Best Wrike Alternatives in 2026: 9 Tools Compared

Asana is the easiest switch for most Wrike users, because it keeps the same familiar building blocks: projects, tasks, sections and assignees. Teams can move between list, board, timeline and calendar views without rebuilding their work, and the Starter plan adds timelines, custom fields and advanced search.

The catch is that Asana gets more expensive as you add reporting and portfolio features. Small teams should start on the free plan, test one real project, and only move up when they need portfolios, goals or heavier automation. If your team already works in Asana-style lists, this is our pick for most people.

monday.com turns projects into colourful boards where each row is an item and each column tracks status, owner or date. That visual style makes it easy for non-technical teams to see progress at a glance, and the template library covers marketing, sales, operations and product work.

The pricing needs care, because paid plans have a three-seat minimum and the cheapest Basic plan lacks timelines and some automation. Teams that want Gantt views and more automation should price the Standard plan, not just the headline Basic figure.

ClickUp tries to replace several tools at once, with tasks, documents, whiteboards, goals and time tracking in a single workspace. For a team leaving Wrike to save money, that breadth matters, because the Unlimited plan at $7 per user per month covers a lot that other tools charge more for.

The trade-off is setup time. ClickUp rewards teams that spend an afternoon choosing views, statuses and permissions, and it can overwhelm teams that just want a simple board. If you have someone willing to own that setup, it is hard to beat on value.

Trello is the right choice when Wrike felt like too much tool for the job. Boards, lists and cards are all most small teams need, and dragging a card from "Doing" to "Done" stays satisfying long after the novelty wears off. Power-Ups add calendars, custom fields and integrations when you need them.

Trello struggles with large portfolios, heavy dependencies and detailed resource planning. If your projects have many linked tasks and strict deadlines across teams, Asana or Smartsheet will serve you better. For straightforward team work, Trello is fast and cheap.

Smartsheet will feel familiar to anyone who plans in spreadsheets but needs shared ownership, deadlines and approvals. The grid view lets you edit many rows at once, while Gantt, calendar and card views give managers a cleaner picture of the same work.

The Pro plan covers the basics, but teams that need proofing, advanced reporting or heavier automation will need the Business plan. Smartsheet also has a learning curve around formulas and sheet permissions, so give it a proper trial with a real project before committing.

Jira is the natural Wrike alternative for software teams, because it is built around issues, backlogs, sprints and releases. Development teams can link work to code, track bugs alongside features, and run agile boards without bolting on extra tools.

Non-technical teams may find Jira harder to love, since its language and settings assume software workflows. If your whole company needs one tool, Asana or monday.com will be easier to adopt. If engineering drives the work, Jira is a strong, focused pick.

Notion suits teams that already live in documents and want project tracking next to their notes, wikis and meeting pages. You can build a project database, link it to docs, and shape views to match how your team actually works, rather than fitting a fixed template.

That flexibility is also the weakness. Notion does not arrive as a ready-made project manager, and teams without a clear owner can end up with messy pages. It works best for small to mid-size teams that value documentation as much as task tracking.

Basecamp takes the opposite approach to Wrike: fewer features, less noise, and one place for discussion, tasks and files. Each project gets message boards, to-dos, schedules and file storage, which cuts down on scattered chat threads and email chains.

Teams that need Gantt charts, resource planning or detailed dashboards will find Basecamp thin. Teams that mainly need clear communication and simple task lists, especially remote teams, often find it refreshing. The flat-rate unlimited plan can also make budgeting simple for larger groups.

Zoho Projects is the budget pick for teams that still want real project features, including Gantt charts, milestones, timesheets and task automation. At $4 per user per month on the Premium plan, it undercuts most rivals by a wide margin.

The interface is functional rather than beautiful, and teams outside the Zoho ecosystem may miss the polish of Asana or monday.com. If price matters most and you already use Zoho tools for email, CRM or accounting, this is an easy win.