ClickUp is a cloud-based project management software primarily used for workplace-related engagements and interactions. Its one-stop-shop nature makes it stand out among the rest: it has all the tools needed to create impactful projects rolled into one easy-to-use and accessible platform.
Yep, you heard it right! ClickUp is a workplace app that has specific uses and can be used to meet certain needs. ClickUp, however, aims to combine all these functions into one system with the primary goal to increase team productivity. But how true to the word is its claim? How well can it deliver when it comes to handling workflow? We’ll answer these and more in our full review right here.
We’ll also discuss other factors that you should consider before purchasing ClickUp, such as the price levels and system support. Let’s begin!
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from Kurt on his YouTube channel Kurt Knows. To get a comprehensive overview of ClickUp, you may still want to check out our article below.
What is ClickUp? A Handy Overview ClickUp Alternatives 2023
Established in 2017 as one of the many up-and-coming tech startups at the time, the team behind ClickUp knew their aim: for the platform to be the ultimate go-to place for businesses and teams to work more productively. They realized that the current productivity system could be all over.
There are many project management tools available that can be difficult to track. For instance, Monday.com and Asana may be a better place to manage project-related tasks. How do you track your time? Hubstaff and ActiveCollab are good options. Want to create documents and presentations for the rest of your team to see and share? Microsoft Office and Google’s suites of tools might help.
It’s not just the typical project management stuff that teams from all walks of life have to deal with. Communication is also important. While a few platforms include a chat function, many of them can be downloaded separately. You can think of Slack and MS Teams or even Discord.
Keep in mind that there are many productivity-based apps available for colleagues to use, creating an oversupply. Some may find it more difficult to finish certain projects or achieve specific goals due to the increased number of apps. The guys behind ClickUp understand the growing need for a platform that not just provides all workplace solutions in one place but also helps improve productivity rates by 20%, so that explains why they took it upon themselves and created it in the first place.
ClickUp was founded over a decade ago. It has since grown to include more than 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses and companies. One of the eye-catching reasons why these teams rely on the platform is its cost-cutting list of features, helping them save up extra time – and money – in the process. Some of ClickUp’s notable tools include real-time collabs with fellow team members, shared task-setting, convenient productivity reporting, ready-made templates, and other handy customization assets, all on top of the usual tools such as task management, communication, and time tracking.
ClickUp’s flexible pricing range makes it a great choice for workplace activities. ClickUp also offers a free forever plan which is one of the most affordable productivity platforms. While certain apps put their best features behind layers of paywalls, ClickUp ensures that all important tools are available for every teammate to use free of charge. ClickUp is ideal for remote teams with limited budgets. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
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Who Are the Ideal Teams for ClickUp?
As already reiterated, ClickUp has enough features and traits that make it feasibly possible for teams of all sizes, from small startups to large-scale enterprises. But, its overall nature has made it an especially ideal choice for
- ClickUp can be used by remote or home-based teams. This is great news for companies that have many different teams.
- ClickUp has excellent tools for human resources departments. ClickUp includes reporting and storage tools. ClickUp also offers a performance tracker which is a must-have for any HR department.
- ClickUp provides seamless collaboration and communication features such as chat and comment sharing for design and advertising teams.
- ClickUp is a great tool for marketing and finance-focused companies. ClickUp’s reporting and tracking features are great for teams that specialize in marketing or finance.
- Teams working in healthcare – Healthcare companies must adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. ClickUp offers this compliance, but it is limited to the enterprise plan.
ClickUp: What’s good and what’s not
From simple and convenient offerings to jam-packed pricing plans, it’s no wonder why ClickUp has become one of the top choices for the best productivity software on the internet, and a fan favorite, too! But, from the looks of it, this statement may be too good to be true, so keep reading if you want to check if ClickUp still has what it takes to stand on its own two legs.
The pros
- ClickUp is one of a few platforms that offers a fully functional free plan. This includes vital workflow features that are not available through the paywall.
- The system comes with many elite customization options that are suited to different industries. This includes customizing dashboards according to personal preference and the “Custom Fields” tool.
- ClickUp provides a wide range of tools for work management that can be used to improve communication and engagement in the workplace. It can range from excellent real-time reporting features to smooth collaboration options.
- Most of its tools are simple, convenient, and easy to explore, lessening the burden of juggling many productivity apps in one sitting.
- ClickUp’s plans don’t have the same limitations as other platforms. If you want to integrate with third-party apps or services or accommodate more team members, ClickUp has you covered.
- ClickUp offers desktop access as well as a mobile app for iOS and Android that allows inter-team collaborations to take place while on the move.
The Cons
- Despite being filled to the brim with easy-to-use features, using ClickUp requires having to go through a steep learning curve – in the case of onboarding, for instance, it may take an extra bit of time for new teammates to navigate through all of its in-house tools and learn how to use them well.
- As far as UI is concerned, ClickUp falls short in the field as some parts’ font and text sizes may be too small for some to read. Color layouts can also be a concern.
- ClickUp may have already been blessed with an abundance of productivity features, but it sure does lack a few other important ones, such as post-project feedback. Some of its integrated tools are also not as intuitive as the platform’s counterparts. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
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ClickUp’s pricing plans broken down
ClickUp offers four pricing plans to its users, with a sub-plan and upgrade tier for each. Each of these plans is suited for a diverse range of teams varied by size, manpower, and availability of resources. Without further ado, let’s take an in-depth look at ClickUp’s plans!
Forever Free
Among the platform’s greatest highlights, there’s no question needed as to why ClickUp’s Free Forever plan is placed in the category of the best free plans offered by any productivity software. Though an entry-level tier, you get access to unlimited tasks and add an unlimited number of team members to your workspace with no fuss. ClickUp’s core features are also explored, including native video recording, whiteboards and time-tracking.
Although the offerings seem appealing, there are limitations. For example, the monthly allowance of 100 automations and 100MB storage. The Free Forever plan is a good choice for solopreneurs and project managers who are just starting out.
Unlimited Plan
Like the free tier but don’t like the set guidelines that may impede your workflow? You may be glad that ClickUp’s Unlimited Plan offers plenty of welcoming upgrades and extra features at affordable rates. At the same time, other productivity platforms have plans similar to this but at higher price ranges. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
For as low as $5 per user per month (if paid annually), you get the same core features from the Free Forever plan, plus unlimited storage and app integrations, unlimited dashboard creations, advanced reporting tools, and the Goals & Portfolio tool. Ideal for small-sized teams with an expanded client base and increasing resources, upgrading this plan from Free Forever requires a little money, making it valuable.
Business Plan
ClickUp’s Business Plan is for teams that have grown beyond their small spaces and are prepared to tackle new challenges. ClickUp’s Business Plan includes a host of features to meet the increasing demands of effective workplace resources. It includes extra security features such as double-factor authentication and single sign on integrations with Google for team members, in addition to the other features of the two previous tiers.
The Business Plan also received upgrades that have been worth it, such as advanced dashboard customizations, next level automation, and improved public sharing. Also included is the Goal Folders feature, which lets you compile and organize project goals into separate folders for easy safekeeping. If you pay yearly, the Business plan is only $12 per user per month.
Upgrade to Business Plus
Explore more with the Business Plan The Business Plus upgrade, priced at the starting point of $19 per member per month (annually), unlocks the rest of the tier’s features for a maximized productivity experience within the team. You will also get additional automations allowances.
ClickUp’s team-sharing and KPI tracking features, as well as custom role creation, will be explored. ClickUp offers priority support. If you have any questions or requests, ClickUp will assist you as soon as possible.
Enterprise Plan
The Enterprise Plan is ClickUp’s most complete tier yet, packed with additional enterprise-grade features apart from all the combined tools covered by all the previous plans. Marketed towards very large-scale teams and established businesses and corporations, it has no fixed plan – this means you will need to link up with ClickUp’s sales department first to forge a deal on how much you may need to pay.
The Enterprise tier offers advanced solutions like white labeling, unlimited custom role, advanced permissions and customized contract agreements with legal support. It also includes HIPAA compliance for healthcare team members. Other noteworthy deals include the ability to do single sign-on using multiple apps aside from Google, custom onboarding training for new teammates, and a dedicated success manager to ensure a highly productive and positive workplace. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
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A Closer Look at ClickUp’s Features
Before we go ahead and check out the rest of what ClickUp has to offer, it’s important to first look at its hierarchal structure. A typical productivity system is composed of two things: a company or its projects. ClickUp takes it up a notch with a few structural adjustments, resulting in the creation of its distinct hierarchy of, in this order, Teams, Workspaces, Spaces (Projects), Folders, Lists, and Tasks.
ClickUp defines a team as a company or organization that manages all tasks and assigns them the employees or their teammates. Usually, Teams are created by companies of various fields as just one entity, though there are rare cases in which some big groups handle multiple teams at once. From the Teams come the Workspaces, referred to as departments within the company.
The Workspaces are followed by a variety of Spaces, or work projects. These are assigned by departments within the Team. Each Space branches out to the Folders, which then branch out to the Lists. All these, under the Spaces essentially, consist of subprojects that make up the grand scheme of the full plan. The much-anticipated Tasks from the Lists section are finally here, each one assigned to a different member of the team.
Let’s now get to the point.
Multitask Toolbar
The multitask toolbar appears when you click on one of the tasks in the ClickUp user interface. You will find the same functions you would expect from an e-mail platform such as Yahoo Mail or Gmail: the ability to mark and select as read, delete, and the ability to delete. Needless to say, it makes for a great feature for solo power users and managers who often handle a hefty load of tasks.
Just like you would any e-mail service, ClickUp’s multitask toolbar allows you to do a variety of things with your chosen tasks. You can, for instance, change the status if they’re complete or not, modify the due dates, set assignees among your current teammates, and even convert some of them into sub-tasks to make the full goal less complicated.
Simplified Methodology for Managing and Viewing Tasks
On nearly most productivity apps, you would be expected to bear the weight of manually writing in your tasks and inputting them into your team calendar and goals everywhere you go. ClickUp has simplified the process to a huge extent – instead of taking up nearly an hour or more of your time, you need to type in whatever task you have in mind and wait for the platform to integrate the data into your workspace very shortly.
Regarding how you view your laid-out tasks, ClickUp has given you plenty of options to explore. ClickUp currently offers more than 15 views. These include the calendar, boards, mindmap, map view and workload. That way, you’ll get a complete scope of how the rest of your team is doing, plus the assurance that your goals may be reached efficiently.
Customization range
To continue where we left off from task viewing options, it’s worth noting that ClickUp knows a thing or two about making task management supremely convenient and less of a hassle to deal with. The useful drag-and drop feature makes organizing tasks a breeze. You can drag and drop tasks to move the deadline to a later date or period.
However, customization goes beyond the simple drag-and-drop and multitask toolbar tools with ClickUp. ClickApps is a section that gives the Workspace a more personal feel. It provides time-saving tools like automations, dependencies and sprints. These can all be integrated into your space. On the other, you can have the option to create pre-made templates for your checklists, documents, folders, and the like that you may put into good use in the future, and, for a powered-up work environment, you can also integrate with over 1,000 apps and services – all made possible through Zapier. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
Collaboration and communication tools
Communication is key to a successful work project, and ClickUp provides you and your team with in-house features that deliver the aspect right on the spot. You can chat with your colleagues and catch up on tasks. These features are great, but they should not be relied upon. There are issues with the interface, and it is better to have backup comms in case of an emergency.
That aside, apart from the integrated communications tools, ClickUp’s also packed with smooth collaboration features up its sleeves. Like Google’s work suite, you can see whatever your teammates are working on in real-time from the Whiteboard to the Documents. Have any feedback in mind? You can review your files and your team’s tasks, make suggestions, and even share them to others.
Documents
It is a great idea to have a place where you can share your ideas and goals. However, you will need to access them on different applications. ClickUp addresses this problem by integrating its version of Documents to the platform. This allows you and your team members to work together without having to go elsewhere.
ClickUp Docs allows you to create and edit files using a few fonts, sizes and photos. You can also link your files with Workspace tasks through widgets. Why update your workflow in separate tabs when you can do it within the editor? This feature not only saves you time, but also helps you to be more productive.
When your docs are ready, you have the option to share them either privately between your teammates or publicly with an automatically generated copy-paste link. Additionally, with ClickUp Docs, you can explore other useful features, such as turning on Focus Mode to let you focus on your part with no distractions and looking at the page’s details, including the word count and approximate reading time.
Real-time reporting and goal tracking
When handling projects, it’s crucial to keep track of their progress and see if anything is done to get close to their desired goal. To see how they play out as they happen, look no further than ClickUp’s customizable dashboard feature, which lets you navigate through different types of project indicators in one space. You have all the tools you need to know if your projects are on track for success, from the status of sprints and goals to the real-time graph showing how many tasks were completed by the team.
As far as reporting how well your general workspace is doing is concerned, you may be glad to know that ClickUp’s reporting section made it incredibly simple for you to do so, as with most of its other features. Aside from easily digestible visual graphs, the platform houses automatic reporting tools such as the Pulse section, where you get to view how many of your teammates are online at a specific time, Time Estimates, Team Points, and reports on how many tasks a teammate was able to complete in the day, month, or year.
Time Management
The increasing trend of remote work has resulted in an increasing need for time management apps to help track how long team members work in a day, week, or month, despite staying in different locations. There have been other platforms that offer time management, but ClickUp already offers them as part of its comprehensive package. Its time tracking and reporting functions are just like the rest of ClickUp’s tools.
The global timer allows teammates to enter their work hours, link their task and take notes. It doesn’t matter what device you use – ClickUp’s Chrome extension is free and you can record your time on your computer, your mobile phone or your laptop. ClickUp allows you to set the timer to start when you are done with your tasks. Or you can manually enter how many hours you will work each day. The core tools for general time tracking management such as time billing, editing and timesheets will be covered. Have you used a separate time-tracking app before, and do you want to transfer data from there to ClickUp? Simply sync information between the two platforms. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
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The ClickUp Support System Bonus
In need of assistance? ClickUp has nearly everything you may need to help you with them! Apart from being packed with many handy work management tools, ClickUp equally shines in providing its users with excellent customer support and learning resources.
On the one hand, its 24/7 customer service section can be accessed at any time regardless if you’re signed to a paid or free plan. What’s nice about it is that you get plenty of support teams to choose from. For instance, if you have a question regarding the Enterprise plan, the Sales section is the place to be. Likewise, if you want help setting up your Workspace, there’s a dedicated team for that.
Conversely, ClickUp lets you explore a vast library of learning content to guide you on how to use the platform, from the on-demand video tutorials in the Demo package to the information-rich documents found in its Help Center. ClickUp University offers courses and webinars that can help you and your team improve your work skills. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
ClickUp: What customers have to say about it
ClickUp’s extensive list of project management tools gives it an edge over other products, though some users may find the sheer number overwhelming. It has a large following in the general public.
ClickUp has been a popular tool for team leaders. They have generally been positive about the process of using it. They have lauded the platform for its limitless customization possibilities and how time-saving most of its interface and features are. They’ve also appreciated how fully functional its free entry-level plan is compared to other productivity software and how worth the upgrades to higher tiers can get considering the valuable price range.
ClickUp has many features. It’s no surprise that learning can be difficult, especially for people not familiar with remote project management. ClickUp users may need to take more time to become familiar with its internal workings. The service has a lot of onboarding and learning material. ClickUp is also subject to criticism for its mobile app and web interfaces that can sometimes be glitchy, but most users don’t see any problems with the service as a whole. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
Alternatives to ClickUp
ClickUp has made its mark as one of the best productivity software out there, and its level of recognition today has now equaled the following alternative work platforms below. Each one has its own unique features and competitive aspects, but some aren’t as good as ClickUp.
- Monday.com – From the looks of it alone, it’s no wonder that Monday.com is considered by many to be among the closest competition to ClickUp in terms of workload features, range of customization, integrations, and providing teammates with learning and onboarding resources. While it lacks in its free plan and wide range of tools, it sure does make up for its ease of set-up and use.
- Smartsheet – Smartsheet offers teams the same caliber of project management tools as ClickUp, such as a reliable mobile app, multiple task-viewing options, and the ability to collaborate with teammates in real time. Smartsheet shines best when it comes to creating spreadsheet-adjacent project plans, making it a much better choice for detail-oriented teams that deal with a huge load of data and only sometimes for small-scale groups and freelancers.
- Teamwork – ClickUp and other software are great for group projects. Teamwork however has many tools that can be used to support client- and service-based interactions. You can also use some of the great features that you would expect from any PM program, as well as many other useful tools. Although it doesn’t have all the features ClickUp offers, Teamwork has a complete suite of products that can be used to enhance productivity. ClickUp Alternatives 2023
- Asana – Some PM platforms like ClickUp may have too many features. Others may need to be simpler. They might be considered useless. Asana strikes the perfect balance between power and simplicity making it an excellent choice for small to large teams. Asana is a great tool for beginners, offering a comprehensive mix of tools, from task management to communication. Some aspects, such as full customization, require that you pay extra.
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ClickUp: The Final Verdict
As we reach the end of our ClickUp review, let’s go full circle to the beginning and answer these questions: 1) How accurate is its claim to increase productivity rates? And 2) how well does it deliver when it comes to handling workflow?
ClickUp is a platform that provides a single-stop solution for project management. This makes ClickUp a great tool to help improve collaboration among colleagues, even if they are far away. However, having too many tools can lead to information overload. Second, depending on how you see it, the software does its best to tackle multiple tasks, even though a few of its aspects require improvement.
ClickUp is ClickUp worth the effort based on what we have learned so far. The final answer may be up to you, but it’s a yes for us in this case! ClickUp may be a good choice for you if you are a small team looking to move to remote work.
FAQ ClickUp Alternatives 2023
How many devices is ClickUp currently available to download on?
Apart from the mobile app for Android and iOS, which we’ve tackled early on, ClickUp has a desktop version that you can download on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. It also has a Chrome browser extension currently available on the Google Chrome web store, as well as availability through voice command services, namely Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
Is ClickUp ideal for personal or solo use?
Though not the de-facto best platform for freelancers who deal with clients independently, ClickUp has enough tools that can be maximized even for personal use. ClickUp offers a wide range of project management tools that can be used by solo workers.
Does ClickUp offer offline access?
Yes! Yes! ClickUp offers an offline mode for coworkers who don’t have an internet connection. With it, you can create and view tasks, craft reminders, and take a look at notes; however, you may not be able to access some of its other tools unless you’re connected online.
ClickUp’s Offline Mode feature is available on the platform’s web version, desktop program, and mobile app (Legacy 2.0).