A ClickUp alternative for software agencies

ClickUp is where many agencies run delivery, because it does everything: tasks, docs and time in one app. That breadth is also why some teams look for an alternative. The reasons we hear are mostly about the experience, not the price: it does so much that someone has to set it up and look after it, and its AI add-ons are priced per user on top of the plan.

Tengu is narrower on purpose. It is a board for software delivery, with the dev loop, time and money attached. And you don't have to rebuild anything to try it.

Who this is for

• Software and AI product agencies of 10 to 60 people, remote-first, often with many contractors.
• Teams that run delivery in ClickUp, track time in Hubstaff or Harvest, and already use Claude Code or Cursor on client work.
• The founder or COO who wants margin per client and one fewer subscription, and the head of delivery who wants statuses that are true.

If your team lives in ClickUp docs, read the section on what Tengu doesn't have before anything else.

ClickUp and Tengu side by side

List prices, October 2026, per user (ClickUp) or per seat (Tengu) per month, billed annually.

ClickUp's AI add-ons are priced per user on top of the plan. Tengu has no minimum, and monthly terms cost a little more (Board $9, Studio $15). The importer is on every plan, Free included.

ClickUp's Codegen agent can also turn a task into a pull request. What Tengu adds is the loop after it: a QA run on the preview, a person's pass or send-back, then Merge and Ship from the quest.

Where ClickUp is better

Be honest with yourself about these. If they matter, stay on ClickUp for that work.

• Breadth. Tasks, docs and time live in one app. Tengu is a delivery board and isn't trying to be everything else.
• Clients who work tickets. Tengu's client guests, free on Board and Studio, see the lists you share with them, comment and file requests. They can't move, assign or edit tickets.
• Custom fields. Tengu has no custom fields of its own yet.
• Mobile. Tengu has no mobile app yet.
• Familiarity. Your team already knows it.

Where Tengu is different

The dev loop is closed

A quest goes to Claude Code with one click. It comes back as a pull request that attaches itself to the quest. Status moves when the PR opens, merges and deploys. A Vercel preview link and a QA run with screenshots land on the quest. Merge, then Ship opens a release PR with release notes already written. The agent writes the first draft; your people review, merge and ship it.

Statuses that are true

Imported lists keep their ClickUp statuses, colours and order. One key changes a status. PR merges and deploys move it for you. A review queue gives QA two buttons, Pass and Send back, and a send-back always carries a reason.

Time and money in the same place as the work

On Studio: a timer on each quest, weekly timesheets with approvals, pay periods, a payroll export, budgets that pause timers at 100%, and an admin-only Capacity Hub with margin per client. Members see only their own hours and pay. There are no screenshots, no activity levels and no idle detection.

Billing per seat, with no minimum

You pay per seat for the people on the team, upfront. Someone who leaves frees their seat for the next person until the renewal. Client guests and agents are never seats.

How to move, one list at a time

You don't have to choose a day to leave ClickUp, and you don't rebuild anything.

1. Import a list. Open quests, plus quests closed in the last 3, 6 or 12 months. Tasks, subtasks, comments and attachments come over, with ClickUp's IDs kept.
2. Check the counts. Tengu shows the counts per status beside ClickUp's, so you can see nothing is missing.
3. Move the team when it's ready. The list lives in Tengu from then on, and ClickUp's copy stays as it was.

People who still work in ClickUp keep their ClickUp seats.

Part of the team on Linear or Jira? Those import the same way: a Linear team or project with a personal API key, or a Jira Cloud project with your site address, your Atlassian email and an API token. Issues keep their Linear or Jira keys, and the same count check runs.

What Tengu doesn't have yet

Custom fields of its own, docs, whiteboards, forms, dashboards, an automation builder and a mobile app. If your process depends on one of these, keep that part in ClickUp.