Project management software for small teams in 2026

Verified 2026-07-27  ·  by Sebastian Bru

Priced for twelve people. Big enough that per-seat pricing starts to hurt, small enough that enterprise tiers are pure waste.

Twelve is an awkward number, and vendors know it. It is above the free-tier ceiling on most tools, above the ten-user cap on some entry plans, and below the volume where anyone offers you a discount. It is also where flat-rate pricing starts to become interesting.

Every tool priced for 12 people

Cheapest plan that actually works at this size, on annual billing, with seat minimums and user caps applied. Where a tool's entry plan caps out below twelve users, the price shown is for the plan you would actually have to buy.

ToolPlanMonthly costFree tier
TrelloStandard$60/moYes
ClickUpUnlimited$84/moYes
JiraStandard$95/moYes
Monday.comBasic$108/moYes
NotionPlus$120/moYes
LinearBasic$120/moYes
AsanaStarter$132/moYes
Teamwork.comDeliver$132/moYes
WrikeTeam$150/mo
billed for 15 seats (sold in blocks)
Yes
BasecampPlus$180/moYes
AirtableTeam$240/moYes
SmartsheetBusiness$384/moYes

The three cheapest, and what to watch

Trello

The simplest tool here, and the cheapest paid tier in the category. Fine for straightforward boards, thin once you need reporting or dependencies.

$60/month for 12 people on Standard.

Watch out: Enterprise requires a minimum of 50 seats and a $10,000 annual commitment. There is no path between Premium and Enterprise for a 30-person company.

Visit site →

ClickUp

The cheapest serious option per seat. Enormous feature set, which is either the main attraction or the reason teams abandon it.

$84/month for 12 people on Unlimited.

Watch out: Monthly billing costs 43% more than annual on Unlimited and 58% more on Business. The steepest annual penalty in this category.

Visit site →

Jira

Built for software teams and priced for them. Powerful issue tracking, and the steepest learning curve of anything in this comparison.

$95/month for 12 people on Standard.

Watch out: The per-user rate drops at 100, 250 and 500 seats. If you are near one of those thresholds, adding a few users can lower your total bill.

Visit site →

Tools whose advertised price does not apply at this size

These are the ones where the number on the pricing page is not the number you would pay.

Cheapest is not the same as best These tools do not do the same things. A cheaper tool that your team abandons in two months costs more than an expensive one they use. Use price to narrow the list, then check what each tier actually includes on the individual pages.

Compare specific tools

Our comparison table prices every tool at three team sizes, and each tool has a full pricing breakdown with the fees its own page leaves out.

Written by Sebastian Bru. Sebastian Bru runs administration for a 180-person private hospital. For the past 10 years he has evaluated, bought and renewed the software his organization depends on, which means he has spent a decade learning the difference between the price on the pricing page and the number on the invoice.

Prices last verified on 2026-07-27.