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Productive alternatives

Productive alternatives: 5 tools compared honestly

Productive is a resource-planning, budgeting and time-tracking tool for agencies, priced per user with a three-seat minimum: Essential is $12 a user per month on monthly billing, and Professional is $29. If you are comparing it with Teamwork, Scoro, ClickUp or Accelo for a small agency, this page lists current prices and where each tool is stronger or weaker. Workspace369 is our product, and it is not a dedicated resource-planning tool like Productive; the page says where it fits and where it does not.

Szymon Dziak, Founder

Published · Updated

Methodology — We checked each tool’s official pricing page, and its feature pages where noted, on October 12, 2026. Workspace369 is our product; we link its pricing page and say where it is not the best fit.

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Quick answer

The short version, by scenario

Resource planning, budgets and utilization are the reason you buy: stay on Productive, or compare Teamwork and Scoro. Productive’s Essential plan lists resource planning, budgeting, time tracking and time-off management at $12 a user per month ($10 billed yearly), minimum three users. Teamwork Accelerate ($24.99 a user per month billed yearly, minimum five) adds workload planning with live capacity and client invoices built from logged time. Scoro’s Projects & Resources combination is $29 a user per month (minimum five users) with a planner, bookings and a utilization report.

Want a flexible task board with time tracking and you will handle billing and CRM elsewhere: ClickUp lists paid plans from $7 to $8 a user per month billed yearly, depending on which plan set its pricing page shows. Want a services-automation platform with retainers, resourcing and project financials and are happy to buy through a quote: Accelo publishes no prices.

If the client side matters as much as the project side, Workspace369 puts clients, proposals with e-signature, invoices, payments, the client portal, a shared inbox, texting and calls in one workspace at a flat team price: Voyager is $74/mo with 2 seats (texts and calls start here), and Specialist is $149/mo with 10 seats. Its projects, kanban boards and time tracking cover day-to-day delivery, but it has no capacity-planning view, and Productive Essential costs less for a team of five or ten on the numbers below.

The switching triggers

Why people leave Productive in 2026

We did not find a recent price change announcement on productive.io. Three facts from our October 12, 2026 check that matter if you are comparing:

  1. Oct 12, 2026

    Productive prices per user with a three-seat minimum

    Productive’s pricing page shows Essential at “$12 /month” on monthly billing and $10 a month billed yearly, Professional at $29 monthly and $25 billed yearly, and Ultimate as “Let’s talk”. Its FAQ says “all plans require at least 3 seats”, and its example for 10 users on Essential is “total $120/month” on monthly billing. Clients you invite are free; contractors are charged the same as employees.

  2. Oct 12, 2026

    Billing and CRM are in the feature list; phone and texting are not

    Productive’s plan comparison lists invoices, retainer invoicing, payment reminders, a sales CRM with deals and pipelines, and “Accounting integrations” with Xero, QuickBooks Online and others. Invoices and the CRM are on every plan, including Essential. Retainer invoicing, payment reminders and accounting integrations start on Professional ($29 monthly, $25 billed yearly), and financial forecasting on budgets is Ultimate only. We found no texting, phone line or built-in ledger on its pricing, home or integrations pages.

  3. Oct 12, 2026

    Minimums and quotes differ across the field

    Teamwork’s Accelerate plan has a five-user minimum and Scoro requires five users on every combination. Accelo publishes no prices and asks for a custom quote; its demo form tells teams of 1–9 people that Accelo “works best for growing teams of 15+ users.” ClickUp’s pricing page shows two different plan sets in the same HTML, so confirm the plan names and price when you sign up.

Side by side

Productive alternatives compared

The two columns that decide most switches — SMS and voice, and built-in accounting — are the ones nobody else publishes. Productive is the first row for context; the alternatives follow.

ToolPrice (tier most buyers need)SeatsSMSVoice / phoneBuilt-in accountingClient portalPayment plansTime trackingChecked on
Productive current toolpricing ↗$12/user/mo Essential ($10 billed yearly) · Professional $29 ($25 billed yearly)Per user, minimum 3 · invited clients are freeNot listedNot listedFrom Professional: syncs invoices to Xero, QuickBooks Online and othersInvited clients are free and follow project progress; approved time from ProfessionalNot listed (retainer invoicing and payment reminders from Professional)yes — all plansOct 12, 2026
Teamwork pricing ↗$29.99/user/mo Accelerate ($24.99 billed yearly) · Basics $13.99Per user: Free up to 5 · Basics min 3 · Accelerate min 5Not listedNot listedQuickBooks, Xero and HubSpot connections from AccelerateClient users in projects, from BasicsNot listed (invoices from logged time on Accelerate)yes — billable vs non-billable on Free · timesheets from AccelerateOct 12, 2026
Scoro pricing ↗$29/user/mo Projects & Resources · Time-billing $17 · End-to-end $57Per user, minimum 5 · price depends on the apps you pickNot listedNot listedInvoice and Spend apps · Xero, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct connectionsCustomer portal is a paid add-onRecurring and scheduled invoices (Invoice app)yes — Track appOct 12, 2026
ClickUp pricing ↗See site: Business $12 or $17/user/mo billed yearly (page shows two plan sets)Per paid member · guest seats limited on paid plansNot listed (SMS appears for two-factor sign-in only)Not listedInvoicing not listedGuests with permission control · read-only guests unlimitedNot listedyes — native (one plan layout lists it on Free too)Oct 12, 2026
Accelo pricing ↗See site: custom quoteSee site · its demo form says it “works best for growing teams of 15+ users”See siteSee siteXero, Sage Intacct and QuickBooks Online connectionsSee siteSee siteSee siteOct 12, 2026
Workspace369 ourspricing →$74/mo Voyager (2 seats) · Specialist $149 (10 seats)Flat by plan: 1 / 2 / 10 / 20 / 50 seats · extra seats $10yes — from Voyager $74/moyes — from Voyager $74/moBasic from Specialist · full from Commander $299/moyes — every plan, from Cadet $29/moyes — from Specialistyes — from VoyagerOct 12, 2026

Prices are per user per month at the tier a small agency would compare, with the billing period stated in each cell or section, checked October 12, 2026. Resource planning is not a column here: Productive’s Essential plan lists it, Teamwork lists workload planning from Accelerate, Scoro in its Resource app, and Workspace369’s feature matrix does not list it. “Not listed” means the vendor’s pricing or product pages did not mention it; “See site” means we could not confirm a number.

One by one

The alternatives, in detail

Teamwork teamwork.com ↗

Best for: Agencies that want project management built for client work, with workload planning and invoices from tracked time, and are happy to pay per user.

Pricing: Free (up to 5 users and 5 projects), Basics $13.99 a user per month (minimum 3 users) and Accelerate $29.99 a user per month (minimum 5 users) on monthly billing, or $9.99 and $24.99 billed yearly (“Save 29%”); Optimize and Enterprise are “Let’s talk”. Timesheets start on Accelerate. 14-day trial, no credit card, checked October 12, 2026.

Where it wins

  • Accelerate lists workload planning with live capacity, time budgets, retainers and client invoices built from logged time
  • Client users can be invited into projects from Basics
  • A Free plan for up to five users and five projects

Real limitations

  • Quotes, tentative planning, scheduling by role or skill and profitability insights start on Optimize, which is quote-only
  • Invoices on Accelerate are listed as “Basic invoices”; margin, tax and discounts start on Optimize
  • Its pricing page lists no texting or phone line

Skip it if: You need texting or calls in the same tool, or you want a flat team price instead of per-user pricing.

Scoro scoro.com ↗

Best for: Agencies of five or more that want to buy only the apps they need, such as time and billing, projects and resources, or quote to cash, from one vendor.

Pricing: Combinations are priced per user per month in USD: Time-billing $17, Projects & Resources $29, Quote to Cash $29 and End-to-end $57, minimum 5 users, 14-day trial with no credit card, checked October 12, 2026. The page shows them per user per month but does not say whether that is monthly or annual billing, and says annual billing gives a 13–17% discount. Its extras list includes the customer portal as a paid add-on.

Where it wins

  • Eight apps you combine: Do, Deliver, Track, Resource, Sell, Estimate, Spend and Invoice
  • The Resource app lists a planner, bookings, availability, time off and a utilization report
  • Quote to Cash adds a quote and budget builder, invoices, recurring billing and a margin report

Real limitations

  • Five-user minimum on every combination
  • Of the four popular combinations, only End-to-end includes the Sell (CRM) app
  • Customer portal is a paid add-on, and texting or a phone line is not listed

Skip it if: You have fewer than five people, or you want one flat price instead of per-user, per-app pricing.

ClickUp clickup.com ↗

Best for: Teams that want a flexible task and project board with native time tracking at a low per-seat price and will run invoicing in another tool.

Pricing: The pricing page we checked showed Free Forever, Unlimited at $7 a user per month billed yearly ($10 billed monthly), Business at $12 billed yearly ($19 billed monthly) and Enterprise by quote. A second layout in the same page lists Core $8, Business $17 and Max $100 billed yearly, with struck-through “Regular price” of $12, $25 and $120. We could not tell which applies to a given buyer, so confirm the price at signup. Checked October 12, 2026.

Where it wins

  • Native time tracking and Gantt charts
  • Resource management and workload views appear on paid plans; the tier depends on which plan set you see
  • A Free Forever plan with unlimited free members (60 MB storage)

Real limitations

  • No built-in invoicing is listed on its pricing, features or sales pages; its sales page says it can stand in for a CRM with custom fields and task views, but it is not a dedicated CRM
  • Texting and a phone line are not listed; SMS appears only for two-factor sign-in
  • Paid plans include a limited number of external guest seats, with unlimited read-only guests

Skip it if: You want proposals, billing, payments and client communication in the same tool as the projects.

Accelo accelo.com ↗

Best for: Professional-services firms that want retainers, resourcing and capacity planning and project financials in one platform, and will buy through a quote and onboarding.

Pricing: Accelo lists no prices. Its pricing page says “Accelo’s pricing is based on your team size and growth goals” and offers a “custom quote”. The page names no plans or trial, and when you pick a team of 1–9 people its demo form says “Accelo works best for growing teams of 15+ users.” Checked October 12, 2026.

Where it wins

  • Fixed-fee projects and retainers “side by side, in one tool”, per its pricing page
  • Resourcing and capacity planning and project financials are listed as solution areas
  • Plans include “implementation guidance, onboarding support”

Real limitations

  • No public prices, and its demo form says it “works best for growing teams of 15+ users”
  • The pricing page does not break features out by plan
  • Texting and a phone line are not mentioned on the pricing page

Skip it if: You are well under 15 people (Accelo says it works best from 15+ users), or you want a posted price and a self-serve trial before you talk to anyone.

Workspace369 workspace369.com ↗

Best for: Small agencies that want clients, proposals, invoices, payments, the client portal, a shared inbox with texts and calls, and projects with time tracking in one flat-priced workspace.

Pricing: Cadet $29/mo (1 seat, with time tracking), Voyager $74/mo (2 seats; adds the shared inbox, texts and calls), Specialist $149/mo (10 seats; adds IVR and call queues, payment plans, expenses, project profitability and basic accounting), Commander $299/mo (20 seats; full accounting). Extra seats are $10/mo from Voyager. A 5-person team pays $104/mo on Voyager or $149/mo on Specialist. 14-day free trial.

Where it wins

  • Clients, proposals with e-signature, invoices, projects and the client portal on every plan
  • Native two-way SMS and a business phone line inside the CRM from Voyager, and IVR and call queues from Specialist
  • Time tracking with timesheets and time-to-invoice on every plan, projects with stages, kanban boards and subtasks on every plan

Real limitations

  • Not a dedicated resource-planning tool: the feature matrix lists projects, a team calendar and time tracking, but no capacity or utilization view, Gantt chart, task dependencies, or project budgets with burn tracking
  • Productive Essential costs less for a team of five or ten: 5 users are $60/mo and 10 users are $120/mo on monthly billing, against $104 on Voyager and $149 on Specialist
  • No direct import from Productive: AI Import maps the spreadsheets you export, and templates and automations are rebuilt by hand

Skip it if: Resource planning, utilization and project budgets are the main reason you use Productive, or you want a lower per-user cost for a team of five to ten.

Start free with Voyager — calls and texts built inRunning a team of up to 10? Try SpecialistSee full pricing →

The honest counterpoint

Stay on Productive if…

  • Resource planning is central: Productive’s Essential plan lists resource planning, budgeting, project and task management and time tracking from $12 a user per month ($10 billed yearly).
  • You rely on budgets, retainers and forecasting: Professional adds recurring budgets, retainer management and invoicing, and payment reminders; Ultimate adds financial forecasting on budgets, revenue forecasting and Scenario Builder.
  • Time off matters to how you schedule people: Productive includes time-off management on Essential, and an approval flow and advanced time-off management from Professional.
  • You send invoices to Xero or QuickBooks Online and want them synced through Productive’s accounting integrations (from Professional, $29 a user per month on monthly billing).
  • You invite many clients and want them free: Productive does not charge for invited clients.

Switching

How to switch from Productive

  1. 01

    Export your Productive data

    Pull out companies and contacts first, then open invoices, projects and tasks, and time entries. Save invoice PDFs and any budget or utilization reports you need for your records before you cancel.

  2. 02

    Decide what replaces resource planning

    If you use Productive’s planner and bookings, decide first whether to keep a separate planning tool or move to a tool that has one. Workspace369 covers projects, a team calendar and time tracking, but not capacity planning.

  3. 03

    Start a Workspace369 trial and run one client end to end

    14-day free trial. Import clients by CSV instead of retyping, connect your inbox and calendar, then take one real client from proposal to project to tracked time to invoice and payment.

  4. 04

    Cancel when it sticks, not before

    Keep both for a week or two. Cancel Productive only after a client has paid through the new setup, and keep the exports.

Workspace369 has no direct import from Productive, but you don’t retype your records: export them as spreadsheets, and AI Import maps the columns and shows the token cost before it saves anything. Support can help you map anything unusual. If you rely on Productive’s resource planner, decide what replaces it first; for the plan math and feature gates, start here:

Workspace369 pricing: plans, seats and feature gates →

FAQ

Questions Productive users actually ask

What is a good Productive.io or Teamwork alternative for a small agency?
It depends on what you need most. For resource planning and budgets, Productive itself ($12 a user per month on Essential, minimum three users) or Scoro (Projects & Resources, $29 a user per month, minimum five). For project management built for client work, Teamwork (Accelerate $24.99 a user per month billed yearly, minimum five). For a flexible task board, ClickUp. For clients, proposals, invoices, a portal, texting and calls in one flat-priced workspace, Workspace369 (Voyager $74/mo, 2 seats), which has no capacity-planning view. Prices checked October 12, 2026.
How much does Productive cost?
Essential is $12 a user per month on monthly billing and $10 billed yearly; Professional is $29 monthly and $25 billed yearly; Ultimate is “Let’s talk”, checked on productive.io/pricing on October 12, 2026. All plans require at least three seats, and the page shows 10 users on Essential as $120 a month on monthly billing. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
Productive vs Teamwork: which is better for a small agency?
Productive lists resource planning on its Essential plan ($12 monthly, $10 billed yearly, minimum three users). Teamwork lists workload planning with live capacity and client invoices from logged time on Accelerate ($29.99 monthly, $24.99 billed yearly, minimum five users); its Basics plan ($13.99 monthly, $9.99 billed yearly, minimum three) covers billable time tracking and client users but not workload planning. Teamwork also has a Free plan for up to five users. Checked October 12, 2026.
Is Scoro cheaper than Productive?
Not like for like. Scoro prices by app combination: Projects & Resources is $29 a user per month with a five-user minimum, and its page does not say whether that is monthly or annual billing. Productive’s Professional plan is $29 on monthly billing, and Essential is $12. Check which features each combination actually includes before comparing totals.
Does Productive have invoicing, a CRM, SMS or a phone system?
Productive lists invoices and a sales CRM with deals and pipelines on every plan; retainer invoicing, payment reminders and the Xero and QuickBooks Online sync start on Professional ($29 a user per month on monthly billing). We found no texting, phone line or built-in ledger on its pricing, home or integrations pages as of October 12, 2026. Workspace369 includes texts and calls from Voyager ($74/mo, 2 seats).
Can Workspace369 replace Productive?
Partly. Workspace369 covers clients, proposals, invoices, payments, the client portal, projects with stages and kanban boards, and time tracking with time-to-invoice. Its feature matrix does not list capacity planning, utilization, Gantt charts or project budgets with burn tracking, so an agency that lives in Productive’s resource planner should keep that or choose a tool that has one.
How do I move from Productive to another tool?
Export companies and contacts, open invoices, projects and tasks, and time entries, save invoice PDFs, then run one real client through the new tool before cancelling. Workspace369’s AI Import reads those exports (CSV or XLSX), maps the columns and shows the token cost before it saves anything; support can help with anything unusual.

Try the workspace with texting and calling inside.

Texts and calls start on Voyager ($74/mo, 2 seats); IVR, call queues and call recording on Specialist ($149/mo, 10 seats). 14-day free trial — bring one client and run the full loop.

Start free with VoyagerTry Specialist for IVR and call queuesSee pricing →

Keep comparing

Sources

Productive alternative with SMS + voiceFrom $74/mo · 14-day free trial
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