Every project management tool has AI now. That's not an exaggeration — open any PM tool's marketing page and you'll find some flavor of "powered by AI" plastered across it. The problem is figuring out which ones actually deliver versus which ones slapped a chatbot on top and called it innovation.
We spent weeks testing the major players, running real projects through them, and paying attention to the details that matter: Does the AI actually save time? Does it understand your work, or just generate generic summaries? Can your whole team use it, or is it basically a single-player feature?
Here's what we found.
1. Trilo
Best for: Teams that want AI built into how they work, not bolted on
Full disclosure — we built Trilo, so take this with the appropriate grain of salt. But we built it because the tools on this list frustrated us, and we think the approach matters.
Trilo isn't a project management tool with AI sprinkled on top. It's a workspace where AI coworkers are part of the team from the ground up. Your AI coworker sees your tasks, reads your docs, knows what happened in yesterday's conversation, and can pick up where you left off without you re-explaining everything. That's fundamentally different from a sidebar chatbot that generates text in isolation.
Key AI features:
- AI coworkers with persistent memory across your workspace
- Context-aware task creation and planning from conversations
- Knowledge base you can query in plain English
- Writing assistance that adapts to your voice
- AI that participates in team discussions, not just one-on-one chats
Pricing: Free tier available. Paid plans start around $10/user/month with AI included — no separate AI add-on fee.
Pros:
- AI actually understands your project context, not just the current prompt
- Multiplayer AI — your whole team shares the same AI knowledge base
- Clean interface that doesn't feel like enterprise software
Cons:
- Younger product, so the feature set is still growing
- Smaller community compared to established players
- Some advanced integrations still in development
Who it's for: Small to mid-size teams who are tired of AI that feels disconnected from their actual work. Especially good if you're currently juggling Notion + ChatGPT + Slack and want to consolidate.
2. ClickUp (with ClickUp Brain)
Best for: Teams that want everything in one app and don't mind complexity
ClickUp has been the "we do everything" tool for a while, and ClickUp Brain is their AI layer. It's impressive in scope — you can ask it questions about your tasks, generate subtasks, summarize documents, and write updates. The AI pulls from your workspace data, which means it can actually answer questions like "what's blocking the Q1 launch?" with real information.
Key AI features:
- AI Knowledge Manager that answers questions about your workspace
- Auto-generated task summaries and standups
- AI Writer for docs, emails, and updates
- Natural language task creation and editing
Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $7/user/month. ClickUp Brain is included on paid plans (previously was a $5/user add-on).
Pros:
- Massive feature set — tasks, docs, whiteboards, goals, time tracking, all in one place
- AI has access to your entire workspace for context
- Generous free tier
Cons:
- The sheer number of features can be overwhelming — there's a real learning curve
- Performance can lag on larger workspaces
- AI quality varies — sometimes brilliant, sometimes generic
Who it's for: Teams that want a single tool for absolutely everything and are willing to invest time learning it.
3. Notion AI
Best for: Teams that already live in Notion and want AI layered into their docs
Notion took a different approach — instead of building a standalone AI product, they wove it into the editor and database experience you already know. If your team runs on Notion, the AI feels natural. You can ask it to summarize pages, draft content, fill database properties, and pull insights from across your workspace.
Key AI features:
- Inline AI writing and editing throughout docs
- Q&A that searches across your entire Notion workspace
- AI-powered autofill for database properties
- Meeting notes summarization and action item extraction
- Custom AI blocks in pages
Pricing: Free personal plan available. Plus starts at $10/user/month. Notion AI is included on all paid plans (it used to be a $10/user add-on, which was steep).
Pros:
- Beautiful interface that people genuinely enjoy using
- AI search across your workspace actually works well
- Strong template ecosystem
- Flexible enough to build almost any workflow
Cons:
- Project management features are functional but not best-in-class
- Can get slow with large databases
- Not ideal for teams that need robust task dependencies or resource management
Who it's for: Content-heavy teams, startups, and anyone who already uses Notion as their knowledge base.
4. Monday.com (with Monday AI)
Best for: Non-technical teams that want AI without the learning curve
Monday has always been the PM tool your marketing team picks, and their AI features lean into that strength. The AI helps with formula generation, content creation, and task automation. It's not trying to be the most powerful — it's trying to be the most approachable.
Key AI features:
- AI-generated task summaries and email drafts
- Smart formula builder (describe what you want, it writes the formula)
- Automated workflow suggestions
- AI content generation for updates and descriptions
- Sentiment analysis on feedback boards
Pricing: Free for up to 2 users. Basic starts at $9/seat/month. AI features are available on Pro ($16/seat/month) and above.
Pros:
- Genuinely easy to use — low barrier to adoption
- Visual boards make project status obvious at a glance
- Solid automation engine even without AI
- Good for cross-department use
Cons:
- AI features feel more like nice-to-haves than game-changers
- Gets expensive fast as team size grows
- Advanced AI locked behind higher-tier plans
Who it's for: Marketing teams, operations teams, and non-technical groups that want something visual and simple.
5. Asana (with Asana Intelligence)
Best for: Process-driven teams that run on structure
Asana Intelligence is the AI layer built into Asana's already strong task management foundation. The standout feature is Smart Status — it automatically drafts project status updates by analyzing task progress, which saves project managers from the weekly "let me check 47 tasks and write a summary" ritual.
Key AI features:
- Smart Status updates generated from actual task data
- Smart Goals that help define clearer objectives
- AI-powered workflow recommendations
- Smart Fields for auto-categorizing work
- Natural language search across projects
Pricing: Free for up to 10 users (limited features). Starter at $10.99/user/month. Advanced at $24.99/user/month with AI features included.
Pros:
- Rock-solid task management with portfolios, goals, and workload views
- Smart Status is genuinely useful for project leads
- Strong integrations ecosystem
- Handles complex project structures well
Cons:
- AI features are concentrated in higher-tier plans
- Interface can feel rigid compared to more flexible tools
- The "Asana way" of organizing work doesn't suit every team
Who it's for: Mid-size to enterprise teams with established processes who need reliable project tracking with AI-enhanced reporting.
6. Linear
Best for: Engineering teams that care about speed and craft
Linear doesn't market itself as an "AI project management tool." It markets itself as a fast issue tracker, and the AI features exist to make that experience even faster. Auto-categorization of issues, AI-generated descriptions, duplicate detection — all subtle, all useful, none flashy.
Key AI features:
- AI-assisted issue creation with automatic labeling
- Duplicate issue detection
- Smart triage suggestions
- AI-generated project updates
- Natural language filtering and search
Pricing: Free for up to 250 issues. Standard at $8/user/month. Plus at $14/user/month. AI features available on all plans.
Pros:
- Incredibly fast — the interface is a pleasure to use
- Keyboard-first design that engineers love
- Cycles and roadmap features are well-thought-out
- AI feels like a natural part of the tool, not a bolt-on
Cons:
- Designed primarily for engineering — not great for marketing or ops
- Limited customization compared to more flexible tools
- Smaller integration library
Who it's for: Software engineering teams. If you're building product, Linear is probably the most enjoyable tool on this list.
7. Motion
Best for: Individuals and small teams who need AI to manage their calendar and tasks together
Motion takes a different angle entirely. Instead of AI that helps you manage tasks, it's AI that manages tasks for you. It auto-schedules your work based on deadlines, priorities, and your calendar. You tell it what needs to get done and by when, and it figures out when you should do it.
Key AI features:
- Automatic task scheduling based on deadlines and priorities
- Calendar optimization that blocks focus time
- Meeting scheduling with intelligent availability detection
- Auto-reprioritization when deadlines shift
- Project timeline generation
Pricing: Individual plan at $19/month. Team plan at $12/user/month.
Pros:
- Genuinely saves time on scheduling and prioritization
- Forces you to be realistic about your capacity
- Great for people who struggle with time management
- Simple and focused — doesn't try to do everything
Cons:
- Limited as a collaboration tool — better for individuals
- The AI scheduling can feel rigid if you like spontaneity
- Expensive for what it is if you only need basic task management
- Not a full-featured PM tool — no resource management, workload views, etc.
Who it's for: Freelancers, founders, and small teams who want an AI assistant that handles scheduling so they can focus on execution.
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Starting Price | AI Included? | Best For | Collaboration | Learning Curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trilo | $10/user/mo | Yes | AI-first teams | Strong | Low |
| ClickUp | $7/user/mo | Yes | All-in-one needs | Strong | High |
| Notion AI | $10/user/mo | Yes | Doc-heavy teams | Strong | Medium |
| Monday AI | $9/seat/mo | Pro+ only | Non-technical teams | Strong | Low |
| Asana | $10.99/user/mo | Advanced+ | Process-driven teams | Strong | Medium |
| Linear | $8/user/mo | Yes | Engineering teams | Good | Low |
| Motion | $12/user/mo | Yes | Scheduling | Limited | Low |
How to Choose the Right Tool
There's no single "best" tool here — it depends on how your team works and what problems you're actually trying to solve.
Start with the problem, not the features. Are you drowning in status update meetings? Asana's Smart Status might be enough. Struggling to keep AI context across your team? That's where something like Trilo makes more sense. Just need your engineering team to track issues faster? Linear.
Think about who's using it. The best tool is the one your team actually adopts. Monday is popular for a reason — it's approachable. Linear is popular for a different reason — engineers love things that are fast. Don't pick a tool optimized for a user that isn't on your team.
Consider where AI is headed. The tools treating AI as a feature checkbox (generate a summary here, write an email there) will age differently than the ones building AI into the core experience. A year from now, the gap between "AI-assisted" and "AI-native" tools will be a lot wider than it is today.
Watch the pricing. AI add-on fees, per-seat costs that balloon as your team grows, features locked behind enterprise tiers — all of these add up. Factor in total cost, not just the starting price on the landing page.
Try before you commit. Every tool on this list offers a free plan or trial. Spend a week with your top two picks running a real project. The one that feels less like work is probably the right choice.
The AI project management space is moving fast — what was cutting-edge six months ago already feels dated. Whatever you pick, make sure it's a tool that's evolving alongside what AI can do, not one that's just checking the AI box.
Building something and looking for a workspace where AI is a genuine part of the team? Give Trilo a try.
