🔄 Top ClickUp Alternatives for 2025: Best Project Management Tools

ClickUp promised to be the all-in-one productivity tool, including ClickUp time tracking. But here you are — five tabs deep, buried under notifications, and wondering why your “simple to-do list” needs an onboarding call.

If ClickUp’s complexity, pricing, or performance issues are driving you mad, you’re not alone. Good news: there are free and open-source ClickUp alternatives that don’t require a PhD to use. Here are your best bets in 2025.

🔧 TL;DR: Best ClickUp Alternatives by Category

❓ Why People Look for ClickUp Alternatives

• 🧩 Too complex: Setup feels like configuring a nuclear launch panel
• 🐌 Slow performance: Especially with large workspaces
• 🎯 Overkill for simple teams: When all you need is “who’s doing what by when”
• 💸 Pricing creep: Paywalls on core features
• 🙅‍♀️ Hard to onboard new teammates: Non-technical folks bounce fast

🆓 Best Free ClickUp Alternatives

• Notion – Free for personal use, great docs + tasks in one

• Tana – Strong for organizing knowledge + planning (early access)
• Taskcafe – Self-hostable, easy Kanban UI
• Clockify + Trello – If you just want time tracking + tasks
• nTask – Free forever plan includes task management and Gantt

🔁 Best Open-Source ClickUp Alternatives

• Taskcafe – Kanban board, checklists, labels, due dates — no BS
• Planka – A Trello clone with clean UI, made for dev teams
• OpenProject – Feature-packed, but best for technical or enterprise teams
• Anytype – For those who want to self-host a Notion-style OS

💪 Best Self-Hosted ClickUp Alternatives

• Obsidian (with Tasks plugin) – Markdown-powered, offline-first

• Taskcafe – Great if you need a lightweight team task board
• Planka – Perfect for agile workflows
• OpenProject – Full-stack project management (if you can handle it)

👍 Best ClickUp Alternative for Simplicity

• Notion – Lightweight and flexible (but not built for deep PM)
• Tana – Simpler than Notion, with smarter content structuring
• Trello + Everhour – Just want tasks + time tracking? This combo wins

❗ For an even simpler tool and without having to create an Everhour account, check out our free Trello Power-up!

💭 Reddit’s Favorite ClickUp Alternatives

Based on actual user threads:

1. Obsidian (with Tasks) – For solo builders
2. Taskcafe – “Feels like ClickUp without the chaos”
3. Planka – “Devs love it”
4. Tana – “Better Notion for thinking + tasks”
5. Asana – Still king for lightweight team tasking

🎯 Final Verdict: Which ClickUp Alternative is Best for You?

If you want to ditch ClickUp without losing functionality:

1. Use Everhour + Trello for time tracking + simplicity
2. Go Taskcafe or Planka if you want open source control
3. Try Notion or Tana for writing-first workflows
4. Choose OpenProject if you’re managing dev or enterprise operations

ClickUp tried to be everything. These tools do fewer things better — and faster. No more bloat. Just work.

Check out our curated list of the best B2b project management software and project management tools for SaaS companies!

Learn which software offers project and task management with time tracking!