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Best free project management for a team of five
Five people is the easiest size to price, which is exactly why the free plans all look the same. ClickUp, Trello and Basecamp seat five without a card, and Asana throws in fifteen seats at $0/mo. The differences are in the caps: ClickUp limits you to five work streams on the free plan, Trello limits you to ten boards per workspace, Basecamp limits you to a single project, and Notion's free tier is scoped to one individual with databases rather than a shared team workspace. Read the cap column first and the price column second, because at this team size the price column is all zeros.
Prices last re-checked 2026-10-05. Numbers are read from each vendor's own pricing page; any exception is flagged under "What to watch".
Which one should you pick?
- Pick ClickUp if you need the best overall. Visit ClickUp
- Pick Trello if you think in boards. Visit Trello
- Pick Basecamp if you need the best flat price when you outgrow free. Visit Basecamp
- Pick Asana if you need the best free seat count. Visit Asana
- Pick Notion if the team lives in docs. Visit Notion
The short answer
Short answer: ClickUp is the best free pick for five people: Free Forever is $0/mo with unlimited members and five work streams, and the first paid tier is $7/mo per user billed annually. Trello free gives ten boards at $0/mo. Basecamp free seats five on one project, Asana gives fifteen free seats, and Notion's free plan is built for individuals.
Best overall: ClickUp
Free Forever costs $0/mo and brings unlimited members, five work streams, 100 MB storage and a capped monthly automation allowance, which is enough structure for five people running five different kinds of work. The next tier is $7/mo per user billed annually ($10 month-to-month) and lifts the work stream cap. Five seats on that price is $35/mo billed annually, and you only need it when the sixth work stream shows up.
See ClickUp pricingBest if you think in boards: Trello
Trello free is $0/mo with unlimited cards, unlimited members and ten boards per workspace, so a five-person team can run a board per project for a year before the cap appears. The gaps are automation above the monthly action allowance and one power-up per board. Standard is $5/mo per user billed annually ($6 month-to-month) with unlimited boards and advanced checklists. Five seats on Standard is $25/mo billed annually, the cheapest paid upgrade on this page.
See Trello pricingBest flat price when you outgrow free: Basecamp
Basecamp free is $0/mo for five users on one project with 1 GB of storage, which is the tightest free tier here unless your whole company is one project. The reason it stays on the list is what comes next: Freelancer is $25/mo for the whole account with up to 3 active projects and 20 users, and Studio is $59/mo for 10 active projects with unlimited users, neither of which charges per seat. A team of five that plans to become a team of eight should price this one first.
See Basecamp pricingBest free seat count: Asana
Asana Personal is $0/mo for up to 15 teammates with unlimited tasks, projects and messages, so five people fit with room for guests and contractors. Starter is $10.99/mo per user billed annually and Advanced is $24.99/mo per user, which on five seats is $54.95/mo billed annually. Asana's free plan is the most generous on seats and the least generous on automation and project templates.
See Asana pricingBest if the team lives in docs: Notion
Notion Free is $0/mo for individuals with databases including subtasks and dependencies, Notion Calendar and basic sites, and Plus is $10/mo per member with unlimited collaborative blocks and file uploads. For five people the honest read is that Notion's free plan is a personal workspace, not a shared project tracker, so a team of five that wants one shared board ends up on Plus per member. It wins when the project is mostly written knowledge with tasks attached.
See Notion pricingThe prices, plan by plan
ClickUp
ClickUp is free for unlimited members with 100MB storage, then $7 per user per month on Unlimited, $12 on Business and a custom quote for Enterprise, billed annually.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | Free | Unlimited members, 100MB storage, unlimited tasks, board and list views |
| Unlimited | $10/mo, or $7/mo billed annually | Per user. Unlimited storage, integrations, dashboards, Gantt, 1,000 automations/mo |
| Business | $19/mo, or $12/mo billed annually | Per user. Advanced automations, time tracking, workload, 10,000 automations/mo |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom quote. SSO, advanced permissions, white labelling |
What to watch: ClickUp prints the annual per-user rate by default; the monthly-billing rates come from the page's monthly toggle.
Source: https://clickup.com/pricing, read 2026-10-27.
See ClickUp pricingTrello
Trello is free for unlimited cards and up to 10 boards per workspace, then $5 per user per month on Standard, $10 on Premium and $17.50 on Enterprise, billed annually.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per workspace, 10MB attachment limit |
| Standard | $6/mo, or $5/mo billed annually | Per user. Unlimited boards, advanced checklists, custom fields, 250 workspace command runs/mo |
| Premium | $12.5/mo, or $10/mo billed annually | Per user. Calendar/Day/Table/Timeline/Dashboard views, AI, 1,000 command runs/mo |
| Enterprise | $17.5/mo (no annual discount published) | Per user. Organization-wide permissions, SSO, 250 workspace command runs/mo |
Prices checked 2026-10-05.
What to watch: Trello prints the annual per-user rate by default; the monthly-billing rates come from the page's monthly toggle. Enterprise is quoted at the same rate either way.
Source: https://trello.com/pricing, read 2026-10-05.
See Trello pricingBasecamp
Basecamp is free for 1 project and up to 5 users, then $25/mo on Freelancer (up to 3 active projects, 20 users max), $59/mo on Studio (up to 10 active projects, unlimited users) and $99/mo on Pro (up to 25 active projects, unlimited users). The unlimited-everything Unlimited Edition is $299/mo billed annually. No Basecamp plan charges per user - every price is for the whole account.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | $0/mo for the whole account. One free project for personal use, 1 GB storage, 5 users max. No project templates, multiple tools per project or time tracking. |
| Freelancer | $25/mo | $25/mo for the whole account. Up to 3 active projects, 5 GB storage, 20 users max with no per-user fees, 24/7/365 support. Free 30-day trial. Annual billing marked not included on this tier. |
| Studio | $59/mo | $59/mo for the whole account. Up to 10 active projects, 25 GB storage, unlimited users with no per-user fees, unlimited tools per project, project templates. Free 30-day trial. Annual billing marked not included on this tier. |
| Pro | $99/mo | $99/mo for the whole account. Up to 25 active projects, 100 GB storage, unlimited users with no per-user fees, project templates, time tracking. Free 30-day trial. Annual billing marked not included on this tier. |
| Unlimited | Custom | $299/mo billed annually, for the whole account. Unlimited projects, 1,000 GB storage, unlimited users with no per-user fees, time tracking, enhanced admin features, priority 24/7/365 support, personalized onboarding. Free 45-day trial. |
What to watch: Basecamp prices the whole account, never per user - the bill does not grow with headcount. The plan cards mark Annual billing as not included on Freelancer, Studio and Pro, and the only annual-billing price the page prints is Unlimited at $299/mo billed annually, with no month-to-month rate shown for it. The page's own FAQ answers 'Could we really add 500 users and run unlimited projects and still just pay $300/month total on the Unlimited Edition?' with yes - one fixed, capped price.
Source: https://basecamp.com/pricing, read 2026-10-19.
See Basecamp pricingAsana
Asana is free for up to 10 teammates, then $10.99 per user per month on Starter, $24.99 on Advanced and a custom quote for Enterprise, billed monthly.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Free | Up to 10 teammates, unlimited tasks and projects, list/board/timeline views |
| Starter | $10.99/mo (no annual discount published) | Per user. Timeline, workflow builder, 250 automations/mo, 500 form submissions/mo |
| Advanced | $24.99/mo (no annual discount published) | Per user. Goals, portfolios, workload, time tracking, 25,000 automations/mo |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom quote. SSO, SCIM, data residency, advanced reporting |
What to watch: Asana's pricing page shows the same per-user rate whether you pay monthly or yearly, so we record no annual discount rather than inventing one.
Source: https://asana.com/pricing, read 2026-11-02.
See Asana pricingNotion
Notion is free for individuals. Plus is $10 per member/mo and Business is $20 per member/mo on the rates printed on notion.com's pricing page; Enterprise is custom quote.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | For individuals: databases with subtasks and dependencies, basic forms and sites, Notion Calendar |
| Plus | $10/mo | Unlimited collaborative blocks and file uploads, custom forms and sites, unlimited charts, basic connections |
| Business | $20/mo | Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes, Enterprise Search, SAML SSO, private teamspaces, premium connections |
| Enterprise | Custom | SCIM provisioning, audit log, advanced security, domain management, zero data retention with LLM providers |
What to watch: The pricing page prints one rate per member/mo behind a monthly/yearly toggle ('Save up to 20% with yearly'); only the single printed rates ($10 Plus, $20 Business) are recorded here and the separate monthly-billing rates are not printed as numbers on the page we read, so they are not guessed.
Source: https://www.notion.com/pricing, read 2026-11-02.
See Notion pricingQuestions people ask
What is the cheapest option here?
ClickUp is the cheapest option here because its Free Forever plan is $0/mo with unlimited members and five work streams, and Trello free also costs $0/mo, Basecamp free $0/mo, Asana Personal $0/mo and Notion Free $0/mo. What separates them at $0/mo is the cap: Basecamp stops at one project and Notion's free tier is scoped to an individual rather than a shared team workspace.
Which free plan gives five people the most room?
Asana Personal has the biggest seat count at 15 teammates for $0/mo, and Trello follows with unlimited members and ten boards. ClickUp seats unlimited members with five work streams at $0/mo, Basecamp is the tightest with five users and one project, and Notion's free tier is written for individuals. On raw seats Asana wins; on structure ClickUp wins.
What does it cost when five people outgrow the free tier?
Trello Standard is $5/mo per user billed annually, ClickUp is $7/mo per user billed annually, Notion Plus is $10/mo per member, and Asana Starter is $10.99/mo per user billed annually, so five seats run between $25 and $54.95 a month billed annually. Basecamp sidesteps seat pricing entirely: Freelancer is $25/mo for the whole account with 20 users.
Is Trello free enough for a five-person team?
For boards, yes. Trello free is $0/mo with unlimited cards, unlimited members and ten boards per workspace. What bites is automation past the monthly action allowance and the one-power-up-per-board limit, so a team that leans on Butler usually reaches Trello Standard at $5/mo per user billed annually within a few months of real use.
When is Basecamp the better buy than ClickUp?
When the bill must not move with headcount. Basecamp Freelancer is $25/mo for the whole account with up to 3 active projects and 20 users, and Studio is $59/mo for 10 active projects and unlimited users. ClickUp is cheaper at five seats but every added person costs $7/mo billed annually, while Basecamp stops counting people at the account level and only counts projects.
Do any of these free plans expire?
No. ClickUp Free Forever, Trello free, Basecamp free, Asana Personal and Notion Free are standing plans at $0/mo, not time-limited trials. What runs out is room, not access, so the honest test is whether the caps match how your team works before you move real project data in.
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