The best monday.com alternatives in 2026

Why Look for monday.com Alternatives in 2026

monday.com is well liked. G2 users give it 4.7 out of 5 across 17,270 reviews, the highest score in this comparison. Its boards are flexible, and even the free plan includes unlimited items and unlimited free viewers.

The reasons to look elsewhere are mostly about how the plans are packaged:

• The free plan is small. Free covers up to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 Docs. Most teams outgrow it quickly.
• You can't buy fewer than 3 seats. Paid plans start from 3 users, and seats are picked from team-size tiers rather than one at a time. A 2-person team that wants a paid plan pays for 3.
• Basic is missing the views many teams want. Basic ($9/seat/month annual) has no Gantt/timeline view and no automation or integration actions listed. Those start on Standard.
• Standard's automation quota is tight. Standard ($12/seat/month annual) includes 250 automation actions and 250 integration actions per month. Busy teams can burn through that fast.
• The next step is a big one. Pro ($19/seat/month annual) raises both quotas to 25,000 actions and adds private boards and time tracking. Going from Standard to Pro costs 58% more per seat.
• Monthly billing is not discounted. Monthly prices are $12, $14 and $24 per seat versus $9, $12 and $19 billed annually. Yearly billing saves 18%.
• Larger teams need a quote. Above 40 users, you have to request a quote.

This guide compares monday.com with Asana, ClickUp, Smartsheet, Wrike, Airtable and Teamwork.com. Every price and limit comes from each vendor's official pricing page as of October 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a number, we say so.

monday.com review

monday.com Work Management is built around boards: grids of items you can view as a table, a timeline or a calendar, then automate. The real question is which plan you need, and whether its quotas fit how you work.

Key features

• Boards with unlimited items, even on Free
• Gantt/timeline and calendar views from Standard
• Automations and integrations with monthly action quotas: 250 each on Standard, 25,000 each on Pro, 250,000 on Enterprise
• Guest access from Standard; private boards and docs and time tracking on Pro
• Monthly AI credits: 1,000 on Basic, 2,000 on Standard, 3,000 on Pro

Pricing

• Free: $0 forever, up to 2 seats, 3 boards, 3 Docs, unlimited items, unlimited free viewers
• Basic: $9/seat/month billed annually, $12 billed monthly; 1,000 AI credits/month
• Standard: $12/seat/month billed annually, $14 billed monthly; 2,000 AI credits, 250 automation and 250 integration actions per month, guest access, Gantt/timeline
• Pro: $19/seat/month billed annually, $24 billed monthly; 3,000 AI credits, 25,000 automation and 25,000 integration actions per month, private boards, time tracking
• Enterprise: custom; 250,000 automation and integration actions per month

Yearly billing saves 18%. Paid plans start from 3 users; above 40 users you request a quote. Seats come from a team-size selector, and the page shows 3 and 10 seats as examples without listing every size. There is a 14-day free trial of Pro.

Pros

• Unlimited items and free viewers even on Free
• Gantt/timeline views and guest access from Standard ($12/seat annual)
• Pro raises automation and integration quotas to 25,000 actions/month
• 14-day Pro trial

Cons

• Paid plans require at least 3 seats
• Standard's 250 automation actions per month is low for busy teams
• Monthly billing costs more: $12, $14 and $24 per seat vs $9, $12 and $19 annual

Who should use it

Teams of three or more that want visual boards, lots of free viewers, and either light automation (Standard) or heavy automation they can pay for (Pro).

Who should skip it

Teams that need Gantt views and lots of automation but don't want to pay $19 a seat, and very small teams that don't want to pay for a third seat.

Asana review

Asana is the most structured tool here. Work lives in projects, and on Advanced those roll up into portfolios and goals. For monday.com users, its biggest draw is simple: unlimited automations on its entry paid plan.

Key features

• List, board and calendar views on every plan, including free Personal
• Timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards and custom fields from Starter
• Unlimited automations, forms and custom templates from Starter
• Portfolios, goals, resource management and approvals/proofing on Advanced
• SAML, SCIM and capacity planning on Enterprise; audit logs and data residency on Enterprise+

Pricing

• Personal: $0, free forever, up to 2 seats
• Starter: $10.99/user/month billed annually, $13.49 billed monthly
• Advanced: $24.99/user/month billed annually, $30.49 billed monthly
• Enterprise and Enterprise+: custom pricing

Seats are sold one at a time up to 5 users, then in steps of 5 up to 30, 10 up to 100, 25 up to 500, and 50 above that. No refunds; cancelling keeps access to the end of the paid period. AI beyond included credits costs $0.50 per request prepaid or $0.60 pay-as-you-go. The pricing page does not mention a free trial.

Pros

• Unlimited automations, forms and free guests from Starter
• Timeline and Gantt views on the entry paid tier
• Portfolios, goals and resource management on Advanced
• Enterprise security options such as SAML, SCIM and data residency

Cons

• Free plan capped at 2 seats
• Advanced costs $24.99/user/month annual ($30.49 monthly)
• No refunds on cancelled subscriptions

Who should use it

monday.com Standard users who keep hitting the 250-action automation cap. Asana Starter costs $10.99 per seat annually, $1.01 less than monday.com Standard, with unlimited automations instead of 250 actions a month. You can also buy 1 to 5 seats exactly, with no 3-seat minimum.

Who should skip it

Teams that love monday.com's board-first style, teams that need free viewers in bulk, and anyone who wants to trial paid features first (the pricing page mentions no trial) or wants refunds.

ClickUp review

ClickUp puts tasks, docs and AI into one workspace. It matches monday.com Basic on entry price but includes Gantt charts and automations on that entry plan. Note that ClickUp recently changed its plans; the pricing page now shows Free Forever, Core, Business, Enterprise and MAX.

Key features

• Tasks, docs, Kanban boards, calendar view, sprints and time tracking on Free Forever
• Unlimited Gantt charts, custom fields and task types, and unlimited forms from Core
• Automation quotas: 1,000/month on Core, 10,000 on Business, 1 million on Enterprise and MAX
• Advanced dashboards, resource management, timesheets, private views and docs on Business
• ClickUp Brain AI with pooled monthly credits on paid plans

Pricing

• Free Forever: $0; 60MB storage, unlimited tasks, unlimited free members, 1 form, 500 AI credits per workspace
• Core: $9/user/month billed yearly; 1,000 AI credits per user per month (pooled), unlimited storage, unlimited Gantt charts, 1,000 automations/month
• Business: $17/user/month billed yearly; 1,500 AI credits per user per month (pooled), 10,000 automations/month
• Enterprise: custom; 3,000 AI credits per user per month, 1 million automations/month, SSO/SCIM/SAML, HIPAA
• MAX: $100/user/month billed yearly; everything in Enterprise plus 10,000 AI credits per user per month

Extra AI credits cost $10 per 10,000. ClickUp says yearly billing saves up to 33%, but we could not confirm monthly-billed prices, so we list only yearly ones. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Pros

• Free plan allows unlimited free members
• Unlimited storage and Gantt charts from Core
• AI credits included on every paid plan
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

• Free plan storage is only 60MB, and Gantt charts are trial-only on Free
• Core caps automations at 1,000 per month
• MAX costs $100/user/month billed yearly

Who should use it

monday.com users who want Gantt and automations without paying for Standard. ClickUp Core costs $9 per seat billed yearly, $3 less than monday.com Standard, with 1,000 automations a month instead of 250 actions. Business ($17) adds resource management and timesheets for $2 less than monday.com Pro.

Who should skip it

Teams that want a simple, focused tool, or a plan lineup that has settled.

Smartsheet review

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet that grew project management features. Where monday.com gives you boards, Smartsheet gives you rows and columns with Gantt, board and calendar views on top. It has the most G2 reviews here: 4.4 out of 5 across 22,733.

Key features

• Sheets with Gantt, table, board and calendar views on all plans
• Unlimited sheets, forms and reports on all plans
• Timeline view and workload tracking from Business
• Portfolios, scenario planning and SAML SSO on Enterprise
• Control Center, Dynamic View, Data Shuttle and DataMesh on Advanced Work Management

Pricing

• Pro: $9/member/month billed yearly; 1 to 10 members, unlimited contributors, no guests, 20GB storage, 30MB attachments, 250 automations/month; new customers only
• Business: $19/member/month billed yearly; 3+ members, unlimited guests and contributors, 1TB storage, 250MB attachments, unlimited automations, timeline view, workload tracking
• Enterprise: custom; 10+ members, unlimited storage, SAML SSO, portfolios, scenario planning
• Advanced Work Management: custom; adds Control Center, Dynamic View, Data Shuttle, DataMesh and premium support

Monthly billing is offered at a higher rate; check the pricing page for the current figure. There is no free plan, but there is a 30-day trial with no credit card.

Pros

• Gantt view on every plan
• Unlimited sheets, forms and reports on all plans
• Unlimited automations and free guests on Business
• 30-day trial with no credit card

Cons

• No free plan
• Pro is capped at 10 members and 250 automations per month, with no guests
• Pro limits dashboards to 10 widgets and reports to 1 sheet
• Timeline view and workload tracking require Business

Who should use it

Teams that think in spreadsheets, and monday.com Pro customers who want more automation for the same money. Smartsheet Business is $19 per member billed yearly, the same as monday.com Pro, with unlimited automations instead of 25,000 actions.

Who should skip it

Teams that want a free plan, and small teams that need guests but don't want Business.

Wrike review

Wrike targets teams that plan with Gantt charts and expect to grow into resource planning and budgeting.

Key features

• Board and table views on Free
• Interactive Gantt charts and shareable dashboards from Team
• Templates and standard integrations from Business
• Resource and capacity planning, budgeting and BI reporting on Pinnacle
• Wrike Integrate, Wrike Sync and unlimited whiteboards on Apex

Pricing

• Free: $0; web, desktop and mobile apps, project and task management, board and table views
• Team: $10/user/month billed annually, 2 to 15 users; AI Essentials, dashboards, Gantt charts
• Business: $25/user/month, 5 to 200 users, annual only; AI Elite starter pack, templates, standard integrations
• Pinnacle and Apex: contact sales

Seats come in groups of 5 up to 30, groups of 10 from 30 to 100, and groups of 25 above 100. Prices apply to purchases on or after January 21, 2026. There is a 14-day trial with no credit card.

Pros

• Free plan with board and table views
• Gantt charts and dashboards from the $10 Team plan
• 14-day trial with no credit card
• Advanced resource planning and BI on Pinnacle

Cons

• Team plan caps at 15 users
• Business and above are annual-only
• Pinnacle and Apex prices are not published

Who should use it

Small teams that want Gantt charts for less than monday.com Standard: Wrike Team is $10/user/month billed annually versus $12. Also organizations that will need resource planning and budgeting later.

Who should skip it

Teams of 16 or more who don't want $25 seats on an annual-only plan, and anyone who wants to see top-tier pricing without a sales call. Wrike's pricing page also doesn't state automation limits, so ask before you switch for automation reasons.

Airtable review

Airtable is a relational database you can shape into a project tracker, a content calendar or a custom app. It is the most flexible tool here, and it has the highest entry price. G2 users rate it 4.6 out of 5 across 3,300 reviews.

Key features

• Relational database bases with per-plan record and attachment limits
• Interface Designer for custom interfaces with grid, kanban, calendar, timeline and gallery elements (Team and up)
• Automations with monthly run quotas: 100 on Free, 25,000 on Team, 100,000 on Business, 500,000 on Enterprise Scale
• Two-way sync on Business
• Airtable AI with monthly credits on every plan

Pricing

• Free: $0; 1,000 records and 1GB attachments per base, 100 automation runs/month, 1,000 API calls/month, up to 5 Editors or Creators, 50 Commenters, unlimited read-only users, 2 weeks of history
• Team: $20/collaborator/month billed annually, $24 billed monthly; 50,000 records and 20GB per base, 25,000 automation runs/month, 100,000 API calls/month, 1 year of history, Interface Designer
• Business: $45/collaborator/month billed annually, $54 billed monthly; 125,000 records and 100GB per base, 100,000 automation runs/month, unlimited API calls, two-way sync; requires a private email domain
• Enterprise Scale: contact sales; 500,000 automation runs/month

Only users with edit rights are billed. Read-only users are free, and commenters are also free on Business. Automation runs count per workspace per month, and failed runs count too. Your first workspace gets a 14-day Team trial.

Pros

• Read-only collaborators are free; only editors are billed
• Interface Designer builds custom app-like views on Team and up
• High automation quotas: 25,000 runs/month on Team
• Unlimited API calls and two-way sync on Business

Cons

• Free plan caps bases at 1,000 records and 1GB of attachments
• Business costs $45/seat/month annual ($54 monthly)
• Record limits per base (50,000 Team, 125,000 Business) can force upgrades
• Business requires a private email domain (no Gmail or Yahoo)

Who should use it

Teams whose "projects" are really structured data, like content pipelines, inventories or request queues, and who want to build their own interface on top. If only a few people edit and many people view, Airtable's billing works in your favor.

Who should skip it

Teams that want a ready-made project tool with no setup, and teams with very large bases that would hit record limits.

Teamwork.com review

Teamwork.com is built for client work. Time logging, budgets, retainers and invoicing are the center of the product.

Key features

• Task, list, board, Gantt and table views, time logging and client organization on every plan, including Free
• Billable time tracking and reporting, and unlimited project templates from Basics
• Smart intake forms, workload and capacity planning, time budgets and retainers from Accelerate
• Invoicing from logged time, plus HubSpot and QuickBooks integrations from Accelerate
• Quotes, resource planning and profitability insights on Optimize

Pricing

• Free: $0; up to 5 users, 5 projects, 100MB storage, 100 automations
• Basics: $9.99/user/month billed yearly; minimum 3 users, 300 projects, 100GB, 5,000 automations
• Accelerate: $24.99/user/month billed yearly; minimum 5 users, 600 projects, 250GB, 20,000 automations
• Optimize: contact sales; unlimited projects, 500GB, 100,000 automations
• Enterprise: contact sales; unlimited projects, 1,000GB, 100,000 automations

Annual billing saves 29% versus monthly, but monthly prices are not shown. There is a 14-day trial with no credit card.

Pros

• Gantt view and time logging on Free
• Billable time tracking and reporting from Basics
• Budgets, retainers and invoicing from logged time on Accelerate
• 14-day trial with no credit card

Cons

• Paid plans have minimums (3 users on Basics, 5 on Accelerate)
• Capacity planning and invoicing require Accelerate at $24.99/user/month annual
• Free plan limited to 5 projects and 100MB storage

Who should use it

Agencies that bill by the hour. Teamwork.com's free plan covers 5 users with Gantt and time logging, compared with monday.com's 2 seats. Basics costs $9.99 per user billed yearly, less than monday.com Standard, with 5,000 automations a month.

Who should skip it

Internal teams that never bill clients, since much of the value sits in time, budget and invoicing features.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Ease of use and how each tool is shaped

These tools differ less in quality than in shape:

• Boards: monday.com. Everything is an item on a board.
• Lists and hierarchy: Asana, with portfolios and goals on Advanced.
• Everything in one place: ClickUp. Powerful, but more settings to learn.
• Spreadsheets: Smartsheet.
• Gantt-first planning: Wrike.
• Build your own: Airtable. The most flexible, but you design the structure.
• Client work: Teamwork.com, with projects organized by client.

Features

Where the key features start:

• Gantt or timeline: monday.com Standard, Asana Starter, ClickUp Core, Wrike Team, Airtable Team (timeline element in Interface Designer). Smartsheet and Teamwork.com include Gantt on every plan.
• Guests: monday.com Standard, Asana Starter (free guests), Smartsheet Business (none on Pro).
• Time tracking: monday.com Pro; ClickUp and Teamwork.com on every plan.
• Resource or workload planning: Asana Advanced, ClickUp Business, Smartsheet Business (workload tracking), Teamwork.com Accelerate, Wrike Pinnacle.

If a feature isn't listed for a tool, the pricing page we checked doesn't mention it. Ask the vendor before ruling it out.

Automation: the main reason teams leave

Monthly automation allowances at each tool's entry paid plan and the next plan up:

Vendors count differently (actions, runs, automations), so compare against your real workflows, not just the numbers.

Pricing value: what a 10-person team pays

We use 10 people because monday.com shows 10 seats as an example and it fits Asana's and Wrike's seat steps. Figures use annual billing for one year.

Entry plans with Gantt views:

• monday.com Standard: 10 × $12 × 12 = $1,440
• Asana Starter: 10 × $10.99 × 12 = $1,318.80
• ClickUp Core: 10 × $9 × 12 = $1,080
• Smartsheet Pro: 10 × $9 × 12 = $1,080 (10 members is Pro's maximum)
• Wrike Team: 10 × $10 × 12 = $1,200
• Teamwork.com Basics: 10 × $9.99 × 12 = $1,198.80
• Airtable Team, all 10 editing: 10 × $20 × 12 = $2,400

Plans for heavy automation:

• monday.com Pro (25,000 actions): 10 × $19 × 12 = $2,280
• Smartsheet Business (unlimited): 10 × $19 × 12 = $2,280
• ClickUp Business (10,000): 10 × $17 × 12 = $2,040
• Asana Starter (unlimited): $1,318.80, as above

Airtable's twist: only editors pay. If 4 of the 10 edit and 6 only view, Airtable Team is 4 × $20 × 12 = $960/year. monday.com also offers free viewers, so do the same count for both.

Integrations and ecosystem

The pricing pages confirm only a few integration details:

• monday.com meters integration actions: 250 a month on Standard, 25,000 on Pro, 250,000 on Enterprise.
• Airtable allows 1,000 API calls a month on Free, 100,000 on Team and unlimited on Business, plus two-way sync on Business.
• Wrike includes standard integrations from Business, plus Wrike Integrate and Wrike Sync on Apex.
• Smartsheet adds Data Shuttle and DataMesh on Advanced Work Management.
• Teamwork.com connects to HubSpot and QuickBooks from Accelerate.
• Asana and ClickUp put SAML and SCIM on Enterprise.

Check app directories for the integrations you rely on.

Limits that bite

• monday.com: 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 Docs on Free; 3-seat minimum; 250 actions on Standard; quote above 40 users.
• Asana: 2 seats on Free; seat steps above 5 users; no refunds.
• ClickUp: 60MB storage and 1 form on Free; 1,000 automations on Core.
• Smartsheet: no free plan; Pro allows 10 members and no guests.
• Wrike: Team caps at 15 users; Business is annual-only.
• Airtable: 1,000 records per base on Free, 50,000 on Team, 125,000 on Business; Business needs a private email domain.
• Teamwork.com: 5 users and 5 projects on Free; 3- and 5-user minimums on paid plans.

How to Choose: Decision Framework

Questions to ask

1. How many automation actions do you use a month? Check monday.com's usage before you move. If you are on Standard and near 250, almost every alternative here gives you more on its entry plan.
2. How many people edit, and how many just view? monday.com and Airtable both give read-only users free access. Smartsheet includes unlimited contributors.
3. Do you need Gantt views? If so, compare against monday.com Standard, not Basic.
4. Is your work really structured data? If so, look at Airtable.
5. Do you bill clients for time? If so, start with Teamwork.com.

Red flags

• Seat minimums and steps at monday.com, Asana, Wrike and Teamwork.com.
• Hidden prices for Wrike Pinnacle and Apex, Asana Enterprise, Smartsheet Enterprise and Teamwork.com Optimize.
• Per-base limits at Airtable, which can force an upgrade as data grows.
• Refund terms: none at Asana, a 30-day money-back guarantee at ClickUp.

What to test in a trial

Trials: Smartsheet (30 days), Wrike (14 days), Teamwork.com (14 days), Airtable (14-day Team trial for your first workspace). ClickUp has a free plan and a money-back guarantee. Asana's pricing page mentions no trial. Rebuild one real monday.com board, then check:

• Can you recreate your views, especially timeline and dashboards?
• Do your automations fit the new quota, counted the new vendor's way?
• Can viewers and guests see what they need without paid seats?
• What is the bill for your real headcount, including minimums?

The Verdict: Final Recommendations

1. monday.com

Stay if your automation fits Standard's 250 actions or you can justify Pro. Switch to annual billing to save 18%.

2. Asana

Pick it if automation limits are your main pain. Starter's unlimited automations cost less per seat than monday.com Standard.

3. ClickUp

Pick it for the lowest price with Gantt and 1,000 automations. Confirm current plan limits, and use the 30-day money-back guarantee.

4. Smartsheet

Pick it if you plan in spreadsheets. Business matches monday.com Pro's price with unlimited automations.

5. Wrike

Pick it for Gantt at $10/user/month on teams of up to 15. Ask about automation limits before you commit.

6. Airtable

Pick it if your work is structured data and only some people edit. Count editors and check record limits per base.

7. Teamwork.com

Pick it if you bill by the hour. Budget for Accelerate if you need invoicing and capacity planning.

Conclusion

monday.com earns its high G2 score, and its free viewers and unlimited items are real strengths. The reasons to leave are packaging: a 3-seat minimum, no Gantt on Basic, a 250-action cap on Standard, and a 58% jump to Pro.

If automation limits are the problem, look at Asana, ClickUp or Smartsheet Business. If you want Gantt for less, look at Wrike or ClickUp. If your work is really a database, look at Airtable. If you bill clients, look at Teamwork.com. Whatever you choose, rebuild one real board in a trial and price your actual headcount before you move.