Pros & Cons
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- Capable project management
- Lots of customization options
- Includes form building, proofing, and time tracking features
- Free version is available
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- Expensive, especially with add-ons
- Occasionally overwhelming interface
- Lacks robust budgeting and invoicing tools
Wrike Specs
| Billing and Invoicing | |
| Budgeting | |
| Customizable Roles/Permissions | |
| Dependencies | |
| Free Version Available | |
| Gantt Charts | |
| Guest/Client Access | |
| In-App Task Timer | |
| Markup Tools | |
| Number of Projects in Free Account | Unlimited |
| Price Per Person Per Month | $10 |
| Resource Management | |
| Storage Included at Price Listed | 2GB |
| Storage Space for Free Accounts | 2GB |
| Time Estimates |
Wrike is a versatile project management app that can help you and your team organize complex work responsibilities. Its core task management functions work well, and nice-to-have features, such as agile proofing support across a ton of file types, form creation, and time tracking, mean you won’t likely need to leave Wrike during the workday. However, its add-on-dependent integrations, high subscription rates, and lack of deep budgeting and invoicing tools are downsides. We've lowered Wrike's rating by half a star since our last review because it isn't quite as compelling a value as it once was, but it might still be a good fit if your team appreciates its customization potential and can afford it. Our Editors’ Choice winners for project management remain GanttPro for newcomers, Teamwork for client work, and Zoho Projects for small and growing teams.
Pricing: Premium Plans With Key Features Locked Behind Higher Tiers
Wrike offers three core plans (Free, Team, and Business) and two that require custom pricing (Pinnacle and Apex). You can try Wrike’s Pinnacle plan for 14 days before you pay or decide to stick with the Free plan.
The Free plan serves simple needs. It lets you manage projects and tasks, includes board and table views, offers limited access to AI features, supports Wrike apps on desktop, mobile, and the web, and provides 2GB of storage space per account. Although Wrike’s Free plan supports unlimited users, it lacks many core features, such as automations, Gantt charts, time tracking, and more.
The Team plan ($10 per user per month for 2 to 15 users) includes automations, custom fields and workflows, dashboards, additional AI functionality, and Gantt charts. This plan is much more robust than the Free one, but it still lacks some core features, such as advanced automation features, storage beyond 2GB per user, and time tracking.
The Business plan ($25 per user per month for 5 to 200 users) adds advanced automation features, resource management support, significantly expanded AI functionality (which Wrike calls AI Elite), 5GB of storage per user, and much more. Many features are exclusive to the Business plan, so most teams should start with this tier.
The Pinnacle and Apex plans both support unlimited users, but you have to contact Wrike for pricing. They go far beyond the Business tier, offering additional security measures, more advanced resource management, and significantly increased storage per user. The Apex plan also includes Wrike’s Integrate (expanded integration support), Sync (two-way syncing between Wrike and third-party services), and Whiteboard add-ons. For this review, I tested the Pinnacle plan.
Paid add-ons available for Wrike’s Business plan and up go beyond what you get with the Apex plan. Other options include Datahub (a data integration platform) and Lock (a control plane for Wrike data that manages your own encryption keys). Whiteboard costs $15 per user per month, and the other add-ons have custom pricing.
Wrike’s pricing isn’t unusual for a project management app, but it’s not nearly as affordable as Zoho Projects, which starts at $4 per user per month. Wrike doesn’t offer discounts for annual payment, either. It’s similar in price to GanttPro, which starts at $10 per user per month, and Teamwork, which starts at $11 per user per month. But Wrike’s add-ons increase prices quickly, especially since many integrations require them.
Interface and Ease of Use: Powerful, But Initially Overwhelming
All you need to get started with Wrike is a free account. You can use it via desktop (macOS and Windows) and mobile (Android and iOS) apps or on the web. The introductory setup process is straightforward, but depending on what you choose during it, Wrike can be immediately overwhelming. For example, it might buffet you with a chat panel where you can ask a chatbot questions, a checklist of introductory tasks to complete, an endless series of tabs in the left-hand menu, and a welcome page packed with options to enable or toggle.
(Credit: Wrike/PCMag)Project management apps are inherently complex, so small teams without a dedicated project manager might get a bad impression. But spending time with Wrike and customizing what you can (such as which tabs appear on the main side menu) can help you acclimate. All those tabs on the left make jumping between different Spaces (folders) or items within a Space easy. Furthermore, whether you want to check your inbox, log time in a time sheet, search for something, or see what others have shared with you, it’s all just a click away.
Each page you open either has explanatory text or a button you can click for an explanation. Alternatively, you can navigate to Wrike’s help center, where you can ask questions in the community forum, complete interactive training, and watch instructional videos. As mentioned, you can message Wrike’s customer service chatbot, too. If you need help from a human, you can book a call with a rep to demo the product or help you with the setup process.
Managing Projects: Flexible Views and Strong Task Tools
Before you can manage a project, you need to create one. Projects exist within the context of Spaces on Wrike, so you’ll need one of those, too. You can create custom Spaces or choose from a wide range of templates. It's possible to customize Projects with different workflows, which you can create yourself or pick from a premade list. I recommend starting with Space templates and premade Project workflows.
When you open a project, a menu at the top of the screen lets you add views (board, calendar, chart, files, Gantt, resources, stream, table, and time log) that appear as tabs. Views have different functionality. For example, you can see your tasks in the Gantt or table views, while your time sheet entries populate in your time log view. Although Wrike’s overall interface can be overwhelming, projects feel more focused. They limit the number of elements you can interact with, so adding, editing, filtering, and sorting tasks is easy.
I created an editorial Space with different projects for features, news, and reviews, using the Content Operations Space template and the premade Content Workflow. My projects came with columns for assignee, date, name, and status for tasks, and I added columns for editor, priority, progress, and time spent from the list of available options. However, you can also create custom columns. Once my larger structure was in order, I added tasks (complete with the information necessary to populate columns). Adding subitems to a task takes only a click when the task is open. Setting up the basics of a workable management system can be done in just a few minutes.
(Credit: Wrike/PCMag)If you subscribe to the Business plan or higher, Wrike offers time-tracking and workload-management features. Time tracking is straightforward: You can manually enter how much time you work in the Timesheets tab, or start a timer within individual tasks to automatically track your time. From the Workload tab, you can get a bird’s eye view of how your entire team spends their time, allowing you to more efficiently distribute tasks without overloading any one person.
Form creation and proofing tools are available, too. Wrike’s form creation feature requires at least the Business tier and focuses on intake and third-party requests, so it’s nowhere near as robust as a dedicated form-building platform. But it works fine for its purpose. Wrike’s proofing abilities also require at least the Business plan. You can proof a wide variety of different file types, including videos.
Wrike lacks a dedicated billing system, but you can still connect third-party services and keep track of invoices by setting them up as requests. Then, you can use Wrike’s time-tracking features to track how much time someone spends on a request for billing purposes. This can work well for smaller teams that handle simple client work, but it’s not a match for Teamwork's more robust billing and invoice management capabilities.
Dashboards and Reports: Clear Visibility Into Work and Progress
After all your tasks are in order, you need to monitor their progress. You can do this primarily via dashboards and reports. Dashboards on Wrike work as they do in similar apps. You can set up various widgets that present all sorts of useful information, whether that’s active projects, the number of completed tasks, total tasks, pending approvals, or pretty much anything else. You can customize which widgets appear on your dashboards, as well as filter by almost any attribute. You might want a dashboard that focuses on a single person's activities, for example.
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(Credit: Wrike/PCMag)To generate real-time reports, you need to sign up for the Business tier or higher. Whereas dashboards provide a high-level overview, reports are more granular. For example, you can generate an entire report of active tasks by assignee. A variety of premade templates for reports are available, but you can create reports from scratch, too. Creating reports this way not only gives you control over what you track but also which data sources your reports use across different Projects and Spaces.
Automations: Simple Tools for Eliminating Repetitive Work
Every job involves some repetitive tasks, and Wrike has automations for those. As is standard with project management software, Wrike’s automations boil down to ‘if this, then that’ statements that run automatically. Wrike calls these automation rules, which you can create in the Automations tab under Settings. Tons of premade rules are ready for you to customize, or you can build them yourself.
(Credit: Wrike/PCMag)I appreciate Wrike’s rule creation interface: It’s a flowchart that starts with what you want your rule to apply to and ends with what you want to happen. Additional options let you set conditions for a rule to trigger or specify multiple things to happen. Even if you aren’t familiar with automation, Wrike makes it easy.
I created an automation rule using a premade template to add a comment or mention when a task's status changes. In just a few seconds, I chose which Space my rule would apply to, what status a task needed to trigger it, and how I wanted it to mention assignees when it ran. The end result was a rule that has Wrike ping an assignee whenever their task is complete.
Communication and Collaboration: Solid Task Discussions, But No Direct Messaging
Your team will inevitably use other communication apps, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, to stay in touch, but it’s still important (and efficient) to be able to discuss work directly within project management software. To that end, Wrike allows you to comment on (and mention others) in tasks. You can also open Wrike’s activity feed and interact with tasks directly there. These are standard features, but they get the job done.
However, Wrike doesn’t include a direct messaging system, unlike competing project management apps such as Teamwork. Even though your team wouldn’t exclusively use Wrike, I like having the option to quickly send someone a message. As it stands, you need to navigate to a particular task and mention someone, or else leave the platform.
If you sign up for Wrike’s Whiteboard add-on ($15 per user per month), you can collaborate with your team and external users on a virtual canvas. Whiteboards are great for visual learners, but the expense can be hard to justify. Miro, for example, is exceptional whiteboard software, and you can use it for free to collaborate with any number of people. Sure, that’s not quite as convenient as a whiteboard directly within Wrike, but the savings alone can make a few extra clicks worth it if your team includes even just a few people.
Integrations: Extensive Options With Costly Add-On Requirements
Wrike supports a long list of integrations with various third-party apps, including Google Drive, Salesforce, Airtable, and Outlook. Consult the full list of integrations to make sure the apps you use most frequently are compatible.
In testing, I enabled Wrike’s Gmail integration and, with just a few clicks, could add tasks via a side panel in Gmail. I can see this being useful if I were a manager who spent significant amounts of time responding to email on any given day, especially those that required me to create related tasks.
(Credit: Wrike/PCMag)The catch with Wrike’s integrations is access. Your plan limits which integrations are available, and many integrations require the separate Integrate or Sync add-ons. For example, if you want Wrike tasks to appear as Google Calendar events (with changes on Wrike reflected in Google Calendar), you need the Business plan and the Sync add-on. But if you want to use Wrike’s Google Drive integration, you need the Business plan and the Integrate add-on.
This setup is extremely cumbersome since the Integrate and Sync add-ons have custom pricing. Moreover, other project management apps, such as Zoho Projects, don’t charge nearly as much (or, in some cases, anything at all) for the same integrations. For example, free Zoho Projects users can connect with Zendesk, but Wrike requires a Business plan and the Integrate or Sync add-ons to do the same.
AI Features: Broad Capabilities With Uncertain Practical Value
Wrike offers an impressive range of AI functionality across its plans. This runs the gamut, including AI agents, an AI assistant, content summarization, risk prediction, text generation, and widget creation. I recommend reviewing Wrike’s full list of AI features to see which are most relevant to you.
The AI features largely work as expected. For example, when I created a task and asked the AI to write out a plan for concepting, drafting, editing, and publishing a review, it completed my request without issue. However, like with AI features in other project management apps, I don't believe this kind of functionality is useful to everyone. Your specific workflow might benefit from it, of course.
A dedicated AI add-on that adds more AI features on top of what your plan gets you isn't available, but Wrike does meaningfully limit access to its agents, assistants, and widget creation to its Business or higher tier plans. Wrike notes that all users currently have unlimited access to the AI features in their plans, but that, starting on April 1, 2026, “generous” usage limits will apply. Wrike says it will offer paid packages to increase usage limits when this change occurs.
Privacy: Strong Protections With Some Features Locked to Enterprise Plans
Wrike’s privacy policy is straightforward and reasonably up to date. Wrike differentiates between customer data (the actual information in your tasks and projects) and personal data (contact details, device information, and professional details). The company doesn’t control customer data and, “in most cases,” is unable to read it. But it does collect and use personal data for a variety of purposes, including improving its services, marketing, and more.
I wasn’t able to find recent evidence of major breaches, leaks, or hacks involving Wrike, which is good news for the privacy-conscious. Wrike offers multi-factor authentication, but only for subscribers on the Pinnacle and Apex tiers. This isn’t that unusual, but other project management services, such as Teamwork, offer this feature across all plans, even the free one.
Additionally, you can sign up for Wrike’s Lock add-on (custom pricing). Lock offers enterprise-grade security via encryption keys you manage, more granular control over who can access your data, and other benefits. Extra security is nice to have, but this add-on is likely only worth it for larger organizations that can afford the extra expense, or for teams that handle particularly sensitive information.
Jill Duffy and Khamosh Pathak contributed to this review.