The best software for a creative agency keeps briefs, client approvals, time, retainers and invoicing in one place: Klientele has a marketing-agency template that does this, while general work-management tools such as ClickUp and monday.com offer custom fields, automations and time tracking that you configure yourself.
Many creative and marketing agencies run on several tools: one for tasks, one for time, one for invoices, and a spreadsheet for retainer hours. Each hand-off between them is a place where hours go unbilled and clients lose track of what is waiting on them.
We built Klientele. We still tell you when a competitor is the better fit for your specific situation.
| Platform | Best for | Weakness | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
Klientele | Small agencies wanting briefs, approvals, retainers and invoicing in one system | Newer product; no named third-party integrations (public API, MCP and webhooks only); no online client payments | ₹3,999/mo (Solo, invoicing included) · ₹11,999/mo (Team, adds retainers) · ₹29,999/mo (Agency), tax includedklientele.io |
ClickUp ClickUp pricing · checked 2026-10-04 | Agencies that will configure a general workspace: custom fields on every plan, native time tracking from Unlimited, unlimited guests on Free Forever | Per-user pricing on paid plans; billable reports and timesheets are listed on Enterprise | Free Forever plan; paid from $7 per user/month billed annually, $10 monthlyclickup.com |
Monday.com monday.com pricing · checked 2026-10-04 | Teams wanting configurable boards with workflow automations and guest access (Standard plan and up) | Per-seat pricing; time tracking starts on Pro ($19 per seat/month billed annually) | Free plan for up to 2 seats; paid from $9 per seat/month billed annuallymonday.com |
Asana Asana pricing · checked 2026-10-04 | Small and growing teams tracking projects and deadlines, with time tracking from Starter | Per-user pricing; timesheets and budgets are an Enterprise add-on | Free Personal plan; paid from $10.99 per user/month billed annually, $13.49 monthlyasana.com |
Karbon Karbon pricing · checked 2026-10-04 | Accounting firms, the audience Karbon builds for | Built for accounting firms rather than creative production; per-user pricing | From $59 per user/month billed annually, $79 monthly (Team)karbonhq.com |
If retainers with rollover and overage are how you make money, choose a platform where they are built in (Klientele, Team plan and above). Building them out of custom fields in a general tool works but needs upkeep.
Per-user pricing grows with every hire. Klientele charges a flat monthly price per workspace: ₹11,999 for up to 5 users, ₹29,999 for up to 20, tax included.
ClickUp (custom fields) and monday.com (workflows and automations) are shaped by whoever configures them. Klientele starts from an industry template that works on day one. Choose based on whether you have, or want, someone to maintain the configuration.
In Klientele's portal clients see open briefs, assets waiting for approval and what they owe, and they sign off invoices from a link. Payments are recorded by your team, not collected online. ClickUp and monday.com offer guest access.
Klientele Team (₹11,999/month, 5 users, tax included) covers briefs, approvals, retainers, invoicing and a client portal. ClickUp is an alternative if you would rather configure a general tool yourself; it lists custom fields and native time tracking on its paid plans.
Set the rollover rule on the retainer (whether unused hours carry over, and the cap), reconcile at the start of each month, carry unused hours forward up to the cap and bill overage on the next invoice. Klientele does this automatically on the 1st of the month (Team and Agency plans).
Add up the subscriptions, then the hidden cost: time spent copying data between tools each week, hours that never make it onto an invoice, and invoices that go out late because time has to be reconciled first.
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