- Best for affordable pricing: Trello
- Best for customizations: ClickUp
- Best for writing assistance: Notion
- Best for unique AI features: Wrike
- Best for included AI features: Asana
- Best for teams of most sizes: monday.com
- Best for Microsoft 365 users: Microsoft Project
While AI once seemed like a fictional novelty, it’s quickly being implemented in many different project management software platforms as the field progresses. To help you decide which software is best for your business, we’ve rounded up seven of the best AI project management tools of the year.
Top AI project management tools comparison
Besides pricing, there are multiple other factors that you need to consider when choosing between AI project management tools.
| AI writing assistance | AI task management | Automations | Forever free plan | Starting price for base plan (billed annually) | Charge for AI features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trello | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $5 per person per month | Varies by power-up |
| ClickUp | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | $7 per person per month | $5 per person per month |
| Notion | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | $8 per user per month | $8 per person per month |
| Wrike | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $9.80 per person per month | Included |
| Asana | Yes | Forthcoming | Yes | Yes | $10.99 per person per month | Included |
| monday.com | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | $8 per person per month | Included |
| Microsoft Project | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | $10 per person per month | $30 per person per month |
Trello: Best for affordable pricing
Trello is a project management software known for its intuitive and visually appealing Kanban boards, but it’s also recently incorporated AI functionality into the platform. Trello’s Strategy AI power-up (created by Chinchilla Software) helps you cross-tag projects and tasks, get visibility into workloads and measure strategic progress. There’s also another power-up created by ChaptGPT that will provide writing assistance.
Pricing
- Free: Up to 10 boards per workspace.
- Standard: $5 per user per month if billed annually, or $6 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Premium: $10 per user per month if billed annually, or $12.50 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise: $17.50 per user per month when billed annually.
Features
- Excellent Kanban boards.
- Extremely easy-to-use automations.
- Choose from eight project views.
- Add power-ups for additional functionality.
Pros
- Unlimited file storage on all plans.
- Unlimited users on the forever free plan.
- Transparent and affordable pricing plans.
- Low learning curve, even for beginners.
Cons
- Many power-ups require an additional fee.
- Free plan limited to 10 boards per workspace.
- Limited customization options.
- Reporting tools could be improved.
For more information, read the full Trello review.
ClickUp: Best for customizations
ClickUp offers an AI Writing Assistant add-on to its project management software that costs $5 per person per month. Right now, the Writing Assistant can be used to create prompts, summarize documents and generate subtasks to spark creativity and speed up work. Other features — such as mobile app functionality, project and standup summaries and the ability to access AI through the toolbar — are on their way.
Pricing
- Free Forever: $0; best for personal use.
- Unlimited: $7 per user per month billed annually, or $10 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business: $12 per user per month billed annually, or $19 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Quotes are available upon request.
Features
- Choose from more than 15 project views.
- Excellent customization options.
- Create documents, wikis and knowledge bases.
- More than 1,000 integrations.
Pros
- Transparent and affordable pricing plans.
- Interface is colorful and easy to navigate.
- Free plan allows unlimited users.
- 24/7 customer support for all plans.
Cons
- Must pay extra for AI add-on.
- AI feature focused on writing only for now.
- Some users report occasional performance issues and lags.
- Must use the desktop app for a number of actions.
For more information, read the full ClickUp review.
Notion: Best for writing assistance
Notion is a project management platform and digital collaboration tool that is designed with creative and content teams in mind, so it makes sense that its AI add-on focuses on these tasks. Notion’s AI can help you summarize existing content, brainstorm new ideas, write a rough draft, fix spelling and grammar and even translate content into another language. The add-on costs $8 per person per month billed annually or $10 per person per month billed monthly in addition to the standard plans.
Pricing
- Free: No cost plan with limited features.
- Plus: $8 per user per month billed annually, or $10 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business: $15 per user per month billed annually, or $18 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Custom quote.
Features
- Wiki and document creation.
- Customizable templates for different workflows.
- Multiple project views available.
- Simple and well-organized user interface.
Pros
- Great note taking capabilities.
- Excellent community support.
- Highly customizable layout.
- Invite up to 10 guests on the free plan.
Cons
- Offline use is extremely limited.
- No Gantt charts or time tracking.
- Only 5 MB file uploads on free plan.
- Not suitable for managing complex projects.
For more information, read the full Notion review.
Wrike: Best for unique AI features
Unlike some other platforms that require a paid add-on, Wrike’s AI features are included throughout the platform (though some features are only available on certain pricing plans). Wrike’s AI can help with more standard tasks like generating new ideas and finding spelling mistakes, but it can also help with more unique things like turning written documents into digital files and providing a 360-degree view of project risk factors.
Pricing
- Free: $0 per user per month.
- Team: $9.80 per user per month.
- Business: $24.80 per user per month.
- Enterprise: Quotes are available upon request.
- Pinnacle: Quotes are available upon request.
Features
- Subtask management included on all plans.
- Automations available on paid plans.
- Forecast and visualize project risk with the analytics tool.
- Resource management features available.
Pros
- Well organized and designed interface.
- Extremely powerful features and customizability.
- Premium security and data privacy features.
- Voice assistant interaction available on mobile app.
Cons
- Free plan limits the number of active tasks you can have.
- Team plan only supports up to 25 users.
- Must upgrade to Business plan for time tracking, template creation and AI risk prediction.
- Learning curve is very high compared to alternatives.
For more information, read the full Wrike review.
Asana: Best for included AI features
Asana is in the process of adding AI functionality to its project management software. Right now, users get access to writing edits and summary generation, while comprehensive status updates and smart project answers are slated to be implemented by the end of the year. Some other forthcoming features include creating more effective goals and optimizing workflows over time. All of these AI features are included in other pricing plans and don’t require a separate fee.
Pricing
- Basic: $0 per user per month for up to 15 people.
- Premium: $10.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.49 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business: $24.99 per user per month billed annually, or $30.49 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Contact the sales team for a custom quote.
Features
- Choose from five different project views.
- Workflow builder helps standardize task execution.
- Portfolios feature lets users customize and group projects.
- Advanced reporting and analytics.
Pros
- Mobile app available for offline use.
- Easy-to-use management features.
- Free plan allows unlimited projects and tasks.
- AI functionality doesn’t require a separate fee.
Cons
- No native time tracking.
- Some AI features haven’t been implemented yet.
- Advanced security features only available on the Enterprise plan.
- Not suitable for projects with complex dependencies.
For more information, read the full Asana review.
monday.com: Best for teams of most sizes
monday work management has lots of AI features in beta for its enterprise project management software. There’s no paid add-on for these features, but an Admin will need to enable the beta features so users can access them. Some of the AI features include generating checklists, writing drafts, suggesting email templates, summarizing text and recommending formulas. An AI chatbot is also forthcoming.
Pricing
- Individual: $0 for up to two seats.
- Basic: $8 per seat per month billed annually, or $10 per seat per month billed monthly. A free trial is available.
- Standard: $10 per seat per month billed annually, or $12 per seat per month billed monthly. A free trial is available.
- Pro: $16 per seat per month billed annually, or $20 per seat per month billed monthly. A free trial is available.
- Enterprise: Contact the sales team for a custom quote.
Features
- Comprehensive features for managing complex projects.
- Pre-built automations for project management workflows.
- Many different data visualization options.
- WorkForms tool lets your team customize and share surveys.
Pros
- AI functionality doesn’t require a separate fee.
- Mobile app offers comprehensive functionality.
- Unlimited documents on all plans.
- 200+ templates available.
Cons
- AI features are currently in beta and aren’t available to all customers yet.
- Must upgrade to a Standard account for Gantt chart views.
- Must upgrade to a Pro account for time tracking.
- Free plan limited to only two people.
For more information, read the full monday review.
Microsoft Project: Best for Microsoft 365 users
While Microsoft has been slowly embedding writing and editing AI features into its project for years, it has a new project management focused feature called Copilot that is currently available as a “preview” for US customers. Unfortunately, Copilot will come at a steep cost: Microsoft is going to charge $30 per user per month when it becomes widely available. Copilot can be used to generate task plans, assess potential risks, retrieve project status reports and provide assistance through a chat interface.
Pricing
Microsoft Project offers five total plans: three for the cloud-based subscription, and two for the on-premises solution. A 30-day free trial is available for the cloud-based solution.
For cloud-based subscriptions:
- Project Plan 1 costs $10 per user per month.
- Project Plan 3 costs $30 per user per month.
- Project Plan 5 costs $55 per user per month.
For on-premises solutions:
- Project Standard 2021 costs $679.99 for a license for one PC.
- Project Professional 2021 costs $1,129.99.
Microsoft also offers a more flexible, scalable Project Server plan, but you must contact sales for a pricing quote.
Features
- Resource management capabilities included.
- Native time tracking included.
- Reporting feature is easy to use.
- On-premises deployment option.
Pros
- Innovative AI features.
- Suitable for managing very long, complex projects.
- Interface will be familiar to Microsoft users.
- Excellent customer support and user forum.
Cons
- Unclear when Copilot will become widely available.
- Very expensive AI add-on.
- No native file management or team collaboration tools.
- Doesn’t integrate well with non-Microsoft products.
For more information, read the full Microsoft Project review.
Key features of AI project management tools
Writing and editing assistance
Writing and editing support is the most popular form of AI project management assistance right now. These AI features can help generate project summaries, write email drafts and edit reports for spelling errors, among other things. Some platforms go a step further and allow you to digitize handwritten files or translate one language to another.
Task and project management
As AI advances, more platforms are adding task and project management capabilities as well, but it’s still less common than writing and editing assistance. Depending on what project management tools you choose, the AI can help cross-tag projects, retrieve a project status, assess risk and generate project plans.
Automations
While automations aren’t technically AI, they are an important feature to look for in any project management software. Automations help users set up automatic workflows to eliminate redundant manual work and reduce human errors. Automations are becoming more widely available, but some software may cap the number of automations per account or only support certain types of automations.
Project views and templates
The best project management software should provide multiple project views to choose from as well as a library of templates so that you don’t have to build everything from scratch each time. The software should also give you the ability to create and save custom templates to suit your company’s unique needs.
Integrations
Integrations can significantly increase the functionality of any project management software. Integrations ensure that your data flows seamlessly from one platform to another and also add more features to your project management software. Some project management software offer native integrations, while others rely on third-party services like Zapier.
How do I choose the best AI project management tools for my business?
The availability and cost of AI features vary a lot from platform to platform. Some only offer writing and editing assistance, while others offer project and task management. Some charge an extra fee for AI functionality, while others limit certain features to certain pricing tiers. Other features may be limited to a restricted beta testing group or are otherwise not currently available to the public. Comparing the availability of AI features can help you narrow down your options considerably.
When choosing an AI project management tool, definitely take advantage of free trials in addition to demo calls with the sales team. Most of the platforms we included in this roundup also offer a forever free plan that allows for more extensive software testing, not limited by the days of a free trial. If you’re still unsure after testing the software out, opt for a month-to-month plan instead of a yearly one so you’re not locked into an annual contract if you need to switch later.
Methodology
To select the best AI project management tools, we consulted product documentation and user reviews. We consider factors such as pricing, free trials, availability of AI features, user interface design and customer support. We also consider features such as writing and editing assistance, risk factor assessment, project summary generation and project plan creation.