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ClickUp vs monday.com in 2025: Top Project Management Tools Face Off

In this head-to-head comparison of ClickUp vs monday.com, we break down their key aspects — including features, user-friendliness and pricing — to help you decide which software is the smarter choice for your project management needs.

Mehak SiddiquiKate HawkinsIgor Kurtz

Written by Mehak Siddiqui (Writer)

Reviewed by Kate Hawkins (Editor, Writer)

Facts checked by Igor Kurtz (Fact-checking editor)

Last Updated:

All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.

ClickUp vs monday.com

4.5
4.55
  • Loaded free plan
  • Affordable paid tiers
  • Powerful collaboration tools
  • Ease of use
  • Lots of features
  • Great mid-range plan
$7 / month(save 30%)(All Plans)
$9 / month(save 25%)(All Plans)

Key Takeaways: ClickUp vs monday.com

  • The main difference between ClickUp and monday.com is that ClickUp offers more customization options, while monday.com delivers a more intuitive user experience. 
  • Both monday.com and ClickUp include great Agile project management tools, but ClickUp has an edge, with deeper customization at every level.
  • monday.com is better if you need a user-friendly and flexible project management platform that’s quick to set up and scale without a steep learning curve. 

Facts & Expert Analysis About monday.com and ClickUp:

  • ClickUp offers more than 15 project views and more than 35 customizable features: This makes it a powerhouse for teams that want to tailor every aspect of their workflow. However, it also has a more significant learning curve. 
  • monday.com is an award-winning productivity app: More than 245,000 businesses use it globally, including big names like Coca-Cola, Carrefour, Glossier and Canva. It won a Webby Award in 2019 — a significant accolade that highlights its value as a productivity tool.
  • ClickUp has an excellent free plan, but monday.com’s paid plan is easier to scale up: ClickUp is great for individuals or startups on a budget, but monday.com’s paid plans are simpler to adopt quickly across dynamic organizations — to get the best value, though, you need to opt for monday.com Standard or higher.
ClickUp vs monday Winner

ClickUp and monday.com are two powerful project management tools that boost team productivity and collaboration. They top our list of the best project management software, and have many similarities — though they also have a few key differences. In our ClickUp vs monday.com comparison, we look at all the features so you can choose which one is best for you.

You should try ClickUp if you need deep customization across your workflows and detailed, data-driven reporting to manage complex projects. Alternatively, opt for monday.com if you want a powerful platform with a user-friendly interface that adapts to your team’s needs with a less-intensive setup. Keep reading for a full breakdown of each software’s functionalities.

  • 05/25/2023 Facts checked

    Our ClickUp vs monday comparison has been rewritten with new information and now uses an easy-to-read format.

  • 09/25/2023 Facts checked

    Removed reference to discontinued ClickUp Business Plus plan.

  • 06/06/2024 Facts checked

    Updated the article to reflect monday.com’s latest pricing information.

  • 04/08/2025 Facts checked

    We included more information on each provider’s key features.

  • 07/20/2025 Facts checked

    We’ve rewritten this comparison, adding more details about each tool’s features and focusing on the key similarities and differences between them. 

  • 07/26/2025 Facts checked

    We added additional information regarding ClickUp’s latest features.

Cloudwards’ Choice: monday.com Is the Winner

Headshot Mehak Siddiqui
Cloudwards’ Choice: monday.com Is the Winner

Mehak Siddiqui is a Cloudwards expert in project management and productivity tools.

In my tests, monday.com came out ahead of ClickUp thanks to its balance between usability and functionality. While ClickUp offers deeper customization, I know that many users will find its complexity overwhelming, especially if they are new to project management tools. In contrast, monday.com’s layout and drag-and-drop interface make it easy to build workflows and dashboards.

However, most of monday.com’s key features don’t kick in unless you sign up for at least the Standard plan (costing $12 per user per month annually), which unlocks automations, integrations, guest access, and critical views including timeline, Gantt and calendar. You can try monday.com with a free 14-day trial.

Which Is Better: ClickUp vs monday.com?

We think monday.com has an edge over ClickUp due to its user-friendly design and comprehensive feature set. However, it’s important to note that picking the “best” tool depends on specific use cases, and some users might prefer ClickUp over monday.com or vice versa.

Who Is ClickUp For?

  • Agile development teams: Although both tools offer Agile features, ClickUp is more comprehensive, including features like sprint management, backlog tracking and Agile dashboards.
  • Operations and product teams: Your team can streamline complex workflows using ClickUp’s advanced automations, deep customizations and detailed reporting tools.
  • Small teams looking for a free project management tool: ClickUp’s free plan includes unlimited members, unlimited tasks and core project management features.

Who Is monday.com For?

  • Established teams looking for an easy project management solution: monday.com’s Standard and Pro plans offer great value for money and a comprehensive feature set that’s easily scalable.
  • Marketing and creative departments: An intuitive layout and flexible views make monday.com ideal for managing content calendars, campaigns and collaborative workflows.
  • Client-facing teams: The polished interface and appealing dashboards make it easy to share progress and reports with both internal and external stakeholders.

Our Detailed Comparison Methodology

We took a hands-on approach to conduct a fair and thorough comparison between ClickUp and monday.com. Our team tested both platforms over several weeks, using them to manage different kinds of projects and tasks. We explored all of the main features to assess each software’s ease of use, learning curve and value for money.

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For the purpose of this article, we’ve organized our insights about ClickUp vs monday.com into the similarities and differences between the two platforms. This is intended to give you an honest and well-rounded perspective on which tool might be the best fit for your workflow. 

You can check out our standalone ClickUp review and monday.com review for the full lowdown about each service.

ClickUp vs monday.com: Comparison at a Glance

Features
$7 / month(All Plans)$9 / month(All Plans)
ReviewReview
Management Views
Kanban board
List
Calendar
Timeline
Spreadsheet view
Gantt charts
Workload planning
Long-term planning
Management Features
Multiple project management
Dependency management
Native scrum management
Set user permissions
File storage
Time-tracking
Built-in integrations
Reporting features
General Features
Free plan
Free Trial14 days
Web app
Windows
MacOS
Android
iOS
AI Tools
Support
Ticket-based support
Tutorials
Knowledgebase
Forum
Live chat
Phone support

ClickUp Key Features:

  • Project views: Choose between views, like list, kanban, calendar and Gantt on the free plan, plus additional options like timelines, workloads and mindmaps on paid plans for highly customizable perspectives.
  • Automations: Save time with hundreds of ClickUp automations, including multi-step logic, conditions and integrations designed for complex workflows.
  • Detailed reports: Build dashboards with customizable widgets for tracking tasks, goals, time and workload to gain data-driven insights.
  • Real-time collaboration: Offers a wide range of tools like task comments with threaded replies, assigned comments and chat for in-depth communication within tasks. 
  • ClickUp Brain: This new AI tool combines multiple features, including project monitoring, writing and content creation, organization-wide search, automation and task completion and more.

monday.com Key Features:

  • Project views: Choose from a streamlined set of views — including kanban, calendar, timeline, map and chart view — focusing on ease of use and visual clarity.
  • Automations: Use a simple sentence-based interface to automate repetitive tasks. Choose from a wide library of pre-built “if this, then that” flows that are easy to set up.
  • Visual reporting: Benefit from ready-to-use reporting tools like Charts and Workload views, which are easier to set up but may lack the depth and flexibility needed for advanced analytics.
  • Collaboration tools: Streamlined and intuitive communication options such as updates (comments), tagging and file sharing.
  • monday AI: This new feature is designed to increase efficiency and overarching understanding of projects; it includes AI-powered automations, analysis and summarization.

ClickUp vs monday.com: Similarities

ClickUp and monday.com share a lot of common ground. Both offer granular task management, multiple project views, real-time collaboration, automations to reduce manual work, integrations with popular third-party apps and AI tools. Both platforms also have mobile apps for iOS and Android to manage tasks on the go.

Task Management & Project Views

Both ClickUp and monday.com make it easy to create tasks, set due dates, assign team members, add subtasks, and track time and progress. These tools are available in the free plans of both providers. However, advanced functionalities — such as setting custom fields that allow you to personalize workflows — are available with only the paid plans.

ClickUp has introduced formula capabilities for its custom fields, allowing users to create calculated fields based on other task data. This powerful feature enables automated data analysis directly within tasks, reducing the need for external spreadsheets for basic calculations.

clickup board view
ClickUp offers many different views.

You can switch between different views — such as list, board (kanban), calendar, Gantt and timeline — to adjust the interface according to your preferences. For instance, you can view and tweak the details in the list or board views, or zoom out for a big-picture view of timelines and deadlines using the calendar view. However, some views will be restricted behind different tiers. 

For example, monday.com offers only the kanban board on the free and Basic plans; you need to subscribe to the Standard plan or above to get the additional views of timeline, calendar and map, while the chart view is restricted to the Pro plan.

view options in monday
It’s easy to switch from the main table view on monday.com.

Meanwhile, ClickUp offers much more for free, restricting only Gantt charts to the Unlimited plan and above, and mind maps and timeline views to the Business plan. 

Overall, both ClickUp and monday.com offer power and versatility to manage tasks and create streamlined workflows for all kinds of projects. For greater customization, you need to sign up for a paid plan.

Collaboration Tools

Both ClickUp and monday.com include robust collaboration tools, allowing comments on tasks, subtasks and uploaded files. It’s easy to tag team members and keep all relevant people in the loop, even if you’re just using the free plan.

ClickUp’s new “teams hub” feature centralizes team management, making it easier to organize and oversee multiple teams within the platform. This addition streamlines cross-team collaboration and resource allocation, which is particularly beneficial for larger organizations managing complex team structures.

While ClickUp has the advantage of unlimited members on the free plan, monday.com limits it to just two seats. To truly collaborate on monday.com, you’ll need a paid plan.

monday.com’s activity log also provides detailed history of all project changes, with retention periods that vary by plan tier (from one week in the free tier to five years in Enterprise). This allows teams to maintain comprehensive audit trails of project activities and decisions.

We appreciate how both tools have integrated systems for file sharing and management. You can add documents to specific tasks or create a repository of shared documents, such as tutorials, meeting notes and best practices.

monday workdoc example
It’s easy to create a collaborative document in monday.com

If you work on projects involving external stakeholders such as freelancers or clients, ClickUp and monday.com have guest access functionalities. On a Standard monday.com plan or above, you can share a board with external members.

ClickUp lets you tag external members in a task by mentioning their email address in a comment, even if you’re using the free version. You can also create in-app video recording on any plan. You can have guests with permissions on the Unlimited plan or above.

While ClickUp includes native whiteboarding features, monday.com recently moved its collaborative whiteboard functionality to a separate paid service called WorkCanvas, which may impact teams seeking integrated creative planning tools without additional subscription costs.

clickup chat feature
ClickUp has built-in chat and calls functionality.

On the whole, both ClickUp and monday.com have essential tools for clear team communication. ClickUp takes a slight edge with its built-in chat and video calls feature, which is missing on monday.com.

However, both apps also offer easy integrations with communication platforms such as Slack and Zoom — for monday.com starting on the Standard plan, and with ClickUp integrations being available in the free plan.

Automations & Integrations

Any good project management tool needs automations and integrations for reducing manual effort and connecting with other tools and apps you use. ClickUp’s free plan allows 100 automation actions per month, but with monday.com, you need to get the Standard plan for 250 actions per month.

ClickUp provides more granular control, with a wider range of triggers, conditions and actions to choose from. For example, you can set up an automation that moves a task to a new status, assigns it to a team member and sends a Slack notification when a document is uploaded and tagged in another status.

This makes ClickUp a great fit for more complex and technical workflows — here at Cloudwards, we use ClickUp to manage our intricate editorial process and send notifications for status changes. However, given the variety of options, it can take longer to set up and decide what works for you, especially if you’re new to using automations.

clickup automations
ClickUp offers granular control over automations.

In contrast, monday.com is more beginner-friendly and intuitive. We found it easier and faster to create rules thanks to the clean, sentence-style interface. However, you have to opt for at least the Standard plan, and it doesn’t offer the same depth of customization as ClickUp; For example, you can’t create multi-step automations with nested conditions.

monday.com significantly expanded its sales technology ecosystem in 2025, adding deeper CRM integrations and revenue intelligence platforms that are particularly valuable for teams using monday.com for sales pipeline management alongside project management tasks.

monday automations
monday.com makes it easy to set up automations.

Both ClickUp and monday.com can connect to third-party tools such as Google Workspace, Slack, Figma and Dropbox. While monday.com supports over 200 such tools, ClickUp supports over 1,000 integrations. This lets you obtain information from other platforms, sync tasks with external apps and receive automated notifications.

AI Tools

As AI continues to evolve, most project management software now offers AI-powered features, and the same is true of ClickUp and monday.com. ClickUp takes a more ambitious approach with ClickUp Brain. This feature offers built-in AI writing tools that can help with tasks like generating content or ideas, summarizing meeting notes and drafting emails.

This AI functionality is available on a trial basis across all of ClickUp’s plans, including the free version. For unlimited access, you can purchase AI add-ons separately to your plan based on the features you need.

clickup brain in action
ClickUp’s AI assistant can help write, perform
quality checks and manage projects.

ClickUp has also introduced AI Notetaker, which can record and transcribe meetings automatically to create summaries, action items and meeting notes. The feature works with SyncUp calls within ClickUp Chat and can save teams significant time on meeting documentation while ensuring that important details aren’t missed.

monday.com also has some AI capabilities, but it’s not as advanced as what ClickUp offers. Available AI actions include assigning labels, summarizing text, writing and extracting information. The free plan does not have any AI actions, while all the paid plans come with 500 AI credits per account per month.

monday.com vs ClickUp: Differences

It’s crucial to consider the differences between ClickUp and monday.com because they can make or break your selection of the best tool for your needs. We found them to be distinct in terms of user experience, learning curve, Agile features, reporting and pricing.

Pricing & Plans

ClickUp and monday.com’s pricing plans are similar in structure but ClickUp offers much more value on the free and cheaper plans.

To get monday.com’s full value, you need the Standard plan ($12 per user per month), which is the same cost of ClickUp’s Business plan. 

ClickUp does not offer a free trial of its paid plans, but monday.com allows a 14-day free trial of the Pro plan. Both platforms have a 30-day money-back guarantee, but for monday.com, it’s applicable only on yearly plans.

Check out our detailed pricing guide for project management software to see how ClickUp and monday.com compare with other leading tools.

ClickUp Pricing

ClickUp is the better deal if you’re looking for free project management software. The ClickUp free plan includes unlimited team members and tasks, collaborative documents, sprint management, kanban boards and whiteboards, and 100MB of storage.

The Unlimited plan costs $7 per user per month on an annual billing cycle. It unlocks access to unlimited integrations, folders, custom fields and 2GB of storage space.

clickup pricing
ClickUp offers a free plan, two premium plans and an enterprise plan.

The Business plan, costing $12 per user per month annually, includes workload management, unlimited teams and storage, more automations and Google Single Sign-On. The Enterprise plan offers custom pricing for large corporations that want the most advanced customization and security options.

Free Forever
  • Basic functionality with some limitations

monday.com pricing

monday.com’s free plan supports two users and up to three boards, so it’s sufficient for very small teams. The Basic annual paid plan starts at $9 per user per month, unlocking features like 5GB of file storage, 500 AI credits per month, a dashboard based on one board and prioritised customer support.

In all honesty, the monday.com free and Basic plans don’t offer much useful value to team members; it’s the Standard plan where monday.com starts pulling its weight. 

At $12 per user per month, the annual Standard plan offers the best value, with the other views besides kanban, 250 automations and integrations, guest access and a dashboard based on up to five boards. The Pro plan, costing $19 per-user-per month annually, includes private boards, time tracking, a dashboard combining up to 20 boards and 25,000 actions for automations and integrations per month.

monday pricing
monday.com has a free plan, three premium plans and an enterprise plan.

Lastly, the Enterprise plan has custom pricing for exclusive features like multi-level permissions and enterprise-scale automations and integrations.

Free
  • Maximum users: 2
Basic
  • Minimum users: 3; All prices per user
Standard
  • Minimum users: 3; All prices per user
More plans
Pro
  • Minimum users: 3; All prices per user
Enterprise
  • Enterprise-level features.

User Experience & Learning Curve

The learning curves with ClickUp and monday.com are quite different. ClickUp is powerful but can be overwhelming if you’re new to project management. From nested subtasks to granular customization options to intricate automations, ClickUp offers a wealth of tools that can work with diverse projects and teams.

If your team is willing to invest in learning a more complex tool for the sake of unmatched customization and control, ClickUp has the edge — but there’s a steep learning curve for all the details.

Unless you have a relatively tech-savvy team that can embrace ClickUp’s intricacies, most businesses would probably do better with a project management tool that balances being feature-rich and easy to use. That’s why we think monday.com is a better option for those prioritizing user experience, with its minimalist yet colorful interface that is simple to work with.

With monday.com, you’ll be able to build a project board, assign tasks and begin collaborating with others within minutes.It is a top option for teams that need a straightforward visual task management experience, and it’s better for quick onboarding.

Agile Project Management Features

If your team frequently works in sprints and relies on Agile methodologies, ClickUp should be your go-to platform. It offers built-in features like sprint planning, velocity charts, backlog management and Agile dashboards that provide real-time insights into your team’s progress.

clickup sprint planning
Creating sprint folders on ClickUp is quick and simple.

Even on ClickUp’s free plan, you can run Agile workflows using sprints, boards and calendars. However, the free plan will lack custom fields and the ability to place tasks in multiple lists, so a paid plan will work much better for complete Agile workflows.

monday.com works somewhat differently. It offers several templates for scrum boards and sprint planning, but requires more manual setup to match the Agile functionality that ClickUp offers. 

However, monday.com offers a separate monday.dev product that’s specifically built for development teams. This software offers specialized Agile tools for sprint planning, bug tracking and code-related workflows. monday.dev is available for only paid plans.

Additionally, monday.com’s free plan has access to Agile templates, but it’s limited to just two seats and three boards, which can prove insufficient for larger teams. At the same time, features like timeline, Gantt charts, automations, integrations, time tracking, formula and dependency columns are restricted to the Standard or higher plans.

monday agile templates
There are multiple Agile templates to choose from on monday.com.

User Permission Management & Reporting

ClickUp provides fine-grained control over user permissions across its entire hierarchy at the workspace, folder, list and task levels. On the free plan, you can assign read-only, comment-only, or edit access at the task/doc level. Full control over permissions at the Workspace, Space, Folder, and List levels and other options requires a paid plan.

monday.com takes a simpler approach. You can assign users as viewers, members or admins, and categorize boards as main, private or shareable. The free plan supports just two users — all team members have full edit access and there are no guest roles. The Basic plan adds board-level permissions to restrict who can edit columns or items.

You therefore need a Pro plan or higher for advanced column-level permissions, restrictions on who can view/edit specific columns, controlling dashboard access and inviting guests with limited access.

As for reporting, on ClickUp you can create dashboards and widgets to track everything from task progress and sprint velocity to time spent per assignee. The free plan is limited to 60 dashboard actions, the Pro plan is limited to 100 dashboard actions, and the Business plan unlocks unlimited use of dashboards.

clickup dashboard templates
ClickUp has lots of dashboard templates for detailed insights.

monday.com shines with visual, easy-to-understand reports. On the free and Basic plans, you can create as many dashboards and widgets as you like, but each dashboard can only draw information from one board. The Standard plan increases this to five boards per dashboard, Pro allows 20 and Enterprise supports up to 50.

monday dashboard example
monday.com stands out with beautiful visual reports.

In short, if you want to dive deep into metrics, ClickUp is the way to go. On the other hand, monday.com is great when it comes to clean, visual overviews that are easy to set up and understand.

The Verdict: Why We Think monday.com Wins Overall

After thoroughly testing both platforms, we think monday.com is the winner thanks to its balance between powerful features and ease of use. We like the intuitive interface and less steep learning curve, which make it accessible to teams of all sizes and technical expertise. 

It’s also worth mentioning that a Total Economic Impact study conducted by Forrester Consulting demonstrated significant ROI for organizations implementing monday.com, with particular benefits in reduced administrative overhead and improved cross-team collaboration.

You can try monday.com’s Pro plan free for 14 days without providing any payment details.

That said, we must emphasize that the best tool always depends on your specific needs. If you manage complex workflows and require lots of customization, ClickUp will provide the advanced tools and flexibility you need to support your team. It also provides the stronger free plan and better value for cheaper plans.

Do you prefer simplicity or granular customization in your project management software solution? Which collaboration features, advanced permissions or other features do you look for? Are you still unsure which tool would fit your needs? Let us know in the comments below, and thank you for reading.

If You Want to Consider Other Services, Check Out…

Best Project Management Software for Cross-Functional Teams
asana.com
$10.99 / month
(save 18%) (All Plans)
Visit AsanaReview

Asana is a great alternative to ClickUp and monday.com, particularly for teams that require cross-functional team collaboration. It’s well suited for marketing, product and creative teams that need efficient task management without too many complexities. Read more in our Asana review

Best Kanban Board Project Management Software

Trello leads the way when it comes to using kanban boards for visual task management. It works best for personal use, content planning, editorial calendars and managing small events. It’s a good choice for individuals or small teams that want to get organized quickly or use a simple, free project management tool. Read our Trello Review for more details.

Best Budget Project Management Software

Zoho Projects is one of the most affordable project management tools, with its premium plan starting at just $4 per user per month. It’s ideal for small and mid-size teams looking for robust task management and time-tracking features on a budget, or if you use apps like Zoho CRM, Zoho Books or Zoho Mail. Our Zoho Projects review has more information.

FAQ: ClickUp vs monday.com

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