Monday.com alternatives
Monday prices Basic at $9, Standard at $12 and Pro at $19 per seat a month, with a three-seat minimum, verified September 2026. Boards hold leave requests for a while, until someone asks for an annual balance. PeopleMuster ships leave, attendance and timesheets ready-made, for $3 per person.
Why people leave
- Seat maths is the surface reason. Every viewer needs a seat, and an HR board read by thirty people is thirty seats.
- The real reason is underneath. A leave board has to be taught annual quotas and last year's usage, so a spreadsheet often reappears beside it.
- Attendance is harder still. Without a device sync, boards get filled in from memory.
The real options
Six products were compared on 22 September 2026 on whether an HR job is a built feature or a board somebody maintains. Leave quotas, attendance records and approval trails were the tests.
PeopleMuster
$3 per person a month, all live modules, no tiers.- Who it suits
- Teams that want HR to stop being a board and keep project boards too.
- Where it wins
- Leave types carry annual quotas with paid and encashable flags, attendance holds real punch records, and each project has its own Kanban board.
BambooHR
Core $10, Pro $17, Elite $25 per employee a month; flat from $250 at 25 or fewer. Verified September 2026.- Who it suits
- Teams replacing HR boards with an HR system and keeping Monday for work.
- Where it wins
- Proper employee records and time off with balances.
- Where it falls short
- No client project delivery, so the project work stays on Monday.
ClickUp
Unlimited $10 monthly, $7 annual; Business $19, $12 annual. Verified September 2026.- Who it suits
- Teams that want the same flexibility for less on an annual plan.
- Where it wins
- Cheaper annually, with docs, forms and workload included.
- Where it falls short
- Same category. An HR job is still a list somebody maintains by hand.
Zoho People
Regionally injected figures, not quoted here. Paid plans start at five users.- Who it suits
- Small teams wanting HR cheaply, with project time in the suite.
- Where it wins
- Leave quotas, attendance and timesheets as built features rather than boards.
- Where it falls short
- Price varies by region, and the suite spreads across several apps.
Factorial
Quote-led from $8 per user a month with add-on modules. Verified September 2026.- Who it suits
- European small firms replacing a homemade HR board.
- Where it wins
- Modular HR with leave and time off built in.
- Where it falls short
- No client project delivery, and the starting figure is not the quote.
Questions people ask
What is the minimum Monday.com plan?
Paid plans start at three seats. Basic is $9, Standard $12 and Pro $19 per seat a month, verified September 2026, and annual billing saves around 18 percent. A free tier covers two seats.
Can a Monday board run leave properly?
Up to a point. A board tracks requests and approvals, but annual quotas per leave type and year-on-year usage have to be built by hand. Many teams keep a spreadsheet beside the board.
Does PeopleMuster have project boards?
Yes, one per client project. Each board has tags, task counts and progress, and sits beside that project's timesheets and health score.