What does each one do?
ClickUp is a work management app: tasks, docs, whiteboards, dashboards, chat and goals in one workspace. It has a $0 Free Forever plan with 60MB of storage, then Unlimited, Business and Enterprise plans priced per user [1]. Business adds 5,000 automations a month, timelines and unlimited dashboards. Brain AI is priced separately per user [1].
Torchrunner is one app for solo operators and small teams who do client work. Leads, contacts, companies and engagements sit on one record with the inbox (unlimited Gmail and Outlook accounts, plus Slack, WhatsApp, SMS, LinkedIn and Telegram), a business phone line, calendar and booking pages, projects and tasks, documents and notes, and your own books.
Archie and nine specialists do the work across those modules. Runners are automations that start on a real event and log every step. Anything that leaves the business, moves money or deletes data waits for a person's yes unless you choose otherwise.
Where do they overlap?
Both run projects and tasks with views, due dates, assignees and automations, and both have docs and time tracking.
ClickUp is a blank builder you set up for your own process. Torchrunner starts from the client: each engagement carries its projects, tasks, email, calls, documents and invoices, and Archie and the Project Manager specialist do the follow-through.
What does Torchrunner replace, and what does it connect to?
The task and project board, plus for most solo operators the separate CRM, inbox and docs tool.
Projects can sync with outside project tools over API or MCP, so you can work with clients who run their own boards; those connections are still being built out. Email, your own Stripe account, your clients' QuickBooks Online and your own AI connect today.
How does pricing compare?
ClickUp is cheaper as a task tool alone. Torchrunner's price covers the CRM, inbox, phone line and your own books as well, so compare it against ClickUp plus the tools beside it.
| ClickUp [1] | Torchrunner | |
|---|---|---|
| $0 option | Free Forever: 60MB storage, unlimited tasks | Viewers and client portal users $0 |
| Unlimited | $7 per user per month billed yearly, $10 billed monthly | One plan: $199 a month with 1 seat and 1 engagement |
| Business | $12 per user per month billed yearly, $19 billed monthly; 5,000 automations a month | Extra seat $79, extra engagement $99, per month |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Not offered |
| AI | Brain AI priced per user on top | Archie and nine specialists included; bring your own AI too |
| CRM, inbox, phone, books | Not the core of the product | Included |
Who should pick which?
Your team runs internal projects, sprints or content calendars, you like building your own workflows, and the clients live somewhere else.
Your projects are client engagements. You want the tasks, the client's email and calls, the documents and the invoice on one record, with an AI that keeps the work moving.
Switching: what moves over?
Projects, tasks and documents move over during setup. Clients who keep their own project tool can stay on it while you work from Torchrunner, as those sync connections roll out.
Implementation, including setup and data migration, is done by AtPace, our implementation partner, and priced by AtPace. Once you are in, your data stays yours: export your records as a ZIP at any time, or schedule backups to your own SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox.
Questions
Is Torchrunner a ClickUp alternative?
For client work, yes: projects and tasks sit on the client's engagement next to email, calls and invoices. For internal team projects with heavy custom workflows, ClickUp is the better fit.
How does ClickUp pricing compare with Torchrunner?
ClickUp Unlimited is $7 per user per month billed yearly and Business is $12. Torchrunner is $199 a month with 1 seat and 1 engagement, and includes the CRM, inbox, phone and books.
Can Torchrunner work with a client's ClickUp?
Projects can sync with outside project tools over API or MCP. Those connections are still being built out.
Does Torchrunner have AI built in?
Yes. Archie and nine specialists are included, and you can connect Claude, Codex, Cursor, Perplexity or Gemini to the same records.
Sources, checked October 25, 2026
Every ClickUp price, limit and feature above comes from ClickUp's own pages, opened on October 25, 2026. Vendors change prices often; check the source before you buy. Where a page did not say, we left the fact out.
- ›1. ClickUp pricing: https://clickup.com/pricing
- ›Torchrunner prices: https://torchrunner.ai/pricing
ClickUp is a trademark of its owner. Other product names belong to their owners. Torchrunner is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by ClickUp.
- ›Torchrunner vs your whole stack: the eleven-tool stack, tool by tool
- ›Platform: every module, and Archie and the nine specialists
- ›Pricing: one plan, month to month, with worked examples
- ›Request access: access is by application