Effective collaboration and communication still rank as some of the biggest challenges of remote work — and while there are tons of solutions in the project management software market that were developed to address these challenges, not all will meet your needs.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the top monday.com alternatives worth considering in 2024.

1. Lark - Best overall alternative

Lark is an all-in-one solution for productivity and collaboration. It combines the tools and features remote teams need to streamline their workflows, manage tasks and schedules, and handle daily communication — from one easy-to-navigate, intuitive user interface.

That’s what makes Lark a better project management solution — and a great monday.com alternative:

It has the same core features that monday.com offers — and, simultaneously, goes beyond the functionalities for project management.

Here’s an overview of Lark’s wide range of features:

• Base, Lark’s project management solution — a spreadsheet-based collaborative database with multiple views for project visualization (Gantt charts, Kanban boards, grid, gallery, and forms), templates, automated workflows, notifications, and reminders

• Meetings, Lark’s audio and video conferencing tool, with advanced collaboration features like Magic Share, subtitles with real-time translation, and Breakout rooms with up to 50 different groups within a single meeting

• Meeting recording and automatic transcripts with Minutes

• One-on-one and team chat options — with rich formatting, real-time auto-translation, threads, and the option to share emails, convert messages into tasks that will show up in chat and on the dashboard, or schedule events within the chat — with Messenger

• Advanced content collaboration with team members — including file sharing, co-editing, support for more than 200 file types, and up to 10TB of cloud storage — with Docs

• Lark OKR for tracking individual and team goals, with progress reporting capabilities and dashboards with insights for data-driven decisions

As an all-around offering, Lark eliminates the need for constant switching between multiple single-function apps. All the key features your team needs to be productive — from advanced collaboration features, audio and video conferencing, email, and chat to customizable workflows and automation — are integrated into a single platform.

That can save your team a lot of time if you consider that switching between different apps and browser tabs — even if it takes only a second or two — can add up to nearly four hours a week.

Moreover, you can connect Lark with your go-to workplace apps. It integrates with other tools for project management — like Asana, Trello, and Jira — file management and productivity tools. Plus, it allows seamless integration with over 6,000 different apps through Zapier.

Another thing worth mentioning here is that Lark offers all these advanced features at a lower price point than monday.com.

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Here’s an overview of Lark’s pricing structure and the essential features included in each plan:

• Starter plan, which is free, supports up to 50 users and includes 60-minute video conferencing with virtual backgrounds and screen sharing, real-time chat, a collaborative database, workflow automation with 5,000 runs a month, 100GB of storage, and Lark-hosted email

• Pro plan, which costs $12 per month per user and unlocks additional features for video conferencing, 1TB of storage, and 50,000 automation runs per month

• Enterprise plan, with custom pricing and advanced security features

2. Jira - Best for agile software development teams

Based on the 17th State of Agile Report, the adoption of agile methodologies among software development teams has grown to 86% — up from 37% — and has doubled among non-IT teams. If your company has adopted agile methodologies, Jira is a powerful cloud-based platform worth considering.

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Jira — Atlassian’s flagship product and the core of their software suite — is a bug-tracking and agile project management solution with a range of advanced features, including:

• Scrum and Kanban boards for agile project management

• Interactive timelines for tracking task progress and dependency management

• Backlogs, Jira’s to-do lists that can be used for basic task management

• Comprehensive reporting features with more than 12 default types of reports and insights

• Customizable workflows

• Intuitive automation builder with drag-and-drop functionality and hundreds of pre-built automation templates

Plus, it supports practically limitless integrations, connecting with more than 3,000 apps in the Atlassian Marketplace.

It’s a powerful tool with robust features, especially for experienced project managers and agile teams.

However, that complexity is also one of Jira’s biggest disadvantages:

There’s a steep learning curve; it takes time to figure out how different features work.

Jira’s four-level pricing structure includes a free version for up to 10 users, unlimited customizable boards, basic planning and dependency management, Backlogs, 100 automation runs, custom workflows, and essential reporting capabilities.

The paid version starts at $8.15 per user per month — much more affordable than monday’s cheapest plan. There’s also a Premium plan at $16 per user per month and an Enterprise plan with custom pricing.

3. ClickUp - Best for customizable workflows

ClickUp — cloud-based software known as a highly customizable platform — is another popular monday.com alternative, with key features such as:

• 15+ custom views (Kanban boards, Gantt charts, lists, calendars, timelines, whiteboards, and Mind Maps)

• Intuitive automation builder with pre-built and custom automations

• Reporting capabilities, including time tracking, ClickUp Goals, and task milestones

• Real-time chat

• Custom workflows and preset project templates for different departments

• Lots of customization options, including custom fields, statuses, and task types

• Advanced security features, including two-factor authentication, Single Sign-On (SSO), and HIPAA compliance (for Enterprise-level customers)

ClickUp natively connects with over 50 apps, including Slack, Google Drive, OneDrive, Zoom, and Discord — with even more third-party integrations available through Zapier. Plus, you can import data from other PM platforms, such as Asana, Trello, and monday.com.

More experienced project managers will appreciate the lots of customization options available in ClickUp, and it’s particularly popular among digital marketing teams:

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However, new users might find it overwhelming and hard to navigate, which is one of ClickUp’s biggest downsides.

While there’s no free trial, ClickUp has a free version. It supports unlimited users, up to five spaces with unlimited tasks, three virtual whiteboards, real-time chat, in-app video recording, and more than 50 native integrations. However, it has limited storage options and only allows 100 automations a month.

In addition to the Free Forever “complementary plan,” ClickUp also has a cheaper starting price than monday.com:

• Unlimited plan, which starts at $10 per month per user

• Business plan, which starts at $19 per month per user

• Enterprise plan, which has custom pricing

4. Airtable - Best for detailed databases

Airtable, which currently holds a spot on the list of fastest-growing apps, has the look and feel of a traditional spreadsheet — combined with a database system, essential features for project management, and a more user-friendly interface.

Nearly two-thirds of people have an average of two to three spreadsheets open anytime during the workday.

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If your team is already used to working with spreadsheets, Airtable can be a good monday.com alternative, with key features like:

• Different types of views (Kanban boards, Gantt charts, timeline, calendar, list, form, and gallery views)

• Real-time collaboration and comments

• Automation capabilities with an automation run history

• Multi-source and two-way syncing

• Customization options, including custom branding for forms

It also has more than 47 pre-built extensions and supports seamless integration with other tools — although the list is relatively limited compared to the competition.

Overall, it’s a flexible and customizable platform that can help your team centralize and organize project-related data.

That said, there are a few limitations worth mentioning:

First, you’ll need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan to access many of Airtable’s additional features for project management. Second, latency issues aren’t uncommon when dealing with complex projects and large datasets.

Another thing to remember is that while Airtable’s pricing structure includes a free version, the paid plans start at $24 per user per month, making it one of the most expensive tools on this list.

So, if you need a more cost-effective solution, Lark is an Airtable alternative worth considering.

5. Trello - Best for Kanban-style task visualization

Trello is a highly visual, Kanban-based tool for project management that can be a great choice for agile teams — especially those working in the marketing and web development industries — and smaller-scale projects.

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It’s part of Atlassian’s product suite and boasts a wide range of features, including:

• Trello boards with advanced checklists, custom fields, assignees, and due dates

• Dashboard, timeline, table, calendar, and map view

• No-code automation

• Customizable templates for more efficient workflow creation

You can also bring additional features and connect Trello with more than 200 other apps with Power-Ups — including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, and Salesforce.

One of Trello’s biggest downsides is the lack of advanced features that would make it suitable for managing large and otherwise complex projects. Moreover, it lacks advanced reporting and analytics features; these are only available as Power-Ups, which typically require an additional fee.

Speaking of fees, Trello has four pricing plans, including a generous free plan covering basic task management features — pre-built automations with 250 runs per month, 10 Trello boards per Workspace with unlimited cards, and unlimited storage for card attachments.

Plus, Trello’s cheapest plan starts at $6 per user per month, making it one of the most affordable monday.com alternatives.

6. Asana - Best for straightforward project management

Asana is a straightforward tool for project management, best known for its simple and intuitive user interface.

Here’s an overview of Asana’s key features:

• Essential task management features, with unlimited projects, tasks, activity logs, and comments

• Several types of project views (lists, Kanban boards, calendars, Gantt charts, and timelines)

• Pre-built automations

• Resource management with workload and time tracking (reserved for higher-tier plans)

• Advanced reporting and goal tracking

Additionally, it offers more than 100 free integrations — including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Zoom, and Notion — and integrates with Lark. Plus, you can extend the list of third-party integrations through Zapier.

As we mentioned earlier, Asana is known for its intuitive interface and ease of use. However, just like Trello, it might not be advanced enough to meet the needs of project managers handling more complex, large-scale projects.

Moreover, most of Asana’s advanced project management features are reserved for higher-tier plans, making it an expensive option for smaller teams.

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On a related note, Asana’s pricing structure has three levels for individuals and small teams — including a free version — starting at $13.49 per month per user. It also has two additional Enterprise-level plans with custom pricing for larger businesses.

7. Smartsheet - Best for spreadsheet-style project planning

When it comes to core features, Smartsheet is relatively similar to monday.com and most other project management tools. The main difference between this advanced spreadsheet tool and monday.com is mostly in the interface:

Like Airtable, Smartsheet’s default layout resembles a traditional spreadsheet more than a typical PM tool.

And if spreadsheet compatibility is a priority for you, Smartsheet can be a strong monday.com alternative, with key features like:

• Different views (grid, Gantt, calendar, and card view)

• Dashboards with widgets and real-time information

• Activity logs

• Custom branding for workspaces, sheets, and dashboards

• Automated workflows

• Bi-directional reporting

Smartsheet integrates with over 100 third-party tools — including Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack, Miro, and Excel. Plus, you can connect it to Zapier, which extends Smartsheet’s integration capabilities to over 1,000 other apps.

One downside to remember is that it has a steep learning curve, which can be an issue considering that only 27% of people say they’re advanced Excel users.

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Also, Smartsheet’s lower-tier plans have very few (if any) security features.

That said, it has a cheaper starting price than monday.com — the Pro plan starts at $9 per user per month — and a 30-day free trial.

On that note, Smartsheet’s pricing structure has four levels, one of which is a Free plan:

It’s limited to only one user and up to two editors. Still, it gives you access to basic features — including up to two customizable sheets, unlimited dashboards with ten widgets per dashboard, reports, grid, Gantt, card, and calendar views, and basic automation capabilities.

8. Basecamp - Best for remote team collaboration

Remote work is becoming increasingly common. In 2022, only two out of 10 US employees who were allowed to work remotely continued to work on-site; 29% were exclusively remote, and another 49% were in a hybrid work arrangement.

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We can expect remote work and distributed teams to become even more common in the coming years — which will continue to drive the demand for collaboration apps like Basecamp that cater to the needs of remote teams.

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Basecamp, one of the oldest collaboration tools in the project management software market, boasts communication as one of its key features:

• Message boards

• Real-time group chat

• “All-access” feature for easier collaboration

• Automatic check-ins that can replace status meetings

• To-do lists with notes, file attachments, and due dates

• Reports for quick insights regarding the latest activity, shared files, completed and overdue tasks, and more

• Drag-and-drop file sharing

You can also connect Basecamp to other apps you’re using — including Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Notion, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, and Miro — through so-called “Doors.”

Basecamp has a reputation for simplicity. You can look forward to a simple layout and a clean, uncrowded interface — but the downside is its limited customization options.

And while it does offer a 30-day free trial, there’s no free version. Instead, there are two paid offerings — Basecamp, the cheaper plan that starts at $15 per month per user, and Basecamp Pro Unlimited, which has a fixed monthly price of $349 with no user limit.

9. Notion - Best for note-taking and organization

With more than 20 million users — an increase of 240% in 2022 — Notion ranks as one of the fastest-growing productivity apps in the market.

It’s an easy-to-use, highly customizable platform that’s best known as a note-taking app — but it can also be used for simple, smaller-scale projects and task management:

• Collaborative workspace

• Different types of project views, including timelines, boards, and calendar

• Notion Calendar, which allows you to sync multiple Google Calendars

• Option to add subtasks and dependencies

• Custom automations

It integrates with popular workplace apps, including ClickUp, Asana, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, GitHub, Jira, and Zoom. However, overall, it offers limited integrations compared to other tools for project management on this list.

Another issue worth noting is the lack of real-time communication and reporting capabilities, which gives Lark a clear advantage — and makes it a great Notion alternative.

Notion is a freemium app. The free version supports up to 10 guests, unlimited pages, open and closed teamspaces, different types of views (timelines, calendars, and boards), basic page analytics, seven-day page history, and basic automation.

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Overall, it has a cheaper starting price compared to many popular project management tools — including monday.com:

• Plus plan, which starts at $10 per month per user

• Business plan, which starts at $18 per month per user

• Enterprise plan with custom pricing

10. Microsoft Planner - Best for Microsoft Office 365 users

Google Workspace currently holds 50.34% of the global market share. But as of 2023, Microsoft’s Office 365 remains a major competitor, accounting for just over 45% of the office productivity software market.

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With so many companies already using Office 365 software, it’d be best to find a task management tool that can be integrated with the Microsoft 365 apps that your team is already using — and that brings us to Microsoft Planner.

It’s essentially a simplified version of Microsoft Project, with key features such as:

• To-do lists and Kanban boards with content-rich tasks (files, checklists, and labels)

• Basic task management

• In-task collaboration through comments and file attachments

It also natively integrates with other apps in the Office 365 suite — including Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Viva, Microsoft To Do, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

That said, outside of the Office 365 suite, MS Planner has relatively limited integrations.

Microsoft Planner lacks any advanced functionality for project management, which puts it at a disadvantage compared to other monday.com alternatives. That said, it has the familiar feel of Microsoft’s user interface — and you still get the essential task management features.

As for pricing, the Planner is included in all three Microsoft 365 Enterprise-level subscriptions — E3, E5, and F3 — that start at $36 per month per user.