Compare the Best Project Management Software of 2026
Seven tools, one ten-person team, the same six-week project — 120 tasks, four milestones, two client reviewers — run in each. We scored task and workflow management, views and reporting, collaboration and integrations, ease and speed, and the monthly cost for ten users on the plan the project needed.
Last Updated: Sep 2026Suggested project management software for you
AJira
Very Good
8.5
Free for exactly our ten-person teamLearn More
AAsana
Good
8.4
Our team was productive in two hours — fastest o...Learn More
All 7
Free project management softwareKanban softwareAsana alternativesProject management software for small teamsProject management software for agencies
1
ClickUp (Unlimited) - Every view, docs, whiteboards, time tracking and goals in one tool for $7 a user — more features than anything here, and more to learn Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Our whole project ran on the free plan; Unlimited is $70 for ten
- Fifteen views including Gantt, workload and mind maps
- Docs, whiteboards and time tracking built in
Excellent
9.0
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$0 · checked Sep 11
7 USD/mo
70 USD/mo
2
Jira (Standard) - The software team's tool: sprints, backlogs, story points, Git integration and the reporting engineering managers expect — free for ten Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Free for exactly our ten-person team
- Sprint boards, backlog grooming and velocity charts
- GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket integration
Very Good
8.5
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$0 · checked Sep 11
7.53 USD/mo
0 USD/mo
3
Asana (Starter) - The most polished task manager in the test — dependencies, timeline, rules and the fastest onboarding — at $110 a month for our team Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Our team was productive in two hours — fastest onboarding
- Dependencies, milestones and timeline handled every part of the project
- Rules automated status changes and assignments
Good
8.4
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$0 · checked Sep 11
10.99 USD/mo
109.9 USD/mo
4
monday.com (Standard) - Colourful boards that non-technical teams take to instantly, with timeline, dashboards and automations on Standard — priced by seat bundles Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Team members who dislike project tools liked this one
- Dashboards and timeline on Standard
- Automations with a plain-English builder
Good
8.1
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$0 · checked Sep 11
12 USD/mo
120 USD/mo
5
Trello (Standard) - The original kanban board, still the simplest way to move cards across a wall, with automation built in and $5 a user Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Our team needed no onboarding at all
- Butler automation moves cards and assigns without a plan upgrade
- $50 a month for ten; usable free
Good
8.0
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$0 · checked Sep 11
5 USD/mo
50 USD/mo
6
Notion (Plus) - Docs, wiki and databases that become a project tool: boards, timelines and dependencies inside the pages where the work is written up Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Project plan, meeting notes and specs in one place
- Timeline view with dependencies handled our milestones
- Templates for almost any process
Fair
7.6
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$0 · checked Sep 11
10 USD/mo
100 USD/mo
7
Basecamp (Pro Unlimited) - Deliberately simple: to-dos, message boards, schedules and docs per project, no Gantt charts by design, one flat price for the whole company Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight
- Clients join free and see only what you show them
- Every project has the same six tools — nothing to configure
- Pro Unlimited is $299 for any number of people
Fair
7.0
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$15 · checked Sep 11
15 USD/mo
150 USD/mo
Frequently asked questions about project management software
Which project management tool is best for a small team?
For up to ten people who need boards, lists and a timeline, ClickUp's free plan and Trello's Standard at $5 a user covered our project. Asana and monday.com are more polished and cost $9–$11 a user. Notion works if the team also wants its docs in the same place.
Do I need Gantt charts?
If tasks depend on each other and dates move, yes — a timeline shows the knock-on. Asana, monday, ClickUp, Jira and Notion (via timeline view) have one; Trello needs a Power-Up and Basecamp deliberately does not. For a kanban-style flow of independent tasks, boards are enough.
Why are free plans so different?
ClickUp and Notion give small teams most features free with storage limits; Asana and Trello cap collaborators or views; monday.com's free plan is two seats; Jira is free to ten users with fewer automations; Basecamp has no free tier for teams. Our free-plan collection only lists tools where a ten-person team could run our project.
How do you test project management tools?
Ten team members run the same six-week project in each tool: 120 tasks with dependencies, four milestones, custom fields, recurring tasks, two external client reviewers, and Slack and Google Drive integrations. We log what the tool could not do, time onboarding, measure app speed, and price ten users on the plan the project required at annual billing.
*Scores: Task & workflow management 30 · Views & reporting 20 · Collaboration & integrations 20 · Ease & speed 10 · Value 20; score = Σ ÷ 10, ties break on the earlier test date. Prices shown were checked on the date beside each and may change. Affiliate links are added only after a score is locked and can never change it. How we rank.
#1 ClickUp9.0 · $0
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