The short answer
The best marketing planning software depends on team size and how much structure you want. monday Work Management suits visual planners at $9 per seat a month, ClickUp suits teams that want everything in one workspace at $7 per user a month, and Asana suits cross-functional teams at $10.99 per user a month. Hive is the cheapest start at $5.
Key takeaways
- Entry prices run from $5 per user a month (Hive Starter) to $12 per user a month (Hive Teams) among the tools that publish prices.
- monday, Asana, ClickUp, Hive, and Wrike all charge per seat, so multiply the headline price by your team size.
- Free plans exist at monday, Asana, Hive, ClickUp, and Wrike, but each caps users, projects, or features.
- Automations and timeline views usually start on the second tier, not the entry plan.
- Planview is the only pick here without a published price; budget on a written quote.
Why marketing teams look for planning software
A marketing plan usually starts as a document: goals, audiences, campaigns, dates, and a budget. The plan fails when the document and the daily work drift apart, and nobody can see which campaigns are on track. Marketing planning software closes that gap by turning the plan into boards, timelines, tasks, and budgets that the whole team works from. The question is not whether to plan in software, but how much structure the team needs and what it should cost per seat.
How we chose
Six tools, one question: what does the cheapest usable plan actually include for planning a marketing calendar? Per-seat prices, free plans, and the limits that force an upgrade were all read from each vendor's pricing page on 14 November 2026, and the list is ordered by fit for a marketing team buying its first planning tool. No hands-on testing was done. All prices and claims are based on published pricing and documentation, checked on 14 November 2026.
1. monday Work Management: best for visual planning on boards and timelines
monday Work Management's Basic plan costs $9 per seat per month billed annually, or $12 billed monthly, with Standard at $12, Pro at $19, and Enterprise on request. Its strength is visual planning: colour-coded boards, status labels, charts, and drag-and-drop timelines that make a campaign calendar readable at a glance. The free plan covers up to 2 users, and paid plans start at three seats, so a two-person team pays for three. Basic has no automations or integrations; both start on Standard, and Pro raises the automation allowance to 25,000 actions a month. Skip monday if you need automations and your budget is under $12 per seat a month, because Basic is a shared board, not a planning system.
2. Asana: best for cross-functional teams running campaigns to deadlines
Asana's Starter plan costs $10.99 per user per month billed annually, or $13.49 billed monthly, with Advanced at $24.99 and Enterprise on request. Its strength is disciplined process: Timeline and Gantt views, unlimited automations, forms, custom fields, and AI Studio Basic included on Starter. The free Personal plan covers a small team with core features. The catch is the cliff: portfolios, goals, and workload views, the features most teams buy a planning tool for, live on Advanced at $24.99, more than double the Starter price. Skip Asana if you need portfolios or workload views and your budget is under $24.99 per user a month.
3. Hive: best for small teams that want chat, time tracking, and planning together
Hive's Starter plan costs $5 per user per month, and Teams costs $12 per user per month, with Enterprise on request. Hive combines project planning with built-in messaging, time tracking, and several project views, so a small marketing group can keep conversations next to the work instead of in a separate chat app. The free plan covers up to 10 workspace members, the most generous free tier on this list. Proofing and approvals, which matter when campaigns need sign-off, cost extra as a $5 to $12 per user a month add-on on Teams. Skip Hive if you need proofing and approvals included without a paid add-on, because the headline price does not cover them.
4. ClickUp: best for teams that want docs, tasks, and time tracking in one login
ClickUp's Unlimited plan costs $7 per user per month billed annually, or $10 billed monthly, with Business at $12 and Enterprise on request. Its strength is breadth: docs, tasks, goals, Gantt charts, native time tracking, and dashboards in one workspace, so a team can model a campaign calendar, a retainer balance, and a revision counter without leaving the tool. The Free Forever plan covers unlimited members and unlimited tasks with 60 MB of storage. Brain AI costs $9 per user a month on top of the seat price, while Asana bundles AI into its paid plans. Skip ClickUp if you want AI features without paying $9 per user a month extra.
5. Wrike: best for larger teams with formal intake and approvals
Wrike's Team plan costs $10 per user per month billed annually, with Business at $25, and Pinnacle and Apex on request. Its strength is structure for teams that behave like internal agencies: request forms feed a queue, work gets assigned, and reviewers mark up assets and sign off, with proofing and approvals built into Business. The free plan covers essential task management. Business adds custom workflows, advanced reporting, and resource planning. Wrike also sells add-ons separately, so the real cost can run above the headline number. Skip Wrike if your budget is under $25 per user a month and you need Business features, because Team is a simpler tool.
6. Planview: best for enterprises planning portfolios across departments
Planview is portfolio planning software for enterprises, and it is the most heavyweight tool on this list. It plans work across departments, connects strategy to delivery, and reports on whole portfolios rather than single campaigns. That scope suits a marketing organisation that runs dozens of campaigns across regions and needs one view of all of them. Pricing is on request, with no public price list, and a free trial is offered. Skip Planview if you need a published price or a small-team plan, because it is built and priced for large organisations. For a smaller team, the five tools above cover planning at a published price.
What five seats cost on each planning tool
A five-person marketing team paying annually has a wide range of options. Hive Starter at $5 per user a month costs $300 a year. ClickUp Unlimited at $7 a user a month costs $420 a year. monday Basic at $9 a seat a month costs $540 a year, though the three-seat minimum does not bite a five-person team. Wrike Team at $10 a user a month costs $600 a year. Asana Starter at $10.99 a user a month costs $659.40 a year. The gap between Hive and Asana is $359.40 a year for the same five seats, and that gap buys cross-functional process and AI Studio, which a five-person team may or may not need. Add the hidden costs before you decide: monday needs Standard at $12 a seat for automations, Asana needs Advanced at $24.99 for portfolios and workload, Hive charges $5 to $12 extra per user for proofing, and ClickUp charges $9 extra per user for Brain AI.
Which planning tool fits which team
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| You plan visually on boards and timelines | monday Work Management |
| You run campaigns across several departments | Asana |
| You are a small team that wants chat with the work | Hive |
| You want docs, tasks, and time in one login | ClickUp |
| You run formal intake and approval workflows | Wrike |
| You plan portfolios across a whole enterprise | Planview |
What the free plan really allows
Free plans look generous until the team grows. monday's free plan covers 2 users, Asana's free Personal plan covers a small team with core features but no timeline or automations, Hive's free plan covers 10 members, ClickUp's Free Forever plan covers unlimited members and tasks with 60 MB of storage, and Wrike's free plan covers essential task management. The pattern is consistent: free plans are fine for trying the tool and for very small teams, but timelines, automations, and reporting arrive with the first paid plan. Test the free plan with a real campaign, not a demo, and check that the features you need are not locked behind the next tier. The marketing report metrics guide shows which numbers to track once the plan is running, and the best CRM and project management software comparison covers tools that combine planning with customer work. For a wider view of marketing software, the best AI marketing platform post covers platforms that add automation to the plan, and Adziq's content service page describes how planning fits into a content programme.
Marketing Planning Software Tools at a glance
| Pick | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| monday Work Management | Visual planning on boards and timelines | $9 per seat per month, Basic, billed annually ($12 per seat per month, billed monthly) | Yes, Free for up to 2 users |
| Asana | Cross-functional teams running campaigns to deadlines | $10.99 per user per month, Starter, billed annually ($13.49 per user per month, billed monthly) | Yes, free Personal plan with limits |
| Hive | Small teams that want chat, time tracking, and planning together | $5 per user per month, Starter; Teams $12 per user per month | Yes, Free for up to 10 members |
| ClickUp | Teams that want docs, tasks, and time tracking in one login | $7 per user per month, Unlimited, billed annually ($10 per user per month, billed monthly) | Yes, Free Forever plan |
| Wrike | Larger teams with formal intake and approvals | $10 per user per month, Team, billed annually; Business $25 per user per month | Yes, free plan |
| Planview | Enterprises planning portfolios across departments | Pricing on request | No free plan; free trial available |
Common questions
What is marketing planning software?
Marketing planning software is a tool that turns a marketing plan into boards, timelines, tasks, and budgets, so a team can see who is doing what, when each campaign ships, and what it costs. It sits between a strategy document and day-to-day task management.
How much does marketing planning software cost?
Entry plans on this list run from $5 to $12 per user a month, billed annually, and most vendors offer a free plan or a free trial. The real cost is the per-seat price multiplied by your team size, plus any add-ons.
Is there a free marketing planning tool?
Yes. monday, Asana, Hive, ClickUp, and Wrike all offer free plans, but each caps users, projects, or features. Hive's free plan covers up to 10 members, which is the most generous free tier on this list.
Which marketing planning tool is best for a small team?
Hive and ClickUp suit small teams on a tight budget, at $5 and $7 per user a month. monday suits a small team that plans visually, and Asana suits a team that runs campaigns across several departments.
Do I need a separate tool for planning and for project work?
Not usually. Every tool on this list plans campaigns and runs the work in the same workspace. A separate planning tool only makes sense when a portfolio spans many teams and needs the kind of oversight Planview provides.
Sources
Adziq sells marketing services and does not accept payment for placement in its articles. See our editorial policy.