Vact Teamwork.com Review: Project Management Built for Client Work
Teamwork.com is a project management platform designed for client-facing teams — agencies, consultancies, and professional services firms. While most PM tools focus on internal product development, Teamwork includes client billing, time tracking, resource management, and invoicing as native features. This makes it uniquely suited for organizations that bill for their time.
Teamwork.com Review: Project Management for Client Work
Teamwork launched in 2007 and has built a loyal following among agencies that need to manage client projects, track billable hours, and maintain profitability visibility across their portfolio. The platform has expanded significantly, now offering an integrated suite: Teamwork (PM), Teamwork Desk (help desk), Teamwork Spaces (documentation), and Teamwork Chat.
Pricing
- Free: Up to 5 users, basic features
- Deliver: $13.99/user/month (min 3 users) — project management, time tracking
- Grow: $25.99/user/month (min 5 users) — resource management, budgets, profitability
- Scale: $69.99/user/month — advanced portfolio management, intake forms
The pricing tiers are steep at the higher levels, but the Grow plan includes features (resource management, budget tracking, profitability reports) that competitors charge separately for. For agencies evaluating total cost, compare Teamwork’s Grow plan against Asana Business + a time tracking tool + a resource management tool.
Features for Client-Facing Teams
Built-In Time Tracking
Time tracking is integrated directly into tasks. Team members start a timer from the task view, or log time manually. Each time entry can be marked as billable or non-billable, which matters for agencies that bill hourly.
Time reports show hours per project, per client, per team member, and per billable category. This data feeds directly into invoicing and profitability analysis. No need for a separate time tracking tool — it is all in one place.
Budget and Profitability Tracking
Each project can have a budget — hours-based, cost-based, or fee-based. Teamwork tracks actual time and cost against the budget in real time.
Budget views show:
- Total budget vs. consumed budget (percentage and absolute)
- Projected burn rate based on current spending patterns
- Budget alerts when spending approaches thresholds (80%, 90%, 100%)
- Profitability per project (revenue minus labor cost)
For agency owners, the profitability report answers the question “which clients are profitable and which are we losing money on?” at a glance. This data, gathered over time, informs pricing decisions for future engagements.
Client Access
Invite clients to projects with scoped permissions. Clients see task progress, upload files, leave comments, and receive notifications — but only on items the PM has made visible to them. Internal tasks, budget data, and team discussions remain hidden.
This dual-visibility approach is similar to Basecamp’s client handling but with more granular permission control. You can show a client the project timeline without revealing resource allocation or internal notes.
Resource Management
The Grow plan includes a resource scheduler (similar to Smartsheet’s Resource Management add-on). View team members’ capacity across all projects, identify overallocation, and drag-and-drop to reassign work. The resource view shows:
- Availability by person by week
- Allocated vs. available hours
- Projects each person is assigned to
- Utilization percentage
This supports the resource planning process for agencies that staff multiple projects simultaneously.
Project Management Capabilities
Task Management
Tasks live within task lists, which live within projects. Each task supports: assignee, due date, start date, estimated time, priority, tags, subtasks, file attachments, and comments. Dependencies between tasks are supported with automatic date adjustment.
Multiple Views
- List view: Task-list format grouped by task list or assignee
- Board view: Kanban columns by status
- Table view: Spreadsheet-style editing
- Gantt view: Timeline with dependencies and critical path
- Calendar view: Tasks on a date grid
Project Templates
Create template projects with predefined task lists, tasks, and milestones. When starting a new engagement, instantiate the template and customize for the specific client. This is especially valuable for agencies with repeatable service offerings — website builds, audit engagements, campaign executions.
Milestones
Milestones are first-class objects in Teamwork. They appear on the Gantt chart, have completion criteria, and can trigger notifications when achieved. This gives clients clear checkpoints for project progress.
Teamwork vs Competitors
| Feature | Teamwork | Basecamp | Asana | Monday.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time tracking | Native | No | No | Integration only |
| Invoicing | Native (with Teamwork CRM) | No | No | No |
| Budget tracking | Native | No | No | Add-on |
| Client portal | Yes | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| Resource management | Grow plan | No | Premium | Pro |
| Pricing model | Per user | Flat rate ($299/mo) | Per user | Per seat |
| Best for | Agencies/services | Simple client comms | Cross-functional teams | Visual teams |
Teamwork vs Basecamp
Teamwork offers significantly more project management functionality: Gantt charts, dependencies, time tracking, budgets, resource management. Basecamp is simpler and cheaper for teams that primarily need client communication. If you need to track billable hours and project profitability, Teamwork wins decisively. If you want minimal overhead and a tool clients can use without training, Basecamp wins.
Teamwork vs Asana
Asana has better automation (Rules engine) and a larger integration ecosystem. Teamwork has native time tracking and billing features. For product teams, Asana is stronger. For client-services teams, Teamwork provides the billing and profitability features Asana lacks without requiring additional tools.
Limitations
- Learning curve. Teamwork has a lot of features, and the interface can feel cluttered for new users. Budget 2-3 days for team onboarding.
- Higher-tier pricing. The features agencies most need (budgets, resource management) are locked to the Grow plan at $25.99/user/month. For a 20-person team, that is $520/month.
- Integration ecosystem. Smaller than Asana’s or Monday.com’s. Key integrations (Slack, Harvest, HubSpot, Zapier) are available, but niche tools may require API work.
- No sprint management. Teamwork does not have native sprint or iteration support. Engineering teams running Scrum would need to adapt or use a companion tool.
Who Should Use Teamwork
Teamwork is the right choice for agencies, consultancies, and professional services firms that:
- Bill clients for time and need integrated time tracking
- Need project profitability reporting to manage their business
- Want client access to project status without exposing internal data
- Manage teams of 10-100 across multiple concurrent client engagements
- Need resource management to prevent overallocation
If your team does not bill for time and does not need client-facing features, Asana, ClickUp, or Monday.com provide stronger general-purpose project management at comparable or lower prices.