AlternativesUpdated

Best ClickUp Alternatives in 2026

ClickUp puts tasks, docs, boards and calendars in one workspace, and its Free Forever plan has no cap on members. If it does more than your team needs, the free storage runs out, or clients should sign in to follow their work, here are six alternatives and what each one does.

By the Fabricate teamWe make Fabricate6 min readPrices checked
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Fabricate CloudFabricate
Fabricate Cloud for one app: its database, form responses, keys and secrets, and accounts for its visitors
An app's database, form responses, keys and visitor accounts in Fabricate Cloud. Real Fabricate screens, shown with sample data.

Key takeaways

  • ClickUp puts tasks, docs, boards and calendars in one workspace; Free Forever has no cap on members and 60MB of storage.
  • Trello is simpler, with boards of cards free for up to 10 collaborators.
  • Asana and monday.com suit teams planning many projects; Smartsheet suits projects planned in a grid.
  • Basecamp charges one price for the account rather than per user.
  • Fabricate builds a tracker with only the screens you describe, which clients can sign in to, with no price per person who signs in. Building and previewing are free; publishing is on Pro and Max.

Why Are Teams Looking for ClickUp Alternatives?

  • A Lot to Set Up

    Tasks, docs, boards, calendars, sprints, forms and time tracking come in one workspace, which is more than a small team needs.

    Fits: Trello

  • 60MB of Free Storage

    Free Forever has 60MB of storage and 100 automation actions a month; more of either needs a paid plan.

  • Priced per User

    Every paid plan is priced per user a month, so the cost grows with the team.

    Fits: Basecamp

  • Clients Who Sign In

    When clients should follow their own project, a tracker built around them does that without a seat for each one.

    Fits: Fabricate

Compare at a glance

Fabricate beside ClickUp, feature by feature.

  • Builds From a Description
    Fabricate
    Yes
    ClickUp
    No, a ready-made tool
  • Price per Person
    Fabricate
    None for the people who sign in to a published app
    ClickUp
    Paid plans are per user
  • Free Plan
    Fabricate
    Build and preview
    ClickUp
    No cap on members; 60MB of storage
  • Only What You Use
    Fabricate
    Only the screens you describe
    ClickUp
    Every view and tool in one workspace
  • Paid Plans From
    Fabricate
    $25 a month
    ClickUp
    Priced per user
Number 1

Fabricate

We make this

Best for: A tracker built around how you work

Builds a project or task app from your description: a board you drag tasks across, lists, owners, due dates, comments and a page of what is due, behind a sign-in for your team, and clients can sign in to follow only their own project. The people who sign in to a published app are not counted as seats. Building and previewing are free; publishing is on Pro and Max.

Checks before you publish

Fabricate's security check on an app: one problem to fix and two quality warnings, each with a Fix in chat button
Each finding comes with a Fix in chat button. A real Fabricate screen, shown with sample data.

What it does well

  • Only the fields and stages you use
  • Clients sign in to their own project
  • No price per person who signs in
Paid plans from
$25 a month
350 credits a month on Pro
Free plan
60 credits
A month, to build and preview
A live app
Pro and Max
Publishing is on paid plans

See the plans

How to Move from ClickUp to Fabricate

  1. 1

    Save your tasks as a CSV file

    Export what you can from ClickUp, or copy your tasks into a spreadsheet and save it as CSV.

  2. 2

    Describe how your team works

    Say what a project is for you, the stages a task goes through, who works on what and who may change it.

  3. 3

    Ask for an import page

    Ask for a page, behind your own sign-in, that adds the rows of your CSV file to the app's own database.

  4. 4

    Test it in the preview

    Sign in as two teammates, move tasks, comment, and check who can see and change what.

  5. 5

    Put it online

    On Pro, one press of Publish gives it its own address to share, after the same browser check.

Chat

Fabricate's chat on a phone: the owner asks for opening hours and a note about cardamom buns, and Fabricate says what it changed and that it used 5 credits

Your app

The same bakery app in Fabricate's Your app view on a phone, now showing Open today 7am - 3pm above its menu
Asking for a change in chat, then trying the app. Real Fabricate screens on a phone, shown with sample data.

The other ClickUp alternatives

What each one does well, and the kind of project it suits best.

  1. Number 2

    Trello

    Best for: Simple boards for a small team

    Boards of cards your team drags between lists, from Atlassian. Free covers up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace; Standard is $6 per user a month billed monthly, or $5 billed yearly.

    • Simple boards of cards
    • Free for up to 10 collaborators
    • Phone apps for iOS and Android

    Where Trello beats Fabricate

    If all your team needs is a board of cards to drag across, Trello is ready in minutes, free for up to 10 collaborators, with phone apps.

    From $6 per user a monthTrello alternatives

    Source: trello.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked

  2. Number 3

    Asana

    Best for: Teams planning many projects

    Plans a team's projects and tasks, with Asana AI included on its paid plans. Personal is free for up to 2 users; Starter is $13.49 per user a month billed monthly, or $10.99 billed yearly.

    • Projects and tasks for teams
    • AI included on paid plans
    • Goals and capacity on Advanced

    Where Asana beats Fabricate

    If several teams plan many projects at once and want goals and capacity across them, Asana is built for that.

    From $13.49 per user a monthAsana alternatives

    Source: asana.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked

  3. Number 4

    monday.com

    Best for: Many teams on one shared tool

    Work management on boards, priced per seat, with paid plans sold from 3 seats. Free covers up to 2 seats and 3 boards; Basic is $9 per seat a month billed yearly, Standard $12 and Pro $19.

    • Boards for many kinds of work
    • Free for up to 2 seats
    • Plans to grow into

    Where monday.com beats Fabricate

    If many teams want one shared tool for their boards, monday.com has a plan for each size, from 2 free seats up.

    From $9 per seat a month, billed yearlymonday.com alternatives

    Source: monday.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked

  4. Number 5

    Basecamp

    Best for: Small teams that want a flat price

    Projects with message boards, to-dos, Card Tables for Kanban and group chat, at one price for the account rather than per user. Personal is free for 1 project and up to 3 people; Freelancer is $29 a month for 3 projects and 5 users, and Pro $79 for 8 projects and 10 users.

    • A flat price, not per user
    • One project free
    • Message boards, to-dos and chat

    Where Basecamp beats Fabricate

    If you would rather not pay for each person, Basecamp charges one price for the account, from $29 a month for 5 users.

    From $29 a month

    Source: basecamp.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked

  5. Number 6

    Smartsheet

    Best for: Projects planned in a grid with formulas

    Tracks and manages projects in Gantt, table, board and calendar views, with rich formulas. There is no free plan: Pro is $12 per member a month billed monthly, or $9 billed yearly, for 1 to 10 members, with unlimited free Contributors.

    • Gantt, table, board and calendar views
    • Rich formulas
    • Free Contributors

    Where Smartsheet beats Fabricate

    If your projects live in a grid with formulas and a Gantt chart, Smartsheet works that way, and Contributors cost nothing.

    From $12 per member a monthSmartsheet alternatives

    Source: smartsheet.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked

ClickUp and its alternatives: one workspace for everything, or a tool for one job

ClickUp aims to be the one place for a team's work: tasks, collaborative docs, Kanban boards, a calendar view, sprints, forms and time tracking. Its Free Forever plan has unlimited tasks and no cap on members, which makes it easy to start.

The limits on free are storage and automations: 60MB and 100 automation actions a month. Paid plans are priced per user. The other cost is time: a tool that does everything takes setting up before it fits a small team.

The alternatives each do less, on purpose. Trello is boards of cards; Basecamp is projects with to-dos and messages at one price; Asana and monday.com are built for many teams and projects; Smartsheet plans in a grid with formulas.

A tracker built with Fabricate has only the screens you describe. The backend is written into the app's own code: server routes in a Durable Object on Cloudflare Workers, with its own SQLite database. Your team signs in with an invite code, clients can sign in to see only their own project, and nobody who signs in takes a seat. Email reminders and push notifications, ready-made integrations with other tools, sharing documents between people, and phone apps from the App Store or Google Play are not built in. The app opens in any phone browser, and anyone can add it to their home screen.

Frequently asked questions

Is ClickUp free?
Yes. Free Forever has unlimited tasks and free plan members, collaborative docs, Kanban boards, sprints and a calendar view, with 60MB of storage and 100 automation actions a month. Paid plans add storage and automations and are priced per user.
What is a simpler alternative to ClickUp?
Trello, if a board of cards is all you need: it is free for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace. Basecamp, if you want projects with to-dos and messages at one price. Fabricate, which we make, if you want a tracker with only the screens you describe. Building and previewing are free; publishing is on Pro and Max.
Which is better, ClickUp or Asana?
ClickUp puts more into one workspace, including docs, and its free plan has no cap on members. Asana's free plan is for up to 2 users, and it is built for teams planning many projects, with goals and capacity on Advanced.
Can I build my own app like ClickUp?
You can build the parts most teams use: boards, lists, tasks with owners and due dates, comments and a view of what is due. Describe your projects, the stages a task goes through and who works on it, and Fabricate builds the app and shows it working in a preview. It is your own app rather than a hosted product, so there is no ready-made integrations library or App Store app, and you add features by asking for them.
Can I move my ClickUp tasks to Fabricate?
Not as a file, but you can rebuild them: save your tasks as a CSV file, describe your lists, stages and who works on what, and ask for an import page that adds them to the app's own database. Syncing with ClickUp is not built in.
Does an app built with Fabricate send reminders when a task is due?
Not by email or notification. The app shows what is due today, this week and late when someone opens it. Ask for live updates and new messages and posts appear on open screens without a refresh, over a connection to the app's own server.

Sources

The pages this guide quotes, each with the day it was read.

  1. clickup.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  2. trello.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  3. asana.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  4. monday.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  5. basecamp.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  6. smartsheet.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  7. fabricate.build/pricing, from our live plans

About this guide

Written by the Fabricate team. Fabricate is our product, so it is first on this page and marked "We make this". Where a reason to switch fits another tool better, the reason says which.

Each tool's card lists the pages we read about it and the day we read them. We compared the tools from their own pricing pages and documentation, not by signing up for them. Spotted something out of date? Write to info@fabricate.build.

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