ClickUp's free plan: the storage and usage caps you hit first
ClickUp's Free Forever plan looks generous at first glance: unlimited tasks, unlimited members, kanban boards, a calendar, docs and sprint management. The limitations sit in two places that the headline list does not show. The first is storage, which is 60 MB for the whole Workspace. The second is a set of usage counters: several features work for a fixed number of uses and then stop accepting new input.
All figures below come from ClickUp's pricing page and help center, checked on October 8, 2026. ClickUp adjusts these numbers from time to time, so confirm them on the ClickUp pricing page before making a decision.
The free plan at a glance
What Free Forever includes without a counter:
- Unlimited tasks and unlimited free plan members
- List, Board (kanban), Calendar, Table, Doc and Dashboard views
- Collaborative Docs
- Sprint management
- Two-factor authentication
- In-app video recording
- 24/7 support
What it includes with a cap:
| Feature | Free Forever limit |
|---|---|
| File storage | 60 MB |
| Spaces | 5 |
| Lists per Space | 40 |
| Folders per Space | 100 |
| Custom Field uses | 60 |
| Custom task type uses | 20 |
| Gantt view | 60 uses |
| Timeline view | 60 uses |
| Workload view | 60 uses |
| Embed views | 40 uses |
| Forms | 1 |
| Whiteboards | 3 |
| Activity view | 24 hours of activity |
| Automations | 5 active rules, 100 automation executions |
| API calls | 100 per minute |
And what it does not include at all: Team view, Map view, Mind map view, Private views, calculated columns, export from List and Table views, and baselines in Gantt view. All of these are listed as "No" for Free Forever in ClickUp's views help article.
Storage: the 60 MB cap usually comes first
For most teams the storage limit is the first wall, and it arrives quickly. Sixty megabytes is a handful of design files, a few short screen recordings or some dozens of phone photos. Because ClickUp includes in-app video recording on the free plan, a team that records a few walkthroughs can use the allowance within days.
The limit is for the whole Workspace, not per person. Ten members who each attach a couple of screenshots a day share the same 60 MB.
There are two common ways teams handle it:
- Link instead of attach. Keep files in cloud storage and paste links into tasks. This keeps the Workspace under the cap, at the cost of files living in two places.
- Upgrade for storage alone. The Unlimited plan lists unlimited storage. On ClickUp's pricing page it costs $7 per user per month billed yearly, or $10 per user per month billed monthly.
For comparison, two widely used alternatives publish different storage figures on their free tiers: Jira Free lists 2 GB of file storage, and Asana's free Personal plan lists unlimited storage with a 100 MB maximum per file. Those plans have other caps of their own, such as user count, so storage alone does not settle the choice.
Usage counters: what counts as a use
ClickUp's help center explains that some advanced features "allow you to try them before upgrading". In practice that means a counter. Once the counter reaches its limit, the feature stops accepting new input, although existing data stays available.
Custom Fields: 60 uses
This is the counter that most often surprises teams. ClickUp counts a use each time a value is added to a Custom Field on a task. Setting a Dropdown field on one task is one use. Adding two labels to a Label field is two uses.
Creating fields does not count, nor does adding options to a field. Linking tasks with Relationships or Tasks Custom Fields does not count either.
Once a Free Forever Workspace reaches 60 uses, ClickUp's help center lists what happens:
- No new values can be added to any Custom Field, including Relationships and Tasks Custom Fields.
- Fields can still be added to and removed from Spaces, Folders, Subfolders and Lists.
- Existing values can be cleared, but new values cannot be added back.
Sixty uses is small. A team that tracks Priority and Client as Custom Fields uses two per task, so it reaches the cap after about 30 tasks. Keeping Custom Fields for the one or two values the team actually filters by stretches the allowance furthest.
Gantt, Timeline and Workload: 60 uses each
The Gantt view, Timeline view and Workload view each allow 60 uses on Free Forever, according to ClickUp's views help article. On the Unlimited plan, Gantt becomes unlimited, while Timeline and Workload rise to 100 uses each. Both become unlimited on Business.
This matters for teams that plan with a Gantt chart. The view is available on the free plan, so it is possible to set up a schedule, but the planning tool a team will rely on every week should not be one that runs out.
Custom task types: 20 uses
Setting a task to a type other than the default, such as Bug or Milestone, counts as a use. The free plan allows 20.
Structural limits: Spaces, Lists and Folders
The structural caps are less visible because they matter only as the Workspace grows.
Five Spaces. Spaces are the top level of ClickUp's hierarchy. A small agency that wants one Space per client hits five quickly. The usual workaround is one Space for all client work with a Folder per client, which works but makes permissions coarser.
Forty Lists per Space. Lists hold tasks. A team that creates a List per sprint or per campaign can reach 40 in under a year. Archiving or merging old Lists keeps a Space under the cap.
One hundred Folders per Space. Rarely a constraint for small teams.
The Unlimited plan lists unlimited Spaces, Folders and Forms. The pricing page table shows Lists per Space rising to 200 on Unlimited and 400 on Business.
Automations, history and guests
Automations. The free plan lists 5 active rules and 100 automation executions. The Unlimited plan lists 500 active rules and 1,000 executions, and Business lists unlimited active rules and 5,000 executions. ClickUp's Business plan card describes its figure as 5K automations per month. A free team running one rule on every status change will use 100 executions quickly, after which the board has to be maintained by hand.
Activity history. The Activity view shows 24 hours of activity on Free Forever and 7 days on Unlimited. A manager who checks once a week what changed will not find it in the Activity view on the free plan.
Guests. ClickUp's pricing page lists "Guests With Permission Control" as an addition on Unlimited. Permission control for guests is not part of the free plan's list. That matters for client work, where a guest should usually see only one project.
Export. Exporting data from List and Table views is not available on Free Forever. It allows 5 uses on Unlimited and is unlimited from Business.
How the limits change on paid plans
The table below lines up the counters that matter most against the first two paid plans, using ClickUp's pricing page and views help article.
| Free Forever | Unlimited | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per user per month | $0 | $7 billed yearly, $10 monthly | $12 billed yearly, $19 monthly |
| Storage | 60 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Spaces | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Lists per Space | 40 | 200 | 400 |
| Custom Fields | 60 uses | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Gantt view | 60 uses | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Timeline view | 60 uses | 100 uses | Unlimited |
| Workload view | 60 uses | 100 uses | Unlimited |
| Activity view | 24 hours | 7 days | Unlimited |
| Automations | 5 active rules, 100 executions | 500 active rules, 1,000 executions | Unlimited active rules, 5,000 executions |
| Export from List and Table | No | 5 uses | Unlimited |
Two things stand out. Unlimited is not unlimited for every counter: Timeline and Workload still stop at 100 uses, and export at 5. And the jump from Free to Unlimited fixes storage and Custom Fields completely, which are the two caps most small teams hit first. For a team whose only problem is attachments, Unlimited is the natural step. For a team that plans capacity with Workload or Timeline, Business is the plan where those views stop counting.
The price difference also depends on billing. A team of five pays $35 a month on Unlimited billed yearly, or $50 billed monthly. On Business the same team pays $60 billed yearly or $95 billed monthly.
Which cap does a small team hit first?
The answer depends on how the team works. The scenarios below are typical patterns, based on the limits above.
| Team pattern | Likely first cap | Roughly when |
|---|---|---|
| Design or video team attaching files | 60 MB storage | Days to weeks |
| Team tracking two Custom Fields per task | 60 Custom Field uses | Around 30 tasks |
| Team planning with a Gantt chart | 60 Gantt view uses | Depends on how often the view is used |
| Agency with one Space per client | 5 Spaces | Sixth client |
| Team relying on status automations | 100 automation executions | Depends on activity |
| Developer team, text only, no custom fields | Lists per Space or Activity history | Months |
A practical test before committing: run the team's real work in ClickUp for two weeks with the usual attachments and fields, then check storage use and the Custom Field counter. If either is past half, the free plan will not last.
Choosing between upgrading and switching
When a team outgrows the free plan, the choice is between paying for ClickUp and moving to another tool whose free tier is sized differently.
Upgrade to Unlimited if the team likes ClickUp's structure and the main problems are storage and Custom Fields. At $7 per user per month billed yearly, Unlimited removes the storage cap, gives unlimited Custom Fields and unlimited Gantt charts, and adds guests with permission control.
Go to Business if the team depends on Timeline, Workload, automations or long activity history. Business is $12 per user per month billed yearly, or $19 billed monthly.
Switch tools if the team uses only a fraction of ClickUp's features and mainly wants boards, a Gantt chart and comments without counters. In that case, compare free tiers by the three limits that matter most to your team, for example storage, number of people and Gantt access. The comparisons page sets several tools side by side, and the pricing page shows how one alternative counts people and boards instead of uses.
Whichever way the team goes, export before the move. On the free plan, List and Table export is not available, so a team that plans to leave should check its export options early.
What to change first
This week, check how much of the 60 MB the Workspace already uses and roughly how many Custom Field values have been set. Move large files to links, and drop any Custom Field nobody filters by. If the counters are still climbing, decide between Unlimited and another tool before they run out, not after. Teams that want kanban and Gantt boards without usage counters can try Pinateca, free for up to 5 people and 10 boards with 1 GB of storage.
Q1. How much storage does ClickUp's free plan include?
ClickUp's pricing page lists 60 MB of file storage on the Free Forever plan, shared across the whole Workspace. The Unlimited plan and above list unlimited storage.
Q2. What happens when I hit 60 Custom Field uses in ClickUp?
On a Free Forever Workspace you can no longer add values to any Custom Field, including Relationships and Tasks fields. You can still add or remove the fields themselves and clear existing values, but cleared values cannot be added back. Existing data remains available.
Q3. Can I use the Gantt chart on ClickUp's free plan?
Yes, with a limit. ClickUp's views help article lists the Gantt view at 60 uses on Free Forever and unlimited on every paid plan. Baselines in Gantt view are not available on the free plan.
Q4. How many Spaces can I create on ClickUp Free?
Five. The pricing page lists 5 Spaces on Free Forever, with 40 Lists and 100 Folders per Space. Unlimited and higher plans list unlimited Spaces.
Q5. Is ClickUp's free plan really unlimited for members?
The pricing page lists unlimited free plan members and unlimited tasks. The limits that matter are on storage, Custom Field uses, certain views and automations, not on the number of people.