Top Project Management Software: What's Actually Worth Your Money
You're here because you need to pick a project management tool and you're tired of every review saying "it depends." Fair enough. Let me cut through the noise and tell you what's actually good, what sucks, and which tool fits your specific situation.
I've tested these tools extensively, and I'll give you the real numbers—not the marketing spin. If you want a deeper dive on any specific tool, check out our best project management software guide or our project management tools comparison.
Quick Verdict: Which Tool Should You Pick?
Here's the TL;DR based on your situation:
- Best overall for most teams: Monday.com – easiest to use, great features, reasonable pricing
- Best value for money: ClickUp – most features at the lowest price
- Best for larger organizations: Asana – robust portfolio management and goal tracking
- Best for spreadsheet lovers: Smartsheet – familiar interface, solid automation
- Best free option: ClickUp or Wrike – both have generous free tiers
- Best for simplicity: Trello – Kanban boards, nothing complicated
Monday.com: The Crowd Favorite
Monday.com consistently ranks as the top project management tool, and for good reason. The interface is clean, colorful, and genuinely intuitive. You can be productive within an hour of signing up—which isn't something I can say about most competitors.
Monday.com Pricing
- Free: Up to 2 users, 3 boards, basic features only
- Basic: $9/user/month (billed annually) – unlimited boards, 200+ templates
- Standard: $12/user/month – Timeline view, Gantt charts, 250 automations/month
- Pro: $19/user/month – time tracking, formula columns, 25,000 automations/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Important note: Monday.com requires a minimum of 3 seats on paid plans, and pricing works in seat buckets (3, 5, 10, etc.). So a team of 4 pays for 5 seats.
What's Good
- Genuinely easy to use—even non-technical team members pick it up fast
- Highly customizable boards with 200+ templates
- Solid automation builder that actually works
- Great customer support (live chat that responds quickly)
What Sucks
- No automations or calendar view on the free plan
- Automation limits can run out fast if you're a heavy user (250/month on Standard)
- Adding recurring tasks requires workarounds through automation
- Mobile app has occasional bugs
Try Monday.com free for 14 days →
For the full breakdown, see our Monday.com pricing guide and Monday.com review.
ClickUp: Best Value for Features
ClickUp packs more features into its lower tiers than any competitor. If you're on a tight budget but need serious functionality, this is your pick. The downside? It can feel overwhelming—there's almost too much.
ClickUp Pricing
- Free Forever: Unlimited tasks, unlimited users, 60MB storage
- Unlimited: $7/user/month (billed annually) – unlimited storage, Gantt charts, guests
- Business: $12/user/month – Google SSO, advanced reporting, timeline views
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
The Free Forever plan is genuinely impressive—you get unlimited users (Monday.com caps at 2) and core features like Kanban boards, sprint management, and basic time tracking.
What's Good
- Best free plan in the industry—unlimited users, unlimited tasks
- $7/month Unlimited plan includes Gantt charts, custom fields, and native time tracking
- Tons of views: List, Board, Calendar, Gantt, Timeline, Mind Maps
- Built-in docs and whiteboards
What Sucks
- Learning curve is steep—feature overload is real
- Can feel slow when managing many projects
- AI features (ClickUp Brain) cost extra: $9/user/month for standard
- UI can be confusing with so many customization options
If you're comfortable with complexity and want maximum features per dollar, ClickUp wins. Read more in our free project management software comparison.
Asana: Enterprise-Grade Organization
Asana is what you graduate to when your team outgrows basic task management. It excels at portfolio management, goal tracking across departments, and keeping large teams aligned. But you'll pay for it.
Asana Pricing
- Personal (Free): Up to 10 users, unlimited tasks/projects, basic views
- Starter: $10.99/user/month (billed annually) – Timeline view, workflow builder, 250 automations/month
- Advanced: $24.99/user/month – Portfolios, workload tracking, goals, 25,000 automations/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing – SAML, SCIM, premium support
What's Good
- Excellent portfolio management—see all projects and their status in one view
- Goals feature connects daily tasks to company objectives
- Clean, uncluttered interface
- Huge integration library (200+ apps)
What Sucks
- Free plan limited to 10 users (used to be 15)
- No timeline or Gantt views until you pay
- No native time tracking until Advanced plan
- Gets expensive fast for larger teams
For a team of 10 on the Starter plan, you're looking at about $1,320/year. Advanced bumps that to $3,000/year. Worth it if you need the organizational features, overkill if you just need task management.
Smartsheet: For Spreadsheet People
If your team lives in Excel and refuses to change, Smartsheet is your best bet. It looks and feels like a spreadsheet but adds Gantt charts, automations, and proper project management features.
Smartsheet Pricing
- Pro: $9/user/month (billed annually) – up to 10 users, Gantt/calendar views, 250 automations/month
- Business: $19/user/month – unlimited users, 1TB storage, advanced reports
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
No free tier—just a 30-day trial. That's a dealbreaker for some.
What's Good
- Familiar spreadsheet interface—low learning curve for Excel users
- Flexible drag-and-drop Gantt charts
- Strong automation capabilities
- Month-to-month billing option (rare in this space)
What Sucks
- No free plan
- Pro plan capped at 10 users
- Less intuitive than Monday.com or ClickUp
- Dashboards take time to set up properly
Wrike: Solid But Pricey
Wrike is a capable platform with strong resource management and proofing features. It's popular with marketing teams and creative agencies. But the pricing gets steep quickly.
Wrike Pricing
- Free: Unlimited users, 2GB storage, basic features
- Team: $10/user/month (billed annually) – 2-15 users, 50 automations/month
- Business: $25/user/month – 5-200 users, unlimited dashboards, resource planning
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
What's Good
- Free plan supports unlimited users
- Built-in proofing and approvals for creative teams
- 400+ integrations
- Strong resource management
What Sucks
- Free plan has no automations, dashboards, or integrations
- Business plan at $25/user is expensive
- Annual billing only—no monthly option
- Minimum seat requirements on paid plans
Trello: Simple Kanban Boards
Trello is the lightweight option. If you just need simple Kanban boards and don't want to think too hard, Trello works. It's not powerful, but it's easy.
Trello Pricing
- Free: Unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per workspace
- Standard: $5/user/month (billed annually) – unlimited boards, advanced checklists
- Premium: $10/user/month – timeline view, dashboard, workspace views
- Enterprise: $17.50/user/month – organization-wide permissions
What's Good
- Dead simple to use
- Lowest starting price of any paid option
- Good for small teams with simple workflows
What Sucks
- Very limited compared to competitors
- No native Gantt charts
- Power-Ups (add-ons) cost extra
- Not suitable for complex projects
Pricing Comparison Table
| Tool | Free Plan | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday.com | 2 users max | $9/user/month | Most teams, ease of use |
| ClickUp | Unlimited users | $7/user/month | Budget-conscious, feature-hungry teams |
| Asana | 10 users max | $10.99/user/month | Large organizations, goal tracking |
| Smartsheet | No free plan | $9/user/month | Spreadsheet users |
| Wrike | Unlimited users | $10/user/month | Creative/marketing teams |
| Trello | Limited boards | $5/user/month | Simple task management |
My Recommendations
For small teams (under 10 people): Start with ClickUp's free plan. It's genuinely generous. If you need something simpler, Monday.com's Standard plan at $12/user gives you everything most small teams need.
For growing teams (10-50 people): Monday.com Pro or Asana Starter. The automation limits and dashboard capabilities become important at this size.
For large organizations (50+ people): Asana Advanced or Monday.com Enterprise. You'll need portfolio management, advanced permissions, and dedicated support.
For agencies and creative teams: Wrike Business. The proofing and approval features are worth the premium.
For the budget-conscious: ClickUp Unlimited at $7/user/month is hard to beat on value. Just be prepared for a learning curve.
Bottom Line
There's no universally "best" project management software—it depends on your team size, budget, and how complex your projects are. But if I had to make one recommendation for most B2B teams, it's Monday.com. It hits the sweet spot of usability, features, and price.
For more detailed comparisons, check out our Monday.com vs Asana breakdown or our full project management software comparison.