How we price this: SoftwareSift reads every number off the vendor pricing page, dates it, and re-checks it monthly. We report the real cost even on tools we earn nothing from -- and on this page that is all three of them: SoftwareSift has no affiliate relationship with Asana, monday.com, or ClickUp, so every link here is plain and earns us nothing, and nothing on the page is shaped by a commission. All figures are list prices in USD; quote-only Enterprise tiers and intro promos are kept out of the headline numbers on purpose.
Asana, monday.com, and ClickUp all price the same way -- per seat, per month, billed annually -- which makes them directly comparable once you do the one piece of math the vendors never show you: the all-in cost for an actual team over an actual year. A per-seat sticker hides three things at once: it scales with headcount, it is the annual-prepay rate (month-to-month costs more), and monday.com will not sell you fewer than three paid seats.
The number that is not on any vendor page: real first-year cost for a 10-seat team
We take each publicly priced tier and multiply the per-seat monthly price (billed annually) by 10 seats and 12 months. None of these three charges a separate onboarding fee, so for a project-management tool that is the whole bill.
| Vendor | Tier | Per seat/mo (billed annually) | Real cost, 10 seats/year | Seat minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asana | Starter | $10.99/seat/mo | $1,318.80 | none | first paid tier |
| Asana | Advanced | $24.99/seat/mo | $2,998.80 | none | automation + reporting tier |
| Asana | Enterprise | Custom (quote) | Custom (quote) | -- | quote-gated, excluded |
| monday.com | Basic | $9/seat/mo | $1,080 | 3 seats | cannot buy 1-2 paid seats |
| monday.com | Standard | $12/seat/mo | $1,440 | 3 seats | mid tier |
| monday.com | Pro | $19/seat/mo | $2,280 | 3 seats | most popular tier |
| monday.com | Enterprise | Custom (quote) | Custom (quote) | -- | quote-gated, excluded |
| ClickUp | Unlimited | $7/seat/mo | $840 | none | cheapest entry |
| ClickUp | Business | $12/seat/mo | $1,440 | none | automations + dashboards |
| ClickUp | Enterprise | Custom (quote) | Custom (quote) | -- | quote-gated, excluded |
Prices re-verified June 11, 2026 from the Asana, monday.com, and ClickUp pricing pages. Per-seat figures are the billed-annually list rate in USD; month-to-month billing runs higher (Asana Starter is $13.49/seat billed monthly vs $10.99 billed annually -- about 18% more -- and monday.com advertises 18% off for annual prepay; ClickUp's $7 and $12 are billed-yearly rates, with month-to-month higher). Enterprise tiers on all three are quote-gated -- no public number -- and are excluded from the table. monday.com requires a 3-seat minimum on every paid plan.
What the headline hides
- monday.com will not sell fewer than 3 seats. Every paid plan carries a 3-seat minimum, so a solo founder or a 2-person team still pays for three: Basic works out to $324/year minimum, Standard $432, before a third person exists. Its free plan also caps at 2 users, so adding teammate number three forces a paid plan and the 3-seat floor in the same step.
- The stickers are the annual-prepay rate; monthly costs more. Asana Starter is $10.99/seat billed annually but $13.49 month-to-month -- about 18% more -- and monday.com advertises 18% off for yearly billing. ClickUp's $7 Unlimited and $12 Business are billed-yearly rates too, with month-to-month higher. Pay monthly and every sticker above goes up.
- AI is a separate line item. ClickUp Brain adds about $9/seat/mo on top of the plan, and Asana and monday.com meter their AI features the same way. The collaboration price above does not include the AI add-ons that increasingly drive the upgrade decision.
- Free tiers are tight. monday.com caps its free plan at 2 seats; ClickUp gives a free plan with unlimited tasks but only 60MB of storage; Asana's free Personal plan is built for individuals and very small groups. Free is a trial, not a foundation -- budget for paid from the start.
Which fits a small team?
For the lowest real cost, ClickUp Unlimited ($840/year for 10 seats) and monday.com Basic ($1,080) are the cheapest publicly priced entries, with Asana Starter at $1,318.80. Step up to the tier most teams actually run and monday.com Standard and ClickUp Business both land at $1,440/year for 10 seats, while Asana Advanced jumps to about $3,000 for its automation and reporting tier. If you are one or two people, ClickUp (free or a single paid seat) sidesteps monday.com's 3-seat floor entirely. Price it at your real headcount and your real billing term before you commit -- the per-seat sticker is the annual-prepay rate, not the bill.
Go deeper
- Asana vs monday.com, feature by feature
- The best project management tools for small teams
- Project management software with a client portal
Check current pricing at the source: Asana, monday.com, ClickUp. We link straight to the vendor and earn nothing on the click.
SoftwareSift Team. We earn affiliate commissions on some tools we cover, disclosed on every link; this never changes the prices or the math we report.