The short answer
If you want to start simply, Projoodle is the most direct way in: tasks, a Kanban board, a calendar and polls sit in the same project, and nobody has to register for it – not even you. People from outside, such as a client or a club board, work along with a link instead of just looking.
If all you need is a Kanban board with many integrations, take Trello. If you want many members and several views for free, look at ClickUp, as long as you hardly store any files. Jira is built for software teams, Notion for tasks that sit next to a lot of documentation.
And if the team grows: almost every tool here charges per person once you pay. Projoodle PRO costs the same for 5 people as for 20.
The seven tools at a glance
- Projoodle – best for small teams that want to start simply, with or without accounts.
- Trello – best for a pure Kanban board with many integrations.
- ClickUp – best for many members and several views, with little storage.
- MeisterTask – best for a fixed team that works on a few boards.
- Notion – best when tasks and documentation belong together.
- Jira – best for software teams of up to ten people.
- Asana – best for two people who plan together.
How we compared these tools
How the facts were checked
Every number in the two tables comes from the vendor’s own pricing page or help centre, not from other comparison sites. We checked them on 20 October 2026 and review them every three months. Free plans change without notice, so if a number here no longer matches the vendor’s page, the vendor’s page is right.
There is no score and no ranking by points. We did not run a lab test with stopwatches, and a number like “8.7 out of 10” would pretend that we had. Projoodle is our own product; its limits are named as plainly as those of the others.
What matters for a small team
- How many people the free plan allows – and whether guests count towards that.
- What stays free – projects, boards, storage, views.
- How people get in – account, invitation, or a link.
- A Kanban board – all seven have one for free, so the differences lie elsewhere.
- What the upgrade costs – because a small team that works well rarely stays on the free plan forever.
What a small team should look for in general, beyond these seven names, is in Which project tool fits a small team?
The free plans side by side
| Tool | People on the free plan | Projects or boards | Files | Without an account | AI assistants (MCP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projoodle | 5 per project | unlimited without an account, 2 in an account | 10 per task, 10 MB each | view and work along | yes, with an account |
| Trello | 10 per workspace, guests included | 10 boards per workspace | 10 MB per file | view public boards | yes |
| ClickUp | unlimited | unlimited tasks | 60 MB in total | view shared links | yes, 100 calls a day |
| MeisterTask | unlimited team members | 3 projects | 20 MB per file | no | yes, in beta |
| Notion | 1,000 blocks once several people share a workspace, 10 guests | pages and databases | 5 MB per file | view pages published to the web | yes, for members |
| Jira | 10 | unlimited | 2 GB in total | no | from the Standard plan |
| Asana | 2 | unlimited | 100 MB per file | no | not stated for the free plan |
Sources: Trello · ClickUp · MeisterTask · Notion · Jira · Asana · Projoodle
Projoodle: best for simple team projects
A project in Projoodle is shared with a link. Each participant gets a personal one and works in the project with it – no registration, no app, no password. Only the person who creates the project gives an email address, because their own link is sent to it.
What someone may do is a role, and the role has nothing to do with an account. A member creates tasks, edits them, ticks them off and attaches files. A guest reads, writes comments and votes in polls, but changes nothing.
Where it is strong
- Everything in one project: task list, Kanban board, project calendar and polls for dates and decisions – all on the free plan. With Trello, the calendar view is paid.
- Ready in a minute: create a project, send the links. Neither you nor the others need an account.
- People from outside work along instead of just looking. None of the other six documents this for people without an account.
- PRO costs one flat price, however large the team gets.
- Connects to AI assistants such as ChatGPT or Claude via MCP, also on the free plan. That needs an account.
Where it falls short
- On the free plan, five participants and three columns of your own per project, plus the fixed “Tasks completed” column. PRO lifts both limits.
- No timeline, no Gantt chart and no automations – for complex projects with many dependencies, ClickUp or Jira fit better.
- A project without PRO that nobody changes for a year is deleted, after a warning by email.
Who it suits: small teams, clubs and agencies that want to get started right away – especially when people from outside join in. How that looks with clients is in Share tasks with clients without an account.
Trello: best for a Kanban board with many integrations
Trello is the classic among Kanban boards: lists, cards, drag and drop, and a large library of integrations. The free plan gives a small team enough boards to start and is quick to understand.
Where it is strong
- Very easy to get into, even for people who have never used a project tool.
- Boards can be made public, and then anyone with the link can look at them.
- Many integrations to extend a board.
Where it falls short
- Guests count towards the number of people on the free plan. Above the limit, boards become read-only.
- Free means the board. Calendar, timeline and table views are paid.
- Commenting and editing need a Trello account.
Who it suits: a fixed team that only needs a board and wants to connect it to other tools.
ClickUp: best for many members and views
ClickUp puts a great deal into its free plan: no limit on members, list, board, calendar and table views, docs, whiteboards and forms.
Where it is strong
- As many members as you like, free.
- Several views of the same tasks, not just a board.
- Read-only links that people without an account can open.
Where it falls short
- The storage on the free plan is very small. A few photos or PDFs use it up.
- Automations and history are tightly limited.
- So much choice takes time to set up, and a small team has to decide what it does not need.
Who it suits: a team that wants many views for many people and works with hardly any files.
MeisterTask: best for a fixed team on a board
MeisterTask is a tidy Kanban tool with a list view. The free plan allows any number of team members but only a few projects.
Where it is strong
- No limit on team members.
- A clear board that needs little explanation.
- Board and list view are available on the free plan.
Where it falls short
- Only a few projects on the free plan.
- No automations, no repeating tasks, and only two integrations.
- External collaborators who are not in your team are not possible on the free plan.
Who it suits: a fixed team with a few long-running projects.
Notion: best for tasks and documentation
Notion is first of all a workspace for pages and databases. A task board is one way of looking at a database, next to tables, calendars and timelines.
Where it is strong
- Tasks, meeting notes and knowledge in one place.
- All database views are available, including on the free plan.
- Pages can be published to the web and read without an account.
Where it falls short
- Once more than one person shares the workspace, the free plan is capped by the number of blocks. A team reaches it quickly.
- Very small file uploads on the free plan.
- Commenting or editing needs a Notion account.
Who it suits: one person, or a team that mainly writes and documents and keeps others as guests.
Jira: best for software teams
Jira comes from software development: backlog, sprints, boards, timelines. On the free plan a small team gets almost all views.
Where it is strong
- Backlog, board, list, timeline and calendar on the free plan.
- Unlimited projects and plenty of storage.
- Built for the way development teams work.
Where it falls short
- A hard limit on users on the free plan.
- No anonymous access on the free plan, and permissions cannot be adjusted.
- For a team that does not develop software, there is a lot to set up and learn.
Who it suits: software and IT teams of up to ten people.
Asana: best for two people
Asana is a strong tool for structured team tasks. Its free plan, however, is now designed for very few people.
Where it is strong
- List, board and calendar view on the free plan.
- Unlimited projects and tasks.
- Generous file size per upload.
Where it falls short
- The free plan is limited to two users.
- No guests on the free plan.
- Timeline, dashboards and automations only in the paid plans.
Who it suits: two people who plan together. For a team, Asana only really starts with the paid plan.
When the free plan is not enough: what an upgrade costs
Per person or per team
Six of the seven tools charge per person once you pay. Every new team member is a new seat, and with Trello and ClickUp guests count as well beyond certain limits.
Projoodle charges per account instead. The PRO of the person who owns a project applies to everybody in it, and people who work along without an account need no seat at all. A Kanban board with twenty participants therefore costs the same as one with five.
What it costs for 5, 10 and 20 people
| Tool | Plan | Price model | 5 people | 10 people | 20 people |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projoodle | PRO | per account | 4.90 | 4.90 | 4.90 |
| Trello | Standard | $5 per person | $25 | $50 | $100 |
| ClickUp | Core | $9 per person | $45 | $90 | $180 |
| Notion | Plus | $10 per person | $50 | $100 | $200 |
| Jira | Standard | $9.70 per person | $48.50 | $97 | $194 |
| Asana | Starter | $10.99 per person | $54.95 | $109.90 | $219.80 |
| MeisterTask | Pro | $13 per person | $65 | $130 | $260 |
With PRO, Projoodle has no limit on projects, participants, columns or files per task, and a file may be up to 50 MB. What else it includes is on the pricing page.
What paid plans add that Projoodle PRO does not
The price is only half the comparison. The cheapest paid plans of the others bring things that Projoodle does not have even with PRO:
- Timeline and Gantt charts – ClickUp Core and Asana Starter.
- Automations – ClickUp, MeisterTask, Asana and Trello, to different extents.
- Roles and permissions in detail – Jira Standard.
- Reporting dashboards – Asana Starter.
If your team needs those, the higher price per person buys something real. If it needs people to work along without accounts, it buys an obstacle.
Which free tool should you choose?
If you want to start simply, also with people from outside
Projoodle. Tasks, board, calendar and polls are in one project, and clients, club members or helpers open their link and work along, without registering. If they are only supposed to look, a public Trello board or a shared ClickUp view also works.
If a board with many integrations is all you need
Trello, as long as the team including guests stays within the free limit. If you need more people, MeisterTask allows any number of team members.
If you need many views
ClickUp. Plan for the small storage, or keep files somewhere else.
If you build software
Jira. Backlog, sprints and boards are what it is built for.
If tasks and documentation belong together
Notion, alone or with guests. For a team that shares one workspace, the free plan is tight.
And if the main question is a shared list rather than a whole project tool, a to-do list or a shared checklist may be all you need.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a project management tool without signup?
Yes. In Projoodle, the people you invite work in the project without registering: they open their personal link and can create and tick off tasks straight away. Only whoever creates the project gives an email address. Trello, ClickUp and Notion allow viewing without an account, but not working along.
Which free tool allows the most users?
ClickUp and MeisterTask allow any number of team members on the free plan. Trello and Jira allow ten, Projoodle five per project, Asana two. With Notion, the limit is not the number of people but the number of blocks.
Why is monday.com not on this list?
Its free plan is limited to two seats and three boards, and guests are not possible. That makes it a way to try monday.com, not a tool for a team. The paid plans are sold in packages of seats, with a minimum of three.
Can AI assistants work with these tools?
Yes, all seven have an official connection via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), with which assistants such as ChatGPT or Claude read and create tasks. With Trello, ClickUp, Notion, MeisterTask and Projoodle it works on the free plan, with Jira from the Standard plan. Asana does not state which plans include it. It always needs an account, because the assistant acts in your name.
How often is this comparison updated?
Every three months. The date of the last check is next to both tables.
Conclusion
There is no best free project management tool for every small team, but there is a clear choice for most situations. If you want to start simply and keep tasks, board, calendar and polls in one place, Projoodle is the most direct way in – with or without people from outside, and when the team grows, the price does not grow with it.
Trello suits a pure board with many integrations, ClickUp many views, Jira software, Notion documentation, MeisterTask a fixed team and Asana two people. Start a project and invite the first people – without anyone having to register.
