ClickUp is a cloud-based project management software primarily used for workplace-related engagements and interactions. Its unique one-stop-shop design makes it stand out from the rest. ClickUp has all the tools you need to create meaningful projects in one easy-to use and accessible platform.
You heard it! While other workplace apps have specific uses to fit particular needs, ClickUp aims to bring all of those things into one comprehensive system with the primary goal of increasing team productivity. How true is the claim? What is its performance when it comes to workflow management? We’ll answer these and more in our full review right here.
Also, in this article, we’ll tackle other important factors you might want to consider before getting it, including the pricing levels, system support, and the pros and cons that could either make or break ClickUp. 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 Tool Guide
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 a lot of project management tools out there that may be hard to keep direct track of – for instance, if you’re looking for a place to deal with project-related tasks, look closer to Monday.com or Asana. 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.
With that in mind, there are way too many productivity-based apps for teammates to keep up with, creating an oversupply of separate ecosystems. Some may find it more difficult to finish certain projects or achieve specific goals due to the increased number of apps. ClickUp recognizes the need to create a platform that provides all workplace solutions from one location. ClickUp also believes that it will help improve productivity by 20%.
Though founded around half a decade ago, ClickUp has since then amassed a following of over 200,000 small- and medium-scale businesses and companies. These teams use ClickUp because of its cost-saving features. This helps them save time and money. 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. ClickUp makes sure that every member of the team can access all of its most important features, unlike other apps which hide their best features behind paywalls. ClickUp is ideal for remote teams with limited budgets. ClickUp Tool Guide
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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
- Teams who work remotely or from home – Since ClickUp is cloud-based, it is a great option for businesses whose teams often work apart from each other.
- Human resources departments – ClickUp is equipped with excellent management, reporting, and storage tools, including a performance tracker, which any company’s HR department must have.
- 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 houses a diverse library of work management tools in one place as a means to further boost communication and engagement throughout 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 are not as limited as those from other platforms, so if you’re looking to accommodate as many team members as possible or integrate with numerous third-party apps and services, you can do so no matter what plan you’re subscribed to.
- 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
- ClickUp is full of easy-to use features but it can be difficult for new colleagues to learn how to use them.
- 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 has many productivity features. However, it does not have the ability to provide post-project feedback. Some of its integrated tools are also not as intuitive as the platform’s counterparts. ClickUp Tool Guide
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Breaking Down ClickUp’s Pricing Plans
ClickUp offers its potential users four pricing plans, including a sub-plan or upgrade tier for one of them. 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. Even though it’s an entry-level plan, you have unlimited access to tasks and can add unlimited team members to your workspace. 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
You like the free tier, but you don’t want to follow the rules that could impede your workflow. ClickUp’s Unlimited plan offers many welcome upgrades and additional features at very affordable prices. At the same time, other productivity platforms have plans similar to this but at higher price ranges. ClickUp Tool Guide
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. This plan is ideal for small teams with a larger client base and more resources. However, upgrading from Free Forever will cost you a little extra, making it very 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.
Additionally, the Business Plan has seen worthy upgrades for some of ClickUp’s core features, including advanced dashboard customizations, next-level automation, and upgraded public sharing. Also included is the Goal Folders feature, which lets you compile and organize project goals into separate folders for easy safekeeping. The Business plan costs as low as $12 per user per month (if paid yearly).
Business Plus Upgrade
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. As a bonus, you’re given priority support, so whenever you have inquiries and requests, ClickUp’s customer helpline will step in as quickly as possible.
Enterprise Plan
ClickUp’s Enterprise Plan is the most comprehensive tier, offering more enterprise-grade features than all other plans. It is targeted at large-scale businesses and corporations as well as established businesses. There is no fixed price, so you’ll need to connect with ClickUp’s sales team to discuss the amount you might need.
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. You can also use multiple apps to sign on, including Google. There are also custom onboarding training available for new colleagues and a dedicated success manager who will ensure a positive and productive workplace. ClickUp Tool Guide
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A Closer Look at ClickUp’s Features
Before we can explore the rest of ClickUp, let’s first examine its hierarchical structure. A typical productivity system is composed of two things: a company or its projects. ClickUp elevates it with some structural changes. ClickUp creates its own hierarchy consisting of Teams, Workspaces and Spaces (Projects), Folders Lists, Tasks, and Folders.
ClickUp defines a team as a company or organization that manages all tasks and assigns them the employees or their teammates. Teams are usually created by companies from different fields. However, there are rare instances when large groups manage multiple teams simultaneously. The Workspaces are also known as departments within the company.
After the Workspaces come next, a varying number of Spaces or work projects are assigned by the departments within the Team. Each Space branches to the Folders, which in turn branch to the Lists. All these, under the Spaces essentially, consist of subprojects that make up the grand scheme of the full plan. Lastly, the much-awaited Tasks from the Lists section, each assigned to different team members.
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. It has the same old functions that you could expect from, say, a taskbar from any e-mail platform like Yahoo Mail or Gmail, such as the ability to select and mark as read, delete, etc. It is a wonderful feature for managers and solo power users who have to handle a lot of tasks.
ClickUp’s multitask bar allows you to do many things with your tasks, just like any other e-mail service. 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.
A Simplified Approach to 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.
ClickUp offers many options for how you see your tasks laid out. ClickUp currently offers more than 15 views. These include the calendar, boards, mindmap, map view and workload. This will give you a full overview of the team’s performance and help you to set realistic goals.
Customization Range
ClickUp is a great tool for task management. Its useful drag-and-drop feature has turned the process of reorganizing tasks into a piece of cake. For instance, if you wish to change the deadline to a later period and day, you may simply drag one of your existing tasks further right or left in the Calendar section.
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. You can also create templates for your documents, checklists, folders and other tasks that you might use in the future. Zapier allows you to integrate with more than 1,000 apps and services, making it easy for you to have a productive work environment. ClickUp Tool Guide
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. Its e-mail service and chat feature allow you to interact with your fellow teammates without having to leave elsewhere, as you can do several things, such as catch up on your tasks and ask for special requests whenever necessary. 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.
ClickUp is not only integrated with communication tools but also has smooth collaboration features. You can see what your colleagues are doing in real time from the Whiteboard to Documents, just like Google’s work space. Do you have any feedback? You can proof your files or your teammates’ tasks, assign comments for suggestions, and even share them with others so they can see what’s going on.
Documents
Having an outlet where you can lay out the ideas and goals of your project is an excellent idea until you realize you would have to access it on separate 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? Not only does this feature save you time but also your effort – this is especially important if you have a lot of tasks in mind and don’t like to clutter up your productive routine.
Once your documents are complete, you can share them with your team members or publically using 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
It is crucial to track the progress of projects and determine if any steps have been taken to achieve their goals. 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. Apart from visually appealing graphs, ClickUp also offers automatic reporting tools like the Pulse section. Here you can see how many of your team members are online at any given time, Time Estimates and Team Points. You can also view reports about how many tasks each member completed in a particular period of time.
Time Management
Remote work is becoming more popular. This has led to a growing demand for time management apps that help team members track how much time they work each day, week, and month, even though they may be in different places. While there have been dedicated platforms for that, time management features are already part of ClickUp’s loaded package of offerings. Its time tracking and reporting functions are just like the rest of ClickUp’s tools.
The software’s global timer enables teammates to input their work hours, link their tasks, and add notes regardless of the type of device being used – you may record your time from your laptop, mobile phone, or from ClickUp’s free Chrome browser extension. You may opt to either start the timer as you get to your tasks or manually type in how many hours you’ll work in a day – no matter which way you prefer, ClickUp provides you with them. You’ll also explore the core tools that come with general time-tracking management, like time billing, editing, timesheets, and reporting. Do you have a different time-tracking app and would you like to transfer your data to ClickUp? You may do so by simply syncing info between both platforms. ClickUp Tool Guide
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Bonus: The ClickUp Support System
In need of assistance? ClickUp has nearly everything you may need to help you with them! ClickUp is not only packed with useful tools for managing work, but it also excels at providing excellent customer support and learning materials.
It offers 24/7 customer support, which is available to all subscribers regardless of whether they are on a paid or unpaid plan. It’s great that there are many support teams available. For instance, if you have a question regarding the Enterprise plan, the Sales section is the place to be. A dedicated team can help you set up your Workspace.
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 Tool Guide
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. But, for what it’s worth, it has amassed a considerable following among the general public.
Most team leaders who have used ClickUp for work have been generally positive about their experiences navigating through it so far. They have lauded the platform for its limitless customization possibilities and how time-saving most of its interface and features are. They also appreciate how functional the free entry-level plan can be compared to other productivity programs and how worthwhile it is to upgrade to higher tiers, especially considering the price.
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 Tool Guide
Alternatives to ClickUp
ClickUp is a well-known productivity software that has earned a reputation for being the best. ClickUp’s recognition has been equaled by the following other work platforms. 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. It makes up for what it lacks with its free plan and large range of tools.
- 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 – While ClickUp and the rest are collectively best for team projects, Teamwork has a slew of tools geared toward client- and service-based interactions. Apart from the usual features you may expect from any PM software, and some great solutions can be used individually. Though it may not have everything ClickUp has, Teamwork does offer a full suite of dedicated products for seamless productivity. ClickUp Tool Guide
- Asana – Some PM platforms like ClickUp may have too many features. Others may need to be simpler. They might be considered useless. Asana perfectly strikes the balance of power and simplicity, making it a strong option for teams of various sizes. With a cohesive mix of tools from task management to communication, Asana, on a base level, is great for beginners. 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? How does it handle 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, it depends on your perspective, the software will do its best to handle multiple tasks, even if some aspects need improvement.
Based on everything we know so far, is ClickUp worth a try as the go-to software for you and your employers? Although the final decision is up to you, we believe it’s worth a try in this instance. ClickUp may be a good choice for you if you are a small team looking to move to remote work.
FAQ ClickUp Tool Guide
What number of devices does ClickUp currently offer to download?
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.
ClickUp is it suitable for solo or personal use?
Although ClickUp is not the best platform for freelancers working with clients on their own, it has enough tools to be useful even for personal use. Those who work solo for a living may enjoy ClickUp’s range of excellent project management tools the same way as small- or medium-sized companies do.
Is ClickUp available offline?
Yes! Yes! ClickUp offers an offline mode for coworkers who don’t have an internet connection. It allows you to view and create tasks, remind you of important dates, and look at your notes. However, some tools may not work if you aren’t connected online.
ClickUp’s Offline Mode feature can be found on the platform’s website, desktop program, or mobile app (Legacy2.0).