Project management for client work
What this situation needs
Agencies and studios need three things the average project tool treats as extras: time logged against tasks, clients inside the project without paying for them, and a route from logged time to an invoice. The ranking below reads each vendor's pricing page for those three.
Suitability scores follow a published rubric: 40 points when time tracking is stated in the plans, 30 points when client or guest access is stated, 20 points when billing from logged time is stated, and 10 points when the pricing model does not punish adding a client's team.
Ranked for Project management for client work
Suitability is an editorial score out of 100; facts on each row are verified- Rank 1
Teamwork.com
Client-work platform with billing built in, free for five users and US$9.99 per user a month above that.
Free plan, paid from $9.99/mo
Suitability 95 of 100. Logs time, builds client invoices from it and invites client users into projects, all stated in the plans.
- Rank 2
Basecamp
Flat-rate project tool from US$25 a month for the whole account rather than per seat.
Free plan, paid from $25/mo
Suitability 80 of 100. Flat monthly fee with unlimited users from US$59, time tracking included, and clients handled outside the seat count.
- Rank 3
ClickUp
Broad work platform with a free forever plan and paid tiers at US$7 and US$12 per user a month.
Free plan, paid from $7/mo
Suitability 74 of 100. Native time tracking and guests with permission control at US$7 per user.
- Rank 4
Vendor imageSmartsheet
Spreadsheet-shaped work platform at US$9 and US$19 per member a month billed yearly, with unlimited free contributors.
Per user from $9/mo
Suitability 70 of 100. Unlimited free guests and contributors alongside paid members, with workload tracking on Business.
- Rank 5
Asana
Work management for teams, free for two people and US$10.99 per user a month on annual billing above that.
Free plan, paid from $10.99/mo
Suitability 66 of 100. Unlimited free guests that do not affect the seat count; time tracking is through integrations.
- Rank 6
Wrike
Work management with a free tier for unlimited users and paid plans at US$10 and US$25 per user, sold in user bands.
Free plan, paid from $10/mo
Suitability 58 of 100. Resource and capacity planning on the higher tiers, with published user bands rather than free guests.