How much does ClickUp cost in 2026?

Unlimited: $7 per seat a month on annual billing ($10 billed monthly); Business: $12 per seat a month on annual billing ($19 billed monthly). Unlimited members and tasks, 60 MB of storage and 5 active automations. Checked October 26, 2026.

What is a cheaper alternative to ClickUp?

Trello (Free for up to 10 collaborators; Standard $5/user/mo billed yearly), Plane (Free for up to 12 users; Pro $6/user/mo billed yearly; open source), Microsoft Planner (Included in Microsoft 365 business plans, from $7/user/mo billed yearly). Boards and cards only, with no built-in docs, goals or time tracking.

All-in-one project management

Should you build your own ClickUp?

Q: Should you build your own ClickUp?

Buy it. ClickUp Unlimited is $7 per user per month, about $1,260 over 3 years for five people. Building your own version of its tasks, docs and time tracking would cost about $4,400 over the same period. The free plan has unlimited members and tasks, so you can start there and pay only when you need Gantt charts, goals or more than 60 MB of storage.

Buy it, or start on the free plan. At $7 a user, ClickUp costs far less than building even a slice of it.

BUY

Short answer

ClickUp Unlimited is $7 per user per month, about $1,260 over 3 years for five people. Building your own version of its tasks, docs and time tracking would cost about $4,400 over the same period. The free plan has unlimited members and tasks, so you can start there and pay only when you need Gantt charts, goals or more than 60 MB of storage.

Buy for 3 years: $1,260
Build and run for 3 years: $4,363
Verdict: BUY

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Cheaper options

CheaperTrelloFree for up to 10 collaborators; Standard $5/user/mo billed yearlyBoards and cards only, with no built-in docs, goals or time tracking.Open sourcePlaneFree for up to 12 users; Pro $6/user/mo billed yearly; open sourceCycles, modules and pages for software-style teams, but integrations need Pro and it covers less than ClickUp.Already includedMicrosoft PlannerIncluded in Microsoft 365 business plans, from $7/user/mo billed yearlyNo extra cost if you already pay for Microsoft 365, but it is much lighter than ClickUp.

ClickUp pricing in 2026

Plan	Billed yearly	Billed monthly
Unlimited Typical	$7/seat/mo	$10/seat/mo
Business	$12/seat/mo	$19/seat/mo

Free plan: Unlimited members and tasks, 60 MB of storage and 5 active automations

Paying too much? The free plan keeps unlimited members and tasks, boards, docs and sprints, so many teams of five can start there. Unlimited adds Gantt charts, goals, time tracking and unlimited storage.

Per user, billed yearly, from ClickUp’s pricing page in USD. The page is also testing a Core $9, Business $17 and Max $100 lineup with AI credits included, so the prices you see may differ. Checked October 26, 2026.

Run your own numbers

Defaults are a typical small team at $30/hour. Change anything.

If you buy ClickUp

Plan

Seats

If you build it

Your time, $ per hour

Hours to build

Upkeep, hours per month

Hosting and services, $ per month

Buy

$1,260

Build

$4,363

Buying is about $3,103 cheaper over 3 years.

3-year totals. Building includes your time, upkeep, running costs and one month of an AI app builder ($25). Change any number to match your situation.

What you’d build

Tasks with list, board and calendar views
Custom fields and statuses
Simple docs linked to tasks
Time tracking and due-date reminders
Email notifications

Our estimate for a database, hosting, file storage and an email sending service.

What you’d give up

Gantt charts, goals and dashboards
Whiteboards, chat and forms in one place
Integrations such as Slack, Google Drive and Dropbox
Mobile apps and AI features

Risks the price doesn’t show

BreadthMedium

ClickUp spans tasks, docs, chat and whiteboards, so a clone covers only a slice.

Real-time syncMedium

Several people editing a task or doc at once is where homemade tools break.

PermissionsMedium

Guests, private lists and roles take careful testing.

When the verdict flips

Move to a SWITCH (Trello at $5) if all you use are lists and boards. Switch to BUILD only if tasks need to live inside your own product.

Sources

ClickUp pricing

Build hours are our estimates for one person using an AI app builder. How we score. Spotted a wrong price? Tell us on X @BuildictHQ.

Related verdicts

Asana

Project management

SWITCH

Switch to ClickUp or Trello. ClickUp’s free plan has no member cap, and Trello costs $5 a user against Asana’s $10.99.

Buy, 3 yrs: $1,978
Build, 3 yrs: $2,725

Jira

Project management

BUY

Buy it, and start free. Jira costs nothing for up to 10 users, and Standard runs about $8 a user beyond that.

Buy, 3 yrs: $2,851
Build, 3 yrs: $5,425

Linear

Project management

SWITCH

Switch to Plane. It imports Linear issues and cycles, is free for up to 12 people, and Pro costs $6 a user against Linear’s $10.

Buy, 3 yrs: $1,800
Build, 3 yrs: $5,053