How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Teamwork.com is the default shortlist pick for agencies that bill clients by the hour or by retainer and want time, budgets and client access in one place.
- Productive and Scoro go further into agency finance, tracking profitability while work is still running rather than after the invoice goes out.
- ClickUp and monday.com cost less per seat and suit agencies whose work is task delivery rather than detailed job costing.
- Seat minimums matter as much as sticker prices: Scoro starts at 5 users, Productive at 3, and Workamajig tiers assume 10 or more.
- Kantata and other enterprise PSA platforms price by quote, so agencies under roughly 50 staff usually get better value from the tools listed here.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Teamwork.com | Client work with time and budget tracking | $9.99 per user per month | Yes |
 Productive | Profitability tracking for agencies | $10 per user per month | No |
 Scoro | End to end agency operations | $19.90 per user per month | No |
 ClickUp | Low cost all in one task management | $7 per user per month | Yes |
 Asana | Cross team campaign coordination | $10.99 per user per month | Yes |
 monday.com | Visual boards for mixed client teams | $9 per user per month | Yes |
 Wrike | Structured delivery in larger agencies | $10 per user per month | Yes |
 Workamajig | Creative agencies wanting built in accounting | $49 per user per month | No |
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#1Teamwork.com
Best for: Client work with time and budget tracking4.4/5 on
G2 (1,214 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit teamwork.com
Starting price$9.99 per user per month
Free planYes
Teamwork.com is the tool most often recommended when an agency asks for one system to run client projects. Projects carry budgets, team members log time against them, and managers can see a retainer or fixed fee job drifting before it becomes a write off. That early warning is the feature agencies pay for.
Client handling is the other strength. Agencies can invite clients into projects as guests, share files and approvals, and keep internal discussion separate. For shops juggling twenty active clients, that saves a lot of email and a lot of status meetings.
The honest limit is depth at the low end. The cheapest paid tier covers projects and time well, but the profitability reporting agencies grow into lives further up the price ladder. Budget for the tier you actually need rather than the tier you can start on.
What we like- Built for client services work rather than adapted to it, time tracking and budget burn visible on every project, clients can be given free guest access on paid plans, retainer tracking and invoicing integrations with QuickBooks and Xero
Watch out for- Reporting depth sits in higher tiers, so the entry price is not the whole story, seat minimums apply on paid plans, agencies wanting full accounting still need a separate finance system
#2Productive
Best for: Profitability tracking for agencies4.6/5 on
G2 (76 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit productive.io
Starting price$10 per user per month
Free planNo
Productive was built for one question: is this agency actually making money on this client. Budgets update as the team logs time, so a project manager sees margin moving while there is still time to act, by resourcing differently, renegotiating scope, or stopping unpaid extras.
It covers the full agency cycle in one place. Sales pipeline, project delivery, resource planning, time tracking, invoicing and forecasting all sit in the same database, which removes the spreadsheet stitching most agencies do between a task tool and a finance tool.
The trade is focus. Productive assumes your work is billable client work. Internal product teams or agencies that mostly need flexible task boards will find it narrower than ClickUp or Asana, and there is no free tier to drift into, only a trial.
What we like- Profitability updates as time is logged, not at month end, covers projects, resourcing, budgeting, invoicing and forecasting in one system, strong reporting by project, client, service and team member, pricing is published and simple to model
Watch out for- Three seat minimum, no free plan, only a trial, delivery and collaboration features are lighter than a dedicated task tool, agency focus means features assume billable work
#3Scoro
Best for: End to end agency operations4.5/5 on
G2 (503 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit scoro.com
Starting price$19.90 per user per month
Free planNo
Scoro aims to run the whole agency, not just its projects. Quotes become projects, projects generate time entries and invoices, and dashboards roll it up into margin per client. Agencies tired of five disconnected tools find that appealing.
Its modular pricing is a genuine difference. Scoro sells combinations of its apps, so a firm that only needs projects, resources and time pays less than one running quote to cash. The risk is the opposite: switching on everything costs more than most rivals on this list.
Setup is the other cost. Scoro rewards agencies that assign someone to own the configuration and reporting. Bought casually and used as a task board, it is an expensive task board.
What we like- Combines projects, quoting, time, invoicing and financial reporting in one modular system, real time profitability dashboards per project, client and portfolio, you pay for the app combination you switch on rather than one fixed bundle, mature platform with a long record in professional services
Watch out for- Five user minimum, top combinations get expensive, with the end to end set listed at 57 dollars per user per month, finance side stops short of a full general ledger, configuration takes an owner inside the agency to get right
#4ClickUp
Best for: Low cost all in one task management4.6/5 on
G2 (14,878 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit clickup.com
Starting price$7 per user per month
Free planYes
ClickUp is the budget answer. At 7 dollars per user per month on annual billing, with a free plan that small teams genuinely use, it undercuts every agency specific tool here. For delivery focused agencies that track money in their accounting software anyway, that may be all they need.
What you give up is the money view. ClickUp tracks tasks and time, but turning that into job costing, retainer burn and client profitability takes manual work or third party tools. Agencies usually feel that gap once they pass fifteen or twenty staff.
Adoption cuts both ways too. ClickUp can be shaped to almost any workflow, which means someone has to shape it. Agencies that assign an owner get a system that fits; agencies that do not get a busy, confusing workspace.
What we like- Lowest starting price in this list with a usable free plan, tasks, docs, whiteboards, goals and time tracking in one workspace, very flexible views for different teams and clients, large integration and template library
Watch out for- Agency finance is thin, with no real profitability or invoicing layer, the feature volume can overwhelm new users, AI add ons raise the real per seat cost above the sticker price, performance can dip in very large workspaces
#5Asana
Best for: Cross team campaign coordination4.4/5 on
G2 (13,930 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit asana.com
Starting price$10.99 per user per month
Free planYes
Asana wins on adoption. Account managers, designers and clients all understand it quickly, and its timeline and portfolio views make multi campaign coordination easy to follow. For agencies whose main problem is work slipping between teams, that clarity is worth money.
Its limits are the agency classics: money and time. Asana shows who is doing what and when, but not what a job cost or earned. Most agencies pair it with a separate time tracking and invoicing setup, which works, but means the single source of truth promise is only half kept.
Pricing needs care. The Starter tier at 10.99 dollars per user per month covers most small agencies, but portfolios, workload and advanced reporting sit higher. Model the tier your account leads will actually open every day.
What we like- Clean, fast interface that non project managers actually use, timelines, portfolios and workload views suit multi client campaign work, strong rules based automation on paid tiers, free plan covers small team basics
Watch out for- No invoicing or real job costing, so finance still lives elsewhere, time tracking is basic compared with agency specific tools, costs climb quickly as features move into higher tiers, client guest handling is less developed than Teamwork.com
#6monday.com
Best for: Visual boards for mixed client teams4.7/5 on
G2 (17,182 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit monday.com
Starting price$9 per user per month
Free planYes
monday.com is the presentation layer of this list. Its boards look good in front of clients, status is obvious at a glance, and teams build their own views without waiting for an admin. Marketing and content agencies with lots of small, fast jobs tend to like it.
Under the surface it is a general work tool. Retainers, utilisation and margin need workarounds, and agencies that bill by the hour usually bolt on a separate time tracker. That is fine at ten people and gets painful at forty.
Watch the seat maths. monday.com sells seats in blocks, so a team of eleven may pay for fifteen. The 9 dollar starting figure is real, but the invoice depends on your headcount landing inside a block.
What we like- Highly visual boards that clients grasp immediately, flexible enough for campaigns, content calendars and production pipelines, automations are simple to set up without technical help, free plan for very small teams
Watch out for- Per seat pricing is sold in seat blocks, which can push real cost up, budgeting and profitability features are shallow for agency use, complex projects can sprawl across many boards, time tracking is an add on view rather than a deep system
#7Wrike
Best for: Structured delivery in larger agencies4.2/5 on
G2 (4,540 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit wrike.com
Starting price$10 per user per month
Free planYes
Wrike suits agencies where the problem is structure: briefs arriving in six formats, approvals lost in email, work that needs a defined path from intake to delivery. Its request forms, custom workflows and proofing tools are built for exactly that.
Creative teams get particular value from the proofing side, where clients comment directly on assets inside the project record. That alone removes a whole category of version confusion for design heavy shops.
The cost is weight. Wrike asks more of new users than Asana or monday.com, and its strengths are process strengths. A ten person studio with simple jobs may find it more system than it needs, and job costing still belongs in a finance tool.
What we like- Strong proofing and approval tools for creative work, custom item types and request forms bring order to brief intake, dashboards and reporting suit multi department agencies, free plan available for basic task work
Watch out for- Interface has a learning curve for casual users, agency finance and invoicing are not its focus, proofing and some advanced features sit in higher tiers or add ons, can feel heavy for small studios
#8Workamajig
Best for: Creative agencies wanting built in accounting3.9/5 on
G2 (305 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit workamajig.com
Starting price$49 per user per month
Free planNo
Workamajig is the heavyweight. It is a full agency operating system with its own accounting, aimed at creative and advertising agencies that want projects, resourcing, CRM and the general ledger in one database. If your agency has outgrown stitched together tools, this is the traditional next step.
The price and the project are the catch. Published tiers start at 49 dollars per user per month for teams of ten or more, and a typical implementation runs two to three months. That is a considered purchase, not a card signup.
For the right agency it pays off in one place: financial truth. When the ledger lives in the same system as the work, month end arguments about job profitability mostly disappear. Smaller agencies should look at Productive or Teamwork.com first and keep Workamajig for later.
What we like- Purpose built for creative and advertising agencies, includes native accounting with a general ledger, which almost no rival here offers, covers projects, resourcing, CRM and billing in one system, unlimited client and vendor logins included
Watch out for- Highest price in this list, with published tiers starting at 10 users, implementations typically take two to three months, interface and depth assume a serious operations commitment, no free plan or self serve trial path
How we chose
We shortlisted tools that agencies can buy and run in October 2026 and that handle the core agency jobs: project delivery, time tracking, budgeting and client access. We favoured vendors with published pricing, and recorded prices from vendor pricing pages and current comparison reporting, using the annual billing figure where a vendor lists one. Agency specific platforms and general work tools are both included, because agencies buy both. We did not test any tool hands on; this guide rests on vendor material and published comparisons.
How an agency should buy project management software
Start with your billing model, not with features. If you bill by the hour or against retainers, you need time and budget burn inside the tool, which points to Teamwork.com, Productive, Scoro or Workamajig. If you bill fixed fees and care mostly about delivery, ClickUp, Asana or monday.com will do the job for less.
Second, count seats honestly. Minimums and seat blocks change the real price. A tool at 10 dollars with a five seat minimum costs a three person studio 50 dollars a month before anyone logs in. Price the team you have, including the seats you will add this year.
Third, decide where finance lives. One group of tools here wants to be your financial system of record, or close to it. The other group expects QuickBooks or Xero next door. Either can work, but mixing the two approaches by accident creates double entry and arguments.
Finally, trial with one real client. Run two weeks of live work, including time logging and an invoice, before you commit the whole agency. Adoption by the team doing the work is the feature that decides whether any of this pays back.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best project management tool for a small agency?
Teamwork.com and Productive are the most common small agency picks, because both combine projects, time tracking and budgets at around 10 dollars per user per month. ClickUp costs less and works if your finance tracking lives in your accounting software.
Do agencies need agency specific software, or is a general tool enough?
It depends on billing. Agencies that sell time need profitability and retainer tracking, which general tools do weakly. Agencies that sell fixed price deliverables can run well on Asana, ClickUp or monday.com and keep money in their accounting package.
How much should an agency expect to pay per user?
From 7 dollars per user per month for ClickUp up to 49 dollars for Workamajig, on annual billing. Most agencies land between 10 and 25 dollars per user per month once they are on the tier with the reporting they actually use.
Which of these tools have a free plan?
Teamwork.com, ClickUp, Asana, monday.com and Wrike all publish free plans. Productive, Scoro and Workamajig offer trials instead. Free plans suit task tracking; time and budget features usually sit in paid tiers.
Can one tool handle projects and invoicing together?
Yes. Productive and Scoro cover projects through to invoicing, and Workamajig adds a full general ledger. Teamwork.com invoices through integrations with accounting tools. General tools like Asana and monday.com leave invoicing to other software.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.