How much does project management software cost in 2026?
Most project management tools cost $10 to $12 per user per month on annual plans. For a 10-person team, that means $100 to $120 every month, and the bill keeps growing as you add people. Monday.com, Asana, ClickUp, Teamwork, and Notion all use this per-seat model. Basecamp left it in mid-2026: its plans are now flat prices tiered by active project count, from $25/month for 3 projects to $299/month, billed annually, for unlimited projects.
Thicket is $49/month flat: unlimited users, unlimited projects. No per-seat fees, no surprise overages, no penalty for growing your team. A $25/month Starter plan covers up to 3 active projects if you need less. Below, we break down exactly what each tool costs at every team size so you can make the right call for your budget.
Per-seat pricing at a glance
Annual billing rates, the prices most teams actually pay.
| Tool | Plan | Per user / mo | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday.com | Standard | $12.00 | Per seat |
| Asana | Starter | $10.99 | Per seat |
| ClickUp | Business | $12.00 | Per seat |
| Teamwork | Basics | $9.99 | Per seat |
| Notion | Plus | $10.00 | Per seat |
| Thicket | Pro | $49/mo total | Flat rate |
Basecamp is no longer in this table: it dropped per-seat pricing in mid-2026 and now sells flat plans tiered by active project count. Its ladder is broken down in the Basecamp section below.
What your team actually pays: 5 to 50 users
Per-seat pricing looks modest at one user. Multiply it across your real team and the numbers shift fast. Here is the monthly cost at four common team sizes.
| Tool | 5 users | 10 users | 20 users | 50 users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday.com | $60/mo | $120/mo | $240/mo | $600/mo |
| Asana | $55/mo | $110/mo | $220/mo | $550/mo |
| ClickUp | $60/mo | $120/mo | $240/mo | $600/mo |
| Teamwork | $50/mo | $100/mo | $200/mo | $500/mo |
| Notion | $50/mo | $100/mo | $200/mo | $500/mo |
| Thicket | $49/mo | $49/mo | $49/mo | $49/mo |
All competitor prices shown at annual billing rates. Monthly billing is typically 15–30% higher. Thicket Pro is $49/mo on monthly billing or $39/mo on annual billing. Prices verified June 2026.
How much you save with flat pricing
Tool-by-tool breakdown
Monday.com
Monday.com Standard costs $12/user/month (annual) or $14/user/month billed monthly. It includes timeline and Gantt views, guest access, and integrations. The next tier (Pro) jumps to $19/user/month for time tracking, formula columns, and advanced reporting. A 20-person team on Standard pays $240/month. The plan-by-plan breakdown, including both billing cycles, is in monday.com pricing in 2026.
Thicket comparison: $49/month for the same 20 users, saving $191/month ($2,292/year). See the full Thicket vs Monday.com breakdown.
Asana
Asana Starter is $10.99/user/month (annual) or $13.49/user/month billed monthly. It covers timeline, workflow builder, forms, and reporting dashboards. The Advanced tier is $24.99/user/month for goals, portfolios, and approvals. At 20 users on Starter, you pay $220/month. Seat bundles past 5 people and the full tier ladder are in Asana pricing in 2026.
Thicket comparison: $49/month, which saves $171/month ($2,050/year) at 20 users. See our full Asana alternative comparison.
ClickUp
ClickUp Business is $12/user/month (annual) or $19/user/month on monthly billing, one of the biggest annual-vs-monthly gaps in the market. It includes timesheets, custom fields, automations, and workload views. A 10-person team pays $120/month (annual) or $190/month (monthly). The Brain add-on and the rest of the ladder are in ClickUp pricing in 2026.
Thicket comparison: $49/month, a saving of $71–$141/month depending on billing cycle. See our full ClickUp alternative comparison.
Teamwork
Teamwork Basics costs $9.99/user/month (annual) or $13.99/user/month on monthly billing. It includes task management, time tracking, milestones, and basic reporting. The Accelerate tier jumps to $24.99/user/month (annual) for resource management and profitability tracking. A 20-person team on Basics pays $200/month. Teamwork.com publishes annual rates only; how the monthly figures are derived is in Teamwork.com pricing in 2026.
Thicket comparison: $49/month. That saves $151/month ($1,810/year) at 20 users.
Notion
Notion Plus costs $10/user/month (annual). It is a flexible workspace that combines docs, databases, and wikis, but it is not a dedicated project management tool. You will need to build your own task views, timelines, and workflows from scratch. A 20-person team pays $200/month. The AI tiers and credit pricing are in Notion pricing in 2026.
Thicket comparison: $49/month with purpose-built project management features out of the box. See why Thicket is a PM-first Notion replacement.
Basecamp: flat pricing, tiered by projects
Basecamp repositioned its pricing in mid-2026 and no longer charges per user. The $15/user/month Pro plan it sold before is gone from its public pricing. Every plan is now a flat price for the whole account, tiered by how many projects you keep active (verified August 2026):
| Plan | Per month | Active projects | Users | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 | 5 | 1 GB |
| Freelancer | $25 | 3 | 20 | 5 GB |
| Studio | $59 | 10 | Unlimited | 25 GB |
| Pro | $99 | 25 | Unlimited | 100 GB |
| Unlimited | $299 (billed annually) | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 TB |
The ladder gates features as well as projects: unlimited tools per project starts at Studio, and time tracking at Pro. Freelancer, Studio, and Pro bill monthly; Basecamp offers annual billing on them but does not publish the annual rates, and Unlimited is sold on annual billing only. The plan-by-plan breakdown is in Basecamp pricing in 2026.
Thicket comparison: at 2–3 active projects, Basecamp Freelancer and Thicket Starter are both $25/month, but Starter includes 10 GB of storage (versus 5 GB), full history, and every tool. From 4 projects up, Thicket Pro is $49/month for unlimited projects and people versus $59–$299/month on Basecamp's ladder. See our full Basecamp alternative comparison.
Why flat pricing changes the decision
Per-seat pricing creates a tax on collaboration. Every new team member, every client who needs access, every stakeholder who wants visibility. They all add to your monthly bill. That leads to workarounds: shared logins, excluded teammates, spreadsheet side-channels. Flat pricing removes that friction entirely.
Add anyone without budget approval
Contractors, clients, part-time contributors: everyone gets access at no extra cost.
Predictable costs as you grow
Your bill stays $49/month whether you have 5 people or 50. No budget surprises at headcount milestones.
No feature gates by tier
Thicket Pro includes to-dos, docs, discussions, group chat, Boards, scheduling, and API access. One plan, everything included.
Built for project management
Purpose-built task lists, project timelines, and team discussions, not a generic docs tool with project features bolted on.
Read more about why we do not charge per user and how flat pricing changes the way teams work together.
Annual cost comparison
Most teams commit to annual plans for the discount. Here is what you will pay over 12 months.
| Tool | 5 users | 10 users | 20 users | 50 users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday.com | $720/yr | $1,440/yr | $2,880/yr | $7,200/yr |
| Asana | $659/yr | $1,319/yr | $2,638/yr | $6,594/yr |
| ClickUp | $720/yr | $1,440/yr | $2,880/yr | $7,200/yr |
| Teamwork | $599/yr | $1,199/yr | $2,398/yr | $5,994/yr |
| Notion | $600/yr | $1,200/yr | $2,400/yr | $6,000/yr |
| Thicket | $588/yr | $588/yr | $588/yr | $588/yr |
Thicket annual plan is $468/year ($39/month equivalent). Competitor prices at their annual billing rates.