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Best free project management for client work (2026 prices)
Client work means two audiences: your team and your client. Free plans are generous with the first and stingy with the second. This page prices the four tools you are most likely to shortlist for freelance and agency project work, checked against the vendors' own pricing pages on 2026-10-05.
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 free plan for unlimited clients and tasks. Visit ClickUp
- Pick Notion if you need the best when the client has to see the page. Visit Notion
- Pick Trello if this trade-off works for you: easiest board for a solo freelancer. Visit Trello
- Pick Asana if you want timelines without a per-seat surprise. Visit Asana
The short answer
Short answer: Best free plan for unlimited clients and tasks: ClickUp Free Forever is $0/mo with unlimited members, unlimited tasks and board and list views, so every new client project is another list rather than another bill. Unlimited paid starts at $7/mo per user billed annually ($10 month-to-month) when you want dashboards and Gantt.
Best free plan for unlimited clients and tasks: ClickUp
ClickUp Free Forever is $0/mo with unlimited members, unlimited tasks and board and list views, so every new client project is another list rather than another bill. Unlimited paid starts at $7/mo per user billed annually ($10 month-to-month) when you want dashboards and Gantt.
See ClickUp pricingBest when the client has to see the page: Notion
Notion Free is $0/mo for individuals, and Notion Plus at $10/mo per member gives unlimited blocks, custom forms and sites, and unlimited charts - the shared page can be the client deliverable itself. Business jumps to $20/mo per member for SSO and Notion Agent.
See Notion pricingEasiest board for a solo freelancer: Trello
Trello Free is $0/mo for up to 10 boards per workspace, which is enough for a solo freelancer running three clients. Standard is $5/mo billed annually ($6 month-to-month) per user when you need real automations.
See Trello pricingBest if you want timelines without a per-seat surprise: Asana
Asana Personal is $0/mo for up to 10 teammates with unlimited tasks and projects, and Starter is $10.99 per user per month for timeline and workflow builder. Note Asana publishes no annual discount, so the monthly rate is the rate.
See Asana 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 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 |
Prices checked 2026-10-05.
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 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 |
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 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 Free Forever is $0/mo for unlimited members and unlimited tasks, so it is the cheapest option for client work by seat count. Trello Free and Asana Personal are also $0/mo but cap you at 10 boards per workspace or 10 teammates, and Notion Free is $0/mo for one individual only.
What does the first paid tier cost?
ClickUp Unlimited is $7/mo per user billed annually ($10 month-to-month), Trello Standard is $5/mo per user billed annually ($6 month-to-month), Notion Plus is $10/mo per member, and Asana Starter is $10.99 per user per month. On a three-person studio, ClickUp Unlimited works out to about $21/mo in total when you pay annually.
Can I share a project with a client for free?
Trello Free allows up to 10 boards per workspace at no charge, and ClickUp Free Forever has unlimited members, so both let you invite a client without a bill. Notion Free is limited to one individual, so a shared client page needs Notion Plus at $10/mo per member.
Which tool do clients find easiest?
Trello Free is the simplest to hand a client because it is one board with cards, and it stays $0/mo up to 10 boards per workspace. ClickUp Free Forever gives you more per project at $0/mo but clients tend to need a tour. Pick based on whether the client logs in weekly or once.
Do I need a paid plan to send invoices and invoices data?
None of these four tools does invoicing. They cover the project, not the money - so budget $0/mo for the work tracker and keep a separate invoice tool. ClickUp Free Forever is the safest $0/mo base for the project side of that stack.
What happens when my studio grows to 15 people?
Asana Personal stops at 10 teammates, so you would move to Asana Starter at $10.99 per user per month. ClickUp Free Forever charges nothing per member, which is why growing studios usually keep ClickUp and buy Unlimited at $7/mo per user billed annually when they need dashboards.
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