For teams of up to 4 full members: Trello. Its Standard plan at $6 per user billed monthly is the lowest per-seat rate we read, and a team this small beats every flat plan on total price.
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17 people or more: Basecamp. Its flat plans ($25, $59, $99 a month — no per-user fees) undercut every per-seat total at this size; which plan depends on how many active projects you run.
In between — 5 to 16 people — the answer hinges on your active-project count: at 3 or fewer projects Basecamp Freelancer ($25 flat) already wins; with more projects Trello keeps winning until the next flat plan catches up. The object below shows exactly where, and on which published bound.
Small teams of full members who want the lowest per-seat price read here
Walk away if: Your team works with many outside guests across several boards — they are billed like members
Trello: “Any Guest that is on more than one board within the Workspace is considered a Multi-Board Guest and is billed at the same rate as Standard or Premium Workspace members.” Checked Aug 24, 2026 on the vendor's page.
Teams that want a free plan without member limits before committing
Teams that need guests kept outside the billed count — “without hitting a cap or paying extra per person”
Walk away if: You want the cheapest seat — Starter is the highest per-seat rate this page reads
Teams of 5 or more where everyone joins — “No per-user fees, everyone's included”
Walk away if: You run more than 25 active projects on monthly billing — only the annually-billed Unlimited goes beyond
If your team has 10 full members or fewer and Trello's free-plan limits cover the work, start there before buying a paid project tool.
Publisher evidence and limits are used where they support the choice; unsupported claims stay out of the recommendation.
Which option fits this buyer, using only what these vendors publish?
◇ The answer holds for the source-backed evidence this guide names and compares — nothing beyond it.
◇ The main graphic answers the breakpoint / crossover question for the stated buying condition.
◇ The comparison table adds real cost, free tier, user / collaboration limits, billing / transaction limits, plan limits, project / workspace limits, collaboration fit and usage limits where vendor evidence supports it.
· Every dimension this decision needs has source-backed evidence on this page.
│ The answer changes when the buyer condition moves onto a different observed dimension, limit, billing unit, or proven breakpoint.
Changes the answer when a free plan is viable only inside its published limits.
Supported by the vendor evidence used on this page.Changes the answer when per-seat pricing or user access makes the cheap-looking option expensive.
Supported by the vendor evidence used on this page.Changes the answer when invoices, payments, transactions or card volume create operating cost.
Supported by the vendor evidence used on this page.Changes the answer when the cheapest plan excludes the limit, tier or capability the buyer needs.
Supported by the vendor evidence used on this page.Which one costs least for your team?
Paid plans · monthly billing · price alone · a team made entirely of full members
Up to 4 people
Trello Standard
$6/user
Seat counted: Workspace members — and “Any Guest that is on more than one board within the Workspace … is billed at the same rate as Standard or Premium Workspace members”
5 to 16 people
17 people or more
Basecamp Studio
any team size · up to 10 active projects
$59
Up to 10 active projects · 25 GB
Basecamp Pro
any team size · up to 25 active projects
$99
Up to 25 active projects · 100 GB
Basecamp Freelancer
17 to 20 people ONLY — closed beyond 20
$25
Up to 3 active projects · 5 GB
“Add up to 20 people to your account. If you want to invite more than 20 people, you'll need to upgrade to a higher package.”
Whatever your active-project count (up to 25 read): a per-seat total this small beats every flat plan.
ClickUp Unlimited $10/user and Asana Starter $13.49/user are per-seat like Trello — at every team size they cost more, so they never define the frontier.
Derived from prices published on the vendors' own pricing pages, checked August 24, 2026 from a United States egress — among the ten vendors checked, monthly billing. The seat each vendor bills is not the same unit (guests are free at some, billed at others): the comparison holds on the declared domain, and says so.
Why does the answer depend on team size?
Nine of the ten vendors publish per-seat pricing; Basecamp prices flat, bounded by active projects and storage. A per-seat total grows with every person, a flat price does not — each crossing is arithmetic on two published formulas, never an estimate. ClickUp Unlimited $10/user and Asana Starter $13.49/user are per-seat like Trello — at every team size they cost more, so they never define the frontier.
Where does the cheapest option change?
Shown for the 3-or-fewer active-projects case, to 25 people — beyond, nothing changes: the flat price is constant and the per-seat total only grows. With more projects the crossing moves (4 to 10 active projects: Trello Standard $6/user · 11 to 25 active projects: Trello Standard $6/user).
What exactly was checked?
Domain of this comparison: a team made entirely of full members — each person is one billed seat at the per-seat vendors and one counted person at Basecamp. With outside guests the billed unit diverges by vendor (free at some, billed at others), and the comparison no longer holds as-is.
Basecamp Unlimited $299: “$299 /mo, billed annually” — outside this page's monthly base, so it is named here and kept out of the arithmetic.
“Any Guest that is on more than one board within the Workspace is considered a Multi-Board Guest and is billed at the same rate as Standard or Premium Workspace members.”
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Trello ↗Official source“Workspaces on a paid plan start with a limited number of external guest seats and unlimited read-only guests.”
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Clickup ↗Official sourceA module is priced on top of seats: “$5.99 per user, per month billed annually. Available on Starter, Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise+ plans”
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Asana ↗Official source“Up to 3 active projects” (Freelancer) · “Up to 10 active projects” (Studio) · “Up to 25 active projects” (Pro) — flat plans are bounded by projects and storage, not people
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Basecamp ↗Official sourceThe published total contains a promotion inside its arithmetic: “$9 x 10 seats = $90” · “Special monthly discount = -$10” · “Total = $90 / month, billed annually”
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Monday ↗Official source“Wrike is sold in groups of users. For accounts of up to 30 seats, subscriptions are sold in groups of five.” — adding one person does not cost one seat
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Wrike ↗Official sourceBusiness has a published floor: “3+ Members” — and Pro a cap: “1-10 Members, unlimited Contributors”
Evidence pending since Aug 24, 2026View at Smartsheet ↗Official source“For annual subscriptions, we'll charge you for the tier that most closely matches your user count.” — the base changes with the term at the same vendor
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Atlassian ↗Official source“Guests are free of charge – but they can only access individual pages they are invited to.”
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Notion ↗Official source“Usage-based AI credits will launch in September 2026” — a second billing base with a published date
Publisher fact checked Aug 24, 2026View at Teamwork ↗Official sourceYour team works mostly with outside guests. The seat each vendor bills is not the same unit — guests are free at some vendors, billed at others — and until you know which unit applies to your team, no total on this page is your total.
Why does the winner change with team size?
Because two pricing bases coexist: nine of the ten vendors publish per-seat pricing, while Basecamp prices flat. A per-seat total grows with every person; a flat price does not. The crossing points are arithmetic on two published formulas — we computed them, we did not estimate them.
Does a cheaper per-seat vendor than Trello exist on this page?
No. In the monthly-billed prices verified for this page, Trello Standard is $6 per full member, ClickUp Unlimited is $10, and Asana Starter is $13.49. Per-seat rankings stay in that order as the team grows; Basecamp's flat plans are what create the crossover.
What happens at Basecamp beyond 20 people?
The Freelancer plan cannot be bought at all — “Add up to 20 people to your account. If you want to invite more than 20 people, you'll need to upgrade to a higher package.” That is a wall, not a price increase: from 21 people the flat option is Studio at $59, “UNLIMITED users”.
Why are monday.com, Wrike, Jira, Notion, Teamwork and Smartsheet not in the comparison?
Each is read, and each is excluded for its own published reason: monday and Wrike publish annual-billing terms only (and monday's total carries a promotion inside its own arithmetic; Wrike sells seats “in groups of five”); Jira's displayed amount depends on a team-size selector whose default we did not record; Notion publishes one amount per plan with an unread billing toggle; Teamwork's amount did not establish a currency code in this reading; Smartsheet publishes thirteen currencies behind a selector. They close by a reading, not by a guess.
Is this page paid for?
No vendor pays for placement here, and no link on this page is an affiliate link today. The ranking comes from published prices alone.
● Official vendor and pricing pages checked 2026-08-24.
Visible claims keep their source and check date; Advisor calculations stay marked separately.
