Best task management software for small teams in 2026 (and what's missing from each)

Wrkbase's task board is included on every plan, including the free tier for up to 5 people, and time tracking is a side effect of using it: move a task to "In progress" and its timer starts automatically, no separate timesheet app to reconcile against later. Tasks connect directly to the rest of the workspace, attendance, payroll, performance scoring, instead of sitting in an isolated project-management silo the way a pure task tool does.

The AI agent, included on Team at $8 per member per month with 500 actions included monthly, can create, edit, and reassign tasks by request, but only after you review and confirm the exact plan, and every attempt is re-checked against your role server-side at execution, not just when the plan was drafted.

What it doesn't have: deep configurable views, custom fields, dependencies, or docs at the level a dedicated project-management tool offers. If that's the actual priority, ClickUp below is the stronger fit specifically for that.

ClickUp is genuinely strong, deep project management: custom views, dependencies, docs, and extensive configurability. Time tracking is gated behind a paid tier, Unlimited ($7/user/month annual) for basic tracking, Business ($12/user/month) for billable time, and its AI, ClickUp Brain, is a separate add-on at $9/user/month ($7.20 billed annually) stacked on top of a paid plan. There's no attendance tracking and no payroll module at any tier, it's task and project management, not workforce management.

Asana's free Personal plan covers up to 2 users. Paid tiers start at Starter, $10.99/user/month billed annually ($13.49 billed monthly), adding timeline/Gantt views and reporting dashboards; Advanced, $24.99/user/month annually, adds portfolios and goals. Time tracking is a built-in feature on Advanced and up, or a $5.99/user/month timesheets-and-budgets add-on on Starter, built for project billing, not payroll. There's no attendance tracking or payroll processing at any tier.

monday.com's free tier covers up to 2 seats. Paid tiers run Basic at $9/seat/month, Standard at $12/seat/month, and Pro at $19/seat/month, all billed annually, with a 10-seat minimum in monday's own pricing examples, each adding more automation and workflow depth. Pro adds a basic time-tracking column for logging hours against a task, but there's no attendance system and no payroll feature at any tier, it's work management, not workforce management.

Zoho Projects' free plan covers up to 5 users. Paid tiers are Premium ($4/user/month annual, $5 monthly), Enterprise ($9/user/month annual, $10 monthly), and Ultimate ($14/user/month); Premium and up include time logs and timesheets, with multi-level approvals added on Enterprise. Attendance and payroll aren't part of Zoho Projects itself, they're separate Zoho products (Zoho People, Zoho Payroll) that would need their own subscription and integration.

If deep, configurable project management is the actual priority and attendance or payroll can live somewhere else, ClickUp is the strongest tool on this list at that specific job. If you'd rather have tasks, time tracking, attendance, and payroll already agree with each other, without exporting anything between systems, that's the problem Wrkbase is built to solve, free for teams up to 5, no card required. Pricing above is as publicly listed in August 2026 for each vendor, confirm current numbers on their own pricing pages before deciding.