Teamwork.com Alternatives: 10 Project Management Tools for 2026
Teamwork.com Alternatives: 10 Options Compared for 2026
Short answer: Productive if you want Teamwork's agency finance features (budgets, rate cards, profitability) at a lower list price. ClickUp or monday.com if you mostly need task management and can drop the billing side. Basecamp if per-seat pricing is the problem. Paymo if you're a small studio that wants time tracking and invoicing in one cheap tool. OpenProject or Plane if you'd rather self-host.
Teamwork.com sells itself as project management built for client work, and the pricing page backs that up. Free covers up to 5 users and 5 projects. Basics is $9.99/user/month billed annually with a 3-seat minimum. Accelerate is $24.99/user/month billed annually with a 5-seat minimum. Optimize and Enterprise are "contact sales".
That last part is where a lot of agencies start shopping. The features most people think of as "the Teamwork pitch" are spread across tiers. Time budgets, retainers, invoicing from logged time and workload planning start at Accelerate. Profitability insights, resource scheduling by role or skill, and quotes sit on Optimize, which has no public price. For a 12-person agency on Accelerate, that's 12 x $24.99 x 12 = $3,599 a year, before you've seen a profitability report.
So which part of Teamwork do you actually use? Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page, checked October 2026. Where a vendor only quotes, we say so.
Looking at broader PM tools? We've also compared Asana alternatives, ClickUp alternatives, and Basecamp alternatives.
Building client-facing project tracking into your own product? Start with the Kanban PM Kit
If you're an agency that wants a branded project portal for clients, or a SaaS team adding project tracking to your product, the Kanban PM Kit gives you the frontend: 45 screens covering drag-and-drop boards, sprint cycles with burndown charts, a roadmap with milestones, a workload view with capacity status, goals, and analytics. Next.js 16 + Tailwind CSS v4 + shadcn/ui. To be plain about it: it's UI, so it won't track billable time or send invoices. $131 solo. Live demo.
Get the Kanban PM Kit → or get every kit (18 total) for $749 via All UI Kits →
TL;DR: Quick Picks for 2026
| Need | Top pick | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Agency finance: budgets, rate cards, billable time | Productive | From $10/user/mo (yearly) |
| All-in-one workspace, cheap per seat | ClickUp | Free, paid from $9/user/mo (yearly) |
| Cross-functional teams, portfolios | Asana | Free for 2, paid from $10.99/user/mo (yearly) |
| Visual boards, easy client guests | monday.com | Free for 2, paid from $9/seat/mo (yearly) |
| Bigger teams, structured workflows | Wrike | Free, paid from $10/user/mo (yearly) |
| Flat pricing, clients included | Basecamp | Free, then from $29/mo flat |
| Small studios: time tracking + invoicing | Paymo | Free for 1 user, paid from $5.90/mo |
| Open source, traditional PM | OpenProject | Free (self-host) |
| Open source, modern UI | Plane | Free up to 12 users, paid from $6/user/mo (yearly) |
| Project tracking inside your product | Build it | $131+ one-time |
What Teamwork.com Actually Does Well
Teamwork gets client work. Even the Free plan lets you organize work by client, and from Basics up you get billable time tracking, reporting and unlimited project templates. Accelerate adds time budgets and retainers, invoicing from logged time, intake forms, live capacity planning, and HubSpot and QuickBooks integrations. That's a list most general PM tools can't match without add-ons.
It also has a sibling help desk, Teamwork Desk, priced per agent from $9.50/month billed annually. If your agency runs support retainers, having tickets and projects from one vendor is handy.
Most alternatives below beat Teamwork on one axis: price, simplicity, task UX, or hosting. Few beat it on the whole agency bundle. Be honest about which part you'd miss.
When to Leave Teamwork.com
- You need profitability reporting and don't want a sales call. Revenue, cost and profitability insights are on Optimize, which is quote-only.
- Seat minimums don't match your team. Basics needs 3 seats and Accelerate needs 5. A two-person studio pays for seats it doesn't use.
- You don't bill by the hour. If you sell fixed-fee projects, you're paying for time and invoicing features you'll never open.
- You want to own the data and the hosting. Teamwork offers US or EU hosting, but it's still their cloud.
1. Productive
The closest match for agencies that bought Teamwork for the finance side.
Strengths:
- Budgeting, resource planning, time tracking and expense management on the entry plan
- Professional adds rate cards, recurring budgets, billable time approvals and invoicing integrations
- Built-in AI Assistant and a meeting Notetaker (10 recording hours a month included)
- 14-day free trial, no card
Weaknesses:
- Revenue forecasting, scenario planning and the HubSpot integration are Ultimate-only, and Ultimate has no public price
- No free plan
- Heavier than you need if you mostly manage tasks
Pricing: Essential $10/user/month, Professional $25/user/month, both billed yearly. Ultimate is quote only.
Best for: Agencies and consultancies where margins and billable hours matter as much as task boards.
2. ClickUp
The everything-workspace, at a low per-seat price.
Strengths:
- Free Forever plan with unlimited tasks and unlimited free members
- Time tracking included on every paid plan; timesheets from Business
- Docs, whiteboards, forms and chat in one place
- Guests on paid plans, plus unlimited view-only guests
Weaknesses:
- No native client invoicing like Teamwork's
- The sheer number of features takes setup discipline
- Free plan caps you at 60 MB of storage and 5 automation rules
Pricing: Core $9/user/month, Business $17/user/month, billed annually (listed against regular prices of $12 and $25). Enterprise is quote only. AI credits are an add-on.
Best for: Teams that want one cheap workspace for tasks and docs and can handle billing elsewhere. More options in our ClickUp alternatives guide.
3. Asana
The safe pick for cross-functional work and portfolio views.
Strengths:
- Timeline and Gantt views from Starter
- Advanced adds unlimited portfolios, workload balancing, and estimated vs actual effort
- Free Personal plan for up to 2 users
Weaknesses:
- Timesheets and budgets are a separate add-on
- No client invoicing
- Seats are sold in increments (5 at a time from 5 to 30 users), so you may pay for empty seats
Pricing: Starter $10.99/user/month yearly ($13.49 monthly), Advanced $24.99 yearly ($30.49 monthly). Enterprise is quote only.
Best for: In-house teams and agencies that care more about cross-team planning than billing. See our Asana alternatives comparison.
4. monday.com
The most visual option, with a gentle learning curve for clients.
Strengths:
- Boards your clients understand without training
- Unlimited free viewers from Basic; guest editing access from Standard
- Free plan for up to 2 seats
Weaknesses:
- Time tracking is Pro only
- Plans start from 3 seats
- No built-in invoicing
Pricing: Basic $9/seat/month, Standard $12, Pro $19, billed annually. Enterprise is quote only.
Best for: Agencies that share boards with clients and want them to actually look at them. Compared in more depth in monday.com alternatives.
5. Wrike
Structured work management for larger teams.
Strengths:
- Interactive Gantt charts and shareable dashboards from Team
- Pinnacle adds resource and capacity planning, budgeting, time tracking and billable hours
- Free plan with board and table views
Weaknesses:
- Time tracking and resource planning are on Pinnacle, which is quote only (the same problem as Teamwork's Optimize)
- Team is capped at 15 users; Business is annual-only
- Seats sold in groups of 5 up to 30
Pricing: Team $10/user/month, Business $25/user/month, billed annually. Pinnacle and Apex are quote only.
Best for: Mid-size teams with formal workflows that will talk to sales anyway.
6. Basecamp
Flat pricing and a calmer way to run client projects.
Strengths:
- Flat monthly price instead of per seat
- Pro Unlimited covers unlimited users, so clients and contractors cost nothing extra
- 30-day free trial, no card
- Simple enough that clients use it without a walkthrough
Weaknesses:
- On the lower plans, clients and guests count toward your user limit
- No billable time, budgets or invoicing like Teamwork's
- Lower plans cap active projects (3, 8 or 12)
Pricing: Free (1 project, 3 users), Freelancer $29/month, Pro $79/month, Pro Plus $99/month, Pro Unlimited $199/month billed annually ($329 billed monthly).
Best for: Agencies tired of per-seat bills, especially with lots of client collaborators. Our Basecamp alternatives post covers the reverse move.
7. Paymo
Time tracking, projects and invoicing for small studios.
Strengths:
- Unlimited time tracking and invoices, even on Free
- Plus adds estimates, expenses and recurring invoices
- Pro adds employee scheduling, workload tools and timesheet approvals
- Guest access for clients from Solo
Weaknesses:
- Free is 1 user, 1 client and 2 projects
- Less depth in reporting than Teamwork or Productive
- Current monthly prices are introductory for the first three months
Pricing: Monthly billing: Solo $9.90, Plus $15.90/user, Pro $23.90/user (intro prices of $5.90, $10.90 and $16.90 for the first three months on new accounts). Annual billing is discounted up to 40%.
Best for: Freelancers and small studios who want Teamwork's time-to-invoice loop without the seat minimums.
8. OpenProject
The mature open-source PM tool for teams that self-host.
Strengths:
- Community edition is free and open source (GPL-3.0)
- Gantt charts, work packages, time and cost reporting
- Enterprise plans available as cloud or on-premises
Weaknesses:
- UI feels dated next to Teamwork
- Enterprise plans have high seat minimums (25 users on Basic and Professional)
- You own upgrades, backups and uptime when you self-host
Pricing: Community free. Enterprise Basic €5.95, Professional €10.95, Premium €15.95 per user/month; Corporate on request.
Best for: Teams with an ops person who'd rather run a server than pay per seat forever.
9. Plane
A modern open-source tracker with a generous free tier.
Strengths:
- Self-hostable (AGPL-3.0) with full data ownership
- Free cloud plan for up to 12 users, with cycles and modules
- Wiki and GitHub integration from Pro
Weaknesses:
- Built around software teams, so there's no time billing or client invoicing
- Intake by email and forms is Business-only
- Younger product than OpenProject
Pricing: Free (12 users), Pro $6/user/month yearly ($8 monthly), Business $13 yearly ($15 monthly). Enterprise Grid is custom.
Best for: Product and dev agencies that track engineering work and bill elsewhere.
10. Build Your Own Client Portal
Some agencies end up wanting a project view that's theirs: a portal clients log into under your brand, showing exactly the boards, milestones and progress you choose. No rented tool lets you own that UX.
What that looks like:
- Keep your PM tool (or one above) for internal work, and sync what clients should see through its API
- The Kanban PM Kit supplies the frontend: Kanban boards, sprints with burndown, roadmap with milestones, workload, goals, and analytics, across 45 screens
- Next.js 16 + Tailwind CSS v4 + shadcn/ui, so it fits a modern stack
- One-time $131 solo, $199 team, or $349 agency (the agency license allows client delivery)
Be realistic: auth, data and hosting are on you. It pays off when the portal is part of what you sell. Try the demo or read How to Build a Kanban App in Next.js.
Recommendation by Profile
| You | Pick |
|---|---|
| Agency that lives on budgets and billable hours | Productive |
| Want one cheap workspace for everything | ClickUp |
| Cross-team planning and portfolios | Asana |
| Clients need to see boards | monday.com |
| Larger team with formal workflows | Wrike |
| Done with per-seat pricing | Basecamp |
| Small studio, time-to-invoice | Paymo |
| Self-hosted, traditional PM | OpenProject |
| Self-hosted, modern UI, dev work | Plane |
| Client portal as your product | Build it |
Pricing at a Glance (12 Users, Annual Billing)
| Product | Setup that fits | ~Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Teamwork.com (Accelerate) | $24.99/user x 12 | $3,599 |
| Teamwork.com (Optimize) | Quote only | Quote only |
| Productive (Professional) | $25/user x 12 | $3,600 |
| Productive (Essential) | $10/user x 12 | $1,440 |
| Asana (Advanced) | $24.99/user, sold in seats of 5 (15 seats) | $4,498 |
| Wrike (Business) | $25/user, sold in groups of 5 (15 seats) | $4,500 |
| ClickUp (Business) | $17/user x 12 | $2,448 |
| monday.com (Pro) | $19/seat x 12 | $2,736 |
| Basecamp (Pro Plus) | $99/mo flat, up to 15 users | $1,188 |
| Plane (Pro, cloud) | $6/user x 12 | $864 |
| OpenProject Community | Self-hosted | Free + hosting |
| Kanban PM Kit | Build path | $131+ one-time + backend work |
Directional list prices from each vendor's page in October 2026. Asana and Wrike sell seats in blocks of 5 at this size, so 12 users means paying for 15. Basecamp Pro Plus is billed at its monthly rate here; annual billing is also offered. Paymo isn't in the table because its annual rates aren't published.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Teamwork.com cost in 2026?
Free covers up to 5 users. Basics is $9.99/user/month and Accelerate is $24.99/user/month, both billed annually, with 3-seat and 5-seat minimums. Optimize and Enterprise are quote only. Paid plans come with a 14-day trial.
What is the cheapest alternative to Teamwork.com?
For a small team, ClickUp's Free Forever plan and Plane's free cloud plan (up to 12 users) cost nothing. If you need time tracking and invoicing, Paymo has a free single-user plan. For larger teams who hate per-seat pricing, Basecamp Pro Unlimited is $199/month billed annually for unlimited users.
What's the best Teamwork.com alternative for agencies?
Productive if budgets, rate cards and billable time are why you chose Teamwork. Basecamp if you collaborate with lots of client stakeholders and want a flat price. monday.com if clients need to see boards and you'll handle billing elsewhere.
Is there an open-source alternative to Teamwork.com?
Yes. OpenProject's Community edition is GPL-3.0 and covers Gantt charts, time and cost reporting. Plane is AGPL-3.0 and self-hostable, though it's aimed at software teams. Neither has Teamwork's client invoicing.
Does Teamwork.com have a free plan?
Yes, for up to 5 users and 5 projects, with 100 MB of storage. It includes task, board, Gantt and table views and time logging, but billable time tracking starts on Basics.
The Honest Take
Teamwork.com is a strong choice for agencies that bill by the hour and use its time-to-invoice loop every week. Accelerate at $24.99/user is fair for what it packs in.
The friction shows up at the edges. Profitability lives behind a sales call, seat minimums hit small studios, and fixed-fee agencies pay for billing features they skip. Productive covers the finance side at a similar or lower price. ClickUp and monday.com are cheaper if you only need tasks. Basecamp kills per-seat math. Paymo suits tiny studios. OpenProject and Plane let you host it yourself.
Pick based on the work you actually do each week. And if your clients really need a portal of their own, build it.
Want it shipped without hiring a developer?
The build path above assumes you have engineers. If you don't, the team behind thefrontkit does done-for-you launches: we deploy the kit, apply your branding, and wire it to your stack. Fixed quotes, most builds ship in 2-4 weeks, from $1999.
