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With so many different agency resource management solutions available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want to organize and manage agency resources like staff and budgets effectively, but you need to figure out which tool is best. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using dozens of different resourcing tools with various agencies, with my picks of the best agency resource management software.

What is Agency Resource Management Software?

Agency resource management software is a tool that helps agencies efficiently manage their internal resources. This includes organizing staff assignments, tracking time and budgets, overseeing project progress, and facilitating better team collaboration. Essentially, it's a comprehensive solution for agencies to optimize their operations, from resource allocation to project delivery, ensuring that every aspect of the agency's work is effectively managed and coordinated.

Overviews of the 10 Best Agency Resource Management Software

Here’s a brief description of each agency resource management software that showcases each tool’s best use case and their noteworthy features. I’ve also included screenshots to give you a snapshot of their user interface too.

1

monday.com

Best for marketing agencies with simple capacity planning needs

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7
8702 reviews

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats)

Monday.com is an agency resource management software with a creative management tool built specifically for marketers.

Why I picked Monday.com: Monday.com is a flexible platform that makes it easy for marketing agencies to see projected timelines, outstanding projects, and available resources. The simple, well-designed interface is easy to learn, meaning that teams can get started planning and tracking right away. The handy workload view allows you to see team capacity and make any necessary adjustments to ownership or timeline.

Monday Marketer provides marketing-specific features built to suit industry needs. You can collect and manage creative requests, monitor projects, review briefs, and even upload digital assets. The tool also speeds up the approval process by allowing you to annotate images and videos.

Monday.com Standout Features & Integrations

Features include Gantt charts, dashboards, real-time collaboration, file management, resource management, and real-time scheduling.

Integrations include Slack, Jira, GitHub, Excel, Dropbox, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Typeform. Further integrations are available by connecting a paid Zapier account.

2

Kantata

Best agency resource management software for comprehensive all-in-one coverage

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1
716 reviews

Free demo

Pricing upon request

Kantata is an agency resource management software that blends project accounting, analysis, planning, and execution together in a single platform.

Why I picked Kantata: If you’re looking for a tool that can do it all, look no further than Kantata. The platform has modules for project management, business intelligence, team collaboration, accounting, and resource management, bringing them all together into a system of dashboards. Users can view real-time utilization at both the task and project levels, and can track time and expenses as well.

Kantata offers clients access to their BI consultants, who can provide further data by building custom reports and providing onboarding training to your team. The platform features resource forecasting, scenario planning, role-based planning, skills management, and capacity management.

Kantata Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource forecasting and capacity management, custom reporting and trends analysis, built-in reports, real-time utilization, project costing, invoicing, and budget management.

Integrations include Expensify, G Suite, Netsuite, Jira, HubSpot, Xero, Salesforce, Slack, Concur, Qualtrics, Dynamics 365, and Quickbooks. Custom integrations can be created via M-Bridge.

3

Resource Guru

Best for international agencies with complex scheduling needs

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7
173 reviews

30-day free trial available

From $3/user/month

Resource Guru is an agency resource management software with a simple UI and powerful, customizable features.

Why I picked Resource Guru: It provides you with a lot of control over how you interact with the scheduling features. With resource availability, you can set default and normal availability patterns, and exceptions for special circumstances. When booking clashes arise, you can place a booking on a waitlist. Additionally, custom fields let you categorize users in any way you prefer.

In settings, you can choose custom filters to focus on the resources you’d like to see. Resource Guru also includes a leave management system, making it easy for managers to approve requests with an understanding of upcoming workloads.  

Resource Guru Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource scheduling, resource management, leave management, project scheduling, equipment management, meeting room booking, capacity planning, and project forecasting reports.

Integrations are available by connecting a paid Zapier account.

4

Productive

Best for marketing agencies that deal with frequent changes of scope

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7
28 reviews

14-day free trial

From $11/user/month

Productive is an agency resource management software that provides real-time capacity insights.

Why I picked Productive: Marketing agencies are accustomed to changes of scope. Sadly, trial by committee dilutes and diverts creative strategy, and changes often need to be made quickly, at the eleventh hour. Productive makes it easy to view available resources and create an environment of team collaboration to complete the project.

Filters enable you to zoom in on specific views by team member, teams, and budgets. Heat maps and capacity indicators help you see when anyone is overbooked. And Productive’s “insights library” gives you a micro and macro overview of current and future utilization for capacity planning. 

Productive Standout Features & Integrations

Features include billable utilization by person, capacity insights, booking insights, scheduling, placeholders, vacation requests, and operations analytics. 

Integrations include Quickbooks, Jira, Xero, Exact, Slack, Harvest Import, Fortnox, and Personio. More integrations are available by connecting a paid Zapier account.

5

Hub Planner

Best for agencies that want to manage resources, projects, and budgets in one place

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2
16 reviews

30-day free trial

From $7/user/month (billed annually)

Hub Planner is a cloud-based resource and project management software with scheduling, time tracking, leave management, and skills matching features.

Why I picked Hub Planner: Agencies can use the software to allocate their resources based on availability, skills, and expertise. The software can auto-assign projects and tasks to various team members, and fill in the gaps of necessary resources. Capacity management gives users an overview of their team's capacity and allocate tasks accordingly. Time can be tracked in both billable and non-billable hours, and time tracking works both online and offline.

Users can track resource utilization and generate reports based on individual projects or an entire portfolio. Reports can be customized to include only the information relevant to the user, and exported in various formats, making it easy to share them with stakeholders. The software also has a budgeting tool that provides real-time project costs, so agencies can track expenses as they progress and avoid overspending.

Hub Planner Standout Features & Integrations

Features include 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 can be configured via their Hub Planner API, or with a paid Zapier account.

6

ProjectManager.com

Best for IT agencies that need precision tracking

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4
93 reviews

30-day free trial

From $16/user/month

ProjectManager is an agency resource management software that helps users make detailed resource plans.

Why I picked ProjectManager: ProjectManager places IT agencies in better control of their schedules, resources and costs. Real-time resource management allows you to balance team workload, cost-tracking features help you stay within budget, and dynamic plans enable you to incorporate resource management into your larger project plan.

Additionally, you can assign tasks and view the hours worked by team members to better understand capacity levels. Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to reassign tasks and make sure everyone remains productive. You can also make accurate estimates of planned costs, set hourly rates, and track time on timesheets. 

ProjectManager Standout Features & Integrations

Features include Gantt charts, project portfolios, Kanban boards, dashboards, reports, task lists, workflow automation, and team collaboration.

Integrations include Slack, Trello, Jira, Excel, MS Project, and Office 365.

7

ActiveCollab

Best agency resource management software for small teams

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3
80 reviews

14-day free trial + free plan

From $6.25/user/month

ActiveCollab is an agency resource management software that uses a simple interface to help you allocate resources.

Why I picked ActiveCollab: ActiveCollab has in-depth planning features, helpful financial estimate features, and detailed resource planning dashboards. You can manage teams across projects, track time on tasks, and issue invoices according to billable hours.

The interface is simple and straightforward while still providing ample functionality. New users will find it easy to learn the platform and establish a system that works for their team. You can quickly begin to maximize utilization without the risk of burnout, remaining on time and on budget too.

ActiveCollab Standout Features & Integrations

Features include work management, team collaboration, time management, resource management, business profitability, and multiple task views.

Integrations include DropBox, Trello, Basecamp, Asana, Wrike, Slack, Hubstaff, TimeCamp, Quickbooks, Xero, Braintree, Stripe, and PayPal.

8

Ganttic

Best agency resource management software for remote teams

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4
33 reviews

14 days free trial

From $25 month/20 resources/ unlimited users

Ganttic is an agency resource management software that allows users to allocate resources from multiple locations and time zones.

Why I picked Ganttic: For agencies with teams spread out across the globe, Ganttic makes it easy to create schedules that include collaboration across time zones. You can filter availability results based on locations and departments, client and project requirements, team member certifications and skill sets, time zones, budgets and salaries.

Scheduling changes in Ganttic are sent out as an automatic alert, and push notifications make sure the team is aware. Reports can be automated so that as soon as a project wraps, you’ll be ready to analyze and use the data to plan more accurately for the future. 

Ganttic Standout Features & Integrations

Features include drag-and-drop scheduling, automated reporting, CSV import, customizable views, capacity planning, and equipment management.

Integrations can be accessed through the custom API, or by connecting a paid Zapier account.

9

Mosaic

Best agency resource management software for visualizing the team’s workload

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4
14 reviews

30 days free trial

From $9.99/user/month (billed annually)

Mosaic is an agency resource management software built for advertising agencies. 

Why I picked Mosaic: Mosaic is a highly visual platform that uses well-organized Gantt charts and heatmaps to display metrics like utilization, role demand, profit, and team workload. You can forecast demand by role and then compare each role’s capacity. This way, you’ll know exactly who you need to hire, and when to start recruiting.

Mosaic seeks to mitigate scope creep by recapturing additional services and adjusting budgets. Real-time budget visibility helps to ensure that every project remains profitable. You can even integrate Mosaic with your existing financial software to access new insights.

Mosaic Standout Features & Integrations

Features include budget and time tracking, dashboards and reporting, workforce management, AI, automation, forecasting, and real-time visibility.

Integrations include BST Global, Deltek, Oracle, Unanet, ADP, Asana, Clockify, HubSpot, Quickbooks, and Salesforce. 

10

TeamGantt

Best agency resource management software for quick onboarding

30-day free trial

From $24/manager/month

TeamGantt is a flexible agency resource management software that allows users to quickly set up and track projects.

Why I picked TeamGantt: TeamGantt specializes in task planning tools and resource management charts. Within the platform you can also track team availability and workloads, as well as chat and tag team members and create customizable alerts.

It’s important to have every team member on the same page when you’re scheduling, and TeamGantt addresses this challenge by providing users with a “read-only” URL that’s shareable. From inside their cloud-based resource management solution, you can manage physical assets in addition to people, while viewing resource availability across all active projects at once.

TeamGantt Standout Features & Integrations

Features include drag-and-drop scheduling, unified project views, workload management, team collaboration, portfolio reviews, and automated reports.

Integrations include Slack, Trello, and Dropbox, and further integrations can be accessed through their API or by connecting a paid Zapier account.

The 10 Best Agency Resource Management Software Summary

Tool Trial Info Price
1
monday.com

Best for marketing agencies with simple capacity planning needs

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) Website
2
Kantata

Best agency resource management software for comprehensive all-in-one coverage

Free demo

Pricing upon request Website
3
Resource Guru

Best for international agencies with complex scheduling needs

30-day free trial available

From $3/user/month Website
4
Productive

Best for marketing agencies that deal with frequent changes of scope

14-day free trial

From $11/user/month Website
5
Hub Planner

Best for agencies that want to manage resources, projects, and budgets in one place

30-day free trial

From $7/user/month (billed annually) Website
6
ProjectManager.com

Best for IT agencies that need precision tracking

30-day free trial

From $16/user/month Website
7
ActiveCollab

Best agency resource management software for small teams

14-day free trial + free plan

From $6.25/user/month Website
8
Ganttic

Best agency resource management software for remote teams

14 days free trial

From $25 month/20 resources/ unlimited users Website
9
Mosaic

Best agency resource management software for visualizing the team’s workload

30 days free trial

From $9.99/user/month (billed annually) Website
10
TeamGantt

Best agency resource management software for quick onboarding

30-day free trial

From $24/manager/month Website

Other Options

Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the best agency resource management software list:

  1. Wrike

    Best for agencies that also need robust project management features

  2. Celoxis

    Best for managing resources across inter-connected projects

  3. Float

    Best for production teams that need tiered permissions

  4. Function Point

    Point - Best for design studios seeking to track and improve profitability

  5. Runn

    Best agency resource management software for drag-and-drop resource allocation

  6. eResource Scheduler

    Best for managing resources across teams and departments

  7. Smartsheet

    Best agency resource management software for advanced workflow automation

  8. Zoho Projects

    Best agency resource management software for balanced workload allocation

  9. Forecast

    Best agency resource management software for AI functionality

  10. Teamwork

    Best agency resource management software for long-term forecasting

How I Selected the Best Agency Resource Management Software

Curious how I chose my list of the best agency resource management software? I began by comparing a wide range of tools with positive user ratings. I asked myself how they stacked up against one another, and what stood out about each individual platform.

After choosing my long list, I narrowed it down using the selection criteria below. The agency resource management software platforms that met each of the criteria made it to my shortlist.

Selection Criteria

Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best resource management software for this article:

  • User Interface: I selected software that had simple, intuitive interfaces. These tools shouldn’t require specialized knowledge to get set up, or be overly fussy or complicated in any way. The onboarding process needs to be straightforward and relatively quick so you can begin planning as soon as possible.
  • Depth of Data: When I compiled this list I tried to include tools that covered the spectrum, from more straightforward options to in-depth platforms. Some go a step beyond to also offer industry-specific functionality, extra reporting capabilities, or additional project management features.
  • Integrations: I chose agency resource management software platforms that integrate with a variety of other tools. These include those that assist with accounting, communication, project management, and client relations. Many of the tools offer integrations that are native within the platform, while some offer integrations through a third party account like Zapier, or a custom API.
  • Pricing: I picked tools that achieve a balance between cost effectiveness and value. Many of them also offer freemium plans, and free demos and trial periods. 

Agency Resource Management Software FAQs

When choosing the best agency resource management software for your team, it’s helpful to understand the primary benefits and use cases. Let’s take a look at a few of the most frequently asked questions about resource management software.

Learn More About Agency Resource Management

To learn more about agency resource management, you can start by learning the elements that go into a resource management plan. Then, go through the list of 6 techniques to master resource management tasks.

Related tools list:

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By Galen Low

Galen is a digital project manager with over 10 years of experience shaping and delivering human-centered digital transformation initiatives in government, healthcare, transit, and retail. He is a digital project management nerd, a cultivator of highly collaborative teams, and an impulsive sharer of knowledge. He's also the co-founder of The Digital Project Manager and host of The DPM Podcast.