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BEST-OF · 2026

Best Project Management Software for Agencies That Need Simple Approvals

The best project management software for agency approvals is the tool that keeps feedback, proof files and final signoff in one place. This guide is for agencies losing time to email comments, unclear client decisions and “final-final” file versions. We looked for simple approval workflows: send work for review, collect comments in context, request changes, and record approval clearly. The list below follows our fixed overall Index order, so it does not replace our broader project management ranking. For this specific approval use case, pay closest attention to Teamwork.com, Asana, ClickUp and monday.com. Teamwork.com is strongest for client-facing proof approvals, Asana is cleaner for internal signoff, ClickUp is the value option, and monday.com suits visual approval pipelines.

Reviewed by Marcus Taylor · how we score · Last updated 2026-06-30 · compare tools · affiliate disclosure

1
PICK
GoHighLevel logo GoHighLevel 91/100 · EXCEPTIONAL EDITOR'S CHOICE

GoHighLevel is the closest thing the agency world has to an operating system. It bundles a CRM, email and SMS marketing, landing pages and funnels, calendars, pipelines and a deep automation builder into one account — and then lets you slap your own logo on it and sell it to clients as software. For agencies whose business is running marketing for other businesses, that combination is hard to beat.

✓ PROS
  • Replaces a stack of separate tools with one login
  • True white-label — sell it as your own product
  • CRM, email, SMS, funnels and automations in one place
✕ CONS
  • Steep learning curve — expect a slow first month
  • Can feel overwhelming until you turn features off
Best for: Agencies that want to run client marketing and resell software under their own brand
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use7.8/10
PricingFrom $97/mo
Agency fitWhite-label / resell
from $97/mo
Start free trial ↗ Read full review →
2
PICK
HubSpot logo HubSpot 89/100 · EXCEPTIONAL BEST FOR SCALING

HubSpot started as a marketing tool and grew into a full CRM platform, and for agencies that lean inbound it is the safe, scalable choice. The free CRM is good enough to run a small pipeline on, and as clients grow you layer on the Marketing, Sales and Service hubs without moving systems. Everything ties back to a single contact record, which makes reporting genuinely useful.

✓ PROS
  • Genuinely good free CRM to start on
  • Marketing, sales and service in one record
  • Strong, well-rewarded agency partner program
✕ CONS
  • Professional tiers get expensive fast
  • Contact-tier pricing can surprise you
Best for: Agencies scaling inbound and managing their own plus clients pipelines
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use8.2/10
PricingFree CRM + paid hubs
Agency fitAgency partner program
Free, then $15/seat/mo
Get the free CRM ↗ Read full review →
3
PICK
Monday.com logo Monday.com 86/100 · EXCELLENT BEST WORK OS

Monday.com is a work OS rather than a single-purpose tool. You start with boards and shape them into whatever the agency needs: a project tracker, a content calendar, a client pipeline, a dashboard for retainers. That flexibility is its strength and its trap, because the same blank canvas that adapts to your process will sprawl into chaos if nobody owns the setup.

✓ PROS
  • Bends to almost any workflow
  • Colourful boards the whole team will actually use
  • Doubles as projects and a light CRM
✕ CONS
  • Per-seat pricing adds up across a team
  • Can sprawl without setup discipline
Best for: Agencies wanting a customisable hub for projects plus light CRM
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use8.6/10
PricingFrom $9/seat (3 min)
Agency fitProjects + light CRM
from $9/seat/mo
Try free ↗ Read full review →
4
PICK
ClickUp logo ClickUp 85/100 · EXCELLENT BEST VALUE PM

ClickUp tries to be the one app an agency runs its delivery on, and on value it largely succeeds. Tasks, docs, goals, whiteboards and native time tracking all live in one place, so the path from a brief to tracked, billable work never leaves the tool. For a price-conscious agency, that consolidation is the whole pitch.

✓ PROS
  • Packs projects, docs and time tracking into one app
  • Generous free plan that small teams can live on
  • From about $7/user/mo when you do pay
✕ CONS
  • Feature overload can overwhelm new users
  • Occasional performance lag on big workspaces
Best for: Agencies that want project management, docs and time tracking in one cheap tool
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use7.6/10
PricingGenerous free plan
Agency fitPM + docs + tracking
Free, then $7/user/mo
Try free ↗ Read full review →
5
PICK
ActiveCampaign logo ActiveCampaign 85/100 · EXCELLENT BEST EMAIL AUTOMATION

ActiveCampaign is where email gets serious. The automation builder is the best in this set — branching logic, conditional waits, behavioural triggers and segmentation deep enough to run genuinely sophisticated client campaigns. For an agency whose value is in clever lifecycle and nurture sequences, it gives you room the simpler tools do not.

✓ PROS
  • Best-in-class automation builder
  • CRM and email in one platform
  • Handles complex client campaigns well
✕ CONS
  • Automation builder has a learning curve
  • Pricing scales with contact count
Best for: Agencies running sophisticated email automation for client campaigns
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use7.4/10
PricingFrom $15/mo
Agency fitEmail + CRM automation
from $15/mo
Start free trial ↗ Read full review →
6
PICK
Asana logo Asana 84/100 · EXCELLENT

Asana is the project manager you pick when you want it to just work. The interface is clean and quick, the learning curve is gentle enough that a new account manager is productive on day one, and it has the maturity and reliability that come from years in market. For agencies whose priority is dependable delivery rather than maximum configurability, it is the comfortable default.

✓ PROS
  • Clean, fast and genuinely pleasant to use
  • Low learning curve — teams adopt it quickly
  • Reliable, mature and well supported
✕ CONS
  • No native time tracking
  • Pricier than ClickUp at $10.99/user/mo
Best for: Agencies that want clean, reliable project tracking without the clutter
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use8.8/10
PricingFree for small teams
Agency fitClean cross-team PM
Free, then $10.99/user/mo
Try free ↗ Read full review →
7
PICK
Toggl Track logo Toggl Track 84/100 · EXCELLENT BEST TIME TRACKING

Toggl Track wins time tracking by getting out of the way. Starting a timer is one click, the apps are everywhere your team works, and the reports turn tracked hours into clean answers about where time actually goes. The reason it works is adoption: a timer nobody resents is a timer people actually use, and that is most of the battle for an agency trying to bill accurately.

✓ PROS
  • The simplest timer in the category — one click
  • Accurate reporting on billable hours
  • Generous free plan
✕ CONS
  • Not a full project-management tool
  • Invoicing needs an add-on or integration
Best for: Agencies that want accurate billable-hour tracking without the friction
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use9.2/10
PricingFree plan available
Agency fitUnlimited tracking
Free, then $9/user/mo
Try free ↗ Read full review →
8
PICK
Teamwork logo Teamwork 83/100 · EXCELLENT BEST FOR CLIENT WORK

Teamwork is the rare project tool designed around the agency model rather than adapted to it. Billable time, client-facing users, retainers and budget burn are first-class features, not bolt-ons, so the gap between "work done" and "work invoiced" is much smaller than in general-purpose tools. If your business is selling time to clients, that focus pays off quickly.

✓ PROS
  • Built for client work, not retrofitted for it
  • Billable time tracking against tasks and projects
  • Client users you can safely invite in
✕ CONS
  • Busier interface than Asana
  • Smaller integration ecosystem
Best for: Agencies that bill time to clients and need it tracked against projects
AT A GLANCE
Ease of use8.0/10
PricingFree tier + $10.99/user
Agency fitBillable time + clients
Free, then $10.99/user/mo
Try free ↗ Read full review →

At a glance

ToolIndexEaseFromFreeBest for
GoHighLevel 917.8from $97/mo—Agencies that want to run client marketing and resell software under their own brand
HubSpot 898.2Free, then $15/seat/mo✓Agencies scaling inbound and managing their own plus clients pipelines
Monday.com 868.6from $9/seat/mo✓Agencies wanting a customisable hub for projects plus light CRM
ClickUp 857.6Free, then $7/user/mo✓Agencies that want project management, docs and time tracking in one cheap tool
ActiveCampaign 857.4from $15/mo—Agencies running sophisticated email automation for client campaigns
Asana 848.8Free, then $10.99/user/mo✓Agencies that want clean, reliable project tracking without the clutter
Toggl Track 849.2Free, then $9/user/mo✓Agencies that want accurate billable-hour tracking without the friction
Teamwork 838.0Free, then $10.99/user/mo✓Agencies that bill time to clients and need it tracked against projects

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HOW TO CHOOSE

Choosing the right tool

Start with who approves the work. If clients need to review proofs without becoming full users, Teamwork.com is the cleaner fit because external approvers do not need a Teamwork.com account. The trade-off is that its Free plan is limited to 5 projects and 5 users.

Separate proofing from task approval. ClickUp supports comments on images, video and PDFs, which is useful for creative review, but its approvals are more status-based than a dedicated approval task model. Free Forever and Unlimited include 100 proofing uses; Business and above include unlimited Proofing.

Check the plan before you design the workflow. Asana approval tasks and proofing sit on Advanced, Enterprise and Enterprise+ plans, not Starter. That makes Asana a tidy internal signoff tool, but the useful approval features may cost more than the headline Free, then $10.99 entry suggests.

Use monday.com when the process is visual. A board can run Draft → Internal review → Client review → Changes requested → Approved, with file annotations, versioning and permissions around the work. The catch is that monday.com is better as configurable approval workflow software than as a formal proof-approval system.

Do the seat maths before rollout. No per-approval transaction fee was found in the official pages reviewed, but seats, guest access, proofing limits, storage, automations, taxes and annual prepayment still change the real cost. monday.com paid plans start from 3 users, and displayed prices do not include tax.

Make final approval unambiguous. Teamwork.com marks a proof as approved only when all invited approvers have approved it, which helps with multi-stakeholder client signoff. The downside is that one slow approver can hold the whole proof in limbo unless someone owns the chase.

FAQ

Which project management tool is best for client proof approvals?

Teamwork.com is the approval-specialist pick if clients need to review and approve proofs without a full user account. Proofs can show statuses such as Pending, Needs changes and Approved, and final approval requires every invited approver to approve. If you mainly need internal approvals, Asana may be simpler.

Is Asana good for agency approvals?

Yes, if the approval work is mostly internal and you want clear outcomes: Approved, Changes requested or Rejected. The important caveat is plan level. Approval tasks and proofing are available on Advanced and above, so they are not part of the Starter plan.

Is ClickUp enough for design and content approvals?

ClickUp is a strong value choice if you want proofing, tasks, docs and flexible statuses in one cheap tool. It supports comments on common creative formats including images, video and PDFs. The limitation is that Free Forever and Unlimited include 100 proofing uses, while unlimited Proofing starts on Business and above.

Does monday.com work for approval workflows?

monday.com works well if your agency wants a visual approval pipeline with boards, file annotations, versioning and permissions. It is less suited if you need a dedicated proof-approval system with formal approver states. Pricing starts from $9, but paid plans start from 3 users.

Which tool is ranked first on this list?

GoHighLevel is ranked first here because it has the strongest overall fit for this use case in our current scoring model.