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Forbes Advisor UK’s list of the best project management software ranks ClickUp, monday.com, Asana, Zoho Projects and Smartsheet. The ranking was audited on May 8, 2025, so its scores and published prices should be treated as a reference point rather than a live price comparison.
For a small business, freelancer or team watching its software budget, the most important question is not simply which tool ranked first. It is whether the platform’s free-plan limits, seat rules, storage allowances and paid features fit the way your team actually works.
Forbes Advisor UK’s five recommended tools
| Rank | Software | Forbes designation | Published rating | Published starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ClickUp | Best for Agile Development Teams | 4.9 | $7 per user per month, billed annually |
| 2 | monday.com | Best for Startups on a Tight Budget | 4.9 | £8 per seat per month, billed annually; three-seat minimum |
| 3 | Asana | Best for Large Teams | 4.6 | £11.59 per user per month, billed monthly |
| 4 | Zoho Projects | Best for Teams on a Tight Budget | 4.6 | £4 per seat per month, billed monthly |
| 5 | Smartsheet | Best for Workflow Automations | 4.5 | £7 per user per month, billed annually |
These are the figures published in the Forbes article. They are not guaranteed current UK checkout prices. Providers change plan names, billing rules, currencies and minimum seat requirements, so check the relevant pricing page before committing to an annual subscription.
1. ClickUp: best for feature-heavy agile teams
ClickUp took the top spot, with Forbes identifying it as particularly suitable for agile development teams. It combines task management, Kanban boards, sprint management, Docs, calendars, goals, time tracking and Gantt charts in one platform.
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The current ClickUp pricing structure is more useful than the older description in the Forbes review:
- Free Forever: $0, with unlimited free-plan members, unlimited tasks, collaborative Docs, Kanban boards, sprint management, calendar view and 60 MB of storage.
- Unlimited: $7 per user per month when billed yearly, adding unlimited storage, Gantt charts, integrations, custom fields, native time tracking, goals and portfolio management.
- Business: $12 per user per month when billed yearly.
- Enterprise: custom pricing.
The free plan can therefore work for a surprisingly large team, but 60 MB of storage is restrictive if you attach design files, videos or large documents. The paid plan’s broad feature set also creates a learning curve. Forbes reported occasional time-tracking glitches and noted that support includes chatbot access rather than round-the-clock live-agent or telephone support.
Best fit: an agile product or development team that wants tasks, documentation, sprints and reporting in one system.
2. monday.com: best for a startup managing costs
monday.com uses visual boards, status columns and custom workflows, making it accessible to teams that do not want a traditional project-management interface. It is particularly useful for marketing calendars, sales pipelines, content production and recurring operational work.
The main budgeting issue is its seat model. monday.com’s free Work Management plan supports up to two seats, up to three boards and up to three Docs. Paid plans use grouped or “bucket” pricing rather than charging strictly one seat at a time. A six-person team may therefore need to buy the 10-seat option, not six individual seats.
The current pricing page displays regional pricing. For example, the annual US display lists Basic at $9 per seat per month and Standard at $12 per seat per month for a 10-seat example. New accounts can also receive a 14-day Pro trial. These figures should not be substituted for a UK quote without checking the billing country and final checkout screen.
Forbes found that Kanban cards can become cluttered and that lower tiers have limited reporting. Costs can also rise quickly once your team exceeds the free plan or needs advanced dashboards.
Best fit: a small startup that values an easy visual workspace and has checked the minimum-seat cost before signing up.
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3. Asana: best for larger, structured teams
Asana is built around tasks, projects, owners, deadlines and dependencies. It works well when several departments need visibility into who is responsible for what, without putting every employee into a complicated technical workflow.
One important correction to the Forbes article is the free-plan limit. Asana’s current free Personal plan supports up to two users, not up to 10. The current paid structure uses these names:
- Personal: free for up to two users.
- Starter: $10.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.49 billed monthly.
- Advanced: higher-tier pricing for more extensive portfolio, reporting and administrative requirements.
Asana changed the former Premium and Business names to Starter and Advanced in 2025. Starter includes Timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards, unlimited automations, forms, custom templates and custom fields. Those capabilities make it more suitable for formal project planning, but the subscription can become expensive as headcount grows.
Forbes also identified a learning curve and limited access to live human support outside Enterprise and Enterprise+. If your team needs rapid support but cannot afford an enterprise plan, test the help process during the trial period.
Rank #3
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Best fit: a larger organisation that needs dependable task ownership, dependencies and cross-team project visibility.
4. Zoho Projects: best for a low-cost project-management setup
Zoho Projects is the budget-focused option in the list. It covers core project controls such as tasks, subtasks, milestones, timelines, Gantt charts and dependencies, while fitting naturally into the wider Zoho business software ecosystem.
Zoho’s current comparison page lists four editions: Free, Premium, Enterprise and Ultimate. The Free edition includes up to three projects, 5 GB of storage, Gantt charts, project timelines, subtasks and within-project finish-to-start dependencies. Paid editions add project templates, recurring tasks, broader dependency types, more storage and additional users.
The £4 monthly figure in the Forbes article should be checked against Zoho’s live UK checkout. Its displayed price can vary according to region, currency and billing period. Do not assume that the lowest advertised tier includes workflow rules, advanced time tracking, recurring tasks or the AI chatbot; Forbes found several of those capabilities restricted to paid plans, with workflow rules particularly limited in its review.
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Best fit: a small business that wants essential project features at a relatively low cost, especially if it already uses Zoho products.
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5. Smartsheet: best for spreadsheet-style workflows and automation
Smartsheet uses rows, columns, forms and automated workflows, so it feels familiar to people who manage operations in spreadsheets but need stronger collaboration and control. It supports table, board, calendar and Gantt views.
Current public pricing lists:
- Pro: £7 per member per month billed yearly, or £10 billed monthly.
- Business: £15 per member per month billed yearly, or £19 billed monthly.
- Enterprise and Advanced Work Management: custom pricing.
Pro includes unlimited sheets, forms and reports, 250 automations per month, 20 GB of attachment storage and unlimited free Contributors. Pro allows one to 10 paid Members; Business requires at least three Members. This distinction matters when calculating the real cost: people who only submit forms or view information may not need a paid Member licence.
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Smartsheet’s old two-sheet Free-plan description should not be treated as its main current offer. Smartsheet now describes the Free plan as a legacy capability and publicly emphasises Pro and Business. Workload management is unavailable on Pro and becomes available on Business, while add-ons can increase the total subscription cost.
Best fit: an operations team that needs spreadsheet familiarity, forms and repeatable automations rather than a highly customised task-management experience.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Forbes rated the software
Forbes Advisor UK says it assessed 22 popular project-management platforms used by small businesses. Its experts carried out hands-on testing and scored each provider across seven weighted categories and 34 factors:
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| General features | 25% |
| Additional features | 20% |
| Expert score | 20% |
| Cost | 15% |
| Customer service and user reviews | 15% |
| Mobile app | 5% |
This is an editorial scoring system, not an objective industry-wide measurement. A platform can score well overall and still be the wrong choice for a particular team because of its seat minimums, storage limit, support model or missing feature.
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How to choose without overspending
- Count paid users accurately. Include contractors, occasional collaborators and administrators where the provider requires a paid licence. For monday.com, model the cost using its seat buckets rather than multiplying a headline price by headcount.
- List the features you will actually use. Decide whether you need Gantt charts, time tracking, forms, automations, custom fields, workload management or portfolio reporting. Avoid paying for an enterprise-style platform to manage a simple shared task list.
- Check the free-plan limits. Compare users, projects, boards, storage, attachments and automation quotas. “Free” may still be unsuitable if your team quickly exceeds three projects or 60 MB of storage.
- Calculate annual and monthly totals. A yearly plan may lower the monthly equivalent but can create a large upfront payment. Include VAT where applicable and check whether the provider bills in pounds or converts from dollars.
- Test collaboration and support. Invite the people who will use the tool daily. Test notifications, permissions, mobile access, exporting and support response times before migrating important work.
- Plan for growth. A free plan that works for two people may become expensive at 10 or 20 users. Estimate the cost at your expected headcount six and 12 months from now.
At-a-glance choice
| Your priority | Most suitable starting point | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Agile development and many built-in features | ClickUp | Learning curve and limited free storage |
| Visual boards for a small startup | monday.com | Grouped seat pricing and reporting limits |
| Structured work across departments | Asana | Two-user free plan and paid-tier cost |
| Lowest-cost core project controls | Zoho Projects | Feature and support restrictions on lower tiers |
| Spreadsheet-style automation | Smartsheet | Member licensing and paid workload management |
FAQ
Which project management software ranked first in the Forbes Advisor UK list?
ClickUp ranked first with a published rating of 4.9 and the designation “Best for Agile Development Teams.” Forbes’s review was audited on May 8, 2025.
Which of these tools has the best free plan?
That depends on the team. ClickUp currently allows unlimited free-plan members but limits storage to 60 MB. monday.com supports two seats and three boards, Asana’s Personal plan supports two users, and Zoho Projects Free allows three projects and 5 GB of storage. Smartsheet’s Free plan is described as a legacy capability.
Is monday.com really priced per user?
Not always in the way buyers expect. monday.com uses grouped seat pricing on paid plans. A team of six may need to purchase a 10-seat package, so calculate the price using the provider’s displayed seat bucket rather than a simple per-person multiplication.
Are the Forbes prices still current UK prices?
They should not be assumed to be current. The Forbes article publishes the prices shown in its May 2025 audit, while provider pricing pages now use regional pricing, renamed plans, dynamic checkout prices or changed seat rules. Verify the final UK price before subscribing.
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Forbes Advisor UK’s shortlist is a useful starting point, but the ranking should not be treated as a buying instruction. ClickUp is the strongest feature-rich option, monday.com is approachable for visual workflows, Asana suits structured larger teams, Zoho Projects is the budget-led choice and Smartsheet is designed for spreadsheet-style automation.
Before paying, compare the cost at your actual headcount and inspect the limits that are easiest to miss: free users, storage, projects, boards, automation quotas and minimum paid seats. Those details can matter more to your business budget than a small difference in editorial rating.
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