Wrike vs. Monday: Compare Monday.com Alternatives

October 10, 2022 - 10 min read

Yuvika Iyer

If you're searching for a versatile work management platform for your team, you've come across several options. As different businesses have varying needs, there are many highlyrated solutions that dominate this space.

When it comes to modern project management tools with valuable features and essential functionalities at reasonable pricing, you'll notice Wrike and Monday.com on the shortlist.

From a distance, many features may appear similar. However, upon closer examination significant differentiators make each platform unique.

In this article, we will delve deeper to explore Monday vs. Wrike, and learn about their features, use cases, and advantages to find the one that fits your company's needs.

What is Monday.com?

Monday.com is a project management software that helps businesses shape and operate their workflows.

It builds a core foundation for teams to organize work that can be customized by adding industry-specific products, such as applications or integrations.

What are the advantages of using Monday.com?

Monday.com allows teams to manage all their work and workflows in one place from an approachable and colorful spreadsheet-like interface. Monday.com offers key functionalities like:

The ability to engage and collaborate with your team members on shared work items and initiatives
Integrations with a variety of popular productivity applications
Different view options to visualize work in a wide range of formats, such as Board, Timeline, Workload, etc.)
Customizable columns to accommodate different data types such as text, dates, tags, timelines, and people

What are the most popular features of Monday.com?

Monday.com is a task management tool used by many companies across several industries. Monday has a board section that operates a lot like building blocks. If you prefer customizing your boards for every project and portfolio, Monday.com might be an option.

Using Monday.com, you can:

Assign tasks to team members
Add due dates to specific tasks
Create automated workflows
Add timelines to tasks

What are the disadvantages of using Monday.com?

Though Monday is a decent work management platform liked by its users, a few areas can be improved.

The spreadsheet interface becomes hard to read and manage when many different data columns are added
It’s difficult to include tasks and projects on multiple boards, which makes it hard for different teams to collaborate on the same activities
There is a limit to how many boards you can view at once in all plan types, making it challenging to get visibility into all of your team’s work

What is Wrike?

Wrike is a versatile work management platform that brings teams together to manage their work and collaborate in one easy-to-use platform.

It is an all-inclusive SaaS solution where teams can effortlessly plan, assign, automate, and complete work with easily configurable features like request forms, dashboards, approvals, and Gantt charts.

Wrike fits the needs of different businesses and offers personalized dashboards, workflows, and live editing. Teams can collaborate on all kinds of work in real time with @mentions, notifications, live editing, dashboards, and more.

What are the advantages of using Wrike?

Let's take a closer look at the advantages of using Wrike:

Intuitive user experience: Wrike’s user interface makes it easy to structure, organize, and view work. No need to endlessly scroll through countless columns to find information — in Wrike, the insights you need are instantly accessible.
Work views: Visualize your work the way you prefer with Wrike’s 15+ customizable views. View work as a list of tasks, an easily sortable and filterable table, an interactive Gantt chart, a drag-and-drop Kanban board, and more. Effortlessly switch between views in one click.
400+ integrations: Create a single source of truth for all work in your organization by integrating Wrike with all of your team’s productivity apps. Wrike integrates with 400+ apps, including CRM, single sign-on, file storage, messaging, import/export, email integrations, and more. Speed up your workflows by automating routine tasks with Wrike's built-in integration capabilities.
No-code configurability: Wrike offers exceptional self-service configurability, allowing you to design the work management platform of your dreams and make changes on the fly. Wrike is designed with the philosophy that customization shouldn’t mean complexity, offering expansive no-code customization options like workflow automations, request forms, customizable templates, and more.

Comprehensive work management: With Wrike, you don’t need to fill in the gaps with extra apps and workarounds — everything you need to plan, track, and execute your work is included. Wrike offers industry-best proofing for 30+ file types (including video and web), seamless automated approvals, and team workloads, budgets, and time tracking — all in one intuitive platform.
Powerful automation: Automate all of your team's processes with Wrike's intuitive workflow automation features. Design request processes that allow you to capture requirements, create plans, assign resources, and get stakeholder approval in one click. Automatically hand off work to team members with a simple status update, eliminating bottlenecks throughout review and approval processes.
Secure and safe platform: Working in the cloud demands the strongest layer of security. Wrike offers security protocols that are in line with global best practices. AES256-bit encryption safeguards data in transit, while the Wrike Lock functionality gives users complete access control over their data.

Who should use Wrike?

Wrike is a robust work management platform with an array of features for all use cases. Here are few use case examples:

Creative teams: Delight your clients and deliver faster with streamlined creative requests, automated approvals, and proofing and version control for 30+ file types.
Marketing teams: Accelerate digital marketing ROI using Wrike's marketing project management software to gain insights on over 50 channels in one dashboard.
Client management: Professional services and client management firms can use Wrike's platform for complete project visibility, seamless collaboration, and accelerating internal and external approvals.
Event planning: Increase client satisfaction by visualizing your event plan within Wrike and ensuring that your team is moving towards the same goals.
Remote work: Companies of all sizes, natures, and scopes can use Wrike as a centralized workspace for their distributed teams, regardless of their geographical location.
Company-wide work management: Enable seamless cross-functional communication using Wrike’s real-time collaboration features like dashboards, request forms, and workflows.
Agile project management: Project managers can use Wrike to set up customized workflows and Kanban boards for managing sprints.
Product roadmap: Shorten your company's path from concept to market by visualizing the product roadmap, prioritizing tasks using Wrike's Gantt charts, and accelerating product launches.
IT teams: Streamline IT processes and drive digital transformation with Wrike by building customized IT request forms and transforming data into tasks automatically.

What are the most popular features of Wrike?

Some of Wrike's industry-leading features include:

Customize work types, workflows, and automated processes to match team culture and style
Automate routine tasks with Wrike's no-code tools
Visualize project progress with interactive Gantt charts using an easy drag-and-drop user interface
Assign tasks and track progress with Kanban boards
Access premade templates for any team and any process, including onboarding, event management, marketing campaigns, and go-to-market
Streamline information gathering with custom request forms
Shorten feedback loops with Wrike's visual proofing features
Use shared team calendars to keep your team on the same page and avoid misunderstanding
Focus on billable hours with the built-in time tracking feature
Contribute to shareholder decision-making with personalized reports from Wrike's sophisticated business reporting and analytics software

What makes Monday.com different from Wrike?

If you are debating Wrike vs. Monday, here is a list of differences that you should check out:

Work management: Wrike’s clean, approachable user interface is simple to navigate and work in, no matter how many activities you have to keep track of at once. Monday’s spreadsheet-like interface gets cluttered as data is added, making it difficult to find the insights you need quickly.
Cross-functional collaboration: Wrike empowers teams to collaborate seamlessly across functional lines. Work can be tagged in multiple projects, folders, and Spaces, allowing teams to work together in the context of their own workflows. Monday.com does not offer this feature.
Request management: Only Wrike allows teams to fully automate their request processes with dynamic request forms that can create fully planned projects on submission. With Monday, request forms can only create a simple task.
Business intelligence: Wrike features flexible reporting at multiple levels — from quick, out-of-the-box progress insights to customizable advanced work analytics. Monday.com’s limits the number of boards you can include in a dashboard, hindering visibility.
Automated approvals: Wrike’s approvals feature makes it easy to get sign-off from clients and stakeholders, whether automated as part of a workflow or initiated ad hoc in a task or proof. Monday.com does not offer approvals on their boards.
Proofing and reviews: Review, proof, and approve over 30 file types directly in Wrike, with streamlined comments, side-by-side comparison, and version control. Monday.com’s proofing feature is less robust and supports fewer file types.

Why your team should start using Wrike

Monday.com is a good option for teams managing a small amount of work, but it may be difficult to stay organized if you want all of your team's workflows and activities in one place.

However, Monday.com's plans are limiting and require workarounds to make up for the lack of key features, like approvals and budgeting. If you need a platform that has all the necessary automation and work management features you need in an easy-to-use, customizable interface, Wrike is the best option at a similar price point.

Explore all of Wrike's features or start a free trial to see how Wrike enables 360-degree project visibility, powers smart automation, and transforms strategy into results.

Yuvika Iyer

Yuvika is a freelance writer who specializes in recruitment and resume writing.

#Project Managers #Tools & Software Advice

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Every day in the startup world is characterized by various tasks, from finances to client-facing work, building new products to administrative items, and more. There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of hands in the pot trying to tackle each action item that pops up. Startups have a team-first mentality, where every team member is willing to jump in and play a part to get the job done. That horizontal leadership structure can lead to a lot of camaraderie, but the day-to-day roles and responsibilities related to project ownership and completion can get messy and chaotic. That wasted time can be costly when every minute and dollar spent in the early startup days are precious, especially when nine out of 10 startups fail. But don’t let that statistic make you panic quite yet. Having the right tools in place, such as project management software that keeps the whole team organized and on task, is a critical driver in reducing the risk of failure and achieving that seemingly elusive startup success. Curious? We’ve rounded up some of the fundamental reasons project management should matter to your startup, what to look for in project management software tools, and how to identify and implement the right project management software tool while keeping your (often tight) budget in mind. Why should project management matter to startups? Effective project management is imperative to any business, no matter the size of the organization. According to the latest Pulse of the Profession report by the Project Management Institute (PMI), 57% of respondents saw significant business changes in their operational efficiencies over the past year and another 49% experienced changes in the maturity of their project management. That means that even if project management and efficiencies aren’t top of mind for you as your startup gets off the ground, they should make their way to the top of the list as your company grows. These aspects of a business are important to the success of project completion and business strategy. Sure, a formalized project management tool and processes can seem unnecessary, rigid, and overly burdensome for the flexible, entrepreneurial startup culture. But the reality is that defining project management methodologies and implementing a software tool at the beginning will help your business thrive as it scales. Rest assured that flexibility can coexist alongside process and organization, and a project management software tool can help with the latter. Project management for startups is more than planning, organizing, and executing projects from start to finish. There are several benefits of defined project management practices, specifically when it comes to running a startup. 1. Prioritize limited resources Startups have small teams and a spirit for collaboration, which breeds fluid job roles and responsibilities. A limited number of employees in flexible positions can make it challenging to figure out which tasks and projects rank higher than others — and who exactly is responsible for what. Introducing project management processes and software in the early stages of a startup can help the team better prioritize their work. You have to make the most of your limited resources while executing on your vision and big goals, and project management for startups can help you do just that — without frustration and confusion. 2. Stay on top of deadlines No two days at a startup are the same. Priorities shift, the overall company vision may change, and innovation can lead to new products and services that weren’t even on your radar a couple of months ago. With so many moving parts, staying organized and sticking to a schedule (especially one that clients or customers are counting on) can fall by the wayside. Project management practices help you monitor progress and ensure important deadlines aren’t missed. That structure provides some level of accountability and commitment within your teams — even if your overall culture is still relaxed and flexible. 3. Scale efficiently Startup environments bring about a level of high-growth and constant change. Investing in project management early on will pay dividends when your startup begins to scale. Growth can be remarkable for the business but more challenging for employees if the proper processes and systems aren’t in place to support that evolution and expansion. As you grow, you’ll likely have more goals to meet and projects to deliver, so it’s crucial to build a project management foundation that will allow you to meet these goals. Likewise, standardized processes make it significantly easier for new team members to get onboarded and acclimated as your team grows in size. What features should you look for in startup project management software? There are hundreds of project management software tools out there to choose from. Some are more robust than others and focused on the demands of enterprise companies. Others are more simplistic and better suited for a nimble startup or small business. Not sure what you should keep an eye out for? These are some of the key features you should look for in startup project management software, even if you start out on a plan that doesn’t offer all of these features right away: Team collaboration. As a startup, your team is your most valuable asset, and it’s crucial to foster a collaborative and team-focused environment. The ability to work on projects together simultaneously, break down project tasks, store associated project documents, and share team calendars are project management software components to keep an eye out for. Any functionality that allows your team to collaborate quickly and efficiently is a plus in choosing project management software. After all, that’s the whole point. Organized and streamlined processes. Real-time file sharing and collaboration make it easier and quicker to handle assigning tasks and see them through to completion. With streamlined processes and workflows, you can track project performance, quickly assign tasks and get an instant understanding of project and performance, rather than wasting time requesting frequent status updates. Document storing and sharing. As you build your startup and document processes, projects, and other aspects of the business along the way, you’ll want to ensure you can quickly locate and access documents and files. Using a project management software tool with document storing and sharing capabilities can help prevent you from losing critical information, especially if employees leave. All of your important documentation will be centralized and accessible rather than siloed. Resource management. Since you have limited resources (and you don’t want to burn your team out), you’ll need to make sure you’re balancing workloads as effectively as possible. Project management software tools with simple resource management capabilities can help you better understand the workload and available bandwidth across team members. When you identify a plate that’s too full (it happens!), you can simply reassign tasks to other available team members and keep your project moving forward. Time-tracking capabilities. Hassle-free time-tracking and the ability to distinguish between billable and nonbillable work can help you better understand where your team is spending their time. With this information readily available, you’ll have visibility that will allow you to plan better, boost revenue, and more accurately forecast — so you avoid over-promising and under-delivering. Real-time reporting. Agility and flexibility are common traits of nearly all startups, and making quick decisions is necessary when you’re working in an ever-changing landscape. Project management software tools with real-time reporting empower you to make more informed decisions at the drop of a hat. Maybe you’re pivoting the business’ direction or need to quickly gauge the current status of a project. No matter your need, a tool with real-time reporting can help you get the information you need so you can make decisions and act fast. Budget management. Every dollar counts, right? Managing projects always carries the risk of running over budget. Spend less time worrying about the bottom line by managing budgets directly within project management software. By keeping an eye on total spending, you can spot when your spending starts to creep up and adjust accordingly. The level of complexity and customization you’ll need in a project management software tool depends on your business needs. The features listed above should help you dive in and get started, and grow your tool capabilities and usage as you go. How can project management software for startups help save money? Isn’t project management software going to end up costing your startup more money? Well, technically, yes, depending on the software you choose. But if we put the cost of the tool aside for a moment, the right project management software can actually help your startup save money too — making it more than worth the cost. Here’s how: Organization inevitably leads to time savings, and time is money. Project management software will streamline processes and add another layer of organization to your business. To put it simply, this helps you and your team members save time. And with more time on your hands, you’ll be able to get more work done. Instead of hiring more people or scrambling for more resources because plates are too full, you can use project management software to help your current team better manage their time. Faster, smoother workflows equal more time saved and less money spent due to wasted hours and energy. Project management software can reduce training costs. As your business grows and you add more members to the team, you’ll need them to move quickly to ensure projects stay on track. Having all of your projects and information centralized within one system can reduce the learning curve for your new employees, allowing them to dive in and get their hands dirty right away. Time tracking can save your business money. If you really want to be money-conscious, opt for software with time-tracking capabilities. How does time tracking save money? You’ll save your startup a few bucks by increasing productivity, eliminating inefficiencies, and will be able to manage billable hours more seamlessly. If your startup depends on any amount of billable work, accurate time-tracking is non-negotiable. Improved communication is a huge cost-savings. When hiccups in communication occur, you’re at risk of projects falling out of scope, missing deadlines, and wasting time and effort on work that doesn’t matter. Even further, communication issues could end with you owing money, discounts, or free products and services to your customers. One way to reduce communication issues is to build a solid internal communication channel to boost transparency and ensure your team is always on the same page. Consolidated interactions through a project management software tool can help you save money and keep your clients happy too. How much is project management software for startups? The price of project management software can run the gamut. There are a number of free options out there that may offer limited functionality. There are also a number of robust systems for enterprise corporations that may fall outside of your budget and current needs. With so many different software options and feature capabilities, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind in terms of pricing. These include: Desired features Fee structure Additional costs Let’s talk about each of these in a bit more detail. Desired features For starters, it’s helpful to know what types of features you’re looking for in your project management tool, so you have an idea of what types of plans to consider. Many project management software companies offer free versions of their tools with reduced functionality or a set number of users. These types of solutions may work when getting started, but if you choose a free option, you may want to explore upgraded feature capability in the future. Fee structure Another important aspect of the pricing model is whether you’ll be paying per user or a flat fee. You’ll also want to understand if you’re paying monthly or annual subscription fees. These pricing models play a key role in determining the overall budget available for your project management software and whether or not a tool fits within those restrictions. Additional costs Don’t forget to add in additional costs. Ask about implementation, training, and support fees and how each of those components is factored into pricing. Especially if the tool is new to you and your entire team, you’ll want to make sure you can offer some training led by the experts to help your team members get up and running successfully. While some basic support might be included in the price, determine whether you’ll need advanced support (and what that costs) — even if it’s only for a short period of time during the initial stages of implementation. With these considerations in mind, there’s a large pricing range for project management software for startups. As we mentioned, many service providers offer free plans with limited functionality or for a set number of users. Certain software programs may cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands per month depending on per-user or flat fee costs. Wrike offers a mix of free and premium paid plans to help you meet your project management needs. With the free plan, you can invite unlimited users and all core elements of project management are included: file sharing, task management, real-time activity, and different views. You get 2 GB of storage space, basic integrations, and Cloud storage integrations. This is a great plan option if your startup team is just starting to dive into project management with the potential to upgrade later. Additionally, Wrike offers plan paid options, with increased functionality for larger teams and enterprises. What is the best project management tool for startups? The best project management tool for startups will vary depending on your specific needs, but Wrike is a great option for any startup who wants to lay an effective project management foundation — and then grow from there. Wrike offers many plans to choose from, which gives you the option to choose something more budget-friendly at the beginning and move on to a plan with more functionality and capabilities as your startup grows and needs more project management support. We think Wrike is the best project management software for startups and offers the following features (and more) to help your startup succeed: Company-wide communication that eliminates silos and suits your business’ needs Better collaboration through file sharing, task management, and instant reporting capabilities Increased visibility through customizable dashboards Resource management functionality that promotes better-balanced workloads across the team Flexibility to grow alongside your startup as it grows Templates to allow you to communicate and collaborate with ease 400+ app integrations so you can keep working with the tools you already know and love Remember that project management within your startup doesn’t have to be overly complex and burdensome. The right tool will allow you to make the smartest use of your limited resources, help you stay on top of deadlines to keep your customers and team happy, and give you the tools and processes needed to see projects through to success. Ready to take project management within your startup to the next level? Sign up for a free trial of Wrike and set your projects, team, and startup up for success.

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Wrike vs. Monday: Compare Monday.com Alternatives

What is Monday.com?

What are the advantages of using Monday.com?

What are the most popular features of Monday.com?

What are the disadvantages of using Monday.com?

What is Wrike?

What are the advantages of using Wrike?

Who should use Wrike?

What are the most popular features of Wrike?

What makes Monday.com different from Wrike?

Why your team should start using Wrike

Yuvika Iyer

Wrike vs. Monday: Compare Monday.com Alternatives

What is Monday.com?

What are the advantages of using Monday.com?

What are the most popular features of Monday.com?

What are the disadvantages of using Monday.com?

What is Wrike?

What are the advantages of using Wrike?

Who should use Wrike?

What are the most popular features of Wrike?

What makes Monday.com different from Wrike?

Why your team should start using Wrike

Yuvika Iyer

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The Ultimate Project Management Software Guide for Startups

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