Monday.com charges $15/user/month.
A 10-person agency pays ~$1,800/year for a project tracker.
Most of that cost isn’t for what you use.
It’s for:
features you don’t need
workflows that don’t match yours
and a system you have to adapt to
There’s a simpler option:
build the version your team actually needs.
What an agency PM system really is
If you strip it down, you’re managing just a few things:
projects
tasks
owners
deadlines
status
That’s it.
Everything else is layering.
Step 1: Define your core structure
Start with three simple tables:
Projects
Project Name
Client
Start Date
Deadline
Status
Tasks
Task Name
Project
Assigned To
Due Date
Status
Team
Name
Role
This is your entire system.
You don’t need more to start.
Step 2: Add basic workflows
Define simple statuses:
Projects:
Active → On Hold → Completed
Tasks:
To Do → In Progress → Done
That’s enough to track most agency work.
Avoid over-customizing early.
Step 3: Create a project view
Each project should show:
all tasks under it
owners for each task
deadlines
current progress
This replaces:
scattered Slack updates
“what’s the status?” meetings
manual tracking
Now everything lives in one place.
Step 4: Build a team workload view
This is where most agencies struggle.
You need to see:
who is working on what
how many tasks each person has
upcoming deadlines
A simple view:
Team Member → Tasks → Due Dates
This helps you:
avoid overload
balance work
spot bottlenecks early
Step 5: Add a deadline tracker
Deadlines are where things usually break.
Add two simple rules:
every task must have a due date
highlight overdue tasks
Now you have:
visibility
accountability
fewer missed timelines
No automation required.
Step 6: Track status without meetings
Instead of asking:
“What’s the update?”
Make status visible:
task status reflects progress
project status reflects overall health
Optional:
add a “Blocker” field
or a quick “Notes” column
Now updates happen inside the system — not in meetings.
Where spreadsheets start to fail
This setup works well initially.
But over time:
updates get inconsistent
views become harder to manage
collaboration gets messy
Spreadsheets are good for storing work.
They’re not great for running it.
Your project tracker is a broken app
At some point, your sheet is doing too much.
managing tasks
tracking ownership
handling workflows
It’s no longer just data.
It’s a system.
👉 Try Avery.dev for free
Instead of switching to a heavy PM tool, you can turn this into a simple internal app:
clean task views
structured updates
project-level visibility
controlled access for your team
Same structure.
Better experience.
Why this works better for agencies
Agency workflows are rarely standard.
Every team has:
different client processes
different approval flows
different ways of working
Most tools force you into their structure.
Building your own lets you:
match your exact workflow
adapt as clients change
avoid paying per seat
Cost comparison
Typical PM tool:
$10–15/user/month
10 people → ~$1,800/year
Custom internal tool:
flat cost
no per-seat pricing
no unused features
The difference compounds quickly.
Final thought
You don’t need a better project management tool.
You need one that fits how your team already works.
Start simple.
Build only what you need.
Improve it as your workflow evolves.
Build this in a day
You can start with a spreadsheet.
Or skip the messy phase and build a usable system from day one with Avery.dev.
👉 Try Avery.dev for free
No lock-in.
No per-user pricing.
Just a project system that fits your agency.
