Best project management software (2026 prices)
No star ratings. Every project management platform we track, its published entry price, and who the vendor itself says it is for.
Short answer: 6 of the 6 tools in the table publish a free plan, so the cheapest way to start is $0. The cheapest paid plan in the table is Trello at $6/mo. Every paid price in that table is what you pay after the free plan.
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Asana if this describes you: Teams that want a real work-management tool without a per-seat surprise at the entry tier. Visit Asana
- Pick monday.com if this describes you: Teams that want a visual work OS and will pay annually to get the lower per-seat rate. Visit monday.com
- Pick Trello if this describes you: Small teams that want a kanban board and nothing else, at the lowest per-seat price in this cluster. Visit Trello
- Pick ClickUp if this describes you: Teams that want the most features per dollar and will accept a busier interface to get them. Visit ClickUp
- Pick Notion if this describes you: Small teams that want docs, tasks and lightweight databases in one workspace. Visit Notion
- Pick Basecamp if this describes you: Teams that want one fixed price for the whole account, so the bill never grows with headcount. Visit Basecamp
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| Asana | $10.99/mo | Yes |
| monday.com | $12/mo | Yes |
| Trello | $6/mo | Yes |
| ClickUp | $10/mo | Yes |
| Notion | $10/mo | Yes |
| Basecamp | $25/mo | Yes |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works. How we check prices.
Every project management platforms we track, by entry price
| Platform | Entry paid plan | Free plan | Best for | Not for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asana | $10.99/mo | Yes | Teams that want a real work-management tool without a per-seat surprise at the entry tier. | Solo users who only need a to-do list - the free tier already covers that. | first-party prices |
| monday.com | $12/mo | Yes | Teams that want a visual work OS and will pay annually to get the lower per-seat rate. | Anyone who needs a free plan for more than 2 people - the free tier caps at 2 seats. | first-party prices |
| Trello | $6/mo | Yes | Small teams that want a kanban board and nothing else, at the lowest per-seat price in this cluster. | Teams that need Gantt charts, workload planning or reporting - that is Premium and above. | first-party prices |
| ClickUp | $10/mo | Yes | Teams that want the most features per dollar and will accept a busier interface to get them. | Teams that want one obvious way to do things - ClickUp's flexibility is also its learning curve. | first-party prices |
| Notion | $10/mo | Yes | Small teams that want docs, tasks and lightweight databases in one workspace. | Teams that need deep native Gantt charts or a dedicated CRM. | first-party prices |
| Basecamp | $25/mo | Yes | Teams that want one fixed price for the whole account, so the bill never grows with headcount. | A solo operator who wants the cheapest paid board - Trello Standard is $6/mo, or $5/mo billed annually, per user, and ClickUp Unlimited is $10/mo, or $7/mo billed annually, per user. | first-party prices |
Entry paid plan, monthly billing, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-10-05. Where a vendor renders its prices with JavaScript, the figure comes from the named third-party tracker in the last column.
The ranking by entry price
| # | Tool | Entry paid plan | Best for | Where the number came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trello | $6 | Small teams that want a kanban board and nothing else, at the lowest per-seat price in this cluster. | first-party prices |
| 2 | ClickUp | $10 | Teams that want the most features per dollar and will accept a busier interface to get them. | first-party prices |
| 3 | Notion | $10 | Small teams that want docs, tasks and lightweight databases in one workspace. | first-party prices |
| 4 | Asana | $10.99 | Teams that want a real work-management tool without a per-seat surprise at the entry tier. | first-party prices |
| 5 | monday.com | $12 | Teams that want a visual work OS and will pay annually to get the lower per-seat rate. | first-party prices |
| 6 | Basecamp | $25 | Teams that want one fixed price for the whole account, so the bill never grows with headcount. | first-party prices |
Prices checked 2026-10-23.
A platform that publishes no self-serve price is listed last and cannot win a price ranking.
What you are actually buying
Per-seat pricing is the whole story in this category. The entry plan is a single-seat number, and the platforms that look cheapest per user are often the ones that meter automations, guests or storage on top. Price your actual team size against two or three rows before you pick.
Free plans in this category
Asana publishes a free plan. monday.com publishes a free plan. Trello publishes a free plan. ClickUp publishes a free plan. Notion publishes a free plan. Basecamp publishes a free plan.
How we picked
We took every project management platform we track, read its published entry paid plan from the vendor's own pricing page, and sorted ascending. No scores, because we have not run a head-to-head trial and we will not invent one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest project management tool?
The cheapest published entry plan in our 2026-10-05 check is on the table above, read from the vendor's own pricing page. It is a per-seat number, so multiply by your team.
Is per-seat pricing the real cost?
No. Several platforms here charge per seat and then meter automations, guests or storage on top. The per-tool pages list the add-ons where the vendor publishes them.
Can a small team stay on a free plan?
Sometimes. Free tiers here cap seats, guests or automations rather than tasks, so read the limits on each tool's page before you assume.
How current are these prices?
Read from the vendors' own pages on 2026-10-05 and re-checked weekly.