What's the best project management software for freelancers in 2026?
Eight tools compared for a one-person business: tasks, time tracking, proposals and invoices, client portal, and the real price for a single user.
The short answer: ClickUp is the best place to start for most freelancers. Its free plan handles unlimited tasks, and from Core ($9 a month billed yearly) the timer runs inside each task, which Trello, Notion and Asana Starter don't offer. If you want one subscription that runs the whole client journey, from proposal to signed contract to paid invoice, Moxie starts at $10 a month billed yearly and Bonsai unlocks invoicing at $19. If you sell packages rather than hours, HoneyBook has the smoothest client portal and payments.
This page is for the designer, developer, writer or consultant who runs client work alone. Most "best of" lists rank team tools like monday.com and Wrike without telling you what they cost for one person or whether they can bill a client. We compared each vendor's official pricing page, what every plan really includes, and what freelancers say on Reddit and review sites.
Some links may be affiliate links. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best tool for the way you work
Free tasks, timer from $9
Best value all-in-oneContracts and invoices from $10 a month
Best for hourly billingTimer, proposals and invoices in one place
Best for packagesClient portal and payments from Starter
SimplestOne board per client, free
Best free time trackerUnlimited tracking at $0
8 project management tools for freelancers
The column that matters most when you work alone: does the tool track your hours and bill the client? A team tool handles tasks fine, then leaves you copying hours into an invoicing app at the end of every month. Click a name to read its card.
| Best for | Time and invoices | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ClickUp | Best overall | Time from Core, no invoices | 4.2/5 | $0; Core $9/mo billed yearly | ✓ | Several clients at once | Visit → |
| 2 | Bonsai | Best for hourly billing | Both (invoices from Essentials) | 3.9/5 | $9/mo billed yearly; invoices from $19 | — | Project-based freelancers | Visit → |
| 3 | Moxie | Best value all-in-one | Both, from Starter | 3.9/5 | $10/mo billed yearly ($12 monthly) | — | Freelancers who want it all for less | Visit → |
| 4 | HoneyBook | Best for packages | Invoices yes, no time tracking listed | 4.0/5 | $29/mo billed yearly | — | Creative and service businesses | Visit → |
| 5 | Trello | Simplest | Neither | 3.9/5 | $0; Standard $5/mo billed yearly | ✓ | A few flat-fee clients | Visit → |
| 6 | Notion | Most flexible | Neither | 4.0/5 | $0; Plus from $10/mo | ✓ | Freelancers who like to build | Visit → |
| 7 | Clockify | Best free time tracker | Time yes, invoices from Standard | 4.2/5 | $0; Basic $3.99/mo billed yearly | ✓ | Hourly freelancers on a budget | Visit → |
| 8 | Plutio | All-in-one with no locked features | Both, from Core | 3.7/5 | $19/mo or $190/yr | — | Solo, up to 9 active clients | Visit → |
Prices read on the vendors' official pricing pages in 2026, in US dollars, before tax.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and scored
We started from a typical US freelancer: a web designer with six active clients, two on fixed-price projects and four on retainers billed hourly, who loses an evening each month rebuilding invoices from a spreadsheet of hours. For each tool, we checked on the official page what it does for her: organize tasks, track time, send a proposal and an invoice, show progress to the client, and what one seat really costs.
A tool only makes the ranking once that core is verified. monday.com and Wrike sit high in many lists, but monday.com bills a 3-seat minimum and only tracks time on Pro, and Wrike is built for teams. Asana misses by a hair: native time tracking only arrives on Advanced, at $24.99 a month billed yearly. Dubsado and Paymo came up too, but we couldn't confirm their current plans on a pricing page we could read, so they stay out.
The rank follows what a freelancer needs most, not only the overall score. A tool keeps the same overall score on every page we publish.
The weights are not equal on purpose. Tasks weigh most because that's the job. Time, invoicing and solo pricing weigh as much as each other, because that's where independent workers lose money.
- Projects and tasksLists, boards, due dates, views per client, reusable project templates.25%
- Time trackingTimer, manual entries, reports per client and project.20%
- Proposals and invoicesProposals, contracts, invoices, and which plan unlocks them.20%
- Client portalShare progress and get approvals without paying for a client seat.15%
- Solo pricingThe real price for one person, seat minimums and add-ons included.20%
Some links may be affiliate links. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
ClickUp
ClickUp's edge for a freelancer: time tracking lives in the same tool as your tasks. One catch: on Free Forever the timer is a trial only; it's included from Core, at $9 a month billed yearly. Start the timer from a task and your hours land under the right client. Timesheets (a weekly view to fix and approve entries) only come with Business, at $17 a month billed yearly.
For tasks alone, Free Forever is often enough: unlimited tasks and members, 60 MB of storage and 100 automation actions a month. Clients join as guests with full rights on the free plan, and paid plans add unlimited view-only guests.
The catch: ClickUp has no proposals or invoices, and it can feel like too much. Designers on Reddit call it heavy for a small studio. Start with one space and one folder per client, and turn on features only when you need them. Our full ClickUp review covers every plan.
- Timer included from Core
- Unlimited tasks and members on Free
- Free guests
- Core at $9 billed yearly
- ✓Most generous free plan in this ranking
- ✓Hours and tasks in one place
- ✓List, board, calendar and Gantt views
- ✗No proposals or invoices
- ✗Steep if you switch everything on
- ✗60 MB storage on Free
The best start for free task management, with your hours in the same tool once you move to Core. Pair it with an invoicing app.
Bonsai
Bonsai follows a job from start to finish: proposal, e-signed contract, project, hours, invoice. Time tracking starts on Basic ($9 a month billed yearly). Proposals, contracts, invoices and the client portal only arrive on Essentials, at $19 billed yearly or $25 month to month. So Essentials is the plan to compare.
Reviews praise support and handling several projects at once. The complaint that keeps coming back: a trial account that turned into a paid subscription without the user noticing, billed for months.
Its limit: projects are lighter than in ClickUp. Fine for a dozen deliverables per client, tight for a big build with dependencies.
- Timer from the first plan
- E-signed contracts
- Client portal from Essentials
- ✓Full sales-to-invoice flow
- ✓Tracks time on every plan
- ✓One seat is all you need
- ✗Invoices only from $19
- ✗Lighter task management
- ✗Reviews about charges after a forgotten trial
A solid pick if you bill hours and want the paperwork handled. Go for Essentials, not Basic.
Moxie
Moxie packs the freelancer basics into Starter: proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking, for $10 a month billed yearly ($120 a year) or $12 month to month. That's half the price of Bonsai Essentials for the same core flow.
The client portal is where Moxie makes you upgrade. A white-label portal (your logo, your domain look) starts on Pro, at $20 a month billed yearly, along with unlimited project collaborators. Teams adds up to five members at $32.
The limit: Moxie is smaller and less known than Bonsai or HoneyBook, so fewer integrations and fewer tutorials. Run your next real invoice through it during the trial before you commit.
- Proposals, contracts and invoices on Starter
- Time tracking on every plan
- White-label portal on Pro
- ✓Cheapest full flow in this ranking
- ✓Clear upgrade path
- ✓Unlimited project collaborators on Pro
- ✗Client portal only from Pro
- ✗Smaller ecosystem
- ✗Light Gantt and dependency tools
The best value if you want the whole client flow for about $10 a month.
HoneyBook
HoneyBook is built around the client experience: inquiry, proposal, contract, invoice and payment, all from one branded portal. Starter already includes the client portal, invoices and contracts for $29 a month billed yearly.
Know what it isn't. HoneyBook's pricing page lists no time tracking at all, so hourly billing means a separate timer. Its project side is a pipeline (stages of a booking) more than a task manager.
Go up to Essentials ($49) if a second person helps you, and Premium ($109) for a bigger team. For a one-person studio selling fixed packages, Starter covers it.
- Client portal from Starter
- Contracts and payments built in
- Pipeline of bookings
- ✓Best client experience in this ranking
- ✓Strong for fixed packages
- ✓Everything branded to you
- ✗No time tracking listed
- ✗Task management is basic
- ✗Highest entry price here
The pick for package sellers who care how clients see them. Hourly freelancers should look at Bonsai or Moxie.
Trello
Trello runs on boards with columns (the kanban method: to do, doing, done). One card per deliverable, one board per client, and you see every job's status in a second. The free plan gives you 10 boards and 10 collaborators per workspace.
Trello doesn't track hours or send invoices. Hourly billing means a timer next to it, and Clockify's free plan pairs well.
The pricing trap is guests. Guests arrive with Standard, but a guest added to several boards is billed like a full member. Keep one board per client. If you're outgrowing it, our Trello alternatives page lists where people go next.
- Easy column boards
- 10 free boards per workspace
- Standard at $5 billed yearly
- ✓Learn it in minutes
- ✓Free for a small client list
- ✓Great mobile apps
- ✗No time tracking or invoices
- ✗Multi-board guests billed as members
- ✗Cramped on big projects
The right tool to start without learning anything. Add a timer once you bill by the hour.
Notion
Notion isn't a ready-made project tool. It's pages plus databases: you build your own client list, projects, tasks and meeting notes, all linked. The free plan lasts a long time for one person, and Plus mainly adds unlimited file uploads and longer page history.
The limit is blunt: no time tracking, no invoices. A designer thread on Reddit says Notion and Airtable "don't handle time tracking or invoicing". Plan on Clockify or Toggl Track for hours and an invoicing app for billing.
For clients, a shared page makes a decent status board, though they often need a Notion account to comment. Our Notion review goes deeper.
- Linked databases
- Reusable client project template
- Publish read-only pages
- ✓Extremely flexible
- ✓Free for solo use
- ✓Notes and projects together
- ✗No time tracking or invoices
- ✗You build everything
- ✗Clients often need an account
Great if you enjoy designing your tools. If not, ClickUp saves you the setup hours.
Clockify
Clockify is a time tracker first. The free plan tracks unlimited hours, and freelancers on Reddit keep praising it: "The free version works really well." You get reports per client you can export and send.
Invoicing from tracked hours comes with Standard, at $5.49 per seat per month billed yearly. For one person, that's less than $70 a year for hours plus invoices.
Its limit: tasks are basic and there's no client portal. Use it next to Trello or Notion, not instead of them.
- Unlimited tracking on Free
- Invoices from Standard
- Cheap per seat
- ✓Best free timer in this ranking
- ✓Exportable client reports
- ✓Standard under $6 billed yearly
- ✗Not a task manager
- ✗No client portal
- ✗Invoicing not on the free plan
The cheapest way to stop guessing your hours. Pair it with your favorite task tool.
Plutio
Plutio puts everything into Core at $19 a month or $190 a year: projects in list, board, calendar or Gantt view, time tracking, proposals, e-signed contracts, unlimited invoices and a client portal. No feature is locked behind a higher tier.
The limit is clients: Core allows 9 active clients and no collaborators. Past that, Pro costs $49 a month.
Reviews are split. Happy users praise support and the proposal-to-invoice flow. Unhappy ones report invoices and emails that never went out and a broken calendar sync. One reviewer's advice is worth following: try their support during the trial.
- Everything on Core
- Client portal and e-signatures
- White label for $9 a month extra
- ✓No locked features
- ✓Portal included
- ✓Flat price per account
- ✗9 active clients max on Core
- ✗Reports of failed invoice emails
- ✗No collaborators on Core
A strong all-in-one for a solo freelancer with under ten clients. Check invoice delivery during the trial.
One tool or two: where to start
The classic freelancer mistake is picking the tool your last client used, usually a team tool, and paying for features you never open. Ask one question: what costs you most today? Forgotten tasks, unbilled hours, or time spent building invoices? The answer picks the tool.
Under 5 clients, flat fees
Stay free. Trello or ClickUp for tasks, plus whatever you already use to invoice. A paid tool won't save you more than an hour a month at this stage.
5 to 10 clients, partly hourly
Time tracking starts paying for itself. ClickUp Core ($9 billed yearly) works if you don't mind copying hours onto invoices. Otherwise, Moxie Starter ($10 billed yearly) or Bonsai Essentials ($19) remove that retyping.
You sell packages, not hours
Look at the client experience first: HoneyBook's portal and payments, or Plutio's all-inclusive Core. Our CRM with invoicing ranking compares the tools that bill from the client record.
- The price shown is for one person, with no seat minimum
- Time tracking is on the plan you're buying
- The plan that unlocks invoices is spelled out
- A client guest doesn't cost you a seat
- You can export projects and hours to CSV
- Your trial end date is in your calendar
Six tips to pay less and bill more
These come from vendor pricing pages and from freelancers sharing their mistakes on Reddit. You won't find them in the usual top ten lists.
Track time by phase, not just by client
TimeOne independent consultant put it bluntly: in his quotes, discovery always runs under and implementation always runs over. Make one task per phase (discovery, build, revisions) and time each one. By your third project, you know which line of your quote to raise.
Watch for seat minimums
Pricemonday.com shows $9 per seat on Basic, but paid plans start at 3 seats, so you pay at least $27 a month alone. Asana keeps native time tracking for Advanced. Always read the pricing FAQ before comparing.
- monday.com Basic
- 3-seat minimum
- Asana
- Native time on Advanced
One client, one board
ClientTrello bills a guest on several boards like a member. Keep each client in a single space and invite only your main contact.
Fix intake before you switch tools
MethodDesigners who tried Asana, Notion and ClickUp reached the same conclusion: the tool isn't the problem, intake is. Set up one request form per type of job and stop taking requests by DM. Your board stays clean in any tool.
Calendar every trial end date
PriceSome Bonsai customers say they were billed for months on an account they never used after the trial rolled into a subscription. Set a reminder two days before each trial ends, and cancel what you don't open.
Go annual only after three months
PriceAnnual billing saves real money: ClickUp Core drops from $12 to $9, Moxie Starter from $12 to $10, Bonsai Essentials from $25 to $19. But freelancers switch tools often in year one. Stay monthly for three months, then go annual on the tool you open every day.
More rankings for your business
Working with a small team, need a better client portal, or building your whole toolkit? These pages go deeper.
Our first, more general ranking
You work with a small teamProject management softwareThe general ranking, solo to team
Clients need to follow progressProject tools with a client portalWho offers a real client space
You're building your whole toolkitThe freelancer stackOne tool per step of your business
You want to follow up on leadsCRM for freelancersFrom first contact to signed quote
You get contracts signed onlineE-signature for freelancersContracts signed without a printer
Freelancer project management FAQ
What is the best free project management software for freelancers?
ClickUp for tasks: its Free Forever plan has unlimited tasks and members, but the timer only comes with Core ($9 billed yearly). Trello is easier to learn but doesn't track time. For time alone, Clockify's free plan is hard to beat, and freelancers on Reddit keep recommending it because it can export a clean PDF of your hours.
Is there one app for projects, contracts and invoices?
Yes: Bonsai, Moxie, HoneyBook and Plutio all cover the client journey from proposal to paid invoice. The cheapest entry is Moxie Starter at $10 a month billed yearly, with proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking included. Bonsai only unlocks invoices on Essentials ($19 billed yearly).
Bonsai vs HoneyBook: which one fits a freelancer better?
Bonsai if you bill by the hour: time tracking is built in from its first plan. HoneyBook if you sell packages and bookings, like photographers or event pros: its pricing page lists no time tracking at all, but its client portal and payment flow are strong. Both start around $9 to $29 a month billed yearly.
Do I need time tracking if I charge flat fees?
Yes, at least for a few projects. It's the only way to know whether your flat fee actually pays. One independent consultant noticed that discovery always runs short in his quotes and implementation always runs long. Track by phase, then fix the next quote.
How much should a freelancer pay for project management software?
Between $0 and $29 a month for the tools in this ranking. Trello Standard is $5 a month billed yearly, ClickUp Core $9, Moxie Starter $10, Plutio Core $19, HoneyBook Starter $29. Watch monday.com: paid plans start at 3 seats, so a solo freelancer pays at least $27 a month on Basic.
Can my clients see my project without paying for a seat?
Usually yes, but read the fine print. ClickUp gives free guests full rights on its free plan. Trello charges a guest who sits on several boards like a member. Moxie's white-label portal starts on Pro ($20 billed yearly), and HoneyBook includes a client portal from Starter.
ClickUp or Notion for a freelancer?
ClickUp if you want something ready to use with reminders, calendar views and a timer from Core. Notion if you'd rather build your own system with linked databases and track time somewhere else. Notion doesn't track time or send invoices, so plan for two extra tools.