10 Best Project Planning Tools & Software List [2021]

If you’re a Project Manager, then you know that there is one way to ensure a project’s success: plan, plan and plan some more. Plan your team’s workload and plan your milestones; plan your budget and plan your emergency budget if that budget doesn’t work; plan your communication strategy and plan your road bump response; plan the stages of your critical path strategy; plotting a comprehensive roadmap. Plan, plan, plan!

A successful project is all about having the right plan. But how can you make building and maintaining your project plan as easy as possible? Bring in some support software. Project planning tools like Wrike and Nutcache can help you track task progress, collaborate on ideas, and set common goals. Leaning on tools like this will make your life much easier.

Did you know that 77% of high-performing projects use dedicated software to support their project across its lifecycle? That’s right!

Project planning doesn’t have to feel like you’re drowning in notes, calendars, and messages. Find a project planning tool that does the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on the important stuff. In this article, I will evaluate some of the best tools for project planning and provide a simple summary of where each item excels.

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Not looking for project planning tools? Check out our other lists of top project management software and other tools:

1. Need help building, storing, and processing timesheets? Try these 10 Best Time Tracking Software For Employees.
2. Need tools for managing a smaller project team? Try these 10 Best Project Management Software For Small Business.
3. Have concerns about risk management? Try some of the Best Risk Management Software for Enterprises and Midsize Businesses.

Key Features For Project Planning Tools

1. Gantt chart builder (or see a roundup of Gantt chart tools)
2. Team collaboration tools (or see a roundup of collaboration tools)
3. Resource planning (or see a round-up of resource management tools)
4. Workflow management (or see a round-up of workflow management tools)
5. Requirements management (or see a round-up of requirements management tools)
6. Analytics & reporting tools (or see a round-up of reporting tools)
7. Timeline & schedule builder
8. Budget management & planning
9. File sharing & file management
10. Drag and drop schedule editing
11. Work management (task lists, task boards)

Project Planning Comparison Criteria

What am I looking for when we select project planning tools for review? Beyond the key features that I look for, here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:

1. User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive?
2. Usability: Is it easy to learn and master? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Do they offer apps for Android and iOS, and how well do they work?
3. Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations?
4. Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible? Do they offer a free plan or free trial?

Overviews Of The Project Planning Tools Software

Here’s a brief description of each of the project planning tools that are featured on this top 10 list.

• 14 days free trial
• From $17/month for 2 users

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1. monday.com – Best for Google users (G Suite and so on)

Use monday.com for any Scrum project planning.

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• freemium version
• 14 days free trial
• From $10/user/month

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2. Runn – Resource and project planning tool with integrated time-tracking, variance reporting, and financial forecasting

Runn's charts update in real-time as you schedule project assignments.

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• freemium version
• 30 days free trial
• From $90/month (Includes 10 users)

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3. Kissflow Project – Best collaborative project planning tool

Kissflow Project allows users to plan the team’s work, see who’s working on what, and deliver great results with minimal tracking.

Kissflow Project is a collaborative project planning tool designed to focus on collaboration, transparency, coordination, and productivity. Tracking features are streamlined to provide a clearer view of items and tasks that actually matter.

Kissflow Project’s customizable platform gives you total control and adapts to your team’s needs. It offers multiple views for projects, including Kanban boards, list views, and swimlanes. The Project States function helps users reduce the amount of tracking they need to do by allowing team members to mark tasks with one of three statuses — on hold, in progress, and done.

The tool allows users to share project plans, documents, and other files, as well as discuss projects directly within the software. Team members also get reminders when due dates are approaching. Another great feature is the ability to set priorities and assign team members to them.

Kissflow integrations include native Microsoft and G suite integrations, and the platform offers a REST API and webhooks.

Pricing for Kissflow Project starts at $90 per month.

Pros

• Multiple views like Kanban, lists, and swimlanes
• On hold, in progress, and done states available for tracking progress
• Powerful reporting features

Cons

• No Gantt chart
• No ability to set up recurring tasks
• Not intended for complex projects

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• freemium version
• 14 days free trial
• From $9.80/user/month

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4. Wrike – Best free project planning tool

Organize tasks and subtasks in a Kanban board.

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• 14 days free trial
• From $6/user/month

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5. Nutcache – Best time tracker + planner

Customizable timelines for planning what needs to be done and when.

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• 14 days free trial
• From $10/user/month

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6. ProWorkflow – Best for mobile users

A work breakdown structure plotted across an intuitive calendar.

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• 14 days free trial
• From $12/user/month

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7. Hive – Best Gantt chart maker

Project timelines and planning sorted by assignees.

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• freemium version
• From $19 /month for up to 5 users.

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8. Mavenlink – Best for resource management and planning

Organize project progress according to soft and hard allocations.

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• 30 days free trial
• From $25/5 user/month

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9. Celoxis – Best for Microsoft software integrations

Use custom fields to label and track tasks with flexibility.

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• 30 days free trial
• $15/user/month

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10. ProjectManager – Best timeline builder

Manage project tasks using spreadsheets and Gantt charts.

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Summary Of The Best Project Planning Tools

Software	Overview	Free Option	Price	Site
monday.com	Read monday.com features & functionality	14 days free trial	From $17/month for 2 users	Check out monday.com
Runn	Read Runn features & functionality	Freemium version 14 days free trial	From $10/user/month	Check out Runn
Kissflow Project	Read Kissflow Project features & functionality	Freemium version 30 days free trial	From $90/month (Includes 10 users)	Check out Kissflow Project
Wrike	Read Wrike features & functionality	Freemium version 14 days free trial	From $9.80/user/month	Check out Wrike
Nutcache	Read Nutcache features & functionality	14 days free trial	From $6/user/month	Check out Nutcache
ProWorkflow	Read ProWorkflow features & functionality	14 days free trial	From $10/user/month	Check out ProWorkflow
Hive	Read Hive features & functionality	14 days free trial	From $12/user/month	Check out Hive
Mavenlink	Read Mavenlink features & functionality	Freemium version	From $19 /month for up to 5 users.	Check out Mavenlink
Celoxis	Read Celoxis features & functionality	30 days free trial	From $25/5 user/month	Check out Celoxis
ProjectManager	Read ProjectManager features & functionality	30 days free trial	$15/user/month	Check out ProjectManager

Other Project Planning Tools Options

Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list. If you need additional suggestions for handy project planning tools, check these out.

1. Yanado Task + Project Management – Good for Google software users; offers native integration with GSuite and Gmail.
2. FunctionFox – Good for cloud-based time tracking and invoice planning.
3. TeamGantt – Good for Gantt chart building and other scheduling visuals.
4. MS Projects – Good for teams already familiar with the Microsoft software interface.
5. Zoho Projects – Good for planning for midsize and small teams.
6. Freedcamp – Good for Agile task management.
7. Asana – Good for team members who aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
8. Trello – Good as a project management tool with Kanban-style planning.

What Do You Think About These Project Planning Tools?

Have you tried out any project planning tools listed above? What tool would you pick as the best online project planning tool? Is there any project planning software that you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments.