Monday.com Review: Everything You Need to Know Before Buying

Monday.com is one of the most popular project management platforms on the market, used by over 245,000 companies worldwide. But is it right for your team? I've spent time digging through the features, pricing, and real user feedback to give you a straight answer.

Here's the quick verdict: Monday.com is a solid, visually appealing project management tool that excels at customization and collaboration. It's not the cheapest option out there, and the free plan is pretty limited. But for teams that need flexible workflows and don't mind paying for premium features, it's a strong contender.

Try monday.com free for 14 days →

What Is Monday.com?

Monday.com is a cloud-based work management platform that helps teams plan, track, and manage projects. Think of it as a supercharged spreadsheet with colorful visual boards, automations, and integrations with hundreds of other apps.

The platform now offers four standalone products:

Each product is priced separately, which is worth noting if you're planning to use multiple modules.

Company Background & History

Monday.com was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2012 by Roy Mann, Eran Kampf, and Eran Zinman. Originally called Dapulse, it started as an internal tool at Wix.com to solve communication challenges as the company scaled rapidly. Recognizing the tool's broader potential, they spun it off as a separate startup with Wix as their first customer.

The platform launched commercially in 2014 and quickly gained traction with its user-friendly interface. In 2017, the company rebranded from Dapulse to monday.com-partly because executives found the old name unprofessional, and partly to symbolize their mission to make Mondays more productive.

The company achieved unicorn status in July 2019 after raising $150 million at a $1.9 billion valuation. In June 2021, monday.com went public on Nasdaq under the ticker MNDY. As of the latest reports, the company serves over 245,000 customers, employs approximately 2,500 people, and generates over $1 billion in annual revenue.

Monday.com Pricing Breakdown

Monday.com uses a tiered pricing structure that can get confusing. Here's what you need to know:

Free Plan

The free plan is fine for personal use or very small projects, but it won't cut it for a real team.

Basic Plan - $9/seat/month (billed annually)

One catch: Automations and integrations are NOT included in the Basic plan. If you need those features (and most teams do), you'll need to step up.

Standard Plan - $12/seat/month (billed annually)

This is monday.com's most popular plan, and for good reason:

Pro Plan - $19/seat/month (billed annually)

This is where the serious features unlock:

Enterprise Plan - Custom Pricing

Important Pricing Details

Monday.com uses "bucket pricing" - seats are sold in groups (3, then increments of 5). So if you have 4 people, you're paying for 5 seats. Have 6 people? You're paying for 10. This can add up fast as your team grows.

Monthly billing costs about 18-26% more than annual billing, depending on the plan. For a team of 5 on the Basic plan billed annually, you're looking at $540/year.

Want the full pricing breakdown? Check out our detailed monday.com pricing guide.

What Monday.com Does Well

Visual, Intuitive Interface

The color-coded boards, progress bars, and clean design make monday.com genuinely pleasant to use. Most users can get started without much training. The drag-and-drop functionality works smoothly, and updating tasks feels natural.

Customization Options

You can build workflows tailored to almost anything - marketing campaigns, construction projects, HR onboarding, you name it. The 200+ templates give you a solid starting point, and you can customize columns, views, and automations to fit your exact needs.

Automations (When Available)

Once you're on the Standard plan or above, automations are a game-changer. Set up rules like "when status changes to Done, notify the project manager" or "when a deadline passes, move item to Overdue board." No coding required.

Integrations

Monday.com connects with over 200 apps including Slack, Gmail, Google Drive, Zoom, GitHub, and Mailchimp. Plus Zapier integration opens up thousands more. This makes it easy to centralize your work without constantly switching between tools.

Customer Support

24/7 support is available across all paid plans. Users generally report fast response times and helpful assistance. Enterprise customers get a dedicated success manager.

Multiple View Options

One of monday.com's standout features is its flexibility in visualizing work. Beyond the standard table view, you get Kanban boards, Gantt charts, calendars, timelines, maps, workload views, and chart views. This makes it easy to switch perspectives based on what you need to see - whether that's upcoming deadlines, team capacity, or project dependencies.

AI Features & Capabilities

Monday.com has invested heavily in AI capabilities, rolling out several features that genuinely add value:

Monday AI Assistant

The platform includes an intelligent AI assistant that can summarize updates, generate content, suggest automations, and extract information from text. It's context-aware, understanding your boards and workflows to provide relevant suggestions.

AI Blocks

These are modular AI actions you can add to workflows without technical expertise. Examples include sentiment detection (analyzing whether text is positive, negative, or neutral), automatic text translation, information extraction from documents, and text summarization. Every account gets 500 free AI credits monthly, with additional credits available for purchase.

Monday Magic

This feature transforms a simple prompt into a complete, customized work solution. Instead of manually building boards and workflows, you describe what you need, and AI creates the structure, columns, automations, and even onboarding materials.

Monday Vibe

A no-code app builder powered by AI that lets you create custom applications using plain English. It's connected to monday's data infrastructure, making apps secure and enterprise-ready without writing code.

AI Agents

Monday.com recently introduced AI agents - specialized digital workers that can handle tasks end-to-end. The first agents focus on sales development work, engaging leads, enriching data, qualifying prospects, and capturing interactions directly in the CRM. More agents for different business functions are planned.

These AI capabilities represent a shift from work management to work execution - the platform doesn't just organize work, it increasingly does the work for you.

Where Monday.com Falls Short

Limited Free Plan

Two users and three boards isn't enough for any real team. The free plan works for personal task management or testing the platform, but that's about it. If you're looking for free project management, check out our free project management software guide.

Essential Features Locked Behind Higher Tiers

Time tracking requires the Pro plan ($19/seat). Automations start at Standard. Private boards? Pro only. Single sign-on (a basic security feature) requires Enterprise. This frustrates many users who feel they're paying for features they don't need just to access one specific capability.

Bucket Pricing Gets Expensive

The seat-increment structure means you often pay for more seats than you actually use. A team of 11 pays the same as a team of 15. As one reviewer put it: "the cost can quickly add up as team sizes grow."

Mobile App Limitations

The mobile app works, but multiple users report it lacks depth compared to the web version. Some features are missing, dashboards display differently, and occasional sync issues pop up.

Learning Curve for Complex Setups

While basic task management is easy, building sophisticated workflows with automations and connected boards takes time. Power users report a learning curve, especially for teams managing complex processes.

Performance Issues with Large Boards

Users with large boards and lots of data sometimes report slow load times and lagging. If you're managing enterprise-scale data, this could become a workflow bottleneck.

AI Features Cost Extra

While monday.com includes 500 free AI credits monthly, heavy AI usage requires purchasing additional credits. This can add unexpected costs if you rely heavily on AI-powered features.

Who Should Use Monday.com?

Good fit for:

Not ideal for:

Monday.com vs. Alternatives

How does monday.com stack up against competitors?

vs. Asana: Monday.com offers more visual customization and better automations. Asana has stronger task dependency features. Both are similarly priced. See our monday.com vs Asana comparison.

vs. ClickUp: ClickUp offers more features at lower price points (their comparable plan is $12/user). Some users find ClickUp's interface cleaner, but monday.com has better customer support and a more intuitive onboarding experience.

vs. Notion: Notion offers more flexibility for building completely custom workspaces. Monday.com provides more structure and is easier to get started with. Notion is better for documentation-heavy teams.

vs. Trello: Trello is simpler and cheaper but lacks monday.com's advanced features like automations, multiple views, and sophisticated reporting. Monday.com is better for teams that have outgrown basic Kanban boards.

For a broader view, check our best project management software guide or monday.com alternatives.

Getting Started with Monday.com

Monday.com offers a 14-day free trial of the Pro plan, giving you access to most features without committing. Here's how to make the most of it:

  1. Start with templates - Don't build from scratch. Pick a template close to your use case and customize from there.
  2. Test automations early - This is where monday.com shines. Set up a few automations during your trial to see the time savings.
  3. Add your team - You can't evaluate collaboration features solo. Get at least 2-3 team members in during the trial.
  4. Try different views - Kanban, Timeline, Calendar, Gantt - experiment to find what works for your workflow.
  5. Explore AI features - Use your trial credits to test AI capabilities like text summarization or sentiment detection to see if they add value.

Want step-by-step guidance? Read our how to use monday.com tutorial.

Real-World Performance & Customer Base

Monday.com serves an impressive customer base spanning over 200 industries. Notable clients include Coca-Cola, Adobe, and Canva. The platform reports a net dollar retention rate of 112%, meaning existing customers are expanding their usage over time.

The company has over 2,900 customers generating more than $50,000 in annual recurring revenue, with 1,080 customers exceeding $100,000 ARR. This suggests strong enterprise adoption alongside SMB usage.

User reviews consistently praise the visual interface and ease of use, with the platform maintaining high ratings on G2 and Capterra. The biggest complaints typically center on pricing structure and feature gating rather than core functionality.

Security & Compliance

For enterprise teams, security matters. Monday.com offers robust security features including:

The platform stores data in multiple regions and provides regular security audits. AI features follow the same security protocols, and monday.com doesn't use customer data to train AI models.

The Bottom Line

Monday.com is a polished, capable project management platform that most teams can get real value from. The visual interface is one of the best in the industry, customization options are extensive, and the automation features (once you're on the right plan) genuinely save time.

The addition of AI capabilities positions monday.com as a forward-thinking platform that's evolving beyond simple project management into work execution. Features like AI agents and monday magic showcase genuine innovation rather than AI gimmicks.

The main downsides are cost-related: the bucket pricing structure, essential features locked behind higher tiers, and a free plan that's too limited for real use. If budget is your primary concern, you might find better value elsewhere.

But if you want a visually intuitive platform that can grow with your team, integrate with your existing tools, and increasingly handle work automatically through AI, monday.com is worth the investment. The company's growth trajectory, customer retention rates, and continued innovation suggest it's a safe bet for the long term.

Start your free 14-day trial of monday.com →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many users does monday.com have?

Monday.com serves over 245,000 customers worldwide across more than 200 industries, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

Can I use monday.com offline?

No, monday.com requires an internet connection to function. It's a cloud-based platform with no offline mode, though mobile apps do cache some data for brief viewing.

Does monday.com offer discounts?

Yes, monday.com offers discounts for nonprofits and educational institutions. Annual billing also saves 18-26% compared to monthly billing. Reach out to their sales team for volume discounts on larger teams.

How secure is monday.com?

Very secure. Monday.com maintains SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance. They use encryption at rest and in transit, offer 2FA, and provide enterprise-grade security features.

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