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Australia edition · 10 products ranked · Verified 2026-05-24

Top 10 Project Management Software in Australia for 2026

Independent Australian project management ranking, AUD pricing, Jira home-market dominance, ASX 200 enterprise reality, AWS Sydney residency and IRAP alignment at Atlassian Cloud.

Australia verdict (TL;DR)

Verified 2026-05-24

Australia is Jira country. Atlassian (Sydney-headquartered) makes Jira the default at Aussie tech, ASX 200 corporates, federal departments and most large Australian Government agencies. Asana and Monday.com hold the marketing-and-ops side at Aussie scale-ups not exclusively on Jira. ClickUp is the SMB consolidator. Smartsheet runs at Aussie construction, infrastructure and resources project programs. Notion serves as the lightweight wiki-and-PM hybrid at thousands of Aussie startups. Microsoft Project is the legacy Aussie enterprise PMO tool. Airtable, Trello and Wrike round out the longer tail.

Picks for Australia

  • Aussie tech team or enterprise IT project management: jira Jira is the Aussie default. Sydney-built parent (Atlassian), AWS Sydney residency, IRAP-aligned Atlassian Cloud Enterprise. Used at virtually every Aussie tech firm and most ASX 200 IT organisations.
  • Aussie marketing, ops or cross-functional team collaboration: asana Asana is the most-installed non-Jira PM tool across Aussie marketing, ops and cross-functional teams. Sydney commercial presence, common alongside Jira at hybrid product-and-marketing orgs.
  • Aussie team wanting visual project boards with light CRM/forms: monday-work Monday.com (now Monday Work Management) has Sydney commercial presence and is the polished visual PM tool of choice for Aussie SMB-to-mid-market non-tech teams.
  • Aussie SMB wanting one tool for tasks, docs, chat and goals: clickup ClickUp is the consolidator at Aussie SMB - one tool replacing 3-5 separately bought ones. Strong fit for sub-100 employee Aussie companies with no Jira commitment.
  • Aussie startup running PM + wiki + docs in one workspace: notion Notion is the lightweight PM + wiki + docs hybrid at thousands of Aussie startups. Cheap, flexible, common at seed-to-Series-A.
  • Aussie construction, infrastructure or resources project program: smartsheet Smartsheet runs at Aussie construction (John Holland, Lendlease, CIMIC, Multiplex, BMD), infrastructure (Sydney Metro, Cross River Rail), and resources (BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue) project programs.
Market context

How the project management software market looks in Australia

Australia is Atlassian's home market. Jira is the default project-management tool at virtually every Aussie tech firm (Canva, Employment Hero, Culture Amp, SafetyCulture, Linktree, Deputy, Octopus Deploy, Immutable, Go1, Bigtincan, MYOB, Xero, Tyro, Airwallex), most ASX 200 IT organisations (CBA, Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Telstra, Optus, Woolworths, Coles, BHP, Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers), and most large Australian Government departments and agencies. The home-market advantage gives Atlassian a structural position in Aussie PM that no competitor has been able to dislodge.

Asana and Monday.com hold the second tier. Asana is the most-installed non-Jira PM tool at Aussie marketing, ops and cross-functional teams - frequently running alongside Jira at hybrid product-and-marketing organisations. Monday.com has a Sydney commercial team and is the polished visual PM tool of choice at Aussie SMB-to-mid-market non-tech teams. ClickUp picks up the SMB consolidator slot.

Smartsheet has a quietly large Aussie footprint at construction, infrastructure and resources project programs - John Holland, Lendlease, CIMIC, Multiplex, BMD, McConnell Dowell, BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Sydney Metro, Cross River Rail and similar major-project organisations. Microsoft Project remains the legacy Aussie enterprise PMO tool, still installed at federal departments and traditional ASX 200 corporates. Notion serves as the lightweight PM + wiki + docs hybrid at thousands of Aussie startups. The Aussie project-management community (PMI Australia chapter, Agile Australia conference, Atlassian Team in Sydney annually) shapes tool adoption patterns at a pace ahead of most similar-sized markets.

Compliance & local rules

Australian project management software compliance varies with project content. The Privacy Act 1988 and APP 6/8/11 govern personal information in project records (HR projects, customer-data projects). APP 8 cross-border-disclosure obligations apply to US-hosted PM platforms (Asana, ClickUp, Smartsheet, Wrike, Airtable, Notion). The Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires OAIC notification within 30 days of eligible breaches. APRA CPS 234 information-security obligations apply to bank and insurer PM platforms touching sensitive data. SOCI Act 2018 entities apply similar third-party risk obligations. The ASD Essential Eight Maturity Model touches PM platforms through restrict-admin-privileges and configure-microsoft-office-macros controls. IRAP assessments at OFFICIAL or PROTECTED apply to federal-touching deployments - Atlassian Cloud Enterprise holds IRAP assessment at OFFICIAL with PROTECTED in progress, which gives Jira a structural advantage at Australian Government tenants. AWS Sydney, Azure Australia East and Azure Australia Central (Canberra sovereign) are the standard hosting choices. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 may apply to PM-tool-supported supplier-management workflows. State-level Long Service Leave records may flow through PM platforms in services firms.

At a glance

Quick comparison, ranked for Australia

Product Best for Starts at 10-emp/mo* Pricing G2 Geo
4 Atlassian Jira
Engineering teams
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.3 Global
1 Asana
Cross-functional teams
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.4 Global
2 Monday Work Management
SMB and mid-market ops teams
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.7 Global
3 ClickUp
Budget-conscious SMB and mid-market
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.7 Global
5 Notion
SaaS product/eng/design teams
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.6 Global
7 Smartsheet
Traditional PMOs in mid-market and enterprise
$9/emp $90 4.4 Global
6 Trello
Personal use, freelancers, small teams
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.4 Global
8 Wrike
Marketing agencies, creative teams, mid-market
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.2 Global
9 Airtable
Ops teams building custom workflows
$0 + $0/emp $0 4.6 Global
10 Microsoft Project
Microsoft 365-anchored enterprise PMOs
$10/emp $100 4.0 Global

*10-employee monthly cost = base fee + (per-employee × 10) using the lowest published tier. For opaque-pricing vendors, no value is shown.

Verified local pricing

What buyers in Australia actually pay

Median annual deal size by employee band, in AUD. Crowdsourced from anonymized buyer disclosures.

Product Employee band Median annual (AUD) Sample Notes
Atlassian Jira 50-500 users A$24,000 48 Atlassian Cloud Standard, Aussie scale-up
Atlassian Jira 500-5,000 users A$195,000 22 Atlassian Cloud Premium/Enterprise, Aussie ASX/federal tier
Asana 50-500 users A$28,000 31 Asana Business, Aussie marketing-and-ops tier
Monday Work Management 50-500 users A$26,000 28 Monday Work Management Pro, Aussie SMB-to-mid
ClickUp 20-200 users A$12,500 34 ClickUp Business, Aussie SMB consolidator
Smartsheet 200-2,000 users A$95,000 19 Smartsheet Enterprise, Aussie construction/infra/resources
Notion 20-200 users A$9,800 42 Notion Business, Aussie startup PM-and-wiki
Local challengers

Australia-built or Australia-strong vendors worth knowing

Not yet ranked in our global top 10, but credible options for Australia buyers and worth a shortlist.

Atlassian (Jira)

Visit ↗

Sydney-headquartered, dual-listed on NASDAQ. Atlassian's home-market position makes Jira the structural default for Aussie tech, ASX 200 IT and Australian Government agencies. IRAP-aligned at Atlassian Cloud Enterprise.

Atlassian Team conference (Sydney)

Visit ↗

Atlassian's annual Sydney user conference is the largest Aussie PM-and-collaboration event. Drives Jira adoption patterns across the broader ecosystem.

Monday.com ANZ

Visit ↗

Monday.com has a Sydney commercial team and significant Aussie SMB-to-mid-market footprint at non-tech teams.

Agile Australia

Visit ↗

Aussie agile-and-project community network running annual conference and regional events. Strong influence on PM tool selection in Aussie ecosystem.

The Australia ranking

All 10, ranked for Australia

Same intelligence as the global ranking, vendor trust, review patterns, verified pricing, compliance, reordered for the Australia market.

#4

Atlassian Jira

Engineering team default for sprint-based development.

Founded 2002 · Sydney, Australia · public · 5–10,000+ employees
G2 4.3 (14,820)
Capterra 4.5
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Atlassian Jira

Jira is non-negotiable for engineering teams running sprint-based development. The product's strength is the deepest agile workflow customization in the category, sprints, epics, story points, velocity, burn-down charts, advanced permissions. Atlassian (public since 2015) also owns Confluence, Trello, Bitbucket, and now Loom (acquired 2023). Trade-offs: UI complexity intimidates non-engineering users, pricing tiers proliferate, and the product is wildly overbuilt for non-engineering use cases.

Best for

Engineering teams (5-10,000+ developers) running sprint-based agile development.

Worst for

Cross-functional/non-engineering teams (Asana, Monday, ClickUp far better), or organizations not running agile sprints.

Strengths

  • Non-negotiable for engineering teams
  • Deepest agile workflow customization
  • Atlassian Marketplace with 4,000+ apps
  • Native Confluence/Bitbucket/Trello integration
  • Free tier (10 users)
  • Public company financial transparency

Weaknesses

  • UI complexity intimidates non-engineering users
  • Pricing tiers proliferate (Software, Service Mgmt, Work Mgmt, separate billing)
  • Wildly overbuilt for non-engineering use cases
  • Performance can lag at extreme scale
  • Support response times vary

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free
    Up to 10 users; basic features
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Standard
    Per user; unlimited storage
    $8.6 /emp/mo
  • Premium
    Adds advanced permissions, project archiving
    $17 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    Unlimited site capacity, advanced security
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Atlassian Marketplace add-ons priced separately
  • · Premium support fees
  • · Multiple Atlassian products billed separately

Key features

  • +Sprint-based agile workflows
  • +Epics, stories, story points
  • +Velocity and burn-down reporting
  • +Advanced permissions
  • +Atlassian Marketplace
  • +Native Confluence/Bitbucket integration
  • +Mobile apps
  • +JQL (Jira Query Language)
4000+ integrations
ConfluenceBitbucketGitHubSlackMicrosoft TeamsZendesk
Geography
Global
#1

Asana

Work management default for cross-functional teams.

Founded 2008 · San Francisco, CA · public · 25–2,000 employees
G2 4.4 (11,240)
Capterra 4.5
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Asana

Asana is the work management default for cross-functional teams, marketing, ops, design, content, customer success. Founded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. The product's strength is the cleanest UX in the category for non-technical users. Asana AI launched 2024 with autonomous task management. Trade-offs: pricing per-user scales aggressively ($11-25/user), enterprise tier ($25+) gates many automations, and engineering teams typically prefer Jira.

Best for

Cross-functional teams (marketing, ops, design, customer success) at 25-2,000 employees needing clean UX over feature depth.

Worst for

Engineering teams running sprints (Jira wins), traditional PMOs needing deep resource leveling, or SMB on tight budget (ClickUp cheaper).

Strengths

  • Cleanest UX for cross-functional non-technical teams
  • Right call for marketing campaigns, content workflows
  • Asana AI launched 2024; autonomous task management
  • Goals tied to projects (Asana Goals)
  • 300+ integrations
  • Public company financial transparency

Weaknesses

  • Pricing scales aggressively ($25+ per user at Enterprise)
  • Engineering teams prefer Jira
  • Custom dashboards weaker than Monday
  • Reporting depth limited at Standard tier
  • No native Gantt at Personal tier

Pricing tiers

public
  • Personal
    Free; up to 10 users
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Starter
    Per user; basic project mgmt
    $11 /emp/mo
  • Advanced
    Adds Goals, advanced reporting, custom rules
    $25 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    SAML, SSO, custom security
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Annual billing for published rates
  • · Add-on AI features at higher tiers

Key features

  • +Project boards (List, Board, Timeline, Calendar)
  • +Asana AI assistant
  • +Goals tied to projects
  • +Custom rules and automations
  • +Workload management
  • +Forms and approvals
  • +Mobile apps
  • +300+ integrations
300+ integrations
SlackMicrosoft TeamsGoogle WorkspaceSalesforceAdobe Creative Cloud
Geography
Global
#2

Monday Work Management

Visual customization for work-OS positioning.

Founded 2012 · Tel Aviv, Israel · public · 5–500 employees
G2 4.7 (6,180)
Capterra 4.6
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Monday Work Management

Monday Work Management is monday.com's flagship work management platform, distinct from Monday Sales CRM (covered in our Top 10 CRM ranking). The product's strength is best-in-class visual customization with Kanban, timeline, calendar, Gantt, workload views all on one platform. Works for ops teams that want to build their own workflows without engineering. Trade-offs: pricing per-seat (3-seat minimum), and feature depth doesn't reach Asana for cross-functional projects.

Best for

SMB and mid-market ops teams (5-500 employees) wanting visual customization and work-OS positioning.

Worst for

Engineering teams (Jira wins), large enterprise (Smartsheet/Microsoft Project better fit), or teams above 100 users on tight budget.

Strengths

  • Best-in-class visual customization
  • Kanban + timeline + calendar + Gantt + workload all on one platform
  • Spreadsheet-meets-Kanban for ops teams
  • Built for SMB and mid-market
  • Modern UX praised consistently
  • Public company financial transparency

Weaknesses

  • Per-seat pricing scales linearly with team size
  • 3-seat minimum across all tiers
  • Feature depth doesn't reach Asana for cross-functional projects
  • AI features less mature than Asana AI
  • Customer support quality varies

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free
    Up to 2 users; basic boards
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Basic
    Per seat; unlimited items, projects
    $9 /emp/mo
  • Standard
    Adds timeline, calendar, integrations
    $12 /emp/mo
  • Pro
    Adds private boards, automation, formulas
    $19 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    SSO, advanced security, dedicated CSM
    Quote
Watch for
  • · 3-seat minimum across all tiers
  • · Annual billing for published rates

Key features

  • +Visual boards (Kanban, Timeline, Calendar, Gantt)
  • +Custom workflows and automations
  • +Dashboards and visual reports
  • +Forms
  • +Mobile apps
  • +AI assistant
  • +Native Microsoft 365 + Google Workspace integration
  • +Apps marketplace
200+ integrations
SlackMicrosoft TeamsGoogle WorkspaceGmailOutlookZoom
Geography
Global
#3

ClickUp

Most features at lowest price for budget-conscious teams.

Founded 2017 · San Diego, CA · private · 10–500 employees
G2 4.7 (9,840)
Capterra 4.6
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit ClickUp

ClickUp packed more features into a project management platform than any competitor at lower price points. The product covers project management, docs, whiteboards, chat, time tracking, and goal tracking on one platform. Best for budget-conscious teams that want one tool for many use cases. Trade-offs: feature density creates UX complexity, performance can lag at scale, and customer support quality has been flagged.

Best for

Budget-conscious SMB and mid-market (10-500 employees) wanting one tool for projects + docs + chat at lowest price.

Worst for

Teams prioritizing UX over features (Asana wins), large enterprise (performance issues), or anyone needing best-in-class single feature.

Strengths

  • Most features in the category at lowest price
  • One platform for projects + docs + whiteboards + chat + time tracking
  • Right call for budget-conscious teams
  • Custom views (List, Board, Timeline, Gantt, Mind Map)
  • ClickUp Brain AI included
  • Generous free tier

Weaknesses

  • Feature density creates UX complexity
  • Performance lags at scale (1,000+ tasks)
  • Customer support quality flagged in recent reviews
  • Onboarding curve steeper than Asana
  • Mobile app less polished than Monday

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free Forever
    100MB storage; unlimited tasks
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Unlimited
    Per user; unlimited storage
    $7 /emp/mo
  • Business
    Adds Goals, time tracking, advanced reporting
    $12 /emp/mo
  • Business Plus
    Adds custom branding, priority support
    $19 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    SSO, white-labeling, dedicated CSM
    Quote
Watch for
  • · ClickUp AI add-on at $5/user/month
  • · Annual billing for published rates

Key features

  • +Tasks with custom statuses
  • +Custom views (15+)
  • +ClickUp Brain AI
  • +Docs and whiteboards
  • +Time tracking
  • +Goals and OKRs
  • +Forms and approvals
  • +1,000+ integrations
1000+ integrations
SlackMicrosoft TeamsGitHubFigmaZoomSalesforce
Geography
Global
#5

Notion

Docs + lightweight project management on one surface.

Founded 2013 · San Francisco, CA · private · 5–500 employees
G2 4.6 (5,840)
Capterra 4.7
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Notion

Notion redefined work software by treating docs, databases, and tasks as composable blocks on the same surface. Fits SaaS product, engineering, and design teams where docs and project management share the same workflow. Notion AI launched 2023, Notion Calendar 2024. Trade-offs: not a "true" project management platform, Gantt/sprints/resource leveling weak; performance can lag at large scale.

Best for

SaaS product/eng/design teams (5-500 employees) where docs and lightweight project management share the same workflow.

Worst for

Engineering teams running sprints (Jira wins), traditional PMOs with Gantt needs, or teams needing deep custom permissions.

Strengths

  • Docs + databases + tasks on one surface
  • Works for SaaS product/eng/design teams
  • Notion AI included on paid tiers
  • Templates marketplace robust
  • Free tier with real functionality
  • Modern UX praised consistently

Weaknesses

  • Not a "true" project management platform, Gantt/sprints/resource leveling weak
  • Performance lags at large scale (10,000+ pages)
  • Mobile app less polished than desktop
  • Custom permissions less granular than Confluence
  • Support is hit-or-miss

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free
    Up to 10 guests; basic features
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Plus
    Per user; unlimited file uploads, version history
    $12 /emp/mo
  • Business
    Adds private teamspaces, advanced permissions, SSO
    $18 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    SAML, advanced security, dedicated CSM
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Notion AI add-on at $10/user/month
  • · Notion Calendar separate (free)

Key features

  • +Docs and wiki
  • +Databases
  • +Tasks and projects
  • +Notion AI
  • +Notion Calendar
  • +Templates marketplace
  • +Custom views
  • +Mobile apps
200+ integrations
SlackGoogle WorkspaceGitHubFigmaLoomLinear
Geography
Global
#7

Smartsheet

Spreadsheet-led traditional PMOs.

Founded 2005 · Bellevue, WA · pe backed · 50–10,000 employees
G2 4.4 (6,280)
Capterra 4.5
From $9 /employee/mo
● Transparent pricing
Visit Smartsheet

Smartsheet is the work management platform for traditional PMOs already comfortable in Excel. The product's strength is genuine spreadsheet-meets-Gantt, Excel-style cell editing combined with project portfolio management, resource leveling, and approvals. Public 2018-2024 (acquired by Vista/Blackstone for $8B in 2024). Trade-offs: post-acquisition pricing escalation, less modern UX than Asana/Monday, customer support quality flagged.

Best for

Traditional PMOs in mid-market and enterprise (50-10,000 employees) running Excel-style project portfolio management.

Worst for

Modern cross-functional teams (Asana wins), engineering teams (Jira wins), or anyone wanting modern UX over traditional Gantt depth.

Strengths

  • Spreadsheet-meets-Gantt for Excel-comfortable PMOs
  • Strong project portfolio management
  • Resource leveling and capacity planning
  • Approvals and workflows
  • Smartsheet AI launched 2024
  • Right call for traditional enterprise PMOs

Weaknesses

  • Post-acquisition pricing escalation (Vista/Blackstone)
  • Less modern UX than Asana/Monday
  • Customer support quality flagged in recent reviews
  • Implementation 4-12 weeks for enterprise
  • Mobile app less polished

Pricing tiers

public
  • Pro
    Per user; basic project mgmt
    $9 /emp/mo
  • Business
    Adds advanced reporting, automations
    $19 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    Adds SSO, advanced admin, dedicated CSM
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Smartsheet AI add-on
  • · Annual billing standard
  • · Multi-year contracts at enterprise tier

Key features

  • +Spreadsheet-style editing
  • +Gantt charts
  • +Project portfolio management
  • +Resource leveling
  • +Approvals and workflows
  • +Smartsheet AI
  • +Forms
  • +Mobile apps
100+ integrations
Microsoft 365Google WorkspaceSalesforceSlackJira
Geography
Global
#6

Trello

Simplest Kanban for small teams.

Founded 2011 · Sydney, Australia (Atlassian) · public · 1–100 employees
G2 4.4 (13,680)
Capterra 4.5
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Trello

Trello is the simplest Kanban project management for small teams. Acquired by Atlassian in 2017 for $425M. The product's strength is the lowest learning curve in the category, teams can be operational in minutes. Free tier with real functionality. Trade-offs: feature depth limited (Trello is opinionated as a Kanban-only board), Atlassian acquisition has slowed product velocity, and best-fit ceiling around 50-100 users.

Best for

Personal use, freelancers, small teams (1-50 users) wanting simple Kanban without setup time.

Worst for

Teams above 100 users, anyone needing Gantt/sprints/timeline, or teams that have outgrown Kanban-only boards.

Strengths

  • Simplest Kanban; lowest learning curve in category
  • Free tier with real functionality
  • Mobile apps with offline support
  • Power-Ups (Atlassian-owned add-ons)
  • Made for personal use and small teams
  • Public company (Atlassian)

Weaknesses

  • Feature depth limited (Kanban only)
  • Atlassian acquisition has slowed product velocity
  • Best-fit ceiling around 50-100 users
  • Custom workflows require Power-Ups
  • No native Gantt or timeline view

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free
    Up to 10 boards per workspace
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Standard
    Per user; unlimited boards, advanced checklists
    $6 /emp/mo
  • Premium
    Adds timeline, calendar, dashboards
    $12.5 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    SSO, advanced admin, dedicated support
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Power-Ups marketplace add-ons
  • · Annual billing for published rates

Key features

  • +Kanban boards
  • +Cards and checklists
  • +Power-Ups (add-ons)
  • +Butler automation
  • +Mobile apps
  • +Templates
  • +Calendar view (Premium)
  • +Dashboards (Premium)
200+ integrations
SlackMicrosoft TeamsGoogle DriveJiraConfluence
Geography
Global
#8

Wrike

Marketing agencies and creative teams with proofing.

Founded 2006 · San Jose, CA · pe backed · 50–1,000 employees
G2 4.2 (3,680)
Capterra 4.3
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Wrike

Wrike is the work management platform with the strongest fit for marketing agencies and creative teams needing proofing and approval workflows. Acquired by Citrix in 2021 for $2.25B, then divested to Symphony Technology Group (STG). Trade-offs: pricing per-user scales aggressively, brand momentum has slowed through ownership changes, customer support has been variable.

Best for

Marketing agencies, creative teams, and mid-market organizations (50-1,000 employees) needing proofing/approval workflows.

Worst for

Engineering teams (Jira wins), simple Kanban needs (Trello cheaper), or teams concerned about ownership uncertainty.

Strengths

  • Fits marketing agencies and creative teams
  • Proofing and approval workflows
  • Workload management
  • Custom dashboards
  • Wrike AI launched 2024
  • Multi-folder hierarchies for complex orgs

Weaknesses

  • Pricing per-user scales aggressively
  • Brand momentum slowed through ownership changes (Citrix → STG)
  • Uneven support quality
  • UI complexity vs Asana
  • Best-fit ceiling around 1,000 users

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free
    Up to 5 users
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Team
    Per user; basic project mgmt
    $10 /emp/mo
  • Business
    Adds proofing, custom dashboards
    $25 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise
    SSO, advanced security, custom roles
    Quote
  • Pinnacle
    Industry-specific accelerators
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Multi-year contracts standard at Enterprise+
  • · Annual billing for published rates

Key features

  • +Project management with custom hierarchies
  • +Proofing and approvals
  • +Workload management
  • +Custom dashboards
  • +Wrike AI
  • +Forms and requests
  • +Mobile apps
  • +Time tracking
400+ integrations
Microsoft 365Google WorkspaceSalesforceSlackAdobe Creative Cloud
Geography
Global
#9

Airtable

Database-led project management for ops teams.

Founded 2012 · San Francisco, CA · private · 5–500 employees
G2 4.6 (2,680)
Capterra 4.7
From $0 + $0 /mo + /employee
● Transparent pricing
Visit Airtable

Airtable is the spreadsheet-database hybrid for ops teams building custom workflows. The product's strength is letting non-developers build app-like workflows with relational databases, custom views (Grid, Kanban, Gallery, Gantt, Timeline, Calendar), and automations. Best-fit for content production, marketing ops, HR ops. Trade-offs: not a true project management tool; per-seat pricing scales aggressively at higher tiers.

Best for

Ops teams (5-500 employees), content production, marketing ops, HR ops, building custom workflows with database power.

Worst for

Pure project management buyers (Asana, Monday better), engineering teams (Jira wins), or simple Kanban (Trello cheaper).

Strengths

  • Spreadsheet + relational database hybrid
  • Custom views (Grid, Kanban, Gallery, Gantt, Timeline)
  • Built for ops teams building custom workflows
  • Airtable AI launched 2024
  • Generous free tier
  • Templates marketplace robust

Weaknesses

  • Not a true project management tool
  • Per-seat pricing scales aggressively at higher tiers
  • Performance lags at large data volumes
  • Support depends on tier
  • Best-fit ceiling around 500 users

Pricing tiers

public
  • Free
    Up to 5 users; 1,200 records per base
    $0+$0 /mo +/emp
  • Team
    Per seat; 50K records, automations
    $20 /emp/mo
  • Business
    Adds advanced sync, premium support
    $45 /emp/mo
  • Enterprise Scale
    SAML, advanced admin
    Quote
Watch for
  • · Airtable AI add-on at $6/seat/month
  • · Annual billing for published rates

Key features

  • +Spreadsheet + database hybrid
  • +Custom views
  • +Automations
  • +Apps and Interfaces
  • +Airtable AI
  • +API
  • +Templates marketplace
  • +Mobile apps
200+ integrations
SlackSalesforceMicrosoft 365Google WorkspaceZapier
Geography
Global
#10

Microsoft Project

Traditional enterprise project managers with Gantt-driven plans.

Founded 1984 · Redmond, WA · public · 500–100,000+ employees
G2 4.0 (1,840)
Capterra 4.4
From $10 /employee/mo
● Transparent pricing
Visit Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is the long-standing enterprise project management tool for traditional PMOs running Gantt-driven plans with resource leveling. Now part of Microsoft 365 (Project for the Web is the cloud-native version, Project Online is the legacy SharePoint-based version). Best-fit for Microsoft 365-anchored organizations with formal PMOs. Trade-offs: legacy product feel, expensive ($10-55/user), Gantt-only (no Kanban-first), customer support has been flagged through transitions.

Best for

Microsoft 365-anchored enterprises (1,000+ employees) with formal PMOs running Gantt-driven projects with resource management.

Worst for

Modern cross-functional teams (Asana wins), engineering teams (Jira wins), SMBs (overpriced), or Google Workspace shops.

Strengths

  • Long-standing enterprise project management tool (founded 1984)
  • Gantt-driven plans, resource leveling, capacity planning
  • Native Microsoft 365 + Teams integration
  • Best for formal PMOs
  • Power Platform extensibility

Weaknesses

  • Legacy product feel; UI dated
  • Pricing $10-55/user; multiple SKUs proliferate
  • Gantt-only philosophy (no Kanban-first)
  • Customer support flagged through Project Online → Project for the Web transition
  • Best-fit narrowed to Microsoft 365-anchored orgs

Pricing tiers

public
  • Project Plan 1
    Per user; basic project mgmt for Project for the Web
    $10 /emp/mo
  • Project Plan 3
    Adds resource mgmt, advanced reporting
    $30 /emp/mo
  • Project Plan 5
    Adds enterprise reporting, advanced features
    $55 /emp/mo
Watch for
  • · Project Online (legacy SharePoint-based) priced separately
  • · Power BI for serious reporting separately licensed
  • · Multi-year contracts at enterprise tier

Key features

  • +Gantt charts
  • +Resource leveling and capacity planning
  • +Native Teams + Microsoft 365 integration
  • +Power Platform extensibility
  • +Power BI integration
  • +Mobile apps
  • +Project Online (legacy)
  • +Project for the Web (cloud-native)
400+ integrations
Microsoft 365Microsoft TeamsPower BIAzure DevOpsSharePoint
Geography
Global

Frequently asked questions

The questions buyers actually ask before they sign.

Why is Jira so dominant in Australia compared to other markets?
Atlassian is Australia's most valuable tech company and Sydney-headquartered. Many Aussie tech leaders trained at or alongside Atlassian (Atlassian alumni populate senior roles across Canva, SafetyCulture, Employment Hero, Culture Amp). Aussie federal departments and ASX 200 IT organisations have run Jira for 10-15 years. Atlassian Cloud Enterprise IRAP alignment makes it one of the few PM platforms cleared for OFFICIAL Australian Government work. The combination of cultural familiarity, alumni networks, and compliance readiness gives Jira a structural Aussie advantage that no competitor has matched.
Does Jira work for Aussie marketing and non-tech teams?
It works but it usually loses on UX to Asana, Monday.com or ClickUp for non-engineering use cases. Most large Aussie organisations end up running Jira for engineering and IT, with Asana, Monday or ClickUp for marketing, ops and cross-functional work. Jira Work Management was Atlassian's answer to this and is closing the gap but Aussie marketing teams still tend to prefer Asana or Monday for the visual board experience.
What about IRAP and Australian Government PM tool requirements?
Australian Government tenants targeting OFFICIAL or PROTECTED workloads need IRAP-assessed cloud platforms. Atlassian Cloud Enterprise holds IRAP assessment at OFFICIAL with PROTECTED tier in progress. Microsoft Project Online runs on Azure Australia Central (Canberra sovereign region) at PROTECTED. Smartsheet has some Australian-government deployments at OFFICIAL via Azure Australia East. Asana, Monday.com, ClickUp, Notion, Airtable and Trello are not IRAP-assessed at the time of writing and tend to be excluded from PROTECTED-touching procurement.
Asana vs Monday vs ClickUp, which one?
Asana for cross-functional teams prioritizing UX. Monday for visual ops teams wanting work-OS positioning. ClickUp for budget-conscious teams wanting most features at lowest price. At 50+ users, prices diverge meaningfully, Asana ~$25/user, Monday $19, ClickUp $7-19.
How much should I budget for project management?
SMB (under 25 users): $0-$5K annually (free tiers + Trello/Asana Starter). Mid-market (25-200 users): $5K-$50K. Mid-large (200-1,000 users): $50K-$300K. Large enterprise (1,000+): $300K-$5M+ with implementation costs that often exceed first-year subscription.
How long does PM implementation take?
Trello, Asana free tier: hours. Notion, Monday: 1-2 weeks. Asana paid, ClickUp: 2-4 weeks. Wrike, Smartsheet, Airtable: 4-8 weeks. Microsoft Project: 8-16 weeks. Jira: 4-12 weeks (enterprise sprints take longer to configure).
Should I pick a unified work-OS or specialized PM?
Unified work-OS (Asana, Monday, ClickUp): better when multiple teams across functions need one tool. Specialized PM (Jira for engineering, Smartsheet for traditional PMOs, Notion for docs+tasks): better when you have specific deep needs that horizontal platforms can't match.
How do AI features compare in 2026?
AI in PM 2026: (1) Asana AI, task suggestions, status updates, goal tracking. (2) Monday AI, workflow automation, formula assistance. (3) ClickUp Brain, most ambitious; AI-driven task creation. (4) Atlassian Intelligence, Jira/Confluence integration. (5) Notion AI, docs + database AI. AI features are now table-stakes; vendors compete on quality.
Should I evaluate via free trial?
Free tiers permanent: Asana, Monday, ClickUp, Trello, Notion, Airtable. 14-day trial: Wrike, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project. Demo only: Microsoft Project Server, Smartsheet Enterprise.
How does PM differ from work management?
Project management = time-bounded work with start/end dates, milestones, resources. Work management = ongoing work without fixed end (sales pipelines, content calendars, recurring ops). Modern platforms (Asana, Monday, ClickUp) cover both. Traditional PM (Microsoft Project, Smartsheet) leans project-only.
How long does it take to switch PM tools?
Plan 30-90 days. Data migration (tasks, projects, time entries, comments) takes 14-45 days. User retraining is 14-30 days. Custom integration rebuilds add 14-45 days. The biggest risk: incomplete history migration breaking audit trails.

Final word

Looking at a different market? See the global Project Management Software ranking, or pick another country at the top of this page.

Last updated 2026-05-24. Local pricing reverified quarterly. Found something inaccurate? Tell us.