Blue as a ClickUp Alternative

Introduction to ClickUp

ClickUp is a productivity and project management software company founded in 2017 by Zeb Evans (CEO) and Alex Yurkowski (CTO).

Initially bootstrapped, ClickUp has gone to raise $535M across three funding rounds:

1. Series A: $35M (raised in June 2020)
2. Series B: $100M (raised in December 2020)
3. Series C: $400M (raised in October 2021)

ClickUp is headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has grown rapidly since its inception, now employing over 800 people. Zeb Evans and Alex Yurkowski's vision was to create a productivity platform that could replace multiple tools, streamlining work processes and enhancing team collaboration.

Introduction to Blue

Blue was founded in 2018 by Emanuele "Manny" Faja with a clear mission:

To organize the world's work by building the best project management platform on the planet—simple, powerful, flexible, and affordable for all.

Blue is proudly bootstrapped.

We're in the minority in this industry, where most of the competition have raised hundreds of millions in venture capital funding. This approach has allowed Blue to stay true to its vision and maintain a strong focus on user needs and product quality, instead of having to juggle investor needs with customer needs.

Pricing Comparison

Let's start by reviewing the differences in pricing strategy between ClickUp and Blue.

Blue's pricing is very clear. There is one plan with two billing options:

• Monthly plan: $7/month/user.
• Yearly plan: $70/year/user (so you get two months free)

Not all user types in Blue count towards your subscription cost.

The table below gives an overview of the different roles:

Once you are a Blue customer, there are no upsells within the platform. So you will never see this while you are trying to do your work:

We have zero incentives to try and disturb you while you are working to try and get you to upgrade your account to a more expensive plan or to cross-sell you another product.

ClickUp Plan Breakdown

ClickUp has four plans:

ClickUp's free plan offers a generous set of features, but it does come with some significant limitations compared to the paid plans.

Here are the key limitations of ClickUp's free plan:

1. Storage: The free plan is limited to 100 MB of storage.
2. Custom Fields: Users are limited to 100 uses of custom fields. This means you can create and delete custom fields a total of 100 times.
3. Spaces: The free plan allows for only 5 spaces. Spaces are used to create separate project flows on the platform.
4. Views: Several views have usage limits on the free plan:
   • Gantt charts: Limited to 100 uses
   • Portfolios: Limited to 100 uses
   • Goals: Limited to 100 uses
   • Timeline view: Limited to 100 uses
   • Workload view: Limited to 100 uses
5. Activity View: Limited to only 1 day of activity history.
6. Guest Permissions: Guests must be granted full access, with no ability to set limited permissions.
7. Automations: The free plan has limited automation capabilities compared to paid plans.
8. Integrations: Limited access to integrations with other tools and services.
9. Lists and Folders: Capped at 100 lists per space and 100 folders per space.
10. AI Features: ClickUp's AI capabilities are not available on the free plan.
11. Advanced Features: Several advanced features are either not available or have limited uses on the free plan, including:
    • Cloud storage integrations
    • Email in ClickUp
    • Proofing
    • Custom task IDs
    • Private docs
    • Tasks in multiple lists

While the free plan offers unlimited tasks and users, which is generous compared to many competitors, these limitations can become restrictive for growing teams or more complex project management needs. For businesses or teams that require more advanced features and fewer restrictions, upgrading to a paid plan would be necessary.

You can check our out project management software platform benchmarks to see precisely how Blue stacks up against all the various ClickUp plans and also with other platforms too!

Views

ClickUp has plenty of views, as long as you are willing to pay for their more advanced plans.

Custom Fields

These are the custom fields comparison list. Custom fields are important because they allow you to structure data in your projects instead of having your data in messy comments or description fields.

Based on the comparison between Blue and ClickUp in terms of custom fields, both platforms offer a comprehensive suite of custom fields.

Main Criticisms of ClickUp

ClickUp brands itself as the "One app to replace them all."

While this is a compelling marketing slogan, the reality is that trying to do everything results in a bloated platform.

Most users end up utilizing less than 20% of the available features. This ambitious approach leads to several issues, including feature overload, overwhelmed users, and performance problems. The platform attempts to cover too many functionalities, and by trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, no single feature stands out as highly polished. Users often find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, many of which they do not need or use.

The user interface is a significant pain point for many ClickUp users. Poor UX design choices, such as missing labeled icons, lead to a frustrating user experience. Navigating through ClickUp can feel like a maze, with essential features buried under layers of menus and options. This contributes to a steep learning curve, making the platform difficult for new users to master.

There's a lot going here with the user interface:

ClickUp's pricing structure and billing practices have been a source of frustration for many users. There are reports of unexpected charges and automatic upgrades to more expensive plans without clear consent. This lack of transparency in billing practices has led to frustration and distrust among users. The pricing structure can be a point of contention, with advanced features locked behind higher-priced tiers, posing a potential drawback for growing teams.

A particular pain point is that if a company owner needs a feature that is on a higher-price tier, they need to upgrade every single user in the company, which can be costly and inefficient.

For professional service agencies and businesses that collaborate with clients, ClickUp poses particular challenges. Clients, who are not power users, need a simple, intuitive interface.

They want to log in, quickly find what they need, and log out. Businesses often find themselves constantly explaining ClickUp's complex interface to their clients, which is inefficient and frustrating. The complexity of the platform can lead to miscommunication or missed updates if clients struggle to navigate the system.

At Blue, we have 10 years of agency experience, and we created our own platform because we were tired of constantly explaining ClickUp and similar tools like Asana to our clients. Occasional users find it frustrating and time-consuming to navigate through the complex interface.

Despite its numerous features, ClickUp may not always fit specific industry or company workflows. The attempt to cater to all industries can result in a lack of depth for specific use cases. Some users find that ClickUp's structure doesn't align well with their established processes, forcing them to adapt their workflows to the tool rather than vice versa.

While ClickUp's ambition to be the "One app to replace them all" is admirable, it falls short in execution. The platform's overambitious feature set, cluttered interface, billing issues, steep learning curve, and challenges in client collaboration make it a problematic tool for many users. For businesses looking for a more streamlined and user-friendly solution, especially those that frequently collaborate with clients, alternatives may be worth considering. The ideal project management tool should balance functionality with simplicity, providing a smooth user experience without sacrificing essential features.

Differences in Corporate Structure

When you're choosing a project management tool, it’s important to look beyond just its features. The company behind the product matters too. Their corporate structure and focus could influence how the tool evolves and its long-term sustainability.

Let's start with ClickUp, which is a VC (Venture Funded) startup that has raised a total of $535M. This means that its a company that is mostly owned by investment groups, not the founders.

This can lead to situations where their interests are not aligned with you, the customer. In 2023, ClickUP had to cut 10% of its workforce as it prepares itself for an IPO, and it is worth noting that they are not yet profitable, even with 800,000+ customers.

And with such a large customer base, it is difficult to get personalized support from ClickUp, because you are just yet another customer. This is especially true if you're just a small business and not paying a lot of money.

In contrast, Blue is a small business serving serving small businesses.

We're not slaves to investors or quarterly reports, we only need to focus on keeping our customers happy and successful.

I think this single-minded dedication shows in the product. We've managed to build a product that is highly competitive to Clickup, without having to raise $500M in the process*.

And so what does this mean for you? Well, it means better prices, and a platform that is designed to help you work and focus, not a platform who's main purpose is to constantly try and up sell you a more expensive plan.

A ClickUp Alternative?

After taking a closer look at ClickUp and Blue, it is clear that ClickUp has a lot more features — but are they the ones you need? And are you willing to pay the significant premium for those features?

If you're looking for everything under the sun, then ClickUp is your best bet.

If you're looking for a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use project management software, then Blue is your best bet.

As with any software decision, it’s a good idea for teams to take advantage of free trials (try Blue here!) and carefully assess both platforms against their specific needs before making a final choice.

Further Resources

ClickUp

• ClickUp Pricing Page
• ClickUp Documentation
• ClickUp G2 Reviews
• ClickUp Capterra Reviews

Blue

• Blue Pricing Page
• Blue Documentation
• Blue G2 Reviews
• Blue Capterra Reviews
• Blue Community