Leaving a tool? Start with what it does well.
Most Indian agencies run on a general project tool, a timesheet app, a GST invoicing tool and a spreadsheet that holds them together. This page lists the tools agencies most often move away from, what each is genuinely good at, what an agency usually misses, and where to read the full comparison.
Last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Competitor details from each vendor's public pricing page, linked below.
What are the alternatives to general project tools for agencies?
There are three kinds. General work tools such as Asana, ClickUp, monday.com and Zoho Projects are flexible and low-cost, and leave agency finance to add-ons or spreadsheets. Agency and professional services platforms such as Productive, Scoro and Teamwork.com put budgets, time and resourcing at the core, priced per user in dollars or euros with seat minimums on some plans. Ancor is built for Indian agencies of 10 to 100 people: live project margin, capacity in hours, no-login client approvals, retainer burn and GST invoices, at one flat rupee price per team.
How each one is priced, and what it is best at.
| Tool | Pricing model (as of Oct 2026) | Genuinely strong at | What agencies often miss | Full comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asana | Per user. Starter $10.99 a user a month billed annually; free Personal plan for up to 2 users | Cross-team work management; portfolios and resource management on the Advanced plan | Project margin from cost rates, GST invoicing, client sign-off without an account | Ancor vs Asana |
| ClickUp | Per user; free plan with unlimited members; timesheets on Business and above | Deep configuration: custom fields, automations, docs | An agency model out of the box; margin and retainers have to be built | Ancor vs ClickUp |
| monday.com | Per seat. Basic $9 a seat a month billed annually, 3-seat minimum; time tracking on Pro | Visual boards and automations that non-technical teams pick up fast | Margin, capacity in hours and GST invoices without add-ons | Ancor vs monday.com |
| Zoho Projects | Per user; free plan for up to 5 users and 3 projects; timesheets from Premium | Low cost, and the wider Zoho suite including Zoho Books for GST compliance | Retainer allowances, scope changes and proofing | Ancor vs Zoho Projects |
| Productive | Per user; Essential shown at $90 a month for 10 users; all plans require at least 3 seats | Agency budgeting, resource planning and reporting in one platform | Rupee pricing and GST invoicing built for India | Ancor vs Productive |
| Scoro | Per user. Time-billing from €15 ($17, £13) a user a month; minimum 5 users | Quote-to-cash depth: estimates, invoicing and resource planning in larger bundles | A light setup and a price that suits a 10 to 30 person team | Ancor vs Scoro |
| Teamwork.com | Per user. Free for up to 5 users; Basics $9.99 billed annually, 3-user minimum; Accelerate $24.99, 5-user minimum, adds invoicing from logged time | Client work: billable time, workload and capacity planning on higher plans | GST invoices and rupee pricing | Ancor vs Teamwork.com |
| Google Sheets or Excel | Sheets is available to anyone with a Google account; Excel comes with Microsoft 365 | Total flexibility, real-time co-editing, finance models | A connected record: hours, margin, approvals and invoices that agree without reconciling | Ancor vs spreadsheets |
Sources, checked 23 October 2026: asana.com/pricing, clickup.com/pricing, monday.com/pricing, zoho.com/projects/pricing.html, zoho.com/in/books, productive.io/pricing, scoro.com/pricing, teamwork.com/pricing, workspace.google.com/products/sheets. Prices are each vendor's published list prices in their own currency, before tax. Plans change, so check their site.
Specialist tools agencies shortlist.
Harvest
A well-liked timer with invoicing from hours. What changes when you also need capacity, approvals and GST. Ancor vs Harvest, including the 2026 repricing.
Jira
The standard for sprints and issues. What client work needs that an issue tracker leaves to add-ons. Ancor vs Jira
Function Point
An all-in-one system for creative agencies, with a full back office. Ancor vs Function Point
Workamajig
An agency platform with finance and accounting, built for larger shops. Ancor vs Workamajig
Clockify and Toggl Track
Low-cost timers with desktop and mobile apps. Cheaper if you only need hours; what changes when the hours must become margin and invoices. Clockify and Toggl alternative
Float and Resource Guru
Drag-and-drop booking boards for people. Better at booking; Ancor plans capacity from the work and ties it to timesheets and margin. Float and Resource Guru alternative
Ziflow and Filestage
Deep markup on video, PDF and live sites with multi-stage review. Ancor's no-login sign-off sits next to the hours and the invoice. Ziflow and Filestage alternative
Three things to check that global reviews skip.
- The real monthly bill in rupees. Multiply the per-user price by your real headcount, then by headcount plus five, then apply the seat minimum and the exchange rate. A flat team price does not move with either.
- Where GST lives. If invoices are made in a separate tool, someone retypes hours into it every month. Ancor drafts GST invoices from the work and exports them to TallyPrime; it is not a ledger and does not file returns.
- How clients sign off. Indian clients often approve on WhatsApp or email, which is hard to find later. Ancor's client portal needs no login and records each approval against a version. Ancor does not connect to WhatsApp or Gmail; it connects to Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Switching has a cost. Sometimes the answer is don't.
- Your current tool already shows margin, capacity and approvals. Then the gain from moving is small.
- You are well above 100 people and need purchasing, multi-entity accounting or deep finance in the same suite. Scoro, Workamajig or Function Point are built for that breadth.
- Your work is software sprints. Jira fits better.
- You need statutory accounting in the same vendor. Zoho Projects with Zoho Books covers more of that than Ancor does.
Switching tools. The questions that settle it.
What is the best Asana or ClickUp alternative for an agency in India?
If the gap is agency money (project margin, capacity in hours, retainer burn and GST invoices), look at a tool built for agencies rather than another general task tool. Ancor is built for Indian agencies of 10 to 100 people and priced flat per team in rupees. If the gap is only tasks and boards, staying on Asana or ClickUp and tidying the setup may be the cheaper move.
Why does per-user pricing matter for Indian agencies?
Most tools on this page charge per user in US dollars or euros, so the bill grows with every hire and moves with the exchange rate. Some also set a minimum number of seats: Productive asks for at least 3, Scoro for at least 5, and monday.com sells paid plans from 3 seats. Ancor charges one rupee price per team, from ₹9,999 a month + GST for up to 10 people.
Is there agency software that handles GST?
Zoho Books handles GST compliance including filing, and Ancor raises GST invoices with CGST and SGST or IGST by place of supply, HSN or SAC codes, credit notes and a Tally export. Ancor does not file returns or generate IRN e-invoices, so many agencies keep Zoho Books or Tally as the ledger and run delivery and invoicing in Ancor. Most global project tools on this page leave GST to a separate system.
When should an agency stay on its current tool?
Stay if the current tool already answers the questions that cost you money: which project is losing margin, who is overbooked next week, what the client approved, and what was delivered but not billed. Switching costs time and goodwill, so only move when one of those answers is missing and the workaround is a spreadsheet someone maintains by hand.
How do I move my projects into Ancor?
Export your projects and tasks to CSV or Excel and import them. Ancor recognises exports from Asana, Jira and Monday.com, and maps any other sheet column by column before creating anything. The 14-day trial needs no card, so you can run one live client alongside your current tool first.