Monday.com Cost: What You'll Actually Pay (No Surprises)

Looking up monday.com cost and getting confused by their "bucket pricing" model? You're not alone. Monday.com's pricing structure isn't the most intuitive, and a lot of people get caught off guard when they realize they can't just buy seats for exactly the number of people on their team.

Here's the actual breakdown of what monday.com costs, what you get at each tier, and some gotchas to watch out for before you commit.

Monday.com Pricing Overview

Monday.com offers five pricing tiers, from a free plan up to enterprise. Here's what each costs:

These prices are per seat, per month. But here's the catch: paid plans start at a minimum of 3 seats, and then you can only add users in increments of 5. So if you have 4 people, you're paying for 5. If you have 6 people, you're paying for 10.

The "Bucket Pricing" Problem

Monday.com uses what they call "bucket pricing" - your pricing plans start at a minimum of 3 seats, and then ascend in multiples of 5. If you have a team of 4, you need to choose the 5-seat option. And if you have a team of 6, you'll need to select the 10-seat plan.

This can get expensive fast. Say you have 15 users and want to add 2 more - you'll need to pay for 20 users total. You're essentially paying for 3 seats you don't need.

The bucket pricing model is particularly frustrating for solo entrepreneurs and small teams. Even if you're a one-person operation who needs the paid features, you're forced to pay for a minimum of 3 seats. That's paying for 2 seats you'll never use - which can feel like throwing money away, especially when you're bootstrapping a business.

For teams right at the edge of a bucket (like having exactly 5 or 10 users), adding even one person means jumping to the next pricing tier. A team of 10 paying $120/month on Standard suddenly needs to pay $144/month when they hire their 11th person - that's a $24 monthly increase for a single hire.

Understanding Monday.com's Product Lineup

Before diving deeper into costs, it's important to understand that monday.com now offers multiple separate products, each with its own pricing structure:

Each product is individually priced. If you need multiple products (say, Work Management AND CRM), you'll pay for separate subscriptions. The good news is you can bundle them under one account, but each product must be on the same billing cycle (monthly or annual). The bad news? Your costs can add up quickly if you need functionality from multiple products.

For example, if you wanted both Work Management and CRM on the Pro tier for 5 users, you'd be paying around $95/month for Work Management plus additional costs for CRM - potentially doubling your monthly spend.

What Each Plan Actually Includes

Free Plan ($0)

The free plan is pretty limited. You get up to 2 users with up to 3 Kanban boards, unlimited docs, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and 200+ templates. It's best suited for personal task management and small projects - think freelancers or solopreneurs tracking basic tasks.

The limitations are real though: the maximum user cap is only 2, you're limited to 3 board creations overall, and each board can have only two views (Table and Kanban). No automations, limited activity log, just basic project management features.

The free plan works well if you're testing the platform or managing simple personal projects. But for any real team collaboration, you'll quickly outgrow it. The 3-board limit is especially restrictive - most teams need separate boards for different projects, departments, or workflows.

Basic Plan ($9/seat/month)

The Basic plan is designed for small teams that need to manage all their work in one place. It includes unlimited items, unlimited boards, 5 GB file storage, and prioritized customer support. This plan is ideal for small businesses and startups where team members are working collaboratively.

The key upgrades from free: unlimited free viewers (anyone can gain access to view data within your account), unlimited boards and items, and 10x more storage.

What's missing: no automations, no integrations, limited dashboard capabilities (you can only create a dashboard from one board). This is a significant limitation - automations are one of monday.com's most powerful features, and without them, you're essentially using it as a fancy spreadsheet.

The Basic plan costs a minimum of $27/month (for 3 users) when billed annually, or $36/month when billed monthly. That's a 33% premium for monthly billing - something to keep in mind if you're not ready to commit to a full year.

For annual billing, you're looking at an upfront cost of $324 for a year ($9 × 3 users × 12 months). That's the real cost you need to budget for, not just the monthly rate.

Standard Plan ($12/seat/month)

The Standard plan is monday.com's most popular offering. It includes everything in the Basic plan plus some key features that most teams actually need: Timeline, Gantt, and Calendar views; 250 automation actions per month; 250 integration actions per month; the ability to create a dashboard from up to 5 boards; and guest access for outside users like freelancers.

You also get 20 GB file storage and 6 months of activity log data.

The Standard plan is where monday.com starts to feel like a real project management platform. The Timeline and Gantt views are essential for visualizing project schedules and dependencies. The Calendar view helps teams see upcoming deadlines at a glance.

However, the 250 automation and integration actions per month might sound like a lot, but it can disappear quickly. Every time an automation runs, it counts as one action. If you have 10 automations set up and each triggers 25 times in a month, you've hit your limit. For teams heavily reliant on automations, this can be a bottleneck.

Guest access is particularly valuable here. On the Standard plan, you can invite up to 3 guests for free. After that, guests are billed at a 4:1 ratio - every 4 guests count as 1 paid seat. So if you regularly work with external contractors, clients, or partners, this feature can save you significant money compared to giving everyone full paid seats.

Minimum cost for Standard: $36/month (3 users, annual billing) or $42/month (monthly billing). Annual upfront cost: $432.

Pro Plan ($19/seat/month)

The Pro plan is tailored for larger teams with more complex workflows. It includes private boards (create a board only seen by you and specific people you invite), unique chart views, time tracking, formula columns, and 25,000 automations and integrations per month.

You also get 100 GB of file storage and one year of activity log data. Dashboards can combine up to 20 boards. This plan is ideal for medium to large businesses that need serious automation power.

The jump from 250 to 25,000 automation actions is massive - that's 100x more capacity. For automation-heavy teams, this is often where the Pro plan pays for itself. You can build complex workflows without constantly worrying about hitting limits.

Time tracking is a game-changer for agencies, consultancies, and any team that bills by the hour. You can track time directly within monday.com rather than using a separate tool, which streamlines billing and project tracking.

Formula columns let you perform calculations across your data - think summing budgets, calculating completion percentages, or tracking profitability margins. It's like having spreadsheet functionality built into your project boards.

Private boards are crucial for sensitive information. HR teams can manage employee reviews, finance teams can track confidential budgets, and leadership can plan strategic initiatives without everyone in the organization seeing the details.

The Pro plan also includes unlimited guest access, which is huge for client-facing teams. You can invite as many external collaborators as you need without additional costs.

Minimum cost for Pro: $57/month (3 users, annual billing) or $72/month (monthly billing). Annual upfront cost: $684.

Enterprise Plan (Custom Pricing)

The Enterprise plan is for large organizations that require enterprise-grade features. It includes 250,000 automations and integrations per month, advanced security, multi-level permissions, tailored onboarding, and dashboards that can pull from up to 50 boards.

You'll need to contact sales for a quote on this one.

Enterprise features include enterprise-scale security (SAML SSO, IP restrictions, content directory integration), advanced analytics and reporting, multi-level permissions for granular access control, HIPAA compliance options for healthcare organizations, and dedicated customer success managers.

The Enterprise plan is typically recommended for teams with 40+ users, though you can get it with fewer seats if you need specific enterprise features. Pricing is negotiated based on your team size, required features, and contract length.

One interesting option for very large teams: monday.com offers an off-menu "Monday One" plan with unlimited seats under an Enterprise Licensing Agreement. This typically becomes available once you have 300+ users, though the exact threshold varies.

Real Cost Examples

Let's do some actual math so you know what you're getting into:

5-person team on Basic (annual billing):
$9/user × 5 users × 12 months = $540/year ($45/month)

10-person team on Standard (annual billing):
$12/user × 10 users × 12 months = $1,440/year ($120/month)

10-person team on Pro (annual billing):
$19/user × 10 users × 12 months = $2,280/year ($190/month)

25-person team on Pro (annual billing):
$19/user × 25 users × 12 months = $5,700/year ($475/month)

8-person team on Standard (monthly billing):
But remember bucket pricing - you need to round up to 10 seats
$14/user × 10 users = $140/month ($1,680/year)

7-person team on Basic (annual billing):
Rounded to 10 seats due to bucket pricing
$9/user × 10 users × 12 months = $1,080/year ($90/month)
You're paying for 3 seats you don't use = $324/year wasted

These examples show how quickly costs escalate, especially when bucket pricing forces you to pay for unused seats.

Annual vs Monthly Billing: The Real Math

Monday.com offers an 18% discount when you choose annual billing over monthly. While that sounds appealing, let's look at what this means in real dollars.

For the Basic plan:
Monthly billing: $12/seat/month
Annual billing: $9/seat/month
That's a 25% increase for monthly billing, not 18%

For the Standard plan:
Monthly billing: $14/seat/month
Annual billing: $12/seat/month
About a 17% increase for monthly billing

For the Pro plan:
Monthly billing: $24/seat/month
Annual billing: $19/seat/month
About a 26% increase for monthly billing

For a 10-person team on the Pro plan, choosing annual over monthly saves you $600 per year ($190/month vs $240/month). That's significant.

However, annual billing requires paying upfront for the entire year. For that same 10-person Pro team, you're paying $2,280 upfront versus spreading payments over 12 months at $240 each. Cash flow matters, especially for small businesses and startups.

The break-even calculation: If you're unsure whether you'll stick with monday.com for a full year, monthly billing gives you flexibility to switch tools without losing money on an unused subscription. You should opt for monthly billing if you plan to use the tool for fewer than 9-10 months.

Hidden Costs to Watch For

Beyond the base subscription, there are a few things that can add to your total cost:

AI Credits and Costs

Monday.com now includes AI features, but they operate on a credit system. When you purchase a subscription, you get a one-time trial allotment: 6,000 credits for non-Enterprise plans and 12,000 for Enterprise plans.

Each AI credit costs $0.01 (one cent). Each AI action consumes 8 credits, but if you trigger multiple AI actions on the same item within 24 hours, you're only charged once - 8 credits total.

Once you exhaust your trial credits, you'll need to purchase more. The AI add-on starts at $200 per month (billed annually). That's a substantial additional cost on top of your base subscription.

Some AI features are included free and don't consume credits (like some of the AI assistant features), but many of the powerful automation-related AI tools do require credits.

For teams planning to use AI features heavily, budget an extra $200-$400/month depending on usage.

Monthly vs Annual Billing Premium

As covered above, monthly billing costs 16-33% more expensive than annual. For the Basic plan, monthly billing costs $12/seat vs. $9/seat annually - that's $108 more per user per year.

For a 10-person team on Basic, that's an extra $1,080 annually just for the flexibility of monthly billing.

Automation and Integration Overages

If you exceed your automation limits (250 on Standard, 25,000 on Pro), monday.com will either enforce limits (stopping automations from running) or encourage you to upgrade to the next tier.

Some users report that overages are deducted from the following month's allocation, which can create a cascading problem where you're constantly running out of actions. The solution is typically upgrading to the Pro plan, which significantly increases your monthly costs.

Multiple Products

Monday.com now offers separate products - monday work management, monday CRM, monday dev, and monday service. Each product is individually priced, so using multiple products means paying for multiple subscriptions.

You can bundle products together (they must share the same billing cycle), but the costs stack. For a 5-person team wanting both Work Management and CRM on the Pro tier, you could be looking at $95/month for Work Management plus approximately $140/month for CRM (CRM pricing is slightly different) - totaling $235/month for both products.

This is one of the biggest hidden costs. Many teams start with Work Management, then realize they need CRM functionality, only to discover they need to pay for an entirely separate product.

Storage Overages

File storage limits are 5 GB (Basic), 20 GB (Standard), and 100 GB (Pro). If you exceed these limits, you'll need to either upgrade your plan or manage storage externally.

For teams that work with large files - like design agencies, video production companies, or architecture firms - the storage limits can be hit quickly, forcing an upgrade to Pro even if you don't need the other Pro features.

Minimum Seat Requirements

The 3-seat minimum for paid plans means solo operators and 2-person teams are paying for seats they don't need. A solo consultant on the Standard plan pays $36/month but only uses 1 of the 3 seats - that's $24/month in wasted costs.

Over a year, that's $288 spent on seats that sit empty.

Monday.com Pricing for Multiple Products

Let's break down what it costs to use multiple monday.com products together:

Work Management + CRM for 10 users (Standard tier):
Work Management: $120/month
CRM: approximately $170/month (CRM Standard is $17/seat)
Total: $290/month or $3,480/year

Work Management + Dev + CRM for 15 users (Pro tier):
Work Management: $285/month ($19 × 15)
Dev: approximately $420/month (Dev Pro is typically $28/seat)
CRM: approximately $420/month (CRM Pro is $28/seat)
Total: $1,125/month or $13,500/year

These multi-product costs can shock teams who assume they're getting everything with one subscription. Always clarify which product(s) you need before committing.

Guest Pricing: A Hidden Money-Saver

Understanding how guest pricing works can save you significant money, especially if you collaborate with external partners, freelancers, or clients.

On the Basic plan: No guest access available

On the Standard plan: Every 4 guests count as 1 billed seat. You can invite up to 3 guests for free. When you add a 4th guest, that group of 4 counts as 1 seat. You can then invite 3 more guests before another seat is used.

On the Pro and Enterprise plans: Unlimited guests at no extra charge

For client-facing teams (agencies, consultancies, professional services), unlimited guest access on the Pro plan can justify the higher cost. If you would otherwise need to pay for 5-10 external collaborators as full seats, the Pro plan's unlimited guests saves substantial money.

Example: An agency with 8 internal team members and 15 active clients:
Standard plan: 10 seats (rounded up from 8) + 4 guest seats (15 guests ÷ 4) = 14 total seats × $12 = $168/month
Pro plan: 10 seats with unlimited guests = 10 seats × $19 = $190/month

In this scenario, Pro only costs $22/month more but gives you unlimited guest access, plus all the other Pro features like time tracking and advanced automations.

Is Monday.com Worth the Cost?

Based on user reviews, monday.com has a value-for-money rating of 4.3/5, which is solid. Users generally praise its capabilities, flexibility, and visual interface. The pricing is competitive but not the cheapest in the market.

The free plan works if you're a solo freelancer, but it's too limited for most real teams. Most businesses will end up on Standard or Pro, which runs $12-$19/seat/month.

If you're comparing options, monday.com is generally considered to have average pricing in the project management software market - not the cheapest, but you're paying for a polished product with good customization options.

Monday.com delivers the best value when you can fully utilize its automation capabilities and integrations. Teams that build custom workflows and automate repetitive tasks see significant time savings that justify the cost. However, teams that use it primarily as a task list might find cheaper alternatives more appropriate.

The platform excels for creative teams, marketing departments, agencies, and cross-functional teams that need visual project tracking and customizable workflows. It's less ideal for teams with very simple project management needs or those looking for the absolute cheapest option.

Comparing Monday.com to Competitors

How does monday.com pricing stack up against alternatives?

vs ClickUp: ClickUp starts at $7/user/month (annual billing), making it about 22% cheaper than monday.com's Basic plan. ClickUp also doesn't enforce minimum seat counts, so solo users can get started at just $7/month. However, monday.com generally gets higher marks for user interface and ease of use.

vs Asana: Asana's Premium plan costs $10.99/user/month (annual billing), positioning it between monday.com's Basic and Standard tiers. Asana offers more generous free plan limits (up to 15 users) and includes more features at lower tiers. But monday.com provides more visual customization and flexibility.

vs Trello: Trello is significantly cheaper at $5/user/month (annual), making it one of the most affordable options. However, Trello is much simpler and lacks many of monday.com's advanced features like Gantt charts, time tracking, and complex automations.

vs Wrike: Wrike's pricing is comparable to monday.com, starting around $9.80/user/month. Wrike offers more built-in reporting and is often preferred by enterprises, while monday.com is considered more user-friendly for small to mid-sized teams.

vs Notion: Notion combines project management with knowledge management at $10/user/month (annual). It's cheaper than monday.com's Standard plan but takes a fundamentally different approach - more documentation-focused versus monday.com's visual board-based approach.

How to Choose the Right Monday.com Plan

Here's a decision framework to help you select the appropriate tier:

Choose Free if: You're a solo user managing personal projects, you're just testing the platform, you only need basic task tracking with no team collaboration, and you can work within the 3-board limit.

Choose Basic if: You have a small team (3-5 people) with simple collaboration needs, you don't need automations or integrations, unlimited boards and docs are sufficient for your needs, and you're price-conscious and need the cheapest paid option.

Choose Standard if: You're a growing team (5-20 people), you need visual project tracking (Timeline, Gantt, Calendar views), you want basic automations and integrations (250 actions/month is enough), you occasionally work with external collaborators (guest access), and you need dashboards combining multiple boards for reporting.

Choose Pro if: You're a medium to large team (10+ people), you're automation-heavy and need 25,000 actions/month, you need time tracking for billing or resource management, you work with many external collaborators and need unlimited guest access, you handle sensitive data requiring private boards, and you use formula columns for calculations and metrics.

Choose Enterprise if: You're a large organization (typically 40+ users), you need enterprise-grade security (SSO, IP restrictions, audit logs), you require advanced compliance (HIPAA, etc.), you want dedicated customer success support and tailored onboarding, you need advanced analytics and dashboards combining 50+ boards, and you want multi-level permissions for complex organizational structures.

Tips for Reducing Monday.com Costs

If you're committed to monday.com but want to optimize costs, consider these strategies:

1. Right-size your user count: Audit who actually needs a paid seat versus who can be a guest or viewer. Viewers (on Basic and above) can access boards in read-only mode without consuming a paid seat.

2. Leverage guest access smartly: On Pro and Enterprise, unlimited guests mean you should never pay for external collaborators. On Standard, remember the 4:1 guest ratio and plan accordingly.

3. Start with annual billing if committed: The 18% discount is substantial. For a 10-person team on Pro, that's $600/year in savings.

4. Monitor automation usage: On Standard, the 250-action limit can be hit quickly. Audit your automations monthly to ensure you're not wasting actions on low-value tasks. Optimize before upgrading to Pro unnecessarily.

5. Choose the right product: Don't pay for multiple products if one will suffice. Many teams find monday Work Management can handle CRM needs with custom boards, avoiding the need for monday CRM's separate subscription.

6. Negotiate enterprise pricing: For teams over 40 users, always negotiate. Enterprise pricing is flexible, and you can often secure better rates, additional services, or extended payment terms.

7. Use the 14-day Pro trial wisely: Monday.com offers a 14-day free trial of the Pro plan. Use this to test advanced features before committing. If you find you don't need Pro features, downgrade to Standard before the trial ends.

8. Check for nonprofit/education discounts: Nonprofits and educational institutions can apply for discounted pricing directly through monday.com's website. These discounts can be substantial.

Common Pricing Complaints from Users

Based on user feedback from forums and review sites, here are the most common complaints about monday.com pricing:

1. Bucket pricing frustration: "I have 4 people and have to pay for 5" is the most common complaint. Users feel penalized for team sizes that don't align with the 3-seat minimum and 5-seat increments.

2. Expensive for solo users: Solo entrepreneurs and freelancers dislike paying for 3 seats when they only need 1. At $36/month minimum (Standard, monthly billing), it's expensive for a single user.

3. Feature gatekeeping: Many users feel essential features (automations, integrations, Timeline view) should be available on the Basic plan. Having to jump to Standard ($12/seat) just to get automations feels steep.

4. Multiple product pricing: Users who adopted monday.com for Work Management express frustration at having to pay separately for CRM or Dev functionality. The expectation was one platform, one price.

5. AI credit costs: The AI add-on at $200/month minimum feels expensive, especially since AI credits are consumed quickly. Users want more generous included credits or lower add-on pricing.

6. Automation limits on Standard: The 250 automation actions per month on Standard is viewed as too restrictive. Users report hitting this limit within days of setting up workflows, forcing an upgrade to Pro.

7. Lack of monthly-to-annual migration credit: Users who start on monthly billing and later switch to annual don't receive credit for overpayment. You're stuck with the monthly premium until your billing cycle ends.

Total Cost of Ownership Considerations

When evaluating monday.com's true cost, consider these additional factors beyond the sticker price:

Implementation time: While monday.com is relatively easy to set up, larger teams should budget time for configuration, board setup, and workflow design. For complex implementations, this could be 40-80 hours of internal resources.

Training costs: Team training is essential for adoption. While monday.com offers free resources, you may want to budget for dedicated training sessions or hire a consultant ($100-$200/hour typically).

Migration costs: Moving data from your existing tools (spreadsheets, Trello, Asana) takes time. Plan for data cleanup, restructuring, and verification.

Integration maintenance: Third-party integrations sometimes break or need reconfiguration when external tools update. Budget time for ongoing maintenance.

Opportunity cost: If monday.com doesn't fit your needs perfectly, the time spent working around limitations or the productivity lost from awkward workflows is a real cost.

Tool consolidation savings: On the flip side, if monday.com replaces 2-3 other tools, the consolidation can save money. Calculate the total cost of tools you can eliminate.

For a comprehensive view, estimate: Annual subscription + AI add-on (if needed) + implementation time + ongoing training + integrations/add-ons - tools you can eliminate = Total Cost of Ownership

When Monday.com Is Too Expensive

Monday.com might not be cost-effective if:

In these cases, consider cheaper alternatives like Trello ($5/user/month), ClickUp ($7/user/month), or Notion ($10/user/month).

When Monday.com Is Worth the Investment

Monday.com delivers strong ROI when:

Teams typically report 30-40% time savings from automations and 50% reduction in manual status updates, which can quickly justify the cost.

Monday.com vs. Alternatives

Before you commit, it's worth checking out some monday.com alternatives to compare pricing and features. You can also read our full monday.com review for a deeper look at the platform's strengths and weaknesses.

For a direct comparison of similar tools, check out our breakdown of monday.com vs Asana - two of the most popular project management platforms on the market.

Also see: Best Project Management Software | Free Project Management Software

Frequently Asked Questions About Monday.com Pricing

Can I pay monthly instead of annually?
Yes, all plans offer monthly billing options, but you'll pay 16-33% more compared to annual billing. For example, Standard costs $12/seat/month annually or $14/seat/month for monthly billing.

What happens if I exceed my automation limit?
On the Standard plan (250 actions/month), exceeding your limit will pause new automations until the next billing cycle. Monday.com encourages upgrading to Pro (25,000 actions/month) for heavy automation users.

Can I get a discount for nonprofits or education?
Yes, monday.com offers discounted pricing for qualified nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. Apply directly through their website with proof of nonprofit status or educational affiliation.

Do I get a refund if I cancel?
If you've paid annually and cancel within the first 30 days, you're entitled to a prorated refund. After 30 days, there are no refunds for downgrades or cancellations.

Can I mix plan types for different users?
No, all users on a single product must be on the same plan tier. You can't have some users on Standard and others on Pro within the same product. However, if you use multiple products (Work Management + CRM), each product can be on a different tier.

What's included in the 14-day free trial?
The free trial gives you access to the Pro plan features for 14 days. You can test advanced features like time tracking, 25,000 automations, and private boards before deciding which plan to purchase.

How do I purchase more AI credits?
When you reach your AI credit limit, you'll receive an email with a link to purchase more. The AI add-on starts at $200/month. You can also access purchasing through Admin > Usage Stats > AI in your account.

Can I downgrade from Pro to Standard?
Yes, you can downgrade at any time, but changes take effect at your next billing cycle. You won't receive a refund for the remaining time on Pro. Note that downgrading means losing access to Pro features like time tracking and high automation limits.

Bottom Line

Monday.com cost ranges from free to enterprise pricing, with most teams landing in the $9-$19/seat/month range. The bucket pricing model can inflate your costs if your team size doesn't align with their seat tiers, so do the math before you commit.

For most small teams (under 10 people), the Standard plan at $12/seat/month hits the sweet spot - you get the automations and integrations that make the platform actually useful without paying for enterprise features you don't need.

Medium to large teams (10-50 people) with heavy automation needs should strongly consider Pro at $19/seat/month. The jump from 250 to 25,000 automation actions is substantial and eliminates a major bottleneck.

Be aware of hidden costs: AI credits ($200/month add-on), the premium for monthly billing (16-33% more), bucket pricing waste (paying for unused seats), and multiple product subscriptions if you need more than Work Management.

The platform delivers strong value for teams that can fully utilize its automation, customization, and visual tracking capabilities. However, it may be overkill (and overpriced) for very small teams or those with simple project management needs.

Calculate your true total cost including the subscription tier, required number of seats (rounded up to the nearest bucket), AI add-on if needed, and any additional products before making a decision.

If you're ready to give it a shot, monday.com offers a 14-day free Pro trial so you can test the advanced features before deciding which plan makes sense for your team.

Try Monday.com Free →