25 Best Productivity Tools Reviewed For 2025

monday.com is a cloud-based project management platform that allows businesses to manage tasks, projects, and team work.

Its automation capabilities also help reduce manual, repetitive work so you can get more done. I recently spoke with Ken Sarmadi, an expert project management software consultant. "Automation features in...monday.com save time for teams with repetitive tasks," he says.

Why I picked monday.com: This software is excellent for building custom workflows and task lists. I say this because it offers a highly flexible and customizable platform. The platform provides the versatility to create task lists, track progress, set deadlines and collaborate in real time, enabling seamless communication and transparency. 

I appreciate the visual and intuitive interface, which ensures that all team members are on the same page, enhancing productivity. I also find that it helps reduce time wasted in meetings and follow-ups, making multi-step processes organized and manageable. This level of organization and efficiency can have a significant, positive impact on team productivity and throughput.

monday.com Standout Features & Integrations

Features include dashboards that provide high-level overviews of project progress, pulling data from multiple boards to give a clear picture of team productivity and workload distribution. Additionally, the platform's Workdocs feature enables collaborative editing of documents in real-time. These documents are directly linked to tasks and boards, which ensures that ideas and updates are immediately actionable.

Integrations include Slack, Google Drive, Docusign, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, and Dropbox.

Wrike is a cloud-based project management software that allows teams to collaborate and manage projects online.

I recently spoke with Danilo Coviello, the Founder of Espresso Translations, about his team's use of Wrike, specifically the mobile alerts feature and its helpfulness for team members in different time zones. "Now, our translator in Asia is alerted in the middle of the day, not at 3 AM," he says. This has had a huge impact on productivity. "The previous month, 23 projects were done earlier...due to the fact that team members could take new assignments on the spot," he explains.

Why I picked Wrike: I picked Wrike because of its proofing module. It offers a centralized platform for reviewing, editing, and approving digital content such as images, documents, videos, etc., which I think is really handy. It allows team members to easily submit their work for review, while managers and other team members can provide feedback directly on the document, reducing the need for lengthy email chains or separate feedback documents. 

This feature not only saves me time but also reduces miscommunication and ensures everyone is on the same page, leading to faster decision-making and improving overall productivity.

Wrike Standout Features and Integrations

Features include a document versioning feature that keeps all file revisions in one place to ensure teams always work on the latest version and simplify collaboration on shared content. The software’s integration with email also allows users to create and update tasks directly from their inbox, eliminating the need to switch between tools. Moreover, Wrike’s automation engine lets teams set triggers and rules for routine processes, saving time and reducing human error.

Integrations include QuickBooks, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft SharePoint, Google Drive, Zoom, MediaValet, and Miro.

Guru is an AI-powered enterprise search tool designed to connect scattered documents, apps, and chats within a company, delivering instant answers directly in the user's workflow.

Why I picked Guru: I chose Guru as a productivity tool after evaluating its comprehensive features and integrations that cater to enterprise knowledge management. Its standout feature is its AI-driven search capability, which integrates with existing workflows to provide instant answers across various platforms. I determined that Guru is best suited for AI-driven enterprise search because it uniquely connects apps, documents, and chats, enabling users to access information swiftly within their workflow.

Guru Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a verification workflow that ensures knowledge stays accurate and up-to-date by assigning subject matter experts to review and approve content regularly. The platform's browser extension also delivers knowledge directly within the tools your team uses most, eliminating the need to switch between platforms and saving valuable time. Furthermore, Guru’s AI Suggest proactively surfaces relevant information in real-time based on user behavior, enabling teams to work smarter and access critical data without disrupting their workflow.

Integrations include Trello, Jira, Confluence, HubSpot, Google Drive, GitHub, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.

Todoist is a task management application designed to help you organize your work and personal life. It allows you to capture tasks, set deadlines, and prioritize your to-dos, all in one place. 

Why I picked Todoist: I picked Todoist because of features that make managing daily and recurring tasks easier. The natural language input lets you quickly add tasks like “Meeting tomorrow at 3pm,” and it automatically sets the time and date. Recurring task support helps you stay on top of repeating responsibilities like weekly check-ins or monthly bills. These tools help reduce friction in task planning and make it easier to stay consistent. Together, they’re great for keeping your productivity on track without needing to constantly re-enter details.

Todoist Standout Features & Integrations

Features include task priorities, which allow you to mark tasks with different priority levels, helping you focus on what's most important. Sections and subtasks enable you to break down larger tasks into manageable parts, making complex projects less overwhelming. Additionally, labels let you categorize and group similar tasks across different projects, providing a flexible way to organize your to-dos.

Integrations include Airmail, Evernote, Google Calendar, IFTTT, Zapier, Jira, Make.com, Microsoft Teams, Newton Mail, and Slack.

Smartsheet is a cloud-based work management platform that helps teams plan, execute, and automate workflows in one place. Designed to boost productivity across departments, it combines project management, automation, collaboration, and reporting into a single, flexible interface. Whether you’re tracking milestones or managing resources, Smartsheet makes it easier to organize work, visualize progress, and stay aligned.

Why I picked Smartsheet: I picked Smartsheet because it delivers a balance between traditional project management structure and modern flexibility. You can manage projects, portfolios, and resources all from one dashboard, which makes it ideal for teams juggling multiple initiatives. I also like that it automates routine processes like task assignments, reminders, and approvals. This helps reduce manual follow-up so you can focus on strategy and execution instead of admin work. Additionally, Smartsheet’s dashboards and AI-driven reporting make it easy to see what’s on track, what needs attention, and where productivity can improve. This level of visibility helps teams make faster, data-backed decisions and keep stakeholders informed without constant status meetings.

Smartsheet Standout Features & Integrations

Features include automation tools that streamline repetitive tasks, real-time dashboards for progress tracking, and resource management to balance workloads effectively. Smartsheet also provides portfolio management, AI insights for smarter decision-making, and digital asset management for organizing shared files.

Integrations include Adobe, AWS, Box, DocuSign, Dropbox, Google, Power BI, SAP, Jira, Microsoft, Okta, Salesforce, Slack, Tableau, and Workday.

Notion is a flexible workspace app that helps you organize your work—tasks, habits, goals, notes—into a system that works for you. It gives you tools to track what you want to accomplish, measure your progress, and adjust as you go.

Why I picked Notion: I picked Notion because it gives you features that help you control your personal workflows and focus on what matters. For example, AI Meeting Notes transcribes your meetings, summarises them, and pulls out action items so you don’t miss what you discussed. Also, enterprise search (with research mode and AI connectors) lets you find past notes, docs, or info from other apps you use quickly, saving you from digging through clutter. And Notion’s tools for personal productivity allow you to build daily planners, to‑do lists, track goals, and organise tasks by priority or due date so you can stay on track at work.

Notion Standout Features & Integrations

Features include layouts, which let you customize how database pages are arranged: you can pin properties under the heading, move modules between the main page and details panel, and organize property groups into sections. There’s also the option to style and customize pages—fonts, text styling, colors, covers, page icons/emojis, adjusting page width, callouts—to make your pages match how you like to view content.

Integrations include Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, Jira, Asana, Figma, Dropbox, Trello, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, and OneDrive.

Zapier is an automation platform that lets you connect over 8,000 apps to automate your workflows without writing any code. Whether you're looking to simplify repetitive tasks or enhance your team's productivity, Zapier offers a way to create custom automations tailored to your specific needs.

Why I picked Zapier: I picked Zapier because it offers advanced AI capabilities that can significantly improve how you manage tasks. With AI agents and chatbots, Zapier lets you automate complex processes and provides insights and automates tasks that would otherwise consume valuable time. This means you can focus on more strategic activities.

Zapier also offers tools for managing databases with its Zapier Tables. This feature lets you organize and manipulate data seamlessly, and it's particularly useful for teams that need to maintain and access large datasets without the hassle of manual input.

Zapier Standout Features & Integrations

Features include the ability to create multi-step workflows, which allows for more complex automations that can tackle intricate processes. Zapier also provides enterprise-grade security, so your data and workflows are protected at all times. There are also a variety of templates and resources to help you get started with automation quickly.

Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, ChatGPT, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk, Jira, Google Sheets, Shopify, Gmail, and Mailchimp.

Google Drive is a cloud storage service that lets you upload, store, share, and organize files from any device. You can access Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Microsoft Office files, PDFs and many other file types directly from Drive.

Why I picked Google Drive: I picked Google Drive because it helps teams work faster with real-time collaboration and smart file organization. You can edit files at the same time, leave comments with action items, and keep conversations focused on the file itself. Drive supports over 100 file types, including Microsoft Office files, so there’s no need to convert anything. It also uses AI to surface the most relevant files based on your recent activity and lets you track changes over time with version history, so you can always restore older versions if needed.

Google Drive Standout Features & Integrations

Features include the ability to scan documents via mobile and convert them into searchable PDFs, which helps when you need digitized copies of receipts, statements, or paper notes. You can sync your desktop with Drive so files on your computer are automatically backed up and kept current in the cloud.

Integrations are available via the Google Drive API.

Kintone is a cloud-based platform that allows businesses to create custom applications for data management. It provides features for database applications, collaboration, workflow automation, and reporting.

Why I picked Kintone: The platform was an easy choice for me because it enables non-technical users to build and manage their own applications with a drag-and-drop interface, without the need for coding skills. Although it’s not a plug-and-play type of solution, I find the customization options available when building your project-related apps can improve your team’s productivity by displaying only what is needed.

With this software, you can automate workflows, generate detailed reports, and effectively track project progress. It ensures transparency and efficient handling of tasks, which I think positions it as an ideal tool for comprehensive project management.

Kintone Standout Features & Integrations

Features include in-app comment threads and record-based discussions. These features foster collaboration by centralizing team communication directly within the relevant data entries. Additionally, Kintone’s real-time data aggregation consolidates information from various apps and workflows into one place, providing teams with actionable insights to improve decision-making and streamline operations.

Integrations include Slack, Outlook, Dropbox, Box, Formstack, Zendesk, and Zapier.

Evernote is a versatile note-taking app that helps you organize your notes, tasks, and schedules all in one place. It's designed to boost productivity by offering a range of tools that make managing information more straightforward and effective.

Why I picked Evernote: I picked Evernote because of its powerful web clipper feature, which lets you save online content directly into your notes. This is incredibly useful when you're researching or gathering information from various sources. Additionally, Evernote offers advanced search capabilities, so you can find information within your notes, images, and documents quickly. This means you spend less time searching and more time being productive.

Another reason to love Evernote is its AI-driven functionalities like transcription and text-to-speech. These features are designed to automate repetitive tasks and make it easier for you to capture and manage your information.

Evernote Standout Features & Integrations

Features include document scanning, which lets you digitize physical documents and keep everything organized in one place. Evernote also offers personalized organization options with notebooks and spaces, so you can manage your projects the way you like, as well as ready-made templates that speed up the note creation process.

Integrations include Google Calendar, Google Drive, Gmail, Slack and Microsoft Outlook.

Microsoft Teams is a digital workspace that brings together chat, meetings, file sharing, and task management in one place. It’s built to support real-time communication while giving you space for asynchronous work, which helps teams move projects forward without being constantly online.

Why I picked Microsoft Teams: I like that it supports hybrid collaboration with tools that make remote and in-office teamwork feel unified. You can create dedicated channels for focused team communication, share and co-edit documents live inside chats or meetings, and use cloud storage to keep everything accessible no matter where someone’s working. Its AI-powered meeting features like live transcription, action item capture, and intelligent recap also help people stay in sync even if they miss a meeting.

Microsoft Teams Standout Features & Integrations

Features include meeting templates that help standardize recurring meeting types like team check-ins or project reviews, so everyone knows what to expect going in. You also get meeting controls like watermarking, sensitivity labels, and lobby settings to support privacy and content protection—especially useful when working with external guests.

Integrations include Zoom, Cisco Webex Meetings, Lucidchart, Trello, Bonus.ly, Fireflies.ai, ScrumGenius, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Asana is a work management tool that helps you track tasks, projects, and work goals. It gives you ways to organize what needs doing (and by whom), set dependencies so you know what must happen first, and map out your plans visually.

Why I picked Asana: I like how clearly it links daily tasks to bigger goals, helping you stay focused on outcomes rather than just activity. You can connect work items to company objectives, plan work using timeline or board views, and define dependencies to keep tasks moving in the right order. Tools like milestones help break up large projects, while workflow automation with rules cuts out repetitive manual steps. You also get resource management features to track workloads and dashboards to monitor progress across projects, so your team can adapt quickly when priorities shift.

Asana Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a customizable home screen with widgets for tasks, projects and updates. It also offers timeline views for tracking project progress and automation options such as rules and templates to reduce repetitive work. You’ll find reporting dashboards and goal-tracking tools for forecasting where things are heading.

Integrations include Slack, Google Drive, Zapier, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Everhour, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, Google Calendar, and Power BI.

nTask is a project management software that is built to help small and medium businesses track their projects, tasks, issues, risks, and time.

Why I picked nTask: This tool made it onto my list because it's packed with features which gives you lots of value for the price you pay. I love that it offers a centralized platform for tasks, projects, and team collaboration. I find it makes it easier for you to plan, execute, and monitor your projects efficiently. 

Features like task assignment, time tracking, Gantt charts, and customizable project templates are also appreciated. In my opinion, nTask equips you with the tools you need to streamline workflows and stay organized.

nTask Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a meeting management tool that streamlines planning by helping you set agendas, share notes, and track meeting follow-ups directly within the platform. Additionally, nTask offers risk management tools that help identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks to ensure projects stay on track and teams maintain focus on their goals.

Integrations include Google Calendar, Google Meet, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Apple Calendar.

TimeJam is a plugin designed to improve time tracking compliance by motivating employees through friendly competition. It connects with your existing time tracking software and uses Slack or Microsoft Teams to run team-based challenges that encourage people to log their time each day. By building stronger time tracking habits, it helps teams generate more accurate data—an important foundation for productivity and planning.

Why I picked TimeJam: I picked TimeJam because it focuses on a problem most tools ignore—getting people to actually track their time on time. Instead of adding more admin work or complex features, it taps into your team’s existing workflows and creates a lightweight system of reminders and rewards. This improves time tracking consistency, which can lead to better visibility into how time is spent—especially helpful for optimizing project work and resource allocation. Plus, since it only needs read-only access to your current tracker, implementation stays simple.

TimeJam Standout Features & Integrations

Features include gamified competitions that pit teams against each other to log hours daily, daily reminders sent within the chat environment your team already uses, and the ability to only pay for the users you involve in the competition (so you can exclude certain roles).

Integrations include TimeLog, Harvest, Teamwork.com, Forecast, WorkBook, AdaptiveWork, Wrike, Tempo, and Float.

Visor is a project management platform that integrates with Jira, Salesforce, and Hubspot to streamline and enhance project planning and tracking.

Why I picked Visor: I selected this software because it offers several advantages for project teams that heavily rely on Jira for their work. Firstly, it provides a more user-friendly and intuitive interface compared to Jira's complex and sometimes overwhelming dashboard. I find that this simplification can help team members save time and reduce the learning curve, making it easier to collaborate and stay organized.

Additionally, the software enhances visibility and reporting capabilities by providing a consolidated view of Jira data. In my opinion, this can be particularly valuable for project managers and stakeholders.

Visor Standout Features & Integrations

Features include conditional formatting, which allows users to visually prioritize tasks by setting custom rules that highlight critical deadlines or status updates. The tool's collaborative filtering functionality also enables teams to tailor data views to their specific needs without affecting the master data set. Furthermore, Visor’s bulk editing capability lets users update multiple records across projects or integrations simultaneously.

Integrations include Jira, Salesforce, and Asana.

Trello is a web-based project management tool that allows individuals and teams to organize and collaborate on tasks and projects using customizable boards and cards. It provides an easy-to-use interface and various features to streamline workflows and track progress.

Why I picked Trello: I believe this software is great for teams using agile methodologies and has a relatively flat learning curve. Part of why I chose it is due its friendly user interface, that allows you to drag and drop cards to organize your work.

Additionally, I appreciate the versatility and customization options that make it adaptable to a wide range of projects and workflows. Having customizable boards, lists, and cards allows teams to create a structure that works best for them. This ultimately enhances productivity and collaboration.

Trello Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a card aging feature that provides a visual indicator of inactive tasks to encourage teams to address overlooked items and maintain project momentum. Additionally, Trello’s "Butler" automation tool allows users to create custom rules, schedule commands, and automate repetitive tasks, such as moving cards, assigning members, or sending reminders.

Integrations include Slack, Jira, Miro, Google Calendar, Evernote, Everhour, Confluence, Mailchimp, and IFTTT.

Insightful is an employee productivity software with features for time and activity tracking, insider threat detection, and employee burnout predictions.

Why I picked Insightful: This software can be used to better understand productivity levels across your organization by tracking employee time and activity. You can compare productivity levels between remote and in-office employees to better understand how people work best.

The software also has employee monitoring features like screen recording and device screenshots. This helps admins keep track of what employees are doing regardless of where they’re working from. You can also track employee time, including paid and unpaid breaks.

Insightful Standout Features & Integrations:

Features include productivity reports that provide detailed insights into team and individual performance, highlighting trends and pinpointing areas for improvement. Moreover, the software’s employee burnout detector uses activity data to identify early signs of burnout, such as excessive overtime or prolonged inactivity, enabling managers to intervene proactively and support employee well-being.

Integrations include Jira, Asana, Trello, Workday, ADP, BambooHR, ClickUp, BigQuery, Okta, Zoho People, and Aha!.

WebWork Time Tracker is a cloud-based employee monitoring and productivity software that helps teams track work hours, monitor activities, and manage projects efficiently—whether working remotely or in the office.

Why I picked WebWork Time Tracker: I picked WebWork because of its automated time tracking and real-time monitoring features. These tools allow teams to track hours without manual input and give managers live visibility into what employees are working on. I found this particularly valuable because it eliminates the need for constant follow-ups or manual reporting. The ability to capture periodic screenshots also helps provide accountability without overburdening the team with additional tasks.

This feature set can save time, improve accuracy, and help managers make faster, more informed decisions, while maintaining transparency and fostering trust within distributed teams.

WebWork Time Tracker Standout Features and Integrations

Features include automated time tracking that removes the need for manual logging, real-time monitoring with detailed employee activity tracking, and GPS tracking for managing remote or field employees. WebWork also offers shift scheduling and task management to coordinate team workloads efficiently, along with payroll automation to simplify payment processing based on tracked hours.

Integrations include Asana, Slack, Deel, GitHub, ClickUp, Trello, Jira, Xero, Bitbucket, Todoist, and Bitwage.

Slack is a communication platform designed for businesses. It provides channels where team members can communicate, collaborate, share files, and more.

Why I picked Slack: This software's comprehensive features that streamline communication and collaboration made it an easy choice to include on my list. It serves as a central hub for team discussions, organized by various topics or departments, where information exchange takes place in real time, thus enabling quicker decision-making.

Slack Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a workflow builder that allows you to automate routine tasks, such as onboarding, approvals, or status updates, without needing coding skills. Its huddle feature facilitates spontaneous audio or video chats, promoting quick problem-solving and reducing the need for lengthy meetings. Additionally, Slack’s universal search lets you locate messages, files, or links across all channels and direct messages.

Integrations include Linear, Docusign, Loom, Zoom, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Microsoft Teams, and Workday.

Hubstaff is a time tracking and productivity management software that helps businesses and remote teams monitor the time spent on tasks and projects. It enables organizations to track employee work hours, measure productivity, and streamline remote work management.

Why I picked Hubstaff: I added Hubstaff to my list because it offers comprehensive time tracking features that enable businesses to monitor how employees allocate their time to different tasks and projects. I find this data useful to identify bottlenecks, improve resource allocation, and optimize workflows.

Secondly, the software provides remote workforce management capabilities, which I find are increasingly essential in today's distributed work environments. It offers features like activity monitoring, screenshot capture, and GPS tracking for remote teams, ensuring that employees remain accountable and productive while working from different locations.

Hubstaff Standout Features & Integrations

Features include an idle time detection feature that helps teams minimize unproductive time by alerting users when there’s no activity, ensuring accurate time logs and increased accountability. Furthermore, Hubstaff’s productivity monitoring provides real-time activity levels through keyboard and mouse usage metrics, which allows managers to identify workflow bottlenecks and optimize team output.

Integrations include ActiveCollab, Asana, Paymo, Trello, Unfuddle, Slack, Zendesk, Salesforce, and QuickBooks.