TLDR (Summary)
Teamwork's project management comes with per-user pricing, and the rest of the business workflow splits into additional subscriptions. Invoicing needs a different product, CRM lives in its own app, and features like e-signatures, proposals, and payment collection don't exist anywhere in the Teamwork ecosystem. Plutio connects project management to proposals, contracts, time tracking, invoicing, and client portals in one subscription. When a proposal gets signed, the project creates automatically with tasks and deadlines, tracked hours flow into invoices with payment processing included, and clients check progress from a branded portal. Plans start at $19/month with everything included.
Project management without the per-product pricing
Teamwork's project management includes Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and workload views, but the Deliver plan starts at $10.99/user/month and the Grow plan jumps to $19.99/user/month. A 5-person agency pays $55-100/month just for project management, before any invoicing or CRM gets added.
Teamwork's project management includes Kanban boards, Gantt charts, time tracking, and workload management. But the per-user pricing stacks up quickly for agencies and small teams. And critical features like retainer budgeting and resource scheduling are locked behind the Scale plan at $54.99/user/month, which puts those capabilities out of reach for most freelancers.
Plutio's project management includes Kanban boards, Gantt timelines, task dependencies, milestones, and project templates on every plan. There's no per-user pricing and no feature tiers. A freelancer or a 5-person team pays the same $19/month base price regardless of which features they use.
What matters more is what sits alongside the project management. In Teamwork, invoicing requires a different product (Teamwork Billing, now discontinued in favor of integrations). In Plutio, tracked hours on project tasks become invoice line items with one click, and project milestones trigger client notifications through the portal.
A 5-person team on Plutio pays $19/month for project management, invoicing, and portals, the same features that cost $55-100/month on Teamwork before billing tools even enter the picture.
Invoicing that lives inside the project, not in a separate product
Teamwork doesn't include invoicing in the project management product. Invoicing requires either Teamwork's billing integration or an app like FreshBooks or QuickBooks, adding another subscription and another login to the workflow.
Teamwork used to offer a separate billing product, but the company has shifted toward third-party integrations for invoicing. Freelancers using Teamwork connect to FreshBooks, Xero, or QuickBooks for invoicing, which means project data and billing data live in different systems. Tracked hours in Teamwork don't flow into invoices automatically because the invoicing tool doesn't share a database with the project tool.
In Plutio, a billing period pulls every tracked hour, task description, and client rate into a ready-to-send invoice. Recurring invoices go out automatically on a set schedule, and late payment reminders follow up without manual chasing. Payment processing through Stripe, PayPal, or bank transfer happens inside Plutio, so clients pay directly from the invoice without routing through a separate payment processor.
Teamwork Grow ($19.99/user/month for 3 users = $60/month) plus FreshBooks ($17-55/month) brings the monthly total to $77-115/month for two tools that don't share data. Plutio handles projects and invoicing together from $19/month.
Plutio's invoicing populates from tracked hours with one click and collects payment through Stripe, PayPal, or bank transfer from the same screen where projects are managed.
Proposals and contracts that auto-create projects
Teamwork has a basic Quotes feature but doesn't include e-signatures, interactive pricing tables, or contract management. Proposals and contract signing need additional tools before any project work begins.
Teamwork's Quotes feature generates basic price estimates, but quotes don't convert into projects automatically and there's no way for clients to select between service packages or sign electronically. Most agencies using Teamwork send proposals through PandaDoc or Proposify ($19-49/month) and contracts through DocuSign ($15-45/month), then manually create the project in Teamwork after the documents come back signed.
Plutio's proposal builder uses drag-and-drop sections with pricing tables, optional add-ons, and e-signatures built into the document. When a client signs, Plutio creates the project with pre-configured tasks, deadlines, and portal access based on the proposal scope. Contracts attach to proposals and projects, and the first invoice can pull directly from the approved pricing.
PandaDoc, DocuSign, and Teamwork become one sequence in Plutio. A client reviews the proposal, picks a service package, signs the contract electronically, and the project kicks off with tasks, deadlines, and portal access already in place.
Instead of PandaDoc for proposals, DocuSign for contracts, and Teamwork for project setup, Plutio runs the entire sequence from proposal to signed contract to active project in one workflow.
Time tracking that connects to invoicing in the same app
Teamwork has built-in time tracking, but the tracked hours can't convert to invoices within the platform because invoicing lives in a separate product. Teamwork's timer tracks the hours, but when billing arrives, those hours need re-entering in a different invoicing app.
Teamwork's time tracking records hours against tasks and generates time reports with billable and non-billable breakdowns. For internal project budgets, the reports show where hours went. But when billing time arrives, the tracked hours need export to FreshBooks, QuickBooks, or Xero. Exporting hours varies by integration, and discrepancies between Teamwork's time reports and the invoicing tool's records create reconciliation work every billing cycle.
Plutio's time tracking lives inside every project with a timer that starts from any task. Billable hours stay separated from internal work, and at billing time, tracked hours become invoice line items with task names, durations, and rates already filled in. Each invoice generates inside the same workspace where hours were tracked.
Time reports in Plutio break down hours by project, client, or date range. Budget tracking shows which projects are on budget and which ones have gone over the estimated hours, all from the same place where invoices get created, sent, and paid.
Every billable hour tracked in Plutio becomes an invoice line item with the task name, duration, and rate pre-filled, so billing cycles that took an hour in Teamwork plus FreshBooks take minutes.
Client portals with custom branding on every plan
Teamwork offers client access through collaborator seats, but clients see the same project management interface as internal team members. Custom branding requires the Grow plan or higher, and even then, the branding is limited to hiding Teamwork's logo rather than adding a custom domain.
Teamwork lets agencies invite clients as free collaborators who can view tasks, leave comments, and upload files. But the client experience is the full project management interface, not a simplified portal. Clients see task lists, Gantt charts, and project settings that are more relevant to the internal team than to someone checking on deliverable progress. And because invoicing lives outside Teamwork, clients can't view or pay invoices from the same place.
Plutio's client portals carry a custom logo, color scheme, and domain from the base plan. Clients log in and see active projects, upcoming milestones, shared files, pending invoices, and messages in one view. Files upload directly to the project, clients approve deliverables, and invoice payments happen from the portal through Stripe or PayPal.
When clients need to check on a deliverable, the portal answers before the email gets drafted. Progress, files, and invoices sit in one view, so the weekly status call becomes optional.
Plutio's client portals combine project progress, file sharing, and invoice payments in a branded space at a custom domain, starting at $19/month.
With Plutio we don't jump between apps anymore! Everything from projects to invoicing is finally connected in one fully-branded app.
How to switch from Teamwork to Plutio
Switching from Teamwork works best between client engagements. Wrap up active Teamwork projects and start new clients directly on Plutio.
- Start a free trial: Plutio offers 14 days of full access with no credit card required. Projects, proposals, invoicing, time tracking, contracts, and client portals all work from day one.
- Export project data: Download task lists, time logs, and client contacts from Teamwork. CSV exports carry over into Plutio during initial setup.
- Build a project template: Recreate Teamwork's task structure as a Plutio template with milestones, deliverables, and task dependencies. Every new engagement launches from the template.
- Onboard the next client through Plutio: Send a proposal with pricing and an attached contract. When the client signs, Plutio creates the project with tasks, deadlines, and portal access already configured.
- Finish Teamwork projects where they are: Active projects stay on Teamwork until completion. Running both platforms in parallel avoids disrupting client work mid-project.
- Cancel Teamwork: Once active projects wrap up, downgrade to the free plan (5 users, 5 projects) or cancel the subscription. Teamwork's free plan keeps historical access while new work runs on Plutio.
Teamwork's free plan means the old account stays accessible without ongoing cost, so new client work shifts to Plutio without canceling Teamwork immediately.
Active Teamwork projects finish naturally while new client work starts on Plutio with proposals, contracts, and branded portals from the first interaction.
