Project Management Software Reviews: Which Tool Actually Works For Your Team?
You're here because you're drowning in spreadsheets, losing track of deadlines, or your current PM tool is garbage. Fair enough. The project management software market is flooded with options, and every vendor claims they're the best. I've spent years testing these tools, and I'll give you the straight talk on what's actually worth your money.
Here's my honest take on the major players—what they do well, where they fall short, and who should actually use them.
monday.com: The Visual Powerhouse (With Some Catches)
Monday.com has become one of the most recognizable names in project management, and for good reason. The interface is genuinely beautiful, and the learning curve is minimal compared to competitors.
Pricing Breakdown
- Free: Up to 2 users, 3 boards, limited features
- Basic: $9/seat/month (billed annually) - unlimited boards, 5GB storage
- Standard: $12/seat/month - Timeline, Calendar views, 250 automations/month
- Pro: $19/seat/month - private boards, time tracking, 25,000 automations/month
- Enterprise: Contact sales
The catch: Monday.com uses "bucket pricing" where you can only add users in increments. Their minimum is 3 seats, then you jump to 5, 10, etc. If you have 6 people, you're paying for 10 seats. This can get expensive fast.
What's Good
- Legitimately easy to use—non-technical team members can pick it up quickly
- Over 200 templates for different industries
- Excellent visual dashboards and reporting
- Strong integration ecosystem
What Sucks
- The free plan is almost useless for teams (only 2 users, 3 boards)
- Automations are limited on lower tiers—250/month on Standard runs out fast
- Bucket pricing means you often pay for seats you don't use
- Gets pricey for larger teams quickly
Best for: Marketing teams, agencies, and visual thinkers who want something polished without a steep learning curve.
For a deeper dive, check out our full monday.com review and detailed pricing breakdown.
Asana: The Process-Driven Workhorse
Asana is what you get when project management meets process obsession. It's structured, methodical, and works well for teams that need clear workflows.
Pricing Breakdown
- Personal (Free): Up to 10 teammates, basic task management
- Starter: $10.99/user/month (billed annually) - Timeline, Gantt views, workflow builder, 250 automations
- Advanced: $24.99/user/month - portfolios, workload management, goals, time tracking
- Enterprise: Contact sales - advanced security, SAML SSO
What's Good
- Free plan supports up to 10 teammates—way better than monday.com's 2-user limit
- Excellent workflow automation builder
- Portfolio views for managing multiple projects
- Strong integration library across all plans
What Sucks
- Timeline and Gantt views locked behind paid plans
- Time tracking only available on Advanced ($24.99/user)—that's steep
- Can feel rigid compared to more flexible tools like ClickUp
- Interface isn't as visually intuitive as monday.com
Best for: Teams with established processes, companies managing multiple projects across departments, and organizations that need goal tracking tied to daily work.
Compare options: monday.com vs Asana
ClickUp: The Feature-Packed Contender
ClickUp tries to replace all your apps in one platform. They've thrown everything at the wall—docs, whiteboards, chat, time tracking, goals—and surprisingly, most of it sticks.
Pricing Breakdown
- Free Forever: Unlimited tasks, unlimited users (!), 100MB storage
- Unlimited: $7/user/month (billed annually) - unlimited storage, Gantt charts, goals
- Business: $12/user/month - advanced automations, time tracking, workload management
- Enterprise: Contact sales - white labeling, advanced permissions, SSO
AI add-on: $7-9/user/month extra for ClickUp Brain features
What's Good
- Free plan is genuinely generous—unlimited users and tasks
- Incredible feature depth at the $7/month tier
- Native time tracking, docs, whiteboards included
- Highly customizable views and workflows
What Sucks
- Can feel overwhelming—there's so much here
- Performance issues reported with large workspaces
- The learning curve is real—expect onboarding time
- Some features have caps even on paid plans (whiteboards, dashboards)
Best for: Teams who want maximum features for minimum price, technical teams, and anyone willing to invest time learning the platform.
Trello: Simple Kanban Done Right
Trello pioneered the Kanban-style project management board that everyone else copied. It's simple, visual, and works exactly as expected.
Pricing Breakdown
- Free: Up to 10 boards, 10 collaborators, limited automation (250 commands/month)
- Standard: $5/user/month - unlimited boards, custom fields, 1,000 automations
- Premium: $10/user/month - dashboard, timeline, calendar views, unlimited automations
- Enterprise: Starting at $17.50/user/month (minimum 50 users)
What's Good
- Dead simple to use—zero learning curve
- Standard plan at $5/user is legitimately cheap
- Power-Ups add functionality without bloat
- Perfect for small teams with straightforward needs
What Sucks
- Free plan now limited to 10 collaborators (used to be unlimited)
- Advanced views only on Premium ($10/user)
- No native time tracking—need Power-Ups
- Power-Ups can add hidden costs
- Limited for complex project management needs
Best for: Small teams, simple projects, anyone who just needs a visual task board without bells and whistles.
Wrike: Enterprise-Grade Complexity
Wrike is the tool you bring in when projects get serious. It's built for complex workflows, resource management, and teams that need detailed tracking.
Pricing Breakdown
- Free: Up to 5 users, basic features
- Team: $9.80/user/month - Gantt charts, shared dashboards
- Business: $24.80/user/month - custom workflows, time tracking, resource management
- Enterprise: Contact sales
What's Good
- Robust Gantt charts and timeline views
- Strong resource management and workload balancing
- Custom workflows for complex processes
- Excellent reporting and analytics
What Sucks
- Steep learning curve
- Pricing jumps significantly between tiers
- Overkill for small teams
- No built-in team chat—need integrations
Best for: Large teams, enterprise organizations, agencies handling complex client projects.
Basecamp: The Anti-Feature App
Basecamp takes the opposite approach—it's intentionally simple. Think of it as a communication hub with task management attached, not the other way around.
Pricing Breakdown
- Basecamp: $15/user/month (or $99/month flat for unlimited users on legacy pricing)
- Basecamp Pro Unlimited: $349/month flat fee for unlimited users
What's Good
- Flat pricing can be extremely cost-effective for larger teams
- Clean, distraction-free interface
- Excellent for client collaboration
- Built-in message boards, file sharing, schedules
What Sucks
- No Gantt charts or advanced project views
- No time tracking
- Limited task management (to-do lists only)
- No resource management
- If you need actual project management features, you'll need to supplement with other tools
Best for: Teams that prioritize communication over complex project tracking, client-facing work, agencies that need simple client portals.
Quick Comparison Table
| Tool | Starting Price | Free Plan Users | Time Tracking | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| monday.com | $9/seat/mo | 2 users | Pro plan only | Visual teams, marketing |
| Asana | $10.99/user/mo | 10 teammates | Advanced only | Process-driven teams |
| ClickUp | $7/user/mo | Unlimited | Business plan | Feature-hungry teams |
| Trello | $5/user/mo | 10 collaborators | Power-Ups needed | Simple Kanban needs |
| Wrike | $9.80/user/mo | 5 users | Business plan | Enterprise, complex projects |
| Basecamp | $15/user/mo | No free plan | No | Communication-first teams |
My Recommendations
For small teams on a budget: Start with ClickUp's free plan or Trello Standard ($5/user). Both give you enough to get real work done without breaking the bank.
For mid-size teams that need polish: monday.com Standard or Asana Starter. Both are approachable enough that your team will actually use them.
For enterprise and complex workflows: Wrike or Asana Advanced. The extra cost gets you resource management and reporting that actually matters at scale.
For maximum features per dollar: ClickUp Unlimited at $7/user/month is hard to beat. Just budget time for the learning curve.
For keeping it simple: Trello Premium or Basecamp. Not every team needs a complex system—sometimes a good Kanban board or message board is enough.
What About Free Options?
If you're starting out and need something free, check out our guide to free project management software. ClickUp's free tier is the most generous, but Asana and Trello both have usable free plans for small teams.
Bottom Line
There's no "best" project management software—only what's best for your specific team. A 5-person marketing team has completely different needs than a 50-person development shop. Take advantage of free trials, get your team to actually test the tools (not just you), and don't overbuy features you won't use.
The worst project management tool is the one your team won't use. Pick something they'll actually adopt, even if it's not the most feature-rich option on the market.
For more detailed comparisons, check out our guides to best project management software and project management software comparison.