Choosing the right software to clarify and strengthen both team interaction and collaboration yields a multitude of benefits. With that in mind, it can be difficult to decide between the numerous project management options available. Below, you will find 12 options that have emerged as high performers in their specific niches.
Why You Need Project Management Software
Why use a dedicated project management platform at all? The amount of time and labor teams regularly lose when jumping between apps, file-sharing, or missing messages from collaborators on multiple platforms can cost you — both financially and in your client satisfaction ratings.
The right software can maintain an agile project structure by streamlining processes that:
Establish clear goals
Manage resource allocation
Set up project tracking
Request approvals
Project management software is cloud-based, giving unlimited users access and so all stakeholders can track progress. These products also track time on your to-do lists and projects as a whole. Web-based project management apps allow all the team members to link to your CRM, use projects from other team members and track projects they share with team members. Many project management software platforms are also available as mobile apps. This provides both iPhone and Android users remote or on-the-go access to dashboards outside the workspace. Project planning platforms can be updated from anywhere, making every project a simple project.
Project Management Tools & Features to Look For
Teams that transition to a reliable project management software profit from having one dedicated place for tasks, collaboration and resource management. Depending on your industry niche, the features that will work best for your team can vary greatly.
The most important things to consider when choosing a project management software tool are:
the kind of work your team does,
the size of your business (individual, small or start-up, or enterprise-level),
the budget allocated for your new software,
your current workflow process.
Once you have a good idea of what you are looking for, you can focus on the features that will benefit your team the most. Some of these features might include:
Views that keep you on task, such as project scheduling, Gantt charts or milestones
Resource management, keeping one source for key documents to share and use
Native chat or messaging options to prevent lost messages and solve issues quickly
Time tracking tools, to streamline project budgeting and client invoicing
Reporting tools, allowing every team member an up-to-date status check and ensuring problems aren’t being missed
The ability to customize your task lists, timesheets, subtasks, and project templates to meet the needs of your team
Share resources with your team; such as, excel sheets, due dates, or checklists
Link to your Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, or other file sharing system, to drag-and-drop files to share with your team
You know your team’s needs better than anyone, so you’ll need to shop around for the features you need. Luckily, we did some of the research for you. Here are our top picks.
Our Top Picks:
1. monday.com
Why We Like It: While not as advanced or expansive as higher-priced offerings, monday does offer varied and customizable workflow methodologies [Kanban, Gantt, and more] to track resources, collaboration, reporting and time. Because of its simple integrations and customization functionality, monday is a premier choice across many industries and is simple to enable across an entire team in a few hours. Automation and the option to track dependencies make it a fully rounded option for many PMs.
Who Should Use It: Small and startup teams will benefit the most from its free and lower-tier pricing, and its ease of use makes it a good, less-complicated software platform for first-time users.
Cost: For small teams with 2 users or less, free. For teams 3 users and up, monday.com starts at $8 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Features updated regularly
200+ templates
Easy to customize
Mobile app offered
35+ integration options
Cons:
Advanced features available only on higher paid plans
Lacks project accounting or invoicing other platforms offer
2. Airtable
Why We Like It: Airtable offers one of the best designed UX in its field, making it enjoyable to view and use. While it does offer several views, if your team likes spreadsheets, Airtable will be your super-spreadsheet database heaven. Native features allow teams to integrate data from other apps, create forms to collect data from various contributors, and ultimately utilize that data to analyze, track and forecast tasks and deliverables. Its real-time collaboration features contribute to it being one of the friendliest modern databases available.
Who Should Use It: Companies with a high priority on data-driven management will benefit highly from its database creation capabilities. It also works extremely well for smaller businesses or teams within larger organizations.
Cost: For small teams with 5 users or less, free. For teams 6 users and up, Airtable starts at $10 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Appealing interface
Advanced database building
Mobile app offered
200+ templates
Able to access 1000+ integrations
Mobile app offered
Cons:
Few tutorials available
Free features are limited
Cumbersome automation
Native internal communication is limited
3. ClickUp
Why We Like It: ClickUp offers a wide spectrum of project management solutions under one roof, and isn't afraid to compare itself to longer established names right on its homepage. It has robust offerings for collaboration, automation, reporting, tracking and over 1,000 integrations. Its integration with Scrum in Agile is specifically above par.
Clickup boasts on its website that the platform enables teams to do so much without leaving it for another app, from tasks, documents, chats, milestones, whiteboards, and more, that teams using ClickUp save a full day of lost time and productivity each week.
Who Should Use It: Noted above, the ClickUp Agile - Scrum features make it a top choice for software development teams, and even some marketing and sales teams. ClickUp also works well for small teams who want lots of features for a lower price tag.
Cost: For one user, free. For teams 2 users and up, ClickUp starts at $5 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Able to access 1000+ integrations
Native integrations offered
300+ templates
Lots of automation options
Mobile app offered
Cons:
Challenging interface for beginners
Advanced features can be pricey
4. Notion
Why We Like It: Notion offers a simple, clean way to manage teams and tasks, with a strong focus on content creation projects and content development. It’s also a killer way to create one source for resources and core information for departments across the board, from engineering to marketing, and works perfectly for hybrid and remote teams.
Notion is the only knowledge management software currently available that connects your company’s wiki, team notes and all projects into one base for all employees saving you time and headaches.
Who Should Use It: Content creators, content developers and web designers who want a simple clean space to store, track, develop, share and publish content. It is also ideal for companies to use as a single source for knowledge management.
Cost: For personal use, Notion offers both a free and a paid option that starts at $4 a month. For teams, Notion starts at $8 per user per month.
Pros:
Offers free version
Unique habit-tracking features
Mobile app offered
Flexible views offered
Smooth collaboration and co-editing
10 native and 20 partner integrations
Template gallery and creator
Cons:
Page search isn’t intuitive
Collaborative tools only on paid plans
Limited integration [API launched 5/2021]
5. Nifty
Why We Like It: Nifty is an all-in-one project management software that encourages milestone-driven progress. It offers many view options, such as list and Kanban boards, and creates conversation threads for each specific project, allowing your team to collaborate easily without leaving Nifty’s platform. In addition, its native automated progress reporting helps PMs keep their teams on budget and on task.
Who Should Use It: PMs who don’t like using multiple tools to get the job done, and want a one-stop shop for roadmapping, task management, team discussions, document creation and automated progress reporting.
Cost: For 2 projects or less, free. For more projects, Nifty starts at $5 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Unlimited guests/clients
Milestones configuration
Appealing user interface
Can eliminate need for extra tools
Mobile app offered
Cons:
Limited native integrations [although Zapier integration is possible]
File uploads need refreshing to view
Mobile apps can be limiting
6. Wrike
Why We Like It: Wrike is an established global player when it comes to project management tools, and has special offerings for professional services, creative and marketing teams. Users enjoy its easy-to-configure dashboards, featuring Kanban board or Gantt chart options to name a few, and Wrike’s no-code automation options that help flag potential future problems. Its native time tracking and real-time updates and reporting can be shared company wide.
Who Should Use It: While you can use Wrike for freelancers or start-ups, larger teams that can dedicate one person to working directly with Wrike to choose and set up the software plan will benefit the most.
Cost: Wrike offers a limited free plan with no restrictions on users. For more robust plans, Wrike starts at $9.80 per user per month.
Pros:
Free plan offered
Custom plans for marketing/creative teams and professional services
New AI features prevent future fails
Email to task integration
Custom integrations available on higher tier plans
Cons:
Setup often require Customer Support
Limited template options
7. Teamwork
Why We Like It: Satisfied clients are repeat clients, and offering your clients the ability to directly comment on project deliverables or milestones is one way to make sure needs are met. Teamwork presents a flexible project management software option for teams driving client projects, and the unlimited collaborators feature encourages PMs to hire freelancers when needed without incurring additional platform costs. It also features custom workflows and easy invoicing with time-tracking.
Who Should Use It: Teams managing high volume client work will benefit most, with Teamwork’s direct client integration, as well as included billing and invoicing.
Cost: For up to 5 users, a free limited plan. For 5 users or more, Teamwork starts at $9.99 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Billing and invoicing included
Customize your own template
Unlimited collaborators on paid plans
30 day trial on all plans
Cons:
Limited use for free version
Integration options slim
Cost could be prohibitive
8. ProofHub
Why We Like It: With its integrated markup tools, Proofhub allows users to draw directly on PDFs and image files, speeding up feedback and team collaboration - no more endless emails of proofs between teams. It offers a simple and intuitively easy to navigate dashboard, and allows for several view options including Gantt charts and Kanban boards. Proofhub is an all-in-one tool that benefits both freelancers and enterprise teams working across different business verticals.
Who Should Use It: Small teams who don’t have a dedicated project manager will benefit from Proofhub’s ease of use. However, the image-focused tools work ideally for any team, such as advertising or design, specifically utilizing visual materials.
Cost: ProofHub offers a limited plan for $45 per month and an advanced plan for $89 per month.
Pros:
Visual markup tools speed feedback
Simple and easy to use
Competitively priced
Great for small teams
Mobile app offered
Cons:
Integration options slim
No current invoicing or budgeting options
9. Zoho Projects
Why We Like It: Simple and direct, Zoho Projects is easy to use and customize for exactly what your team needs. It connects directly to other platforms in the Zoho ecosystem, such as Zoho Books for invoicing needs or Zoho Sprints for agile teams. The array of features that teams can access at lower-than-usual prices make it a great value, especially its collaboration, automation, and time-tracking features.
Who Should Use It: Start-ups, or small and growing businesses, will benefit most from its features offered at aggressively priced tiers.
Cost: For up to 3 users, Zoho Projects offers a free plan for two projects. For more users and unlimited projects, costs start at $5 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Extensive communication features
Straightforward automation options
Time-tracking for multiple tasks
Gantt chart focus view
Cons:
No pre-built templates included
Integrations and data imports can be clunky
12. TeamGantt
Why We Like It: As you might have guessed from the name, TeamGantt is management software based on Gantt charts. With its specific focus, this platform creates interactive and attractive Gantt charts that are highly intuitive and easy for beginners. The included tutorials and resources are well-crafted and easy to follow. TeamGantt is also becoming an industry emerging favorite for its resource management features.
Who Should Use It: Smaller teams without a dedicated PM, or teams who don’t need to share complex projects across multiple teams.
Cost: For individual use, free. For teams two users and up, TeamGantt starts at $19 per user per month.
Pros:
Free version offered
Easy to onboard and setup
Offers industry-specific templates
Mobile app offered
Tutorial content expansive
Cons:
In-app communication and notifications lacking
Invoicing not included
Few integrations offered
Comparing Project Management Software
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