Skip to main content
Best Tools
10 Best Resource Allocation Software In 2023

The Best Resource Allocation Software List

Here’s a shortlist of the best resource allocation software:

  1. 1. monday.com — Best for businesses that need a wide selection of customization options
  2. 2. NetSuite ERP — Best for advanced demand planning and forecasting
  3. 3. Kantata — Best for large enterprises
  4. 4. Productive — Best for agencies and consultancies
  5. 5. Meisterplan — Best for its role-based resource allocation prior to staffing
  6. 6. Wrike — Best for flexibility & customizability
  7. 7. Parallax — Best predictive resourcing & forecasting tools
  8. 8. Saviom — Best for its focus on reducing resourcing costs
  9. 9. Resource Guru — Best for small businesses that want to scale
  10. 10. Hub Planner — Best for team scheduling, capacity planning, & requesting work

Identifying available resources for a project is difficult without resource allocation software. Especially in cross-functional projects, since you risk overlooking another assignment coming in simultaneously and having an overallocated person.

The software options on this list can help you see your pool of resources, their estimated workload, and timelines where you can see the dates when a resource will be free. This helps you perform resource forecasting to ensure all your future project resource needs are met.

Having all of these features and capabilities in the palm of your hands gives you the tools to prioritize the allocation of resources that might be under-allocated or on a bench.

Overviews Of The 10 Best Resource Allocation Software

Here’s a brief description of each of the best resource allocation software on my list showing what it does best, plus standout features. Feel free to check out how I picked the software on this list at any time.

1

monday.com

Best for businesses that need a wide selection of customization options

monday.com is a work management platform that specializes not just in project management but also in resource planning and allocation. Its Work OS is designed to streamline a wide variety of factors typically associated with projects and resource management, specifically workflows.

Why I picked monday.com: Its Work OS is equipped with several features that effectively address most of the resource management concerns many businesses deal with when managing multiple projects at varying complexities.

One of its main features is the resource management template, which features more than 200 selections. The resource management templates can be customized to provide users with a complete overview of their resources and how they are allocated and utilized. This kind of dashboard can also provide detailed information about the tasks that were assigned to specific individuals and the progress level of those tasks. This allows project managers to keep track of team member activities and the tasks they’re currently working on, resulting in more effective resource management.

Another key feature that works well with the resource allocation and management solution is the dashboard widget. monday.com is equipped with a highly customizable dashboard with widgets that can incorporate different boards for more comprehensive insights into the current resource status.

monday.com Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource and project management, time tracking, collaboration, file management, collaborative docs and reporting dashboards.

Integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform and many more, accessible via Zapier.


This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 8599

14-day free trial + free plan available

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

2

NetSuite ERP

Best for advanced demand planning and forecasting

NetSuite ERP is a powerful resource allocation software that equips businesses with the tools they need to effectively manage and optimize the allocation of essential assets and resources. With its robust capabilities, it offers organizations a unified platform to streamline resource allocation, enhance operational efficiency, and make data-driven decisions, ensuring that critical resources are utilized effectively to meet strategic objectives and drive business success.

Why I Picked NetSuite ERP: NetSuite ERP's resource allocation capabilities shine through its advanced demand planning and forecasting tools. Unlike many competitors, NetSuite leverages historical data, market trends, and predictive analytics to provide businesses with highly accurate demand forecasts. This enables organizations to proactively allocate resources based on anticipated needs, reducing waste, optimizing inventory levels, and ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently to meet customer demand.

NetSuite ERP offers a unique feature that fosters real-time collaboration and visibility across resource allocation processes. It allows stakeholders from various departments to collaborate seamlessly within the platform, providing instant access to critical data, inventory levels, and resource availability. This transparency ensures that decision-makers have up-to-the-minute information, facilitating agile resource allocation adjustments and reducing bottlenecks in the allocation process.

NetSuite ERP Standout Features & Integrations

Features include accounts payable and receivable, cash management, billing and invoicing, fixed asset management, tax management, multi-currency accounting, general ledgers, purchase orders, expense tracking, and project accounting.

Integrations include BambooHR, Constant Contact, DealRoom, DocuSign, Domo, Fieldmagic, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Ledgible, Mailchimp, Orange Logic, Project Insight, Recurly, TrueCommerce, Twilio Flex, Zendesk, and other software options.

Free demo

Pricing upon request

3

Kantata

Best for large enterprises

Kantata is a tool that’s easy to integrate into an existing software ecosystem. The software connects with a large number of third-party apps and add-ons that you can set-up with ease. This makes them a great choice for enterprises that have many SaaS and on-premise tools on-the-go and need them to speak together seamlessly.

Why I picked Kantata: The software has everything you need to plan for and respond to project demands. While specific views can give you information on how booked a resource is, other features let you bring to your projects people who have the right skills. The skills database will also give you information on skill gaps you have, so you can address them before they become a problem.

You can use Kantata to set the right level of project visibility for each of your team members, which means you can see the project’s budget or percentage of completion, but regular users can see fewer details. The software enables you to track different aspects of every project, making it easy to allocate the necessary resources to get the job done quickly.

Kantata’s time management solution is easy to use, and you can see which specific tasks demand more of your team’s time to better plan ahead.

Kantata Standout Features & Integrations

Features include built-in reports, custom reporting and trend analysis, resource management features like real-time utilization, resource forecasting and capacity management, and accounting tools like project costing, budget management, and invoicing.

Integrations include pre-built integrations with tools like Expensify, G Suite, Netsuite, Jira, Hubspot, Xero, Salesforce, Slack, Concur, Qualtrics, Dynamics 365, and Quickbooks. They also provide an integration platform called M-Bridge to help you build your own integrations.

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

Free demo

Pricing upon request

4

Productive

Best for agencies and consultancies

Productive is an agency management system designed to help agencies and consultancies with their operations and profitability.

Why I picked Productive: You can use it to coordinate in-house resources with externalized services in actual time. They have simple graphs and charts that can chart multi-channel budgets and predict profitability week over week.

Productive has a good interface that’s easy to navigate. The software enables you to restrict your freelance collaborators' access to your projects and other digital resources without affecting their ability to track time.

This software enables you to forecast budget spend, track each project’s budget, and reallocate resources as you see fit.

Productive Standout Features & Integrations

Features include workload heatmaps to help you see who is overbooked, placeholders you can use to build upcoming work, scheduled time tracking, time-off management, and a skills database.

Integrations include HubSpot, Xero, QuickBooks, Google Calendar, Slack, Jira, Harvest, and Personio. They also have an integration with Zapier that you can use to connect to over a thousand additional apps. Finally, Productive's open API can help you build custom integrations with other tools in your tech stack.

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

14-day free trial

From $9/user/month (billed annually)

5

Meisterplan

Best for its role-based resource allocation prior to staffing

Meisterplan is a cloud-based portfolio-level resource management software that specializes in resource allocation and management. It is well-suited for teams looking to invest in a relatively lightweight project portfolio and resource management solution that is capable of facilitating capacity planning and what-if scenario forecasting and analysis.

Why I picked Meisterplan: This software is a people-centric portfolio management platform that is equipped with the necessary features to help streamline project and resource management. Among its many features is capacity planning, which allows you to identify the right talent for specific projects. The tool allows you to quickly determine which team members are overloaded and which ones have free capacity. They can easily staff projects with an employee or by role, based on capacity and skill sets.

In addition to capacity planning, Meisterplan also provides an allocation heat map feature that allows users to identify which resources are under- and over-utilized efficiently. This will help project stakeholders get a better understanding of not just their resource utilization, but how they are allocated as well. You can display resource allocations by department, role, or individual.

Another key feature of Meisterplan is resource conflict resolution. This particular feature goes hand-in-hand with capacity planning and the allocation heat map. The software allows you to quickly identify potential resource conflicts so they can be resolved immediately. The platform itself is capable of automatically identifying upcoming resource conflicts. With this functionality, you can resolve conflicts in a variety of ways, including the option of finding a suitable replacement with similar skill sets.

Meisterplan Standout Features & Integrations

Features include portfolio simulation, demand prioritization, portfolio intelligence, scenario planning, capacity planning, resource conflict resolution, team planner, resource pools, and actuals.

Integrations include Tableau, PowerBI, ServiceNow, Smartsheet, Excel, and Jira. You can also connect to thousands of additional apps through Zapier, or build custom integrations using Meisterplan's REST API.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 19

30-day free trial

From $713/month

6

Wrike

Best for flexibility & customizability

Wrike is a feature-rich project management tool with resource allocation capabilities that is highly configurable and allows you to fully customize dashboards, request forms, workflows, and reports.

Why I picked Wrike: You can uncover meaningful insights with the platform’s resource management and allocation feature, performance reporting, as well as its time-tracking tool. Wrike offers a level of visibility that enables you to maximize resources throughout the entire organization.

It features a basic but intuitive interface that allows users to easily switch between views, including interactive drag-and-drop Gantt charts, Kanban boards, lists, and conventional workload views, providing real-time resource management information at a glance.

Wrike also features a user-friendly interface and navigation system equipped with well-designed spaces, along with distinct tasks and folders. Users can simply toggle between the home screen and their calendars, timesheets, reports, and different dashboards. It even provides them with access to a stream for their messages and notifications. The cloud-based platform comes with a dedicated help center with interactive training features, user guides, videos, and other learning materials.

Wrike Standout Features & Integrations

Features include project management, task scheduling/tracking, resource management, expense tracking, budgeting, Gantt charts, marketing automations, collaboration support, and reporting.

Integrations include 400+ pre-built native integrations, including some of the most popular file management software from Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox, along with sales and marketing software from Salesforce and Marketo.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 2544

Free plan available

From $9.80/user/month

7

Parallax

Best predictive resourcing & forecasting tools

Parallax is a resource planning and forecasting solution designed for companies of all sizes that need to increase utilization. The software enables teams to take advantage of predictive resourcing and active forecasting to unlock the potential for measured business growth, better revenue, and stronger margins.

Why I picked Parallax: Its predictive resource management software empowers you to optimize and analyze current supply and demand. Its resource planning tool helps assess planned capacity and resource requirements with a higher degree of certainty. You can effortlessly evaluate utilization, balance workloads, and match the right resources to the appropriate projects for optimal performance.

In addition, Parallax’s predictive resource management software enables you to allocate available resources and best-matched team members through advanced search tools and custom tagging. These functions help identify open project roles and determine the best resource match according to the skills required and when the work will occur. Project leads can also use such tools for allocating the most qualified team members based on available capacity. They can then update their resource plans and forecasts automatically.

Apart from resource allocation, Parallax also allows you to balance workloads and track time and resource capacity. The platform’s People alerts feature notifies you so you can act on the most immediate issues that may impact team engagement before those issues become serious and costly.

Parallax’s predictive resource management software is also capable of tracking team members who may be dealing with potential burnout, people who are over- or underutilized, as well as personnel who are simply overdue for a change. Balancing workloads across teams and projects can be difficult without the right solution.

Parallax Standout Features & Integrations

Features include billable capacity planning, resource forecasting, assignments, real-time workload adjustment, financial snapshots, and timesheet actuals.

Integrations include Hubspot, Harvest, Asana, Slack, MS Teams, Tempo, Salesforce, and Jira.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 2

Free demo

Pricing upon request

8

Saviom

Best for its focus on reducing resourcing costs

Saviom’s multidimensional resource scheduler helps you allocate the right resource to the right job at the right time. It provides a Gantt chart view of resources with easy drag and drop to facilitate real-time allocation and meet dynamically changing needs.  

Why I picked Saviom: The tool offers advanced filters that help you view multiple resource attributes, such as skills, qualifications, experience, cost, etc, for an optimized allocation. It helps maintain an up-to-date skill inventory of resources across the enterprise. Further, the tool provides an automated resource-requesting system that helps maintain an audit trail and makes allocation seamless.  

Forecasting and capacity planning helps bridge the demand vs. capacity gap in advance for timely allocation of competent resources. Utilization heat maps provides multidimensional view of under and overutilized resources allowing managers to take corrective measures to optimize the workforce.

Another unique functionality of Saviom is its open-seat feature, where you can publish open positions along with project details, and qualified resources can show interest in these tasks. This lets you select best-fit resources by considering their interests before allocation.  

Further, the tool's bulk booking feature allows businesses to manage multiple allocations and make bulk scheduling changes quickly. The tool also provides different real-time Business Intelligence (BI) reports and role-based customizable dashboards to track and adjust resource allocations if necessary. 

Another distinctive characteristic of Saviom is its modeling and simulation technique that allows you to prepare multiple project scenarios in a sandbox environment. This enables you to choose the most viable resource plan to facilitate successful allocation. 

Saviom Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a multidimensional resource scheduler and planner, advanced forecasting and capacity planning, and real-time business intelligence.

Integrations include Outlook, Google, Salesforce, Jira, and custom integrations you can build using its data exchange framework.

60-day free trial

Pricing upon request

9

Resource Guru

Best for small businesses that want to scale

Resource Guru is a budget-friendly resource planning software that’s perfect for small businesses that want to scale.

Why I picked Resource Guru: This tool gives you a fast and simple way to manage digital resources. You can see what resources are allocated to a certain project and identify potential bottlenecks or pain points that might come up so you can plan ahead.

The software’s interface is user-friendly and anyone can learn it quickly. The color scheme makes it easy to manage the right resources across different projects. Each member of your team gets an availability bar, so you can learn how many hours of work you can allocate at a glance.

Resource Guru Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource scheduling, resource management, leave management, project scheduling, capacity planning, and forecasting reports.

Integrations include calendar apps like Slack, Asana, Trello, Salesforce CRM, Microsoft Office 365, Hub Planner, Basecamp, Outlook calendar, Calendly, and Google calendar. Thousands of additional apps are accessible through Zapier.

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

30-day free trial available

From $3/user/month

10

Hub Planner

Best for team scheduling, capacity planning, & requesting work

Hub Planner is a resource management tool that helps organizations schedule and allocate personnel, track time, and manage project workflows more efficiently.

Why I Picked Hub Planner: Hub Planner is an ideal tool for resource allocation as it provides managers with a detailed view of their team's availability, skill sets, and workload. The software's intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows managers to quickly and easily allocate team members to specific projects and tasks, while its advanced reporting and forecasting tools help to ensure that resources are being used efficiently and effectively. With the ability to track time spent on tasks and projects, managers can identify areas where resources are being over or underutilized and make adjustments as needed. Hub Planner's custom reporting and analytics tools enable managers to measure performance, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions about future resource allocation.

Hub Planner's capacity planning tools enable managers to optimize resource utilization by providing a comprehensive view of their team's availability and workload. The software allows managers to create and manage resource schedules, assign team members to specific tasks and projects, and monitor progress in real-time. With the ability to forecast future resource needs and identify potential bottlenecks, Hub Planner helps to ensure that teams are working efficiently and that projects are delivered on time and within budget. Additionally, the software's drag-and-drop interface and customizable reporting tools make it easy for managers to adjust schedules and make data-driven decisions about future capacity planning.

Overall, Hub Planner excels at resource allocation with intuitive drag-and-drop interface, robust scheduling and reporting tools, customizable dashboards, and seamless integration with other systems. I also appreciate the software's real-time collaboration features, which make it easy for team members to stay connected and communicate effectively.

Hub Planner Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource management, 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 include DIY options via their Hub Planner API and webhook. Or, open an account with Zapier for more options (may incur an additional cost). 

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

30-day free trial

From $7/user/month (billed annually)

Need expert help selecting the right tool?

We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!

The 10 Best Resource Allocation Software Comparison Chart

Here is a table where you can compare all of the tools discussed in the overviews.

Tool Free Option Price
1
monday.com

Best for businesses that need a wide selection of customization options

14-day free trial + free plan available

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

Best for advanced demand planning and forecasting

Free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
3
Kantata

Best for large enterprises

Free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
4
Productive

Best for agencies and consultancies

14-day free trial

From $9/user/month (billed annually) Visit Website
5
Meisterplan

Best for its role-based resource allocation prior to staffing

30-day free trial

From $713/month Visit Website
6
Wrike

Best for flexibility & customizability

Free plan available

From $9.80/user/month Visit Website
7
Parallax

Best predictive resourcing & forecasting tools

Free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
8
Saviom

Best for its focus on reducing resourcing costs

60-day free trial

Pricing upon request Visit Website
9
Resource Guru

Best for small businesses that want to scale

30-day free trial available

From $3/user/month Visit Website
10
Hub Planner

Best for team scheduling, capacity planning, & requesting work

30-day free trial

From $7/user/month (billed annually) Visit Website

Other Options

Here are more options that did not make it to the top 10 but are worth looking at if you want to expand your research.

  1. eResource Scheduler

    Best for resource mapping and cross-team planning

  2. Birdview PSA

    Best for professional services companies

  3. BigTime

    Best resource allocation software for managing time and expenses

  4. Forecast

    Best for automating work distribution

  5. Anaplan

    Best for scenario planning

  6. Toggl Plan

    Best for managing multiple projects

  7. Teamdeck

    Best for workload management

  8. Tempo

    Best for JIRA users

  9. SAP Job Scheduling and Resource Allocation

    Best for agile project management

  10. Primetric

    Best for IT service companies & digital agencies

How I Picked The Best Resource Allocation Software

After carefully researching the most popular tools on the market, I selected the ones that made more sense in the context of resource allocation. I then drafted criteria that could be used to evaluate this type of software and help with a good evaluation method of the top tools out there.

What do I look for when I select the best resource allocation software? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:

Project Staffing Features

I look for all the ways in which you can improve your project staffing experience. One of the features I focused on was the skills database. Knowing what your team is capable of can help select the best team for the job. Another one I love is placeholders. This helps you with resource forecasting by creating allocations for resources in specific roles and use that information to analyze if you have the talent required or need to look for it. It helps inform all stakeholders and set priorities.

Visual Allocation Indicators

I look for software that has a visual way of distinguishing resources that need your attention. Therefore, most of the software on this list uses some variation of color shading to show over and under allocated resources.

Integrations

Modern businesses rely on a multitude of apps to get the job done. A good resource allocation software has to integrate seamlessly with a lot of different apps to extend its functionality and act as a hub to a range of tools from your current tech stack.

Pricing

Since it most probably won't be the only tool you use, the resource management solution has to be affordable. I looked at current prices per month on a monthly plan and information on free trials, demos and anything that lets you test the software.

Resource Allocation Software FAQs

Find answers to common questions about this topic.

resource allocation software logos list

What's Next?

If you feel in need of best practices and methods, I recommend reading the 4 steps for effective resource allocation. If you are not convinced about how this software can help you and still want to use Excel, you can download a resource planning template to make that process a little less painful.

Related tool lists:

If you want to hear how other PMs handle resource allocation, new content we publish, and fun stories from our DPM community, subscribe to the Insider Membership Newsletter.

By Ben Aston

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 20 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony. Ben's a Certified Scrum Master, PRINCE2 Practitioner and productivity nut.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.