Should you build your own Teamwork?
Plan client projects, log time, manage milestones, and expose a client view
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Teamwork, plan client projects, log time, manage milestones, and expose a client view. The hard boundary is agency billing, workload, client permissions, integrations, and reporting, plus collaboration, integrations, and organizational trust.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build a personal replacement for Teamwork in an empty repository.
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: plan client projects through issues, boards, and milestones, log time, expose a client view, and keep comments and a searchable activity history for a small team.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Implement organizations, projects, members, issues, labels, cycles, and milestones.
Provide list, kanban, and simple timeline views backed by one canonical issue model.
Add comments, mentions, assignments, watchers, and a complete activity log.
Implement project roles for owner, member, and viewer and test every mutation.
Add search, CSV import or export, email notifications, and daily database backups.
Ship Docker Compose, health checks, migrations, seed data, and an admin recovery command.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out hundreds of external integrations.
Deliberately leave out enterprise portfolio planning and SSO.
Deliberately leave out native mobile clients and vendor-operated uptime.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
What would building your own look like?
Plan client projects through issues, boards, and milestones, log time, expose a client view, and keep comments and a searchable activity history for a small team.
What you will need
- Docker
- PostgreSQL
- self-hosted server
- email credentials for invitations
People still pay for Teamwork because teams pay because project state has to remain authoritative through staff changes, outages, and years of accumulated workflow exceptions. The recurring cost buys auth, permissions, notifications, search, migrations, audit history, integrations, backups, and uptime, not just the visible interface.
xagency billing, workload, client permissions, integrations, and reporting
xdeep integrations
xenterprise permissions
xlarge-scale reporting
xbattle-tested notifications and mobile apps
Prefer something ready-made?
Odoo CommunityProjects, milestones, recurring tasks, timesheets, and client portal access inside an ERP that brought ninety other modulesOpen source↗
ONLYOFFICE GroupsMilestones, timesheets, reports, and view-only client guests; the price is running an office suiteOpen source↗License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does Teamwork cost?
- Monthly billing
- $9.99/mo$9.99/mo · per person
- Per year
- $120/yr$120/yr
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$52.20/moR$626/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on Teamwork’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/user | $0/user | Up to 5 users, 5 projects, 100 MB storage, 2 templates, 100 automations/month and 5 file proofs/month |
| basics | - | $9.99/user≈ $9.99 | 300 projects, 100 GB storage, 5,000 automations/month, 20 file proofs/month and unlimited templates |
| accelerate | - | $24.99/user≈ $24.99 | 600 projects, 250 GB storage, 20,000 automations/month and unlimited file proofs |
| optimize | custom | - | Unlimited projects, 500 GB storage and 100,000 automations/month |
| enterprise | custom | - | Unlimited projects, 1,000 GB storage, 100,000 automations/month and enterprise security/support |
Free tierUp to 5 users, 5 projects, 100 MB storage, 2 templates, 100 automations/month and 5 file proofs/month
Billing termsannual billing for displayed Basics/Accelerate rates (page says save 29%); 14-day trial, no card; custom higher plans
Additional costsAI is temporarily included, but Teamwork says usage-based AI credits launch in September 2026. Onboarding, BI, Connect, premium support, Desk and SSO can be separate paid products/services. Client and collaborator seats can be free only with restricted permissions.
verified 2026-08-14 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy Teamwork?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (multi-day). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild Teamwork?
Kinda. The core of Teamwork is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: agency billing, workload, client permissions, integrations, and reporting, deep integrations. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does Teamwork cost?
Teamwork costs about $9.99/mo (Basics, checked 08/14/2026), which is $120 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Teamwork?
Honestly: agency billing, workload, client permissions, integrations, and reporting; deep integrations; enterprise permissions; large-scale reporting; battle-tested notifications and mobile apps. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Teamwork?
Yes: Odoo Community (Projects, milestones, recurring tasks, timesheets, and client portal access inside an ERP that brought ninety other modules) ONLYOFFICE Groups (Milestones, timesheets, reports, and view-only client guests; the price is running an office suite) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.