Overview

Teamwork knows exactly who it's for: agencies and service businesses managing client work. While competitors try to serve everyone, Teamwork focuses on the specific challenges of billable work, tracking time, managing client expectations, handling multiple concurrent projects, and keeping profitability visible.

The killer feature is simple but impactful: unlimited free client users on all paid plans. Add clients to projects without increasing your bill. For agencies where client collaboration is essential, this alone can justify choosing Teamwork over competitors who charge for every user.

Beyond client management, Teamwork delivers a well-rounded PM experience. Task management, time tracking, project templates, Gantt charts, and workload management cover most agency needs. It's not the flashiest tool. Monday is prettier, ClickUp has more features, but Teamwork does what agencies need without unnecessary complexity.

Features Deep-Dive

Time Tracking and Billing

Time tracking is native and thorough. Log time via timers, manual entry, or desktop app. Mark time as billable or non-billable. Set billing rates per person, per project, or per task. Pull reports showing where hours went and what's billable.

For agencies that invoice clients based on hours, this integration is essential. No need for separate time tracking tools (Harvest, Toggl) when tracking lives alongside tasks. The time reports feed directly into understanding project profitability.

Estimated vs. actual time comparisons help with scoping future work, if you consistently underestimate design tasks, the data shows it.

Client Collaboration

Client users see what you allow them to see. Share project updates, files, and specific tasks while keeping internal discussions private. Clients can comment on deliverables, approve work, and track project status without accessing your full workspace.

The Notebook feature provides a wiki-like space for client-facing documentation, project briefs, brand guidelines, approval processes. Keeping this information inside Teamwork reduces email back-and-forth.

For client-facing feedback, the proofing feature lets clients mark up files directly, though it's less sophisticated than Wrike's proofing tools.

Project Templates and Repeatable Work

Agencies often run similar project types repeatedly, website builds, marketing campaigns, monthly retainers. Project templates capture proven workflows: task structures, milestones, time estimates, and dependencies.

Create a template from any successful project and launch new projects with that structure pre-built. This consistency improves delivery quality and makes scoping more accurate.

Recurring tasks handle ongoing retainer work, weekly reports, monthly maintenance tasks, without manual recreation.

Workload and Resource Planning

The workload view shows team capacity across projects. See who's overbooked, who has bandwidth, and how work distributes across the team. For agencies balancing multiple clients, this prevents burnout and missed deadlines.

Capacity planning accounts for availability (PTO, part-time schedules) and shows realistic workload distribution. Moving work between team members is straightforward when someone's overloaded.

These features require the Grow tier ($9.99/user/month) or above, but they're essential for agencies managing more than a handful of concurrent projects.

Pricing Analysis

Teamwork's pricing is competitive, especially considering unlimited client users. Free Forever covers basic PM for up to 5 users. Deliver tier at $10.99/user/month adds essential features. Grow at $19.99/user/month adds workload management and advanced time tracking. Scale at $54.99/user/month adds enterprise features.

For a 15-person agency on Grow, that's $300/month, but clients accessing projects are free. Compare to Monday where every client would be a paid seat, and the savings become substantial.

The free tier is limited but genuinely useful for very small teams or individuals freelancing with client work.

Who Is This For?

Teamwork excels for:

• Digital agencies managing multiple client projects with billable time
• Marketing agencies coordinating campaigns with client stakeholders
• Consultancies tracking project hours and client deliverables
• Freelancers who want professional client collaboration
• Service businesses where time tracking and billing integration matter

Teamwork's ideal customer invoices clients for work. If you're not billing for time or managing external stakeholders, Teamwork's differentiators become irrelevant, and competitors may better suit internal team management.

Who Should NOT Use This

Teamwork might disappoint if:

• You're purely internal teams: Without client collaboration needs, Teamwork's key advantage disappears. Asana or Monday may better serve internal-only use cases.
• You want cutting-edge features: Teamwork's feature set is solid but not innovative. ClickUp and Monday iterate faster and offer more capabilities. If being on the cutting edge matters, look elsewhere.
• You need heavy customization: Teamwork's structured approach means less flexibility than Notion or ClickUp. Teams wanting to build unique workflows may feel constrained.
• You're engineering-focused: Teamwork lacks deep development tool integration. For software development, Jira or Linear are better choices. Teamwork suits agencies who happen to include developers, not dev-first organizations.
• You prioritize beautiful design: Teamwork's interface is functional but not gorgeous. Teams who chose Monday for aesthetics will find Teamwork plain by comparison.

Bottom Line

Teamwork is the smart choice for agencies and service businesses where client collaboration and time tracking are central to operations. The unlimited client users policy delivers real savings, and the focus on billable work means features align with how agencies actually operate.

For organizations without client work, Teamwork's advantages become irrelevant. The tool is good at general PM but not exceptional, its strength lies in the agency-specific features. Know whether you're the target customer before committing.

FAQ

Why choose Teamwork over Monday for agencies?

Unlimited free client users. On Monday, every client with project access is a paid seat, costs add up fast for agencies with many clients. Teamwork also includes native time tracking with billing integration, while Monday requires add-ons or integrations. For pure internal team management, Monday may win on design and features. For client-facing agency work, Teamwork's economics often make more sense.

Is Teamwork good for software development?

Adequate but not optimized. Basic task management, sprints via milestones, and some integration capabilities cover simple development workflows. For serious engineering, sprint velocity, burndown charts, GitHub integration, release management. Jira or Linear are purpose-built and superior. Teamwork suits agencies with development work as part of broader client projects.

Can Teamwork integrate with accounting software?

Yes, integrations exist for QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks. Billable time from Teamwork can flow into invoicing, reducing manual data entry. The integration depth varies by accounting platform, check specific capabilities before assuming seamless automation. For agencies billing by the hour, this integration can significantly streamline operations.

How does Teamwork's time tracking compare to Harvest?

Teamwork's time tracking is solid for integrated PM+time tracking. Harvest offers deeper features (expense tracking, better reporting, more integrations) as a dedicated time tracking tool. If time tracking is your primary need, Harvest may be superior. If you want PM and time tracking in one place, Teamwork eliminates the need for a separate subscription.

What's the learning curve?

Moderate, most teams are productive within a week. The interface is straightforward, and Teamwork provides onboarding resources. Teams familiar with any PM tool will adapt quickly. Complex features (workload planning, advanced reporting) require additional learning, but basic project management is intuitive.