What project management costs a team of 10, and what changes at 11
Most tools are free at ten people. What matters is what you pay when you hire the eleventh. Seven tools, priced at 10, 11 and 15.
Mateusz Fajst· Founder of Elean
2 min read
Ten people is a funny size. It’s where a lot of free plans stop, so the tool you picked when you were four people suddenly sends you an invoice the week you hire someone new.
When I was working out our own pricing, the question I kept coming back to wasn’t “is it free today?”. It was “what happens to the bill at the eleventh hire, and at the fifteenth?” So here’s that, for seven tools.
The numbers
| Tool | 10 people | 11 people | 15 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elean | $0 (Free) | $39 (Pro) | $39 (Pro) |
| Plane | $0 (Free) | $0 (Free) | $90 (Pro) |
| Jira | $0 (Free) | $93 (Standard) | $127 (Standard) |
| Trello | $0 (Free) | $55 (Standard) | $75 (Standard) |
| ClickUp | $0 (Free, 60 MB) | $77 (Unlimited) | $105 (Unlimited) |
| Linear | $0 (Free, 250 issues) | $110 (Basic) | $150 (Basic) |
| Asana | $109.90 (Starter) | $120.89 (Starter) | $164.85 (Starter) |
That’s the monthly cost for the whole team. Jira is on monthly billing. Trello, ClickUp, Linear, Plane and Asana are their per-user prices billed annually, since that’s how they list them. Elean is our monthly price.
Every free plan has a wall
At ten people the free plans look the same. They aren’t. Each one stops you somewhere different:
- By people. Elean, Jira and Trello stop at 10. Plane at 12. Asana at 2.
- By work. Linear lets everyone in, but you get 250 issues and 2 teams.
- By storage. ClickUp lets everyone in, but you get 60 MB of files.
My advice: figure out which wall your team will hit last, and pick that one. The biggest number on a pricing page isn’t always the limit that matters to you.
Per seat or per plan
Almost everything in that table charges per seat. Every hire adds the same amount, so the bill climbs in a straight line.
We went the other way. Pro is $39 a month for up to 15 people, then $4 for each extra person. Going from 11 to 15 costs you nothing more. Going from 15 to 20 adds $20.
I won’t pretend per plan always wins. If you’re two or three people on a paid plan, per seat is cheaper: three Linear seats are $30, and our Pro is $39. Somewhere between four and eight people, depending on the tool, that flips. By the time you’re ten to thirty, the difference is large.
Price isn’t the whole story
These tools aren’t interchangeable. Jira and ClickUp let you configure almost anything. Linear is furthest ahead on triage and AI agents. Plane can run on your own servers. If one of those is what you actually need, the cheapest row in the table is the wrong pick.
I went through each one feature by feature, including the places where the other tool is the better choice: all comparisons.
Prices from each tool's public pricing page, checked on October 15, 2026. They change — check the vendor's page before you decide.
