15 Best Online Collaboration Tools For Teams In 2022

Smartsheet has collaboration features that make it a fit for almost any team, but especially a creative, content, design, or marketing team that needs to collaborate on content.

For instance, you can use the “Forms” feature which offers the ability to create and customize forms to collect essentially any data from anyone in a structured format—you could use it for collecting information, including images and files, from clients in order to make briefs, for example.

Team collaboration features are great—members get notified of critical changes in real-time, and the tool provides shared views, detail history, activity logs, automated alerts, reminder, and status reports to keep everyone aligned and informed. There are content collaboration features like pinned feedback, approvals, and annotations that make it easier to collaborate on creative work. It doesn’t have a real-time activity stream on the kanban board, but it does display real-time project data in dashboards to keep your teams in sync.

For teams searching for lots of different files, Smartsheet offers searchable databases, multiple viewing options to see tasks, cards, files (etc). You’ll find version control, and proofing and approval workflows to help your team move work through the pipeline.

The tool is also easy to share, even with outside users. It has permission-based access which allows you to set permission levels to Owner, Admin, Editor, and Viewer. Similarly, you can create portals that give you customized views of your projects depending on what you want to track for each one.

Smartsheet integrations include Microsoft and Google apps, as well as development essentials like Jira, and useful business apps like Salesforce, servicenow, Slack, Box, and Tableau. The platform is extensible through a REST API and webhooks.

Smartsheet costs from $7/user/month, with a minimum of 3 users and a maximum of 25 users. They also offer a 30-day free trial.

monday.com is a collaboration and task management software that won the 2019 Webby Award for productivity platform. Its simplistic design and user-friendly features make collaborating within, and between, teams easy.

monday.com’s features include task management boards for resource planning, timeline views to manage deadlines and projects, and updates and comments to give feedback or define next-steps in order to keep everyone aligned. Teams can use monday.com to share and organize files, centralize communication, plan out resources, and easily @mention any person or team to keep them in the loop. Because it’s so flexible, any team can customize monday.com to fit their unique needs.

monday.com’s integrations include apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Zoom, Typeform, and many more, accessible via Zapier.

monday.com costs from $6/user/month and comes with a free 14-day trial. They offer a free plan for up to 2 users.

ClickUp is a collaboration tool with powerful features for communication and collaboration. These include assigned comments, a chat function, an inbox, notifications, threaded comments, and more, which extend to both team members and other collaborators.

ClickUp also includes features for creating, sharing, and collaborative editing for Wikis and documents. Users can comment on documents and tasks, assign comments, and chat with other team members for increased communication and collaboration.

Task management features include task checklists, subtasks, reminders, priorities, and task templates, as well as the ability to filter, sort, search for, easily reorder, and view tasks in the manner most convenient for the team. Users can also create Gantt charts, calendars, and timelines to visualize tasks. ClickUp includes time tracking as well, both through integrations and natively.

ClickUp features color-coding for further organization and clarity, as well as multiple task views such as lists, calendars, Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and more.
Reporting features include the ability to create custom dashboards, as well as six built-in report types for team reporting.

ClickUp offers native integrations with Slack, G Suite, Dropbox, and many more tools, as well as over 1,000+ integrations through Zapier.

ClickUp’s free plan is robust and includes all primary features. The unlimited plan starts at $5 a month per user and offers additional functionality.

Kintone is a customizable collaboration tool used by teams at Volvo Trucks North America, Japan Airlines, Shiseido, and over 23,000 organizations worldwide. Their unique platform allows you to build a wide variety of customizable “apps” either from scratch, using templates or from your existing spreadsheets, for data management, business processes, and workflows. Kintone apps are not only customizable but they allow you to communicate where the data lives so your team is always on the same page.

Kintone lets you build no-code project tracking apps by dragging and dropping elements that you want to see onto the page: rich text fields, date fields, drop-down menus, number fields with built-in calculations, spaces for attachments, user or group selection menus, related data from other apps, tables, and more.

Once you’ve built the app you want, you can use it to more easily manage whatever data and tasks you and your team need to track. And with custom notifications and reminders as well as detailed permissions settings, your collaboration tool can look and work however you want it to.

Kintone’s built-in communication features also allow teams to discuss projects directly in the app and in topic or project-based threads. Dedicated “spaces” organize everything your team needs for your project, including task-tracking apps and searchable conversation threads.

There are so many ways to customize Kintone it can be hard to know where to start. Read the starter blog “What Can You Build with Kintone?” or watch Creating an App from Scratch for a quick look at how the drag-and-drop builder works.

Kintone lets you expand its capabilities with both free native plugins built by the Kintone team as well as integrations with other tools like Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Tableau, Dropbox, Salesforce, HubSpot, Eventbrite, WordPress, QuickBooks, MailChimp, and many more through a paid plan with Zapier or via API integrations.

Kintone costs $24/user/month with a minimum requirement of 5 users. They offer a 30-day free trial (no credit card required) and discounted prices for nonprofits and educators. Kintone’s team also offers a free custom app build as part of the free trial process.

MeisterTask is an intuitive online task management tool that uses smart integrations and automation. The tool has Kanban-style project boards that you can customize to fit your team’s workflow or any agile workflow, including classic project and task management workflows, as well as software sprints.

Other features include: Gantt chart style timelines, automation, comments and mentions, statistics and reports, and an agenda feature that lets users create their own personal dashboards to which tasks from any project can be pinned and organized.

MeisterTask comes natively integrated with widely-used apps and platforms such as G Suite, Slack, and GitHub, as well as more than 2000 other productivity, cloud storage, and data management applications via Zapier. With its free mobile app for iOS, you can stay on top of your to-dos wherever you are.

MeisterTask costs $8.25/user/month.

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.

On Miro, you can track and visualize team communications in whatever form you see fit, with the help of comments, sticky notes, emojis, stickers, and more. Creative and visual teams will especially love how visual and interactive Miro can be.

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).

Teamwork is a collaboration tool that makes it easier for everyone to see what projects they’re working on, communicate with their team, and plan ahead. Teamwork contains a full-suite of tools: project management, helpdesk, team chat, CRM, and content collaboration (called “Spaces”).

Teamwork’s Chat app builds communication into your workflow across your organization, no matter what team or department you’re working with, so you can get quick answers to your queries. The tool provides one central place for teams to share ideas and look for feedback, which means teams can reach a consensus and make collaborative decisions faster. Collaborative conversations can be transformed into actionable items using Teamwork’s tasks features.

Teamwork caters to users of all skill levels and provides support through additional materials, such as their blog, ebooks and guides, webinars, and 24/7 customer support. You can lean on email, live chat, or phone to get your questions answered fast.

Teamwork integrates with Gmail, HubSpot, Slack, Float, KingswaySoft, Databox, Numerics, Automate.io, Easy Insights, Integromat, Chatify, Zapier, and Import2.

Teamwork has a freemium plan for up to 3 projects and 5 users. Their paid plan starts at $10/user/month, requiring 5 users or more.

Asana is visually simple and intuitive; the task management interface uses kanban-style cards to visually organize tasks, statuses, and deadlines. Lightweight and clutter-free, learning to use Asana is a very straightforward process, making it a great choice for users who haven’t worked with any online collaboration tools before. Asana is also good for small, growing teams who work closely together and who don’t need a ton of project or resource management functions upfront.

In addition to collaboration features like messaging and file sharing, Asana offers a customizable dashboard, basic automation features like automatic status updates, and the ability to workflows with task dependencies. It’s not a feature factory, but the features included in Asana make it more than your basic collaboration tool.

With unlimited projects and basic dashboard features for up to 15 users, Asana’s free version delivers above-average value among the free online collaboration tools. As your requirements expand, you can add from Asana’s app directory, providing 100+ integrations for time-tracking, reporting, and other business functions. Asana also has a mobile app for iOS and Android.

Asana costs from $9.99/user/month.

Summary of Asana:

1. Project Discussions: Pass
2. File upload and sharing: Pass
3. To-do list and assigning tasks: Pass
4. Events/Project Milestones: Pass
5. Integration (with other types of tools): Pass

Nutcache is a collaboration tool designed to plan, track, and manage all aspects of your project with features such as color-coded schedules, task organization queues, and data reporting.

The tool includes a Gantt chart to plan, track, and visually organize your tasks with drag-and-drop editing. You’ll also find time logging tools, which are useful for any remote workforce; users can log, track, and invoice time and expenses, so that project managers can keep track of where project money is going.

Nutcache makes it easy to create, customize, and manage unlimited invoices with a credit card and online payments. PMs will appreciate being able to control project costs by reviewing, approving, or rejecting timesheets and expenses on a daily or weekly basis.

Nutcache is easy to adopt. An intuitive, colorful interface makes for easy discussions around the project with other team members. Uploading files to Nutcache and attaching them to projects is a convenient way to keep all of your project data in one place, and also to share information with everyone involved in the project.

Integrations include Dynacom Accounting, PayPal, 2Checkout, Stripe, Authorized.Net, QuickBooks Online, Google Sign In, Google Drive, GitHub, Slack, and hundreds of other apps through Zapier.

Nutcache costs from $6/user/month with a “Pro” plan that requires 5 users.

Evernote provides a place to store everything from personal moments to business projects. This notes and tasks app has a dedicated collaboration tool called “Spaces” that acts as a central source of information, a data-sharing hub, and a messaging/communication space.

Evernote auto-syncs across all your devices, including desktop, smartphone, and tablet. Your ideas, photos, and clipped pages are always available, no matter where your team is located physically. Every member of a space has access to everything kept there, so information is accessible for all.

Their virtual bulletin board is another cool feature, allowing users to make announcements across the whole team. You can also create your own custom templates, save emails to Evernote, link Google Drive files, annotate PDFs, and scan and digitize business cards.

Evernote for Mac and Windows supports up to 5 different accounts of any type (at least one must be Premium or Business); Evernote for iOS and Android supports one personal account and one business account.

The tool integrates with Google Drive, Outlook, Salesforce, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.

Evernote’s basic plan is free and allows 60 MB of new uploads/month and syncing across 2 devices. Their premium plan starts at $9.99/month and they offer a discount for students on annual subscriptions.

Pastel is a collaboration tool specifically designed for website design and feedback. Type in a website URL and share a link with anyone to invite them to comment on elements of the website. Every comment is pinned to a specific element and records information like screen resolution and browser type to solve UI/UX issues faster.

You can toggle between commenting and browsing to navigate your website projects and absorb all suggestions and feedback. Another cool feature is Pastel’s ability to pull in the latest version of the site any time changes are made to it.

In addition to live websites, you can upload wireframes and mockups to get design feedback from clients and teammates. You can also make your conversations more actionable by exporting comments, screen size, browser type, and screenshots to enrich each task.

Pastel integrations include export options for Trello, Asana, Monday, and Jira, as well as additional export possibilities to a webhook or Zapier.

Pastel is free to use for 1 user with unlimited canvases. Paid plans start at $49/month.

Gain brings content producers and clients together to facilitate a seamless workflow with feedback loops and collaboration prompts. This ensures product approvals can move faster and that no notes are missed.

With this tool, you can share your content with your clients no matter what program it was built in originally. Whether it’s a JPEG, a PDF, a Photoshop file, a PowerPoint, or even a Google spreadsheet, Gain will create previews for your approvers and team members to review.

Communication in this tool is easy: share feedback, tag team members, assign tasks, and keep a complete record of every activity as you track progress.

Gain integrates easily with Canva. No additional integrations are listed.

Gain costs from $99/month. If you pay for a full year upfront, you can get 2 months free.

Milanote is an easy tool to organize your ideas and projects into visual boards. It’s designed for the early stages of projects – for mapping out ideas, writing project briefs, and planning the steps in a project – before moving into a robust project management tool for executing and assigning tasks.

The drag and drop interface lets you put your work side by side on an infinite virtual pinboard. It handles notes, links, images and files. It also has a library of templates to make it easier to start new projects faster – project briefs, roadmaps, user journey maps, etc.

You can also collaborate in real-time, making it perfect for brainstorming workshops with remote teams. There are three different ways of sharing boards with team members – edit mode, comments only, or read only.

Overall it’s an easy to use tool to organize all the important information about your project in one place.

Milanote’s free version lets you add 100 notes, images or links (with no time limit.) Milanote PRO gives you unlimited storage from $9.99/month per person.

Creately is an online canvas that teams can use to collaborate on planning, strategizing, brainstorming, analyzing, or designing anything in real-time, using different formats like diagrams, visuals, text, symbols, and more.

Multiple collaborators can be added to a Creately document, and all changes will be synchronized across all devices in real-time. Movement across the canvas can be monitored with live mouse tracking. Using the in-app video conferencing feature, you can communicate with teammates as you draw and collaborate on the canvas together.

Creately’s comments feature comes in handy for maintaining threaded discussions, listing to-dos, and even annotating screenshots. Users can share Creately documents with other team members, stakeholders, or clients, and change its access settings to view only or edit for the reviewers.

It integrates seamlessly with other team collaboration and management apps such as Slack, Confluence, Google Drive, and Google Docs, allowing you to streamline cross-functional team workflows as well.

Creately’s team plan for 3 users starts at $18 per month with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Redbooth is a well-rounded and flexible collaboration tool that can be adapted for use in small and mid-sized teams as well as enterprise. Something unique about Redbooth is that they rolled out an AI component in early 2018: “Smart Redbooth”. It uses a prediction algorithm for various aspects of task assignment, such as selecting the best member for the task or predicting the amount of time needed to complete the task.

Redbooth features include multiple task management views (timeline, list, and board views), dashboards, and reports, whose intuitive graphic visualizations are above average. Right now, their communication tools include comments and HD video meetings (available in the Pro plan at $9/user/month), and a group chat feature is on their roadmap. Redbooth also provides higher-level project management tools such as Gantt charts and the ability to turn work processes into templates.

Redbooth integrations include dozens of apps: Box, Slack, Zapier, WebEx, Evernote, Clockify, Dropbox, Google Drive, and several others. It also integrates with Gmail and Outlook in order to quickly convert emails into tasks in Redbooth. They offer a mobile app for both iOS and Android.

Redbooth costs from $9/user/month.