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: Trello is the cheapest entry point in this category at $6/mo, and 4 of the 4 platforms here publish a free plan. The spread between the cheapest and the dearest entry plan we can read is $6 a month, for products that all do the same core job -- so the price is the first thing to sort on, not the last. Every platform here publishes a self-serve price.
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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, second-party tier ladder |
| 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, second-party tier ladder |
| 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, second-party tier ladder |
| 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, second-party tier ladder |
Entry paid plan, monthly billing, read from each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-27. 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, second-party tier ladder |
| 2 | ClickUp | $10 | Teams that want the most features per dollar and will accept a busier interface to get them. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 3 | Asana | $10.99 | Teams that want a real work-management tool without a per-seat surprise at the entry tier. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
| 4 | monday.com | $12 | Teams that want a visual work OS and will pay annually to get the lower per-seat rate. | first-party prices, second-party tier ladder |
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.
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 2026-09-27 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 2026-09-27 and re-checked weekly.