Six tools people weigh against ActiveCollab, and who each one suits. Stay on ActiveCollab if you bill clients for time and want invoicing, budgets and profitability on one plan at $15 per user.
In ActiveCollab: Gantt charts and task dependencies are on every plan, from $10 a user. Productive starts them on Professional at $25 a user.
Scoro
Good for: Agencies and service firms that want quoting, time, resources and billing in one system
Pick Scoro if
You want to build your own mix of apps, from quotes and resource planning to invoicing, and pay for the ones you use.
You want CRM, estimating and spend tracking in the same system as time and invoices.
Your team is 5 people or more and you want AI included in the platform.
Smallest paid planStandard · $17/user with Track and Invoice, minimum 5 · billed yearly
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In ActiveCollab: clients join free on every plan. Scoro's customer portal is a paid extra with no price listed.
ClickUp
Good for: Agencies and teams that will set up one workspace for tasks, docs, time tracking and chat
Pick ClickUp if
You want a Free Forever plan with unlimited members and tasks, or a paid plan from $9 a user.
You want tasks, docs, chat and whiteboards in one workspace.
You want AI built into the workspace, with a monthly credit allowance on every plan.
Weaker at
Setup is on you: ClickUp's own comparison page says someone configures Spaces, Lists, statuses and templates, and reviewers keep naming the learning curve.
Smallest paid planCore · $9/user; Business $17/user · billed yearly
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In ActiveCollab: tracked time becomes a client invoice on Pro + Get Paid, with budgets and profitability reports. ClickUp's pricing page lists no invoicing.
monday.com
Good for: Teams that build their own boards for projects, campaigns and delivery, with templates and automations
Pick monday.com if
You want a free plan for up to 2 seats, or a paid plan from $9 a seat.
You want ready-made templates, automations and AI agents on configurable boards.
You also need CRM, dev or service desk products from the same vendor.
Picking a tool is hard enough without digging through seven pricing pages. Here's what each one costs a team of 10. Prices per user per month, billed yearly.
Feature
ActiveCollab
Teamwork
Productive
Scoro
ClickUp
monday.com
Asana
Invoices from tracked time
Pro + Get Paid · $15/user No minimum team size
Accelerate · $24.99/user, minimum 5
Every plan, from Essential · $10/user, minimum 3
Standard · $17/user with Track and Invoice, minimum 5
Not listed on the pricing page
Not listed for monday work management; monday CRM lists quotes and invoices
Not listed on the pricing page
10 people on that plan, per month
$150
$249.90
$100
$170
No invoicing listed
No invoicing listed
No invoicing listed
Client access
Free Client role on every plan No paid extra, no seat taken
Free client users, up to 5 active projects each
Clients can see approved tracked time through budget access, on Professional and Ultimate
Customer portal is a paid extra on any combination; its price is not listed
Free guests on Free; paid plans add a limited number of guest seats and unlimited read-only guests
Free read-only viewers from Basic; guest access from Standard
Unlimited free guests from Starter
Self-hosted
Yes · one-time license, with optional support package The only one you can host yourself
Cloud only
Cloud only
Cloud only
Cloud only
Cloud only
Cloud only
Free plan
No, 14-day trial
Up to 5 users
No free plan listed · 14-day trial
No free plan listed · 14-day trial
Free Forever plan · unlimited members, no credit card required
Free plan · up to 2 seats
Personal plan · free forever, 2 users
Smallest paid plan
Plus · $12.50/mo flat, up to 3 members One flat price for the first 3 people
Basics · $9.99/user, minimum 3
Essential · $10/user, minimum 3
Standard · $17/user with Track and Invoice, minimum 5
Core · $9/user; Business $17/user
Basic · $9/seat, minimum 3
Starter · $10.99/user
Time tracking
Every plan, with stopwatch Time tracking is on every plan, Plus included
Every plan; billable reports from Basics
Every plan, from Essential
Track app: time tracker, timesheets, billable time
Included from Core; a trial on Free
From the Pro plan
Native time tracking on Advanced; through integrations on every plan
Gantt and task dependencies
Every plan
Every plan
Gantt layout and task dependencies from Professional
Gantt chart and task dependencies in the Deliver core app
Gantt from Core, limited uses on Free Forever; dependencies on every plan
Timeline and Gantt views from Standard; dependencies from Pro
Timeline, Gantt and task dependencies from Starter
Minimum seats and contract
No seat minimum · Plus is capped at 3 members · monthly or yearly billing, cancel any time
Basics 3 users, Accelerate 5 · monthly or yearly billing
3 seats minimum on every plan · monthly or yearly billing
5 users minimum · monthly or yearly billing; no longer commitment unless agreed
No seat minimum listed · monthly or yearly billing
3 users minimum · monthly or yearly billing
No seat minimum listed · monthly or yearly billing
Price checked
Our own pricing
Spot something wrong or out of date? Write to support@activecollab.com and we will fix it. That goes for every vendor listed here too.
Half of the teams that track time log their first hours by day four.
Source: ActiveCollab account data, Nov 2025 – Oct 2026.
Questions buyers ask
Where does ActiveCollab fall short?
You need a free plan for a small team. You need a built-in CRM. We do not offer one. You need single sign-on (SSO) or intake forms. Neither is offered. You need to schedule people by role or skill. We do not offer it. The cards above show the tools that fit those cases.
What does ActiveCollab cost for a 10-person agency?
Pro + Get Paid, with invoices from tracked time, budgets and profitability, is $150 a month for 10 people, billed yearly. Pro, without invoicing, is $100. Teamwork Accelerate, its plan for invoices from tracked time, is $249.90 for the same 10 people.
Which ActiveCollab alternative has a free plan?
ActiveCollab has a 14-day trial with every feature and no free plan. Teamwork: Free plan · 5 users, 5 projects. Productive: No free plan listed · 14-day free trial, no credit card required. Scoro: No free plan listed · 14-day free trial, no credit card required. ClickUp: Free Forever plan · unlimited members, no credit card required. monday.com: Free plan · up to 2 seats. Asana: Personal plan · free forever, 2 users.
Which of these can I host on my own server?
Only ActiveCollab. Self-Hosted runs on your own server with a one-time license and an optional support package. The other six tools on this page are cloud only.
Can I plan work for people who haven't joined yet?
Yes. ActiveCollab Pro and Pro + Get Paid have virtual users: placeholders you can add to any project and assign tasks to, without using a paid seat. On Pro + Get Paid they also show in workload planning. When the real person joins, they take over the virtual user's tasks, and the seat is charged from then on.
Does ActiveCollab have chat and developer integrations?
Yes. Team chat is built into every plan, in the web, mobile and desktop apps, and there is a standalone chat app for Windows and Mac. GitHub and GitLab connect on Pro and Pro + Get Paid: branches and pull requests show on the task, and the task completes when the pull request merges.