12 Best ActiveCollab Alternatives in 2026

ActiveCollab Plus: $11/user/month; Pro: $17/user/month; Get Paid bundle: +$4/user/month. A 15-person team pays $1,980-$3,780/year for PM and time tracking only, no CRM, proposals, or contracts. Top alternatives: Agiled (free, all-in-one), ClickUp ($7/user), ProofHub ($89/month flat). Prices verified April 2026.

ActiveCollab delivers project management with built-in time tracking, task lists, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and team collaboration. The Pro plan adds integrations and expense tracking, while the Get Paid bundle layers on invoicing, project budgeting, and workload management. Over 50,000 teams use it globally, mostly agencies and creative studios with fewer than 20 employees .

The problems surface when teams need more than project management. ActiveCollab has no CRM, no proposals or contracts module, and a client portal limited to project visibility. Tasks can only be assigned to one person at a time. Subtasks lack independent due dates. The mobile app is noticeably less stable than the desktop version . At $11-17/user/month before the Get Paid add-on, a 15-person agency pays $1,980-$3,780/year for project management alone, then needs separate tools for sales, proposals, and client onboarding. If those gaps are costing you time or money, these 12 platforms are worth evaluating.

Quick decision guide:

If You Need	Best Pick	Starting Price
Everything in one platform	Agiled	Free
Maximum PM feature depth	ClickUp	Free
Visual drag-and-drop boards	Monday.com	Free
Enterprise resource management	Wrike	Free
Simplicity over features	Basecamp	$15/user
Agency client billing	Teamwork	Free
Time-to-invoice for hourly billing	Paymo	Free
Flat-rate unlimited users	ProofHub	$45/mo

Where ActiveCollab Falls Short for Growing Teams

• No CRM at any tier. ActiveCollab has no sales pipelines, deal tracking, or contact management. Agencies that acquire clients through outbound or inbound sales need a separate CRM ($15-50/user/month for HubSpot Starter or Pipedrive), which fragments client data across two platforms and creates manual handoffs between sales and delivery teams.
• No proposals or contracts. There is no built-in proposal builder, contract creation, or e-signature workflow. Teams must use external tools like PandaDoc ($19/user/month) or Bonsai for client onboarding documents, adding another subscription and another login .
• Single-assignee tasks create workarounds. Every ActiveCollab task can have one assignee. You can add subscribers, but collaborative tasks requiring multiple contributors need frequent reassignment or duplicate tasks. On r/projectmanagement, this is a common complaint for agencies with cross-functional delivery teams.
• Subtasks lack independent due dates. Tasks with multiple stages or contributions from different team members require manual due-date adjustments after each stage completes. ActiveCollab does not support assigning distinct deadlines to subtasks .
• Invoicing gated behind the Get Paid bundle. Invoicing, project budgeting, and online payments require the Pro plan ($17/user) plus the Get Paid add-on (+$4/user/month for monthly billing, +$3/user for annual). A 15-person team pays $3,780/year for Pro + Get Paid, and the invoicing module is described by reviewers as "far too limited" with weak QuickBooks integration .
• Basic client portal. Clients can view projects, but there is no branded portal experience, no document approval workflows, no payment flows, and no self-service access to invoices or contracts.
• Mobile app instability. G2 and Capterra reviews consistently cite the mobile app as less stable and less functional than the desktop version, with users reporting sync delays and feature gaps .
• Limited third-party integrations. ActiveCollab's integration library is smaller than major competitors. Teams relying on 5+ third-party tools may find gaps in automation connectors.
• Per-seat pricing compounds. At $11-17/user/month before add-ons, a growing team's costs scale linearly. A 25-person team on Pro + Get Paid pays $6,300/year for project management with limited invoicing and no CRM.

1. Agiled: Best All-in-One ActiveCollab Alternative

Agiled is the strongest option for teams that need more than project management and time tracking from a single platform. While ActiveCollab focuses on task management, time tracking, and basic invoicing (on higher tiers), Agiled combines full project management with native CRM, invoicing, proposals and contracts, client portals, HR, and AI agents.

The difference is most visible in the client lifecycle. With ActiveCollab, managing a client from first contact to final invoice means juggling a CRM for sales, a proposal tool for onboarding, ActiveCollab for the project, and potentially a separate invoicing tool if you are not on the Get Paid tier. Agiled replaces that entire stack. A lead enters through CRM, receives a proposal via Documents, signs a contract with e-signatures, becomes an active project in Projects, tracks billable hours, and gets invoiced from Finance without switching platforms. The client portal gives clients a single place to view progress, approve deliverables, and pay invoices.

What sets Agiled apart from ActiveCollab:

• Project management with Kanban boards, Gantt charts, task dependencies, milestones, and project templates via Projects
• Time tracking built in, converting tracked hours into billable invoices automatically
• CRM with visual pipelines, contact management, and deal tracking via CRM
• Invoicing and finance with estimates, recurring billing, expense tracking, and online payments
• Proposals and contracts with e-signatures and reusable templates
• Client portal where clients view project progress, approve deliverables, and make payments
• Workflow automation with visual builder, triggers, and conditions
• AI agents for drafting proposals, emails, and reports, included in the base price
• HR and payroll including attendance, leave tracking, and org charts

Pricing: Free plan available. Pro plans start at $7.99/user/month .

Start Free With Agiled

2. ClickUp: Best for Feature Depth on a Budget

ClickUp is one of the most feature-packed project management platforms, with 15+ views, built-in docs, whiteboards, goals, native time tracking, and multiple assignees per task. It directly solves ActiveCollab's single-assignee limitation and offers more project views at lower per-user pricing.

ClickUp's free plan is more generous than ActiveCollab's trial period, and the Unlimited plan at $7/user/month undercuts ActiveCollab Plus while offering more features . Teams that want maximum flexibility within a dedicated PM tool will find ClickUp the most feature-dense option.

Key features:

• 15+ views including List, Board, Gantt, Timeline, and Mind Maps
• Multiple assignees per task (solves ActiveCollab's single-assignee limitation)
• Built-in docs, whiteboards, and chat
• Native time tracking across all plans
• Goals, milestones, and OKR tracking

Limitations: The volume of features makes ClickUp complex to configure. Performance slows on larger workspaces. No native invoicing, CRM, or client portal. AI features cost extra .

Pricing: Free Forever plan available. Unlimited at $7/user/month. Business at $12/user/month. Enterprise pricing on request.

3. Monday.com: Best for Visual Workflows

Monday.com appeals to teams that want a more visual, drag-and-drop approach than ActiveCollab's task-list-first interface. Color-coded boards and intuitive automations make it accessible for non-technical teams without a steep learning curve.

Monday.com has expanded into CRM, dev tools, and service management as separate products. The automation engine is strong, though action limits on lower tiers restrict high-volume workflows.

Key features:

• Customizable visual boards and dashboards
• AI-powered task automation and data extraction
• 200+ templates for different workflows
• Time tracking and workload management
• Multiple products (CRM, Dev, Service) available as add-ons

Limitations: Per-seat pricing scales steeply for larger teams. CRM is a separate product with its own billing. Automation actions are capped on Basic and Standard plans. No invoicing, proposals, or contracts.

Pricing: Free for up to 2 users. Basic at $9/seat/month. Standard at $12/seat/month. Pro at $19/seat/month .

4. Teamwork: Best for Agency Client Billing

Teamwork is built for agencies and client services teams with strong project management, time tracking, and billing features. It is one of the closest ActiveCollab alternatives in terms of agency focus, but it adds profitability tracking per client and project that ActiveCollab's basic invoicing module lacks.

For agencies billing clients for project work, Teamwork's ability to track time against budgets and generate invoices from tracked hours eliminates the need for the Get Paid add-on or separate billing software.

Key features:

• Project templates and milestone tracking
• Profitability tracking per client and project
• Built-in time tracking and invoicing
• Client user access for project transparency
• Resource workload management

Limitations: Interface feels dated compared to modern PM tools. No built-in CRM, proposals, or contracts. Teamwork CRM is a separate subscription with its own billing.

Pricing: Free for up to 5 users. Deliver at $13.99/user/month. Grow at $25.99/user/month .

5. Wrike: Best for Enterprise Resource Management

Wrike is the enterprise-grade option for teams that need advanced resource management, cross-departmental visibility, and creative proofing workflows. Where ActiveCollab limits workload management to the Get Paid bundle, Wrike offers resource planning at lower tiers with more depth.

Wrike's cross-tagging lets tasks live in multiple projects simultaneously, a structural advantage over ActiveCollab's single-project task model. Proofing and approval workflows are particularly strong for marketing and creative teams managing high-volume asset production.

Key features:

• Custom workflows with request forms and blueprints
• Real-time Gantt charts and workload management
• Proofing and approval workflows for creative assets
• Time tracking and budget calculation
• Cross-tagging for multi-department visibility

Limitations: Complex interface with a steep learning curve. Per-user pricing at the Business tier ($24.80/user/month) is higher than ActiveCollab Pro. No CRM, invoicing, or client portal.

Pricing: Free plan available. Team at $10/user/month. Business at $24.80/user/month. Enterprise and Pinnacle pricing on request .

6. Asana: Best for Clean Task Management

Asana is a well-designed project management tool known for its clean interface and structured workflow management. It handles the same core use case as ActiveCollab (task management, views, collaboration) but with a more polished interface, a larger integration library (260+ vs ActiveCollab's smaller set), and stronger portfolio management.

The trade-off is pricing: Asana's per-user costs are comparable to ActiveCollab's, and it also lacks CRM, invoicing, and time tracking on most plans.

Key features:

• Lists, boards, timelines, and calendar views
• Custom rules for automating task workflows
• Goals and milestones for progress tracking
• Portfolio view for managing multiple projects
• 260+ integrations

Limitations: No CRM, invoicing, or time tracking built in. Resource management locked behind Enterprise. Per-user pricing scales steeply for larger teams.

Pricing: Free for 1-2 users. Starter at $10.99/user/month. Advanced at $24.99/user/month .

7. Basecamp: Best for Teams That Want Simplicity

Basecamp takes a deliberate less-is-more approach to project management, focusing on communication and organization over feature complexity. It is the opposite of ActiveCollab's feature-layered approach: ideal for teams that want minimal configuration.

The flat-rate Pro Unlimited plan at $299/month is compelling for larger teams. For a 25-person team, that works out to roughly $12/person, less than ActiveCollab Plus. For a 50-person team, it drops to $6/person .

Key features:

• Message boards and group chat per project
• To-do lists with assignments and deadlines
• Hill Charts for visual progress tracking
• Schedule and milestone tracking
• Automatic check-ins for async updates

Limitations: No Gantt charts, task dependencies, or subtask depth. No time tracking, resource management, or advanced reporting. No CRM or invoicing.

Pricing: $15/user/month. Pro Unlimited at $299/month flat for unlimited users.

8. Plutio: Best for Solopreneurs and Small Teams

Plutio connects proposals, contracts, project management, and invoicing in one platform, with a client portal that auto-converts signed documents into projects. It directly fills the gaps ActiveCollab has for proposals, contracts, and client onboarding.

For freelancers and small agencies, Plutio covers the workflow ActiveCollab misses: send a proposal, get it signed, auto-create the project, track time, and invoice the client without leaving the platform.

Key features:

• Proposals and contracts that convert to projects when signed
• Time tracking with billable rates
• Client portal with project progress views
• Task management with boards and lists
• Integrated invoicing and payment processing

Limitations: Limited HR and team management. Fewer integrations than larger platforms. Less suited for teams above 10 people.

Pricing: Starts at $19/month for solo users. Team plans from $39/month .

9. Paymo: Best for Time-Billing Teams

Paymo combines project management with time tracking and invoicing, making it a natural ActiveCollab alternative for agencies and freelancers who bill by the hour. Its time-to-invoice workflow is more streamlined than ActiveCollab's Get Paid bundle because time tracking and invoicing are included in the base product rather than gated behind an add-on.

Key features:

• Task management with Kanban and Gantt views
• Automatic and manual time tracking
• Client invoicing from tracked time
• Resource scheduling and workload management
• Project budgeting and profitability reports

Limitations: Smaller user base and fewer integrations than major competitors. No CRM or proposals.

Pricing: Free plan available. Starter at $5.9/user/month. Business at $10.9/user/month .

10. Scoro: Best for Professional Services Firms

Scoro covers the full quote-to-cash cycle for professional services: CRM, quoting, project management, time tracking, and financial reporting in one system. It targets larger agencies and consultancies where profitability and financial visibility are critical.

The depth of financial reporting is the key differentiator. Scoro tracks profitability per project, client, and team member with utilization dashboards that ActiveCollab cannot provide at any tier.

Key features:

• Project and resource management with Gantt charts
• CRM with deal pipelines and quoting
• Time tracking with utilization reporting
• Invoicing and financial dashboards
• Profitability analysis per project, client, and team

Limitations: Expensive. Essential starts at $20/user/month with a 5-seat minimum ($100/month entry point) . Complex setup. Overkill for small teams.

Pricing: Essential at $20/user/month (min 5 seats). Standard at $42/user/month. Pro at $71/user/month.

11. Notion: Best for Documentation and Light Project Tracking

Notion is not a dedicated PM tool, but its flexible databases, wiki-style docs, and customizable views make it a capable replacement for teams where documentation and knowledge management matter as much as task tracking.

Notion's AI assistant is included in paid plans for writing assistance, summaries, and Q&A across workspaces. Teams that spend as much time writing specs and internal docs as managing tasks can consolidate both environments.

Key features:

• Flexible databases with Board, Table, Timeline, Calendar, and Gallery views
• Built-in wikis and documentation with nested pages
• AI assistant for writing, summaries, and search
• Templates for every workflow
• Real-time collaboration and comments

Limitations: Lacks native Gantt charts, resource management, time tracking, and task dependencies. No CRM, invoicing, or client portal.

Pricing: Free plan available. Plus at $10/user/month. Business at $18/user/month .

12. Smartsheet: Best for Spreadsheet Power Users

Smartsheet brings project management to teams that think in rows and columns. Its grid-based interface is the natural option for operations teams, PMOs, and organizations embedded in spreadsheet workflows.

Smartsheet offers automations, dashboards, and resource management beyond what a spreadsheet provides, while maintaining the tabular interface that data-heavy teams prefer over card and board views.

Key features:

• Spreadsheet-style project tracking with Gantt and card views
• Automated workflows and alerts
• Resource management dashboards
• Portfolio-level reporting and roll-ups
• Enterprise-grade security and governance

Limitations: Less visual and engaging than board-based tools. Not ideal for teams that prefer Kanban workflows or need client-facing features. No CRM, invoicing, or client portal.

Pricing: Pro at $9/user/month. Business at $19/user/month. Enterprise pricing on request .

How These 12 Platforms Compare on Core Features

We evaluated each platform across 7 capabilities that ActiveCollab users ask about most in community forums and review sites: project management depth, CRM, invoicing, time tracking, client portal, proposals/contracts, and automation.

Platform	PM Depth	CRM	Invoicing	Time Tracking	Client Portal	Proposals	Automation	Price From
Agiled	Full	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free
ActiveCollab	Full	No	Add-on	Yes	Basic	No	Basic	$11/user
ClickUp	Full	Template	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Free
Monday.com	Full	Add-on	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Free
Teamwork	Full	Add-on	Yes	Yes	Limited	No	Yes	Free
Wrike	Full	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Free
Asana	Full	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Free*
Basecamp	Basic	No	No	No	No	No	Basic	$15/user
Plutio	Basic	Basic	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic	$19/mo
Paymo	Full	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Basic	Free
Scoro	Full	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	$100/mo*
Notion	Basic	No	No	No	No	No	Basic	Free
Smartsheet	Full	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	$9/user

*Asana free limited to 1-2 users. Scoro requires 5-seat minimum at $20/user.

Our 7-Category Feature Scoring Analysis

To produce the comparison above, we cross-referenced feature pages, pricing pages, and recent user reviews on Capterra, G2, and Reddit for all 12 platforms (as of April 2026). Where a feature existed but was limited compared to dedicated tools (for example, ActiveCollab's basic client access vs. Agiled's full-featured client portal with payment flows and document approval), we scored it as "Basic" or "Limited" rather than "Yes."

What the data shows:

• Only 2 platforms (Agiled and Scoro) offer CRM, invoicing, AND proposals alongside full project management. Scoro costs $100/month minimum (5-seat requirement). Agiled starts free.
• ActiveCollab scores "No" on 3 of 7 categories (CRM, proposals, full client portal) and gates invoicing behind an add-on tier. At $17-21/user/month for Pro + Get Paid, it delivers 4/7 feature categories.
• The cost-per-feature ratio for a 15-person team on ActiveCollab Pro + Get Paid ($21/user) is approximately $79/month per available feature category (4 of 7). Agiled's paid plan delivers 7/7 coverage at roughly $23/month per feature category at the same team size .
• Plutio covers proposals and invoicing but has limited PM depth and no CRM. It works best for solopreneurs, not growing agencies.
• ClickUp and Monday.com offer the strongest PM-only feature depth, but teams needing business operations (billing, proposals, client communication) still require separate tools, adding $10-50/user/month in additional platform costs.

What a 15-Person Agency Actually Pays

Per-user pricing obscures the real cost at scale. Here is what a 15-person agency team pays annually for each platform, including the cost of adding CRM and invoicing tools when the platform does not include them:

Platform	Monthly Cost (15 users)	Annual Cost	Includes CRM + Invoicing?
ActiveCollab Plus	$165	$1,980	No
ActiveCollab Pro + Get Paid	$315	$3,780	Invoicing only (limited)
ClickUp Unlimited	$105	$1,260	No
Monday.com Standard	$180	$2,160	CRM add-on extra
Wrike Business	$372	$4,464	No
Asana Starter	$165	$1,980	No
Basecamp Pro	$299	$3,588	No
ProofHub Ultimate	$89	$1,068	No
Agiled Pro	$120	$1,440	Yes
Scoro Standard	$630	$7,560	Yes
Paymo Business	$164	$1,962	Invoicing only

The break-even analysis: ProofHub becomes the cheapest PM-only option at 5+ users. Basecamp Pro becomes cheaper per-user than ActiveCollab Plus at 20+ users. But neither includes CRM, invoicing, or proposals, so the total cost depends on what you layer on top.

For teams that need project management plus CRM, invoicing, and proposals, Agiled at $1,440/year for 15 users replaces what would cost $3,780/year on ActiveCollab Pro + Get Paid (for limited invoicing only) plus a separate CRM ($2,700/year for HubSpot Starter at $15/user) plus a proposals tool ($2,280/year for PandaDoc at $19/user for 8 seats). Total stack cost: $8,760/year vs. $1,440/year on Agiled.

When ActiveCollab Is Still the Right Choice

Not every team needs to switch. ActiveCollab remains a solid option in specific situations:

• Your team only needs project management and time tracking. If you do not invoice clients through your PM tool, do not manage sales pipelines, and do not send proposals, ActiveCollab's focused feature set is a strength. Adding capabilities you will not use adds complexity.
• You value the self-hosted option. ActiveCollab offers a self-hosted version (ActiveCollab Self-Hosted 8) for teams that need full data control on their own servers . Most SaaS alternatives, including Agiled, are cloud-only.
• Your team is small (under 5 people) and only needs the Plus plan. At $11/user/month for a small team, ActiveCollab Plus is competitive for basic project management with time tracking. The pricing pain hits harder above 10 users on Pro + Get Paid.
• You rely on ActiveCollab's specific Gantt and timeline views. Teams that have built their workflow around ActiveCollab's timeline and workload views may find the migration cost exceeds the savings, especially if the primary complaint is only pricing.
• You work with an agency model focused purely on delivery. If your sales process is handled entirely outside your PM tool and you only need to manage projects after contracts are signed elsewhere, ActiveCollab's delivery focus may be exactly right.

If none of these apply, you will likely get more value from one of the 12 alternatives above.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does ActiveCollab cost in 2026?

ActiveCollab offers Plus at $11/user/month and Pro at $17/user/month when billed monthly. Annual billing gives roughly 15% off, bringing Plus to $10/user and Pro to $15/user. The Get Paid bundle (invoicing, budgeting, online payments) adds $3-4/user/month on top of Pro. Teams of 100+ seats get a discounted rate of $3.50/user/month billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available. Educational institutions and nonprofits receive 50% off .

Which ActiveCollab alternative is best for agencies?

Agiled and Teamwork are the best options for agencies. Agiled offers the most complete package with CRM, invoicing, proposals and contracts, and client portals alongside project management, starting free. Teamwork excels at profitability tracking per client and project with built-in time-to-invoice workflows. Both support time tracking and invoicing natively, but Agiled adds CRM, proposals, and a full client portal without extra subscriptions.

Does ActiveCollab have a CRM?

No. ActiveCollab is focused on project management and time tracking. It does not include CRM, sales pipelines, deal tracking, or contact management at any tier. For CRM, you need a separate tool like HubSpot ($15-50/user/month) or an all-in-one alternative like Agiled that includes CRM natively.

Can ActiveCollab handle proposals and contracts?

No. ActiveCollab has no built-in proposal builder, contract creation, or e-signature functionality. Teams use external tools like PandaDoc, Bonsai, or Proposify for client onboarding documents. Alternatives like Agiled and Plutio include proposals and contracts alongside project management, eliminating the need for separate tools.

Can I migrate from ActiveCollab to another tool?

Most alternatives support CSV import for tasks, projects, and team data. ActiveCollab provides export options for project and task data. ClickUp and Monday.com offer dedicated import tools that map fields and project structures automatically. For time entries, client information, and project budgets, expect to export CSV files and import them with some manual mapping. Start migration by exporting your most active projects first and verifying the import before moving historical data.

Is ActiveCollab good for large teams?

ActiveCollab was built mostly for agencies with up to 20 employees. As teams grow past that size, users report needing more automation, deeper integrations, and better customization. The per-user pricing also becomes a factor: a 50-person team on Pro + Get Paid pays $12,600/year . Larger teams often find better value in flat-rate tools like ProofHub or Basecamp, or all-in-one platforms like Agiled that consolidate tools and reduce total subscription costs.

Related Comparisons:

• Agiled vs ActiveCollab
• ActiveCollab vs Teamwork
• Best Asana Alternatives
• Best ClickUp Alternatives
• Best Monday.com Alternatives
• Best Wrike Alternatives
• Best Teamwork Alternatives
• Best Scoro Alternatives
• Best ProofHub Alternatives

For more resources, browse the Agiled resource hub.