Best Affordable Project Management Software (2026): Top 9 Compared

Trello is a visual work management tool operated by Atlassian. Work is organised as cards on boards, with lists representing stages, and each card carries assignees, due dates, checklists, attachments and comments. Power-Ups extend boards with integrations and extra functions, and Workspace commands automate routine card movements.

The pricing page lists a Free plan for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, with unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per Workspace, unlimited Power-Ups per board, 10MB file uploads, 250 Workspace command runs per month and mobile apps. Standard costs $5 per user per month billed annually or $6 billed monthly, and adds unlimited boards, advanced checklists, card mirroring, custom fields, 250MB uploads, 1,000 command runs and single-board guests. Premium, at $10 per user per month billed annually or $12.50 monthly, adds calendar, timeline, table, dashboard and map views plus admin controls. Enterprise is $17.50 per user per month billed annually and includes Atlassian Guard Standard.

Trello fits small teams whose projects follow a straightforward stage-based flow and who do not need dependency scheduling. Teams that need timeline views should price Premium rather than Standard.

Asana is a work management platform for planning projects, assigning tasks and tracking progress across teams. Projects can be shown as lists, boards, calendars and, on paid plans, timelines with task dependencies. Forms turn incoming requests into tasks, and reporting dashboards summarise project data.

The pricing page lists a Personal plan at no cost for one or two people, with unlimited tasks and projects, list, board and calendar views, unlimited storage at 100MB per file, status updates and more than 100 free integrations. Starter costs $10.99 per user per month billed annually or $13.49 billed monthly. It removes the user seat limit and adds timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards, unlimited automations, forms, custom templates, custom fields and unlimited free guests. Advanced costs $24.99 per user per month billed annually or $30.49 monthly and adds portfolios, goals, resource management, approvals and proofing, and time tracking. Enterprise is quote-based. The page also sells AI requests at $0.50 each prepaid or $0.60 on demand.

Asana fits small teams that want structured project plans with dependencies from the first paid tier. Teams that need capacity planning across projects should price Advanced.

ClickUp is a work management platform that combines tasks, documents, whiteboards, chat and goals in one workspace. Work is organised in a hierarchy of spaces, folders and lists, and each list can be shown as a list, board, calendar, Gantt chart or other view. Sprint management and native time tracking support software and delivery teams.

The Free Forever plan includes unlimited tasks, unlimited free plan members, collaborative docs, Kanban boards, sprint management, calendar view, two-factor authentication, 24/7 support and 60MB of storage. On 19 October 2026 the pricing page carried two paid-plan grids. One listed Unlimited at $7 per user per month billed yearly or $10 monthly, adding unlimited storage, Gantt charts, integrations, custom fields, native time tracking and resource management, and Business at $12 billed yearly or $19 monthly. A second grid listed Core at $9 per user per month billed yearly against a regular price of $12, Business at $17 and a Max tier. AI features are sold separately.

ClickUp fits teams that want one tool for tasks, docs and sprints. Because two plan structures appeared on the same page, buyers should confirm the plan in effect before purchase.

Basecamp is a project collaboration tool from 37signals. Each project contains a set of tools such as message boards, to-do lists, schedules, documents, chat and card tables, so discussion, files and tasks for a project sit in one place. Clients can be invited into projects, which suits agencies and service firms.

The pricing page lists a Free plan for one project, 1GB of storage and up to five users. Freelancer costs $25 per month for up to three active projects, 5GB of storage and up to 20 users with no per-user fees. Studio costs $59 per month for up to ten active projects, 25GB and unlimited users. Pro costs $99 per month for up to 25 active projects and 100GB. Unlimited costs $299 per month billed annually for unlimited projects, 1,000GB of storage and unlimited users. Archived or deleted projects do not count toward active-project limits, and the page lists 30-day free trials on most paid plans and a 45-day trial on Unlimited. Project templates, time tracking and AI agent connectors are listed as plan features.

Basecamp fits teams whose cost driver is headcount, since flat pricing holds as members are added. Teams running many concurrent projects should price the plan that covers their active count.

MeisterTask is a task and project management tool from Meister, the company behind MindMeister. Projects are organised as Kanban boards with customisable sections, and tasks carry checklists, comments, time tracking and attachments. Notes sit alongside projects for meeting records and documentation.

With yearly billing selected, the pricing page lists a Free plan with unlimited tasks, up to three projects and five notes per team, five Content Manager seats, unlimited team members, imports from Asana and Trello, 20 AI credits, templates and mobile and desktop apps. Pro costs $7 per user per month and adds unlimited projects and notes, external sharing and advanced search. Business costs $12.50 per user per month and adds timeline views with Gantt charts, a team overview that shows task volume per member, subtasks, roles and permissions, custom reports, custom fields and 350 AI credits. Enterprise is quoted on request. The page advertises savings of up to 22% on yearly billing compared with monthly.

MeisterTask fits small teams whose work fits a board layout and who want everyone in the team on the free plan. Teams that need schedules or capacity views should price Business.

Freedcamp is a project management tool that groups tasks, calendars, milestones, discussions, files and a password manager into each project. Additional applications such as an issue tracker, wiki, invoicing and a lightweight CRM are unlocked on higher plans, so a team can add functions without moving to a different product.

The pricing page lists a Free plan with unlimited projects, tasks, storage and users, subject to a fair usage policy, and states that all essential features are included. Pro costs $1.49 per user per month billed annually or $2.49 billed monthly, and adds email-in task creation and links to Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive. Business costs $7.49 per user per month billed annually or $8.99 monthly and adds the project overview, issue tracker, wiki, Invoices+, CRM, project copy and templates, and reports. Enterprise costs $16.99 per user per month billed annually or $19.99 monthly and adds single sign-on through providers including Microsoft Azure AD, Google and Okta. Paid plans carry a 14-day free trial.

Freedcamp fits teams that need to put every member on a shared project tool without per-seat cost. Teams that need reporting or templates should price Business.

Hive is a project management platform that combines task views with native chat, email and collaborative notes. Projects can be shown in several layouts, and higher tiers add Gantt charts, portfolios, time tracking and forms. AI credits are included on each plan for summarisation and drafting.

The pricing page lists a Free plan for up to 10 workspace members with unlimited tasks, unlimited collaborative notes, multiple views, email in Hive, native chat messaging, 200MB of storage and 1,000 AI credits per month. Starter is listed at $5 per user per month and adds unlimited storage, up to 10 projects, Gantt view, cloud storage integrations, an in-app calendar, Zoom and Slack integrations and 3,000 AI credits, still with a 10-member limit. Teams is listed at $12 per user per month and removes the member limit, adding shareable forms, time tracking, portfolios, team sharing and custom fields. Proofing, timesheets, team resourcing, advanced dashboards, single sign-on and external users are add-ons at $5 each. The page advertises a 33% saving on yearly billing and does not state on the plan cards which billing period the displayed figures use.

Hive fits small teams that want chat and project tracking in one tool. Buyers should confirm the billing period at checkout.

Paymo is a project management tool built around client work. It combines task management with time tracking, timesheets, invoicing, estimates and expenses, so a firm can track effort against a project and bill the client from the same record. Higher tiers add scheduling and workload views.

The pricing page lists a Free plan limited to one user, with unlimited time tracking and invoices, one client, two projects, unlimited tasks, a task list view, desktop and mobile apps and 1GB of storage. Solo, also limited to one user, is listed at $5.90 per month for the first three months and $9.90 thereafter, adding flat-rate and retainer projects, up to three clients and five projects, calendar and Kanban views and guest access. Plus is listed at $10.90 per user per month for three months, then $15.90, with unlimited users, project templates, project profitability, proofing, recurring invoices, estimates and expenses, and API access. Pro is $16.90 per user per month for three months, then $23.90, adding Gantt charts, task dependencies, employee scheduling and timesheet approvals. A 15-day free trial is listed.

Paymo fits freelancers and small agencies whose projects are billed by time. Buyers should budget on the post-introductory rate.

ProofHub is a project management and team collaboration tool that combines task management, real-time chat, discussions, file storage, notes, proofing and time tracking. Tasks can be shown as boards, Gantt charts, tables or calendars, and custom roles control what clients and team members can see.

The pricing page lists two plans, both with unlimited users and no per-user fee. Essential costs $45 per month billed annually or $50 billed monthly and covers 40 projects and 15GB of storage. Ultimate Control is listed at $89 per month billed annually for the first three months and $135 thereafter, or $99 and then $150 billed monthly, and covers unlimited projects, 100GB of storage, white labelling, IP restrictions, API access, project and resource reports and priority support. The page states that there is no contract and plans can be cancelled at any time, offers a free trial and lists discounts for nonprofits. There is no free plan.

ProofHub fits teams that expect headcount to grow and want a fixed monthly cost, and agencies that need client access with custom roles. Small teams of a few members may pay less on a per-user plan.