog grooming, and velocity tracking. Kanban boards visualize work in progress with WIP limits. These agile-specific features surpass monday.com's general task boards but are less relevant for non-development teams.
Visual roadmaps: Visual roadmaps for improved timelines and organization show epics, releases, and dependencies across quarters. Plan feature releases, communicate progress to stakeholders, and align development work with business goals. Roadmaps are more development-focused than monday.com's timeline views.
Automation rules: Drag-and-drop automation to improve task management with visual rule builder. Create automations triggered by issue events (status change, assignee change, comment added) with actions (send notification, transition issue, update field). Jira's automation is powerful for development workflows but more complex than monday.com's visual automation builder.
Pricing
Free - up to 10 users, 2 GB storage, community support, basic features
Standard: $7.75/user/month (billed annually) - adds 250 GB storage, user roles and permissions, audit logs, 24/7 support
Premium: $15.25/user/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited storage, advanced roadmaps, sandbox environments, IP allowlisting
Enterprise: Custom pricing - adds unlimited instances, centralized administration, enterprise security, 99.9% uptime SLA
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. Visit Jira pricing for current details.
10. Basecamp – Best for to-do lists
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Basecamp is an all-in-one project management platform with message boards, to-dos, schedules, docs, and file storage for simple collaboration. It's best for small teams (5-20 people) wanting consolidated project management without monday.com's visual complexity. Pricing is $15/user/month for Basecamp (unlimited projects, 500 GB storage) or $299/month for Basecamp Pro Unlimited (unlimited users, unlimited storage) - the flat-rate plan makes it attractive for larger teams.
Basecamp is a monday.com alternative that helps you improve your project management processes while using automation to take the heavy lifting off your plate. Unlike monday.com's highly visual, customizable boards, Basecamp takes an opinionated approach: simple to-do lists, message boards, and file storage without endless customization options.
It lets you track and organize your projects and to-do lists while you upload files, communicate with your teams and clients (via Campfire chat and message boards), and make detailed notes on each task to improve success. Basecamp's simplicity means faster adoption (most teams are productive within 1 day) but less flexibility than monday.com's customizable columns and views.
Key features
To-do lists for task tracking: To-do lists for tracking tasks, deadlines, responsibilities, and project progress provide simple task management. Create to-do lists by workflow stage or team member, assign tasks, set due dates, and check off completed items. To-dos are simpler than monday.com's tasks (no custom fields, statuses, or complex dependencies) but sufficient for most teams - and much easier to understand.
Unlimited file storage (Pro plan): Built-in storage for documents and images with 500 GB on standard Basecamp plan or unlimited storage on Pro Unlimited ($299/month). Upload files, organize in folders, preview documents without downloading, and see file activity. This generous storage beats monday.com's tiered storage (5-100 GB depending on plan).
Campfire for project chat: "Campfire" chat for individual projects keeps conversations organized by context. Each project has its own Campfire (group chat), keeping project discussions contained and findable. Unlike monday.com's updates (which mix all projects), Campfire ensures you're only seeing relevant conversations.
Pricing
Basecamp: $15/user/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited projects, 500 GB storage, all features
Basecamp Pro Unlimited: $299/month (billed annually) - includes unlimited users, unlimited projects, unlimited storage, priority support, 1:1 onboarding
Pricing accurate as of December 2025. The Pro Unlimited plan becomes cost-effective at 20+ users ($299 flat vs $300+ on per-user pricing). Visit Basecamp pricing for current details.
How to choose the right monday.com alternative
Choosing the right monday.com alternative depends on why you're leaving monday.com and what you need instead. If you're leaving because of visual clutter and complexity, choose simpler tools like Trello (visual boards), Basecamp (to-do lists), or Asana (clean task management). If you're leaving because monday.com lacks client services features, choose Teamwork (time tracking for billing, budget management, resource utilization, client collaboration). If you're leaving because of cost, choose budget-friendly options like nTask ($3-$8/user/month), Freedcamp (free or $7.49/user/month), or ProofHub ($89-$150/month flat rate for unlimited users). If you're leaving because of poor mobile experience, choose tools with stronger mobile apps like Asana, Teamwork, or Trello.
Decision criteria:
What's our primary pain point with monday.com? Visual clutter = choose simpler tools; missing client features = choose Teamwork; cost = choose budget options; mobile issues = choose tools with better apps.
Are we doing client services work? If yes, choose Teamwork (only tool with robust time tracking, budgets, and resource management for agencies). If no, Asana or ClickUp suffice.
What's our team size? Under 10 = Trello or Basecamp; 10-30 = Teamwork or Asana; 30+ = Wrike or Teamwork Scale.
Do we need visual customization? If yes, stick with monday.com or try ClickUp. If no, choose opinionated tools with better out-of-box usability.
Start with a 14-30 day trial (all tools offer free trials or free plans), migrate 2-3 real projects (not dummy data), and test with your actual workflows before committing. Measure interface clarity (can you see priorities without visual clutter?), adoption rate (percentage of team using daily after 30 days), and time saved (hours saved weekly vs monday.com). If the alternative doesn't achieve 80%+ adoption or save 3+ hours weekly within 30 days, it's not the right fit - try another option or reassess whether monday.com's visual approach is actually your core problem.
Key insight: monday.com's visual boards create cognitive overload at scale
monday.com's strength (highly visual, colorful boards) becomes a weakness when managing 10+ projects or boards with 20+ columns. The visual density creates cognitive overload - too much color, too many columns, too much information competing for attention. Teams report spending 5-10 minutes per session just orienting themselves to what needs attention. The fix: choose tools with cleaner interfaces (Asana's list view, Basecamp's to-do lists, Teamwork's focused dashboards) that prioritize information hierarchy over visual customization. Trade-off: monday.com's visual flexibility vs simpler tools' cognitive ease. Action: Audit your monday.com boards - if you have 15+ columns or use fewer than 50% of columns regularly, you're over-complicating your workflow. Simpler tools will improve focus and reduce decision fatigue.
Make your team and clients happier with Teamwork.com
While many teams rely on monday.com to handle their project management needs, its limited reporting capabilities (no utilization reports, basic budget tracking), expensive investment (pricing scales quickly with per-user costs and automation limits), and steep learning curve (cluttered interface, complex customization) make it not ideal for agencies and teams delivering client work. Specifically, monday.com lacks time tracking for billing (basic timer only, no billable vs non-billable), budget management for profitability (can track expenses but not compare to revenue), and resource utilization for capacity planning (can't see percentage of team capacity used).
Teamwork.com is more than just a powerful project management app. It also offers complete operations control, so you can maximize capacity and utilization (see who's at 85% vs 120% capacity), scale your business (forecast resource needs 3-6 months out), and delight clients (transparent collaboration, accurate billing, on-time delivery), all in one easy-to-use platform. Unlike monday.com (which excels at visual task tracking but lacks client services depth), Teamwork provides the full stack agencies need - projects, resources, time, budgets, and profitability in one place.
Start your free 30-day trial (no credit card required) or book a demo to see how Teamwork can replace monday.com and simplify your client work operations.
Monday.com alternatives - Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best Monday alternatives for project management?
There are several alternatives to monday.com for project management, including Teamwork.com, Asana, Trello, ClickUp, and Wrike. Teamwork.com stands out for its focus on team collaboration, client management, and project tracking, making it a strong choice for teams that work closely with clients or need advanced collaboration features - specifically time tracking for billing, budget management for profitability, and resource utilization for capacity planning (features monday.com lacks or provides only in basic form). Other platforms like Asana and Trello offer task management and customizable workflows, helping teams streamline their processes and find the right fit for their unique needs. Choose based on your primary use case: client services = Teamwork.com; task management = Asana; visual simplicity = Trello; extreme customization = ClickUp; enterprise features = Wrike.
How does Teamwork.com compare to Monday as a project management tool?
Teamwork.com and monday.com are strong project management tools, but Teamwork.com offers better customization on automations (unlimited actions vs monday.com's 250-25,000 monthly cap), workflow (optimized for client services), and reporting (utilization, profitability, budget health vs monday.com's basic task completion), helping teams collaborate and manage tasks efficiently. It offers features like time tracking (billable vs non-billable with custom rates), billing (invoicing from tracked time), and resource management (see percentage of capacity used, forecast future needs), making it great for agencies. While monday.com focuses on visual task management with highly customizable boards, Teamwork.com excels in resource scheduling and capacity management with utilization reports, workload planning, and capacity forecasting - features monday.com doesn't provide. Read here our detailed feature-by-feature comparison of Teamwork.com vs. monday.com
Are there free alternatives to Monday for small teams?
Yes, there are several free project management tools that serve as alternatives to monday.com. Tools like Trello (free plan with unlimited cards, 10 boards per workspace), Notion (free for individuals with unlimited pages), and Freedcamp (free with unlimited users and projects) offer free plans with essential features like task tracking and collaboration, making them great options for small teams or startups with limited budgets. Teamwork.com also offers a Free Forever plan (up to 5 users, 2 projects) and Asana offers a Basic free plan (up to 15 team members).
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