10 Best Project Management Software For Small Business
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 20 tools reviewed.
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There are seemingly countless project management software solutions for small business available, so figuring out which is best for you is tough. You want to plan, manage, and control your projects better, but need to figure out which tool is the best fit. I've got you! In this post I make things simple, leveraging my experience managing projects and small teams, and using dozens of different PM tools to bring you this shortlist of the best project management software for small business.
What Is Project Management Software For Small Business?
Project management software for small business are tools that help smaller companies efficiently plan, execute, and monitor projects. These project management solutions offer a range of features tailored to meet the unique needs of small businesses, such as task assignment, timeline tracking, resource allocation, and budget management. They are typically more user-friendly and cost-effective than larger enterprise systems, making them accessible for smaller teams with limited resources.
By providing a centralized platform for all project-related activities, they help small businesses streamline their operations, enhance team collaboration, and keep projects on track, ultimately contributing to improved productivity and business growth.
Overviews Of The Best Project Management Software For Small Business
Here’s a brief description of each of the best small business management software that are featured on this top 10 list. Feel free to check out how I picked the software on this list at any moment.
monday.com is an easy-to-use project management tool that saves small businesses money in two ways: offering free/affordable entry-level plans and being super user-friendly to cut back on money lost on training and onboarding. They are used by teams at Uber, Adobe, Hulu, and Unilever, so your SMB can feel like its playing in the software big leagues.
Why I picked monday.com: monday is flexible and scalable with 5 pricing plans available so that it can grow with you. With their freemium plan, you'll already have access to unlimited project boards, hundreds of project/task templates, 20+ column types, and their iOS and Android apps. Pay particular attention to the free project template library—here, you'll find pre-made outlines for editorial calendars, marketing campaign planning, CRM charts, event planning, HR forms, and more. The usefulness of this section for small businesses can not be overstated.
monday.com Standout Features & Integrations
Features include automations, customizable dashboards, forms for client brief intakes, support for agile methodologies, and unlimited free viewers.
Integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform and many more, accessible through a paid plan with Zapier. They also have an apps marketplace with free and paid add-ons to boost your functionality. Again, I cannot stress the level of flexibility and scalability with this form.
QuickBase is a cloud-based application development platform that enables users to build custom business applications tailored to their specific processes and data management needs using a no-code visual builder. QuickBase is suitable for a range of industries and is used by businesses looking to manage their operations more effectively without extensive programming expertise.
Why I Picked QuickBase: QuickBase serves as project management software for small businesses by providing a platform where users can create custom applications to manage their projects and processes. The tool allows for the centralization of project information, enabling team members to access, share, and update data in real time.
With features such as customizable dashboards, automated workflows, and real-time reporting, QuickBase also helps small businesses keep track of project progress, manage tasks, and make data-driven decisions. The no-code aspect of the platform is particularly beneficial for small businesses that may not have extensive IT resources, as it allows them to tailor applications to their specific needs without requiring programming expertise.
QuickBase Standout Features & Integrations
Features include a customizable database, form builder, reporting tools and dashboards, collaboration tools, mobile access, user permissions and access control, data import and export functionalities, audit trails and version control, and security and data governance capabilities.
Integrations include Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Tableau, Jira, Procore, and Zapier.
Zoho Projects is an online project management tool that lets teams plan, track, and collaborate on project work. The tool is scalable for small businesses and mid-size businesses.
Why I picked Zoho Projects: It allows users to set up project plans, as well as create and assign ad-hoc tasks across the team. The tool also includes features like flexible work hours, baselines, and critical paths in Gantt charts, team based work allocation, and task reminders. Time tracking and resource utilization features help managers ensure that employees are not over or under worked.
Users can automate task transitions and workflows, track activities and progress by using the advanced reports, and manage budgets with expense management features. Collaboration features include team-wide and individual discussion management, a meeting tab to facilitate virtual meetings, a social feed to interact with and keep track of all your project activities, a forum to discuss ideas and solutions, and a central document management module to manage all information. Mobile applications are also available.
Zoho Projects Standout Features & Integrations
Features include critical path, resource utilization, task workflow automations, virtual meetings, project forums, multiple task views, issue tracking, charts, and reporting.
Integrations include Zoho apps like Zoho CRM, Zoho Cliq, Zoho Meeting, as well as with other third party apps like Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Zapier, Zendesk, and ServiceNow.
Hub Planner is a simple online project management tool designed to help small businesses manage their resources, schedules, and projects more efficiently. With advanced features such as resource management, scheduling, time tracking, collaboration, and customizability, Hub Planner is ideal for teams looking to improve their project management capabilities.
Why I Picked Hub Planner: Hub Planner stands out for its comprehensive resource management and scheduling features, user-friendly interface, and excellent customer support. I appreciated the platform's ability to track and allocate resources effectively, manage complex projects with ease, and visualize project progress through its Gantt chart feature. The platform's flexibility and customizability, as well as its integration with other software tools, are also worth checking out. Furthermore, users appreciate the responsiveness and helpfulness of Hub Planner's customer support team. Overall, Hub Planner's powerful features, intuitive interface, and exceptional support have made it a popular choice among businesses looking to improve their project management capabilities.
Hub Planner Standout Features & Integrations
Features include resource management, PTO planning, timesheets, reporting, skills matching, task management, templates, drag and drop scheduler, project budgets, approval flow, smart scheduler, and third-party integrations/add-ons.
Integrations include DIY options via their Hub Planner API and webhook. Or, open an account with Zapier for more options (may incur an additional cost).
Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard with over 1,000 templates including mind maps, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, product wireframes, research boards, and flowcharts. It’s trusted by 99% of the Fortune 100, and used by teams at TransUnion, HP, Upwork, Cisco, Qlik, and Atkins. Miro’s visual platform is built for hybrid work, and has robust resources for continuous learning like Miro Academy, online events, and a community forum.
One of Miro’s many functionalities is as a project management tool with a focus on interactive, visual work boards. Project management is seamless with built-in video conferencing, Agile workflows, ideation and brainstorming templates, and wireframing tools. Paid plans allow guest and visitor access so you can collaborate with clients and stakeholders.
At The Digital Project Manager, we use Miro to map out content clusters and to visualize content workflows from start (brainstorming ideas) to finish (publishing the content on our site).
Miro has integrations with a whole suite of tools, including Zoom, Figma, Asana, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, Box, Airtable, Notion, Azure, and Webex. Some integrations are limited to paid plans only.
Miro is free to use for unlimited members with up to 3 editable boards. Paid plans start at $8/user/month (billed annually).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Free forever plan available
- Intuitive and easy setup
- Built-in communication features for streamlined collaboration
Cons:
- Visitor/guest accounts locked to paid plans only
- Zooming can be jumpy on larger projects
- Free version does not allow high-quality export to pdf
Best for a highly versatile and collaborative platform
FigJam is an online whiteboard tool created by Figma that easily connects with Figma's design tool to bring together your team's brainstorming, project planning, and execution.
Why I picked FigJam: This software provides a really flexible solution for project planning and management. Your team can facilitate different types of teamwork with the whiteboards, including brainstorming, workflow design, and strategic planning. I added it to my list because this versatility can be super useful for startups and small businesses where teams are planning, executing, and ideating in quick succession.
The whiteboards can be created from a blank canvas, or you can select from any of the pre-built templates included in the platform. Templates for brainstorm frameworks, timelines, roadmaps, and more are available. Your team can create workflows, come up with ideas, and more. Automations are also included that can auto-sort your notes into action items, group similar post-its, and other time-saving hacks.
FigJam Standout Features & Integrations
Features include pre-built project management templates, audio and live chat, stamp and emoji reacts, external collaborator access, calendar and timeline widgets, bitmoji avatars, music player, and mobile app.
Integrations include Figma, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Jira, Mixpanel, and Github.
Paymo is one of the best project management software for small businesses. Paymo helps freelancers and small teams manage their projects and tasks, track work time, and bill clients from the same platform. You can use it across devices in your web browser or by downloading their app (Android and iOS).
Why I picked Paymo: You can manage different workspaces and workflows, communicate in real-time, set recurring tasks, assign multiple users, and set deadlines and priorities. View all your tasks across all projects grouped by priority, progress, or due date. Even better, use the meta Kanban board to overview your team’s tasks grouped by workflow and user.
You can set a task hours budget and get notifications for due dates or exceeded budgets. Then, track time spent on tasks and projects and turn those timesheets into reports and invoices. Add time entries via form or add time in bulk if you need to log time for several tasks and projects.
Paymo Standout Features & Integrations
Features include invoicing from timesheets, online payments, file proofing, automatic time tracking, team scheduling, Gantt charts, and reporting.
Integrations include popular apps such as Slack, Google Suite, QuickBooks Online, Xero, JotForm, and Shift, to name a few. Other integrations are available through Zapier or by syncing with their fully-documented API.
Free for freelancers and teams of up to 10 users.
Forecast is a project management software for small business that unites your projects, resources, and financials in one AI-powered platform.
Why I picked Forecast: You can leverage Forecast’s workflow automation capabilities to create smart schedules, estimate timeframes and budgets, and populate timesheets instantly.
Additionally, you can control the workflow by building out detailed task lists and flagging clear priorities. Task cards allow every team member to easily comment, share files, and register time spent. Everything related to the specific task appears in one place, including dependencies and subtasks. You can put together projects for any type of work: fixed price, time and material, or retainer.
Forecast’s AI learns from previous work and suggests the number of hours you normally register on similar tasks to help you log time faster. You can monitor time registrations from a team perspective and notify each member if they forget to enter something in. Time tracking utilization on a company-wide level is calculated for you for easy alerts, estimates, and reporting.
Forecast Standout Features & Integrations
Features include resource management, project accounting, business intelligence, retainer budget-type projects, auto-schedule, and AI-based recommendations.
Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, iCloud Calendar, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Outlook, Harvest, Trello, Asana, GitLab, Github, and dozens more using a paid plan through Zapier. Higher-tier subscriptions include native integrations with Timelog, Xero, QuickBooks Online, JIRA, Azure DevOps, Salesforce, Okta, OneLogin, and Azure Active Directory.
Trello is perhaps one of the best know Kanban board tools in the project management space (not that there aren't alternatives popping up regularly) and it offers a free plan that small businesses will love.
Why I picked Trello: It can be your primary planning and organization tool or simply complement whatever else you are using on a daily basis.
Trello boasts a ridiculously easy learning curve at the cost of hosting some of the more advanced features of some of the other project management tools out there. However, for a basic Kanban board structure—with customizable categories and data fields—with unlimited card creation, Trello really can't be beat.
Trello Standout Features & Integrations
Features include unlimited card creation (even on the free plan), no-code automations, activity logs, project templates, mobile device management, unlimited activity logs, and custom backgrounds & stickers (fun!).
Integrations include more than 200+ apps and tools your team depends on like Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce, Dropbox and more directly into your Trello boards. (Note: Some connections require an additional subscription fee.)
Trello is free to use for unlimited users.
Trusted by over 6,000 businesses and 20,000 agencies, Teamwork provides tons of project management features, as well as offering a free project management system with some feature limitations. Track your team's workload capacity in the app to avoid bottlenecks based on overloaded scheduling; you can easily drag-and-drop items to re-prioritize or re-assign blocked work.
Teamwork boasts plenty of self-lead training materials, which can be a huge help to SMBs who lack time and resources for 1:1 onboarding of new tools across the company. You can access prerecorded and live webinars, the Teamwork blog, a downloadable software guide, a detailed wiki/resource center, and feature videos.
Teamwork grants you unlimited 'client' accounts to best include external stakeholders in your planning and execution processes. You can tailor client access and permissions within the admin menu, so that they can only see and touch items and reports that are relevant to their projects. Clients can add tasks, leave comments, and even log time from their guest account.
Teamwork integrates with Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, Dropbox, Slack, Microsoft Teams, MS Office, Harvest, Quickbooks, Xero, Hubspot, SharePoint, Microsoft Project, SoftSync, and hundreds of others using a paid plan through Zapier.
Teamwork has a free plan for basic task and project management. Paid plans cost from $10/user/month and come with a 30-day free trial.
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The Best Project Management Software For Small Business Comparison Chart
Here is a convenient table where you can see all the tools side by side. Compare them, and, if you want to expand your research, we have even more tools below!
Tools | Price | |
---|---|---|
monday.com | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Website |
QuickBase | From $35/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
Zoho Projects | From $5/user/month | Website |
Hub Planner | From $7/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
Miro | From $10/user/month | Website |
FigJam by Figma | From $3/user/month | Website |
Paymo | From $5.95/user/month | Website |
Forecast | Pricing upon request | Website |
Trello | From $6/user/month | Website |
Teamwork.com | From $5.99/user/month (billed annually). | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareOther Options
Here are more tools that did not make it to the top 10 but are worth your consideration.
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Asana
Best for goal setting & tracking
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Hubstaff Tasks
Best easy Agile project management
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Basecamp
Best for project management beginners
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Projectworks
Best for consultants, engineering firms, and architects
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CROOW
Best for workflow customization & automation
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TeamGantt
Best easy, low-cost Gantt charts
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Height
Best for its number of features available for free
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GanttPRO
Best for Gantt chart templates
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ClickUp
Best for its premium features available in the free version
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MeisterTask
Best for brainstorming, ideation, and task management in one
How I Picked The Best Project Management Software for Small Business
What are we looking for when we select the best project management tools for small teams for review?
I evaluated and compared the most popular project management tools on the market, both for their user reviews and popularity. Then I weighed factors that make software a good option for project management in small teams, such as the following ones.
User Interface (UI)
I look at how these tools use white space and distribute their features visually.
Even if you are a small business, you sometimes have complex projects that demand all your focus. Therefore, the tool you use shouldn't add more stress on top of it. Finding the different features and collaboration tools in a UI has to be easy.
Usability
The tool should be intuitive to use. Otherwise, it should have the proper support to make it easy to learn. Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? What is the learning curve like?
Integrations
Almost every project management system has different ways to connect with other software options. Therefore, I look at pre-built integrations and third-party vendors like Zapier. Finally, I mention available APIs and webhooks that you can use to custom-built integrations according to your business needs.
Pricing
In a small business, price sensitivity is higher. Therefore, I look at the price per month on monthly plans, free trials, and free versions. Many tools also offer free plans that are suitable for managing projects at a small business. Some of the key benefits offered with paid plans are unlimited users, real-time customer support, additional project views, or advanced project management features that may not be relevant to you! So I’ve included info on each tool’s free options.
Small Business Project Management FAQs
Find answers to common questions other people ask about this topic.
What is project management software for small business?
Project management software is software that helps PMs plan, execute and control their projects across the five phases of the project lifecycle. Additionally, it helps the project team and stakeholders work together more effectively. The ultimate goal of the software is to help deliver value more efficiently by facilitating organization, communication, and management.
In a small business, the PM tool you choose will become the command centre from which you control all project-related information in the company. Therefore, choosing a tool is something you must carefully consider.
See a list of some free workflow software for small teams.
What key features should I look for in PM software for small business?
Ideally, you want your project management tool to have a little bit of everything. This is mostly because most small businesses don’t have the budget to pay for several tools.
- File sharing at a task level. Very common in PM software and will help you share more than just text-based project progress.
- Mobile app access. Important to have so you can track projects on the go. Especially if you are constantly out of the office, visiting clients.
- Templates. A way to easily start new projects. This will save you A LOT of time.
- Team collaboration. In most cases an ability to talk to other team members, such as mentions, comments, and an in-app chat.
- Invoicing and billing. This one is key if you work with a lot of freelancers or other external contributors.
- Real-time help desk support. Look for a tool that has good tool support. Key if you don’t have IT support people in your company yet.
- Flexible alerts & notifications. Key feature if you want to stay on top of what your teams are doing across projects.
- Multiple project views. Timeline views, calendar views, Scrum and Kanban boards, Gantt charts, roadmaps…the more, the merrier!
- Task management. Task assignment, custom fields to outline your tasks, deadlines, task dependencies, and other tools to clarify and streamline tasks.
Does a small business need a project manager?
Short answer is yes! In a small business, you can think of the project manager as a very organized person you have within your ranks.
Small businesses normally have big ambitions and, because of that ambition, take on all sorts of initiatives. A project manager can make sure you deliver consistently on the work where you have commitments with a client. In turn, this lets you run wild with all other experiments.
You might also need a CRM if you want to have control over your client information and interactions.
What's Next?
Since you are part of a small business, you need additional knowledge besides a list of tools. Therefore, I recommend you read what is a project charter and how it can help you start projects on the right foot. At this stage, you might also benefit from learning how to write a project proposal and act as a bridge between sales and delivery.
Related tool lists: