Monday.com is everywhere. If you've ever searched for project management software, you've seen their ads. And for good reason — it's a well-built, highly customizable platform that can manage almost anything.
But "can manage almost anything" is different from "is built for how creative agencies work."
I'm the founder of TryApprove, so I'll be upfront about my bias. But I'll try to give Monday.com genuine credit where it deserves it, because for certain teams, it really is the better choice.
Let's break it down.
What Monday.com does well
Customizable everything
Monday.com's board system is incredibly flexible. You can create columns for any data type — status, date, person, timeline, number, formula — and arrange them however you want. If you enjoy building systems, you'll love it.
Beautiful dashboards
The high-level dashboards are genuinely useful. You can see workload across team members, project timelines, and status distributions in colorful, well-designed widgets. For agency owners who want a bird's-eye view of operations, this is valuable.
Automation
Monday's automation builder is accessible and powerful. "When status changes to Done, notify the client" or "When a date arrives, move item to the next group" — these automations are easy to set up and save real time.
Integrations
Monday integrates with nearly everything — Slack, Gmail, Google Drive, Figma, HubSpot, and hundreds more through its API and marketplace.
Where Monday.com struggles for creative agencies
Client-facing workflows are an afterthought
Monday is an internal PM tool. Its primary use case is helping your team manage work. The client-facing side — reviews, approvals, feedback collection — is tacked on rather than core.
You can add clients as guest users, but then they're looking at your internal project boards. They see task names, due dates, team assignments, and status columns. That's not a polished client experience — it's a peek behind the curtain.
With TryApprove, the client sees a branded portal designed for them — deliverables to review, contracts to sign, invoices to pay. They never see your internal operations, and they never need to create an account.
No visual proofing or annotations
When a client needs to review a design or video, Monday has no built-in way for them to annotate directly on the work. They can leave comments on a task, but those comments aren't tied to a specific element in the deliverable.
"The logo is too big" is vague. A click on the exact logo with a note saying "reduce by 20%" is actionable. Monday doesn't support the latter.
TryApprove allows visual annotations on images — clients click on the exact spot they're talking about and type their feedback. For visual work, this eliminates most miscommunication.
No structured approval workflow
Monday has status columns that you could label "Approved" or "Needs Changes." But there's no formal approval mechanism — no "Approve" button that the client clicks, no version-tracked approval history, no clear gate between "in review" and "approved."
TryApprove's approval system is the core of the platform. Every deliverable has an explicit "Approve" or "Request Changes" action. There's a clear, documented record of what was approved, when, and by whom.
No client onboarding features
Monday doesn't have built-in contracts, questionnaires, or welcome documents. You'd need separate tools (DocuSign for contracts, Typeform for intake forms, Google Docs for onboarding docs) or complex automations to replicate what TryApprove offers natively.
TryApprove's onboarding suite includes all of this in the client portal — contracts with e-signatures, intake questionnaires, and welcome docs that the client sees before the project begins.
No built-in invoicing
Monday doesn't handle invoicing. You'd need a separate tool — QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, or manual invoicing. That means the client's billing experience is disconnected from their project experience.
TryApprove includes invoicing in the same portal where clients review deliverables and sign contracts. One login (or rather, one link — no login needed), one experience.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Monday.com | TryApprove |
|---|---|---|
| Internal project management | ✅ Excellent | ✅ Good (task-based) |
| Custom fields & views | ✅ Highly customizable | ⚠️ Focused (project/task model) |
| Dashboards & reporting | ✅ Advanced | ⚠️ Basic |
| Automations | ✅ Powerful builder | ⚠️ Email notifications |
| Client portal | ⚠️ Guest access to boards | ✅ Branded portal (no signup) |
| Visual proofing & annotations | ❌ | ✅ On images & videos |
| One-click approvals | ❌ Status columns only | ✅ Formal approve/reject |
| Version history | ❌ | ✅ Per deliverable |
| Client onboarding | ❌ | ✅ Contracts, questionnaires, docs |
| Invoicing | ❌ | ✅ Built-in |
| White-label branding | ❌ | ✅ (Pro plan) |
| Client account required | Yes (guest account) | No |
| Integrations | ✅ 200+ | ⚠️ Growing |
Pricing comparison
Monday.com:
- Free: Up to 2 users
- Basic: $9/seat/month (minimum 3 seats = $27/mo)
- Standard: $12/seat/month ($36/mo for 3)
- Pro: $19/seat/month ($57/mo for 3)
TryApprove:
- Free: 2 projects, 1 seat
- Pro: $29/month annual (unlimited projects, 3 seats)
For a team of 3, Monday's Standard plan (the minimum tier with useful features like automations and integrations) costs $36/month. TryApprove Pro costs $29/month and includes everything — approvals, onboarding, invoicing, white-label portal.
But this comparison isn't entirely fair, because with Monday you'd also need:
- A proofing tool (Frame.io or similar): $15+/user/mo
- An invoicing tool (FreshBooks or similar): $17+/mo
- A contract tool (DocuSign or similar): $10+/mo
Your actual stack cost with Monday could easily be $80–100+/month, versus $29/month with TryApprove where everything is included.
Who should choose Monday.com?
Monday is the better choice if:
- Your primary need is internal project management — tracking tasks, timelines, and workload across your team
- You have a large team (10+ people) and need advanced resource planning
- You need complex automations and integrations with other business tools
- The client-facing side of your business is handled by dedicated account managers (not through a portal)
- You're okay using multiple tools — Monday for PM, plus separate tools for proofing, invoicing, and contracts
Who should choose TryApprove?
TryApprove is the better choice if:
- You're a small creative team (2–10 people) that manages both the work and the client relationship
- You need client-facing features — branded portal, visual proofing, formal approvals
- You want one platform instead of a stack of 4–5 tools
- Client experience matters to your agency — you want clients to feel like they're working with a polished, professional operation
- You need onboarding and invoicing integrated with project management
- Budget efficiency is important — TryApprove does more for less
The bottom line
Monday.com is an excellent internal project management tool. TryApprove is a client-facing project management platform. They solve different primary problems.
If your biggest challenge is coordinating your internal team on complex projects, Monday (or a similar PM tool) makes sense. If your biggest challenge is the messy space between your team and your clients — feedback, approvals, onboarding, billing — TryApprove was built for exactly that.
And honestly? Many agencies use both. Monday (or Asana, or ClickUp) for internal coordination, and TryApprove for the client-facing layer. They complement each other well.
Try TryApprove free and see how it changes the client side of your workflow. Two projects, unlimited clients, no credit card needed.