⚡ Quick Verdict:
- Pricing: Insightly starts at $29/user/month. ClickUp has a free plan and paid plans from $7/user/month.
- Best for: Insightly suits sales teams that need customer relationship management. ClickUp suits teams running multiple projects.
- Key difference: Insightly is a CRM with project management attached. ClickUp is a project management platform with no CRM pipeline of its own.
- Our pick: ClickUp for most teams, because the free forever plan and lower paid tiers cover far more work per user.
Insightly and ClickUp both promise to keep your work in one place.
They are not really chasing the same buyer.
Insightly is CRM software built around contacts, leads, and deals.
ClickUp is project management software built around tasks and projects.
The right pick depends on which side of that line your work sits.
Overview
This full Insightly vs ClickUp comparison covers pricing, features, and ease of use.
Our writer spent hands-on time inside ClickUp directly.
Notes on Insightly come from its documentation and public user reviews.
We also break down who each system works best for.
What is Insightly?
Insightly is CRM software for small businesses and mid-sized teams.
Insightly CRM keeps current and prospective customer data in one place.
Sales teams use it to build strong relationships and track sales opportunities.
It adds project management on top, with milestones, pipelines, and task assignments.
PC Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, G2 Crowd, and TrustRadius all recommend the platform.
Insightly
A CRM that links deals to delivery work. Contacts, sales pipeline, and projects share one system. Compliance covers SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA.
Insightly Pricing
Insightly offers three paid tiers and no free plan. Every price below is per user, per month.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Plus | $29/user/month | Small sales teams starting out |
| Professional | $49/user/month | Teams needing dashboards and third-party apps |
| Enterprise | $99/user/month | Full access to all features |
Pricing verified August 2026.
Free trial: Yes. Insightly runs a 14-day trial on its pricing page with no card required.
Money-back guarantee: None advertised. Subscriptions are billed annually by default.
📌 Note: Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service are sold separately. These other Insightly products follow the same per user pricing structure as the CRM.
⚠️ Warning: The Plus and Professional tiers price well against other CRMs. The Enterprise tier costs almost double Zoho CRM’s equivalent plan.
Key Benefits of Insightly
Here is what makes Insightly worth a look:
- 360-degree customer view: Every contact, company, and deal sits on one record. That view drives personalized customer experiences.
- Visual sales pipeline: Customizable pipelines and Kanban views track each stage of a deal. An opportunities dashboard shows what is close to closing.
- Project management built in: Milestones, pipelines, and Gantt chart visualizations arrived in 2025 for timeline and dependency work.
- AppConnect integrations: A low-code engine ships over 2,000 pre-built connectors to other apps and business software.
- Copilot AI: The AI assistant summarizes emails and retrieves data so reps save time on admin.
- Fast setup: Getting data into the system is not overly convoluted. Easy customization options help teams shape it around their business operations.
- Serious compliance: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA standards are all covered.
What Our Team Noticed
Note: We have not had extended hands-on time with Insightly yet. The details above come from published documentation and user reviews on G2 and TrustRadius.
Insightly Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- CRM and project management live in one system
- Easier to learn than Zoho CRM
- Over 2,000 AppConnect connectors for integrations
- SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance
❌ Cons
- No free plan at all
- Enterprise tier costs almost double Zoho CRM
- Lacks advanced features like custom workflows
What is ClickUp?
ClickUp is project management software for teams that plan and track work together.
Teams manage tasks, docs, calendars, and communication in one workspace.
That cuts the tool switching most teams deal with every day.
ClickUp includes list, board, calendar, Gantt, and timeline views.
An AI assistant called ClickUp Brain tracks workloads and time spent on projects.
🏆 Winner: ClickUp
One workspace for tasks, docs, goals, and time tracking. The free forever plan allows an unlimited number of users. Paid plans stay cheap per user.
ClickUp Pricing
ClickUp offers a free plan and three paid plans. The Business plan adds advanced permissions, and the Enterprise plan covers large companies. Here is what each ClickUp plan costs.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Solo workers and smaller teams |
| Unlimited | $7/user/month | Unlimited storage and integrations |
| Business | $12/user/month | Growing teams needing advanced features |
| Enterprise | Custom | Large companies needing HIPAA compliance |
Pricing verified August 2026.
Free trial: Yes. ClickUp runs a 15-day free trial on its paid plans.
Money-back guarantee: 30 days on all paid plans. Both vendors offer discounts when you pay billed annually.
📌 Note: The free forever plan is completely free and allows an unlimited number of users. Essential features are there, but it caps custom fields at 100 uses. Paid tiers unlock other features like advanced automation.
⚠️ Warning: You upgrade your entire workspace at once. Every team member moves to the paid plan together, so costs scale with headcount.
Key Benefits of ClickUp
Here is what ClickUp does well:
- One place for everything: Tasks, docs, calendars, and team communication share a workspace. Fewer apps means less switching.
- Flexible views: Kanban board, list, calendar, Gantt charts, and timeline cover different working styles. The mobile app has an offline mode for new tasks and reminders.
- Deep automation: Custom rules and over 100 pre-built automation templates handle repetitive tasks.
- Time tracking included: Native timers, manual logging, time estimates, and workload views support resource management.
- Goals and dashboards: Measurable goals link to specific tasks, and dashboards track KPIs and progress in real time.
- Collaboration tools: Docs, chat, and a whiteboard feature support real time editing and brainstorming.
- Huge integration list: Over 1,000 apps connect, including Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom.
Our full ClickUp review breaks down each module in more depth. The screenshot below shows how the workspace looks once projects are set up.
What Our Team Noticed
Our writer set up a ClickUp account and ran a small content project inside it. Here is what stood out from that hands-on time:
ClickUp Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Free forever plan with unlimited users
- Over 1,000 integrations including Slack and Google Drive
- Built-in time tracking, goals, and dashboards
- Strong collaboration tools like docs and whiteboards
❌ Cons
- Interface feels overwhelming for new users
- Reporting tools are scattered across the platform
- No phone support and no sales CRM pipeline
Feature Comparison
Ready for a closer look at Insightly vs ClickUp? We compare nine core areas, then pricing. Each one shows where the two systems split apart.
| Feature | Insightly | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $29/user/month | $7/user/month |
| Free Plan | ❌ | ✅ |
| Contact Management | ✅ | ❌ |
| Sales Pipeline | ✅ | ❌ |
| Project Management | ✅ | ✅ |
| Workflow Automation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Time Tracking | ❌ | ✅ |
| AI Assistant | ✅ Copilot | ✅ ClickUp Brain |
| Integrations | 2,000+ connectors | 1,000+ apps |
| Best For | Sales teams and customer data | Teams running multiple projects |
1. Core Purpose and Setup
Insightly: This is customer relationship management first. Insightly CRM helps businesses manage customer interactions, leads, sales opportunities, and projects from one account. Setup is fast, which is a key reason for its appeal.
ClickUp: This is a project management platform first. Teams plan, track, and collaborate on tasks in a single workspace. Setup takes longer because you decide the structure yourself.
2. Contact Management and Sales Pipeline
Insightly: Contact management is the core job here. Customizable pipelines and Kanban views track each stage of a deal. Reps add new contacts on the go and log every customer interaction against a company record.
ClickUp: There is no native sales pipeline. Teams build a CRM-style list with custom fields and statuses instead. It works for simple deal tracking, but it is not real CRM software.
⚠️ Warning: If you need lead scoring and sales reporting out of the box, ClickUp will not replace a dedicated CRM.
3. Project and Task Management
Insightly: You can manage projects with milestones and pipelines, and assign tasks to a team member from mobile. Task management covers reminders, to-do lists, and call logs. Complex projects with dependencies feel thin next to dedicated project management tools.
ClickUp: A multi-level hierarchy runs from Workspaces down to Spaces, Folders, Lists, Tasks, and Subtasks. Teams view tasks as a list, board, calendar, or timeline. That structure handles multiple projects and complex tasks without breaking. Sprint reports and burndown charts add performance insights for dev teams.
4. Workflow Automation
Insightly: Workflow automation handles routine record updates and task creation. Reviewers still flag missing advanced features like fully custom workflows compared with some competitors.
ClickUp: Teams automate repetitive work with customizable rules and over 100 pre-built automation templates. You can trigger a status change when a due date passes, for example.
5. AI Assistant
Insightly: Copilot is the built-in AI assistant. It summarizes emails and retrieves data from your records, which saves reps time on manual lookups.
ClickUp: ClickUp Brain sits across the whole workspace. It tracks workloads, summarizes threads, and answers questions about projects. It reaches further into daily work than Copilot does.
6. Time Tracking and Resource Management
Insightly: There is no native time tracking. Agencies billing hourly need a third-party app connected through AppConnect.
ClickUp: Native timers and manual logging track billable hours against estimates. Workload views help managers monitor capacity and prevent burnout. Some users find the timer flow clunky in daily use.
7. Reporting and Dashboards
Insightly: Reports and dashboards give visual insight into business performance. The Professional tier limits dashboards, so heavy reporting users often land on Enterprise.
ClickUp: A central reporting module offers pre-made dashboards, and you can customize your own reports. Dashboards track KPIs, team capacity, and project health live. The catch is that reporting settings are scattered across the platform.
8. Email and Team Communication
Insightly: Sales users get email templates and can schedule emails from inside the CRM. Everything logs back to the contact record, so nothing sits only in an inbox.
ClickUp: Communication features live inside the workspace instead. Chat, docs, and an AI notetaker keep discussion attached to the task it belongs to.
9. Integrations, Support and Onboarding
Insightly: AppConnect ships over 2,000 pre-built connectors, and Google Workspace sync is standard. Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service plug straight in, which suits marketing teams already using those tools.
ClickUp: Over 1,000 apps connect, and API access covers the rest. Help resources include a knowledge base, ClickUp University, live training, and 24/7 live chat behind an AI chatbot. There is no phone support, and higher ClickUp plans add single sign on, granular user permissions, guest access, and live onboarding training.
10. Pricing & Cost
Here are the ClickUp plans and Insightly tiers side by side.
| Tier | Insightly | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ❌ | Free: $0 |
| Entry paid plan | Plus: $29/user/month | Unlimited: $7/user/month |
| Mid tier | Professional: $49/user/month | Business: $12/user/month |
| Top tier | Enterprise: $99/user/month | Enterprise: Custom |
Insightly: The Plus and Professional tiers price competitively against other CRMs. Enterprise at $99 per user is the sore spot, since it runs close to double Zoho CRM’s comparable plan.
ClickUp: ClickUp’s features cost less per seat at every step. A five-person team pays $35 a month on Unlimited. The same team on Insightly Plus pays $145. That gap is the single biggest factor in this comparison.
💡 Pro Tip: Run ClickUp’s free plan on one real project first. If your team never asks for a sales pipeline, you have your answer.
Different Scenarios
| If You Need… | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tight budget | ClickUp | Free plan plus $7 entry tier |
| Sales pipeline and leads | Insightly | Real CRM records and deal stages |
| Complex projects | ClickUp | Deeper hierarchy and views |
| Billable hours | ClickUp | Native time tracking built in |
| HIPAA and GDPR needs | Insightly | Compliance on every tier |
| Fastest setup | Insightly | Shorter learning curve |
💰 Your Budget
Insightly costs $29 per user before you invite anyone. ClickUp’s free plan covers unlimited users, so budget rarely blocks the trial.
🔌 Your Tech Stack
Both connect to the usual apps, and both offer API access for the rest. If Google Workspace and email sit at the center of your tech stack, Insightly fits more naturally.
📋 Your Daily Work
Ask what your organization opens first each morning. A deal list points to Insightly, while a task board points to ClickUp.
🎓 Your Experience Level
ClickUp has a steeper learning curve, and its interface can overwhelm new users. Insightly’s interface is easier to pick up on day one.
🆓 Free Trials and Demos
ClickUp gives 15 days on paid plans plus a free tier you can keep. Insightly runs a trial from its pricing page instead.
🛟 Support Options
ClickUp offers 24/7 live chat, a knowledge base, and live training, but no phone support. Insightly’s paid tiers include guided onboarding services.
Switching Guide
Already on one of these? Here is what changes when you move.
🔄 Switching from Insightly to ClickUp?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- A far cheaper cost per user, plus a free tier
- Native time tracking and workload views
- Docs, chat, and whiteboards for team communication
❌ What you’ll lose:
- A true sales pipeline with deal stages
- Email templates tied to contact records
- Links to other Insightly products like Marketing and Service
📋 How to switch:
- Export contacts, companies, and projects to CSV from Insightly
- Create a ClickUp workspace and set up your Spaces
- Import data into Lists and rebuild deal stages as custom fields
🔄 Switching from ClickUp to Insightly?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- Proper contact and opportunity records for sales
- A shorter learning curve for non-technical staff
- SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance across tiers
❌ What you’ll lose:
- The free forever plan and low per-seat cost
- Built-in time tracking and sprint reporting
- Whiteboards, docs, and in-app chat
📋 How to switch:
- Export your ClickUp Lists and task details to CSV
- Open an Insightly account and pick a tier
- Map tasks to projects and contacts to CRM records
What Our Review Didn’t Cover
This comparison focused on small teams and mid-sized companies. We did not test enterprise rollouts, custom API builds, or the newest version of either mobile app in depth. New features released after publication are not covered either. Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service were out of scope, and ClickUp’s Enterprise pricing is quoted case by case. If you manage 200 seats, your priorities will differ from what we covered here.
Final Verdict
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| 💰 Pricing | ClickUp |
| 🚀 Project Management | ClickUp |
| 🤝 CRM and Contacts | Insightly |
| ⚙️ Workflow Automation | ClickUp |
| ⏱️ Time Tracking | ClickUp |
| 👶 Ease of Use | Insightly |
| 🔌 Integrations | Insightly |
| 🏆 Overall Winner | ClickUp |
🏆 WINNER: CLICKUP
ClickUp wins 4 out of 7 categories.
Best for: Agencies, product teams, professional services teams, and anyone running multiple projects at once.
Insightly and ClickUp answer two different questions. Insightly asks who your customers are. ClickUp asks what your team is doing this week.
Insightly earns a high score for sales work. Contacts, leads, and deals sit in one place, and the interface is easy to pick up.
ClickUp wins here because it covers more ground for less money. The free forever plan alone gives smaller teams enough features to run real work.
Pick Insightly if a sales pipeline is the point. Pick ClickUp if the projects are.
More of Insightly Compared
Here is how Insightly measures up against other CRM tools:
Insightly wins on: Built-in project delivery, flat per user pricing, faster rollout
HubSpot wins on: A genuinely free CRM tier, marketing automation depth, larger app marketplace
Insightly wins on: Simpler day-one setup, cleaner data entry, tighter project linkage
Zoho CRM wins on: Deeper functionality, a much cheaper top tier, more customization knobs
Insightly vs Pipedrive
Insightly wins on: Project management after the sale, reporting breadth, HIPAA coverage
Pipedrive wins on: A lower entry price, a leaner pipeline view, quicker rep adoption
Insightly vs Salesforce
Insightly wins on: Cost per seat, setup speed without consultants, easier admin work
Salesforce wins on: Enterprise scale, custom development options, a far bigger partner network
More of ClickUp Compared
Here is how ClickUp stacks up against other project management tools:
ClickUp vs Asana
ClickUp wins on: A stronger free tier, built-in time tracking, cheaper mid tier per user
Asana wins on: A calmer interface, faster onboarding, tidier task views for small teams
ClickUp vs Monday.com
ClickUp wins on: Better value for money, no minimum seat count, docs and whiteboards included
Monday.com wins on: A gentler first hour, brighter visual boards, simpler admin settings
ClickUp vs Trello
ClickUp wins on: Multi-level hierarchy, reporting dashboards, automation depth
Trello wins on: Instant setup, a single clean kanban board, near-zero training time
ClickUp wins on: Task-first workflows, sprint and workload views, native timers
Notion wins on: Document flexibility, a lighter interface, easier wiki building
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Insightly used for?
Insightly is used to manage contacts, leads, and sales opportunities in one place. It also runs projects with milestones and tasks after a deal closes.
Is ClickUp actually free?
Yes. The free forever plan is completely free and supports unlimited users. Limits apply to custom fields and some advanced features, but core task work is unrestricted.
Is Insightly easy to use?
Yes. Reviewers describe the interface as quick to pick up, with a smooth data input process. It is easier than Zoho CRM, though less feature-deep.
How much does ClickUp cost?
ClickUp costs $0 on the free plan, $7 per user monthly on Unlimited, and $12 per user monthly on Business. Enterprise pricing is quoted directly.
Which is better for project management?
ClickUp. Its hierarchy, views, and automation handle complex work that Insightly’s project module cannot match. Insightly still wins when projects follow a sale.
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