Software Reviews - Thebusinessdive

Item: Kai review
Rating: 4.6
Author: Aron Kantor

7 Best ClickUp Alternatives | +25 Apps Tested (2026)

Aron Kantor — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:51:35 +0000

Finding the right ClickUp alternative is not easy because most project management tools solve different problems.

I personally tested over 25 possible apps and these are my top picks:

Monday.com → Best alternative for large teams
Backlog by Nulab → Top alternative for developer teams
Vaiz → Best alternative for teams tired of paying for features they don’t use
Hive → Best alternative for small teams
SmartSuite → Best free alternative
Teamwork.com → Best alternative for client work
ProofHub → Best ClickUp alternative for growing teams

How These ClickUp Competitors Stack Up

Tool	Best replacement for ClickUp if…	What I liked during testing	Biggest limitation	Starting price
Monday.com	You want a platform that’s easier to learn and scales well across larger teams.	Clean interface, excellent project views, and customizable dashboards.	Less flexibility than ClickUp, and recurring tasks require automation.	Free + paid from €9/user/month)
Backlog	Your team manages software development and wants built-in Git and issue tracking.	Git repositories, Issues view, and Wiki all worked together seamlessly.	Limited automation and reporting.	Free + paid from $35/month)
Vaiz	You want a lightweight all-in-one workspace that’s quick to set up.	Fast onboarding, clean interface, and excellent Docs integration.	Reporting and automation are still fairly basic.	Free + paid from $5/user/month)
Hive	You run a small team and want collaboration built into your workspace.	Chat, email, collaborative notes, and dashboards all worked well together.	Advanced features require the Teams plan or paid add-ons.	Free + paid from $5/user/month)
SmartSuite	You need a generous free plan and database-style work management.	Spreadsheet-like workflows, powerful customization, and permissions.	Steeper learning curve.	Free + paid from $12/user/month)
Teamwork.com	You manage client projects with budgets, invoices, and billable hours.	Client management, reporting, budgeting, and profitability tracking.	Fewer project views and a longer learning curve.	Free + paid from $9.99/user/month)
ProofHub	Your team is growing and you want predictable software costs.	Flat pricing, collaboration features, and proofing tools.	No workflow automation or free plan.	$45/month

How we decided which ClickUp alternative to choose

When selecting the best ClickUp alternatives, I used our standardized testing framework for project management software, developed over 3+ years of testing productivity apps.

The recommendations in this article are based on hands-on testing across multiple categories, including project management, task management, collaboration, reporting, automation, AI features, pricing, integrations, customization, and overall user experience.

Since every team has different priorities, I didn’t rank these ClickUp alternatives purely by their overall score.

Instead, I organized them based on where they outperform ClickUp and who they’re best suited for, whether that’s developer teams, client-facing businesses, growing organizations, or teams looking for a simpler or more affordable project management solution.

We evaluate every project management tool using this weighted framework, based on hands-on testing with real projects and everyday workflows.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 20+ project management apps:

Features & functionality — 60%
User interface — 10%
Performance & Reliability —10%
Pricing — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

My Full Breakdown of Each Alternative

Monday.com

4.2/5

Monday.com is an intuitive project management platform built primarily for teams. Thanks to its enterprise-grade security, reporting capabilities, and extensive integration options, I think it’s one of the strongest choices for larger organizations.

Full Monday review Visit Monday

Best alternative for large teams

Quick verdict

Choose Monday over ClickUp if:

You want a project management tool that’s easier to learn and scales better for larger teams.

Stick with ClickUp if:

You need deeper customization, more advanced workflow logic, and a broader feature set.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

A cleaner interface with a significantly shorter learning curve.

Main tradeoff:

You give up some customization and advanced project management features.

Why I Recommend Monday for Teams Leaving ClickUp

If your team finds ClickUp too overwhelming, Monday.com is one of the first tools I’d consider. It keeps the core project management features most teams rely on, but getting started takes far less time.

While ClickUp gives you more control over how you build your workflows, Monday.com gets you from an empty workspace to an organized project much faster.

It still offers multiple project views, customizable dashboards, automation, and solid collaboration tools, but everything is easier to find and quicker to set up. That combination stood out to me throughout my testing.

Overall, I think Monday.com is a great choice for larger teams that want a visual project management platform with a short learning curve. If your team doesn’t need highly customized workflows, I think it’s much easier to roll out than ClickUp.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

As I already mentioned, I liked how quickly I could start managing projects in Monday. Creating tasks, customizing columns, and organizing boards only took a few minutes.

I also spent a lot of time using Monday.com’s project views. I switched between Kanban, Timeline, Calendar, and Workload depending on the project, and they all loaded quickly.

The customizable dashboards were another highlight, giving me a clear overview when managing multiple projects.

The biggest thing I missed was ClickUp’s flexibility. I was also surprised that recurring tasks aren’t available as a built-in feature and require automation instead. If your workflows depend on deeper customization or more advanced task management, ClickUp still has the advantage.

Monday.com‘s top features

Project views: I probably used the project views more than any other key features. Monday.com offers Kanban, Timeline, Calendar, Gantt, Workload, and several additional views. Switching between them was fast, and I never experienced long loading times while managing my projects.

Custom dashboards: The dashboards quickly became the place where I tracked my projects. I customized them with different widgets depending on the data I wanted to monitor, so I rarely needed to jump between multiple boards throughout the day.

Workload management: The Workload View gives you a clear picture of how work is distributed across your team. While I mostly tested Monday.com as a solo user, I can see this being valuable for larger teams that regularly review team capacity and resource allocation.

Automation: Monday.com uses a simple trigger-and-action system for automation. I created custom workflows in a few minutes, and the setup process required very little configuration compared to some other project management tools I tested.

AI features: Monday.com recently introduced AI Blocks, AI Sidekick, and AI Agents. During testing, I mostly used AI Blocks to summarize content and generate text inside workflows. While the AI tools are still evolving, I liked that they are available directly inside boards, docs, and automations.

Monday.com‘s pricing

Free plan available
Basic plan: €9/user/month with annual billing
Standard plan: €12/user/month with annual billing
Pro plan: €19/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Wins & trade-offs when choosing Monday.com

Pros

Intuitive user interface and a shorter learning curve than other project management tools
It has great task management features with numerous customization options
The customizable dashboard made my workflows clearer
The high number of project views surprised me
An easy-to-use project management software compared to ClickUp, Jira, or SmartSuite

Cons

You can not add recurring tasks unless you use automation, which was frustrating when managing my projects
Its mobile app has some bugs, and it’s one of Monday’s biggest pain points
The Pro plan is expensive compared to the depth of features

How does Monday stack up against other ClickUp alternatives (and ClickUp itself)?

ClickUp VS Monday.com

ClickUp vs Monday

Notion VS Monday.com

Notion vs Monday

Monday.com VS Asana

Monday vs Asana

Teamwork VS Monday.com

Teamwork vs Monday

SmartSuite VS Monday.com

SmartSuite vs Monday

Read my full review: Monday.com Review 2025: Is the $228 Price Tag Justified?

Try Monday

Backlog by Nulab

4.3/5

Backlog by Nulab is a project management platform designed primarily for software development teams. It combines project planning, issue tracking, collaboration, and version control in a single workspace.

Visit Backlog

Best ClickUp alternative for developer teams

Quick verdict

Choose Backlog over ClickUp if:

You want project management software with built-in Git repositories, issue tracking, and developer tools.

Stick with ClickUp if:

You need advanced automation, reporting, or a more flexible workspace for non-technical teams.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

Developer tools are built directly into the platform.

Main tradeoff:

Backlog has fewer automation and customization options than ClickUp.

Why I Recommend Backlog for Developer Teams Leaving ClickUp

The biggest reason I recommend Backlog over ClickUp is its developer-focused feature set. Instead of adapting a general project management tool for software development, you get built-in Git repositories, issue tracking, pull requests, and Wikis from the start.

For development teams, having these tools inside the same platform helps keep projects, code, bugs, and documentation organized. During my testing, this was the biggest difference compared to ClickUp.

Overall, I think Backlog is the better choice for engineering teams. However, if you need one platform for many different departments, ClickUp gives you more flexibility.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

One of the things I liked most about Backlog was how well everything related to development worked together. I spent most of my time in the Issues view, where it was easy to review bugs, feature requests, and assigned work.

Having Git repositories, pull requests, and issue tracking inside the same platform also meant I didn’t have to switch between multiple tools throughout the day. I also appreciated the built-in Wiki, which made it easy to keep documentation connected to projects instead of storing it elsewhere.

Finally, Backlog’s flat pricing stood out to me, especially compared to ClickUp’s per-user pricing.

What I missed were some of ClickUp’s more advanced project management features. Reporting is much more limited, and there isn’t a native automation builder for creating workflow automations.

I also think ClickUp is the better option if your team manages projects outside software development, as it gives you far more flexibility when building different types of workflows.

Backlog’s top features

Built-in Git and SVN repositories: The biggest advantage over ClickUp is that Backlog includes version control directly inside the platform. I could manage repositories, pull requests, and issues without relying on external development tools.

Issues view: I used the Issues view throughout my testing. It provided a clear overview of bugs, feature requests, and open tasks, and filtering by priority or assignee only took a few clicks.

Wiki: Backlog’s Wiki became the central place for documentation during testing. It’s useful for onboarding guides, technical documentation, and internal knowledge that development teams access regularly.

Flat pricing: Unlike many project management tools, Backlog charges by plan instead of per user. I think this pricing model makes much more sense for growing engineering teams.

Gantt charts: While Backlog is primarily built for developers, I still found the Gantt charts useful for tracking project timelines and milestones across larger projects.

Backlog’s pricing

Free plan available
Starter plan: $35/month
Standard plan: $100/month
Premium plan: $175/month
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Wins & trade-offs when choosing Backlog

Pros

Built-in Git and SVN repositories
Excellent issue tracking for development teams
Flat pricing instead of per-user pricing
Simple interface with a short learning curve
Built-in Wiki for documentation

Cons

Limited automation compared to ClickUp
Fewer customization options
Reporting isn’t as advanced as ClickUp’s

Try Backlog

Vaiz

4.4/5

Vaiz is a work management platform that combines project management, docs, collaboration, automation, and AI tools inside a single workspace. It focuses on usability and fast setup, making it a strong option for small and mid-sized teams.

Full Vaiz review Visit Vaiz

Best for teams tired of paying for features they don’t use

Quick verdict

Choose Vaiz over ClickUp if:

You want an all-in-one workspace that’s much easier to set up and navigate than ClickUp.

Stick with ClickUp if:

Your team requires SOC 2 compliance, SAML-SSO, or a procurement-heavy purchasing process.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

Replaces your task tracker and docs tool in one workspace without ClickUp’s price and complexity.

Main tradeoff:

Reporting and automation aren’t as advanced as ClickUp’s.

Why I Recommend Vaiz for Teams Leaving ClickUp

The biggest reason I would recommend Vaiz over ClickUp is its simplicity. While ClickUp offers one of the deepest feature sets among project management tools, many teams end up paying for functionality they rarely use.

Instead of trying to compete feature for feature, Vaiz focuses on the tools most teams use every day. It delivers project management, documentation, collaboration, and automation in one place while keeping the platform intuitive and easy to navigate. That balance between usability and functionality stood out to me throughout my testing.

Overall, I think Vaiz is a great choice for small and mid-sized teams that have outgrown simple task managers but find ClickUp too complex. You give up some advanced reporting and automation, but in return, you get a platform that’s much faster to learn and easier to manage.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

Compared to ClickUp, Vaiz was much easier to get started with. Creating projects, setting up boards, and organizing workflows only took a few minutes, and I rarely needed to spend time configuring the platform before I could start working.

Another thing I appreciated was how closely tasks, docs, and collaboration features were connected. I could manage most of my work from one place instead of constantly moving between different sections.

Even after adding multiple projects, I never had trouble finding the features I needed. The interface remained organized throughout my testing, which made navigation much more straightforward than in ClickUp.

Nevertheless, I missed some of ClickUp’s more advanced capabilities. Reporting and dashboards are still fairly basic, and the automation system doesn’t offer the same depth for more complex workflows. If your team relies on advanced reporting or highly customized automations, ClickUp still has the advantage.

Vaiz’s top features

Project setup: Creating a new project only took a few clicks, and I could start building workflows almost immediately. Vaiz also offers templates for different teams and project types, but you can just as easily build everything from scratch.

Project Docs: The built-in Docs quickly became one of my favorite features. I liked that documentation stayed connected to projects, tasks, and discussions instead of being stored in a separate tool.

Collaboration: Vaiz integrates collaboration directly into projects. I could assign work, leave comments, @mention teammates, create collaborative diagrams in tasks and docs, and review activity without leaving the project itself.

Multiple project views: Vaiz supports Cards, List, Calendar, Milestones, and Gantt views. I switched between them depending on the project, and each one gave me a different way to organize and review my work.

AI assistant: The AI assistant is built directly into Project Docs, where it can summarize, rewrite, translate, and organize content. Vaiz also supports Claude MCP integration and Cursor — meaning your team can create tasks, pull context, and manage work directly from the AI tools you’re already using. A native AI agent is launching summer 2026.

Integrations: Connect Vaiz with Slack, GitHub, GitLab, and 9,000+ apps via Zapier, or import projects from Asana, Jira, Trello, and Notion (tasks only, full import in development) — with ClickUp, Monday.com, and Wrike coming soon.

Vaiz’s pricing

Free plan available & a 30-day trial of the paid plans
Pro plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Premium plan: $9/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing with self-hosted deployment options available

Wins & trade-offs when choosing Vaiz

Pros

Very easy to set up and learn
Clean and lightweight interface
Strong collaboration features
Project Docs integrated into workflows
Multiple project views for different workflows

Cons

Reporting is relatively basic
Automation isn’t as advanced as ClickUp’s
SOC 2 compliance and SAML-SSO not yet available

Read my full review: Vaiz Review 2026 | Lightweight Done Right

Try Vaiz

Hive

4.3/5

Hive is a project management platform designed for agencies, marketing teams, nonprofits, and other collaborative teams. It combines project management, communication, AI tools, and workflow automation in one workspace while keeping the platform easy to use.

Full Hive review Visit Hive

Best for small teams

Quick verdict

Choose Hive over ClickUp if:

You want an easy-to-use project management platform with excellent collaboration and built-in communication tools.

Stick with ClickUp if:

You need deeper customization, enterprise-level workflows, or advanced automation.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

Built-in collaboration features, including chat, email, and collaborative notes.

Main tradeoff:

Many advanced features are only available on the Teams plan or as paid add-ons.

Why I Recommend Hive for Teams Leaving ClickUp

The reason I recommend Hive over ClickUp is that it gives small teams most of the features they actually use, but in a much easier-to-manage platform. While ClickUp offers deeper customization and more advanced workflows, many smaller teams simply don’t need that level of complexity.

What makes Hive different is how much emphasis it puts on collaboration. Chat, email, collaborative notes, dashboards, and project management all work together inside the same platform, so your team spends less time switching between tools.

Overall, I think Hive is a great choice for small and mid-sized teams that want a project management tool that’s easy to learn but still offers strong collaboration features.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

I particularly liked Hive’s collaboration tools. The built-in chat, collaborative notes, update feed, and email integration made it easy to keep conversations connected to projects.

I also appreciated the App Library, which let me add features like Goals, Automations, and Time Tracking only when I needed them. Another highlight was the dashboards, which gave me a quick overview of projects and tasks throughout my testing.

What I missed was some of ClickUp’s flexibility. Hive doesn’t offer as many project views, and many advanced features are only available on the Teams plan or through paid add-ons. I also would have liked to see Hive’s AI integrated into the email feature, as that felt like a missed opportunity.

Hive’s top features

Collaboration tools: Hive’s collaboration features were easily my favorite part of the platform. Besides comments and task assignments, it also includes collaborative notes, instant messaging, and an update feed, so I rarely needed to switch to another communication tool while managing projects.

App Library: One feature I really liked was the App Library. Instead of filling the platform with features you may never use, Hive lets you enable add-ons like Goals, Time Tracking, Forms, or Automations only when you need them. I especially enjoyed using the Goals add-on to connect objectives directly to my projects.

Dashboards: The dashboards gave me a quick overview of my projects, tasks, and workspace activity. I also appreciated how easy they were to customize with widgets, goals, notes, filters, and external embeds depending on what I wanted to track.

AI tools: Hive’s AI assistant, Buzz, answered my questions quickly and helped create projects, dashboards, and workflows. I also used the AI tools inside Notes to generate and rewrite content, and they worked reliably throughout my testing.

Inbox: After connecting my email account, I could read and send emails directly from Hive. I liked having emails, messages, tasks, and projects available inside the same platform.

Hive’s pricing

Free plan available
Starter plan: $5/user/month (annual billing)
Teams plan: $12/user/month (annual billing)
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Wins & trade-offs when choosing Hive

Pros

Excellent collaboration and communication tools
Intuitive interface with a short learning curve
Strong AI features for automated workflows
Customizable dashboards
Built-in productivity tools, for example, email and instant messaging

Cons

Most advanced features require the Teams plan
Fewer project views than some competitors
AI isn’t integrated into the email feature

Read my full review: Hive Review: The Best Project Management App? (2025)

Try Hive

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

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SmartSuite

4.4/5

SmartSuite is a collaborative work management platform that helps teams manage projects, workflows, and company data in one place. It combines project management with spreadsheet and database capabilities, making it a great fit for teams that need more than task tracking.

Full SmartSuite review Visit SmartSuite

Best free ClickUp alternative

Quick verdict

Choose SmartSuite over ClickUp if:

You want a generous free plan and highly customizable workflows with database-style project management.

Stick with ClickUp if:

You prefer a simpler interface with a shorter learning curve.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

One of the most generous free plans I’ve tested.

Main tradeoff:

It takes longer to learn than ClickUp.

Why I Recommend SmartSuite for Teams Leaving ClickUp

The value you get from its free plan is my biggest reason for recommending SmartSuite. Compared to most project management tools, it includes an impressive number of advanced features without requiring a paid subscription.

I also think SmartSuite offers much more than traditional project management. Besides managing tasks and projects, you can build databases, customize workflows, and organize company information using the same platform. That flexibility is what surprised me the most during my testing.

Overall, I think SmartSuite is an excellent ClickUp alternative for small teams that need advanced work management but want to keep costs low.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

What stood out to me first was SmartSuite’s performance. Everything loaded almost instantly, even when working with larger tables and multiple records.

I also loved the spreadsheet-like approach to managing projects. Linking records, sorting information, creating custom fields, and organizing databases were much more powerful than I expected.

Another thing I appreciated was the level of detail in the permissions and roles, which gave me much more control over who could access different parts of each project.

The biggest thing I missed was a shorter learning curve. SmartSuite’s structure is quite different from most project management tools, so it took me some time to understand how everything worked. I also experienced a few issues with the mobile app, particularly when saving records.

SmartSuite’s top features

Database-style project management: SmartSuite combines spreadsheets and project management in a very natural way. I spent a lot of time sorting, filtering, grouping, and linking records, and it was much more powerful than a traditional task manager. With this setup, SmartSuite is a capable software for managing complex projects.

Custom fields: SmartSuite gives you an impressive number of field types. During testing, I added formulas, time tracking, addresses, and other custom fields to build workflows that matched exactly what I needed.

Permissions and roles: One feature that really stood out was the level of control over permissions. Between role-based access, guest permissions, and solution permissions, I could decide exactly who could view or edit different parts of my workspace.

Templates: I tried several of SmartSuite’s templates and was impressed by both the quality and variety. They made it much faster to build new projects without starting from scratch.

Automation: Setting up automations only took a few minutes. I also liked that SmartSuite supports email-based automation through its Outlook and Gmail integrations, which gives you more flexibility when building workflows.

SmartSuite’s pricing

Free plan available
Team plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Professional plan: $30/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: $45/user/month with annual billing

Wins & trade-offs when choosing SmartSuite

Pros

One of the best free plans available in the project management space
Combines project and data management
Excellent permissions and role management
Powerful customization options
High-quality templates

Cons

Steeper learning curve than ClickUp
Mobile app still needs improvement
Paid plans become expensive as your team grows

How does SmartSuite stack up against other ClickUp alternatives (and ClickUp itself)?

SmartSuite VS ClickUp

Compare SmartSuite vs ClickUp

SmartSuite VS Monday.com

Compare SmartSuite vs Monday

Read my full review: SmartSuite Review 2025: A Hidden Gem

Try SmartSuite

Teamwork.com

4.3/5

Teamwork.com is a project management platform built specifically for agencies, consultants, IT service providers, and other client-facing teams. It combines project management, time tracking, budgeting, reporting, and client collaboration in one platform.

Full Teamwork review Visit Teamwork

Best ClickUp alternative for client work

Quick verdict

Choose Teamwork.com over ClickUp if:

You manage client projects and need built-in budgeting, invoicing, and profitability tracking.

Stick with ClickUp if:

You mainly manage internal projects or want more flexible workflows.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

Client management, budgeting, and reporting are built directly into the platform.

Main tradeoff:

It offers fewer project views and has a longer learning curve.

Why I Recommend Teamwork.com for Teams Leaving ClickUp

If your business revolves around client work, Teamwork.com solves problems that ClickUp only partially covers. Besides managing projects, it helps you track billable time, monitor budgets, manage client relationships, and measure project profitability without relying on additional tools.

Another reason I recommend it is that many of these features work together naturally. Time tracking, budgeting, reporting, invoices, and client access are all connected, making it much easier to manage projects from the initial request to the final invoice.

Overall, I think Teamwork.com is one of the best ClickUp alternatives for agencies, consultants, creatives, and service-based businesses. If your projects are mostly internal, ClickUp remains the more flexible option.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

I particularly liked how much attention Teamwork.com puts on client work. The client management features, budgeting tools, built-in time tracking, and proofs all worked together, making it much easier to manage projects from both an operational and financial perspective.

I also appreciated the reporting features, which gave me a detailed overview of profitability, billable hours, workload, and project performance.

Compared to ClickUp, I missed having more project view options. Teamwork.com offers the essentials, but I occasionally had trouble finding certain features, such as invoicing. I also wasn’t a big fan of the Gantt view, which was less intuitive than in some other project management tools.

Teamwork.com‘s top features

Client management: The Client view is what separates Teamwork.com from most project management tools. I could see every client’s projects, budgets, owners, and key details in one place, while client users could review files, leave comments, and contribute to projects with limited permissions.

Budgeting & invoicing: I really liked having budgeting, time tracking, and invoicing inside the same platform. With this centralized platform for invoicing, I could monitor billable hours, project costs, profit margins, and prepare invoices in one place.

Reporting: Teamwork.com has some of the most advanced reporting features I’ve tested. I regularly checked profitability, tracked time, workload, and project reports, and I also liked that I could build custom reports when the pre-built ones weren’t enough.

Proofs: Proofs were one of my favorite features for client work. Clients could review files, leave feedback, and approve deliverables directly inside Teamwork.com, while the rest of the team could review everything before requesting final approval.

Resource management: Although I mostly tested Teamwork.com as a solo user, I spent some time exploring the workload and resource management features. They provide detailed information about team capacity, availability, and future workload, which I think would be valuable for larger teams.

Teamwork’s pricing

Free plan available and a 30-day free trial of the paid plans
Basics Plan: $9.99/user/month with annual billing
Accelerate Plan: $24.99/user/month with annual billing
Optimize Plan: Custom pricing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Wins & trade-offs when choosing Teamwork.com

Pros

Outstanding features for client work
Advanced reporting and financial tracking
Excellent budgeting and time tracking tools
Built-in client collaboration
Strong workload and resource management

Cons

Fewer project views than ClickUp
Longer learning curve

How does Teamwork stack up against other ClickUp alternatives (and ClickUp itself)?

Teamwork VS ClickUp

Teamwork vs ClickUp

Teamwork VS Monday

Teamwork vs Monday

Teamwork VS Asana

Teamwork vs Asana

Read my full review: Teamwork.com Review 2025: Here Is My Honest Opinion

Try Teamwork

ProofHub

4/5

ProofHub is a project management and team collaboration platform designed for growing teams. It combines project management, proofing, reporting, time tracking, and collaboration tools, while its flat pricing model keeps costs predictable as your team expands.

Full ProofHub review Visit ProofHub

Best alternative for growing teams

Bottom line

Choose ProofHub over ClickUp if:

Your team is growing and you want predictable pricing with strong collaboration features.

Stick with ClickUp if:

You rely on advanced automation, extensive integrations, or highly customized workflows.

Biggest advantage over ClickUp:

Flat pricing with unlimited users on every paid plan.

Main tradeoff:

Automation and integrations aren’t as advanced as ClickUp’s.

Why I Recommend ProofHub for Teams Leaving ClickUp

The main reason I recommend ProofHub over ClickUp is that it becomes more cost-effective as your team grows.

Unlike ClickUp, which charges per user, ProofHub’s flat pricing includes unlimited users on both paid plans. If you’re planning to expand your team, that pricing model can save a significant amount over time.

Another reason is that ProofHub still covers the core features most growing teams need. Project management, collaboration, proofing, reporting, and time tracking are all built into the platform, so you don’t have to sacrifice essential functionality to get predictable pricing.

Overall, I think ProofHub is a great choice for teams that want to scale without seeing their software costs increase every time they add a new team member.

What I Liked (and What I Missed Compared to ClickUp)

ProofHub exceeded my expectations during testing. I particularly liked how much attention it puts on team collaboration.

Chat, comments, announcements, proofing, and file sharing all worked well together, and I also appreciated how much I could customize projects, dashboards, reports, and user roles. The interface was intuitive, so I didn’t spend much time learning where everything was.

What I missed compared to ClickUp were its automation and integration options. ProofHub doesn’t include workflow automation, and the number of third-party integrations is fairly limited. I also think a free plan would make it a more attractive option for freelancers and smaller teams.

ProofHub’s top features

Proofing tools: The proofing tools were one of my favorite parts of ProofHub. I could review files, highlight specific areas, leave comments, and approve documents directly inside the platform. Version history was also useful when reviewing updated files.

Team collaboration tools: ProofHub offers chat, comments, file sharing, notifications, custom roles, and discussions in one place. All these tools help to keep conversations connected to projects.

Announcements: Announcements are a feature I rarely see in project management software. They let you share company updates, achievements, or important reminders with the whole team, while also allowing comments and file attachments.

Task management: ProofHub offers recurring tasks, custom fields, dependencies, custom workflows, templates, and multiple project views. I also liked the project overview, which combines milestones, logged time, activity, and project progress on one page.

Dashboard: The dashboard gave me quick access to projects, announcements, bookmarks, timers, sticky notes, and agenda items. I also liked that I could rearrange widgets and customize the layout based on what I wanted to see first.

ProofHub’s pricing

No free plan, only a 14-day free trial
Essential plan: $45/month (annual billing)
Ultimate Control plan: $89/month (annual billing)

Wins & trade-offs when choosing ProofHub

Pros

Predictable flat pricing with unlimited users
Excellent collaboration features
One of the best proofing tools I tested
Extensive task customization
User-friendly interface with a short learning curve

Cons

No workflow automation
Limited third-party integrations
No free plan

Read my full review: ProofHub Review 2026 | A Unique Project Management App

Try ProofHub

Summary: Best ClickUp Alternatives in 2026

After my long research and continuous testing, I found these as the top ClickUp alternatives in 2026 and tried to categorize them based on use cases. This way, you can select which one fits you.

Looking for similar tools?

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Every month, 35,000–50,000 people trust us to find the best productivity apps at the best price.

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros, so you can make an easier decision.

Have a question or suggestion? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out anytime at aronkantor@thebusinessdive.com.

Frequently asked questions

Is there anything better than ClickUp?

I think Monday, Backlog, Hive, SmartSuite, Teamwork.com, and Coda are the best alternatives to ClickUp right now. Nevertheless, there are many project management apps out there, so I am open to debate on this one.

Some additional alternatives to ClickUp which you can consider:

Notion: Notion offers a powerful and flexible combination of collaborative documents and project management with a generous free plan.
Wrike: It is best for larger teams and enterprise-level workflows, providing advanced analytics and cross-collaboration features.
Jira: The good old Jira. It is superior for software development and agile tracking, but I personally do not prefer it too much.
Trello: Trello is well-known for its Kanban-style task management and is often recommended as a cost-effective substitute for ClickUp. However, it has more basic project management features than ClickUp.
Basecamp: Basecamp’s simplicity and fixed pricing structure attract users looking for a straightforward project management tool instead of ClickUp.
Airtable: Airtable’s database management abilities make it an outstanding alternative for businesses requiring complex data handling.
Nifty: Nifty is mentioned for its effective milestone tracking, offering users a simplified alternative to ClickUp.
Motion: An all-in-one AI workspace for project management, automation, and team collaboration.

Which is the best project management tool?

It depends on your preferences and current processes. For me, SmartSuite, Monday, Teamwork.com, and Motion are definitely among the best project management apps.

Full article here: 8 Best Project Management Software in 2025 | My Honest List

Is Asana or ClickUp better?

After my ClickUp vs Asana review, I discovered that both software solutions are great for project managers, teams, and business owners to increase team collaboration and streamline workflows. However, my pick is ClickUp for several reasons.

ClickUp offers more project management tools to allow you to have complete creative control over your projects. It is an all-in-one tool for project management, note-taking, and team collaboration with a more robust feature set. For example, time-tracking tools, more comprehensive spreadsheet functionality, and advanced customization options.

While I enjoy using Asana’s features, and I think it is an ideal tool for managing projects, it is a no-go for me due to its misleading pricing model.

Full article about ClickUp vs Asana: Asana Vs ClickUp: This will save you $300 (2025)

Which is better, ClickUp or Notion?

After my Notion vs ClickUp review, I discovered that both apps are great. While I have used Notion for more than 2 years, even for managing my projects, it only has the essentials for project management.

So, here is what I can say to you: If you want a project management app solely, ClickUp is a better choice. While it has a longer learning curve, ClickUp has all the features you need to manage your projects and tasks.

Nevertheless, if you want an all-in-one solution and do not need advanced project management tools, give Notion a try. With this app, you can integrate numerous workflows into one single platform.

Full article about ClickUp vs Notion: Notion Vs ClickUp: What I Discovered in 90 Days! (2025)

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

Aron Kantor

Hey there! I am Aron, the founder of Thebusinessdive. I have been testing productivity apps for almost three years now. I reach 25.000 -50.000 people monthly with the mission to help you find the perfect productivity apps. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, newsletter, and social media to hear more about the best productivity tools. Let’s dive in!

thebusinessdive.com

The post 7 Best ClickUp Alternatives | +25 Apps Tested (2026) appeared first on .

7 Top Trello Alternatives I’d Recommend After Testing Them Myself

Aron Kantor — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:38:21 +0000

You outgrew simple Kanban boards and are now looking for a Trello alternative?

After testing productivity apps for over 3 years, these are the ones I’d recommend:

Vaiz → Best Trello alternative for modern collaborative workspaces
Hive → Best Trello alternative for small teams
Motion → Best all-in-one Trello alternative
Coda → Best simple Trello alternative
Monday.com → Best Trello alternative for larger businesses
AppFlowy → Best open-source Trello alternative
ClickUp → Best free Trello alternative

Quick Comparison Before Switching From Trello

Tool	Where it beats Trello	My favorite feature	Where Trello is stronger	Price
Vaiz	More complete workspace with docs, AI, and automation	Clean interface & Project Docs	Simpler for basic Kanban workflows	Free / From $5/user/mo
Hive	Built-in collaboration with chat, email, and docs	Team collaboration	Better free plan for simple task management	Free / From $5/user/mo
Motion	AI automatically schedules your work	AI Scheduling	Simpler project management and lower pricing	No free plan / From $19/user/mo
Coda	Combines docs, databases, and project management	Flexible documents	Easier to learn for basic boards	Free / From $10/user/mo
Monday.com	More advanced project planning and reporting	Custom Dashboards	Better value for small teams	Free / From $9/user/mo
AppFlowy	Open-source, offline, and self-hosted	Local AI & self-hosting	More integrations and mature workflows	Free / From $10/user/mo
ClickUp	Much deeper project management with a generous free plan	Whiteboards & Docs	Simpler interface and shorter learning curve	Free / From $7/user/mo

How we selected the best Trello alternatives

When selecting the best Trello alternatives, I used our standardized testing framework for project management software, developed over 3+ years of testing productivity apps.

The recommendations in this article are based on hands-on testing across multiple categories, including project management, collaboration, automation, AI, pricing, and overall user experience.

Since every tool focuses on a different type of user, I didn’t rank these Trello alternatives purely by their overall score. Instead, I organized them by where they outperform Trello and who they’re best suited for, whether that’s small teams, larger businesses, open-source workflows, or all-in-one productivity.

We evaluate every project management tool using this weighted framework, based on hands-on testing with real projects and everyday workflows.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 20+ project management apps:

Features & functionality — 60%
User interface — 10%
Performance & Reliability —10%
Pricing — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

A Closer Look at Each Trello Alternative

Vaiz

4.4/5

Vaiz is a modern work management platform that combines project tracking, documentation, collaboration, automation, and AI in one workspace. It offers more structure than Trello while remaining easy to learn and navigate.

Full Vaiz review Visit Vaiz

Best for modern collaborative workspaces

Quick verdict

Best Trello replacement for:

Cross-functional product and tech teams currently running tasks in one tool and docs in another — Vaiz replaces both at roughly half the cost.

Not ideal if:

Your team requires SOC 2 compliance, SAML-SSO, or a procurement-heavy purchasing process.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

More complete workspace without a steep learning curve.

Main tradeoff:

Lighter reporting and automation than larger PM tools.

How Vaiz’s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: Creating projects only took a few clicks, and I could start building workflows almost immediately. I mostly worked in the Cards view, but I also switched between List, Calendar, Milestones, and Gantt depending on the project. I also liked that Vaiz offers templates for different teams and workflows that make the initial setup even faster.

Task management: The task view includes everything I needed while testing, including subtasks, milestones, dependencies, comments, and activity history. Moving tasks between workflow stages was simple with drag-and-drop, and I could also reorganize work or link related tasks without much effort.

Collaboration: Most collaboration features are built directly into projects and tasks. I could leave comments, mention teammates, collaborate on subtasks, work in shared docs, and create diagrams in tasks and documents without leaving the workspace.

Project Docs: The Project Docs are connected with the rest of the workspace, so it was easy to keep documentation together with tasks and discussions. The editor supports slash commands and collaborative editing, which is practical for project planning and internal documentation.

Dashboards: The dashboards gave me a centralized overview of tasks, workloads, and project activity. Setting them up was straightforward, and I could customize them with different widgets depending on what I wanted to track.

Automation: Vaiz uses a simple “when → then” automation builder. It handled routine workflow automation well, especially for task updates and status changes, but it does not yet offer the same level of flexibility as larger project management platforms.

AI assistant: I mainly used the AI assistant inside Project Docs for writing, editing, and summarizing content. It worked well for documentation. Vaiz also supports Claude MCP integration and Cursor — meaning your team can create tasks, pull context, and manage work directly from the AI tools you’re already using. A native AI agent is launching summer 2026.

Integrations: Vaiz covers the integrations most teams need, including Slack, GitHub, GitLab, and Zapier. I also liked that it supports one-click imports from Trello, Asana, Jira, and Notion (tasks only, full import in development), and several other project management tools, making migration much easier — with ClickUp, Monday.com, and Wrike support coming soon.

User interface: The interface is clean and lightweight, and it was easy to move between boards, tasks, dashboards, docs, and automations. I particularly liked the Home page, which brings together recent documents, assigned tasks, favorite items, and projects in one place.

Vaiz pricing

Free plan available + a 30-day free trial of the paid plans
Pro plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Premium plan: $9/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing with self-hosted deployment options available

Vaiz’s Strengths

Very easy to learn and set up
Clean, modern interface
Excellent balance between simplicity and functionality
Strong collaboration features built directly into projects and tasks
Multiple project views, including Kanban, List, Calendar, Milestones, and Gantt
Solid integrations
Smooth migration from Trello and other project management platforms

Short wrap-up: I recommend Vaiz for startups, agencies, and small to mid-sized teams that have outgrown Trello but don’t want the complexity of enterprise project management software.

Vaiz’s Limitations

Reporting and dashboards are relatively lightweight
Automation system is less advanced than larger PM platforms

Short wrap-up: If your team depends on advanced reporting, highly customizable automations, or enterprise-level workflows, you’ll likely be better served by ClickUp or Monday.com.

Read my full review: Vaiz Review 2026 | Lightweight Done Right

Try Vaiz

Hive

4.3/5

Hive is a project management platform built for small and mid-sized teams. Besides project and task management, it includes team chat, collaborative docs, dashboards, automation, AI tools, and even email, making it a much more complete workspace than Trello.

Full Hive review Visit Hive

Best Trello alternative for small teams

Quick verdict

Best Trello replacement for:

Small teams that need built-in collaboration and communication tools.

Not ideal if:

You need advanced features on a tight budget.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

Team chat, email, AI, and collaborative docs in one platform.

Main tradeoff:

Most advanced features are only available on the Teams plan.

How Hive’s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: Hive offers enough project views for most small teams, including Kanban boards, Lists, Tables, Gantt charts, and Calendar. During testing, switching between views was smooth, and I particularly liked the Workload view for getting a quick overview of team capacity.

Task management: Creating tasks was straightforward, and Hive includes everything I expected, from assignees and due dates to dependencies, labels, comments, and file attachments. It also records time directly inside tasks, which is useful if your team tracks billable work.

App library: Hive’s App Library lets you customize the platform with additional features depending on your workflow. I liked that there are plenty of add-ons available, although some require one of the higher-tier plans.

Collaboration: This was one of my favorite parts of Hive. Besides task comments and collaborative documents, it includes built-in team chat and an activity feed, so most project communication stays inside the workspace instead of moving to another app.

Dashboards: The dashboards made it easy to monitor projects and workloads in one place. I also liked that I could customize them with different widgets, filters, and external embeds depending on what I wanted to track.

Time tracking: Hive includes built-in time tracking and timesheets, which were easy to use during testing. Filtering recorded time by project also made reporting much simpler.

Email: Unlike most project management tools I tested, Hive lets you access your emails directly inside the platform. Once I connected my inbox, I could manage emails without leaving my workspace.

Automation: Hive uses a simple automation builder that follows the same logic as most modern project management tools. Setting up automated workflows only took a few clicks.

AI tools: Hive’s AI assistant, Buzz, can answer questions, help build projects, create dashboards, and automate workflows. I also used the AI tools inside Hive Notes, where they helped generate and improve content much faster.

Mobile app: I also tested Hive’s iOS app, and it stayed well synchronized with the desktop version throughout my testing. It made it easy to manage projects, tasks, and team communication while away from my computer.

Integrations: Hive offers native integrations with tools like Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, and Dropbox. Through Zapier, you can also connect it with thousands of additional apps.

User interface: The interface is clean and easy to navigate, and I had no issues finding the features I needed. I also appreciated the Hive University section, which includes tutorials and guides for new users.

Hive pricing

Free plan available
Starter plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Teams plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Hive’s Strengths

Easy-to-use interface with a short learning curve
Excellent collaboration features for small teams
Built-in chat, email, and collaborative documents
AI assistant for project management and content creation
Customizable dashboards with useful reporting widgets
Strong value for small and growing teams

Short wrap-up: Hive is an excellent choice for agencies, startups, and small businesses that want project management and team communication in one platform.

Hive’s Limitations

Most advanced features require the Teams plan
Fewer project views than tools like Monday.com
AI tools aren’t available across every part of the platform

Short wrap-up: If you’re looking for enterprise-level reporting or need advanced features without upgrading to a higher plan, ClickUp or Monday.com are better options.

Read my full review: Hive Review: The Best Project Management App? (2025)

Try Hive

Motion

4.1/5

Motion has evolved far beyond a scheduling app. It combines project management, task management, AI scheduling, meeting notes, documents, and calendar management in one platform. It’s an excellent choice if you want to replace several productivity tools with a single app.

Full Motion review Visit Motion

Best all-in-one alternative

Bottom line

Best Trello replacement for:

Professionals and teams looking for one app to manage projects, meetings, calendars, and tasks.

Not ideal if:

You only need a simple Kanban board or want a free project management tool.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

AI scheduling automatically prioritizes and schedules your work across projects and meetings.

Main tradeoff:

It takes longer to learn than Trello, and there is no free plan.

How Motion’s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: Motion offers all the essential project management features, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts, list views, and customizable filters. I could quickly create projects, assign tasks, and manage everything from one place. However, compared to ClickUp or even Monday.com, Motion has basic project management capabilities.

Task management: Adding and managing tasks was straightforward throughout my testing. I could easily set priorities, durations, due dates, and assignees, and let Motion automatically schedule tasks into my calendar.

Calendar: Motion brings together Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and Apple Calendar into a single view. Having all my events in one place made planning my work much easier.

AI scheduling: The AI scheduling feature is what makes Motion different from most project management tools. Once I added my tasks, Motion automatically scheduled and rescheduled them based on deadlines, priorities, and my availability, which quickly became one of my favorite features.

Team collaboration: Motion has fewer collaboration features than some other project management tools, but it still covers the essentials. I could assign tasks, communicate within projects, and use the Team Schedule to keep track of everyone’s priorities.

Meeting Assistant: Setting up my booking page took me around 10–15 minutes while I learned the available options. Once everything was configured, sharing booking links and managing meetings became very straightforward.

AI meeting note-taker: Motion automatically records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings while turning action items into tasks. I liked that meeting notes become part of the rest of my workflow instead of staying in a separate tool.

Documents: Motion’s Documents feature made it easy to keep notes together with projects and tasks. I also liked that I could link projects and tasks directly inside documents without switching between different tools.

Integrations: Motion integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, iCloud Calendar, Siri, Zapier, and many other productivity tools. Through Zapier, you can also connect Motion with over 8,000 additional apps.

Mobile app: I tested Motion on iOS, and the mobile app stayed well synchronized with the desktop version throughout my testing. It’s also great to see that the developer team frequently updates the app with new features.

User interface: Motion has a practical interface that made it easy to find the main features. While navigation was straightforward, I found the learning curve steeper than most productivity tools because of the number of customization options available.

Motion pricing

No free plan available, only a 7-day free trial
Pro AI plan (individuals): $29/month with annual billing
Business AI plan (individuals): $39/month with annual billing
Pro AI plan (teams): $19/seat/month with annual billing
Business AI plan (teams): $29/seat/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Motion’s Strengths

All-in-one tool for calendar, tasks, and projects
Strong AI auto-scheduling
Syncs all calendars in one place
Efficient for small team project management
Easy to add and manage tasks

Short wrap-up: Motion is an excellent choice for professionals, founders, and small teams who want one app to replace multiple productivity tools and automate daily planning.

Motion’s Limitations

No free plan
Higher pricing
A more basic project management software compared to a dedicated platform

Short wrap-up: If you only need a simple Kanban board or your team depends on advanced collaboration features, you’ll probably be better off with Trello, Hive, or ClickUp.

Read my full review: Motion App Review: My $348 Experience and Why I Don’t Regret It

Try Motion

Coda

4.5/5

Coda is an all-in-one workspace that combines project management, documents, note-taking, and collaboration in one platform. It’s a great choice if Trello feels too limited but more advanced tools seem overwhelming.

Full Coda review Visit Coda

Best simple Trello alternative

Bottom line

Best Trello replacement for:

Individuals and teams looking for a simple all-in-one workspace.

Not ideal if:

You need an offline desktop app or enterprise-level project management.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

Combines documents, notes, databases, and project management in one workspace.

Main tradeoff:

No offline desktop app, and the Enterprise plan is expensive.

How Coda’s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: Coda offers multiple project views, including boards, tables, calendars, and Gantt charts. During testing, I liked how easy it was to customize layouts, filters, and dashboards to organize projects exactly the way I wanted.

Task management: Task management is highly customizable thanks to the different column types, formulas, and conditional formatting options. I also liked that I could comment, mention teammates, and attach files without leaving the task.

Note-taking: Coda uses a block-based editor similar to Notion, making it easy to build structured notes. I found the note-taking experience intuitive, and the drag-and-drop editor made creating documentation quick. I also used this feature for knowledge management purposes for TheBusinessDive.

Data & document management: Coda works equally well for documents, databases, spreadsheets, and internal wikis. During testing, I appreciated the different sharing permissions. This made it easy to control who could view, edit, or interact with each document.

Team collaboration: Collaboration is built directly into documents and projects. I could edit documents with teammates in real time, assign tasks, leave comments, and share pages with only a few clicks.

Automation: Coda uses a simple “When → Then” automation builder for repetitive workflows. Setting up automations was straightforward, and I had no issues creating simple workflow rules.

Coda AI: Coda AI can write, summarize, brainstorm ideas, analyze information, and even convert text into tables. I found it very useful when working with documents and organizing project information.

Integrations: Coda integrates with many third-party tools and also supports Zapier. Through Zapier, you can connect it with over 8,000 additional applications.

Mobile app: Coda offers mobile apps for both iOS and Android, so it’s easy to access documents and projects while away from your computer.

User interface: Coda has a clean and modern interface that was easy to learn during testing. While it offers many advanced features, the navigation stayed simple, and the available templates helped me get started much faster.

Coda pricing

Free plan available
Pro plan: $10/month per Doc Maker with annual billing
Team plan: $30/month per Doc Maker with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Coda’s Strengths

Highly customizable project management with multiple project views
Excellent note-taking experience with a flexible block-based editor
Powerful Coda AI for creating, summarizing, and organizing content
Generous free plan for individuals
Short learning curve despite its broad feature set

Short wrap-up: I recommend Coda to individuals and small teams looking for a simple project management tool that also works as a note-taking app and collaborative workspace.

Coda’s Limitations

No desktop app, so you’ll always need an internet connection
Enterprise plan is more expensive than many competing tools

Short wrap-up: If offline access or enterprise pricing are important factors for your team, you’ll probably be better off with another project management platform.

Read my full review: My Honest Coda.io Review: Here’s What Surprised Me! (2026)

Try Coda

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

Explore Apps directory

Monday.com

4.2/5

Monday.com is an intuitive project management platform mostly for teams. Thanks to its security measures and integration options, Monday.com is ideal for enterprises as well.

Full Monday review Visit Monday

Best alternative for larger businesses

Quick verdict

Best Trello replacement for:

Growing teams and larger businesses managing multiple projects.

Not ideal if:

You want the lowest-cost project management solution or rely heavily on mobile apps.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

More project views, customizable dashboards, and advanced team management features.

Main tradeoff:

The higher-tier plans can become expensive, and the mobile app still has some limitations.

How Monday.com‘s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: Monday.com offers one of the widest selections of project views I’ve tested, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts, calendars, workload views, and portfolio management. I enjoyed switching between these views, and I was impressed by how quickly they loaded. It also offers some project templates, which saved me 15-30 minutes when kicking out a new project.

Task management: Adding and assigning tasks only took a few clicks, and I could customize statuses, priorities, timelines, owners, and columns with ease. The only feature I missed was recurring tasks, which require automation instead of being built in.

Custom dashboards: The dashboards were one of my favorite parts of Monday.com. I found them easy to customize with widgets, charts, and apps, and simple to monitor projects, track progress visually, and manage budgets from one place.

Team collaboration: Monday.com includes all the collaboration features most teams need, including comments, mentions, file attachments, project sharing, and an activity feed. Everything stayed well organized inside projects, so collaboration was straightforward.

Time tracking: Thanks to the built-in time tracking tools, it was easy to record time spent on tasks. I also liked that exporting tracked time to Excel only took a few clicks.

Automation: Monday.com has an intuitive automatic builder, so creating automations was simple. Setting up trigger-and-action workflows didn’t require much learning, even when adding conditions.

Docs: Monday Docs allows you to create documents using text, tables, widgets, lists, and templates. I also liked having AI available inside documents for writing and summarizing content.

Integrations: Monday.com integrates directly with over 200 applications and supports thousands more through Zapier. It was easy to connect it with the tools I already use.

Mobile app: I also tested Monday.com’s mobile app on iOS. While it covers the core functionality, I noticed occasional syncing issues when adding new board items, and it still offers fewer features than the desktop version.

User interface: Monday.com has one of the most intuitive interfaces among the project management tools I tested. Although there is still a learning curve, it was easy to find features.

Monday.com pricing

Free plan available
Basic plan: $9/seat/month with annual billing
Standard plan: $12/seat/month with annual billing
Pro plan: $19/seat/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Monday.com‘s Strengths

Intuitive interface
Excellent task management with extensive customization options
Powerful dashboards for tracking simple and complex projects
Flexible data visualization options
Easier to get started compared to tools like ClickUp, Jira, or SmartSuite

Short wrap-up: I recommend Monday.com for growing teams and larger businesses that need a scalable project management platform without the complexity of more technical tools.

Monday.com‘s Limitations

No built-in recurring tasks without automation
Mobile app still has bugs and fewer features than the desktop version
Pro plan is relatively expensive for the features it includes
Offers less advanced project management experience than ClickUp

Short wrap-up: If recurring tasks, a polished mobile experience, or lower pricing are your priorities, there are better Trello alternatives on this list.

Read my full review: Monday.com Review 2025: Is the $228 Price Tag Justified?

Try Monday

AppFlowy

4.2/5

AppFlowy is an open-source workspace that combines project management, notes, wikis, and collaboration in one platform. It offers a familiar interface, offline access, and self-hosting capabilities, making it a great Trello alternative for users who want full control over their data.

Visit AppFlowy

Best open-source alternative

Quick verdict

Best Trello replacement for:

Privacy-focused users and teams looking for an open-source project management tool.

Not ideal if:

You rely on advanced automations or extensive third-party integrations.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

Offline access, self-hosting, and complete control over your data.

Main tradeoff:

Fewer integrations and less mature workflow features than larger platforms.

How AppFlowy’s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: AppFlowy works well as a lightweight project management tool. I found it easy to organize projects using different views, and sharing projects with team members only took a few clicks.

Task management: Managing tasks was straightforward, with support for assignees, dates, progress tracking, and custom statuses. It has all the essentials for project organization.

Note-taking: The note editor uses a block-based structure similar to Notion, and it’s easy to create documentation alongside projects. Slash commands also speed up building pages with tables, boards, images, and other content.

Collaboration: AppFlowy includes the collaboration features most small teams need. Sharing projects, assigning tasks, and working together on documents all worked smoothly during testing.

AI features: The built-in AI assistant can generate drafts, summarize content, and answer questions directly inside your workspace. I also liked that AppFlowy supports Local AI, which allows privacy-focused users to run AI models on their own devices.

Integrations: While AppFlowy doesn’t offer as many native integrations as some competitors, it supports Zapier, giving you access to thousands of third-party apps.

User interface: The interface seemed familiar from the beginning and was easy to navigate. If you’ve used tools like Notion before, getting started with AppFlowy takes very little time.

AppFlowy pricing

Free plan available
Pro plan: $10/user/month with annual billing
Self-hosted plans: start at $1/month

AppFlowy’s Strengths

Open-source platform with self-hosting support
Offline access and local-first architecture
Easy-to-use interface with a short learning curve
Combines notes, projects, and wikis in one workspace
Affordable pricing for individuals and small teams
Supports Local AI for privacy-focused workflows

Short wrap-up: AppFlowy is a great choice for individuals, developers, and small teams who want an open-source Trello alternative with offline access and full control over their data.

AppFlowy’s Limitations

Limited native integrations
Basic workflow automation
Fewer advanced project management features than larger platforms

Short wrap-up: If your team depends on advanced automations, extensive integrations, or enterprise-level project management features, you’ll likely be better off with ClickUp, Monday.com, or Hive.

Try AppFlowy

ClickUp

4.3/5

ClickUp is a project management platform built for teams that need more than simple task tracking. Compared to Trello, it offers significantly more features, including docs, dashboards, automation, time tracking, and AI, while still providing one of the most generous free plans available.

Full ClickUp review Visit ClickUp

Best free alternative

Quick verdict

Best Trello replacement for:

Teams that need advanced project management without paying for premium features.

Not ideal if:

You prefer a lightweight tool with a very short learning curve.

Biggest advantage over Trello:

A generous free plan packed with advanced project management features.

Main tradeoff:

The platform can feel overwhelming at first and still has occasional performance issues.

How ClickUp’s Features Performed During My Testing

Project management: ClickUp is an advanced project management tool that offers numerous views, including List, Kanban, Calendar, Gantt, Workload, and Team. I frequently used the customization options, especially filters, layouts, permissions, and workload views, when reviewing project progress.

Task management: It’s useful for structured task management for teams. Setting up tasks only took a few clicks, and each task supports subtasks, priorities, reminders, attachments, comments, and relationships. The amount of information you can add makes ClickUp suitable for managing more complex projects.

Team collaboration: ClickUp brings project management, documentation, and communication into one workspace. I used Whiteboards, Docs, and Chat throughout my testing instead of switching between separate collaboration tools.

Time tracking: The time tracking tools are available on desktop, web, and mobile. Filtering tracked time by projects and workflows made reporting much easier.

Automation: ClickUp uses simple “When → Then” automation rules. Creating automation for task updates, due dates, and communication was very fast and made it easier to manage complex projects more effectively.

AI tools: ClickUp Brain answers questions about projects, tasks, and documents, and it can also generate content or transcribe meetings. Since it’s an optional add-on, I focused most of my testing on ClickUp’s core project management features.

Integrations: ClickUp integrates directly with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Calendar. Through Zapier, it also supports more than 8,000 additional apps.

Mobile app: I used the iOS app to access projects and tasks while away from my computer. The interface is well designed, but I occasionally noticed slower performance, and several desktop features are still unavailable.

User interface: ClickUp includes more tools than most project management platforms, so there is more to explore after signing up. The built-in search helped me locate features quickly, and ClickUp University offers tutorials for learning the platform.

ClickUp pricing

Free plan available
Unlimited plan: $7/month with annual billing
Business plan: $12/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

One of the most generous free plans available
Extensive project and task management features
Robust collaboration features, including Whiteboards and Docs
Wide range of integrations
Customizable dashboards for tracking projects and workloads

Short wrap-up: ClickUp is an excellent choice for teams and individuals who have outgrown Trello and want advanced project management features without immediately paying for a premium plan.

ClickUp’s Limitations

Can feel overwhelming for new users
Occasional slow performance, especially when using Whiteboards
Mobile app still has bugs and lacks some desktop features
Customer support could be improved

Short wrap-up: If you prefer a lightweight project management tool with a minimal learning curve, you’ll probably find Trello, Coda, or Vaiz easier to get started with.

Read my full review: My Honest ClickUp Review After Using It For +3 Months (2026)

Try ClickUp

Summary: Best Trello Alternatives in 2026

After I spent numerous months testing project and task management apps, I found these as the top Trello alternatives in 2026. I tried to categorize them based on the most frequent use cases to help you get a full picture of the tools you can choose from.

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Have a question or suggestion? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out anytime at aronkantor@thebusinessdive.com.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better than Trello?

There are many project management software options on the market if you are looking for a Trello alternative. I would recommend a different app for software development teams than someone who runs an agency and needs an agile project management app.

However, after spending +100 hours with personal testing, these six are the best Trello alternatives for me:

Vaiz
Hive
Motion
Coda
Monday.com
AppFlowy
ClickUp

What is the free alternative to Trello?

If you work alone, there are numerous great Trello alternatives. For me, ClickUp, Notion, and Coda are definitely among the top free Trello alternatives.

What replaced Trello?

Well, in the past +5 years, many project management tools have risen up & become more than a solid Trello alternative. For example, Asana, ClickUp, Monday.com.

What are the best Trello competitors?

In addition to the apps mentioned here, I would add Notion, Todoist, Asana, Airtable, Microsoft Project, and Jira. For software development project managers, I can also recommend SmartSuite and Nulab Backlog.

Aron Kantor

thebusinessdive.com

The post 7 Top Trello Alternatives I’d Recommend After Testing Them Myself appeared first on .

7 Best Asana Alternatives: The Tools I’d Actually Switch To

Aron Kantor — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:30:18 +0000

Asana is a popular project management tool, but there are some reasons many users have started looking for alternatives due to concerns around its pricing model and customer support. So, I decided to collect the best Asana alternatives in 2026 to help you find the one that fits you.

These are my top picks after trying over 20 project manager tools to handle my workflows:

SmartSuite → Best free Asana alternative for small teams
Vaiz → Best alternative for teams tired of paying for tools they don’t fully use
Motion → Best Asana alternative for solo entrepreneurs
Teamwork.com → Best Asana alternative for client work
Monday.com → Best Asana alternative for large teams
Hive → Best Asana alternative for small teams
ClickUp → Best Asana alternative for team collaboration

Finding the Right Asana Alternative: Side-by-Side Comparison

Tool	Better than Asana for	What stood out during testing	What You’ll Miss Compared to Asana	Pricing starts
SmartSuite	Small teams that need project management and databases in one workspace	Extremely fast performance, flexible databases, and one of the best free plans I tested	A shorter learning curve and a more polished mobile experience	Free + paid from $12/user/month
Vaiz	Growing teams looking for a simple all-in-one workspace	Clean interface, quick setup, and an excellent balance between simplicity and functionality	More advanced reporting, dashboards, and workflow automation	Free + paid from $5/user/month
Motion	Solo entrepreneurs managing tasks, meetings, and schedules	AI scheduling automatically reorganized my calendar as priorities changed	A free plan and stronger team collaboration features	Paid plans from $19/user/month
Teamwork.com	Agencies and service businesses managing client work	Built-in budgeting, client management, time tracking, and profitability tools	A simpler interface and a wider selection of project views	Free + paid from €9.99/user/month
Monday.com	Large teams managing multiple projects	Intuitive interface, excellent dashboards, and numerous project views	Built-in recurring tasks on lower plans and more affordable pricing	Free + paid from $9/user/month
Hive	Small teams that want collaboration and communication in one place	Built-in chat, collaborative notes, AI tools, and an intuitive interface	More advanced customization and premium features in lower-tier plans	Free + paid from $5/user/month
ClickUp	Teams with complex workflows that need deep customization	Extensive collaboration features, flexible workflows, and a generous free plan	A shorter learning curve and more consistent performance	Free + paid from $7/user/month

How we test project management apps

When selecting the best Asana alternatives, I used our standardized testing framework for project management software, developed over 3+ years of testing productivity apps.

The recommendations in this article are based on hands-on testing across multiple categories, including project management, task management, collaboration, automation, AI features, pricing, integrations, and overall user experience.

Since every team has different priorities, I didn’t rank these Asana alternatives purely by their overall score.

Instead, I organized them based on where they outperform Asana and who they’re best suited for, whether that’s small teams, solo entrepreneurs, client-facing businesses, large organizations, or teams that need more advanced collaboration and customization.

We evaluate every project management tool using this weighted framework, based on hands-on testing with real projects and everyday workflows.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 20+ project management apps:

Features & functionality — 60%
User interface — 10%
Performance & Reliability —10%
Pricing — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

My Experience Testing Each Asana Alternative

SmartSuite

4.4/5

SmartSuite is a work management platform that helps teams deliver projects, run more efficient processes, and streamline workflows. It has a fresh design compared to the typical project management software. It is the best free Asana alternative for three team members.

Full SmartSuite review Visit SmartSuite

Best free Asana alternative for small teams

Quick verdict

Best Asana replacement for:

Small teams that need project management and database management in one tool without paying for expensive plans.

Not ideal if:

You need an intuitive platform with a short learning curve or you rely heavily on a polished mobile app.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

SmartSuite offers one of the most generous free plans I tested while combining spreadsheets, databases, and project management into a single workspace.

Main tradeoff:

It takes longer to learn than Asana, and its mobile app still has some bugs and performance issues.

Why I Recommend SmartSuite for Teams Leaving Asana

During my SmartSuite review, the first thing I noticed was its performance. It is super fast, and I experienced almost no loading time while switching between projects, databases, and different views.

I particularly enjoyed its Excel-like approach when working with tables. It was easy to sort, filter, and group information, and I could customize records with many different fields without making my workspace confusing.

I also liked how SmartSuite combines project management and database management in one place. It offers numerous project views, solid collaboration tools, automation, and detailed permission settings, so I could manage different workflows without using additional tools.

Overall, SmartSuite was a huge surprise for me. It is one of the most flexible project management tools I tested, and I think it is definitely among the best Asana alternatives for teams that need to manage projects and company data in one place.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing SmartSuite

Pro	Why It’s Important
Generous free plan	Includes real-time collaboration, multiple project views, automation, and task management features for up to 3 users.
Combines project and data management	Lets you manage projects, databases, spreadsheets, and workflows in one platform.
Detailed permissions and roles	Makes it easy to control who can view, create, modify, or delete records.
Numerous project views	Gantt, Kanban, timeline, dashboard, and table views help you track projects from different perspectives.
Extensive customization	You can customize records with custom fields, formulas, time logs, addresses, and more.
Fast performance	I experienced almost no loading time while using SmartSuite.
Pre-built templates	Helps you create projects faster for marketing, product development, and other workflows.

Con	The Tradeoff
Steep learning curve	It took me time to understand SmartSuite’s structure and everything I could do with it.
Mobile app has bugs	The iOS app was slow during my testing and sometimes did not save fields or records.

SmartSuite’s pricing

Free plan available
Team plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Professional plan: $30/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: $45/user/month with annual billing

How SmartSuite compares to other alternatives

SmartSuite VS ClickUp

Compare SmartSuite vs ClickUp

SmartSuite VS Monday.com

Compare SmartSuite vs Monday

Read my full review: SmartSuite Review 2025: A Hidden Gem

Try SmartSuite

Vaiz

4.4/5

Vaiz is a work management platform that combines project management, documentation, collaboration, automation, and AI tools inside a single workspace. It is one of the easiest project management tools I tested and a great Asana alternative for small and mid-sized teams

Full Vaiz review Visit Vaiz

Best Asana alternative for teams tired of paying for tools they don’t fully use

Quick verdict

Best Asana replacement for:

Cross-functional product and tech teams currently paying for Asana plus a separate docs tool — Vaiz replaces both at roughly half the cost.

Not ideal if:

Your team requires SOC 2 compliance, SAML-SSO, or a procurement-heavy purchasing process.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

Combines tasks, docs, and collaboration in one workspace — replacing the Asana + Notion stack at a lower combined cost.

Main tradeoff:

Its reporting, dashboards, and automation are not as advanced as those offered by larger project management platforms.

Why I Recommend Vaiz for Teams Leaving Asana

One thing I appreciated during my Vaiz review was how little time it took to get started. Creating projects, boards, and workflows only took a few clicks, and I did not need to spend much time configuring the workspace.

Compared to many project management tools I tested, Vaiz is much more focused. The interface is clean, navigation is straightforward, and I had no trouble moving between projects, tasks, docs, dashboards, and automations.

I also liked the balance between simplicity and functionality. While Vaiz is easy to use, it still includes the collaboration, documentation, and project management features that most small and mid-sized teams need for their daily work.

Another feature I enjoyed was the built-in documentation. Since Project Docs are connected with tasks, milestones, and discussions, it was easy to keep everything related to a project in one place.

The only area where I felt Vaiz was behind some larger competitors was reporting and automation. They work well for everyday workflows, but they are not as advanced as what you get with tools like ClickUp or Monday.com.

Overall, I think Vaiz is a solid Asana alternative for small and mid-sized teams. It combines the core project management features most teams need with an interface that is easy to learn and navigate.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing Vaiz

Pro	Why It’s Important
Easy project and board setup	You can start managing projects in just a few clicks.
Clean and lightweight interface	Makes it easy to navigate between projects, tasks, docs, and dashboards.
Good balance between simplicity and customization	You can personalize workflows without spending much time on setup.
Strong collaboration features	Team members can collaborate on tasks, docs, dashboards, and discussions in one workspace.
Multiple project views	Includes Kanban Cards, List, Calendar, Milestones, and Gantt views for different workflows.
Good range of integrations	Connects with Slack, Zapier, GitHub, GitLab, and thousands of other apps through Zapier.
Free plan for up to 10 users	Small teams can test the platform before upgrading.

Con	The tradeoff
Lightweight reporting and dashboards	Larger teams may need more advanced reporting and analytics.
Less advanced automation	It covers everyday workflows but offers fewer automation options than larger PM platforms.

Vaiz’s pricing

Free plan available & a 30-day trial of the paid plans
Pro plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Premium plan: $9/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing (self-hosted deployment options available)

Read my full review: Vaiz Review 2026 | Lightweight Done Right

Try Vaiz

Motion

4.1/5

Motion is an AI-based scheduling tool with task and project management features. Besides many other use cases, Motion can auto-schedule meetings, synchronize your work and personal calendar, and block time slots for recurring tasks and certain projects.

Full Motion review Visit Motion

Best Asana alternative for solo entrepreneurs

Bottom line

Best Asana replacement for:

Solo entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to combine project management, scheduling, meetings, and tasks in one app.

Not ideal if:

You need a free plan or advanced collaboration features for larger teams.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

Motion automatically schedules and reschedules your tasks based on your priorities, deadlines, and calendar.

Main tradeoff:

It is more expensive than most Asana alternatives and has a steeper learning curve.

Why I Recommend Motion for Teams Leaving Asana

During my Motion review, I quickly realized that it is much more than a scheduling tool. Besides managing projects and tasks, I could also organize my meetings, calendars, and documents in one place.

I particularly liked Motion’s AI scheduling feature. Once I added my tasks, it automatically scheduled them into my calendar based on my priorities, deadlines, and availability. When my schedule changed, Motion adjusted my tasks automatically.

Another feature I found useful was the calendar sync. Motion brings together Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook Calendar into one place, so I could manage all my events from a single view.

Motion also provides many customization options when creating tasks and projects. Entering tasks, changing existing tasks, and adding new tasks to projects worked smoothly during my testing.

While Motion has a steeper learning curve than many productivity tools, there are many tutorial videos and support articles that make it easier to learn the platform.

Overall, I had a very pleasant experience using Motion in my daily work life. I particularly liked it as a combination of a project management software and scheduling tool, and I think it is one of the best Asana alternatives for solo entrepreneurs.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing Motion

Pro	Why It’s Important
AI auto-scheduling	Automatically plans and reschedules your tasks based on deadlines and priorities.
Combines multiple productivity tools	Replaces your calendar, task manager, project management tool, and AI meeting assistant.
Calendar sync	Brings Google, Outlook, and Apple calendars into one view.
Easy task management software	Adding, assigning, and managing tasks is quick.
AI meeting note-taker	Records meetings, creates summaries, and turns action items into tasks.

Con	The Tradeoff
No free plan	You only get a one-week free trial before choosing a paid plan.
Higher pricing	Costs more than many other Asana alternatives.
Steep learning curve	Some features take time to learn, especially when setting up workflows.

Motion’s pricing

No free plan available, only a 7-day free trial
Pro AI plan (individuals): $29/month with annual billing
Business AI plan (individuals): $39/month with annual billing
Pro AI plan (teams): $19/seat/month with annual billing
Business AI plan (teams): $29/seat/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How Motion compares to other alternatives

Motion VS ClickUp

Motion vs ClickUp

Motion VS Asana

Motion vs Asana

Read my full review: Motion App Review: My $348 Experience and Why I Don’t Regret It

Try Motion

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

Explore Apps directory

Teamwork.com

4.3/5

Teamwork.com is a project management platform built for client work. It combines project management with time tracking, budgeting, reporting, and client collaboration, making it an excellent Asana alternative for agencies and consultants.

Full Teamwork review Visit Teamwork

Best Asana alternative for client work

Quick verdict

Best Asana replacement for:

Agencies, consultants, and service-based businesses managing client work and billable projects.

Not ideal if:

You mainly manage internal projects or want a simple task management tool.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

Teamwork.com offers dedicated client management, budgeting, time tracking, invoicing, and reporting features in one platform.

Main tradeoff:

It has fewer project views than many competitors and takes longer to learn because of its extensive feature set.

Why I Recommend Teamwork.com for Teams Leaving Asana

During my Teamwork.com review, this project management software surprised me numerous times. Due to the number and depth of features, it has a longer learning curve, but I think it is worth the time.

What I liked most was that Teamwork.com was clearly built for client work. Besides managing projects, I could track billable hours, create budgets, manage client users, review proofs, and monitor project profitability from one place.

Another thing I appreciated was how well the client management features were integrated into the platform. It was easy to organize multiple projects for the same client, share updates, and give clients limited access when they needed to review or approve work.

I also found its reporting and workload management features particularly useful. They made it easy to understand how projects were performing, how my team’s capacity was allocated, and where more resources might be needed.

The built-in time tracking also worked well during my testing. Combined with budgeting and invoicing, it helps keep client projects organized from planning to delivery.

Overall, I think Teamwork.com is one of the best Asana alternatives for agencies, consultants, creatives, and marketing teams. It offers the project management features most teams need while adding specialized tools for managing client work.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing Teamwork.com

Pro	Why It’s Important
Advanced client management	Lets you manage clients, projects, budgets, and client users from one place.
Built-in time tracking and budgeting	Makes it easy to track billable hours, project costs, and profitability.
Advanced reporting	Gives you detailed insights into profitability, tracked time, workload, and project performance.
Resource management	Helps you understand team capacity and plan future projects more effectively.
Proofs and client approvals	Streamlines feedback and approval workflows with clients.
Strong collaboration tools	Team members can communicate, share files, and create tasks directly from Teamwork Chat.
Decent free plan	Includes the core project management features and basic client work tools for up to five users.

Con	The Tradeoff
Longer learning curve	It takes time to learn because of the extensive feature set.
Fewer project views	Offers fewer visualization options than some other project management platforms.

Teamwork’s pricing

Free plan available and a 30-day free trial of the paid plans
Basics Plan: $9.99/user/month with annual billing
Accelerate Plan: $24.99/user/month with annual billing
Optimize Plan: Custom pricing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How Teamwork.com compares to other alternatives

Teamwork VS ClickUp

Teamwork vs ClickUp

Teamwork VS Monday

Teamwork vs Monday

Teamwork VS Asana

Teamwork vs Asana

Read my full review: Teamwork.com Review 2025: Here Is My Honest Opinion

Try Teamwork

Monday.com

4.2/5

Monday.com is a modern project management software mostly for teams. Thanks to its security measures and integration options, Monday.com is ideal for enterprises as well.

Full Monday review Visit Monday

Best Asana alternative for large teams

Quick verdict

Best Asana replacement for:

Large teams that need an intuitive project management platform with advanced dashboards, reporting, and multiple project views.

Not ideal if:

You need deep workflow customization or you’re looking for a budget-friendly project management tool.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

Monday.com combines one of the most intuitive interfaces I tested with customizable dashboards and numerous project views for managing work at scale.

Main tradeoff:

The paid plans are expensive, and some features, like recurring tasks, still rely on automation.

Why I Recommend Monday.com for Teams Leaving Asana

After testing Monday.com, I understood why it is one of the most popular project management tools. It has a short learning curve, and I could create projects and organize workflows much faster than with many other platforms I tested.

I particularly enjoyed using Monday.com’s project views. Between the Kanban, Gantt, calendar, workload, and many other view options, it was easy to review projects from different angles and quickly reorganize my workflows.

The customizable dashboards were another highlight during my testing. They gave me a clear overview of project progress, workloads, budgets, and other key data, which I think is especially valuable for larger teams managing multiple projects.

Monday.com’s task management tools were also easy to use. I could quickly add tasks, customize columns, and organize projects, although I missed having a built-in recurring task feature.

Overall, I had a positive experience with Monday.com. I think it is one of the best Asana alternatives for large teams that want an intuitive project management platform with excellent dashboards, reporting, and visual project management features.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing Monday.com

Pro	Why It’s Important
Intuitive user interface	Makes it easy for teams to get started and manage projects with minimal training.
Wide range of project views	Kanban, Gantt, calendar, workload, and many other views help teams visualize work in different ways.
Customizable dashboards	Lets you monitor project progress, workloads, budgets, and key metrics from one place.
Easy task management	Adding, assigning, and organizing tasks is quick and straightforward.
Strong automation	Helps automate repetitive workflows using a simple automation builder.
Extensive integrations	Connects with 200+ apps directly and thousands more through Zapier.

Con	The Tradeoff
Expensive paid plans	Higher-tier plans cost more than many competing project management tools.
No built-in recurring tasks	You need to use automation for recurring tasks.
Mobile app bugs	I experienced occasional syncing issues and some missing features on mobile.

Monday.com‘s pricing

Free plan available
Basic plan: €9/user/month with annual billing
Standard plan: €12/user/month with annual billing
Pro plan: €19/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How Monday.com compares to other alternatives

ClickUp VS Monday.com

ClickUp vs Monday

Notion VS Monday.com

Notion vs Monday

Monday.com VS Asana

Monday vs Asana

Teamwork VS Monday.com

Teamwork vs Monday

SmartSuite VS Monday.com

SmartSuite vs Monday

Read my full review: Monday.com Review 2025: Is the $228 Price Tag Justified?

Try Monday

Hive

4.3/5

Hive is a project management tool designed for teams, whether it is an agency, a remote team, or a non-profit organization. It has numerous features to track projects, collaborate with team members, and build automated workflows.

Full Hive review Visit Hive

Best Asana alternative for small teams

Quick verdict

Best Asana replacement for:

Small teams that want an easy-to-use project management tool with built-in collaboration and communication features.

Not ideal if:

You need deep customization, enterprise-level workflows, or all advanced features included in lower-tier plans.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

Hive combines project management, chat, email, notes, dashboards, and AI tools in one easy-to-use workspace.

Main tradeoff:

Many advanced features are only available in the Teams plan or as paid add-ons.

Why I Recommend Hive for Teams Leaving Asana

Hive was one of the easiest project management tools to learn during my testing. The interface is intuitive, the navigation is straightforward, and I was able to start managing projects almost immediately.

Its collaboration features were the biggest highlight for me. Besides task management, Hive includes built-in chat, collaborative notes, email, and project updates, so I could manage both communication and work from one place.

I also found the dashboards and workspace customization useful. The dashboards gave me real-time insights into projects and tasks, while the add-ons made it easy to customize Hive based on different workflows.

Another area where Hive performed well was its AI tools. The AI assistant helped create projects, dashboards, and workflows, while the AI writing features were useful for creating content inside notes.

Overall, Hive delivers a great combination of collaboration, AI, and project management features. I think it is one of the best Asana alternatives for small teams that want an easy-to-use platform for managing their daily work.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing Hive

Pro	Why It’s Important
Easy to use	The short learning curve makes it easy for small teams to get started quickly.
Strong collaboration tools	Built-in chat, collaborative notes, email, and project updates keep communication in one place.
AI features	The AI assistant helps create projects, dashboards, workflows, and content faster.
Customizable dashboards	Gives you real-time insights into projects, tasks, and team activity.
Workspace customization	Add-ons let you personalize Hive based on your team’s workflow.
Good mobile experience	During my testing, the mobile app worked smoothly and stayed synced with the desktop version.

Con	The Tradeoff
Advanced features require higher plans	Many of the most valuable tools are locked behind the Teams plan or paid add-ons.
Less advanced than top-tier competitors	It offers all the essentials, but it does not match tools like ClickUp for customization and workflow depth.

Hive’s pricing

Free plan available
Starter plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Teams plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Read my full review: Hive Review: The Best Project Management App? (2025)

Try Hive

ClickUp

4.3/5

ClickUp is a project management software designed for teams to help them organize tasks, collaborate effectively, and manage complex projects. It is a popular option for project management, streamlines work processes, and improves team productivity.

Full ClickUp review Visit ClickUp

Best Asana alternative for team collaboration

Quick verdict

Best Asana replacement for:

Teams that need advanced collaboration features and highly customizable workflows.

Not ideal if:

You want a simple project management tool with a short learning curve.

Biggest advantage over Asana:

ClickUp offers deeper customization, more collaboration tools, and greater flexibility for managing complex projects.

Main tradeoff:

Its extensive feature set comes with a learning curve, and I experienced occasional performance issues during testing.

Why I Recommend ClickUp for Teams Leaving Asana

After using ClickUp for several months, I realized it is one of the most feature-rich project management tools I have tested. It combines project management, team communication, documentation, AI, and time tracking in a single platform.

What stood out to me most was the flexibility. ClickUp offers numerous project views, customizable dashboards, advanced resource management, and collaboration tools that make project planning smooth.

I also enjoyed using features like Whiteboards, Docs, and Chat. Instead of switching between different tools, I could plan projects, collaborate with my team, and organize documentation in one workspace.

ClickUp also offers a generous free plan, which includes many collaboration and project management features. That makes it easy to explore the platform before moving to a paid plan.

That said, I experienced occasional performance issues, especially when using heavier features like Whiteboards. It also takes time to learn because of the number of customization options and tools available.

Overall, ClickUp surprised me in the right way. I think it is one of the best Asana alternatives for teams that need advanced collaboration, customization, and a feature-rich project management platform.

The Good and Not-So-Good After Testing ClickUp

Pro	Why It’s Important
Extensive collaboration tools	Whiteboards, Docs, Chat, and Clips keep teamwork in one platform.
Highly customizable workflows	Multiple project views, dashboards, and workspace customization fit different teams.
Advanced project management features	Includes resource management tools, workload planning, automation, and detailed task management capabilities
Generous free plan	You can access many core collaboration and project management features without upgrading.
Wide range of integrations	Connects with thousands of third-party apps through native integrations and Zapier.
AI-powered features	ClickUp Brain and the AI note-taker help automate documentation and everyday work.

Con	The Tradeoff
Longer learning curve	It takes time to learn because of the platform’s depth and flexibility.
Occasional performance issues	I experienced slowdowns when using more advanced features like Whiteboards.
Mobile app still needs improvement	Some features are missing, and the app can be slow at times.

ClickUp’s pricing

Free plan available
Unlimited plan: $7/user/month with annual billing
Business plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How ClickUp compares to other alternatives

Notion VS ClickUp

Notion vs ClickUp

ClickUp VS Monday.com

ClickUp vs Monday

SmartSuite VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs SmartSuite

Teamwork VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Teamwork

Taskade VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Taskade

Motion VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Motion

Coda VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Coda

Asana VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Asana

Read my full review: My Honest ClickUp Review After Using It For +3 Months (2026)

Try ClickUp

Summary: Best Asana Alternatives in 2026

After my long research and continuous testing, I found these as the top Asana alternatives in 2026 and tried to categorize them based on use cases. This way, you can select which one fits you.

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Have a question or suggestion? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out anytime at aronkantor@thebusinessdive.com.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Asana?

Depends on your preferences and needs. Besides the ones I showed you in the article, my additional alternative to Asana would be Coda.

It is an all-in-one collaborative workspace for individuals and teams. It integrates note-taking, task management, project management, document management, and team collaboration features into one platform.

Who competes with Asana?

There are numerous Asana alternatives out there that offer similar or even better project manager capabilities. One of the most popular alternatives are Monday.com and ClickUp.

Is Asana worth the price?

My main problem with Asana’s pricing is that there is no single-user subscription, and you will charged for at least two seats without clear notice from Asana. Because of this reason, Asana has become a no-go for me.

Full article about Asana’s pricing: Asana Pricing For 2025 | This Will Save You +$300

Aron Kantor

thebusinessdive.com

The post 7 Best Asana Alternatives: The Tools I’d Actually Switch To appeared first on .

10 Best Project Management Software I Recommend (500+ Businesses Helped)

Aron Kantor — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 08:29:59 +0000

After testing 30+ project management tools and helping 500+ businesses find the right software, I found that choosing the best platform comes down to answering two simple questions:

Do you need simplicity or flexibility? And what type of work will you manage?

Below, you can find my top recommendations using this logic:

Tool	Best for	Pricing
SmartSuite	Free project management	Free + paid from $12/user/mo
Monday.com	Large businesses	Free + paid from $9/user/mo
Vaiz	Lightweight project management	Free + paid from $5/user/mo
ClickUp	Complex projects	Free + paid from $7/user/mo
Teamwork.com	Client work & agencies	Free + paid from $9.99/user/mo
Hive	Small teams	Free + paid from $5/user/mo
Jira	Software development & Agile teams	Free + paid from $7.91/user/mo
Zoho Projects	Structured workflows	Free + paid from €4/user/mo
Motion	AI-powered project management	7-day trial + paid from $19/user/mo
ProofHub	Growing teams	Free + paid from $45/month (flat fee)

How to read this table:

Simple – Easy to learn and quick to set up.
Balanced – Good mix of ease of use and customization.
Highly flexible – Powerful, but requires more setup and a steeper learning curve.

How do I rank the best project management tools?

When selecting the best project management software, I used our standardized testing framework, developed over 3+ years of testing productivity apps.

The recommendations in this article are based on hands-on testing across project management, task management, collaboration, automation, AI features, pricing, integrations, customization, and overall user experience.

Since every team has different priorities, I didn’t rank these tools purely by their overall score.

Instead, I organized them based on where they perform best, whether that’s free project management, complex workflows, client work, software development, AI-powered planning, or structured business processes.

We evaluate every project management tool using this weighted framework, based on hands-on testing with real projects and everyday workflows.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 20+ project management apps:

Features & functionality — 60%
User interface — 10%
Performance & Reliability —10%
Pricing — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Top project management software breakdown

SmartSuite

4.4/5

SmartSuite is a highly customizable work management platform that combines project management, databases, and workflow automation in one place. Its generous free plan and flexible structure make it an excellent choice for teams that need more than basic task management.

Full SmartSuite review Visit SmartSuite

Best free project management software

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Teams that want a highly customizable work management platform with one of the best free plans available.

Not ideal if:

You need a simple project management app with almost no learning curve.

Biggest advantage:

Combines project management and database capabilities in a highly flexible workspace.

Main tradeoff:

It takes time to learn, and the mobile app still needs refinement.

Why I Recommend SmartSuite for free project management

SmartSuite offers one of the most generous free plans I tested. Instead of limiting the core functionality, it includes project views, workflow automation, collaboration features, permissions, and task management tools that many competitors reserve for paid plans.

Another reason I recommend SmartSuite is its flexibility. During testing, I could organize projects, databases, and spreadsheets inside the same workspace, which gave me far more control than a traditional project management app.

I also liked how much I could customize every project. Custom fields, formulas, automations, permissions, and templates allowed me to build workflows that matched different use cases rather than adapting my work to the software.

It certainly takes longer to learn than tools like Monday.com or Asana, and I noticed a few issues with the mobile app. Still, considering everything included in the free plan, SmartSuite delivers outstanding value and easily earned its place as my top free project management tool.

Standout features

Project views: You can switch between Kanban boards, Gantt charts, timelines, dashboards, and spreadsheet-style tables depending on how you prefer to manage your projects.

Task customization: Every task supports custom fields, formulas, time logs, color coding, and many other field types, giving you plenty of flexibility when building workflows.

Workflow automation: Automate repetitive work using simple “When → Then” rules for record updates, form submissions, email triggers, and other recurring processes.

Permissions & roles: Control exactly who can view, edit, create, or delete records by setting detailed workspace, solution, and guest permissions.

Templates: Get new projects up and running faster with ready-made templates for marketing, CRM, product development, operations, and many other workflows.

My Key Takeaways After Using SmartSuite

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Generous free plan	It includes collaboration tools, multiple project views, workflow automation, and advanced task management features for up to three users
Combines project and data management	I could organize projects, databases, and spreadsheets in one workspace instead of relying on multiple tools
Detailed permissions and roles	It was easy to control who could view, edit, create, or delete records across different projects
Extensive customization	Custom fields, formulas, and flexible workflows made it easy to adapt SmartSuite to different use cases
Fast performance	I experienced almost no loading time while switching between projects, views, and databases.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Steep learning curve	Teams looking for a simple project management tool may need extra time to learn SmartSuite’s structure
Mobile app	Users who primarily manage projects from their phones may notice occasional bugs and missing polis

Plans & costs

Free plan available
Team plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Professional plan: $30/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: $45/user/month with annual billing

SmartSuite vs other tools

SmartSuite VS ClickUp

Compare SmartSuite vs ClickUp

SmartSuite VS Monday.com

Compare SmartSuite vs Monday

Read my full review: SmartSuite Review 2025: A Hidden Gem

Try SmartSuite

Monday.com

4.2/5

Monday.com is one of the easiest project management software solution to learn, yet it still offers enough depth for growing teams and larger organizations. Thanks to its security measures and integration options, Monday.com is ideal for enterprises as well.

Full Monday review Visit Monday

Best project management software for large businesses

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Large businesses that want an intuitive platform with strong reporting and collaboration features.

Not ideal if:

You need advanced customization or enterprise-level features at a lower price.

Biggest advantage:

An exceptionally intuitive interface combined with powerful dashboards and project views.

Main tradeoff:

Pricing is higher than many competitors with similar feature sets.

Why I recommend Monday.com for large businesses

I recommend Monday.com for large businesses because it’s one of the easiest project management tools to roll out across a team.

I could build new projects, organize workflows, and onboard team members in just a few minutes. Despite offering dashboards, automation, AI tools, reporting, and dozens of project views, the interface is very easy to navigate.

The customizable dashboards, workload view, and project portfolio management features also made it effortless to track progress.

My biggest concern was the pricing, as Monday.com costs more than many alternatives, and I also missed built-in recurring tasks. Still, if your team values fast onboarding and an intuitive workspace, Monday.com is an excellent choice.

Standout features

Project views: You can manage tasks and projects using Kanban boards, Gantt charts, workload, calendar, timeline, and many other views to see your work from different perspectives.

Custom dashboards: Track project progress, workloads, budgets, and other key metrics by combining more than 30 widgets into a personalized dashboard.

Task management software: Task creation is super fast, and you can organize them with custom columns, priorities, subitems, and statuses, then move them freely across different project views.

Automation & AI: Automate routine tasks and use AI Blocks, AI Sidekick, and AI Agents to summarize content, generate updates, and streamline everyday work.

Team collaboration: Keep conversations, file sharing, mentions, comments, and project updates in one place so everyone stays aligned throughout the project.

My Key Takeaways After Using Monday.com

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Intuitive user interface	I could build projects and organize workflows quickly, even compared to other project management software like ClickUp or Jira.
Custom dashboards	They gave me a clear overview of project progress, workloads, and key metrics without switching between multiple pages.
Wide selection of project views	Having so many ways to visualize projects made it easier to adapt workflows for different teams and use cases.
Easy task management	Creating, assigning, and organizing tasks felt fast and required very little setup.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
No recurring tasks	Teams with recurring workflows may find it frustrating to rely on automation for something many competitors offer natively.
Higher pricing	Smaller businesses and budget-conscious teams may struggle to justify the cost compared to similarly capable alternatives.
Buggy mobile app	Teams that frequently manage projects from mobile devices may occasionally run into syncing issues and missing functionality.

Plans & costs

Free plan available
Basic plan: €9/user/month with annual billing
Standard plan: €12/user/month with annual billing
Pro plan: €19/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Monday.com vs other tools

ClickUp VS Monday.com

ClickUp vs Monday

Notion VS Monday.com

Notion vs Monday

Monday.com VS Asana

Monday vs Asana

Teamwork VS Monday.com

Teamwork vs Monday

SmartSuite VS Monday.com

SmartSuite vs Monday

Read my full review: Monday.com Review 2025: Is the $228 Price Tag Justified?

Try Monday

Vaiz

4.4/5

Vaiz is a work management platform that combines tasks, docs, collaboration, automation, and AI in one workspace. Compared to many project management tools I tested, it takes far less time to set up while still covering everything most small and mid-sized teams need.

Full Vaiz review Visit Vaiz

Best work management platform for growing product teams

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Cross-functional product and tech teams currently paying for Jira and Confluence separately — Vaiz replaces both at roughly half the cost.

Not ideal if:

Your team requires SOC 2 compliance, SAML-SSO, or a procurement-heavy purchasing process.

Biggest advantage:

Replaces your task tracker and documentation tool in one workspace — without the combined price tag.

Main tradeoff:

Reporting and automation are still less advanced than in larger project management platforms.

Why I recommend Vaiz for growing product teams

Some project management tools require a lot of setup before you can actually start working. Vaiz was the opposite. I could create a project, choose a template, invite team members, and start organizing tasks within a few minutes.

Despite its simplicity, Vaiz covers much more than basic project management. It includes project docs, dashboards, automation, collaboration tools, and multiple project views, but everything remains easy to find and use. It also sits in a nice middle ground: more structured than Notion, yet much less overwhelming than ClickUp or Jira.

The only areas where I think Vaiz still has room to grow are reporting and automation. Both work well for everyday project management, but they don’t offer the same depth as larger PM platforms. For small and mid-sized teams, though, I think Vaiz gets the balance right.

Standout features

Project management: You can create projects in just a few clicks, choose from 15+ templates, with new ones added regularly, and manage work using Cards, List, Calendar, Milestones, and Gantt views.

Task management: Organize tasks with subtasks, milestones, dependencies, comments, activity history, and drag-and-drop workflows that are easy to manage.

Project Docs: Keep documentation connected to your projects, collaborate with teammates in real time, and use the built-in AI assistant to write, summarize, or edit content.

Collaboration: Work together through task comments, @mentions, real-time co-editing, and collaborative diagrams in tasks and docs, plus shared dashboards for tracking progress.

Integrations: Connect Vaiz with Slack, GitHub, GitLab, and 9,000+ additional apps via Zapier, or quickly import projects from Asana, Jira, Trello, and Notion (tasks only, full import in development) — with ClickUp, Monday.com, and Wrike coming soon.

AI: Use the built-in AI assistant in docs and tasks to write, summarize, and organize content. Connect Vaiz to Claude and Cursor via MCP to create tasks, pull project context, and manage work directly from your AI tools. A native AI agent is also available in beta it sees your tasks, projects, docs, and team members, and can search, analyze, create tasks, build reports, and generate diagrams directly inside Vaiz.

My Key Takeaways After Using Vaiz

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Fast project setup	I could create projects, choose templates, and start collaborating within minutes instead of spending time configuring the workspace.
Clean and lightweight interface	The workspace stayed organized, making it easy to switch between projects, docs, dashboards, and tasks.
Good balance between simplicity and customization	Vaiz offers enough flexibility for real project work without becoming overwhelming.
Strong collaboration tools	Docs, comments, dashboards, and whiteboards are built into the workspace, so teamwork happens in one place.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Basic reporting	Larger organizations that depend on advanced analytics and reporting may outgrow Vaiz fairly quickly.
Less advanced automation	Teams with complex operational workflows may find the automation system too lightweight compared to ClickUp or Monday.com

Plans & costs

Free plan available & a 30-day trial of the paid plans
Pro plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Premium plan: $9/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing with self-hosted deployment options available

Read my full review: Vaiz Review 2026 | Lightweight Done Right

Try Vaiz

ClickUp

4.3/5

ClickUp is an all-in-one project management platform built for teams that need more than basic task tracking. It combines project management, docs, chat, whiteboards, AI, time tracking, and collaboration tools into a highly customizable workspace.

Full ClickUp review Visit ClickUp

Best project management software for complex projects

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Teams managing complex projects that need advanced workflows, collaboration, and customization.

Not ideal if:

You prefer a simple project management tool that works with minimal setup.

Biggest advantage:

One of the deepest feature sets I’ve tested, with extensive customization across nearly every part of the platform.

Main tradeoff:

The learning curve is steeper, and performance can occasionally be inconsistent.

Why I recommend ClickUp for complex projects

The first thing that stood out during my testing was just how much ClickUp could do. Every time I thought I had explored its main features, I found another tool that could replace a separate app, whether it was Docs, Whiteboards, AI meeting notes, chat, or advanced dashboards.

I also appreciated how much control ClickUp gives you over your workspace. I could switch between different project views, customize dashboards, build automations, manage workloads, and adjust almost every part of the workspace to fit the project instead of changing the way I work.

This flexibility is exactly why I recommend ClickUp for complex projects.

That said, all these features come with a learning curve. I also noticed occasional slowdowns, especially when using heavier tools like Whiteboards. Still, if your projects involve multiple teams, detailed workflows, and lots of moving parts, ClickUp is one of the most complete platforms I tested.

Standout features

Project management: Manage project schedules using List, Board, Calendar, Gantt, Workload, Box, and Team views, then customize each workspace with filters, layouts, and permissions.

Task management: You can organize work with subtasks, priorities, tags, reminders, dependencies, forms, templates, and custom fields that handle even complex workflows.

Collaboration tools: Work together using Docs, Chat, Whiteboards, comments, screen recordings, and AI meeting notes without relying on separate collaboration apps.

Automation & AI: Automate repetitive workflows with ready-made templates and use ClickUp Brain to summarize meetings, answer workspace questions, and generate content.

Time tracking & reporting: Track time across projects, build customized reports, monitor workloads, and manage team capacity from a single workspace.

My Key Takeaways After Using ClickUp

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Extensive feature set	ClickUp combined project management, documentation, collaboration, AI, and time tracking into one platform.
Highly customizable workspace	I could tailor views, dashboards, workflows, and permissions to fit different projects and teams.
Advanced collaboration tools	Docs, Chat, Whiteboards, Clips, and AI meeting notes reduced the need for additional software.
Strong resource management	Workload views, dashboards, and reporting made it much easier to manage multiple projects at the same time.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Steep learning curve	Teams looking for a lightweight or plug-and-play solution may find ClickUp overwhelming at first.
Occasional performance issues	Larger teams using advanced features like Whiteboards or complex automations may notice slower performance.
Mobile access	Users who rely heavily on mobile project management may miss some desktop functionality or encounter bugs.

Plans & costs

Free plan available
Unlimited plan: $7/user/month with annual billing
Business plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

ClickUp vs other tools

Notion VS ClickUp

Notion vs ClickUp

ClickUp VS Monday.com

ClickUp vs Monday

SmartSuite VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs SmartSuite

Teamwork VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Teamwork

Taskade VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Taskade

Motion VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Motion

Coda VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Coda

Asana VS ClickUp

ClickUp vs Asana

Read my full review: My Honest ClickUp Review After Using It For +3 Months (2026)

Try ClickUp

Teamwork.com

4.3/5

Teamwork.com is a project management solution specialized for client work. It helps to keep your client projects on track, manage your resources, and keep tabs on every billable hour.

Full Teamwork review Visit Teamwork

Best project management app for client work

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Agencies, consultants, and service businesses managing client projects.

Not ideal if:

You mainly manage internal projects or just need a simple task management app.

Biggest advantage:

Purpose-built features for client work, including budgeting, billing, reporting, and time tracking.

Main tradeoff:

Fewer project views and a steeper learning curve than simpler PM tools.

Why I recommend Teamwork.com for client work

Most project management tools treat client work the same as any other project. During my Teamwork testing, though, I kept finding features that were clearly designed for agencies and service businesses rather than general project management.

The client workspace was one of the biggest differences. Instead of simply organizing projects, I could group them by client, track project costs, monitor billable hours, and even prepare invoices from the same platform.

I was also impressed by the reporting. Profitability reports, workload planning, resource management, and detailed time tracking gave me a much clearer picture of how projects were performing beyond just checking whether tasks were completed.

The downside is that Teamwork.com isn’t as flexible as tools like ClickUp, and some project views feel limited. Still, if most of your work revolves around clients, I think Teamwork.com offers one of the most complete workflows I tested.

Standout features

Client management: Keep all client projects in one place, invite client users with limited permissions, and track budgets, project health, and ownership from a dedicated client workspace.

Budgeting & invoicing: Monitor project budgets, billable hours, profitability, and prepare invoices directly inside the platform without relying on separate tools.

Time tracking: Track time with a built-in timer or manual entries, review detailed timesheets, and filter hours by project, client, or team member.

Reporting & workload management: Monitor profitability, optimize resource allocation, and team capacity through advanced reports that help you plan future projects more confidently.

Proofs: Share files with clients, collect feedback, manage approvals, and keep the entire review process connected to your projects and tasks.

My Key Takeaways After Using Teamwork.com

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Purpose-built client management	Managing clients, projects, budgets, and billable work from one place made the platform feel very different from traditional PM tools.
Advanced reporting	Profitability, workload, and resource reports helped me understand how projects were performing beyond task completion.
Excellent time tracking	Built-in timers, timesheets, and billable hour tracking fit naturally into client-based workflows.
Proofs and client collaboration	Clients could review files, leave feedback, and approve work without getting full access to internal projects.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Limited project views	Teams that rely heavily on different visual project views may find the available options restrictive.
Steeper learning curve	Smaller teams looking for a lightweight project management tool may need extra time to learn the platform.

Plans & costs

Free plan available and a 30-day free trial of the paid plans
Basics Plan: $9.99/user/month with annual billing
Accelerate Plan: $24.99/user/month with annual billing
Optimize Plan: Custom pricing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Teamwork.com vs other tools

Teamwork VS ClickUp

Teamwork vs ClickUp

Teamwork VS Monday

Teamwork vs Monday

Teamwork VS Asana

Teamwork vs Asana

Read my full review: Teamwork.com Review 2025: Here Is My Honest Opinion

Try Teamwork

Hive

4.3/5

Hive is a project management tool designed for teams, whether it is an agency, a marketing team, or a non-profit organization. It has numerous features to track projects, collaborate with team members, and build automated workflows.

Full Hive review Visit Hive

Best project management software for small teams

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Small teams that want an easy-to-use workspace with strong built-in collaboration.

Not ideal if:

You need enterprise-level customization or want every advanced feature included in the base plans.

Biggest advantage:

Built-in chat, email, collaborative notes, and AI tools help keep communication and project work in one place.

Main tradeoff:

Many advanced features and add-ons are only available on the Teams plan.

Why I recommend Hive for small teams

Small teams rarely need the most advanced project management platform on the market. They usually need something everyone can learn quickly, collaborate in every day, and maintain without spending hours on setup or administration. That’s exactly why I recommend Hive.

When using Hive, I discovered that it covers the key features most small teams actually use to complete projects efficiently. Project management, chat, email, collaborative notes, dashboards, and AI tools are all available in one workspace, so there was no need to rely on several separate apps.

I also liked that Hive doesn’t require much time to learn. Creating projects, assigning tasks, sharing updates, and collaborating with teammates all felt straightforward from the beginning.

The only downside is that some advanced features require the Teams plan or paid add-ons. Still, for most small teams, Hive offers everything needed to manage projects and collaborate effectively.

Standout features

Built-in communication: Chat with teammates, send emails, leave task comments, and keep project discussions in one place.

Collaborative notes: Create and edit shared documents with your team, add images, tables, and attachments, and collaborate across desktop, web, and mobile.

Project views: Track projects using Kanban boards, Gantt charts, tables, calendars, and other views that give you different ways to organize your work.

Dashboards: Build custom dashboards with widgets, charts, goals, notes, and external embeds to keep your most important project data in one place.

AI assistant: Use Hive Buzz to answer questions, generate content, create dashboards, and automate everyday work directly inside your workspace.

My Key Takeaways After Using Hive

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Excellent collaboration tools	Chat, email, notes, and project discussions worked together naturally, reducing the need for separate communication apps.
Easy-to-use interface	I could start managing projects quickly without spending much time learning the platform.
Useful AI features	Hive Buzz and the AI writing tools helped speed up content creation and everyday project work.
Custom dashboards	They made it easy to monitor projects, goals, and team activity from one central place.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Advanced features require higher-tier plans	Smaller teams on the Free or Starter plans may miss tools like advanced reporting, time tracking, and premium add-ons.
Less customization than top competitors	Teams managing highly complex workflows may eventually outgrow Hive’s feature set.

Plans & costs

Free plan available
Starter plan: $5/user/month with annual billing
Teams plan: $12/user/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Read my full review: Hive Review: The Best Project Management App? (2025)

Try Hive

Jira

4.3/5

Jira is one of the few project management tools I tested that focuses primarily on software development. Between its issue tracking, Agile boards, customizable workflows, and developer integrations, it offers everything technical teams need to manage complex projects.

Full Jira review Visit Jira

Best project management software for software development teams

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Software development, IT, and DevOps teams managing complex Agile workflows.

Not ideal if:

You want a simple project management tool that works with little setup.

Biggest advantage:

Deep customization for workflows, issue tracking, and Agile project management.

Main tradeoff:

The learning curve is one of the steepest of any project management tool I tested.

Why I recommend Jira for software development teams

I wouldn’t recommend Jira for every team, but I would absolutely recommend it for software development. Almost every feature I tested was designed around the way development teams work, from issue tracking and backlogs to Scrum boards, sprint planning, and highly customizable workflows.

Another reason is the level of control Jira gives you. I could customize issue types, workflows, custom fields, automations, and project structures far more than in most other PM tools. That flexibility becomes much more valuable once multiple developers and complex release cycles are involved.

Jira also fits naturally into development workflows thanks to its native integrations with GitHub, Bitbucket, and other Atlassian products.

The tradeoff is complexity. Jira takes considerably longer to learn than tools like Monday.com or Hive, and many teams simply won’t need everything it offers. For software development teams, though, that extra complexity translates into much greater control.

Standout features

Issue tracking: Track bugs, features, epics, and custom work items with detailed fields, priorities, dependencies, and workflows that match your development process.

Agile project management: Manage Scrum and Kanban projects with backlogs, sprints, timelines, calendars, and reporting tools built specifically for Agile teams.

Workflow customization: Customize issue types, fields, automations, and project structures to support everything from simple development projects to complex enterprise workflows.

Developer integrations: Connect Jira with GitHub, Bitbucket, and more than 1,000 apps through the Atlassian Marketplace to keep development workflows connected.

AI & automation: Use Jira AI and Rovo to improve tasks, summarize content, automate repetitive work, search your workspace, and create AI-powered workflows.

My Key Takeaways After Using Jira

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Extensive workflow customization	I could adapt almost every part of the platform to match different development processes and team structures.
Powerful issue tracking	Managing bugs, epics, features, and development tasks felt much more structured than in general-purpose PM tools.
Developer ecosystem	Native integrations with GitHub, Bitbucket, and other Atlassian products fit naturally into software development workflows.
Strong Agile support	Scrum boards, backlogs, sprint planning, and reporting covered everything I expected from an Agile project management platform.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Very steep learning curve	Small teams and non-technical users may struggle to learn Jira or never use many of its advanced capabilities.
Additional Atlassian products cost extra	Teams that need Confluence or Jira Service Management should expect additional subscription costs.

Plans & costs

Free plan available & a 7-day free trial for its paid plans
Standard plan: $7.91/user/month with monthly billing
Premium plan: $14.54/user/month with monthly billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Read my full review: Brutal Honest Jira Review 2026 | Before You Use It

Try Jira

Zoho Projects

4.3/5

Zoho Projects is a structured project management platform built around planning, reporting, and long-term project organization. It works particularly well for teams that follow repeatable processes and want consistent workflows rather than endless customization.

Full Zoho Projects review Visit Zoho Projects

Best project management software for structured workflows

Quick verdict

Best project management tool for:

Teams that manage structured, process-driven projects with clear workflows.

Not ideal if:

You prefer highly visual project management or extensive workspace customization.

Biggest advantage:

Strong planning, reporting, and workload management backed by the Zoho ecosystem.

Main tradeoff:

The interface is more traditional, and customization is more limited than in tools like ClickUp.

Why I recommend Zoho Projects for structured workflows

I recommend Zoho Projects for teams that already have established processes. During testing, I found it much easier to build projects around milestones, task lists, dependencies, and timelines than in tools that focus more on flexible layouts.

Reporting is another reason I recommend it. Workload reports, time logs, planned vs. actual reports, and portfolio dashboards gave me a much clearer picture of project progress and team capacity than basic task boards alone.

I also liked how naturally Zoho Projects connects with the rest of the Zoho ecosystem. If your business already uses Zoho CRM, Books, Invoice, or other Zoho apps, project work becomes part of a much larger workflow instead of existing on its own.

My biggest complaint is the lack of flexibility. Compared to ClickUp or Monday.com, there are fewer customization options, and the interface is more traditional.

Standout features

Project planning: Organize projects with milestones, task lists, dependencies, templates, and timelines that make repeatable workflows easy to manage.

Reports & insights: Track workload, planned vs. actual progress, time logs, and custom reports to understand project performance and team capacity.

Automation: Automate approvals, notifications, assignments, and status updates with no-code workflow rules that are easy to maintain.

Time tracking: Log billable and non-billable hours, approve timesheets, and monitor project time without relying on third-party integrations.

Zoho ecosystem: Connect Projects with Zoho CRM, Books, Invoice, Analytics, and other Zoho apps to keep project work aligned with the rest of your business.

My Key Takeaways After Using Zoho Projects

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Structured project planning	Milestones, dependencies, project templates, and task hierarchies made recurring projects much easier to organize.
Advanced reporting	Workload, time log, and portfolio reports provided a much better overview of project health than simple dashboards.
Built-in time tracking	Tracking billable hours and approving timesheets worked smoothly without additional software.
Strong Zoho integrations	Connecting projects with CRM, finance, and other Zoho tools helped create a more connected business workflow.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Limited customization	Teams that like building highly personalized workspaces may find Zoho Projects too structured.
No native desktop app	Users who prefer desktop software instead of browser-based apps may find daily use less convenient.

Plans & costs

Free plan available & a 15-day free trial for the paid plans
Premium plan: €4/user/month when billed annually
Enterprise plan: €9/user/month when billed annually
Ultimate plan: €14/user/month when billed annually
Projects plus plan: Custom pricing

Read my full review: Zoho Projects Review: My Honest Experience (2026)

Try Zoho Projects

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

Explore Apps directory

Motion

4.1/5

Motion combines AI scheduling, task management, calendars, meetings, and lightweight project management in a single workspace. It focuses less on managing projects and more on making sure the work actually gets done on time.

Full Motion review Visit Motion

Best AI-powered project management software

Bottom line

Best project management tool for:

Busy professionals and small teams that want AI to plan their work automatically.

Not ideal if:

You need advanced project management, reporting, or enterprise-level workflows.

Biggest advantage:

AI automatically schedules tasks, meetings, and projects based on your priorities.

Main tradeoff:

Higher pricing and fewer project management features than dedicated PM platforms.

Why I recommend Motion for AI-powered project management

I recommend Motion because it’s the only project management tool I tested that actively builds your schedule for you. Once I added my tasks, deadlines, priorities, and meetings, Motion automatically found time for everything on my calendar and kept adjusting the schedule whenever something changed.

I also liked how well the calendar, tasks, meetings, and projects worked together. Adding a new task, changing a deadline, or blocking time for deep work immediately affected the rest of my schedule, so I rarely had to reorganize my calendar myself.

The biggest drawback is that Motion isn’t a replacement for a full project management platform like ClickUp or Jira. Reporting is limited, and the pricing is higher than most competitors.

If your biggest challenge is managing time rather than managing complex projects, though, Motion is one of the most useful tools I’ve tested.

Standout features

AI scheduling: Motion automatically schedules tasks around your meetings, deadlines, priorities, and working hours, then continuously optimizes your calendar as plans change.

Smart calendar: Bring together your Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple, and iCloud calendars, then manage meetings, events, and tasks from one centralized view.

Task management: Create tasks from almost anywhere in the app, assign priorities, estimate durations, and let Motion automatically decide when each task should be completed.

AI meeting tools: Record meetings, generate transcripts and summaries, then turn discussions into actionable tasks that sync directly with your projects.

AI Employees: Create AI assistants trained on your workflows to generate project plans, summarize documents, draft emails, and automate repetitive work.

My Key Takeaways After Using Motion

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
AI auto-scheduling	Motion continuously reorganized my schedule based on deadlines, priorities, meetings, and available time.
Calendar and task management	Tasks, meetings, and projects stayed connected, so planning my week required very little manual work.
Fast task management	I could create and update tasks from almost anywhere in the app, making it much easier to capture work as it came up.
AI productivity tools	AI meeting notes, AI Docs, and AI Employees reduced repetitive work beyond simple scheduling.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
Limited project management depth	Teams managing large, complex projects may outgrow Motion’s reporting and project management capabilities.
Higher pricing	Individuals and smaller teams looking for a budget-friendly solution may find Motion difficult to justify.

Plans & costs

No free plan available, only a 7-day free trial
Pro AI plan (individuals): $29/month with annual billing
Business AI plan (individuals): $39/month with annual billing
Pro AI plan (teams): $19/seat/month with annual billing
Business AI plan (teams): $29/seat/month with annual billing
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Motion vs other tools

Motion VS ClickUp

Motion vs ClickUp

Motion VS Asana

Motion vs Asana

Read my full review: Motion App Review: My $348 Experience and Why I Don’t Regret It

Try Motion

ProofHub

4/5

ProofHub combines project management, collaboration, reporting, and proofing tools in one platform with a flat-fee pricing model. Unlike most project management software, the cost doesn’t increase as your team grows, making it a practical choice for larger teams on a budget.

Full ProofHub review Visit ProofHub

Best project management software for growing teams

Bottom line

Best project management tool for:

Growing teams that want predictable pricing and strong collaboration features.

Not ideal if:

You rely on advanced automations or a large library of third-party integrations.

Biggest advantage:

Flat pricing with unlimited users, plus excellent collaboration and proofing tools.

Main tradeoff:

Automation features and integrations lag behind many competitors.

Why I recommend ProofHub for growing teams

I recommend ProofHub because its pricing becomes more attractive as your team grows. Most project management tools charge per user, so adding new teammates quickly increases your monthly costs. ProofHub keeps pricing predictable by charging a flat monthly fee regardless of team size.

The pricing wouldn’t matter much if the software couldn’t support larger teams, but that wasn’t my experience. I found everything needed to manage projects, collaborate, review files, and share updates from one workspace.

Features like announcements and proofing tools also gave ProofHub an advantage over many competitors I tested. I also appreciated how easy the platform was to learn.

The biggest limitation is automation. ProofHub doesn’t support workflow automations like ClickUp or Monday.com, and its integration library is relatively small. If predictable pricing matters more than advanced automation, though, ProofHub is one of the strongest options I tested.

Standout features

Flat-fee pricing: Add unlimited users on both paid plans without paying extra for every new team member, making costs much easier to predict as your team grows.

Proofing tools: Review PDFs, images, and creative assets by leaving comments directly on files, highlighting specific areas, and approving work without extra software.

Task management: Organize projects with custom fields, recurring tasks, dependencies, custom workflows, labels, and multiple project views.

Team collaboration: Keep conversations organized through chat, comments, file sharing, announcements, and notifications that stay connected to your projects.

Reporting: Generate progress, resource, and project reports in just a few clicks, then export them as PDFs for sharing with your team or stakeholders.

My Key Takeaways After Using ProofHub

What impressed me	Why it made a difference
Flat pricing model	Unlimited users made ProofHub significantly more affordable than per-user alternatives as the team grows.
Excellent proofing tools	Reviewing creative files and collecting feedback happened directly inside the project workspace.
Strong collaboration features	Chat, comments, announcements, and file sharing kept communication organized around project work.
Easy-to-use interface	New projects and team members could be onboarded quickly with very little training.

What I’d improve	Who it could affect
No workflow automation	Teams that automate repetitive processes may find ProofHub too limited.
Limited integrations	Businesses that rely on connecting many third-party tools may outgrow the platform.

Plans & costs

No free plan, only a 14-day free trial
Essential plan: $45/month (annual billing)
Ultimate Control plan: $89/month (annual billing)

Read my full review: ProofHub Review 2026 | A Unique Project Management App

Try ProofHub

Summary: Best project management software in 2026

There are many other excellent project management tools out there. The real question is, how do you choose project management software?

After my long research and continuous testing, I found these as the best project management software in 2026 and tried to categorize them based on use cases. This way, you can select which one fits you.

I hope I was able to find the best project management apps in 2026. As always, I will keep updating this list to ensure it reflects the reality.

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the most popular project management software?

Some of the most popular project management software include Monday.com, ClickUp, Jira, and Zoho Projects. That said, popularity doesn’t always mean it’s the right project management software for you.

After testing more than 30 project management tools, I also found excellent alternatives like SmartSuite, Teamwork.com, Vaiz, and Hive that outperform more established platforms for specific use cases.

Which project management software is best for beginners?

When selecting project management software as a beginner, I’d recommend Monday.com, Vaiz, or Hive.

All three are easy to learn, quick to set up, and don’t require much training before your team can start managing projects.

If you need something more advanced later, ClickUp or SmartSuite offer much greater flexibility, although they come with a steeper learning curve.

What is the best PMO tool?

It depends on the preferences and teams. For example, I would recommend a different project management app for agile software development teams than an agency.

I tried to cover most of the possible use cases with my list of best project management software to ensure you can find the perfect one for you.

Which is the best free project management software?

Small teams or project managers can use Notion, Coda, ClickUp, or SmartSuite’s free plan. While my top free project management software is SmartSuite, all of these solutions include solid free plans.

Aron Kantor

thebusinessdive.com

The post 10 Best Project Management Software I Recommend (500+ Businesses Helped) appeared first on .

Kai Review 2026: How It Helped Me Save 90 Minutes a Day

Aron Kantor — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:32:02 +0000

In this Kai review, I break down how it fit into my workflows and how it saved me 90 minutes each day.

When guiding you through the features, I will share my honest experience with each feature and how it helped me make my workflows more efficient after using it for a month.

Let’s dive in!

My Take After Using Kai

Before going into the details, here are my main takeaways after testing Kai:

Best for: Busy professionals, founders, and managers who want one AI assistant to manage emails, calendars, meetings, and daily planning
Not ideal for: Users with only a few emails and meetings, as the monthly price would not make sense to them
Biggest strength: Combines your most time-consuming workflows into one place and provides personalized help based on your actual schedule and context
Biggest weakness: Kai is still in beta, so occasional errors and small workflow issues can happen

Verdict: Kai is one of the few apps that actually helped me to save time without a robust productivity tool stack by reducing app switching, organizing my schedule, and automating meeting summaries & emails.
Score: 4.6/5

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

Kai review

Aron Kantor

Inbox & Email Management

Workflow & productivity features

Collaboration & team features

Integrations

Smart features (AI & automation)

User interface

Data security

Cross-platform experience

Pricing

My experience

Summary

Kai is an AI executive assistant that brings email, calendar, meetings, and tasks into one workspace. It helped me save around 90 minutes per day by automating email triage, meeting notes, scheduling, and daily planning while keeping everything simple to use.

4.6

pros

	Centralizes email, calendar, tasks, meetings, and AI in one place
	Simple and easy to use
	Fast voice capture for ideas and tasks
	Relevant, concise AI responses
	Automatically timeboxes and schedules tasks

cons

	Occasional failed AI responses
	Could use more prompt and workflow templates
	Gmail draft suggestions sometimes appear after being disabled

Try Kai

How We Test Email Apps

To keep our reviews & final score for each email app fair and consistent, we evaluate every tool using the same testing framework based on real-world usage, feature depth, and overall value.

We score every email app using this weighted framework based on hands-on testing and real use cases.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 10+ email apps:

Features & functionality → 50%
User interface → 10%
Data security → 10%
Cross-platform experience → 10%
Pricing & value → 10%
Real-world experience → 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Short on time? Here’s a quick overview of Kai

Why Kai get a 4.6 / 5 score?

Kai earned a 4.6/5 because it pulled my most time-consuming workflows into one place and helped make them more efficient. It reduced app switching, organized my schedule, automated meeting summaries and emails, and provided personalized help based on my actual schedule and context.

The only reason Kai didn’t receive a perfect score is that it’s still in beta. I occasionally ran into failed response messages, a few workflow issues, and some features didn’t always work as expected, but these weren’t significant enough to outweigh the overall experience.

Who will benefit most from Kai?

Professionals managing many emails, meetings, and tasks who want everything organized in one place
Users who rely on timeboxing and want AI to help plan their schedule automatically
Busy founders, managers, and teams who want to reduce repetitive admin work
People looking for a personalized AI assistant that understands their daily workflow

Who should skip Kai?

Users who only need a basic calendar, email app, or AI chatbot
People with few emails and meetings, as the $50 investment would not be worth it for them
If you want to have a robust AI note-taker for your calls
Teams that want a fully mature product, as Kai is still in beta and improving quickly

Where Kai Excels

Centralizing tasks, calendar, emails, meetings, and AI assistance in one place helps you stay in the flow without switching between apps.
Kai keeps things easy to use, which I found refreshing compared to many productivity apps packed with features.
Capturing ideas, reminders, and tasks by voice made it faster to get my thoughts without interrupting workflows.
The AI responses I get from Kai were relevant and avoided unnecessary long explanations.
Kai did a great job turning tasks into scheduled focus blocks and helping me automatically organize my day.

Where Kai Falls Short

I sometimes received failed response messages where I had to retry the request.
Pre-made prompts or workflow templates could help new users discover useful ways to use Kai faster
After disabling automatic Gmail reply drafts, Kai still generated suggestions in a few cases.

Try Kai

What is Kai?

This is Kai’s homepage, introducing it as an AI executive assistant for managing emails, meetings, and calendars.

Kai is an AI assistant that helps you manage your calendar, email inboxes, and meetings in a centralized space. So, it’s not an AI meeting assistant, nor just an email or calendar app.

The real power of Kai is that it pulls all the time-consuming workflows into one place and helps to make them more efficient.

Features that helped me save ~90 Minutes a Day

Here, I show you each feature, explain how they performed in practice, and the approximate time it saved me each day.

AI assistance | Saved ~10 minutes/day

Kai gave me a personalized overview of my priorities based on my inbox and schedule.

Most of the time, I used Kai for timeboxing, summarizing today’s main priorities, or asking questions about emails without switching to my Gmail account.

But the key question is: why is Kai different from most AI executive assistants?

For me, the biggest difference was context.

Kai connects to your emails, calendar, meetings, and tasks, so the AI assistant already understands your schedule and workload. So instead of getting generic answers, it can provide more personalized suggestions based on your actual daily schedule.

However, this integration with your tool stack is practical for numerous workflows. For example, when I asked Kai to block time for a task, it automatically found space in my schedule and added the time block directly to my calendar.

I asked Kai to schedule a quick check-in, and it created the calendar event with all the meeting details.

Another area where Kai saved me time was scheduling meetings. Kai lets me do it in the app without switching to Google Calendar.

I only need to type who I wanted to meet with, when the meeting should happen, and what the topic was. From there, Kai created the event and handled the calendar invitation.

Furthermore, if you don’t want to type, you can use Kai’s dictation mode to give tasks, ask for information, summarize todos, and more.

In general, I received highly personalized and accurate answers from Kai, and it understands the tasks perfectly. Nonetheless, I sometimes run into an error of failed responses, but it’s probably because Kai is still in beta.

Depending on my day, Kai’s AI assistant features saved me around 10–20 minutes per day. For my workflow, I would lean closer to 10 minutes because I regularly have 3–5-hour deep work sessions where I intentionally avoid all apps, including Kai.

Email management | Saved ~40 mintes/day

Kai prepared an email brief with prioritized messages, suggested tasks, and AI-generated draft replies before I opened my inbox.

Where Kai saved the most time is in the emails. It’s probably because I send between 20 – 40 emails daily, so it has the greatest potential for making my workflows more efficient.

First of all, Kai scans through my emails every time I log in to my account and prepares an Email triage based on urgency and required action, so you don’t have to read them chronologically from top to bottom.

Kai automatically organized my Gmail inbox by applying labels based on the type of each email.

Next, Kai organizes my emails in Gmail using labels like Done, FYI, and more. The ones you see above them (SaneArchive, SaneLater, etc.) were created by SaneBox, so disregard them in my screenshot.

Afterward, Kai prepares draft reply emails automatically using my style. Nonetheless, you will always have the chance to modify them before sending them.

Compared to the built-in Gemini auto-draft function, I noticed that Kai’s writing style better matches my style. So I was satisfied with the quality of email drafts.

Just out of curiosity, I wanted to disable the automatic replies to see how flexible Kai is. While I switched off this function in most cases, I ran into draft emails a few times.

To summarize, Kai saved me around 40 minutes per day by handling, in writing, between 20 and 40 emails. This was definitely the most impactful feature for me.

Calendar and task management | Saved ~10 minutes/day

I organized my tasks in one place before using Kai to schedule them throughout my day.

The combination of timeboxing and dictation mode in one platform made my planning significantly faster. The way I use Kai to save time with calendar management is this:

Collect my to-dos under the “Tasks” tab
Use the dictation mode to block time for them during my day
Apply different colors for better differentiation

I asked Kai to reserve time for my tennis match, and it automatically added the event to my calendar.

This way, Kai not only helps with planning, but actual execution. Using this methodology, Kai saved me around 10 minutes each day over the past few weeks, as I no longer need to switch to Todoist and use another app to block time for them.

AI Note-taking | Saved ~30 minutes/day

After my meeting, I reviewed the AI-generated action items without taking notes myself.

Kai’s AI note-taking features saved me about 30 minutes a day by automating meeting notes. It offers botless recording, so a bot does not take up a spot on the calls.

Kai organized my meeting into topics discussed and decisions made, making it easy to review what happened afterward.

The meeting notes include the action items, topics discussed, and decisions. Also, you can access your meeting transcription and share it with your team members with a few clicks.

Compared to AI note-takers (not AI personal assistants), Kai offers a lighter experience. It’s fast, easy to use, and focuses on the essentials: meeting notes.

If you are looking for a robust AI note-taking experience with advanced features like meeting agendas, video recording, or conversation insights, you won’t find it with Kai. However, if you need a more lightweight solution, Kai could be an ideal choice.

Try Kai

Cost vs value

I reviewed Kai’s beta pricing to see what features are included in the $50 per user plan.

Kai currently offers one plan while it’s still in beta. So if you think Kai fits your workflow perfectly, it’s the best time to lock in.

It’s $50 per user per month, and this price will likely increase after the summer, as Kai costs $100 per seat, according to the company’s communication.

This plan includes all the features I showed you before, plus more, such as Agent-to-agent coordination & MCP access.

Although the $50 per seat monthly fee sounded high at first, I started calculating how much I would spend on an AI note-taker, an email app, a calendar app, and an AI assistant. It would be around $60-$90 monthly, and most importantly, they would be separate apps which would require constant switching.

So, the $50 makes sense to me.

Kai alternatives

If you feel Kai is not the right pick for you, here are some of the alternatives:

App	Best for	Description
Clean Email	Best for inbox cleanup	A reliable and transparent inbox management tool that gives you full control over email cleanup, but most advanced features require a paid plan. Full Clean Email review \| Quick Clean Email overview
Cleanfox	Best free unsubscribe tool	A free tool designed to help users remove unwanted marketing emails and unsubscribe from newsletters. Like Unroll.me, it relies on data monetization rather than a paid subscription model. Full Cleanfox review \| Quick Cleanfox overview
Spark	Best AI email client	A popular email client with built-in AI features, smart inbox organization, and collaboration tools. Unlike Clean Email, Spark focuses more on AI assistance and email productivity than long-term inbox cleanup. Full Spark review \| Quick Spark overview
Missive	Best for team collaboration	A collaborative email client designed for teams, with shared inboxes and task assignment. It’s more of a productivity workspace than a cleanup tool, but useful if you need collaboration plus email management. Full Missive review \| Quick Missive overview
Sanebox	Best for automatic email filtering	An email organizer that filters unimportant messages into separate folders automatically. It works with any email provider and focuses on a clean inbox, though its feature set and pricing differ from Clean Email. Full Sanebox review \| Quick Sanebox overview
Unroll.me	Best for simple unsubscribing	One of the more popular free apps for unsubscribing from marketing emails. However, it monetizes user data, which may raise security concerns. Full Unroll.me review \| Quick Unroll.me overview
Virtualworkforce.ai	Best for AI email automation	An AI agent platform that automates complete email workflows, from drafting replies and labeling messages to extracting data and retrieving information from connected knowledge sources. Full Virtualworkforce.ai review \| Quick Virtualworkforce.ai overview

Final thoughts about Kai

There aren’t many productivity apps that can save 90 minutes a day; believe me, I have tested +100 alternatives. But Kai is one of them.

While it has a high impact on your daily workflows, it remains a very straightforward app, which is exactly what most of us need.

Try Kai

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

Explore Apps directory

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

What does Kai actually do?

Kai sorts your emails, summarizes your calls, centralizes calendars, and helps you plan and execute your days.

How is Kai different from other AI tools?

Most AI tools focus on only one workflow, such as online meetings, email, or calendar management. In contrast, Kai helps you manage your calendar, email inboxes, and meetings in one platform and offers highly personalized replies as it is aware of your schedule.

Is Kai free?

No, Kai currently offers one plan, still in beta, for $50 per user per month.

Aron Kantor

thebusinessdive.com

The post Kai Review 2026: How It Helped Me Save 90 Minutes a Day appeared first on .

6 Best Notion Integrations I Swear By In 2026

Jovana Simić — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:21:29 +0000

Notion is already a powerful workspace on its own, but the right integrations can make it much more useful.

Whether you want to automate repetitive tasks, manage projects, schedule meetings, collect data, or share documents more securely, connecting Notion with other tools can help streamline your workflow.

To help you find the best options, I researched and evaluated a range of Notion integrations across different use cases.

In this guide, you’ll find the best Notion integrations for automation, communication, document sharing, scheduling, project management, and more, along with what each one does best and who it’s most suitable for.

Let’s dive in!

The best Notion integrations at a glance

Best Notion Integrations	Category	Best for
Papermark	Secure document sharing	Sharing Notion pages securely with analytics and access controls
ClickUp	Project management	Managing complex projects and tasks alongside Notion documentation
Zapier	Workflow automation	Automating workflows between Notion and thousands of other apps
Softr	No-code app builder	Building client portals, internal tools, and apps from Notion databases
Jira	Software development	Connecting engineering projects and issue tracking with Notion
Slack	Team communication	Sharing Notion content and keeping teams updated in Slack

My top Notion Integrations

Let’s see the best Notion integrations I have tested so far!

Papermark

4.4/5

Papermark is a secure document-sharing and virtual data room platform that enhances Notion with advanced sharing controls, viewer analytics, and access management features.

Full Papermark review Visit Papermark

Best for secure document sharing

Quick verdict

Best for:

Notion users and teams who need a secure way to share documents while tracking engagement and controlling access

Not ideal for:

Individuals who only need basic document sharing without analytics, access controls, or virtual data room features

Biggest strength:

Detailed page-by-page analytics and document engagement tracking

Biggest weakness

Many advanced features require a paid plan

What I liked about Papermark

Very intuitive and beginner-friendly interface
Excellent page-by-page analytics and viewer tracking
Real-time email notifications
Clean and well-organized analytics dashboard
Good range of sharing permissions and security controls

What could be improved

Many advanced features are locked behind paid plans

What you get after connecting Papermark to Notion

Document Upload and Link Sharing: Connecting Papermark to Notion took me less than a minute. I simply copied a public Notion page link, pasted it into Papermark, and instantly got a shareable link. Before sharing it, I could customize settings like email capture, download permissions, viewer restrictions, and password protection.

Page-by-Page Analytics: After opening the shared document from a secondary email address, I immediately received a notification and could follow the activity almost in real time. Papermark showed how much time was spent on each page, overall engagement, and completion rates in a very visual and easy-to-understand dashboard.

Document Versioning: I also liked how easy it was to manage multiple versions of the same document. Each version gets its own analytics and shareable link, while older versions can be archived instead of deleted. This made it much easier to track updates without losing historical engagement data.

Link Permissions & Access Controls: Papermark gives you much more control than sharing a regular Notion link. During testing, I could require visitors to enter their email addresses, enable password protection, set expiration dates, and restrict access to specific viewers. More advanced controls are available on paid plans.

Custom Branding: For teams sharing proposals, reports, or client documents from Notion, Papermark also supports custom domains, logos, and branded document pages. Most branding features require a paid plan, but they can make shared content look much more professional.

Virtual Data Rooms: For more advanced use cases, I tested Papermark’s Data Rooms feature using the free trial. It allowed me to organize Notion content into structured folders, create separate shareable links, manage permissions at the file level, and track engagement across the entire data room. I found the data room setup much easier to manage when multiple documents and stakeholders were involved.

Pricing

Free plan available (more than enough for most Notion sharing use cases)
Pro plan: €24/month
Business plan: €59/month
Data Rooms plan: €99/month
Data Rooms Plus: €249/month
Data Rooms Premium: €549/month
Data Rooms Unlimited: €999/month
Data Rooms Custom: Custom pricing

How to connect Papermark to Notion

First, open the Notion page you want to share, click ‘Publish’, and copy the public link. Then go to Papermark Documents, More Add Notion page, and finally, paste the Notion link. From there, you can add a custom domain, password, expiration date, or other controls before sending the final link.

If you are building a Notion data room, Papermark also offers a “Connect Notion” flow where you link your workspace and select the page that will serve as the data room homepage. Any pages nested under that parent page are automatically included in the data room.

Read my full review: Papermark Review 2026: Here’s What I Liked (And What I Didn’t)

Try Papermark

ClickUp

4.3/5

ClickUp is an all-in-one project management platform that complements Notion with advanced task management, team collaboration, automation, and workflow customization.

Full ClickUp review Visit ClickUp

Best for advanced task management

Quick verdict

Best for:

Teams that want to manage tasks and projects across Notion and ClickUp

Not ideal for:

Users looking for a simple, lightweight workspace with minimal setup

Biggest strength:

Advanced project management features and customization options

Biggest weakness

Can feel overwhelming for new users

What I liked about ClickUp

Advanced project and task management features
Highly customizable views, dashboards, and workflows
Excellent collaboration tools for teams
Powerful automation capabilities
Generous free plan

What could be improved

Occasional performance issues and a steeper learning curve

What you get after connecting ClickUp to Notion

Project and Task Management: After connecting ClickUp with Notion, I could keep documentation in Notion while managing tasks and projects inside ClickUp. For larger workflows where Notion handled knowledge management and ClickUp handled execution, this worked especially well.

Multiple Project Views: One thing I liked about ClickUp was the variety of project views. Depending on the project, I could switch between List, Board, Calendar, and Gantt views to track progress in a way that made the most sense for the team.

Advanced Task Tracking: ClickUp gave me much more control over tasks than a typical Notion database. I could create subtasks, set priorities, assign owners, add due dates, attach files, create dependencies, and manage everything from a single workspace.

Team Collaboration Tools: During testing, I found ClickUp’s collaboration features very strong. Teams can work together using Docs, Chat, Whiteboards, comments, and real-time editing while keeping project information connected to Notion documentation.

Workflow Automation: ClickUp also includes built-in automation tools that can reduce manual work. I was able to use automation templates and create rules for updating task statuses, assigning work, and managing recurring workflows.

Custom Dashboards and Reporting: For teams managing multiple projects, ClickUp offers customizable dashboards that provide visibility into workloads, project progress, deadlines, and team performance.

Pricing

Free plan available
Unlimited plan: $7/user/month (annual billing)
Business plan: $12/user/month (annual billing)
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing
ClickUp AI: Available as a separate add-on

How to connect ClickUp to Notion

First, open Settings → My connections in Notion and connect your ClickUp account. Once connected, you can paste ClickUp task links directly into Notion pages and choose Paste as preview to view task details without leaving Notion.

You can also connect Notion inside ClickUp by opening App Center → Notion, authorizing your Notion workspace, and granting the required permissions. After connecting the two tools, you’ll be able to search Notion pages and databases directly from ClickUp and keep project documentation and task management closely connected.

Read my full review: My Honest ClickUp Review After Using It For +3 Months (2026)

Try ClickUp

Zapier

4.3/5

Zapier is a no-code automation platform that connects Notion with thousands of other apps, allowing users to automate repetitive tasks and build workflows without writing code.

Visit Zapier

Best for workflow automation

Quick verdict

Best for:

Users who want to automate workflows between Notion and thousands of other apps

Not ideal for:

Users who only need a few basic integrations and do not require automation

Biggest strength:

Connects Notion with thousands of apps through powerful no-code automations

Biggest weakness

Costs can increase quickly as workflow usage grows

What I liked

Supports thousands of app integrations
Easy-to-build no-code automations
Powerful multi-step workflows
Useful templates for common use cases
Helps eliminate repetitive manual work

What could be improved

Pricing can become expensive for high-volume workflows

What you get after connecting Zapier to Notion

Automated Database Updates: The first workflow I tested automatically created a new Notion database entry whenever information was submitted through another app. Setup only took a few minutes, and once it was running, I no longer had to copy information manually between tools.

Connections With Thousands of Apps: What stood out to me most is how many apps Zapier can connect with Notion. Whether you use Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Calendly, or HubSpot, it is surprisingly easy to build workflows that move information between platforms automatically.

Multi-Step Workflows: I also liked that a single action in Notion can trigger multiple follow-up actions. For example, creating a new database item can automatically send a notification, update another tool, and create a task elsewhere without any manual input.

Automation Templates: Instead of building workflows from scratch, I was able to start with pre-built templates and customize them to fit specific use cases. This made the setup process much faster, especially for common workflows.

Advanced Workflow Controls: For more complex automations, Zapier includes filters, conditional logic, scheduling options, and webhooks. While most users will probably never need all of these tools, I liked having the flexibility to create more advanced workflows when necessary.

Pricing

Free plan available
Professional plan: $19.99/month
Team plan: $69/month
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How to connect Zapier to Notion

First, create a Zap in Zapier and connect your Notion workspace. Then choose Notion as either the trigger or action app, select the database you want to use, and configure the workflow. Once activated, Zapier will automatically move information between Notion and your other apps.

Try Zapier

Softr

4.4/5

Softr is a no-code app builder that lets users turn Notion databases into client portals, internal tools, directories, and other data-driven applications without writing code.

Full Softr review Visit Softr

Best for building apps from Notion

Quick verdict

Best for:

Building client portals, internal tools, and business apps from Notion data

Not ideal for:

Users who need highly custom frontend design or full coding flexibility

Biggest strength:

Turns Notion databases into functional apps without code

Biggest weakness

More limited than fully custom development

What I liked

Fast AI-powered app creation
Easy to use without coding
Built-in user management and permissions
Workflow automation tools
Supports multiple data sources, including Notion

What could be improved

Limited customization compared to custom-built apps

What you get after connecting Softr to Notion

App building: When I connected Softr to my Notion database, I was able to generate a working app in just a few minutes. Instead of starting with an empty canvas, Softr created pages, navigation, sample data, and the basic structure automatically, giving me something functional to work with right away.

Managing access: I liked how easy it was to create different user roles and decide which Notion-based content each group could access. I could hide specific pages, limit access to certain data, and manage permissions without touching any code.

Client portal creation: Softr works great for creating client portals, internal company tools, directories, and resource hubs. Rather than sharing raw Notion databases with external users, I could present the same information through a dedicated client portal. This felt much cleaner when working with clients, partners, or external stakeholders who didn’t need access to the entire workspace.

Customization: Most changes only required clicking on a page element and adjusting the settings. I could change layouts, update content pulled from Notion, modify visibility rules, and reorganize pages directly from the editor.

Workflow automation: I liked that workflows were built directly into the platform. For example, actions could be triggered when users submitted forms, updated information, or created new records connected to the app, without relying on a separate automation tool.

Pricing

Free plan available
Basic plan: $49/month
Professional plan: $139/month
Business plan: $269/month
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How to connect Softr to Notion

First, open your Softr app and go to Data → Add Data Source. Select Notion from the list of available data sources.

A Notion authorization window will then open. Click Select pages, choose the pages you want to share with Softr, and grant access. Once approved, your Notion data will be available inside Softr and ready to use in your app.

Read my full review: Softr Review 2026: I Spent $1,668 To See How It Actually Performs

Try Softr

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

Explore Apps directory

Jira

4.3/5

Jira is an issue tracking and project management platform that helps software teams manage development workflows, bugs, sprints, and engineering projects while keeping progress visible inside Notion.

Full Jira review Visit Jira

Best for software development teams

Quick verdict

Best for:

Software and engineering teams that want to connect project documentation with development work

Not ideal for:

Non-technical users looking for a simple task management solution

Biggest strength:

Syncs Jira projects and issues directly into Notion

Biggest weakness

Requires time to learn and configure properly

What I liked about Jira

Powerful issue and bug tracking
Highly customizable workflows
Native Notion integration
Useful automations
Strong developer ecosystem

What could be improved

Steep learning curve
Can feel overwhelming for non-technical teams
Some Atlassian products require separate subscriptions

What you get after connecting Jira to Notion

View Issues: Once connected, Jira issues can be displayed inside Notion as synced databases. I could see issue statuses, assignees, priorities, and due dates without switching between tools.

Track Progress: Jira’s issue tracking is one of its strongest features, and the integration makes that information much easier to access from Notion. I could follow tasks as they moved through different workflow stages and keep development work visible alongside project plans and notes.

Filter and Organize: After syncing Jira data, I could sort issues by assignee, status, priority, or project using Notion’s database views and filters. This made it easier to focus on specific projects without changing anything in Jira.

Share Updates: Not everyone on a team needs to learn Jira. With the integration enabled, product, marketing, and leadership teams can follow project progress from Notion while engineering teams continue working in Jira.

Keep Context Together: I liked being able to keep Jira issues next to requirements, meeting notes, roadmaps, and other project information stored in Notion. This reduced the amount of back-and-forth between tools when reviewing ongoing work.

Stay Up to Date: When issue statuses changed in Jira, those updates appeared automatically in Notion. This helped keep project information current without manually updating multiple systems.

Pricing

Free plan available
Standard plan: $9.05/user/month
Premium plan: $18.30/user/month
Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

How to connect Jira to Notion

First, open Settings → My connections in Notion and connect your Jira account. Once authorized, copy the URL of the Jira project you want to sync. Then paste the link into a Notion page and select Paste as database. Notion will automatically create a synced database containing your Jira issues.

After the database is created, Jira issues will stay synced with Notion automatically. You can filter, sort, and organize the data using Notion views while continuing to manage the actual issues in Jira.

Read my full review: Brutal Honest Jira Review 2026 | Before You Use It

Try Jira

Slack

4.3/5

Slack is a team communication platform that lets users share Notion pages, receive database notifications, and turn conversations into actionable work without leaving Slack.

Visit Slack

Best for team communication

Quick verdict

Best for:

Teams that want to connect communication with project documentation

Not ideal for:

Individuals who don’t collaborate through Slack channels

Biggest strength:

Brings Notion content directly into team conversations

Biggest weakness

Most of the value depends on your team actively using Slack

What I liked

Native Notion integration
Rich Notion page previews
Database notifications
Fast information sharing
Strong collaboration features

What could be improved

Requires some setup to avoid notification overload

What you get after connecting Slack to Notion

Share Pages: When I pasted a Notion link into Slack, it automatically generated a preview of the page. Instead of asking teammates to open a separate tab just to understand what I was sharing, they could immediately see the title, content, and context of the page directly in the conversation.

Get Database Updates: I could send Notion database notifications to specific Slack channels and receive updates when tasks were assigned, statuses changed, or new records were added. I could follow project activity from Slack instead of opening Notion every time something changed.

Save Important Messages: One thing I liked is that Slack messages can be sent directly to a Notion database. I could save feature requests, feedback, meeting takeaways, and action items directly to a Notion database instead of leaving them in Slack

Keep Conversations Connected: Project discussions often happen in Slack, while plans, notes, and documentation live in Notion. Connecting the two meant I spent less time jumping between tools and searching for information.

Share Information Faster: Instead of copying summaries or manually updating teammates, I could simply share a Notion page in Slack. This was especially useful for meeting notes, project updates, and internal documentation that needed to be distributed across multiple channels.

Automate Team Workflows: Slack workflows can also interact with Notion. For example, teams can collect requests through Slack forms and automatically send them to a Notion database, so new submissions appeared in the right place without any manual sorting or data entry.

Pricing

Free plan available
Pro plan: $4.38/user/month
Business+ plan: $9/user/month
Enterprise+ plan: Custom pricing

How to connect Slack to Notion

First, open Settings → My connections in Notion and connect your Slack workspace. Once authorized, you’ll be able to use Slack notifications, page previews, and message-to-database features.

To receive database updates in Slack, open the Notion database you want to track, click ⋯ → Automations, create a trigger, and select Send Slack notification to… as the action. Then choose the Slack channel where you want updates to appear.

After setup, you can share Notion pages directly in Slack with rich previews, send Slack messages to Notion databases, and receive notifications whenever important changes happen in Notion.

Try Slack

Final thoughts on best Notion integrations

Notion is a great workspace on its own, but the right integrations can help you get much more out of it.

Whether you want to automate workflows with Zapier, improve communication through Slack, share documents securely with Papermark, build apps with Softr, or manage projects through ClickUp and Jira, there’s an integration for almost every use case.

Hopefully, this list helped you find the right Notion integration for your workflow. As always, I’ll continue updating it as new integrations and features become available.

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best Notion integrations?

There are many great Notion integrations available today. Zapier is excellent for automation, Slack helps teams collaborate, Papermark improves document sharing, Softr turns Notion databases into apps, and Jira works well for software development teams. Other popular Notion integrations include Google Calendar, Figma, Miro, Asana, Trello, and Google Sheets.

Can I connect Notion with Google Calendar?

Yes. You can connect Notion with Google Calendar to sync Google Calendar events, deadlines, and reminders. This helps keep meetings, project timelines, and tasks in one centralized location instead of switching between multiple apps.

Can Notion automate repetitive tasks?

Yes. By connecting Notion with automation tools like Zapier, you can automate repetitive tasks such as creating database entries, sending notifications, updating records, syncing data between platforms, and reducing manual data entry across your everyday work apps.

Can I sync a Notion database with Google Sheets?

Yes. Many users sync a Notion database with Google Sheets to work with real-time data, build reports, create embeddable charts, and perform more advanced analysis. This setup is particularly useful for teams that rely on data-driven decisions and need information from multiple systems in one place.

Can Notion replace project management tools?

For simple workflows, Notion can work as an all-in-one workspace for documentation, tasks, databases, and knowledge management. However, teams with more complex project management needs often connect Notion with dedicated tools like Jira, ClickUp, Asana, GitHub, or Microsoft Teams to access advanced workflows, custom workflows, issue tracking, and team collaboration capabilities.

Jovana Simić

Hey! I’m Jovana, a content writer who loves writing, researching, and testing new productivity apps. With a background in philosophy, I bring a thoughtful but no-bullshit approach to everything I do. Let’s connect on Linkedin!

The post 6 Best Notion Integrations I Swear By In 2026 appeared first on .

6 AI Note-Takers I’d Use for Microsoft Teams Meetings After Real Meetings

Jovana Simić — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 07:01:43 +0000

Microsoft Teams can record meetings and generate recaps, but many teams still need a better way to capture notes, track action items, and organize follow-ups.

To help you find the right MS Teams AI note taker, we tested and selected the tools that go beyond transcription, generating summaries, identifying key decisions, and keeping meeting information searchable and easy to share.

Here are the AI note-takers we choose from 20+ tested options:

Fellow → Best overall MS Teams AI note taker for meeting workflows, collaboration, and follow-ups.
Bluedot → Best bot-free option for teams that want AI meeting notes without inviting a meeting bot.
Fireflies AI → Best budget-friendly MS Teams AI note taker with strong collaboration and analytics features.
Microsoft Copilot → Best built-in choice for organizations already using Microsoft 365 and Teams.
Krisp → Best for combining AI meeting notes with industry-leading noise cancellation.
Granola → Best for users who want a simple, distraction-free AI note-taking experience.

How These MS Teams AI Note Takers Compare

AI note taker	Best fit for Teams users	What it adds beyond Teams recap	Biggest limitation	Pricing
Fellow	Enterprise teams on Microsoft 365 that need bot-free recording, compliance controls, and structured follow-ups	Meeting agendas, action item ownership, templates, searchable meeting records, and enterprise-grade security controls	Limited free version	Free plan available; paid plans start at $7/user/month
Bluedot	Want bot-free meeting recording with AI-generated transcripts, summaries, and follow-up tools	Bot-free recording, AI chat, custom note templates, and AI-generated follow-up emails	The free plan only includes five lifetime recordings	Free plan available; paid plans start at $14/user/month
Fireflies AI	Want a budget-friendly AI note taker with reliable transcription, collaboration features, and broad platform support	Meeting analytics, conversation intelligence, AI assistant, and broad integrations	The free plan is more limited than some competing AI note takers	Free plan available; paid plans start at $10/user/month
Microsoft Copilot	Already use Microsoft 365 and want AI meeting assistance built directly into Teams	Native Teams integration, AI meeting recaps, action items, and conversational AI inside Teams	Full functionality requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription	Paid plans start at $18/user/month (plus Microsoft 365 subscription)
Krisp	Need AI meeting notes and background noise cancellation in a single tool	Real-time noise cancellation, accent conversion, and audio enhancement	Noise cancellation is not available on mobile devices	7-day free trial; paid plans start at $8/user/month
Granola	Want a simple, distraction-free AI note taker without meeting bots	Combines personal notes with AI-generated summaries in a clean, bot-free interface	Doesn’t offer meeting recording capabilities	Free plan available; paid plans start at $14/user/month

How We Test AI Note-Takers

To keep our reviews and final scores fair and consistent, we evaluate every AI note-taking tool using a standardized testing framework built on real-world usage and hands-on experience.

We reviewed and personally tested every AI note-taker featured in this list, and you will find links to the full review articles for each tool. Based on our hands-on testing, we assigned an overall score using our standardized scoring system.

While these overall review scores influenced the rankings in this article, we also considered specific use cases, workflows, and standout strengths to recommend the best AI note-takers for different needs and teams.

We evaluate every AI note-taking tool using this weighted framework, based on hands-on testing in real meetings and everyday workflows.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 20+ AI note-takers:

Features & functionality — 50%
User interface — 10%
Pricing — 20%
Security — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

If you prefer watching instead of reading, check out my video where I break down the best AI note-takers, their standout features, and the real-world workflows they are best for.

Breaking Down the Best MS Teams AI Note-Takers in 2026

Fellow

4.5/5

Fellow is a secure AI meeting assistant and note-taker that captures conversations, turns them into transcripts and summaries, and helps teams manage everything from meeting agendas to follow-ups in one place.

Full Fellow review Visit Fellow

Best overall

Quick verdict

Best for Teams users who:

Enterprise teams on Microsoft 365 that need bot-free recording, compliance controls, and structured follow-ups.

Skip it if:

You’re looking for a basic low-cost note-taking tool.

What stood out in Teams meetings:

Botless recording means no bot joins the call — Fellow captures audio locally, which matters for compliance-sensitive teams. Backed by SOC 2 Type II, SSO, SCIM, and RBAC, with strong action-item tracking and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Jira.

Main limitation:

Limited free version

Who Fellow is best for

Enterprise and regulated-industry teams on Microsoft Teams that need more than transcription — including meeting governance, compliance-ready and structured follow-ups.
Financial services firms — investment banks, private equity, hedge and broker-dealers whose meetings are subject to SEC recordkeeping rules, FINRA supervision requirements, and internal compliance review.
Compliance-sensitive organizations that need botless recording (no bot joins the call), permissioned recording libraries, and admin controls — without routing audio through a third-party bot participant.
Managers and customer-facing teams that need clear ownership of action items and documented follow-ups after every meeting.
Microsoft Teams users who want AI-generated summaries, searchable meeting records, and integrations with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Jira — without switching platforms.

Who Fellow is not ideal for

Users who only need basic meeting transcription and summaries.
Teams that don’t use agendas, action-item tracking, or structured meeting workflows.
Organizations that are already satisfied with Microsoft Teams’ built-in meeting recap features.

Fellow highlights

Highly accurate AI transcripts and meeting summaries
Shared agendas for effective meeting preparation
Automatically identifies action items and key decisions
Searchable meeting library to revisit past discussions easily
Strong security and privacy standards for business use
Zero-Day Retention for MNPI-sensitive workflows
Transcript redaction plus Pause & Resume
The broadest compliance certification set in the category (SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR certified)
Supports Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Slack, and 50+ workplace integrations

Fellow drawbacks

AI recording and transcription limits can feel restrictive on the free plan
Downloading the desktop and mobile apps is required for the bot-free experience

Try Fellow

Use this link to sign up and get 10% off the paid plans if you upgrade

Testing Fellow for Microsoft Teams meetings

I tested Fellow with Microsoft Teams meetings to see whether it could do more than generate transcripts and summaries. While note-taking is one of its core features, I found that Fellow focuses on the entire meeting process, from planning discussions to tracking what happens afterward.

Getting started was straightforward. Fellow joined Teams meetings automatically, recorded the conversation, generated a transcript, and created an AI summary once the meeting ended. The transcripts were highly accurate, even during longer discussions with multiple participants.

One feature I used frequently was meeting agendas. Fellow allows you to prepare discussion points before a meeting and keep notes directly alongside the agenda during the call. Having everything in a single workspace really helped me keep meetings organized.

After each meeting, Fellow automatically generated action items and highlighted key decisions. Instead of reviewing the entire transcript, I could quickly see the next steps and assign tasks to team members. This was one of the most valuable parts of the experience.

I also liked how Fellow organized meeting information. Transcripts, recordings, summaries, action items, and past discussions were stored in a searchable library, so it was easy to find information from previous meetings.

I also spent some time exploring features outside of note-taking. Fellow includes shared agendas, meeting templates, and action item tracking, which helped keep meeting preparation, discussions, and follow-ups in the same workspace instead of spreading them across multiple tools.

Another thing I noticed while researching the platform was its strong focus on security and privacy — Fellow is built for regulated industries, not bolted on as an afterthought. Fellow is SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR compliant, doesn’t train its AI on customer data, and offers controls you rarely see in this category: Zero-Day Retention, which deletes recordings and transcripts after AI processing while preserving the summary and action items, and transcript redaction for stripping out sensitive details. For teams in finance, legal, or healthcare — or anyone who regularly discusses confidential client information in meetings — that level of control is a real differentiator.

Overall, Fellow delivered accurate meeting notes while also helping manage agendas, decisions, and follow-ups. For Microsoft Teams users who want meeting management features alongside AI transcription, it offers a more complete solution than many note-taking tools I’ve tested.

Cost breakdown

Free plan: AI recording, recaps, transcriptions, collaborative notes, agendas, meeting timers, and integrations with Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. Great for testing the platform.
Team plan ($7/user/month with annual billing): Includes higher limits, meeting automation, and integrations with Notion and project management tools.
Business plan ($15/user/month with annual billing): Unlimited recordings and transcription minutes, organization-wide templates, sales AI recaps, and expanded integrations.
Enterprise plan ($25/user/month with annual billing): Advanced security, custom recording controls, governance features, and increased recording and transcription capacity.

Read my full review: Fellow Review: My Thoughts After +12 Months (2026)

Try Fellow

Use this link to sign up and get 10% off the paid plans if you upgrade

Bluedot

4.4/5

Bluedot is a bot-free AI note taker that records meetings, generates transcripts and summaries, and helps teams share insights and follow-ups without inviting a meeting bot.

Full Bluedot review Visit Bluedot

Best for botless recording

Quick verdict

Best for Teams users who:

Want bot-free meeting recording with AI-generated transcripts, summaries, and follow-up tools.

Skip it if:

You need a generous free plan or prefer local processing over cloud-based note generation.

What stood out in Teams meetings:

Bot-free recording, accurate transcripts, and well-structured meeting notes with minimal setup.

Main limitation:

The free plan only includes five lifetime recordings.

Who Bluedot is best for

Users who want a bot-free AI note taker with recording capabilities.
Teams looking for accurate meeting notes with minimal setup.
Sales and customer-facing teams that rely on follow-up emails and meeting insights.

Who Bluedot is not ideal for

Users who need a completely free AI note taker for long-term use.
Teams that prefer local processing over cloud-based note generation.
Organizations looking for a highly customizable enterprise-grade meeting platform.

Bluedot highlights

Bot-free recording for Microsoft Teams meetings.
Accurate transcripts and well-structured AI meeting notes.
Custom meeting templates for different use cases.
AI chat that can analyze individual or multiple meetings.
AI-generated follow-up emails based on meeting discussions.
Video and screen recording capabilities.

Bluedot drawbacks

The free plan only includes five lifetime meeting recordings.

Try Bluedot

Testing Bluedot for Microsoft Teams meetings

When testing Bluedot with Microsoft Teams, I was most interested in its bot-free approach. Many AI note takers rely on meeting bots to join calls, while Bluedot takes a different route and records meetings without adding another participant to the conversation.

First of all, the transcription quality was strong throughout my testing. Bluedot generated accurate transcripts and organized the meeting notes into clear sections, including summaries, action items, and timestamps. It automatically removed filler words, which made the transcripts easier to review afterward.

One feature I found useful was the ability to switch between meeting templates. Depending on the type of meeting, Bluedot could reorganize notes using different structures, and custom templates made it possible to focus on specific topics or questions.

I also spent some time using the AI chat feature. It allowed me to ask questions about individual meetings and quickly find key information. The responses were fast and included timestamps, allowing me to easily verify information and revisit specific parts of a conversation.

Another feature I appreciated was the follow-up workflow. Bluedot can generate AI-powered follow-up emails based on meeting discussions. Combined with its meeting insights and collaboration features, it offered more functionality than simple transcription alone.

Overall, Bluedot delivered a smooth experience during testing. The bot-free recording, accurate transcripts, flexible meeting templates, and AI-powered follow-up tools make it one of the best options for Microsoft Teams users who prefer not to use meeting bots.

Cost breakdown

Free plan: Record and transcribe up to five meetings, with support for AI notes plus Slack and Notion integrations. Good for testing the platform, but not for long-term use.
Basic plan ($14/user/month with annual billing): Includes unlimited recordings and storage, making it suitable for individuals and small teams that regularly rely on AI meeting notes.
Pro plan ($20/user/month with annual billing): Adds longer recordings and custom meeting templates for more advanced workflows.
Business plan ($32/user/month with annual billing): Unlocks HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, along with unlimited imports for teams that want to connect meeting data with their CRM.
Enterprise plan (custom pricing): Includes SSO, advanced admin controls, custom retention policies, and other enterprise-grade security features.

Read my full review: My Honest Bluedot Review After Testing 25+ AI Note-Takers

Try Bluedot

Fireflies AI

4.4/5

Fireflies AI is an AI meeting assistant that records conversations, generates transcripts and summaries, and helps teams collaborate through meeting insights, analytics, and integrations.

Full Fireflies AI review Visit Fireflies AI

Best budget-friendly

Quick verdict

Best for Teams users who:

Want a budget-friendly AI note taker with reliable transcription, collaboration features, and broad platform support.

Skip it if:

You need the highest transcription accuracy or a feature-rich free plan.

What stood out in Teams meetings:

The balance between transcription quality, collaboration features, integrations, and pricing.

Main limitation:

The free plan is more limited than some competing AI note takers.

Who Fireflies AI is best for

Teams looking for an affordable AI meeting assistant with strong core features.
Organizations that use multiple meeting platforms and need broad language support.
Sales teams and managers who benefit from conversation intelligence and meeting analytics.

Who Fireflies AI is not ideal for

Users looking for a generous free AI note-taking solution.
Teams that prioritize transcription accuracy above everything else.
Organizations that need advanced meeting workflows, such as agendas and structured meeting management.

Fireflies AI highlights

Affordable paid plans for individuals and teams.
Supports Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and other major platforms.
Transcribes meetings in over 100 languages.
Generates meeting summaries, action items, and searchable recaps.
Includes conversation intelligence and meeting analytics.
Wide range of integrations with productivity, CRM, and project management tools.

Fireflies AI drawbacks

The free plan is usable but relatively limited.

Try Fireflies

Testing Fireflies AI for Microsoft Teams meetings

My experience with Fireflies AI in Microsoft Teams meetings was consistently solid. While it wasn’t the most advanced tool I tested, it offered a strong combination of transcription quality, collaboration features, and affordability.

Fireflies automatically joined my MS Teams meetings, recorded the conversations, and generated transcripts and meeting summaries afterward. While the transcription accuracy wasn’t quite on the same level as some of the best-performing tools I tested, it was consistently reliable.

The meeting summaries were another highlight. Fireflies organized discussions into key points, action items, and timestamps. I also liked that meeting notes could be edited and shared with other team members in just a few clicks.

I also spent some time using Fireflies’ collaboration and analytics features. Team members can comment on transcripts, leave reactions, and collaborate on meeting notes, while conversation intelligence provides insights such as speaker talk time and meeting sentiment.

Another feature I found useful was Fireflies’ AI assistant, Fred. It allowed me to ask questions about meetings and quickly find specific information. I also liked the Soundbites feature, which makes it possible to create and share short clips from longer conversations.

Overall, Fireflies AI delivered a dependable MS Teams experience with reliable transcription, strong collaboration tools, useful meeting analytics, and affordable pricing. While it may not lead the market in any single category, it offers one of the best overall value propositions among the AI note takers I tested.

Cost breakdown

Free plan: Includes unlimited storage and transcription for shared bot meetings, but advanced features and file transcription limits make it better suited for occasional use.
Pro plan ($10/user/month with annual billing): Includes unlimited transcription minutes, meeting recaps, AI assistant access, and advanced search capabilities.
Business plan ($19/user/month with annual billing): Adds conversation intelligence, meeting analytics, team insights, and advanced collaboration features.
Enterprise plan ($39/user/month with annual billing): Includes dedicated onboarding, enhanced support, and enterprise-grade administration capabilities.

Read my full review: Fireflies AI Review: Why is EVERYONE using it for meeting notes?

Try Fireflies

Microsoft Copilot

4.3/5

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s built-in AI assistant that helps Teams users generate meeting summaries, identify action items, answer questions about discussions, and catch up on missed meetings.

Visit Microsoft Copilot

Best built-in option

Quick verdict

Best for Teams users who:

Already use Microsoft 365 and want AI meeting assistance built directly into Teams.

Skip it if:

You want a budget-friendly AI note taker or don’t work primarily inside the Microsoft ecosystem.

What stood out in Teams meetings:

Native Teams integration and the ability to ask questions about meetings during and after calls.

Main limitation:

Full functionality requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription.

Who Microsoft Copilot is best for

Organizations already invested in Microsoft 365 and Teams.
Teams that want AI meeting summaries, action items, and recaps without adding another tool.
Users who frequently join meetings late or need to catch up on missed discussions.

Who Microsoft Copilot is not ideal for

Teams looking for a standalone AI note-taking platform with advanced meeting workflows.
Organizations that rely heavily on non-Microsoft collaboration tools.
Budget-conscious teams that don’t want to pay for Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses.

Microsoft Copilot highlights

Built directly into Microsoft Teams.
Generates AI meeting summaries and recaps automatically.
Identifies action items and key decisions from meetings.
Answers questions about meetings during and after calls.
Helps users catch up on missed meetings quickly.
Works across Teams and other Microsoft 365 apps.

Microsoft Copilot drawbacks

Requires a separate Microsoft 365 Copilot license for full functionality

Try MS Copilot

Testing Microsoft Copilot for Teams meetings

Since Microsoft Copilot is built directly into Microsoft Teams, I could access AI features from the same place where I was already joining meetings, checking chats, and reviewing recaps. This created a more seamless experience than using a third-party tool.

One of the most useful features was the ability to ask Copilot questions about a meeting. During and after meetings, I could ask for a summary of what had been discussed, key decisions that had been made, or action items that were assigned.

After meetings ended, Copilot generated structured recaps that highlighted discussion points, decisions, and follow-up tasks. I also liked how it highlighted action items and follow-up tasks mentioned during conversations and surfaced them alongside the meeting recap.

One of Microsoft Copilot’s biggest advantages is its deep integration with Microsoft 365. Teams that already rely on Microsoft tools will likely get the most value from it.

While it doesn’t offer some of the dedicated meeting management features found in specialized AI note takers, its native Teams integration, meeting recaps, action item tracking, and conversational AI capabilities make it a compelling choice for Microsoft 365 users.

Cost breakdown

Free plan: Included with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions, and offers secure AI chat.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business ($18/user/month with annual billing):Includes Copilot in Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps.
Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30/user/month): Enterprise-focused plan for larger organizations that want Copilot across Microsoft 365.
Enterprise deployments: Additional security, compliance, governance, and administration capabilities are available depending on your Microsoft 365 licensing setup and organization size.

Try MS Copilot

Krisp

4.2/5

Krisp is a bot-free AI note taker that combines meeting transcription and summaries with industry-leading noise cancellation, accent conversion, and real-time audio enhancement.

Full Krisp review Visit Krisp

Best for noise cancellation

Quick verdict

Best for Teams users who:

Need AI meeting notes and background noise cancellation in a single tool.

Skip it if:

You’re looking for a free AI note taker or advanced meeting analytics.

What stood out in Teams meetings:

The combination of accurate AI notes, bot-free recording, and real-time noise cancellation.

Main limitation:

Noise cancellation is not available on mobile devices.

Who Krisp is best for

Teams and professionals who want a bot-free AI note taker that works in the background.
Customer-facing teams that regularly take calls in noisy environments.
Users who want both AI note-taking and noise cancellation in one platform.

Who Krisp is not ideal for

Users looking for a free AI note-taking solution.
Teams that need advanced conversation intelligence and analytics features.
Organizations that rely heavily on team collaboration features and workspace organization.

Krisp highlights

Industry-leading AI noise cancellation.
Bot-free and bot-based meeting recording options.
Accurate transcripts with speaker identification and timestamps.
AI-generated meeting notes, summaries, and action items.
Real-time accent conversion for clearer communication.
Supports online and in-person meetings.

Krisp drawbacks

No free plan, only a limited free trial.

Try Krisp

Testing Krisp for Microsoft Teams meetings

One of the main reasons I wanted to try Krisp was its noise cancellation features. I was curious to see how well they worked in real Microsoft Teams meetings and whether they could improve both call quality and transcription accuracy.

The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to get started. Krisp worked quietly in the background and captured meeting content without disrupting the call. The transcription quality was strong throughout my testing, and transcripts were available within minutes after meetings ended. I also liked that transcripts included speaker identification and timestamps.

The AI-generated meeting notes were well structured and covered key discussion points, decisions, and action items. I found the summaries easy to skim, and Krisp did a good job highlighting the most important takeaways from meetings. It also assigned action items to participants, which made follow-ups easier to manage.

I also spent some time using the AI chat feature. Whether I wanted to review decisions, action items, or specific discussion points, the AI chat provided fast answers and helped speed up post-meeting work.

Finally, I tested Krisp’s main differentiator: noise cancellation. During testing, it effectively reduced background sounds and nearby conversations, creating cleaner audio and more accurate transcripts. I also found the accent conversion feature interesting, particularly for teams that regularly collaborate with international clients or colleagues.

Overall, Krisp delivered accurate meeting notes while offering audio features that most competitors don’t provide.

Cost breakdown

No free plan available, only 7-day free trial
Core plan ($8/user/month with annual billing): Includes unlimited audio and video recording, AI meeting notes, action items, AI chat, multilingual summaries, and support for in-person meetings.
Advanced plan ($15/user/month with annual billing): Adds accent conversion, increased storage, SSO/SCIM, manager view, and advanced admin controls.
Enterprise plan (custom pricing): Includes advanced security features, private on-device transcription, dedicated account management, and usage analytics.

Read my full review: My Brutal Honest Krisp Review 2026 | Is It Worth It?

Try Krisp

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A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

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Granola

3.6/5

Granola is a lightweight, bot-free AI note taker that transcribes meetings, generates AI notes, and turns your own meeting notes into structured summaries.

Full Granola review Visit Granola

Best for simplicity

Quick verdict

Best for Teams users who:

Want a simple, distraction-free AI note taker without meeting bots.

Skip it if:

You need meeting recordings, advanced collaboration features, or deeper meeting analytics.

What stood out in Teams meetings:

The clean interface and the ability to combine personal notes with AI-generated summaries.

Main limitation:

Doesn’t offer meeting recording capabilities.

Who Granola is best for

Individuals who want a lightweight AI note taker with a short learning curve.
Professionals who prefer bot-free meeting transcription.
Users who want to combine their own notes with AI-generated summaries.

Who Granola is not ideal for

Teams that need advanced collaboration and workflow features.
Users who want meeting recording or file upload capabilities.
Organizations looking for a more feature-rich AI meeting assistant.

Granola highlights

Bot-free meeting transcription.
Turns personal notes into structured AI summaries.
Fast and intuitive user interface.
Ask Granola AI assistant for meeting-related questions.
Customizable meeting templates.
Generous free plan for testing the platform.

Granola drawbacks

No meeting recording capabilities.

Try Granola

Testing Granola for Microsoft Teams meetings

The first thing I noticed right away while testing Granola was how little there was to learn. Instead of trying to be an all-in-one meeting assistant, it focuses on a simpler experience centered around transcription and AI notes.

After installing the desktop app, Granola transcribes meetings without requiring a bot to join the call. The transcripts were accurate, and real-time transcription was useful for following discussions as they happened.

The feature that impressed me most was Granola’s note-taking workflow. It combines your own notes with the meeting transcript to create structured AI summaries. I often take quick notes during meetings, and Granola did a surprisingly good job turning them into structured summaries afterward.

I also tested Ask Granola, the platform’s AI assistant. It helped me find information from meetings, identify action items, and draft follow-ups. The responses were fast and generally relevant to the questions I asked.

Another feature I liked was the template system. Granola includes templates for different meeting types and allows you to customize them by adding or removing sections.

The biggest limitation I encountered was the lack of recording functionality. Unlike many competing AI note takers, Granola doesn’t provide meeting recordings or support audio and video uploads. Depending on your workflow, that may be a dealbreaker.

Overall, Granola delivered a simple and distraction-free Microsoft Teams experience.

Cost breakdown

Free plan: Includes AI meeting notes, Ask Granola, shared folders, custom note templates, and multi-language support. Meeting history is limited, but the free plan is generous enough to thoroughly test the platform.
Business plan ($14/user/month): Includes unlimited meeting history and notes, advanced AI models, integrations, and consolidated billing.
Enterprise plan ($35/user/month): Adds SSO, enterprise-grade security, priority support, usage analytics, and advanced administrative controls.

Read my full review: Granola Review 2026: Why It Won’t Work for Everyone

Try Granola

Bottom line

MS Teams has improved its own meeting capabilities over the years, but for many teams, built-in recaps still aren’t enough. Dedicated AI note takers can provide more detailed summaries, stronger search capabilities, better collaboration features, and clearer follow-ups after meetings.

The good news is that there’s now an MS Teams AI note taker for almost every workflow, team, and budget.

I hope this list helped you narrow down your options and find a tool that fits the way you work. Wishing you more productive Microsoft Teams meetings!

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI note taker for Microsoft Teams?

The best AI note taker for Microsoft Teams depends on your workflow. Some tools focus on automatic meeting notes and AI-generated summaries, while others offer advanced follow-ups, meeting insights, noise cancellation, or collaboration features.

If you regularly participate in Microsoft Teams meetings, a dedicated AI note-taking app can save time by capturing conversations and organizing key information automatically.

Can an AI note taker replace manual note taking in Teams meetings?

In many cases, yes. Modern AI note takers can generate meeting transcripts, summarize key points, identify action items, and create structured notes automatically.

While some users still prefer to add manual notes during important discussions, AI-generated notes can significantly reduce the amount of manual note taking required after meetings.

Do Microsoft Teams AI note takers work with Google Meet and other platforms?

Many AI note-taking apps support more than just Microsoft Teams. Depending on the tool, you may also be able to use it with Google Meet, Zoom, Webex, and other virtual meetings platforms. This can be useful for teams that collaborate with external clients or use multiple meeting tools.

Can AI note takers help with follow-up meetings and future meetings?

Yes. Most AI note takers generate meeting summaries, action items, and follow-ups that can be shared with team members after a meeting ends. Some tools also maintain meeting history, making it easier to review past meetings, prepare for upcoming meetings, and keep track of decisions across multiple discussions.

What features should I look for in a Microsoft Teams AI note taker?

The most important features depend on your needs, but common options include real-time transcription, AI-generated summaries, meeting highlights, meeting transcripts, cross-meeting search, meeting audio capture, and integrations with your Teams calendar.

Customer success teams, revenue teams, and other organizations that spend a lot of time in meetings may also benefit from analytics, conversation insights, and automatic meeting recaps.

Jovana Simić

The post 6 AI Note-Takers I’d Use for Microsoft Teams Meetings After Real Meetings appeared first on .

Nitro Vs UPDF: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Aron Kantor — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:59:11 +0000

In this Nitro vs UPDF comparison, I will show you the key differences between these two PDF editors. I will compare UPDF to Nitro based on features, pricing, my experience, user interfaces, and pros and cons. I spent numerous hours with both PDF editors, and I am here to share the benefits and limitations of each tool to ensure you make the right choice.

These are the key points that I explored during the Nitro vs UPDF clash:

UPDF is a more budget-friendly option than Nitro.
UPDF has more extensive AI features than Nitro.
Both Nitro and UPDF have great PDF editor tools.
Both Nitro and UPDF are versatile and work on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
Nitro is slow sometimes, particularly when working with more PDFs.

Now, let’s dive into the side-by-side comparison of Nitro vs UPDF!

Verdict

Here’s the quick verdict if you don’t want to read the full Nitro vs UPDF review:

Best for:
UPDF: If you need one PDF editor for multiple devices at a reasonable price.
Nitro: A robust PDF editor for businesses and individuals who need a feature-rich PDF editor.

Not ideal for:
UPDF: Heavy or complex graphical annotations.
Nitro: Casual users needing a budget-friendly or lightweight PDF editor.

Biggest strength:
UPDF: Editing and AI features.
Nitro: Powerful feature set and advanced document signing.

Biggest weakness:
UPDF: Limited drawing tools
Nitro: Its pricing makes the most sense for frequent PDF users and businesses

Verdict:
UPDF is better for affordability, AI-powered features, and smoother performance, while Nitro is ideal for more robust, enterprise-level workflows with a heavier feature set.

Winner:
UPDF for value, AI, and ease of use, Nitro for enterprise features and depth.

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

My ratings: Nitro vs UPDF

Nitro

Review

PDF editing

PDF reading

OCR

Forms and signatures

Conversion and compression

Annotation tools

User interface

Security

Pricing

My experience

4.5

Try Nitro PDF Pro

UPDF

Review

PDF editing

PDF reading

OCR

Forms and signatures

Conversion and compression

Annotation tools

User interface

Security

Pricing

My experience

4.5

Try UPDF

How We Test PDF Editors

To keep our reviews and final scores fair and consistent, we evaluate every PDF editor using a standardized testing framework built on over 3 years of hands-on experience testing these tools in real-world scenarios.

We score every PDF editor using this weighted framework based on hands-on testing and real use cases.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 30+ PDF editors:

Features & functionality — 60%
User interface — 10%
Security — 10%
Pricing — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Key differences between Nitro and UPDF

Here is a short overview of the key differences I found in the Nitro vs UPDF showdown:

	Nitro	UPDF
Best for	Businesses and professionals needing a robust, feature-rich PDF editor	Multi-device PDF editing with strong AI features at an affordable price
Core focus	Advanced PDF editing software with enterprise-level capabilities	AI-powered PDF editor with flexible editing and cross-platform usage
Key strengths	Accurate OCR performance Admin Portal & Analytics Complete e-signature workflow	Powerful AI features (summaries, chat, translation, mindmaps) Works across multiple devices with one license Easy-to-use interface and flexible editing
Main limitations	Better suited for professionals and businesses than budget-conscious users.	Limited drawing/annotation tools and minor bugs
Ease of use	Moderate learning curve	Easy
Pricing	Free plan: Only trial Nitro Pro Standard plan: $180/year/user Nitro PDF Classic: $270/license Nitro PDF Plus: Custom pricing	Free plan: Available UPDF pro plan: $39.99/year/user UPDF pro plan: $69.99/perpetual AI assistant: $79/year/user
Integrations	Standard integrations for business workflows	Limited integrations
Cross-platform	Web / Desktop / iOS	Web / Desktop / iOS / Android

Comparison: Nitro vs UPDF

First, I show my experience with both PDF editors when using them on a day-to-day basis. Afterward, I reveal their ideal use cases, as well as strengths and weaknesses based on my testing.

Furthermore, I will break down the features I tried, the pricing plans I discovered, and their alternatives.

How these PDF editors performed in my daily workflow

I used both UPDF and Nitro for several days for my PDF workflows. Below, you will see how this went with each PDF editor.

How Nitro fits into my workflow

Nitro has a robust feature set when it comes to working with PDF forms and documents. You can find everything you need to read, edit, and review PDF documents.

The PDF editing experience was smoother than I expected. One thing I immediately noticed was how precisely Nitro handled text selection, while offering the flexibility to select lines or sections.

The image editor was also outstanding compared to other PDF editors I tried. Adjusting size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution worked well, and I did not run into formatting issues while moving elements around.

Besides standard password protection and redaction tools, the Smart Redaction feature was one of the most useful features I found after testing 30+ alternatives.

The e-signature and form tools were another highlight. Nitro Sign works as a dedicated e-signature app, with custom fields, audit trails, and document workflows that make sense for business users.

The interface was clean and easy to navigate overall. However, I missed the function to switch between multiple open documents, and organizing pages could be faster with a more visual drag-and-drop layout.

Overall, Nitro PDF delivered one of the strongest all-around PDF editing experiences I tried. It combines advanced features with a user-friendly interface, making it a capable choice for professionals and businesses working with PDFs regularly.

Who should choose Nitro?

Businesses and professionals needing a robust, all-in-one PDF solution
Users handling complex PDF workflows (editing, forms, eSign, conversions)
Teams that rely heavily on annotations and document review
Users looking for an Adobe Acrobat-level alternative with similar capabilities
People who need a cross-platform PDF editor (Windows, Mac, mobile, web)
Professionals working with large volumes of documents regularly

Who should NOT choose Nitro?

Users who only need occasional PDF editing and want the lowest-cost option
Individuals who prefer a lightweight tool
Casual users who don’t need advanced or enterprise-level features

Read my full Nitro PDF Pro Review: My findings after testing +30 PDF editors

How UPDF fits into my workflow

UPDF has a clean user interface, so even new users can learn all the features quickly. I loved that I could access every tool with one or a maximum of two clicks.

Another thing that stands out is how easy it is to edit PDFs. You can change every element in a PDF file to fit your needs. Compared to other PDF editors, it provides high flexibility for managing all aspects of your PDF files.

Besides the above-described functionalities, I tried other tools as well. For instance, it has an efficient feature for cropping or organizing pages. But you can also combine multiple PDFs into one. These are pretty helpful for saving time and nerves when working on PDFs.

Lastly, my favorite part during the UPDF review was the AI features. I think AI tools can be highly effective when dealing with text-based content. Fortunately, the AI features work nicely with UPDF. If you are someone who has to deal with many PDFs, these AI tools can be life-savers.

Who should choose UPDF?

You want a PDF editor that works across multiple devices with one license
You need strong editing features combined with AI tools
You’re looking for a budget-friendly alternative to Adobe Acrobat or Foxit
You want a clean, easy-to-use interface with a short learning curve
You value AI features like summaries, translations, and chat with PDFs

Who should NOT choose UPDF?

You rely heavily on advanced drawing or graphical annotation tools
You require top-tier OCR or forms/signature capabilities
You need a more robust solution for enterprise-level workflows

Read my full UPDF Review: Is It The Best PDF Editor In 2026? (REAL Experience)

Nitro’s pros and cons

These are the pros and cons I found when testing Nitro.

Nitro’s pros

Nitro lets you edit individual lines or sections instead of forcing large content selections, making detailed edits easier.
Nitro allows you to adjust image size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution directly inside PDFs.
Smart Automatic Form Creation can quickly turn static forms into interactive PDF forms.
Nitro Sign provides advanced signing features, custom fields, recipients, and audit trails for businesses.
Smart Redaction automatically detects and removes sensitive information like emails and financial details.
Converts scanned documents into editable and searchable PDFs quickly and reliably.
Its interface makes advanced PDF tools easier to access without a steep learning curve.
Admin Portal and Analytics dashboard are included in the free version.

Nitro’s cons

A drag-and-drop page management interface would make rearranging PDFs faster.
Switching between multiple open PDFs is not as convenient as some competitors.
Features like Nitro Assistant and smart extraction tools are not available directly in the desktop app.
Nitro offers plans for individuals, teams, and businesses, making it a strong value for frequent PDF users. However, if you only need basic PDF editing or AI features, lower-cost alternatives like UPDF may be a better fit.

Try Nitro

UPDF’s pros and cons

Here are the wins & trade-offs I saw when using UPDF.

UPDF’s pros

One of the main advantages is that you can use it on multiple platforms with one UPDF license.
Furthermore, it has budget-friendly pricing compared to other tools like Adobe Acrobat or Foxit.
Also, the simple UI makes it easy to discover and utilize all the tools quickly.
The AI features can make many workflows more efficient when working on PDFs.
Lastly, you can personalize all the elements of a PDF document, including text and images.

UPDF’s cons

Limited drawing tools.
Some users reported small bugs.

Try UPDF

Key features

Let’s start the Nitro vs UPDF clash with their key features!

Nitro’s features

PDF editing features

If you click on the edit button on the left side of the top toolbar, you can edit PDF documents with Nitro. You can create new text or edit the existing content.

What I noticed first, compared to other PDF editors, is how flexible it is when selecting which text you want to edit. It can either select the whole block or just a line, which is a nice touch for more precise PDF editing.

In contrast, I tried numerous PDF editors where it selected the whole page when I wanted to edit only a section.

When making changes in the text, you can adjust font type, size, color, alignment, spacing, and position. Similar to other PDF editors, you can edit both text and images, and insert new ones.

When it comes to the pictures, you can adjust resolution, brightness, color, size, and position. The picture editor worked smoothly during testing and did not encounter any issues.

After you finish editing, you can move the text blocks and pictures around by dragging and dropping them.

PDF reader

Nitro offers practical PDF reading features. You can choose from numerous view options to review your PDF documents.

The default view shows only one page at a time. However, you can easily change this view to facing pages, continuous facing pages, or full-screen mode.

Moreover, you can zoom in and out when viewing your PDF documents.

What I missed when viewing PDFs is the option to switch between dark and light modes, but aside from that, Nitro has the essential tools for PDF reading.

Annotate PDF documents

During my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that Nitro is a solid PDF annotator. With its markup tools, you can highlight text, insert notes, callouts, stamps, shapes, and more.

In addition to the essential annotation features, Nitro PDF lets you attach files and draw.

Overall, these features are useful for small businesses and for users who frequently collaborate on PDF documents.

Sign PDFs

Nitro PDF has a built-in quick signature option that you can use to create your signature and sign documents fast. You can get your signature by drawing, webcam, file insertion, and typing.

Nevertheless, if you need more advanced PDF signing, you can use Nitro Sign, which works as a full-featured e-signature platform. That said, you can insert numerous field types, such as name, date, title, company, signature, and more.

Afterward, just add the recipients and share the document for signing. Nitro Sign also provides an audit trail and a secure record of all actions taken during the signing, making it an ideal choice for businesses.

PDF forms

Nitro offers several tools to help you fill out forms. You can add items such as checkboxes, lists, barcodes, buttons, and more.

When you insert an item, you can easily drag and drop them, duplicate fields, and use more detailed formatting.

I found the Smart Automatic Form Creation a valuable feature here to instantly detect and convert static form elements into interactive fields. Based on my experience, only a few PDF editors offer similar features for faster form creation.

All in all, Nitro PDF has capable form creation tools that are excellent for users who regularly work with PDF forms.

Organize PDFs

If you go to the page layout option on the top toolbar, you can organize your PDF files. You can reorder, delete, rotate them, and more.

The only thing I missed here is an interface that lets me quickly drag and drop pages to rearrange them. In my opinion, it is faster to organize your pages compared to the solution Nitro PDF offers.

PDF Protection and redaction

Security is key when it comes to PDFs, as they can include a lot of sensitive data. With Nitro PDF, you can add an open password and a permission password.

In the case of open passwords, you have to add a password that must be entered each time you access the PDF file. You can set a permission password to allow others to edit and print the PDFs. They are both useful for protecting your PDFs and restricting their accessibility.

In addition, you can mark parts of the documents for redaction, and once you are ready, just click on the Apply Redaction for removal. Nitro PDF not only hides the information but permanently removes it from the document.

One thing that stood out to me is the Smart Reduction feature, which automatically redacts sensitive data from PDFs using AI, such as bank info, email addresses, and more.

After testing some of the most advanced PDF editors, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF-Xchange, and Tungsten Power PDF, I did not find a more efficient redaction removal method.

PDF conversion and compression

Nitro PDF allows you to convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats. The conversion is almost instant, and you get the file in the desired formats.

Nitro also offers PDF compression features to strip unnecessary objects and compress images to the minimum size. Based on my testing, it worked well and reduced the files’ size by more than 50%.

Optical character recognition

I was curious how Nitro PDF handles scanned documents, so I tried its OCR capabilities. And honestly, the result was better than I expected.

It transformed the scanned document into an easily editable PDF file that I can edit and annotate. The process took about 20-40 seconds, and you can choose whether to make it searchable or editable.

Overall, I was satisfied with the entire process and the OCR output accuracy.

Smart Tools

The Smart Tools are only available from the Web version.

Nitro Assistant helps you summarize and ask questions about your PDF document. The first time I used Nitro’s AI features around 2023 and 2024, I experienced slow response times. However, it’s not the case in 2026.

I got the answers in 10-15 seconds, and the output was reliable.

Besides the AI assistant, you can access Nitro’s table and form extract features to automatically get the key data points from tables and forms. If you deal with many forms and tables daily, this can be a practical solution.

Admin Portal and Analytics

Using the Admin Portal, you can control access, allocate seats, and turn AI tools on/off. This is a unique feature, as neither Adobe Acrobat nor Foxit offers similar features for admins.

With the Analytics feature, you can track the time saved by signing, including an ROI calculator and a productivity score for your users. Such features give you insight into your team’s PDF workflows, making Nitro an appealing option for businesses with serious PDF needs.

Try Nitro

UPDF’s features

Let’s see UPDF’s features!

Text editing

While most PDF editors only allow you to add text boxes or comments, UPDF offers way more options to customize and edit the text in your PDF file. You can edit all the elements of the PDF documents smoothly, and the text is no exception.

You can add, remove, and change existing PDF text, which is even more useful than you think. I really loved that I could change the original text in PDF documents, so I did not need to make the changes in the Word document and convert it into PDFs again.

It is also great that you can use custom text. You can customize the text’s color, font, and alignment. Besides these options, you can highlight text similarly to other PDF editors.

Insert images

UPDF offers many functionalities you may need to edit images in PDF files. With UPDF, you can add, crop, replace, rotate, delete, and extract images with a few clicks. Furthermore, it supports drag-and-drop functionality to easily add or replace images.

In a nutshell, UPDF provides all the editing options you need to customize images in PDFs.

Add sticky notes and stickers

When reviewing a PDF file, sticky notes are an excellent way to add comments or notes. With UPDF, you can insert small notes in different places in a PDF file to give feedback or expand information.

Nevertheless, my favorite tool from the edit mode was the stickers during the UPDF review. UPDF has some unique stickers that you can use when editing PDF documents. They can be quite valuable when you need to review PDFs quickly and want to highlight some parts.

Signatures

Many businesses use digital signatures for PDF documents to reduce the chance of fraud and authenticate documents. UPDF offers an easy way to add your signature anywhere on the PDF. Also, you can adjust the field size and edit its properties by double-clicking on it.

Annotation tools

I already mentioned some annotation tools previously, like sticky notes or stickers, but there are some additional tools you may want to try. Such annotation tools can significantly improve your experience with PDFs, especially when it comes to team collaboration.

You can add annotations to your PDF files, including text callouts, strikethrough, and more. I found the openable attachment to be the best annotation tool.

It was so good that I could insert other documents in different parts of the PDFs. Simply put, it makes referencing much easier and more accessible for anyone reading PDFs.

Let’s take a closer look at what AI features this PDF software offers for us!

Summarize PDFs

I do not know about you, but dealing with PDFs is a burdensome and time-consuming task for me. I always try to find a way to make this process faster. Fortunately, UPDF’s AI features made me faster and more productive when working with PDFs.

The AI summaries are useful for digesting documents faster. Thanks to UPDF’s integration with ChatGPT, you can ask AI to summarize your PDF document without switching between apps. It is a pretty efficient way to understand long PDF files without reading the whole document.

The structure of the summary changes every time you ask UPDF, so you need to include your precise instructions in the prompt. My preferred structure for the summary was section-based. It essentially collects the main takeaways for each section, and you can get an overview of what the PDF is about.

Chat with PDFs

Moreover, UPDF has an AI chat feature. Simply put, imagine interacting with ChatGPT; you can ask UPDF to rewrite specific parts of the PDF or just answer your questions regarding the document.

Overall, the AI chat feature is an excellent way to digest PDFs faster and move on to the next task.

Translate PDFs

If you are working in a multicultural environment, the translation tool could be valuable. You can ask UPDF to translate content directly on the page, so you do not need to switch between translators and PDF editors. With just a few clicks, you can translate documents in seconds.

You can find it step-by-step in the above video if you are interested in the whole process and the outcome.

Create mind maps from PDFs

Finally, one of the most exciting features is the mindmaps. You can convert your PDF to a mind map quickly. It not only helps you understand and document faster, but also provides a way to show the overall structure of a subject.

Once UPDF generates the mind map, you can download it in various file formats, such as PDF or JPG.

Try UPDF

Explore our Apps directory

A curated directory of software tools we’ve independently reviewed, with links to full reviews, comparisons, and category guides.

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Pricing

Let’s check their pricing!

Nitro’s pricing

The Nitro Pro Standard costs $180 annually per user and includes all advanced features, from PDF editing to AI tools.

The Nitro PDF Classic is $270 per license. This is a one-time purchase, and the Nitro PDF includes PDF editing features.

If you are looking for a PDF editor for your business, you should check out the Nitro PDF Plus plan. However, you need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

If you need the e-signature features, you can purchase the Nitro Sign Standard for $180 to send documents for signatures, create forms with fields, and track the signing activity.ng. You need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

Try Nitro

UPDF’s pricing

UPDF has three plans. The pricing structure changes whether you are an individual, student, or enterprise client.

The free plan includes limited AI assistant features (i.e., Analyze three files, ask 30 questions) and two file conversions per day. While you can use many editing features, UPDF will add watermarks to your document.

With the UPDF Pro license, you can access all the editing features without watermarks. If you are not interested in AI features, a lifetime license is an ideal option.

If you want to use the AI tools, opt for the UPDF with AI plan. Using this UPDF license, you can utilize all the editing and AI features without limits.

Try UPDF

Nitro and UPDF alternatives

If you feel like Nitro or UPDF is not perfect for you, here are the best alternatives:

App	Best for	Description
Foxit	Best affordable alternative to Adobe Acrobat	A PDF editor with an intuitive user interface at an affordable price for Mac and Windows users. Full Foxit review \| Quick Foxit overview
EaseUS PDF Editor	Best all-in-one PDF editor for beginners	It is an all-in-one PDF software to read, edit, annotate, and convert your documents. Full EaseUS PDF Editor review \| Quick EaseUS PDF Editor overview
Tenorshare PDNob	Best for AI-powered PDF editing	It is an easy-to-use AI-powered PDF editor that offers many features to edit, read, organize, and annotate your documents. Full Tenorshare PDNob review \| Quick Tenorshare PDNob overview
PDF Expert	Best for Mac users	A PDF editor for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users that offers all the tools you need to manage your PDF files, from annotation tools to signing PDFs. Full PDF Expert review \| Quick PDF Expert overview
Xodo PDF Studio	Best offline PDF editor	A straightforward offline desktop PDF editor for Windows, Linux, and iOS devices, with great PDF reading and editing tools. Full Xodo PDF Studio review \| Quick Xodo PDF Studio overview
ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor	Best for collaboration and team editing	A versatile tool that combines PDF editing with document collaboration features. It lets you edit text, add visual elements, and create fillable forms. Full ONLYOFFICE review \| Quick ONLYOFFICE overview
Smallpdf	Best online PDF tool	An online PDF software with numerous tools to convert, compress, and edit PDF files for free. Full Smallpdf review \| Quick Smallpdf overview
Adobe Acrobat	Most popular PDF editor	The most popular PDF editor with solid features, but an extremely high price. Full Adobe Acrobat review \| Quick Adobe Acrobat overview
pdfFiller	Best for e-signatures and document workflows	It offers a signing and editing solution that lets users sign and edit documents, send them for signature, and manage the full electronic document workflow in one place. Full pdfFiller review \| Quick pdfFiller overview
LightPDF	Best for AI PDF productivity	An AI-powered PDF editor that lets you edit, convert, OCR, sign, annotate, chat with PDFs, and more. Full LightPDF review \| Quick LightPDF overview
PDFgear	Best free PDF editor	A completely free, offline PDF editor with solid editing, OCR, conversion, and AI tools. Full PDFgear review \| Quick PDFgear overview
PDF-XChange	Best advanced PDF editor for Windows	A powerful Windows-based PDF editor with advanced editing, annotation, security, and conversion tools. Full PDF-XChange review \| Quick PDF-XChange overview
Sejda PDF Editor	Best for simple, everyday PDF tasks	An intuitive and simple PDF software best suited for personal use for those who need a PDF editor for basic PDF tasks. Full Sejda PDF review \| Quick Sejda PDF overview
Soda PDF	Best for security and file conversion	A user-friendly PDF editor with solid core features, strong security tools, and broad file conversion options, but its advanced features come at a relatively high price. Full Soda PDF review \| Quick Soda PDF overview
PDF Candy	Best PDF toolkit with multiple tools	A very practical PDF toolkit with a large number of useful tools, solid performance, and affordable pricing. Full PDF Candy review \| Quick PDF Candy overview
Tungsten Power PDF	Best enterprise-grade PDF solution	A powerful PDF editor and document management tool designed for businesses, offering advanced editing, security, OCR, and collaboration features. Full Tungsten Power PDF review \| Quick Tungsten Power PDF overview
ABBYY FineReader	Best for OCR and document digitization	A powerful OCR-focused PDF tool with strong layout detection, flexible conversion, and an efficient workflow. Full ABBYY FineReader review \| Quick ABBYY FineReader overview
PDFelement	Best balance of features and ease of use	An easy-to-use PDF editor with valuable features for a reasonable price. Full PDFelement review \| Quick PDFelement overview

Wrap-up: Nitro vs UPDF

Both Nitro and UPDF received the same score after testing them. Nonetheless, the same score doesn’t mean that they are the same.

UPDF is more suitable for individuals who need a PDF editor at a reasonable price, particularly if they want to use it on all their devices.

You should check Nitro in case you run a business or need a PDF editor for an enterprise. It offers advanced PDF management features with high security.

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a better PDF reader than Adobe Acrobat?

Adobe Acrobat is a solid PDF reader and editor. However, there are great alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader and Pro on the market, such as UPDF or Nitro. They offer similar PDF features for a significantly lower price.

Which PDF editor is best?

The best PDF editors for me are Tenorshare PDNob, EaseUS PDF Editor, Smallpdf, pdfFiller, PDFgear, and Nitro. There are many other capable solutions, but these impressed me the most.

Is UPDF a good PDF editing software?

UPDF is a perfect and affordable choice for editing your PDFs. It also has extensive AI features that help you understand PDF documents faster.

Is UPDF safe?

After finishing my review and reading other UPDF reviews, I did not find anything suspicious regarding UPDF or Superace Software Technology, which is the owner of this product.

Based on my review and research, I can say that UPDF is a safe app. Furthermore, its security features help to keep your PDF documents safe on all your devices.

Aron Kantor

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Foxit Vs Nitro: Why Would You Choose One Over The Other? (2026)

Aron Kantor — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:33:42 +0000

In this Foxit vs Nitro comparison, I will show you the key differences between these two PDF editors. I will compare Nitro to Foxit based on features, pricing, my experience, user interfaces, and pros and cons.

I spent numerous hours with both PDF editors, and I am here to share the benefits and limitations of each tool to ensure you make the right choice.

These are the key points that I explored during the Foxit vs Nitro clash:

Both PDF software have advanced PDF editing features.
Nitro has admin & analytics features, while Foxit does not.
It’s easier to organize pages with Foxit or work with multiple files at once.
Nitro offers excellent security and redaction tools.
Foxit supports Android devices, unlike Nitro.
Nitro has more advanced e-signature features.

Now, let’s dive into the side-by-side comparison of Foxit vs Nitro!

Verdict

Here’s the quick verdict if you don’t want to read the full Foxit vs Nitro review:

Best for:
Nitro: A robust PDF editor for businesses and individuals who need a feature-rich PDF editor.
Foxit: Advanced PDF editing

Not ideal for:
Nitro: Casual users needing a budget-friendly or lightweight PDF editor.
Foxit: Users needing built-in eSign in cheaper plans

Biggest strength:
Nitro: Powerful feature set and advanced document signing.
Foxit: Advanced editing features

Biggest weakness:
Nitro: Its pricing makes the most sense for frequent PDF users and businesses
Foxit: Some features locked behind higher tiers

Verdict:
Nitro is better if you are looking for a robust PDF editor with powerful signing features. If you need smooth PDF organization features and want to manage more PDFs at once, Foxit could be a reasonable choice.

Winner:
Nitro for a more in-depth feature set and business use cases

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

My ratings: Foxit vs Nitro

Nitro

Review

PDF editing

PDF reading

OCR

Forms and signatures

Conversion and compression

Annotation tools

User interface

Security

Pricing

My experience

4.5

Try Nitro

Foxit

Review

PDF editing

PDF reading

OCR

Forms and signatures

Conversion and compression

Annotation tools

User interface

Security

Pricing

My experience

4.1

Try Foxit

How We Test PDF Editors

We score every PDF editors using this weighted framework based on hands-on testing and real use cases.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 30+ PDF editors:

Features & functionality — 60%
User interface — 10%
Security — 10%
Pricing — 10%
Real-world experience — 10%

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Key differences between Foxit and Nitro

Here is a short overview of the key differences I found in the Foxit vs Nitro showdown:

	Foxit	Nitro
Best for	Advanced PDF editing for individuals and teams	Businesses and professionals needing a robust, feature-rich PDF editor
Core focus	Feature-rich PDF editor with fast performance and flexible tools	Advanced PDF editing software with enterprise-level capabilities
Key strengths	Advanced editing with drag-and-drop Fast performance even on large files Great OCR and annotation tools	Accurate OCR performance Admin Portal & Analytics Complete e-signature workflow
Main limitations	Some advanced features locked behind higher-tier plans	Better suited for professionals and businesses than budget-conscious users
Ease of use	Easy	Moderate learning curve
Pricing	Free plan: Available PDF editor plan: $129.99/year PDF Editor+ plan: $172.79/year	Free plan: Only trial Nitro Pro Standard plan: $180/year/user Nitro PDF Classic: $270/license Nitro PDF Plus: Custom pricing
Integrations	Solid integrations and tools for workflows	Standard integrations for business workflows
Cross-platform	Web / Desktop / iOS / Android	Web / Desktop / iOS

Comparison: Foxit vs Nitro

First, I show my experience with both PDF editors when using them on a day-to-day basis. Afterward, I reveal their ideal use cases, as well as strengths and weaknesses based on my testing.

Furthermore, I will break down the features I tried, the pricing plans I discovered, and their alternatives.

My hands-on experience with both PDF editors

I used both Foxit and Nitro for several days for my PDF workflows. Below, you will see how this went with each PDF editor.

My experience with Foxit PDF editor

Foxit has an intuitive user interface, and I found its tools easy to use. It is ideal for both work and personal use.

Essentially, it has similar features to Nitro, but Foxit is significantly cheaper. Another difference I noticed is that Foxit is a fast PDF reader. Even when I opened up larger PDF files, I did not have an issue with the loading time.

Overall, I had a very positive experience with Foxit.

Who should choose Foxit?

Businesses and professionals who need advanced PDF editing features
You regularly work with PDFs, forms, annotations, or document conversions
You want a feature-rich tool for both individual and team workflows
You need OCR and document scanning capabilities

Who should NOT choose Foxit?

You are looking for a cheap or budget-friendly PDF editor
You need built-in eSign features in lower-tier plans
You don’t want to pay extra for AI features or premium tools

Read my full review: My Honest Foxit Review After Testing +30 PDF Editors (2026)

My experience with Nitro

Nitro has a robust feature set when it comes to working with PDF forms and documents. You can find everything you need to read, edit, and review PDF documents.

Besides standard password protection and redaction tools, the Smart Redaction feature was one of the most useful features I found after testing 30+ alternatives.

Who should choose Nitro?

Businesses and professionals needing a robust, all-in-one PDF solution
Users handling complex PDF workflows (editing, forms, eSign, conversions)
Teams that rely heavily on annotations and document review
Users looking for an Adobe Acrobat-level alternative with similar capabilities
People who need a cross-platform PDF editor (Windows, Mac, mobile, web)
Professionals working with large volumes of documents regularly

Who should NOT choose Nitro?

Users who only need occasional PDF editing and want the lowest-cost option
Individuals who prefer a lightweight tool
Casual users who don’t need advanced or enterprise-level features

Read my full Nitro PDF Pro Review: My findings after testing +30 PDF editors

Want to see Nitro in action? Before comparing it with Foxit, I tested Nitro’s editing, OCR, PDF forms, e-signatures, and AI features in a dedicated review. Watch the video to see how it performed in real-world use before deciding which PDF editor is right for you.

Foxit’s pros and cons

It is time to summarize the pros and cons of the Foxit vs Nitro battle. Let’s begin with Foxit!

Foxit’s pros

Foxit is an easy-to-use app that is easy to navigate.
Secondly, it has advanced PDF editing features. Using this PDF editor tool, you will be covered for your daily work.
The drag-and-drop functions when inserting text or images are very smooth.
Foxit has outstanding OCR features as well, and it worked great for me.

Foxit’s cons

These days, you need to sign documents digitally every day, so I think such a feature should be part of the essential plan.

Try Foxit

Nitro’s pros and cons

These are the pros and cons I found when testing Nitro.

Nitro’s pros

Nitro lets you edit individual lines or sections instead of forcing large content selections, making detailed edits easier.
Nitro allows you to adjust image size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution directly inside PDFs.
Smart Automatic Form Creation can quickly turn static forms into interactive PDF forms.
Nitro Sign provides advanced signing features, custom fields, recipients, and audit trails for businesses.
Smart Redaction automatically detects and removes sensitive information like emails and financial details.
Converts scanned documents into editable and searchable PDFs quickly and reliably.
Its interface makes advanced PDF tools easier to access without a steep learning curve.
Admin Portal and Analytics dashboard are included in the free version.

Nitro’s cons

A drag-and-drop page management interface would make rearranging PDFs faster.
Switching between multiple open PDFs is not as convenient as some competitors.
Features like Nitro Assistant and smart extraction tools are not available directly in the desktop app.
Nitro offers plans for individuals, teams, and businesses, making it a strong value for professionals who work with PDFs regularly. However, casual users who only need basic editing may find lower-cost alternatives more suitable.

Try Nitro

Key features

Let’s continue the Foxit vs Nitro clash with a look at their key features!

Foxit’s features

PDF editor

Foxit uses a drag-and-drop system when editing text in your PDF files. To access this feature, just go to the edit tab and select the edit text. When selecting a text box, you can move it around and insert text.

Besides editing existing text, you can add new text to your PDF. Hit the edit button, go to the edit content, and finally, click on the add text tool. This way, you can easily add rich text and move it to your pages by dragging and dropping it.

Also, Foxit PDF editor allows you to use a different font type for the text, adjust the size, and change the margins of a content block and paragraph alignment and spacing. You will see these options on the right side of the PDF editor when editing text.

Apart from text editing, you can insert pictures into PDF documents using Foxit. When inserting a picture, it also follows a drag-and-drop system.

After you insert the picture into the PDF file but want to move it somewhere else, you only need to click on the edited picture, and you can place it somewhere else smoothly.

PDF reader

Foxit has PDF reader tools as well. If you click on the view tab, you will have access to some valuable features to read your PDFs.

You can use the read mode, change to night view if you want, and change between numerous view options. Ultimately, Foxit has all the tools you need for convenient PDF viewing.

Annotate PDF documents

Annotating documents is crucial. It helps to review PDF documents faster and more efficiently, especially if you work as part of a team.

Foxit PDF editor has some useful features for commenting, reviewing, and highlighting text. If you click on the Comment tab on the top toolbar, you will quickly see all the features to annotate PDF documents.

You can choose from numerous options for highlighting text, adding callouts, or adding notes. Whenever you add one of these items, you can further customize it using the window that comesthat opens on the right.

PDF organizer

If you hit the Organize button on the top tools, you will see all the options to organize your PDFs. It has a page panel that allows you to organize pages by dragging and dropping their thumbnails.

Also, you can delete, insert pages, swap, flatten, crop, extract, and split them if you want. It offers a feature to compare documents, where Foxit highlights the parts where the two documents differ from each other.

Forms and signatures

If you want to create forms, Foxit is a good option. It has some useful and easy-to-use tools to create or fill forms within a PDF document. You can add text, drop-down lists, checkboxes, and buttons, so you can generate forms super easily.

If you need to sign your PDF documents, that is not a problem with Foxit PDF editor. You can create your own signature utilizing the Foxit eSign tool. After you generate your signature, you can smoothly add it with a few clicks anytime you need it.

Converting and Scan to PDF

First, Foxit allows you to convert PDFs into different formats, such as Microsoft Office formats or images. However, Foxit has the option to convert paper documents to electronic PDF files.

The best part is that Foxit utilizes OCR to convert scanned documents or images into editable text. I had a positive experience with the OCR and the whole process of converting documents into PDF files.

PDF protection

PDF protection is an essential tool you need for your documents. If you click on the project, you can easily add passwords to your PDFs and restrict access. Just a side note here: there is no way to recover the password from the PDF if you forgot it. So, make sure you save it somewhere else as well.

When restricting access to PDF files, you can choose from multiple options. You can only allow them to print or make changes, but if you want, you can just allow them to copy text.

AI assistant

Foxit has an AI assistant feature that increases productivity and effectively extracts information from your PDFs. The summary feature is especially useful for quickly understanding your PDF.

Nevertheless, you can ask questions about the PDFs, and it really works like an in-built ChatGPT for your PDF files.

Try Foxit

Nitro’s features

Let’s see if Nitro PDF editor has better tools!

PDF editing features

If you click on the edit button on the left side of the top toolbar, you can edit PDF documents with Nitro. You can create new text or edit the existing content.

In contrast, I tried numerous PDF editors where it selected the whole page when I wanted to edit only a section.

When making changes in the text, you can adjust font type, size, color, alignment, spacing, and position. Similar to other PDF editors, you can edit both text and images, and insert new ones.

When it comes to the pictures, you can adjust resolution, brightness, color, size, and position. The picture editor worked smoothly during testing and did not encounter any issues.

After you finish editing, you can move the text blocks and pictures around by dragging and dropping them.

PDF reader

Nitro offers practical PDF reading features. You can choose from numerous view options to review your PDF documents.

The default view shows only one page at a time. However, you can easily change this view to facing pages, continuous facing pages, or full-screen mode.

Moreover, you can zoom in and out when viewing your PDF documents.

What I missed when viewing PDFs is the option to switch between dark and light modes, but aside from that, Nitro has the essential tools for PDF reading.

Annotate PDF documents

During my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that Nitro is a solid PDF annotator. With its markup tools, you can highlight text, insert notes, callouts, stamps, shapes, and more.

In addition to the essential annotation features, Nitro PDF lets you attach files and draw.

Overall, these features are useful for small businesses and for users who frequently collaborate on PDF documents.

Sign PDFs

Nitro PDF has a built-in quick signature option that you can use to create your signature and sign documents fast. You can get your signature by drawing, webcam, file insertion, and typing.

PDF forms

Nitro offers several tools to help you fill out forms. You can add items such as checkboxes, lists, barcodes, buttons, and more.

When you insert an item, you can easily drag and drop them, duplicate fields, and use more detailed formatting.

All in all, Nitro PDF has capable form creation tools that are excellent for users who regularly work with PDF forms.

Organize PDFs

If you go to the page layout option on the top toolbar, you can organize your PDF files. You can reorder, delete, rotate them, and more.

The only thing I missed here is an interface that lets me quickly drag and drop pages to rearrange them. In my opinion, it is faster to organize your pages compared to the solution Nitro PDF offers.

PDF Protection and redaction

Security is key when it comes to PDFs, as they can include a lot of sensitive data. With Nitro PDF, you can add an open password and a permission password.

One thing that stood out to me is the Smart Reduction feature, which automatically redacts sensitive data from PDFs using AI, such as bank info, email addresses, and more.

After testing some of the most advanced PDF editors, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF-Xchange, and Tungsten Power PDF, I did not find a more efficient redaction removal method.

PDF conversion and compression

Nitro PDF allows you to convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats. The conversion is almost instant, and you get the file in the desired formats.

Nitro also offers PDF compression features to strip unnecessary objects and compress images to the minimum size. Based on my testing, it worked well and reduced the files’ size by more than 50%.

Optical character recognition

I was curious how Nitro PDF handles scanned documents, so I tried its OCR capabilities. And honestly, the result was better than I expected.

It transformed the scanned document into an easily editable PDF file that I can edit and annotate. The process took about 20-40 seconds, and you can choose whether to make it searchable or editable.

Overall, I was satisfied with the entire process and the OCR output accuracy.

Smart Tools

The Smart Tools are only available from the Web version.

I got the answers in 10-15 seconds, and the output was reliable.

Admin Portal and Analytics

Using the Admin Portal, you can control access, allocate seats, and turn AI tools on/off. This is a unique feature, as neither Adobe Acrobat nor Foxit offers similar features for admins.

Try Nitro

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Pricing

Let’s check their pricing!

Foxit’s pricing

Foxit offers two plans. The PDF editor includes the essential features to edit PDF files for $129.99. By choosing this plan, you can create documents, edit them, fill out forms, add security, and more.

Essentially, you can have many advanced features with this plan; the real limitations of this plan are the limited AI credits and signing tools.

Nevertheless, if you need the eSign, smart redact features, and want to use Foxit on your mobile, you must go with the PDF Editor+. You can get this plan for $172.79 per year and access all the advanced features of Foxit.

Lastly, if you want to add AI Assistant, which includes 2000 credits per month, that is an extra $49.99/year.

Try Foxit

Nitro’s pricing

The Nitro Pro Standard costs $180 annually per user and includes all advanced features, from PDF editing to AI tools.

The Nitro PDF Classic is $270 per license. This is a one-time purchase, and the Nitro PDF includes PDF editing features.

If you are looking for a PDF editor for your business, you should check out the Nitro PDF Plus plan. However, you need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

Try Nitro

Foxit and Nitro alternatives

If you feel like Foxit or Nitro is not perfect for you, here are the best alternatives:

App	Best for	Description
EaseUS PDF Editor	Best all-in-one PDF editor for beginners	It is an all-in-one PDF software to read, edit, annotate, and convert your documents. Full EaseUS PDF Editor review \| Quick EaseUS PDF Editor overview
Tenorshare PDNob	Best for AI-powered PDF editing	It is an easy-to-use AI-powered PDF editor that offers many features to edit, read, organize, and annotate your documents. Full Tenorshare PDNob review \| Quick Tenorshare PDNob overview
PDF Expert	Best for Mac users	A PDF editor for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users that offers all the tools you need to manage your PDF files, from annotation tools to signing PDFs. Full PDF Expert review \| Quick PDF Expert overview
Xodo PDF Studio	Best offline PDF editor	A straightforward offline desktop PDF editor for Windows, Linux, and iOS devices, with great PDF reading and editing tools. Full Xodo PDF Studio review \| Quick Xodo PDF Studio overview
ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor	Best for collaboration and team editing	A versatile tool that combines PDF editing with document collaboration features. It lets you edit text, add visual elements, and create fillable forms. Full ONLYOFFICE review \| Quick ONLYOFFICE overview
UPDF	Best value PDF editor with AI features	One of my favorite PDF editors with advanced AI features and budget-friendly pricing. Full UPDF review \| Quick UPDF overview
Smallpdf	Best online PDF tool	An online PDF software with numerous tools to convert, compress, and edit PDF files for free. Full Smallpdf review \| Quick Smallpdf overview
Adobe Acrobat	Most popular PDF editor	The most popular PDF editor with solid features, but an extremely high price. Full Adobe Acrobat review \| Quick Adobe Acrobat overview
pdfFiller	Best for e-signatures and document workflows	It offers a signing and editing solution that lets users sign and edit documents, send them for signature, and manage the full electronic document workflow in one place. Full pdfFiller review \| Quick pdfFiller overview
LightPDF	Best for AI PDF productivity	An AI-powered PDF editor that lets you edit, convert, OCR, sign, annotate, chat with PDFs, and more. Full LightPDF review \| Quick LightPDF overview
PDFgear	Best free PDF editor	A completely free, offline PDF editor with solid editing, OCR, conversion, and AI tools. Full PDFgear review \| Quick PDFgear overview
PDF-XChange	Best advanced PDF editor for Windows	A powerful Windows-based PDF editor with advanced editing, annotation, security, and conversion tools. Full PDF-XChange review \| Quick PDF-XChange overview
Sejda PDF Editor	Best for simple, everyday PDF tasks	An intuitive and simple PDF software best suited for personal use for those who need a PDF editor for basic PDF tasks. Full Sejda PDF review \| Quick Sejda PDF overview
Soda PDF	Best for security and file conversion	A user-friendly PDF editor with solid core features, strong security tools, and broad file conversion options, but its advanced features come at a relatively high price. Full Soda PDF review \| Quick Soda PDF overview
PDF Candy	Best PDF toolkit with multiple tools	A very practical PDF toolkit with a large number of useful tools, solid performance, and affordable pricing. Full PDF Candy review \| Quick PDF Candy overview
Tungsten Power PDF	Best enterprise-grade PDF solution	A powerful PDF editor and document management tool designed for businesses, offering advanced editing, security, OCR, and collaboration features. Full Tungsten Power PDF review \| Quick Tungsten Power PDF overview
ABBYY FineReader	Best for OCR and document digitization	A powerful OCR-focused PDF tool with strong layout detection, flexible conversion, and an efficient workflow. Full ABBYY FineReader review \| Quick ABBYY FineReader overview
PDFelement	Best balance of features and ease of use	An easy-to-use PDF editor with valuable features for a reasonable price. Full PDFelement review \| Quick PDFelement overview

My recommendation: Foxit vs Nitro

After testing both PDF editors, Nitro scored higher for a few reasons. That said, I achieved higher OCR accuracy with Nitro and noticed superior PDF form and signature tools.

The area where Foxit performed better is PDF reading features. It offers more options to view PDFs than Nitro.

When considering the remaining ranking factors, Nitro and Foxit have very similar scores.

So, to summarize, my pick is Nitro, as the higher score suggests. My experience was smoother overall, especially when editing PDFs, extracting text with OCR, creating forms, and managing document signing workflows.

Nitro also stood out with features like Smart Redaction, Admin Portal, Analytics, and its advanced e-signature workflows. While it isn’t the cheapest PDF editor available, it offers a broader business feature set that justifies its pricing for professionals and organizations working with PDFs every day.

However, Foxit is still an excellent choice if you prioritize PDF reading, easier page organization, and managing multiple documents at once.

Looking for similar tools?

Visit our library of PDF editors to explore other apps we’ve reviewed in this space and how they compare.

See overview

Why you can trust our reviews

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Foxit or Nitro?

For me, Nitro was more impressive during testing, but Foxit performed well as well.

Is Nitro a good PDF editor?

Nitro Pro is a feature-rich PDF editor for professionals and businesses. Compared to Adobe Acrobat, it delivers similar core capabilities at a lower price while also including AI tools, Admin Portal, Analytics, and advanced document workflows.

Which PDF editor is best?

In my opinion, the best PDF editors in 2026 are Tenorshare PDNob, EaseUS PDF Editor, Smallpdf, pdfGear, pdfFiller, and Nitro.

Aron Kantor

thebusinessdive.com

The post Foxit Vs Nitro: Why Would You Choose One Over The Other? (2026) appeared first on .