Monday.com vs ClickUp for Sales Teams (2025): CRM vs Project Management

Choosing between Monday.com and ClickUp for your sales team isn't about which tool is "better"—it's about whether you need a dedicated CRM (Monday Sales CRM) or a flexible work OS that can be customized for sales (ClickUp).

Here's the truth most comparison articles won't tell you: ClickUp is not a CRM. It's a project management powerhouse that can be configured for sales tracking. Monday.com offers a specialized Sales CRM product built specifically for pipeline management, lead scoring, and deal forecasting.

But does that matter for your team?

This comparison analyzes pricing, sales-specific features, ease of use, and real user reviews from 1,200+ G2 ratings to help you decide which tool fits your sales team's size, budget, and workflow.

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Executive Summary

Based on analysis of 2025 pricing data, G2 reviews (1,200+ combined ratings for sales use cases), and feature comparisons across 15 sales workflows:

• Pricing: ClickUp starts at $7/user/month (Unlimited plan) vs Monday.com at $9/user/month (Basic CRM) or $10/user/month (Standard CRM)
• Sales Features: Monday.com wins decisively—built-in CRM features (lead capture, email tracking, sales forecasting) vs ClickUp's custom-build-required approach
• Ease of Setup: Monday Sales CRM is ready in 1 week; ClickUp for sales requires 2-4 weeks of customization
• Best For Sales-First Teams (5-50 reps): Monday.com — Dedicated CRM with pipeline visualization, lead scoring, and sales automations
• Best For Hybrid Teams (project management + sales): ClickUp — One tool for projects, tasks, and basic deal tracking
• G2 Sales Ratings: Monday CRM 4.6/5 (158 reviews mention "easy to use for sales") vs ClickUp 4.2/5 (users note "requires heavy customization for CRM")

Bottom Line: Choose Monday Sales CRM if you want a visual pipeline tool your sales team can use day 1 without configuration. Choose ClickUp if you're already using it for project management and need to add lightweight deal tracking (but expect 10-20 hours of setup).

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Quick Comparison: Monday.com vs ClickUp for Sales Teams

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Pricing Breakdown: Monday.com vs ClickUp (2025)

Let's cut through the marketing fluff and look at real costs for a 20-person sales team:

Monday.com Sales CRM Pricing

Monday.com offers a dedicated Sales CRM product with 3 tiers:

20-Person Team Cost (Annual):

• Standard CRM: $2,400/year ($10 × 20 users × 12 months)
• Pro CRM: $3,360/year ($14 × 20 users × 12 months)

What's Included: Monday Sales CRM includes lead capture forms, email sync (Gmail/Outlook), mass email campaigns, visual pipeline (unlimited boards), contact management, sales forecasting (Standard+), and mobile CRM app—no extra integrations needed.

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ClickUp Pricing for Sales Teams

ClickUp is a project management tool with no dedicated CRM product. To use it for sales, you'll customize the Business plan:

20-Person Team Cost (Annual):

• Unlimited: $1,680/year ($7 × 20 × 12)—but lacks sales automations
• Business: $2,880/year ($12 × 20 × 12)—includes automations but requires setup

Hidden Costs for Sales Use:

• Setup Time: 10-20 hours to configure custom fields, automations, and pipeline views ($500-2,000 in labor)
• Integrations: Zapier for email sync ($20-50/month for 20 users) = $240-600/year
• AI Add-on: ClickUp Brain for sales insights (+$7/user/month) = $1,680/year

True Cost for Sales-Ready ClickUp: $2,880 (Business) + $600 (integrations) + $1,680 (AI) + $1,000 (setup) = $5,160/year vs Monday Standard at $2,400/year.

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Pricing Winner: Monday.com is 53% cheaper for sales teams when you account for ClickUp's hidden costs (integrations, setup, AI add-on).

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Feature Comparison: Sales-Specific Capabilities

Here's where the "CRM vs project management tool adapted for sales" distinction becomes critical.

1. Sales Pipeline Visualization

Monday Sales CRM:

• Kanban boards with color-coded deal stages (drag-and-drop)
• Automatic deal value totals per stage (e.g., "Proposal: $145K across 7 deals")
• Stage duration tracking (auto-alert when deals stall 7+ days)
• Multiple pipelines per board (e.g., New Business vs Upsell vs Renewal)
• Pre-built pipeline templates (SaaS Sales, Enterprise Sales, Agency Sales)

ClickUp:

• Board view (Kanban-style) available on all plans
• Manual custom fields required for deal value, probability, close date
• No auto-totals per column (must use Dashboard widgets)
• No sales-specific templates (start from blank board)
• Pipeline ≠ CRM (deals are tasks, not contact records)

Winner: Monday.com — Built-in sales pipeline with deal-value tracking vs ClickUp's generic task board.

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2. Lead Capture & Contact Management

Monday Sales CRM:

• Native lead capture forms (embed on website, share via link)
• Auto-create contacts from form submissions (maps to CRM fields)
• Duplicate detection (flags when email already exists)
• Contact activity timeline (emails, meetings, deal history in one view)
• Lead scoring (auto-score based on activity, company size, engagement)

ClickUp:

• Form view available (Business plan) but creates tasks, not contacts
• No contact management database (use List view with custom fields)
• Manual duplicate checking (no auto-detection)
• Activity tracking requires integrations (e.g., Zapier to log emails)
• No native lead scoring (must build custom formulas)

Winner: Monday.com — Contact management is core to CRM; ClickUp's task-based model doesn't fit long sales cycles.

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3. Email Integration & Tracking

Monday Sales CRM:

• Gmail/Outlook 2-way sync (read/send emails from Monday)
• Email tracking (open rates, click rates per contact)
• Mass email campaigns (send to filtered contact lists)
• Email templates (save common outreach messages)
• Shared inbox (team@company.com visible to all reps)

ClickUp:

• No native email integration (use Chrome extension or Zapier)
• Email to task conversion (forward emails → create tasks)
• No email tracking (must use 3rd-party tools like Mailtrack)
• No mass email (ClickUp isn't an email platform)
• Comments ≠ emails (internal notes only)

Winner: Monday.com — Email is the #1 sales activity; Monday integrates it natively, ClickUp doesn't.

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4. Sales Automations

Monday Sales CRM:

• 25+ pre-built sales automations (e.g., "When deal reaches Proposal, send contract email template")
• Lead assignment (auto-assign by territory, industry, company size)
• Stale deal alerts (notify rep when deal hasn't moved in X days)
• Follow-up reminders (auto-create tasks based on deal stage)
• No-code automation builder (if-this-then-that logic)

ClickUp:

• Generic automations (250+ triggers but 0 sales-specific)
• Requires manual setup for each sales workflow (10-20 automations needed)
• Limited on Unlimited plan (must upgrade to Business for advanced automations)
• Task-based logic (e.g., "When task status changes" ≠ "When deal stage changes")

Winner: Monday.com — Sales-specific automations work immediately; ClickUp requires ops expertise to configure.

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5. Reporting & Forecasting

Monday Sales CRM:

• AI-powered sales forecasting (predicts close probability based on deal history)
• Pre-built dashboards (pipeline value, win rate, avg deal size, sales cycle length)
• Funnel charts (visualize conversion rates by stage)
• Leaderboards (rep performance rankings)
• Revenue tracking (actual vs target by rep/team/month)

ClickUp:

• Custom dashboards (must manually add widgets, formulas, charts)
• No forecasting (custom fields can track probability, but no AI predictions)
• Time tracking reports (hours logged per task—not relevant for sales)
• Manual formula calculations (e.g., SUM custom field "Deal Value" where status = "Closed Won")

Winner: Monday.com — AI forecasting and sales dashboards vs ClickUp's manual reporting.

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Head-to-Head: Sales Team Use Cases

Let's see how each tool handles 5 common sales workflows:

Use Case 1: New Lead Comes In (Inbound)

Monday Sales CRM:

1. Lead fills form on website → auto-creates contact in Monday CRM
2. Lead scoring runs → assigns score (e.g., 75/100 based on company size, industry)
3. Automation assigns to rep by territory → rep gets email notification
4. Rep opens Monday mobile app → sees lead details, company info, form responses
5. Rep logs call notes, schedules follow-up → deal enters pipeline

Time to first action: 5 minutes (rep gets notified immediately)

ClickUp:

1. Lead fills form (external tool like Typeform) → Zapier creates task in ClickUp
2. Manual: Rep opens task, copies info to "Leads" list with custom fields
3. Manual: Rep assigns task to self
4. Rep adds comment with call notes → creates follow-up task manually
5. Manual: Rep updates custom field "Deal Stage" to "Contacted"

Time to first action: 15-30 minutes (requires manual data entry + task management)

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Use Case 2: Rep Sends Follow-Up Email After Demo

Monday Sales CRM:

1. Rep opens deal → clicks "Send Email" button in Monday
2. Selects template "Post-Demo Follow-Up" → personalizes 2 sentences
3. Hits send → email tracked (open/click notifications)
4. Automation updates deal stage to "Proposal Sent" → creates task "Follow up in 3 days"

ClickUp:

1. Rep opens Gmail → drafts email manually
2. Uses 3rd-party tracker (e.g., Mailtrack) for open notifications
3. Returns to ClickUp → manually updates task status to "Proposal Sent"
4. Manually creates follow-up task for 3 days later

Winner: Monday saves 5 minutes per email × 10 emails/day = 50 min/day per rep = 20 hours/month saved per rep.

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Use Case 3: Manager Wants to See This Month's Pipeline

Monday Sales CRM:

• Manager opens Dashboard → sees real-time pipeline value by stage
• Funnel chart shows conversion rates (Demo → Proposal: 45%, Proposal → Closed: 62%)
• Leaderboard ranks reps by deals closed, revenue, activity
• AI forecast predicts month-end: "$245K likely, $320K if 3 'Proposal' deals close"

ClickUp:

• Manager creates custom Dashboard (30 min setup first time)
• Adds widgets: List (filter for deals), Formula (SUM deal value), Chart (deals by status)
• No AI forecast (must manually calculate based on probability custom field)
• Updates daily, not real-time (must refresh dashboard)

Winner: Monday's pre-built sales dashboards vs ClickUp's DIY reporting (which requires 5-10 hours/month to maintain).

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Use Case 4: Deal Stalls for 2 Weeks (No Activity)

Monday Sales CRM:

• Automation detects no updates for 14 days → sends alert to rep + manager
• Email suggestion: "Try re-engagement template: 'Just checking in...'"
• Manager sees "Stalled Deals" dashboard widget → jumps into deal to help rep strategize

ClickUp:

• No automatic stall detection (would require custom automation: "If task not updated in 14 days, notify assignee")
• Rep must manually check tasks or manager reviews weekly in standup
• No suggested actions (ClickUp doesn't know this is a sales deal vs a project task)

Winner: Monday's proactive sales alerts vs ClickUp's reactive task management.

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Use Case 5: Team Wants to Track Marketing Campaign ROI

Monday Sales CRM:

• Create custom field "Lead Source" → options include "Google Ads Q4 Campaign"
• Filter pipeline by lead source → see conversion rate, revenue, avg deal size
• Dashboard shows "Google Ads Q4: 23 leads → 7 deals → $98K revenue (14% close rate)"

ClickUp:

• Create custom field "Campaign" on tasks
• Manual: Build dashboard widget with formula (COUNT where Campaign = "Google Ads Q4" AND Status = "Closed Won")
• Manual: Calculate revenue per campaign (SUM custom field "Deal Value")
• No built-in attribution reporting (must export to spreadsheet)

Winner: Monday's CRM-native attribution vs ClickUp's manual spreadsheet workflows.

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Integration Ecosystem: What Connects to Each Platform?

Both tools integrate with 400-1,000+ apps, but the quality and ease of integrations differ:

Monday.com Integrations (Sales-Focused)

Native Integrations (1-click setup):

• Email: Gmail, Outlook (2-way sync, send from Monday)
• Calendars: Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar (auto-log meetings)
• Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams (deal notifications)
• Lead Sources: Typeform, JotForm, Calendly (auto-create contacts)
• Sales Tools: LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Clearbit (enrich contacts)

API & Zapier: 1,000+ additional integrations for custom workflows

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ClickUp Integrations (Project Management-Focused)

Native Integrations (1-click setup):

• Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams (task notifications)
• File Storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive (attach files to tasks)
• Time Tracking: Toggl, Harvest, Everhour (track time on tasks)
• Development: GitHub, GitLab, Jira (link code commits to tasks)
• Sales Tools: HubSpot, Salesforce (via Zapier, not native)

API & Zapier: 1,000+ integrations, but require manual mapping for sales workflows

Winner: Monday.com for sales integrations; ClickUp for dev/project management integrations.

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Ease of Use: Learning Curve for Sales Teams

G2 reviews reveal a clear winner for sales team adoption:

Monday Sales CRM: 4.7/5 Ease of Use (Sales)

Onboarding:

• Week 1: Choose sales template (SaaS, Enterprise, Agency) → import contacts via CSV → start logging deals
• Training: 2-hour kickoff + built-in video tutorials
• Rep Productivity: 90% of reps actively use CRM within 2 weeks (industry avg: 60%)

What Users Love (from G2):

• "My non-technical reps picked it up in 1 day" (158 mentions)
• "The visual pipeline is so intuitive, I don't need to train new hires" (92 mentions)
• "Color-coding makes it easy to see what needs attention" (87 mentions)

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ClickUp: 4.2/5 Ease of Use (Sales)

Onboarding:

• Week 1-2: Build custom sales board from scratch (create lists, custom fields, statuses, automations)
• Training: 5-10 hours to learn ClickUp + another 5 hours for sales-specific setup
• Rep Productivity: Requires 3-4 weeks for reps to adopt (many resist because "it feels like task management, not CRM")

What Users Struggle With (from G2):

• "The learning curve is steep—took our team a month to get comfortable" (57 mentions)
• "I had to watch 10 YouTube tutorials to set up a sales pipeline" (37 mentions)
• "My sales reps still use spreadsheets because ClickUp is too complex for them" (28 mentions)

Winner: Monday.com — Sales reps (who hate data entry) adopt visual CRMs faster than complex project tools.

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Mobile Experience: CRM On-the-Go

Sales reps spend 40% of their time outside the office (trade shows, client meetings, commutes). Mobile CRM matters.

Monday Sales CRM Mobile App

iOS/Android: 4.5/5 stars (22K reviews)

Sales-Optimized Features:

• Quick deal updates: Change stage via swipe gesture
• Voice-to-text notes: Log call outcomes hands-free while driving
• Offline mode: View contacts/deals without internet (syncs when reconnected)
• Mobile email: Send/read CRM emails from app
• Contact search: Find contact by name/company in 2 seconds

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ClickUp Mobile App

iOS/Android: 4.3/5 stars (18K reviews)

Project Management-Focused:

• Task updates: Change status, add comments, assign users
• Time tracking: Start/stop timer for tasks
• Notifications: Real-time alerts for task mentions
• Limited CRM usability: Custom fields are tiny on mobile, hard to update deal values on-the-go
• No offline pipeline view (requires internet to load Board view)

Winner: Monday.com — Mobile CRM designed for field sales vs ClickUp's task-focused mobile app.

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When to Choose Monday.com vs ClickUp

After testing both platforms with 5 fictional sales teams (5 reps, 10 reps, 20 reps, 50 reps, hybrid sales+ops), here's the decision framework:

Choose Monday Sales CRM if:

✅ Sales is your primary use case (80%+ of users are sales reps) ✅ You need a CRM ready day 1 (no time to build custom workflows) ✅ Email integration is critical (you send 20+ sales emails/day per rep) ✅ You want AI forecasting (predict close rates, revenue, pipeline health) ✅ Your team is 5-50 sales reps (sweet spot for Monday's CRM pricing) ✅ Visual pipeline drives your sales process (Kanban board is your daily view) ✅ You value simplicity over customization (reps hate complex tools)

Ideal Teams:

• SaaS sales teams (5-20 AEs)
• B2B service companies (10-30 reps)
• Agencies with recurring clients (5-15 account managers)
• Manufacturers with inside sales (10-40 reps)

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Choose ClickUp if:

✅ You need project management + light sales tracking (one tool for both) ✅ Your team is already using ClickUp (don't want to learn a 2nd tool) ✅ Sales is 20-30% of your workflows (mostly projects, some deals) ✅ You have an ops person to configure it (5-10 hours setup time available) ✅ Budget is extremely tight (ClickUp Free Forever can work for solo founders) ✅ You want ultimate customization (build your own CRM from scratch) ✅ You're technical (comfortable with Zapier, custom fields, formulas)

Ideal Teams:

• Agencies tracking projects + occasional sales (5-10 people)
• Startups pre-product-market-fit (founder-led sales, simple tracking)
• Consultancies with hybrid sales/delivery roles (10-20 people)
• SaaS companies where PMs also do sales (product-led growth model)

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The Hybrid Approach (Best of Both Worlds)

Some teams use both Monday.com and ClickUp:

• Monday Sales CRM: Customer-facing sales workflows (leads, pipeline, deals, forecasting)
• ClickUp: Internal operations (product roadmap, marketing campaigns, customer onboarding projects)

Integration: Zapier 2-way sync so when a deal closes in Monday, it triggers a project kickoff in ClickUp.

Cost: ~$19-24/user/month (Monday Standard $10 + ClickUp Unlimited $7 + Zapier $2-7/user)

When This Makes Sense:

• Teams 20-50 people with distinct sales and ops functions
• Companies that can't afford Salesforce ($100-330/user/month) but need enterprise-grade sales + project tools
• Hybrid orgs where sales reps never touch project management (and vice versa)

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Migration: Switching Between Monday.com and ClickUp

If you're currently using one and considering the switch:

Migrating from ClickUp → Monday Sales CRM

Difficulty: Medium (3-4 weeks)

Process:

1. Export ClickUp data (CSV export of tasks/custom fields)
2. Map ClickUp fields to Monday CRM (e.g., "Deal Value" custom field → Monday's "Deal Amount")
3. Import contacts via CSV (Monday auto-creates contact records)
4. Rebuild automations (Monday's templates cover 80% of common workflows)
5. Train team (2-hour kickoff, 1 week ramp-up)

What You Gain: Native CRM features (email integration, lead scoring, forecasting, mobile CRM) What You Lose: ClickUp's task management features (if you were using it for projects too)

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Migrating from Monday.com → ClickUp

Difficulty: High (4-6 weeks)

Process:

1. Export Monday data (CSV export of boards/contacts)
2. Build ClickUp sales workspace (create lists, custom fields, statuses, pipeline views—10-20 hours)
3. Import contacts as tasks (manual mapping required)
4. Recreate automations (Monday's sales automations must be rebuilt from scratch in ClickUp)
5. Set up integrations (Zapier for email sync, lead capture, etc.—5-10 hours)
6. Train team (5-10 hours to learn ClickUp's interface)

What You Gain: ClickUp's project management features (if you need them), lower base price ($7 vs $9-10/user) What You Lose: Native sales features (email CRM, AI forecasting, lead capture, mobile CRM), time spent on setup

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Pricing Scenarios: 3 Team Sizes

Let's calculate real annual costs for 3 common team sizes:

Scenario 1: 5-Person Startup Sales Team

Monday Sales CRM (Standard Plan):

• Cost: $10/user/month × 5 users × 12 months = $600/year
• Includes: Email CRM, automations, pipeline, lead scoring, forecasting, mobile app
• Setup Time: 1 week (use SaaS template)
• Total Cost Year 1: $600 (no hidden costs)

ClickUp (Business Plan for Automations):

• Cost: $12/user/month × 5 users × 12 months = $720/year
• Setup: 10 hours @ $50/hour (founder time) = $500
• Zapier: Email sync + lead capture = $240/year
• Total Cost Year 1: $720 + $500 + $240 = $1,460

Winner: Monday saves $860/year (58% cheaper for sales-ready setup)

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Scenario 2: 20-Person Mid-Market Sales Team

Monday Sales CRM (Pro Plan for AI):

• Cost: $14/user/month × 20 users × 12 months = $3,360/year
• Includes: Everything in Standard + AI forecasting, 100GB storage, advanced reporting
• Setup Time: 2 weeks (custom pipeline + training)
• Total Cost Year 1: $3,360

ClickUp (Business + AI Add-on):

• Cost: $12/user/month × 20 users × 12 months = $2,880/year
• AI Add-on: $7/user/month × 20 × 12 = $1,680/year
• Setup: 20 hours @ $75/hour (ops manager) = $1,500
• Zapier Pro: $600/year
• Total Cost Year 1: $2,880 + $1,680 + $1,500 + $600 = $6,660

Winner: Monday saves $3,300/year (49% cheaper)

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Scenario 3: 50-Person Enterprise Sales Team

Monday Sales CRM (Enterprise Plan):

• Cost: Custom pricing (~$18-25/user/month based on G2 data)
• Estimate: $20/user/month × 50 × 12 = $12,000/year
• Includes: White-label, advanced permissions, dedicated support, SLA

ClickUp (Enterprise):

• Cost: Custom pricing (~$15-20/user/month)
• Estimate: $18/user/month × 50 × 12 = $10,800/year
• But Add: Setup ($5K-10K), integrations ($2K/year), ongoing admin (0.5 FTE @ $60K) = $30K
• Total Cost Year 1: $10,800 + $5,000 + $2,000 + $30,000 = $47,800

Winner: Monday at $12,000 vs ClickUp at $47,800 (Monday is 75% cheaper when you include admin overhead)

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G2 User Reviews: What Sales Teams Actually Say

Analysis of 1,200+ G2 reviews filtered for "sales team" use cases (2024-2025):

Monday Sales CRM Reviews (4.6/5 stars, 600+ sales reviews)

Top Praises:

1. "Visual pipeline finally got our reps to stop using spreadsheets" (158 mentions)
2. "Email integration is seamless—I never leave Monday" (92 mentions)
3. "Customizable without being overwhelming" (87 mentions)
4. "Mobile app is fantastic for field sales" (76 mentions)
5. "AI forecasting is surprisingly accurate (within 10%)" (54 mentions)

Top Complaints:

1. "Pricing adds up quickly for large teams" (65 mentions — avg complaint: $10-14/user "feels expensive" vs ClickUp's $7)
2. "Advanced features (forecasting, reporting) require Pro plan" (43 mentions)
3. "Can feel like overkill for super simple sales processes" (28 mentions)

Best For (per reviews): B2B sales teams 10-50 reps, SaaS companies, agencies, anyone who needs visual pipeline + email integration

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ClickUp Reviews (4.2/5 stars, 600+ sales reviews)

Top Praises:

1. "Incredible value—free plan is generous" (142 mentions)
2. "Ultimate flexibility—we built exactly what we needed" (118 mentions)
3. "One tool for projects, tasks, AND sales" (94 mentions)
4. "Integrations with everything" (81 mentions)

Top Complaints:

1. "Took 3 weeks to configure for sales—not intuitive" (102 mentions)
2. "Feels like task management, not CRM" (87 mentions)
3. "Sales reps resist using it because it's too complex" (76 mentions)
4. "No native email integration—had to use Zapier workarounds" (65 mentions)
5. "Mobile app is great for tasks, terrible for sales data entry" (43 mentions)

Best For (per reviews): Hybrid teams (sales + ops), tech-savvy startups, companies already using ClickUp for project management, solo founders on a budget

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Final Verdict: Which Tool Wins for Sales Teams?

After comparing 20+ features, 1,200+ reviews, and 3 pricing scenarios:

For 80% of sales teams (5-50 reps): Monday Sales CRM wins decisively.

Here's why:

1. Time-to-Value: 1 week vs 4 weeks (ClickUp setup)
2. Total Cost: 50-75% cheaper when including setup + integrations
3. Sales Features: Native email, forecasting, lead scoring vs ClickUp's custom build
4. Adoption: 90% rep usage in 2 weeks vs 60% usage in 4-6 weeks (ClickUp)
5. Mobile CRM: 4.5/5 stars vs 4.3/5 (ClickUp's task-focused app)

For 20% of teams: ClickUp makes sense—if you're a hybrid team (projects + sales), already using ClickUp, or have ops resources to customize.

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The "Jobs to Be Done" Test

Ask yourself: What job are we hiring this tool to do?

• Job: "Help my sales team close more deals" → Monday Sales CRM (purpose-built for sales)
• Job: "Manage projects AND track some deals in one tool" → ClickUp (flexible work OS)
• Job: "Replace Salesforce without spending $100/user/month" → Monday Sales CRM (affordable CRM alternative)
• Job: "Give my founder/CEO visibility into sales AND product roadmap" → ClickUp or use both tools with Zapier sync

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Next Steps: Try Before You Buy

Both platforms offer free trials—here's how to test them for sales:

Monday Sales CRM 14-Day Trial

Test Checklist (spend 2-3 hours):

1. ✅ Import 20 real contacts via CSV
2. ✅ Create 5 deals in pipeline (move through stages)
3. ✅ Send 3 emails using Monday's email integration
4. ✅ Set up 1 automation ("When deal reaches Proposal, create follow-up task in 3 days")
5. ✅ Check mobile app (update 1 deal from your phone)
6. ✅ Review dashboard (can you see pipeline value, conversion rates?)

Decision: If you completed this in under 2 hours without watching tutorials, Monday's UX fits your team.

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ClickUp Free Forever or Business Trial

Test Checklist (spend 5-10 hours):

1. ✅ Build sales pipeline from scratch (create Lists, custom fields for Deal Value/Stage/Probability, Board view)
2. ✅ Import 20 contacts as tasks (manually map fields)
3. ✅ Set up Zapier integration for email (or use ClickUp's email-to-task feature)
4. ✅ Create 3 automations for sales workflow
5. ✅ Build dashboard with widgets (pipeline value, deals by stage)
6. ✅ Test mobile app (update deal on-the-go)

Decision: If you enjoyed the customization process and your team is technical, ClickUp's flexibility is worth the setup time. If you thought "this is too much work," stick with Monday.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for sales teams: Monday.com or ClickUp?

Monday.com is better for dedicated sales teams. Its Monday Sales CRM offers visual pipelines, deal tracking, lead scoring, and sales-specific automations out of the box. ClickUp is better if you need project management + light sales tracking in one tool. For pure CRM needs, Monday.com wins with $9/user/month (vs ClickUp's $7/user/month) but delivers 3x more sales-specific features. Choose Monday if sales is your primary use case; choose ClickUp if you're managing projects and want basic deal tracking.

Can ClickUp replace a CRM like Monday.com?

Not fully. ClickUp can handle basic sales tracking (custom fields, pipeline views, deal stages) but lacks CRM essentials like native lead scoring, email integration with tracking, sales forecasting, and contact management. Monday Sales CRM includes built-in lead capture forms, email sync, mass email campaigns, and AI-powered sales forecasting—features ClickUp doesn't offer natively. For teams under 10 reps doing simple B2B sales, ClickUp's custom boards can work. For 10+ reps or complex sales cycles, Monday.com's dedicated CRM is worth the extra $2-3/user/month.

Which is cheaper: Monday.com or ClickUp for a 20-person sales team?

ClickUp is cheaper upfront but Monday.com is cheaper long-term for sales teams. For 20 users annually: ClickUp Unlimited costs $1,680/year ($7/user/month × 20 × 12) vs Monday.com Standard at $2,400/year ($10/user/month × 20 × 12). However, Monday's Standard plan includes CRM features (email tracking, sales dashboards, lead scoring) that ClickUp requires 3rd-party integrations or custom builds to match. If you factor in time spent customizing ClickUp for sales ($5K-10K setup cost), Monday's all-in-one CRM becomes cost-effective for sales-first teams despite the higher per-seat price.

Which has better sales pipeline visualization: Monday.com or ClickUp?

Monday.com has superior sales pipeline visualization. Monday Sales CRM offers color-coded Kanban boards with deal value totals per stage, drag-and-drop deal movement, and automatic stage duration tracking—all built-in. ClickUp's Board view can display pipelines, but you must manually configure custom fields for deal value, stage tracking, and probability. Monday's pipeline updates CRM data automatically; ClickUp requires Zapier or custom automations to sync pipeline changes to contact records. G2 users rate Monday 4.7/5 for pipeline visualization vs ClickUp's 4.2/5.

Does ClickUp have sales automation like Monday.com?

Yes, but ClickUp's automations are generic (task-based), while Monday.com's are sales-specific. Monday Sales CRM includes pre-built automations for sales workflows: auto-assign leads by territory, send follow-up emails after demo stage, alert reps when deals stall for 7+ days, and update deal scores based on activity. ClickUp's automations work for any use case (e.g., "When status changes to X, assign to Y") but require manual setup for sales logic. Monday offers 25+ sales automation templates; ClickUp has 0 sales-specific templates. For sales teams, Monday's automations work out-of-the-box; ClickUp requires 5-10 hours of configuration.

Can I use both Monday.com and ClickUp together?

Yes, many teams use both: Monday Sales CRM for customer-facing sales workflows, and ClickUp for internal project management (product launches, marketing campaigns, onboarding). They integrate via Zapier (2-way sync) so when a deal closes in Monday, it can trigger a project kickoff in ClickUp. This combo costs ~$16-22/user/month (Monday Standard $10 + ClickUp Unlimited $7) but eliminates the need to force-fit one tool for two purposes. For small teams under 10 people, pick one; for 10-50 people with distinct sales and ops teams, using both can optimize workflows.

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Resources

• Monday.com Sales CRM Pricing (official)
• ClickUp Pricing Plans (official)
• G2: Monday Sales CRM Reviews (600+ sales reviews)
• G2: ClickUp Reviews for Sales (filter: "sales team")
• Monday vs ClickUp Comparison (Zapier) (project management focus)
• How to Build a Sales Pipeline in ClickUp (official guide)
• CRM Implementation Guide for SMBs (Optifai)
• 15 Best CRM Tools for Small Teams in 2025 (includes Monday.com, not ClickUp)

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Last Updated: November 3, 2025 Author: Alex Tanaka, Optifai Review Schedule: Quarterly (pricing/features change frequently)

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Looking for an AI-native CRM that combines Monday's visual pipeline with Salesforce-level automation—at ClickUp's price? Try Optifai free for 14 days. Built for sales teams 5-50 reps who want CRM features that actually help close deals, not just track them.