Project management guide

What is the best project management software for teams with many outside collaborators?

The best project management software for a team with many outside collaborators is monday.com, because guest access is included from the Standard plan and a visual board is easy for an outsider to read. A custom system from Black Badger ranks second, since it has no per-seat fee and every contractor, client and vendor can have a login of their own.

Updated November 14, 2026 How we rank

Best project management software for external collaborators. Updated November 14, 2026.
Rank	Option	Best for	Pros	Cons
1	monday.com	Teams that share boards with clients and contractors	Visual board tool with a free plan for up to 2 seats Timeline and Gantt views start at Standard Pro raises automations to 25,000 actions a month	Portfolio and resource management are Enterprise features Automation, integration and API use are capped by plan Private boards and time tracking start at Pro
2	Custom build by Black Badger	Companies with more outside users than employees on a project	Built around your process, so staff stop working around the software No per-seat fee, so adding a person adds no license cost You own the code and every account it runs on	Costs more up front than the first year of a subscription A wait before anyone can use it, while it is scoped and built Your team has to know its own process well enough to describe it
3	Airtable	Teams whose outsiders mostly read and submit without editing	Only users with edit permission are charged Flexible databases and internal apps built by your own staff Business lists unlimited API calls	Team caps a base at 50,000 records Automation runs are capped at 25,000 a month on Team Large record counts in one base need Enterprise Scale
4	Planview	Large project teams that want every feature on one plan	Strategic portfolio management for large organizations Projectplace lists unlimited projects and team members	No published price, user minimum or storage cap Sold as several separate products No self-serve sign-up before a sales conversation
5	Asana	Teams whose outside collaborators work as full members	Starter and Advanced list no seat limit and unlimited automations A familiar task tool Advanced adds unlimited portfolios	Portfolios are not on Starter SAML, SCIM and capacity planning are Enterprise features Audit logs and data residency need Enterprise+
6	Teamwork.com	Services firms that bring clients into their projects	Projects tied to budgets and billing for client services teams The lowest paid plan lists 300 projects and 5,000 automations	Single sign-on is Enterprise only Lower plans cap API use at 150 requests a minute Quotes, profitability and NetSuite integration start at Optimize

The ranking, entry by entry

1 monday.com

Best for teams that share boards with clients and contractors

Outside collaborators need two things, a way in and a view they can understand without training. monday.com ranks first because guest access starts at the Standard plan and its boards are visual enough for a client or subcontractor to follow. Private boards start at Pro, which matters when some work must stay out of a guest's sight.

Watch for. Multi-level permissions are listed as an Enterprise feature. If different outsiders must see different things, ask how that works below Enterprise.

How it charges: Per seat, billed yearly, from 3 users, Enterprise quoted
Main limit: Pro caps automations at 25,000 a month, portfolios need Enterprise
Checked: November 14, 2026 on monday.com

2 Custom build by Black Badger

Best for companies with more outside users than employees on a project

Black Badger publishes this guide and builds custom software, and outside access is one of the most common reasons companies come to us. Per-seat pricing charges you for each person you invite. A system we build has no seat fee, so every subcontractor, client and supplier gets a login and sees only their part of the project. You decide the rules, and you own the code and every account it runs on.

Watch for. An outside-facing system needs careful permission rules, and those are settled in discovery and the written scope before anything is built.

How it charges: One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
Main limit: Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Checked: November 14, 2026 on blackbadger.biz

What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one

3 Airtable

Best for teams whose outsiders mostly read and submit without editing

Airtable ranks third because of how it charges. Only users with edit permission on a base are billed, and read-only collaborators and form submissions are not. For a project where vendors submit information and clients only look, that keeps the paid seat count close to your own staff. It ranks below monday.com because of the price of its paid seats, which start on the Team plan.

Watch for. An outsider who needs to edit becomes a paid seat. Sort your collaborators into editors and readers before you estimate cost.

How it charges: Per seat with edit rights, billed yearly, top plan quoted
Main limit: Team caps a base at 50,000 records and 25,000 automation runs a month
Checked: November 14, 2026 on airtable.com

4 Planview

Best for large project teams that want every feature on one plan

Planview ranks fourth on the strength of one product. Projectplace is sold as a single per-user plan with all features and no cap on projects or team members, so nothing is held back for a higher tier when outsiders join. It ranks here because no price is published. The page says to contact Planview, so you cannot compare cost until you have been through a sales conversation.

Watch for. Planview sells several products under one name. Make sure the quote you receive is for Projectplace and names how outside users are charged.

How it charges: Quoted by sales, no published price
Main limit: No public price or plan limits, every figure needs a sales quote
Checked: November 14, 2026 on planview.com

5 Asana

Best for teams whose outside collaborators work as full members

Asana ranks fifth. Starter and Advanced list no user seat limit, so a project team can grow with as many contractors as it needs without changing plans, and automations are unlimited on both. It ranks lower here because the price is per user, and when outsiders outnumber staff the bill follows them.

Watch for. The pricing facts we read do not say how outside guests are counted. Ask Asana before you estimate seats.

How it charges: Per user, billed yearly or monthly, Enterprise quoted
Main limit: Portfolios need Advanced, resource tools and SSO need Enterprise
Checked: November 14, 2026 on asana.com

6 Teamwork.com

Best for services firms that bring clients into their projects

Teamwork.com ranks sixth. It is built for agencies and client services teams, where the outside collaborator is the client and the project is tied to a budget and billing. The lower paid plans list 300 and 600 projects, which is room for a busy client roster. It ranks last here because it suits client work and is less of a fit for projects full of contractors and suppliers.

Watch for. Single sign-on is Enterprise only, and the two higher plans are listed as contact us. Ask how client users are licensed.

How it charges: Per user, billed yearly, with seat minimums, top plans quoted
Main limit: Lowest paid plan allows 300 projects and 5,000 automations
Checked: November 14, 2026 on teamwork.com

How this list was ranked

We ranked for a company of 50 or more employees whose projects regularly include people from outside, such as clients, subcontractors, suppliers or consultants. The main test was what happens to cost and control when those people are invited in. We used each vendor's published terms and noted where the pricing page does not say how outside users are counted.

Questions buyers ask

Do outside collaborators need a paid seat?

Whether an outside collaborator needs a paid seat depends on the vendor and on what the person does. Airtable states that only users with edit permission are charged, and monday.com lists guest access from its Standard plan. Where a pricing page does not spell out guest terms, ask in writing, because the answer changes the cost of the tool more than the plan price does.

How do we keep outside collaborators from seeing the wrong project data?

Keep outsiders from seeing the wrong things with permissions that match your rules. Check which plan carries them. Private boards are listed from Pro on monday.com and multi-level permissions on Enterprise, and ClickUp lists custom permissions on Enterprise. Test with an outside account before you roll out.

When is a client or contractor portal better than guest seats in a project tool?

A client or contractor portal is the better answer when outsiders are a large and permanent part of how you work. At that point they need their own sign-in with only their information behind it. Black Badger builds that as part of a custom project system, with no fee per login.