Wrike and Teamwork.com show up on the same shortlists, but they come from different places. Teamwork.com was built for agencies and client services: time, budgets, retainers and invoices sit right next to the tasks. Wrike was built for big, cross-functional work, with request forms, approvals, dashboards and resource planning that scale to hundreds of people.
I implement work-management platforms through SSPM, a Smartsheet Premier Aligned Partner, and the pattern I see is simple. Agencies that bill by the hour tend to be happier on Teamwork.com. In-house marketing teams, PMOs and companies with many departments tend to be happier on Wrike. The trouble starts when an agency buys Wrike for its looks and then tries to bolt on billing, or when a 150-person operations team picks Teamwork.com and outgrows its reporting.
Prices below come from Wrike’s pricing page and Teamwork.com pricing, checked October 5, 2026. Wrike’s list prices apply to new purchases made on or after January 21, 2026. For more on Wrike’s tiers, see our Wrike pricing guide.
The short answer
- Pick Teamwork.com if you’re an agency or consultancy that bills clients for time, runs retainers, and wants invoices built from logged hours without a separate tool.
- Pick Wrike if you’re coordinating many teams, need strong intake and approval workflows, or expect to grow past 50 users with serious reporting needs.
- Don’t judge on the cheapest tier. The features agencies care about (budgets, retainers, capacity) sit on Teamwork’s Accelerate plan and on Wrike’s Business plan or higher.
What it costs for a 12-person agency
| Plan | List price (per user/month, billed yearly) | 12-person agency, per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teamwork.com Basics | $9.99 | about $120 | Minimum 3 users; billable time tracking |
| Teamwork.com Accelerate | $24.99 | about $300 | Minimum 5 users; budgets, retainers, invoicing, workload |
| Wrike Team | $10 | $150 (15 seats) | 2 to 15 users; sold in groups of five |
| Wrike Business | $25 | $375 (15 seats) | 5 to 200 users; annual billing only |
That last column catches people. Wrike sells seats in groups of five for accounts up to 30 seats, so a 12-person team pays for 15. Teamwork.com bills per user, and paying yearly saves about 29% compared with monthly.
Pinnacle (Wrike) and Optimize (Teamwork.com) are quote-only, so I can’t put honest numbers on them. Ask for a written quote with seat counts and any AI add-ons spelled out.
Where agency features actually live
| Agency need | Wrike | Teamwork.com |
|---|---|---|
| Time tracking | Business and up | Basics and up (billable time) |
| Client budgets and billable rates | Budgeting on Pinnacle | Time budgets and retainers on Accelerate |
| Invoicing from logged time | Not on Wrike’s pricing page | Accelerate |
| Workload and capacity | Workload charts on Business; advanced planning on Pinnacle | Accelerate; role and skill scheduling on Optimize |
| Profitability reporting | Pinnacle (budgeting, advanced reporting and BI) | Optimize |
| Team size limits | Team: 2 to 15 users; Business: 5 to 200 | Free: 5 users, 5 projects; Basics: 300 projects |
Wrike’s own help center lists time tracking and workload charts as Business, Pinnacle and Apex features. They aren’t on Free or Team. So the realistic Wrike starting point for an agency is Business at $25 a user.
Where Teamwork.com wins
Billing is built in, not bolted on. On Accelerate you can set time budgets on projects, run retainers, and create invoices from the time your team logs. Teamwork.com also connects to QuickBooks and HubSpot at that tier. For a shop that lives and dies by utilization, this is the main reason to pick it.
Clients feel at home. Teamwork.com is designed for working with clients inside projects. If clients comment on tasks or approve milestones, it’s a natural fit.
Smaller teams can start cheaply. The free plan covers five users and five projects, and Basics already includes billable time tracking. That’s useful for a three-person studio.
Its AI is pointed at agency work. Teamwork.com sells named AI teammates by plan. Scout and Flo come with Basics, Remi is added on Accelerate, and Kash and Jack on Optimize. Usage-based AI credits started in September 2026, so check how many credits your plan includes before you count on them.
Our Teamwork.com review goes deeper on setup and the client portal.
Where Wrike wins
Intake and approvals at scale. Wrike’s request forms, custom item types and approval steps are some of the best I’ve worked with. For a creative team that gets 40 requests a week from five departments, that structure matters more than invoicing. Our Wrike proofing and approvals guide shows a working setup.
Resource planning for big teams. Workload charts start on Business. Pinnacle adds advanced resource and capacity planning. Our Wrike resource management guide covers how to set it up without drowning in effort estimates.
Room to grow. Business supports up to 200 users, and Pinnacle and Apex go further with BI, budgeting and enterprise controls. Teamwork.com scales too, but Wrike is more at home in a company with many departments and a formal PMO.
Gantt and dashboards on the cheaper tier. Wrike Team ($10) already includes interactive Gantt charts and shareable dashboards, which is handy for an internal team that doesn’t track time at all.
Where each one hurts
Wrike: money features cost real money. Budgeting and billable rates are Pinnacle features, and that tier is quote-only. Wrike also has a steeper learning curve. Expect a few weeks before project managers build things the “Wrike way.”
Teamwork.com: it’s opinionated about client projects. If most of your work is internal (product launches, IT rollouts, HR programs), much of what you pay for on Accelerate goes unused. Its portfolio and cross-department reporting are also less deep than Wrike’s upper tiers.
Which should you choose?
Agency or consultancy, 5 to 50 people, bills by the hour: Teamwork.com Accelerate. Run one real client project through it during the trial, including an invoice.
In-house creative or marketing team with lots of requests: Wrike Business.
Professional services firm with 100+ people and finance involved: get quotes for both Wrike Pinnacle and Teamwork.com Optimize, and compare how each handles rates, budgets and profitability with your own data.
Small studio on a tight budget: Teamwork.com Basics, then move up when you start running retainers.
Still weighing other tools? See our best Wrike alternatives and Asana for agencies guides.
FAQ
Is Wrike or Teamwork.com cheaper?
At list price per user, they’re close: Wrike Team is $10 and Teamwork.com Basics is $9.99, billed yearly. But Wrike sells seats in groups of five, and the features agencies need sit on Wrike Business ($25) and Teamwork.com Accelerate ($24.99).
Does Wrike have time tracking?
Yes, on Business, Pinnacle and Apex. It’s not included on Free or Team.
Can Teamwork.com create invoices?
Yes. On Accelerate and above, you can build invoices from logged time, and Teamwork.com connects to QuickBooks.
Which is better for a marketing agency?
If you bill clients by time or retainer, Teamwork.com usually fits better. If you’re an in-house marketing team handling high request volume and approvals, Wrike is usually the stronger pick.
Do I need to pay yearly?
Wrike Business and higher plans are annual only. Teamwork.com offers monthly billing, but yearly saves about 29%.
Pricing and plan features checked against Wrike and Teamwork.com public pages on October 5, 2026. Quote-only tiers vary; confirm current pricing before you buy.
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