Why small teams leave ClickUp: what 95 negative reviews actually complain about
We coded 95 one- and two-star ClickUp reviews from 2025-26. Billing and support lead; missing features barely register. The data, and where to go next.
On this page
- Where the data comes from
- Our method, so you can check it
- What the 95 negative reviews complain about
- The billing complaints are specific
- "Too many features" is the real version of "missing features"
- What ClickUp does well
- Where to go depends on what you used
- How to leave ClickUp cleanly
- FAQ
- Next step
- Sources
The most common ClickUp problems in recent negative reviews are not missing features. We read and coded all 95 one- and two-star Trustpilot reviews of ClickUp published between January 2025 and October 2026: 26 complain about billing or seat charges, 25 about support, 20 about complexity and 25 about speed or bugs. Only 3 say a feature they needed did not exist.
That matches what we heard when we priced tools for our own team: people rarely leave ClickUp because it cannot do something. They leave because of what it costs to live with everything it can do. This post shows the numbers, the method and its limits, what ClickUp does well, and how to pick a replacement based on what you actually used.
Where the data comes from
We used two public sources, both checked on 27 October 2026.
G2. ClickUp is rated 4.6 out of 5 from 15,182 reviews. G2 generates a "Pros & Cons" summary from those reviews with mention counts. The top pros are Ease of Use (4,220 mentions), Task Management (3,219) and Features (3,119). The top cons are Missing Features (2,039), Learning Curve (1,751), Limited Features (1,334), Not Intuitive (1,181) and Slow Loading (1,156).
Trustpilot. ClickUp has a TrustScore of 4.2 from 713 reviews, with 61% at five stars and 22% at one star. That split is the interesting part: people either like it a lot or are angry enough to write about it.
The two sources describe different people. G2 reviews mostly come from current users, many invited by the vendor, and G2 marks those reviews as incentivized. A current user who lists "missing features" is usually writing a wish list, not a reason to leave. Trustpilot does not allow incentives, and its negative reviews skew towards people at the point of leaving or already gone. So we used G2 for the overall picture and Trustpilot for the reasons people give when it goes wrong.
Our method, so you can check it
We pulled every one- and two-star ClickUp review Trustpilot showed on 27 October 2026, 171 in total going back to 2019, and kept the 95 published in 2025 and 2026 so the picture reflects the current product. We read each one and tagged every complaint it made. A review can carry more than one tag, so the counts add up to more than 95.
Limits worth stating plainly:
- 95 reviews is a small sample, and angry customers write more reviews than content ones.
- Trustpilot attracts billing disputes, because people go there when support has not answered.
- Tagging is judgement. We kept the tags broad to avoid splitting hairs.
- 13 reviews gave no usable reason ("worst app ever"), or a reason unrelated to the product, such as a job applicant who was not called back.
What the 95 negative reviews complain about
| Theme | Reviews mentioning it | Share of 95 | Typical wording |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing, seats, renewals, cancelling | 26 | 27% | Guests turned into paid seats, auto-renewal, 30-day notice to reduce seats |
| Support | 25 | 26% | Slow or no reply, bot loops, no phone support |
| Complexity and interface | 20 | 21% | "Too many features", cluttered, hard to set up |
| Bugs and reliability | 19 | 20% | Things breaking after updates, features disappearing |
| Speed | 12 | 13% | Slow loading, lag on larger lists |
| Ads and marketing email | 12 | 13% | YouTube ads, unsubscribe not honoured |
| Features limited by plan | 6 | 6% | Usage caps on the free or Unlimited plan, features moved up a tier |
| Genuinely missing functionality | 3 | 3% | A capability the reviewer needed that ClickUp does not have |
| No usable reason or unrelated | 13 | 14% | One-line insults, hiring complaints |
Two groupings make the pattern clearer. Speed and bugs together appear in 25 reviews, because people who complain about one usually complain about the other. Billing and support together appear in 45 reviews, nearly half the sample, because most billing complaints become support complaints when nobody answers the ticket.
The billing complaints are specific
The billing reviews are not vague "too expensive" posts. They describe the same few mechanisms again and again:
- Guests becoming paid seats. Several reviewers added a client or a free "limited member", then found a charge for a full seat. One describes a $216 charge from adding a view-only member to a group. Another says their bill went from $250 to $1,700 a year when guests were reclassified.
- Seat reductions with notice. Reviewers report that reducing seats or downgrading needs at least 30 days' notice before renewal. A 50-seat company that downsized describes paying for seats it no longer needed and then being locked out while billing was resolved.
- Renewals people did not expect. Annual renewals on dormant accounts, discounts that ended after a year, and cancellations that took several screens.
We have not verified each reviewer's account of their own bill, and ClickUp's terms may explain some of these charges. The point for a small team is narrower: if your workspace includes clients or contractors, read the guest and seat rules before you invite anyone, and set a calendar reminder 45 days before an annual renewal.
"Too many features" is the real version of "missing features"
G2's top con is labelled Missing Features, with 2,039 mentions, which looks like it contradicts everything above. Read the reviews behind the label and most are requests for a refinement of something ClickUp already has: subfolders, a different grouping, a report on a lower plan. Those are the comments of people who are staying.
The Trustpilot reviews from people leaving say the opposite. "Too many features no one asked for", "you need an organisation tool to organise ClickUp", "it tries to do everything in one place and it's very confusing". For a team of four, every feature you do not use is still a menu item, a setting and a notification. That cost is real even when the feature is good.
This is the useful takeaway: small teams rarely drop ClickUp for lack of features. They drop it when the setup and maintenance outweigh what the features return.
What ClickUp does well
A fair review has to say this. ClickUp ships quickly and covers more ground than almost any single tool: tasks, docs, whiteboards, chat, dashboards, time tracking, forms and AI in one workspace. Its pricing page lists Core at $9 per user per month billed yearly, against a regular price of $12, and Business at $17, as of October 2026. There is a Free Forever plan. Pricing is per exact user, with no seat minimum or bucket rounding of the kind monday.com uses.
G2's own data is mostly positive: Ease of Use is the most mentioned pro, with twice as many mentions as the top con. For a team that wants one tool configured exactly its way and has someone willing to own the setup, ClickUp is still a reasonable choice.
Where to go depends on what you used
The best replacement is decided by which parts of ClickUp your team actually opened every week. Before you look at alternatives, list them.
| What you mainly used | The complaint that pushed you | Shortlist to try |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks and boards only | Complexity, speed | Trello, Linear (software teams), Asana |
| Tasks plus docs | Clutter, two tools pretending to be one | Notion, Basecamp, an all-in-one workspace |
| Tasks, docs, chat and a CRM | Paying for add-ons, guest charges | An all-in-one workspace with flat pricing |
| Dashboards and heavy automation | Bugs after updates | monday.com, Asana Advanced |
| Time tracking for client billing | Limits on lower plans | A dedicated tracker such as Harvest or Toggl |
Our longer comparison of ClickUp alternatives for small teams covers each option with prices.
Where Atrix fits, and where it does not
Atrix AI is our product, so treat this as a vendor's view. It is an all-in-one workspace for teams of 2 to 15: work and products with five views, cycles and labels, pages with live co-editing, team chat, calendar and booking links, a CRM, hiring and people records, with an AI agent that turns a brief into requirements and planned issues. Pricing is flat: Builder is $39 a month for 5 seats and Studio is $149 for 15, with AI runs included.
The limits matter for anyone leaving ClickUp because it was too much. Atrix has no free plan, and the 7-day trial needs a card. It has no story points or velocity, a smaller integration catalogue than ClickUp, and nothing above 15 seats outside the founding-team offer for teams that subscribe before 31 December 2026. The side-by-side is on our ClickUp comparison page, and the ClickUp alternatives page covers migration.
How to leave ClickUp cleanly
- Export before you cancel. Workspace task export is in Settings under Imports / Exports, and ClickUp's help centre says only owners can run it by default on Free Forever, Unlimited and Business. The CSV includes comments and attachment links, not the files themselves.
- Export Docs separately. ClickUp's help centre states that exporting all Docs in bulk is not yet available, so each Doc goes out on its own as HTML, PDF or Markdown.
- Download links expire after one hour. Download each export immediately.
- Download attachments you need. Attachments can be saved per task as a ZIP.
- Check your renewal date and notice period before you start, so you are not charged for another year mid-migration.
We wrote a full checklist for judging any tool's export before you commit: check workspace export before you sign up.
FAQ
What are the most common ClickUp problems?
In the 95 one- and two-star Trustpilot reviews from 2025 and 2026 we coded, billing and seat charges came first (26), then support (25), complexity (20) and bugs (19). On G2, where most reviewers still use the product, the top cons are Missing Features and Learning Curve.
Is ClickUp too complicated for a small team?
It can be. One in five negative reviews in our sample says it is too complex. If you need tasks and docs and nothing else, a simpler tool usually costs less time. If you will use dashboards, automations and custom fields, the complexity pays for itself.
Why does ClickUp charge for guests?
ClickUp's pricing separates guests from paid members, and reviewers report guests being converted into paid seats when they are given certain permissions or added to groups. Check ClickUp's current guest rules on its pricing page before you invite clients.
Is ClickUp buggy?
Bugs and reliability come up in 19 of the 95 negative reviews, often after an update. G2 lists Slow Loading among the top five cons with 1,156 mentions. Many users report no problems, so test it with your real workspace size during a trial.
What is the best ClickUp alternative for a small team?
It depends on what you used. For tasks only, Trello or Asana. For software teams, Linear. For tasks plus docs, Notion or Basecamp. For tasks, docs, chat and a CRM in one place at a flat price, an all-in-one workspace such as Atrix.
Next step
If you are weighing a move, start with the ClickUp alternatives page and price your own team on the Atrix pricing page.
Sources
Checked on 27 October 2026: ClickUp on G2, ClickUp on Trustpilot, ClickUp pricing, ClickUp: How do I export my Workspace's data?, ClickUp: Import and export feature availability and limits.