Fresh Finds: The New Tools PM Experts Are Excited About Right Now
All-in-One Platforms: New purpose-built project management tools offer immediate structure for agencies, eliminating long setup times.
AI Meeting Tools: AI note-taking solutions help PMs stay present during meetings while capturing key information effortlessly.
Custom Solutions: Accessible AI development platforms empower PMs to create tailored tools, building their own solutions to meet specific needs.
Unconventional Tools: Some effective PM tools come from outside the industry, offering innovative solutions for coordination and workflow issues.
Mindset Shift: Project managers are increasingly experimenting with and customizing tools that suit their unique workflows and requirements.
The project management tooling landscape is shifting fast. Between AI-powered assistants, purpose-built agency platforms, and PMs who are simply rolling up their sleeves and building their own vibe-coded tools, the way project managers work today looks very different from even a few years ago. We asked a group of experienced PMs to share the tools that have genuinely changed how they work — not the household names, but the ones they've recently discovered, tested, and integrated into their day-to-day lives. Here's what they had to say.
All-in-One Project Management Platforms
For PMs tired of spending weeks configuring tools before they can actually use them, a new wave of purpose-built platforms is offering something different: structure that's ready on day one.
Kayla Keizer, a project manager at Northern, discovered Productive.io and found it addressed a frustration many PMs know well. "It's [Productive.io] amazing. It's specifically designed for agencies and agency work," she says, describing it as "if you didn't have to set up ClickUp at all, that's what productive is." What stood out to her was that "out of the box, you have a foundation of how you should be doing things and how it should all work. You have your budgets that you can track, you have your projects that you can track. It already has what you need for different contract types."
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It’s [Productive.io] amazing. It’s specifically designed for agencies and agency work
Christina Sookram, a Delivery Lead at ETAS came across a tool that takes a different approach to structure. "One of the [best new] tools is called Proggio," she shares. "It's a project management tool that uses work streams to organize your project plan. So based on the nature of the project that you're working on and the scope of the project, it will suggest work streams for you to help you build out your work breakdown structure, which I found really interesting."
One of the [best new] tools is called Progio. It’s a project management tool that uses work streams to organize your project plan.
AI Meeting Tools & Note-Takers
One of the most consistent pain points for project managers is meetings — specifically, the tension between being present and capturing everything. A new generation of AI note-taking tools is trying to solve exactly that.
For Megan Cotterman, a PM and Operations Consultant, the answer has been Fathom. "One of my favorite tools is Fathom for AI meeting note generation," she explains, pointing to "the ability to be present in a meeting and not be worrying about ferociously taking notes mixed with the AI feature where you can ask it questions afterwards." For her, the combination was decisive: "that one is the one that was a game changer for me last year."
One of my favorite tools is Fathom for AI meeting note generation. I love having the ability to be present in a meeting and not be worrying about ferociously taking notes.
Technical Project Manager Ryan Gilbreath has found a similar value in Read AI, and describes it in even stronger terms. "One tool that would make me say, 'I have to have this' is Read AI my AI note taker," he says. "It has really become my second brain, especially for meetings." But what sets it apart for him goes beyond note-taking: "it also has a coaching feature. So it can monitor my voice, my tone, my articulation, and just assess like, hey, how did I do on this call earlier?"
One tool that would make me say, ‘I have to have this’ is Read AI my AI note taker
AI Assistants & Custom-Built Tools
Some PMs aren't waiting for the perfect tool to be built — they're building it themselves. Thanks to the rise of accessible AI development platforms, creating custom solutions is more within reach than ever.
Ryan Gilbreath has taken this approach with Google AI Studio. "I use Google AI Studio…you can create different solutions based on vibe coding," he explains. "And I've actually created a PM Assistant using Google AI Studio that has a voice mode. So if I'm debriefing, I need to just do a brain dump, I can just turn that on my voice mode."
Michael Gold, founder of Gold Project Management, took a similar build-it-yourself approach when his CRM costs started to feel unsustainable. "I just built my own CRM using Replit because I was using Close but it was costing me like $100 a month for me," he says. "And instead I just built my own paying only $25 a month for Replit." It's a reminder that for technically curious PMs, the best tool on the market might be one you make yourself.
I just built my own CRM using Replit because I was using Close but it was costing me like $100 a month for me.
Creative & Unconventional PM Tools
Not every tool that ends up in a PM's toolkit was designed for project management — and sometimes the most effective solutions come from unexpected places.
Alexandria O'Bannon, Staffing Manager at JUMP! Foundation, has built her staffing workflow around a tool that was never meant for it. "A new tool that I've been using is not a PM tool but I've made it a PM tool and it works really great for my work process," she says, introducing a "really cheap subscription called WhenAvailable." She describes it as "basically a RSVP calendar," explaining that "I just click all the regions that I want to send people... it generates a list for me of who's available in what countries on what dates and I just staff it from there." It's a simple solution to a coordination challenge that can otherwise eat up hours.
New tool that I’ve been using is not a PM tool but I’ve made it a PM tool and it works really great for my work process. It’s a really cheap subscription called WhenAvailable, which is basically an RSVP calendar.
The Current State of Tooling
What stands out across all of these recommendations isn't just the tools themselves — it's the mindset behind them. These PMs aren't waiting for one perfect platform to solve everything. They're experimenting, repurposing, and in some cases, building exactly what they need. Whether it's an out-of-the-box agency platform, an AI that coaches you on how you communicate, or a scheduling tool quietly moonlighting as a staffing solution, the best tool is ultimately the one that fits the way you actually work.
