ClickUp can do almost anything if you're willing to configure it. Agencies usually aren't. Workhouse is a project management tool with the agency shape already in it — visibility flag on every task, client portal built in, status reports drafted from real activity.
Free during beta · Migration help included · 30-second setup
ClickUp's pitch is the all-in-one workspace — tasks, docs, goals, sprints, time tracking, chat, mind maps, whiteboards. For an internal product team that wants one tool, that surface area is a feature. For an agency, most of it is noise that comes between you and getting client work done.
Worse, the agency-shaped problem isn't solved by any of it. Client guest access is workspace-level — invite a client and they see your whole structure. Approvals require setup. Audit trails are partial. Status reports are still a Friday writeup. You can configure ClickUp into something that approximates an agency tool — and most agencies who try eventually rebuild the same Notion-style two-database hack inside ClickUp.
ClickUp is a fine workspace. Workhouse is a tool — the smaller, sharper kind that already knows what agency work looks like.
The dimensions that matter when an agency is the audience.
| ClickUp | Workhouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-task visibility for clients | Guest access is workspace-level | Per-task flag, enforced in SQL |
| Client portal | Invite as guest — they see your workspace structure | Scoped per-client, branded as yours |
| Approvals workflow | Custom statuses + automations | Native — on the deliverable, tracked in the activity feed |
| Audit log | Activity history per task; nothing immutable workspace-wide | Immutable, included on every workspace |
| Weekly status reports | Custom dashboard or manual writeup | AI-drafted from the week's actual activity |
| Setup time | Days to configure spaces/folders/lists for an agency workflow | 30 seconds |
| Feature surface | Goals, sprints, mind maps, whiteboards, time tracking, chat… | Tasks, approvals, status reports, audit log, client portal — that's it |
| Pricing model | Per-user, plus per-guest on higher tiers | Free during beta — client contacts are not seats |
We're built for agencies. ClickUp is excellent for everything else.
Beta migration is hands-on. We do the first one for you.
ClickUp exports tasks, comments, and custom fields per list as CSV or via API. We'll guide you to the cleanest export path.
Send to migrate@workhouse.app. We'll map your ClickUp lists onto Workhouse clients/projects and identify your existing visibility convention.
Custom statuses fold into Workhouse status. Custom fields map onto task fields or tags. Comments come over.
Each client gets a portal invite. Their tasks light up; your team's internal coordination stays where it should.
“We ran Conversion Factory in Notion for years. Two databases, hundreds of dollars a month in Zapier glue, copy-pasting client comments into Slack to discuss them. At some point we realized we were building a whole new app on top of Notion — badly, with duct tape. So we built the app instead.”
ClickUp is configurable software; Workhouse is opinionated software. ClickUp can be configured to approximate agency workflows but doesn't solve the core agency problem (per-task visibility between team and client) at the data layer. Workhouse is built around that visibility flag — it's the first decision in the schema, not a configuration option.
If you use ClickUp's time tracking, goals, sprint planning, mind maps, or chat, yes — Workhouse doesn't replace those. Most agencies pair Workhouse with a dedicated tool for time tracking (Harvest, Toggl) and use Slack for team chat. Workhouse handles the project-management surface and the client-facing surface; pair as needed.
Yes. Export via CSV or API, email us, we'll do the import during beta. Custom statuses and fields map cleanly; comments come over. We'll walk you through it.
Workhouse is free during beta. Pricing TBD, but the principle that's already public: client contacts are not seats. ClickUp's per-guest fees on higher tiers are a real cost for agencies with lots of client logins.
ClickUp's guest access is workspace-level — your guest sees your workspace's structure, including parts you didn't mean to share. Workhouse's portal is scoped per-client by construction; they don't even see that other clients exist.
Yes. Kanban, list, calendar, and per-project views. Not as many view types as ClickUp, but the ones agencies actually use.