Here's the problem: most agencies are built on a collection of tools. One app for getting tasks done, another for keeping track of time, a third for sending invoices and collecting payments, and then there's a handful of others for working together and looking at numbers.

The more tools you use, the messier your operations get. And you can pretty much wave goodbye to efficient workflows and team productivity. Clarity goes out the window, admin work piles up, and before you know it, people are just getting in the way of their own work.

That's exactly why agencies go out and look for alternatives. They are looking for an effective solution to all (or most) of their day-to-day problems. The tool that hits the spot for one agency may not for another. That's why it's important to do your research and make sure you get as many of your needs met in one, all-encompassing tool.

If you're using Teamwork and wondering if there is a better tool out there for you, we've got you covered. In this post, we take a close look at some of the best Teamwork alternatives for agencies and tell you what their core strengths and weaknesses are.

1. ActiveCollab – The Best Teamwork alternative in 2026

ActiveCollab isn't just a tool. It's an agency ecosystem that gives you everything from project management, collaboration, and productivity tools to billing, workload management, and reporting.

What makes the tool unique is its almost hybrid feature set. It gives you much more than a simple task or project manager, but it's not as complex (or pricey) as Professional Service Automation (PSA) software.

It's also a platform that works for small teams with big dreams because it offers an all-in-one solution that has the capacity to help your agency business grow and maintain a smooth operating rhythm as you scale.

What makes ActiveCollab the best Teamwork alternative

Even though both tools were built with agency workflows in mind, ActiveCollab does a better job of unifying the entire workflow under one roof. It tells you straight up that you can go from a "task to invoice."

Because your tasks, time, and finances are all interconnected, each task has a built-in time feature that your team can use to track time, which will feed through to your timesheets, which you can then use to generate invoices and send them to your clients for online payment (via Stripe and PayPal), all within the app. Simple. Smooth. Fast. Done.

With Teamwork, even though it offers native billing, the process of creating an invoice is more manual, and payment doesn't happen within its app (unlike ActiveCollab). Teamwork offers integrations with accounting tools such as QuickBooks or Xero and is built to sync heavily with them and basically take care of the payments part.

When it comes to resource planning, capacity planning, and workload management, ActiveCollab streamlines the process instead of complicating things. The Workload view option gives you a birds-eye-view of everyone's utilization and capacity, and the drag-and-drop feature lets you quickly move tasks around to achieve a good balance when it comes to the distribution of tasks.

It's basically your go-to tool for making sure nobody is over- or underworked. Check out the full Teamwork vs. ActiveCollab comparison to dig a little deeper into the two tools' core differences.

Who is ActiveCollab for?

ActiveCollab is a project management software tool for a variety of agency teams and sizes. Because of its "complete" solution offering (from task management to time management and client billing), it's also ideal for any client-facing service business looking for a streamlined, easy-to-use client work management system.

Some of the team types that are perfect candidates for ActiveCollab include:

• Creative agencies that are struggling with managing deadlines and looking for one source of truth for communication and client feedback.
• Client service businesses that need billing & payments as aready-to-use feature within their primary project management software tool, where they can log hours and expenses, generate invoices, and accept payments.
• A scaling business set on finding a multi-purpose tool with project, productivity, and profitability management features in one place.
• "In-between" business tossing between “limited project management tools” and “overpriced PSA systems” – what you actually want (and need) is the perfect in-between mix of the two.
• A hybrid or remote team in need of a joint workspace for client and team collaboration tools.

ActiveCollab's best features

• Client & team collaboration tools – One of the best things about the platform is the communication features, which include in-app chat, task @mentions, and discussions. This lets you do team collaboration and client collaboration within a centralized setting. For clients or external stakeholders, you simply select the project or tasks you want to include them in and set the level of access you want to grant.
• Project Overview feature – Track project progress in real-time, visualize project progress
• User-friendly interface & fast adoption – Because ActiveCollab comes with a user-friendly interface that's super intuitive, onboarding won't be a hassle (even for non-techy people), and everyone will adopt the tool quicker.
• Project budgeting & monitoring – Set project budgets, log time and expenses, and track spend in real-time. View and monitor the health and status of each project via the project overview dashboard. This feature serves to visualize project progress so you can keep on top of your agency's success metrics.
• Time tracking linked to financials – The tool's native time tracker automatically feeds into financials like budgets and timesheets, so you can evaluate project profitability and generate client invoices.

2. Scoro

Scoro is another all-in-one tool for business management that's designed for larger agencies, consultancies, and service business firms. It consolidates everything from sales and CRM tools to project management and billing.

What makes Scoro a good Teamwork alternative

While Teamwork places a high focus on managing complex projects and collaboration, Scoro gives you a full-scale PSA software platform.

What's unique about it when compared to Teamwork is its unified project lifecycle approach, which lets you go from quote to invoice, and its real-time profitability focus. With features like Burn Rate (tracks project costs based on logged time), Revenue Recognition (displays how much your project is making), and a Progress Bar (shows how in or out of sync your financials are in comparison to task progress), you'll be able to spot and manage unprofitable projects quickly.

For agencies that depend on a CRM tool and also want built-in billing, along with all the project management features you'd expect to find in an advanced project management tool, Scoro can be a great alternative to Teamwork.

Scoro's best features

• Matrix-style quoting system – Unlike most other project management platforms with quotes and estimates, you can create quotes based on roles and phases. This lets you set healthy margins before you commence a project.
• Tiered revenue tracking – Instead of simplifying revenue reporting to a simple cash-in/cash-out basis, Scoro's revenue reporting tools let you break down your financial health into three distinct layers: Earned (performed work but perhaps not invoiced yet), Recognized (work delivered), and Forecast (incoming cash).
• Advanced invoicing tools – Designed to handle complex billing models, you can do partial invoicing, prepayment, and recurring invoices. You can also sync all your financial data with third-party accounting software bi-directionaly.

Possible downsides of Scoro

• Limited collaboration tools – Unlike some other project management platforms in this list, Scoro doesn't off advanced features when it comes to communication tools. It lacks native chat, and collaborative doc editing.
• Ligher on project management features – When compared to Teamwork, it doesn't offer as many deep task management features such as sub taks and task-level reminders.

3. Bonsai

Bonsai is also an all-in-one service business management tool that is a better fit for freelancers and micro agencies. It brings together project management, client managment and financials into a single interface.

What makes Hello Bonsai a good Teamwork alternative

If you're looking to streamline your admin work from lead capture to final invoice, Bonsai will cover the entire lifecycle in one workflow. It also comes with proposals and legally vetted contract signing (which Teamwork doesn't), but it's key if you want to professionalize your freelance business.

While Teamwork gives you deep project management tools for complex projects, Bonsai provides a ready-to-go system where you can onboard clients quickly and start delivering work.

On top of that, Bonsai is a much easier tool to learn and adopt. So if you don't have the resource (people and funds) or time to set up complex PSA tools, it's a better option.

It also comes with a more simplified CRM, which lets smaller agencies manage potential clients through the pipeline.

Bonsai's best features

• High-level resource visibility – You won't get the advanced resource planning tools that Teamwork offers, but you will have enough to get a clear understanding of utilization across your team so you can manage capacity and avoid overscheduling.
• Basic accounting – Some of Bonsai's plans also include integrated banking and basic accounting features, which let you take care of the core financial tasks from the same platform you use to manage your client projects.
• White-label portals – If you like your client-facing portal to be on-brand, you can take advantage of the custom branding features that let you include your agency brand across the interface and on documents.

Possible downsides of Bonsai

• Lacks deep project management features – Bonsai comes with a flat project model structure and doesn't offer project portfolios, task lists, or advanced task dependencies (like Gantt logic or Critical Path), which some complex projects demand.
• No proofing or file versioning – If you need proofing or file versioning features, you'll need to integrate with a third-party app.

4. Monday

Monday is one of the most versatile project management tools on the market, simply because it's designed in a way that lets teams adapt the application to their workflows. At first glance, it seems like a fancy version of a colorful spreadsheet, and that's not far from the truth.

What makes Monday a good Teamwork alternative

Monday, at its core, gives you a flexible project workflow foundation. When you log in, you can use various building blocks to create an interface or dashboard that lets you take care of a diverse range of operations, from managing content calendars to HR processes and CRM functions.

So, while Teamwork gives you a set structure, Monday lets you play around with the setup so you can create your own customized version of a project management tool.

One big plus of Monday is its intuitive interface, which is easy to navigate (especially for non-technical users), and in most cases, your team would need minimal training during the inital onboarding process.

When it comes to agency use, it's an interesting tool because it can be adapted to be as simple or complex as you need it to be. Small agency teams might run simple campaign project management, while larger agencies and organizations might use it to run large-scale client projects that span across different departments.

However, when compared to other tools in this list, Monday is not a purpose-built tool for agencies and service businesses. It can be adapted to operate as such, but its focus is more on providing a clean slate you can mould.

Monday's best features

• Next-level customization – Monday offers advanced features for customization. You can mix and match over 30 column types to create tailored workflows.
• No-code automation – You can minimize manual admin work by setting up rules that automatically drive tasks through your workflow pipeline.
• Pre-built templates – You have 200+ pre-built templates covering everything from simple task lists to marketing processes and software development.

Possible downsides of Monday

• Lacks native billing: Monday doesn't offer native billing and financial management features, which can be problematic for agencies that want an all-in-one solution.
• Limited resource management features – Compared to Teamwork, Monday offers fewer advanced, service-business-focused resource management and utilization features.

5. Synergist

Synergist is a specialized, all-in-one tool for agency management. It includes a CRM and lead tracking, project management tools, and financial management tools for profitability reporting.

However, it doesn't offer team and client collaboration tools like in-app chat and real-time interaction tools like ActiveCollab.

What makes Synergist a good Teamwork alternative

We've said Synergist is an agency management system, and it's important we go into a bit more detail here so you understand what you do get with the tool, and what you won't get compared to Teamwork and other strong agency project management tool alternatives.

First, you will get all the financial rigor that many other tools on the market won't cover. Along with that, you'll also get solid resource scheduling and capacity forecasting. So if everyday agency operations and financials are your primary focus, Synergy is a good choice.

However, you won't get a couple of things that Teamwork does include, on top of finance and agency workflow management. They are a client portal (where you can interact with your clients on projects and tasks), and a dedicated set of proofing and approval tools.

Synergist's best features

• Revenue & profitability management – Synergist connects project delivery with accounting, giving you accrued and deferred income tracking to understand the financial health of your agency.
• Capacity forecasting – You can plan capacity based on role or skill type, which is particularly useful for agencies that work with freelancers, adding them to projects as needed.
• Customizable alerts – You can set budget and deadline alerts to serve as warning signals when you need to intervene and reassess project delivery timelines and spend on resources.

Possible downsides of Synergist

• Lacks advanced communication tools – There is no native in-app chat or a discussion feature that lets you interact with teams and clients on work in real-time. Teamwork does offer an add-on (Teamwork Chat), which you can integrate with, but ActiveCollab offers both options across all plans.
• Steep learning curve – One of the biggest setbacks of Synergy is its complex interface. While it's feature-rich and powerful, new users will need to go through rigorous training to use the tool to its full potential.

ActiveCollab: One Platform, Fewer Tools, Better Collaboration

When you compare all these Teamwork alternatives, the difference isn’t just in the features. It’s about how well everything connects and comes together. Agencies need clear project timelines, simple task assignment, and visibility into what’s happening right now, not after problems arise.

While Teamwork often pushes agencies to turn to add-ons or separate tools for team chat and payments, ActiveCollab keeps all the features that matter in one place. You get integrated time tracking tied directly to tasks, timesheets, budgets, and invoices. This means all the work logged by your team immediately feeds into budget control, expense tracking, and profitability.

For ActiveCollab, these aren’t just "nice-to-have” features; they are core needs if you want to run a truly unified and centralized agency workflow that's founded on collaboration.

ActiveCollab combines all the essential features agencies rely on daily, and combines them with project delivery, advanced reporting, and financial reporting. This provides agency founders and project managers with data-driven insights for monitoring and managing utilization, margins, and client portfolio performance. And you'll get that without drowning you in a complex tool with an overwhelming interface.

Instead of depending on multiple systems, you manage projects, people, and money from one dashboard that’s easy to adopt and scale with. Fewer tools means less friction, better focus, and more confident decisions (because you're basing them on real data).

Not sure if your current tool is the right project management tool for your agency?

Book a demo with us to see why ActiveCollab is one of the most comprehensive Teamwork alternatives out there.

And if you're ready to test us out, sign up for our 14-day free trial. Create a project immediately, and see how easy it is to run multiple projects, assign tasks, and visualize project progress, all while taking advantage of the additional features that let you manage workloads with a simple drag-and-drop action!