Best Project Management Software 2026
Nine tools compared, five criteria each, and what your team will really pay.
The short answer: for most teams, ClickUp is the best project management software in 2026. Its free plan takes unlimited members, and the Core plan costs $9 per user per month billed yearly. Baserow has the highest score on this list (4.3 out of 5) and is free to self-host, which makes it the pick when you want to own your data. Airtable wins when your projects are really data, monday.com is the easiest to get a team to adopt (as long as you accept its 3-seat minimum), and Notion fits teams whose projects live in docs.
This ranking covers the nine tools we've published full reviews of. Every score comes from that review, and every price from the vendor's own pricing page. Looking for Asana, Trello or Basecamp, with the exact bill at 10 or 25 people? See our project management software comparison by real team cost.
This ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best tool for your use case
Free with unlimited members, Core at $9 per user billed yearly.
Highest score, full data control4.3 out of 5, free to self-host, no seat minimum.
Best for data-driven projectsFeatures at 4.6, but every commenter counts as a paid seat.
Easiest for teams to adoptEase of use at 4.6, the best here. 3-seat minimum.
Best for docs plus projectsBrief, wiki and tasks on one page. Plus from $10 monthly.
Best for structured operationsNo free plan anymore: Team at $15, 3-seat minimum.
Best for personal tasks and small teamsPro at $5 a month billed yearly, Business at $8 per user.
Best free plan for small agenciesFree up to 10 members, paid from a listed $5.
Best for enterprise reportingFeatures at 4.4, but the hardest tool here to learn.
All 9 tools compared
The full ranking in one table. The price shown is the entry price per user per month, billed yearly unless noted. Scores come from our full reviews. Click a tool to jump to its card: who it's for, its real limit and the one tip to know before you pay.
| Best for | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ClickUp | Best for most teams | 4.2/5 | Free / Core from $9/user/mo | ✓ | Teams of 3 to 50 | Visit → |
| 2 | Baserow | Highest score, full data control | 4.3/5 | Free / from $10/user/mo | ✓ | Teams that keep their own data | Visit → |
| 3 | Airtable | Best for data-driven projects | 4.2/5 | Free / Team from $20/seat/mo | ✓ | Ops and marketing teams | Visit → |
| 4 | monday.com | Easiest for teams to adopt | 4.0/5 | Free / Basic from $9/seat/mo (3 seats min.) | ✓ | Teams of 5 to 50 | Visit → |
| 5 | Notion | Best for docs plus projects | 4.0/5 | Free / Plus from $10/member/mo | ✓ | Startups and content teams | Visit → |
| 6 | SmartSuite | Best for structured operations | 3.9/5 | Team from $15/seat/mo (3 seats min.) | — | Process-heavy SMBs | Visit → |
| 7 | Todoist | Best for personal tasks and small teams | 3.9/5 | Free / Pro from $5/mo | ✓ | Freelancers and teams of 2 to 10 | Visit → |
| 8 | Hive | Best free plan for small agencies | 3.7/5 | Free / Starter from $5/user/mo | ✓ | Agencies and marketing teams | Visit → |
| 9 | Wrike | Best for enterprise reporting | 3.4/5 | Free / Team from $10/user/mo | ✓ | Mid-market and enterprise | Visit → |
Scores from our full reviews, out of 5. Prices exclude tax and come from each vendor's official pricing page in 2026.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and ranked
We don't rank project management software on feature lists. For each of the nine tools, we read the official 2026 pricing page, every plan's limits and the docs, then user feedback on vendor forums and review sites. Then we worked out the real cost for an actual team: seat minimums, tiers, billed roles and paid add-ons.
Each tool keeps the overall score and the five criterion scores from its full review, so a tool has the same score everywhere on the site. The order follows those scores, with one deliberate adjustment for project management fit. That's why ClickUp (4.2) sits above Baserow (4.3), which is a database before it's a project tool.
- Features and depthProject views (Kanban, Gantt, calendar), dependencies, automations, dashboards: how far the tool holds up as projects grow.out of 5
- Ease of useHow long it takes a team to work on its own, and how many clicks the daily routine takes.out of 5
- Value for moneyReal cost for 5 or 10 people, seat minimums and add-ons included, against what the tool delivers.out of 5
- IntegrationsNative connectors, API and automations into the rest of your tools.out of 5
- Customer supportAvailable channels, response times and documentation quality, based on user feedback.out of 5
Some links are affiliate links. They never change a score or a rank.
ClickUp
ClickUp takes the top spot because it's the most complete true project management tool here, at the lowest entry price of the all-in-one platforms. Our review scores it 4.5 for value and 4.5 for features. Its overall 4.2 sits a notch below Baserow's 4.3, but Baserow is a database first. If you need lists, a Kanban board, a Gantt chart and dashboards to run actual projects, ClickUp goes further.
Who it's for: a team of 3 to 50 people juggling a spreadsheet, a to-do app and shared docs, ready to pull it all into one place. Skip it if your team needs something they'll understand in ten minutes. Ease of use tops out at 3.5, the lowest among the top four.
The tip: the old $7 Unlimited plan is gone, even though plenty of roundups still list it. The real entry ticket is Core at $9 per user billed yearly. For 5 people that's $45 a month, or $540 a year. Watch the free plan's 100 automation actions per month: that cap pushes most teams to paid long before storage does.
- Lists, Kanban, Gantt, calendar and dashboards in one workspace
- Docs linked to tasks, no separate wiki needed
- Free plan with no member cap, rare in this category
- Straightforward pricing: Core $9, Business $17, Max $100 billed yearly
- ✓Most project management features per dollar
- ✓One tool often replaces three subscriptions
- ✓Free plan the whole team can use to start
- ✗Steep start: lots of options, easy to get lost
- ✗Users report lag on large workspaces
- ✗Pricing changes often, so check the plan before you commit
The safe default for a team that wants real project management without blowing the budget. Plan on a week or two of setup and start with a single view.
Baserow
Baserow earns the highest score on this list, 4.3 out of 5, driven by a 4.8 for value. It's a no-code database that feels a lot like Airtable, and you can run it for free on your own server. It lands second rather than first for one reason: it lacks the deep project views of a dedicated tool, including a Gantt chart as complete as ClickUp's.
Who it's for: a technical team, a public body or a company that has to know exactly where its data sits, and wants to track projects, requests and resources in linked tables. Skip it if you want an out-of-the-box project tool with workload views and advanced charts on day one.
The tip: free cloud limits are counted per workspace (3,000 rows), not per database. Keep projects in one workspace and archive old ones to stay under the cap. There's also no seat minimum, so a team of 2 pays for 2 seats: $20 a month on Premium billed yearly.
- Free self-hosting keeps your data on your own server
- Linked tables, forms, Kanban and calendar views
- Open API to connect your internal tools
- No seat minimum on paid plans
- ✓Best value on this list (4.8)
- ✓Direct answer to data residency and compliance questions
- ✓Quick to pick up if you're coming from spreadsheets or Airtable
- ✗Slower support than the leaders (3.6)
- ✗Fewer native project views than a dedicated tool
- ✗Self-hosting needs someone to maintain it
The strongest pick when data control matters as much as project tracking. For pure project management, ClickUp is more complete.
Airtable
Airtable scores 4.2 out of 5, with the best features score on this list (4.6) and 4.4 for integrations. You think in it like a spreadsheet, then flip the same records into Kanban, calendar, Gantt or a form without rebuilding anything. Price is what holds it back: 3.7 for value.
Who it's for: an ops, marketing or production team managing projects with lots of fields, statuses and links between tables. Skip it if many people on your team only comment and never edit. They still cost a seat.
The tip: on paid plans, every role from commenter up is a billed seat. A team with 5 editors and 5 commenters pays for 10 Team seats, or $200 a month billed yearly. On Airtable's own community forum, a long-time customer describes a bill that jumped after a forced move off a legacy plan: adding a sixth user converted the plan, with no way back. Check the billing impact before you invite anyone.
- One base, many views: grid, Kanban, calendar, Gantt, form
- Built-in automations, 100 runs a month on the free plan
- Linked tables connect projects, clients and resources
- Wide range of connectors (4.4 for integrations)
- ✓Most flexible data model on this list
- ✓Easy for spreadsheet people (4.2)
- ✓One base can run several processes
- ✗Gets expensive as you grow: $20 a seat, commenters included
- ✗Per-base limits push you up a plan
- ✗Plan changes have angered long-time customers
Hard to beat when your projects are really data to organize. Do the seat math with every commenter before you upgrade.
monday.com
monday.com scores 4.0 out of 5 and has the best ease-of-use score on this list, 4.6. Its colorful boards read at a glance, and it's often the one tool non-technical teams adopt without training. Value is its weak spot at 2.8, the lowest on this list.
Who it's for: a marketing, sales or ops team of 5 to 50 that wants clean visual tracking without weeks of setup. Skip it if you're solo or a pair, or your headcount lands just above a pricing tier.
The tip: monday.com sells seats in tiers (3, 5, 10, 15 and up) with a 3-seat minimum. A team of 6 pays for 10 seats: on Basic that's $90 a month instead of $54. Count your team and your next hire before you pick. Also note the Standard plan caps automations at 250 actions a month, which goes fast if you automate follow-ups.
- Visual boards anyone can read without training
- Timeline, Kanban and workload views on higher plans
- Lots of role-based templates to start fast
- Support rated 4.0
- ✓Easiest to roll out (4.6)
- ✓Clean interface, even for non-technical people
- ✓Good support (4.0)
- ✗3-seat minimum and tiers: you often pay for empty seats
- ✗250 automation actions a month on Standard
- ✗The bill climbs fast on Standard and Pro
The best tool for onboarding a team that doesn't like software. Run the seat-tier math before you commit.
Notion
Notion scores 4.0 out of 5, with 4.5 for features. Its strength fits in one line: a project page can hold the brief, the decisions, the wiki and the task database, all linked. Nothing else here blends writing and data this well.
Who it's for: a startup, a content studio or a product team that writes a lot and runs mid-sized projects. Skip it if you manage tight schedules with task dependencies. There's no real Gantt with dependencies, and users report slowdowns on large databases. Expect about a week before the team feels at home.
The tip: full AI is no longer a Plus add-on; it comes with Business at $20 per member monthly. If you don't need it, stay on Plus and switch to annual billing, which saves up to 20%. Custom agents are billed separately at $10 per 1,000 credits, so keep an eye on that line if your team takes to them.
- Docs and databases linked on the same page
- Table, board, calendar and timeline views
- Generous free plan for a single user
- Full AI included in Business
- ✓Best tool for keeping a project's knowledge in one place
- ✓Very flexible: each team shapes its own workspace
- ✓Solid features (4.5)
- ✗No Gantt with dependencies, no workload management
- ✗Slows down on large databases
- ✗Takes time to structure well
Perfect when your projects are mostly documents. Once deadlines and dependencies take over, move the schedule to ClickUp or monday.com.
SmartSuite
SmartSuite scores 3.9 out of 5, with the best support score on this list (4.3) and 4.2 for features. It's a work management platform that blends a database with project management, useful when your projects follow repeatable processes.
Who it's for: a company of 5 to 50 people that wants to structure its operations and likes having real support behind the tool. Skip it if you want a free plan or a tool for one person.
The tip: SmartSuite closed its free plan to new sign-ups in 2026, then locked existing free workspaces. Many roundups still call it free. The real entry point is Team, $15 a seat billed yearly with a 3-seat minimum, so $45 a month even for two people. On the plus side, viewers, commenters and form respondents aren't billed. Keep the 5,000-records-per-solution cap on Team in mind.
- Projects and business processes in one tool
- Viewers, commenters and form respondents are free
- 14-day Professional trial, no card
- Best-rated support on this list
- ✓Responsive support (4.3)
- ✓Rich features for running operations (4.2)
- ✓Guests who comment cost nothing
- ✗No free plan
- ✗3-seat minimum on Team, 5 on Professional
- ✗Fewer integrations than the leaders (3.5)
A good fit for a company structuring its operations that wants support it can reach. A small team starting on zero budget should look at ClickUp or Baserow.
Todoist
Todoist scores 3.9 out of 5, with 4.5 for ease of use. It isn't full project management software; it's a task manager, and that's exactly why people love it. Type a task in plain English, it picks up the date, and everything syncs across phone and desktop.
Who it's for: a freelancer or a team of 2 to 10 sharing task lists without detailed scheduling. Skip it if you need dependencies, a Gantt chart or team workload. It doesn't do them.
The tip: Pro is a single-user plan. Teams need Business at $8 per user per month billed yearly. In late 2025 Todoist raised prices: Pro went from $4 to $5 billed yearly and from $5 to $7 monthly, which upset part of its user base. Go annual: $60 a year instead of $84.
- Natural-language input ("every Friday at 5pm")
- Reliable sync on mobile, desktop and web
- List, board and calendar views
- Up and running in minutes
- ✓Simplest way to organize tasks (4.5)
- ✓Low price for one person
- ✓Good integrations (4.0)
- ✗No Gantt, no workload management
- ✗Price increase in late 2025
- ✗Support rated 3.2
The best tool for getting through your own tasks, not for running a team project. If you're on the fence, read our ranking of the best task management apps.
Hive
Hive scores 3.7 out of 5, with 4.2 for features and 4.0 for support. Its free plan is one of the most generous for a small team: 10 members, unlimited tasks and 1,000 AI credits a month.
Who it's for: an agency or marketing team under 10 people that wants to start free with more than a basic board. Skip it if you run big projects with lots of subtasks. Users report recurring bugs, such as a moved date that doesn't carry over to sub-actions.
The tip: the pricing page lists $5 for Starter and $12 for Teams, with a discount advertised for yearly billing. Get the full quote before you sign, and watch the free plan's 200 MB of storage, which client files fill quickly.
- 10 free members, unlimited tasks
- Gantt, Kanban and portfolio views
- 1,000 AI credits a month even on the free plan
- Support rated 4.0
- ✓Generous free plan for a small team
- ✓Low entry price ($5 listed)
- ✓Full features for an agency (4.2)
- ✗Recurring bugs reported by users
- ✗Slow on large projects
- ✗Average learning curve (3.2)
A solid free starting point for a small agency. For heavy projects, ClickUp or monday.com are more dependable.
Wrike
Wrike finishes ninth at 3.4 out of 5, and it keeps its spot for one reason: 4.4 for features. Reporting, role-based permissions and portfolio management make it a serious option for large organizations.
Who it's for: a mid-market company or services firm running many projects in parallel, with a dedicated admin to configure it. Skip it if you're a small team. Ease of use is 2.6, the lowest here, and support is 2.8.
The tip: viewers are free, but paid seats come in packs. Business at $25 is yearly only. Users also report support moving to email tickets and rigid renewals, so negotiate term length and an exit clause before you sign.
- Advanced reporting and dashboards
- Fine-grained, role-based permissions
- Free viewers
- Project portfolio management
- ✓Some of the deepest management features (4.4)
- ✓Built for large, structured teams
- ✓Good integrations (3.9)
- ✗Hardest to learn (2.6)
- ✗Weak support (2.8), now ticket-based
- ✗Seats sold in packs, Business yearly only
Best kept for large organizations with the time and people to set it up. Under 30 people, ClickUp or monday.com get the job done more simply.
How to choose your project management software
Before you compare features, answer three questions. How many people will use it every day, and how many will only comment? Does your work look like tasks, scheduled projects, or data to organize? And where does your data need to live? The right tool almost picks itself. Here's how we'd steer the most common cases.
Solo or a pair
Start free. Todoist if it's mostly tasks, Notion if you write a lot, ClickUp if you already want a real schedule. Avoid monday.com and SmartSuite: their 3-seat minimum makes you pay for people who don't exist. More in our picks for freelancers.
Team of 3 to 15
ClickUp Core ($9 per user) gives you the most for the money. monday.com gets adopted faster but costs more because of tiers. If your projects are mostly data, Airtable; if you want control over hosting, Baserow. Our picks for small businesses go deeper.
Agency or marketing team
You need client approvals and several accounts running in parallel. Hive is free up to 10 members; monday.com is the easiest for an invited client to read. See our picks for agencies.
Technical team or sensitive data
Self-hosted Baserow keeps your data on your server with no row cap. For dev teams, our picks for developers also compare ticket-based tools.
Fast-growing startup
Notion for docs plus ClickUp for the schedule is a common pairing. Pick a tool that bills per actual seat, with no tiers, so you don't prepay for future hires. Details in our picks for startups.
50 people and up
Wrike for reporting and fine-grained permissions, if you have someone to configure it. monday.com Enterprise is the easier-to-adopt alternative. Either way, negotiate term length and an exit clause.
- Count real seats, commenters included: Airtable bills them, SmartSuite and Wrike don't.
- Check seat minimums and tiers: 3 at monday.com and SmartSuite, packs at Wrike.
- Find out which plan actually includes the Gantt or timeline you saw in the demo.
- Compare automation caps: 100 a month on ClickUp Free, 250 on monday.com Standard.
- Only go annual after a month on monthly billing: the gap runs from 18% at monday.com to 33% at ClickUp and SmartSuite.
- Ask where your data is hosted and for the subprocessor list if compliance matters.
- Export a full project during the trial: a tool that's hard to leave gets expensive later.
Best project management software · FAQ
What is the best free project management software?
For a team, ClickUp: its Free Forever plan takes unlimited members. The real limits are 100 automation actions a month and 60 MB of storage. Hive is the other strong free option, up to 10 members with 1,000 AI credits a month. For one person, Notion or Todoist is plenty. If you have a server, self-hosted Baserow is free with no row cap. Skip SmartSuite here: its free plan is gone.How much does project management software cost for a 5-person team?
Between $25 and $100 a month depending on the tool, billed yearly. Hive Starter comes to $25 (5 x the listed $5), Todoist Business $40, ClickUp Core $45, monday.com Basic $45, Baserow Premium $50, SmartSuite Team $75 and Airtable Team $100. Paying monthly adds 18 to 33% depending on the tool. The trap hits at 6 people: monday.com then bills you for 10 seats, and Airtable bills commenters too.Is SmartSuite still free?
No. SmartSuite closed its free plan to new accounts in 2026, then locked existing free workspaces. What's left is a 14-day Professional trial with no credit card. After that, Team costs $15 per seat per month billed yearly ($20 monthly), with a 3-seat minimum. If you had a free workspace, export your data before you decide.Is a spreadsheet enough to manage projects?
Yes, as long as you're solo or a pair and your projects fit on one sheet. Spreadsheets break when several people edit the same file, when you need automatic reminders, or when you need a schedule view. The gentlest move up is Airtable or Baserow, which keep the spreadsheet logic and add Kanban, calendar and forms. You can import your existing file in minutes.What's the best self-hosted project management tool?
On this list, Baserow: it's free to install on your own server, with no row cap, and it has an open API. Outside this ranking, OpenProject (a German vendor) offers both a self-hosted edition and a hosted cloud. Self-hosting answers data residency questions, but someone has to handle updates, backups and security.What's the difference between a task manager and project management software?
A task manager like Todoist organizes lists: what to do, by when, by whom. Project management software adds scheduling (Gantt), task dependencies, team workload and progress tracking. If nobody ever asks "where's the project at?", a task manager is enough. Otherwise, go with ClickUp, monday.com or Wrike.Is Notion good enough for project management?
Partly. Notion handles mid-sized projects well, with task databases, board and timeline views, and the written context right next to them. It lacks a real Gantt with dependencies and workload management, and it slows down on large databases. Plenty of teams keep Notion for docs and run the schedule in ClickUp or monday.com.Why aren't Asana, Trello or Jira in this ranking?
Because this ranking only includes tools we've published a full, criterion-by-criterion review of. Asana, Trello and Jira are covered in our project management software comparison by team cost. Quick reference: Trello is free for up to 10 collaborators per workspace, then $5 per user billed yearly; Asana Starter is $10.99, with seats sold in tiers from 5. Jira is free for up to 10 users and is built first for software teams.Does monday.com have a minimum number of users?
Yes, 3 seats minimum on every paid plan, then tiers of 5, 10, 15 and up. Solo, you pay for 3 seats; at 6 people, you pay for 10. On Basic at $9 a seat billed yearly, a team of 6 pays $90 a month. SmartSuite also has a 3-seat minimum, while ClickUp, Baserow and Airtable bill per actual seat.