Project managers have really struck gold as far as technology goes. Today, some of the best project management tools keep competing for their attention by constantly introducing new features, optimizing their prices, and more.
ClickUp and monday.com are some of the most well-known names in the world of project management software.
But which one is better — ClickUp or monday.com?
This is what we aim to find out. After providing a quick overview of both tools, we will do a comparison of ClickUp vs monday.com and examine their:
- Pricing,
- User interface,
- Task management features,
- Team collaboration functionalities,
- Progress tracking features,
- Administration,
- Integrations,
- Support, and
- Security.
The battle starts now!
Table of Contents
ClickUp vs Monday overview
Let’s start at the beginning — how these tools came to be and what they’re all about.
ClickUp is a cloud-based all-in-one productivity tool that aims to replace multiple apps to simplify work and organization.
It was founded in 2017, so it is somewhat new on the market. One of its fortes is task management, but it also offers fantastic time tracking, documentation, and team collaboration features.
ClickUp is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
monday.com is a cloud-based work management system that helps users streamline their work to increase their productivity.
Unlike ClickUp, it’s not a total newcomer to the scene since it was founded in 2012. Plus, as a work OS, it offers businesses all the necessary building blocks to create and manage custom workflows.
monday.com is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Let’s take a quick glance at ClickUp and monday.com’s main features:
| Feature | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan, Paid plans start at $5 member/month | Free plan, Paid plans start at $8 seat/month |
| User interface | Comprehensive and well organized | Comprehensive and well organized |
| Task management | All-encompassing | All-encompassing |
| Team collaboration | Advanced notification system and reminders, Comments | Customizable notification system and advanced reminders, Updates section |
| Progress tracking | Goals, Native time tracking, Activity log | Progress-tracking column, Time tracking column, Activity log |
| Administration | Custom roles, Advanced permission settings | Custom roles, Account, workspace, dashboard, column, and board permissions |
| Integrations | 1,000+ | 200+ |
| Support | 24/7 support, Live chat, Help center, Knowledge base | 24/7 support, Live chat, Help center, Knowledge base |
| Security | Advanced | Advanced |
Now let’s go through each category in detail.
ClickUp vs Monday pricing 1:0
We’d love to say that money is no issue if a product works well — but that’s not always the case.
Luckily, both ClickUp and monday.com offer something for every consumer’s buying power.
ClickUp has a completely free basic plan that comes with a ton of useful features, such as:
- Unlimited tasks and free plan members,
- 5 spaces in total,
- 100 lists per space,
- 100 folders per space, and
- Unlimited custom views.
If you want more features, the platform has 4 paid plans:
- Unlimited — $5 member/month,
- Business — $12 member/month,
- Business Plus — $19 member/month, and
- Enterprise — POA.
ClickUp also offers discounts to students, educators, nonprofits, and startups.
monday.com’s free plan is mostly geared toward individuals since it’s free for up to 2 seats only.
The free plan comes with some great features, such as:
- 500 MB file storage,
- 1-week activity log,
- Unlimited docs,
- Whiteboard collaboration, and
- Customizable notifications.
Advanced features are available with the 4 paid plans:
- Basic — $8 seat/month,
- Standard — $10 seat/month,
- Pro — $16 seat/month, and
- Enterprise — POA.
These prices are valid for teams of 3 up to 40 people. For larger teams, you’d have to contact sales.
monday.com offers a 14-day free trial based on its Pro plan. The platform also has a Student Program, as well as discounts for eligible startups, nonprofits, and educational organizations.
Finally, it has complete end-to-end products that address specific use cases. These are:
- Dev,
- Projects,
- Sales CRM, and
- Marketer.
ClickUp vs Monday pricing verdict
Overall, both ClickUp and monday.com have a good selection of paid plans and well-designed free plans.
However, ClickUp’s free plan has a better selection of features, many of which are either limited or entirely excluded from monday.com’s free plan.
monday.com’s pricing model is not as good as ClickUp’s either since there is a minimum number of seats you have to pay for.
Because of all this, ClickUp wins a point in this round.
| Pricing | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | Yes |
| Starting price | $5 member/month (billed yearly) | $8 seat/month (billed yearly) |
| Refund policy | 30-day satisfaction guarantee for all paid plans | 30-day partial (prorated) refund |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
💡 Plaky Pro Tip
Want to find out what strategies software companies use to determine the right price for their products? Read this guide:
ClickUp vs Monday user interface 1:1
The whole purpose of these tools is to make it easier for project managers and their teams to complete their tasks and goals. So, the UI experience of any task management platform should be intuitive and user-friendly.
ClickUp has a complex organizational structure that includes:
- Workspaces,
- Spaces,
- Lists,
- Folders, and
- Tasks, Subtasks, and Nested Subtasks.
A feature that intrigued us the most with ClickUp is ClickApps. These are special features (apps) you can enable to further customize your workspace and your team’s workflow.
In ClickUp, you can also:
- Add custom fields and statuses,
- Change the workspace theme,
- Pick a simple, modern, or clean layout,
- Use Dark mode, and
- Customize your workspace with company assets (White Label feature).
The platform also has a comprehensive template center full of ready-to-use templates for various use cases.
monday.com’s structure has the following levels:
- Workspaces,
- Folders,
- Sub-folders, and
- Boards, dashboards, and workdocs.
Within boards, there are also:
- Groups,
- Items,
- Columns, and
- Subitems.
The most basic way to customize your board in monday.com is to change the board view, add more columns, and create more groups.
Among other things, users can also:
- Change group colors,
- Use Dark or Night board themes,
- Customize item and column size,
- Drag-and-drop columns and groups to reorganize the board,
- Add a column summary to all columns to review data at a glance, and
- Customize their accounts with their branding.
monday.com also has a designated template center with hundreds of templates and workflows in case you don’t want to design your workspace from scratch.
ClickUp vs Monday user interface verdict
By default, ClickUp has a lot more features (even hidden ones), so the user interface tends to be a tad overwhelming.
In contrast, monday.com is a more traditional type of task management tool, with a cleaner layout and easy-to-manage hierarchy.
That said, both tools have a fantastic user interface that contains all the elements you may need to organize your work.
Therefore, both get a point here.
| User interface | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | A bit overwhelming | Clean |
| Layout | Simple, modern, or clean | Clean |
| Customization | Advanced | Advanced |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
ClickUp vs Monday task management 1:0
Are tasks easy to create or do you have to jump through hoops to customize your project workflow? Here’s how these two tools handle task management.
In ClickUp, you can add various details when creating a task, such as:
- Task name,
- Status,
- Description,
- Start/due dates,
- Dependencies, and
- Files.
Users can set up recurring tasks and even turn their tasks into reusable templates.
Further task customization is available with ClickApps, such as:
- Multiple Assignees,
- Tags,
- Priorities,
- LineUp,
- Relationships, and
- Custom Fields.
Tasks can also have Watchers — people who follow the changes made to them.
As for board views, ClickUp has 11:
- List,
- Calendar,
- Board,
- Gantt,
- Table,
- Timeline,
- Workload,
- Box,
- Activity,
- Mind Map, and
- Map view.
Additionally, there are 5 page views:
- Embed,
- Chat,
- Whiteboards,
- Doc, and
- Form view.
Finally, if you want to automate your workflows in ClickUp too, you can do it via the Automation ClickApp.
In monday.com, you build your board by adding groups, tasks, and columns.
Columns are a crucial part of monday.com’s structure since they contain information about your tasks.
Basic column options include People, Date, and Status. Users can also add other more specific columns, like:
- Timeline,
- Connect Boards,
- Mirror,
- Dependencies,
- File, and
- Formula.
You can add more information about your tasks in the Item Card, an item view that shows relevant data linked to a specific item.
As for views, monday.com has dashboard and board views.
The dashboard view can be customized with all sorts of widgets.
The 11 board views are:
- Table,
- Kanban,
- Form,
- Cards,
- Files,
- Gantt,
- Chart,
- Timeline,
- Calendar,
- Workload, and
- Map.
Like ClickUp, monday.com lets you automate your workflows. You can use pre-set automations or create custom ones — like a recurring task automation.
ClickUp vs Monday task management verdict
Both ClickUp and monday.com offer some incredible task management features, so it’s difficult to determine which is better.
However, if we were to split hairs — and we must in this case — ClickUp allows users to at least try out all the board views (except for Box view) with its free plan.
In comparison, some of monday.com’s views only come with Standard and above paid plans, which is why the point for this round goes to ClickUp.
| Task management | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Board/task views | 11 | 11 |
| Workflow automations | Yes | Yes |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
💡 Plaky Pro Tip
How does the winner of this round compare to other task management tools — such as Asana, perhaps? Read our detailed comparison of these two tools here:
ClickUp vs Monday team collaboration 1:0
The success of a project depends on proper communication between team members and other project stakeholders.
In ClickUp, users mainly communicate via comments. There’s also Chat view, where they can talk outside of the task comment sections.
ClickUp has an advanced notification and reminder system too, and you can set up custom notifications for every role.
Better yet, the platform lets you keep track of all the reminders and tasks in one place with the My Work widget.
You can also enhance your team collaboration with specific ClickApps, such as:
- Clip,
- Collaborative Editing,
- Email, and
- Work in Progress Limits.
Naturally, teams can also share files and attachments. You get 100 MB of storage space with the free plan. Unlimited storage is available with all other plans.
Other useful team collaboration features in ClickUp include:
- Docs,
- Whiteboards, and
- Proofing.
monday.com also comes with extensive team collaboration features.
The main ways users can collaborate and communicate is via columns and the Updates section.
Each column gives information about the task, but you can also add notes to the Status column.
Every board item has an Updates section where you can:
- Post and reply to messages,
- React to them,
- @mention people or entire teams, and
- Check the item’s activity log.
Like ClickUp, monday.com has a well-designed customizable notification system. You can also set up reminders, such as deadline mode, update, and due date reminders.
As for files and attachments, the platform doesn’t offer unlimited file storage. At best, you can get up to 1,000 GB with the Enterprise plan.
Other features include:
- File annotations,
- Workdocs, and
- Collaborative whiteboards.
You can also send and receive emails in monday.com with the Email & Activities app.
ClickUp vs Monday team collaboration verdict
monday.com put up a good fight in this category.
However, ClickUp has more versatile team collaboration features (e.g., Clip ClickApp and Chat view) and unlimited file storage with paid plans.
Those features alone give ClickUp an edge over its competitor — and earn it a point in this round.
| Team collaboration | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in communication channels | Yes | Yes |
| Collaborative workdocs | Yes | Yes |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
ClickUp vs Monday progress tracking 0:1
With various project activities to go through and a lengthy task list — staying on track with your project’s progress is a must.
Most project management tools have features specific to this need. ClickUp and monday.com are no different.
You can sort and filter tasks in ClickUp for a better progress overview, as well as search for tasks, documents, and other items with the Command Center.
For advanced progress tracking, use Goals to create high-level objectives.
The platform also supports native time tracking (Time Tracking ClickApp) and team activity tracking (Pulse ClickApp).
Meanwhile, the Activity View acts as an activity log for a workspace, list, folder, or space. Users get access to unlimited activity history with the Business plan and above.
Other useful progress-tracking features include:
- Total Time in Status ClickApp,
- Milestones ClickApp, and
- Portfolio widget.
You can use Dashboards to analyze and track project performance. Various dashboard widgets can also serve as reporting tools, e.g.:
- Worked On,
- Workspace Points,
- Who’s Behind,
- Time Tracked, and
- Time Estimated.
In monday.com, you can sort items and columns, as well as use the Search Everything feature to look for items across all boards.
The board-level sort tool lets you sort and subsort from one place. Meanwhile, the dynamic ‘personal view’ provides a filtered board view for every assignee.
The main way users can track their task progress is with progress-tracking and time tracking columns.
monday.com has an activity log too, with a log history of up to 5 years (Enterprise plan).
Finally, the platform offers a few useful reporting features, such as:
- Advanced board filters,
- Chart view,
- Dashboards, in combination with different widgets,
- Overview widget,
- Pivot board, and
- Performance Insights view.
ClickUp vs Monday progress tracking verdict
In monday.com, most progress tracking occurs in the board itself via columns, and you can also make use of the detailed activity log.
Therefore, the tool deserves to win in this round — it has made progress tracking practically effortless.
| Progress tracking | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Activity log | Yes | Yes |
| Time tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
💡 Plaky Pro Tip
Eager to know how monday.com compares to other similar task management tools? We’ve also compared this tool to Asana and Wrike. Check out the comparisons here:
ClickUp vs Monday administration 0:1
If a task management tool has extensive administration settings — you can have more control over:
- Users and the roles they assume,
- Their activity within the workspace, and
- How and when sensitive information is exchanged.
ClickUp has 4 main user roles:
- Owner,
- Admins,
- Members, and
- Guests.
The workspace owner and admins have the highest level of user and activity control.
ClickUp also allows custom roles (1 with Business Plus, and an unlimited number with the Enterprise plan).
Advanced permission settings in ClickUp comprise 4 levels in total:
- View only,
- Comment,
- Edit, and
- Full.
However, these permissions can be set not only for each user role but also for different types of items. Excluding Spaces, you can set permissions for:
- Folders,
- Lists,
- Tasks,
- Docs,
- Dashboards,
- Views, and
- Goals.
Custom permissions are also available, but with Business Plus and Enterprise plans only.
monday.com has 6 main user roles:
- Admins,
- Team members (members and viewers),
- Guests,
- Subscribers, and
- Board owner.
Members and viewers are just 2 types of team members. The difference is that members can edit the boards, while viewers can only view them.
monday.com’s users can also create custom roles if they have the Enterprise plan.
As for permissions, monday.com categorizes them into:
- Account,
- Workspace,
- Dashboard,
- Column, and
- Board permissions.
Workspace and account permissions are advanced settings you can access only with the Enterprise plan.
Similarly, the Enterprise plan comes with other admin control features, such as:
- Session management,
- SCIM provisioning,
- Audit log, and
- Panic mode.
ClickUp vs Monday administration verdict
Both ClickUp and monday.com have gone out of their way to keep user accounts secure.
However, monday.com wins this round due to its comprehensive permission rules that encompass far more than simple account management.
Plus, its Enterprise plan gives users access to other useful features, like Panic mode and Audit log. Above all, these add another layer of protection to keep sensitive information secure.
| Administration | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced permissions | Yes | Yes |
| Custom roles | Yes | Yes |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
ClickUp vs Monday integrations 1:0
No matter how well-designed a task management tool may be, we shouldn’t expect it to be a one-size-fits-all solution.
Luckily, we can integrate task management software like ClickUp or monday.com with various apps to enhance their functionality.
ClickUp currently integrates with 1,000+ work tools, including monday.com (through Zapier).
Users get access to 50+ native integrations across all plans.
Some great integration options to consider include:
- Slack,
- Google Drive,
- Figma,
- Clockify, and
- Zoom.
Users can also build their own custom integrations with ClickUp’s public API.
As we have seen, customizing your workflow further is also possible with ClickApps. Some of these apps have usage limits, though, so trying them out depends on which plan you go for.
monday.com has a more modest offering of integrations than ClickUp — 200+ integrations right now. These include fan favorites like:
- GitHub,
- MailChimp,
- HubSpot,
- Adobe Creative Cloud, and
- Todoist.
However, you can use integrations only with Standard, Pro, and Enterprise plans.
Plus, even then, you’re limited to a certain number of actions each month. The current structure is as follows:
- Standard plan — 250 actions per month,
- Pro plan — 25,000 actions per month, and
- Enterprise plan — 250,000 actions per month.
ClickUp vs Monday integrations verdict
It’s clear that ClickUp has a lot more to offer in regard to integrations — and their availability.
The main issue with monday.com is that integrations only become available when you purchase the Standard or higher plan.
In contrast, you get 50+ native integrations with ClickUp’s free plan.
| Integrations | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Number of integrations | 1,000+ | 200+ |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
ClickUp vs Monday support 1:1
Knowing that you can contact support if anything goes wrong is crucial when choosing your task management tools. Luckily, both ClickUp and monday.com take customer support seriously.
ClickUp offers 24/7 support across all plans. Live chat support is also available, with the exclusion of the free plan.
Depending on the plan, other support services ClickUp has arranged for its customers include:
- Priority support,
- Dedicated customer success manager,
- Admin training webinar, and
- Access to managed services.
Apart from those, you can also get:
- Professional business services,
- Premium support and a dedicated support rep, and
- 1-on-1 training with ClickUp experts.
ClickUp’s help center contains valuable resources, like its knowledge hub. The resources you can find there include:
- Workspace setup guides,
- A guide to ClickUp’s features,
- Courses at ClickUp University,
- On-demand demos, and
- Live and recorded webinars.
monday.com’s 24/7 customer support is available for every plan.
You can get in touch with monday.com’s support via live chat or email. Alternatively, you can request a call.
At monday.com, users have access to the self-serving knowledge hub and daily live webinars.
Those with an Enterprise plan can ask for 2 additional support services:
- Dedicated customer success manager, and
- 99.9% uptime service-level agreement.
In the help center, customers can access monday.com’s:
- Academy,
- Knowledge base,
- Video tutorials, and
- API documentation.
monday.com also has a Webinar hub, a community forum, a YouTube channel, and partnership programs.
ClickUp vs Monday support verdict
Overall, ClickUp and monday.com offer a very similar and extensive support to their customers.
Whether you need immediate help from their employees or want to peruse their knowledge bases — neither platform disappoints in this regard.
So, it’s only fair to give each one a point in this round.
| Support | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge base | Yes | Yes |
| 24/7 support | Yes | Yes |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
ClickUp vs Monday security 1:1
Your preferred task management tool is home to varied sensitive data, so its security must be top-notch. The good news is that both ClickUp and monday.com excel in this area.
ClickUp has a robust security policy. Currently, it is compliant with:
- SOC 2,
- ISO 27001:2013, ISO 27017:2015, and ISO 27018:2019,
- HIPAA (Enterprise plan only), and
- GDPR.
ClickUp relies on TLS 1.2 for data in transit and AES-256 for data at rest encryption.
Some of the tool’s key privacy features also include 2-factor authentication, which is available for all plans.
Users can even require 2-factor authentication for everyone in their workspace if they have the Business and above plans.
You can find all pertinent information about ClickUp’s security policy on their website.
Similarly, monday.com’s security policy includes compliance with:
- SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type II, and SOC 3,
- ISO/IEC 27032:2012, ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO/IEC 27018:2014, ISO/IEC 27017:2015, and ISO/IEC 27701:2019,
- HIPAA, and
- GDPR.
The platform uses AES-256 for data at rest encryption, and TLS 1.3 (at minimum TLS 1.2) encryption for data in transit.
monday.com also offers 2-factor authentication for all plans.
Like with ClickUp, you can also find all information about monday.com’s security policy on their website.
ClickUp vs Monday security verdict
ClickUp and monday.com have gone the extra mile to ensure their tools are safe to use.
Though there are a few slight differences, both of these tools show that security is high up on their list of priorities.
So, each one gets a point here.
| Security | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Two-factor authentication | Yes | Yes |
| Data encryption | Yes | Yes |
| Relevant certifications | Yes | Yes |
| Overall impression | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
ClickUp vs Monday verdict: 7:5
And the winner is — ClickUp! Let’s see the scoreboard:
| Category/Feature | ClickUp | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | 1 | 0 |
| User interface | 1 | 1 |
| Task management | 1 | 0 |
| Team collaboration | 1 | 0 |
| Progress tracking | 0 | 1 |
| Administration | 0 | 1 |
| Integrations | 1 | 0 |
| Support | 1 | 1 |
| Security | 1 | 1 |
| Total score | 7 | 5 |
Does this mean that ClickUp is the be-all and end-all for project and task management? Not at all.
For some, monday.com’s more traditional approach to task management may seem ideal for handling all kinds of projects.
For others, however, ClickUp’s granular hierarchy is just the level of organization they need.
Despite what our scoreboard says, judge the features yourself and compare them to your needs and wants.
Looking for a ClickUp or Monday alternative? Try Plaky
Plaky is a project management tool that aims to help businesses stay on track with their work and projects, as well as increase their productivity.
One of Plaky’s biggest advantages is its free plan, which doesn’t suffer from the arbitrary limitations that most of the competition uses. This makes it a great Monday alternative, whose free plan leaves much to be desired.
For instance, in Plaky, free users can:
- Add an unlimited number of users,
- Create an unlimited number of projects, and
- Make an unlimited number of tasks.
Plaky is also a good ClickUp alternative, especially if you’re adamant about not spending a dime on a task management tool.
For instance, with Plaky, you can create an unlimited number of workspaces. In contrast, ClickUp gives you just 5 of its Spaces for free.
Plus, you get unlimited storage with Plaky for free — with ClickUp, that feature comes with paid plans only.
Best of all, you can rely on Plaky’s versatile features when handling all sorts of projects, from recruiting new employees to launching new products.
And you don’t even have to make your boards from scratch — instead, just go for one of the project management templates available in Plaky’s template center.
✉️ Have you already tried ClickUp or monday.com? Which one did you like more? Share your thoughts by contacting us at blogfeedback@plaky.com, and we might include your answers in this or future posts. If you liked this blog post and found it useful, share it with someone you think would also benefit from it.
