Best Online Project Management Tools Shortlist
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monday.comA robust and popular project management platform that can be customized for almost any workflow.
- Smartsheet
Best for flexibility & customizability
- ClickUp
Project management tool with a comprehensive free plan to test features.
- Kintone
Work management platform with 100+ workflow templates to help you start faster.
- Celoxis
Project portfolio management and collaboration solution for teams of all sizes.
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NutcacheProject management tool with mobile time tracking functionality and capable of processing invoices.
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TeamGanttGantt chart maker software to manage complex projects.
- Teamwork
Project management tool with features that will keep your client work on track.
- ProWorkflow
Project planning and workflow platform that helps you assign staff, track time or reschedule projects, quote and invoice your clients.
- KeepSolid Goals
Goal management software with roadmap and goal map functionality.
Project management tools are positioned at the center of your project team operations. Therefore, choosing the right tool is crucial to support the execution of your project plan.
Further, you want to pick a tool that promotes team collaboration, helps you assign tasks, track progress in a project dashboard, and overall makes you look to your boss like you are Henry Gantt himself.
Every project management app on this list is an option you should consider as your next, and the comparison criteria below will help you understand what I’m looking for.
Project Management Tool Comparison Criteria
What do I look for when I select the best project management tools? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): I look at the tool’s interface design and if it’s easy on the eye. Some interfaces can become crowded as they increase the number of features.
- Usability: I analyze how easy it is to learn and navigate the app. Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Is it intuitive?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools that can fill any gaps in the software, such as time tracking software, Gantt chart software, workflow management tools, and more? Any pre-built integrations?
- Value for $: I look at the pricing details, features it includes, and tiers (if any). In addition, I research the free trials or free versions of the software you can use to further support your decision-making.
Project Management Tool Key Features
Here are the core features that any project management tool should have:
- Task management: This feature includes the ability to create, assign, and monitor tasks as they progress. Also, lets you set due dates, group tasks and subtasks, and create checklists.
- Project scheduling: The tool should allow users to set timelines and deadlines. Can you map out timelines on multiple views such as calendars, Gantt charts, and more?
- File sharing: This feature includes the ability to upload and share files. Can you upload, organize, and share files amongst team members?
- Communication: Users should be able to have project-specific conversations and discussions. Can you tag team members with @ mentions, create threaded discussions, and keep conversations organized?
- Reporting: The tool should allow users to generate reports on project progress, budget usage, and resource usage. Can users easily generate and share reports using data from the software?
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Overview Of The 10 Best Project Management Tools
monday.com
A robust and popular project management platform that can be customized for almost any workflow.
monday.com work management is one of the top project management platforms on the market. Their tool is hyper-customizable, has loads of features, and offers colorful boards that will make your project plans easier to read. Its features include resource and project management, collaborative documents, automations, and reporting.
If you are looking for a more focused product, monday.com offers different options. These include a product for marketers, development teams, sales teams (CRM), and project teams. You can look at all of them by going to the products menu option on their website.
Finally, it’s important to mention that the wide range of features and customization might make it challenging for you to set up the product and train your team at first. However, once you get over that hump, I promise you’ll see the benefits of having this product and how efficient it can make you and your team.
monday.com’s integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and thousands more, accessible via Zapier.
monday.com has a free plan for up to 2 users. Paid plans cost from $8/user/month and come with a free 14-day trial.
Smartsheet
Best for flexibility & customizability
Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like project management tool. It has won a few awards for quickly becoming a favorite business app. It’s a nice project management software if you’re comfortable working in Excel but wants a break from complicated formulas—Smartsheet performs all the calculations for you across multiple sheets. You can also add customized brand logos and set color themes for individual projects.
Smartsheet has useful project management features such as workflow automation and visualization of tasks in Gantt, calendar and card views. Team members get notified of critical changes in real-time, and the tool provides shared views, detail history, activity logs, automated alerts, reminders, and status reports to keep everyone aligned and informed. The Critical Path feature highlights all the tasks which directly impact your project completion date to keep an eye on important milestones. Reporting is a strong feature of this tool, with editable summary reports that you can easily export to Excel.
Check out our in-depth Smartsheet review if you want a deep-dive into the tool or to watch our short tutorial video of some basic features.
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.
ClickUp
Project management tool with a comprehensive free plan to test features.
ClickUp is a project management tool with powerful features for managing and completing all your team’s projects on one platform. You can plan projects, schedule tasks, and manage resources in a centralized workspace, as well as communicate and collaborate with team members and guests.
The platform is visually easy on the eye despite the elevated number of features. However, I’ll make it even easier for you to learn. The content hierarchy for this platform is Workspace > Spaces > Folders > Lists > Tasks > Subtasks. Now, you can focus on learning about tasks and how to filter, sort, search for, easily reorder, and view tasks in the manner most convenient for the team.
ClickUp has close to a dozen different task views, including timeline, table, box, and board. In addition, their collaboration features focus on interactive chats, wiki-type collaborative documents, and whiteboards. Your project team can comment on documents and tasks, assign comments, and chat with other team members easily.
Finally, its reporting features allow you to create custom dashboards, as well as six built-in report types for team reporting.
ClickUp offers native integrations with Slack, G Suite, Jira software, Dropbox, and many more tools, as well as over 1,000+ integrations through Zapier.
ClickUp’s free plan is robust. The paid plans start at $5/user/month.
Kintone
Work management platform with 100+ workflow templates to help you start faster.
Kintone is a customizable project planning platform used by teams at Volvo Trucks North America, Japan Airlines, Whole Foods, and over 23,000 organizations worldwide. Their unique approach to project and task management lets you 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 lets you build agile project management apps by dragging and dropping elements that you want to see onto the page: rich text fields, date fields, drop-down menus, and more. Your agile project management solution can look and work however you want it to. Moreover, what makes Kintone particularly great for agile project management is that it empowers project managers to track all facets of their project, from individual tasks and project data to workflows and communication—and then use their findings to rapidly improve their processes as they go.
There are so many ways to customize Kintone that 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 and discounted prices for nonprofits and educators.
Celoxis
Project portfolio management and collaboration solution for teams of all sizes.
Celoxis is a project management tool that is adaptable for small, mid-sized, and large businesses. The tool’s core capabilities include flexible project portfolio management, time and expense tracking, resource management, financial tracking, and work collaboration.
Celoxis allows users to plan and schedule projects with cross-project and interactive Gantt charts, as well as manage resources across a portfolio of projects. The tool also includes the ability to create multiple custom dashboards for monitoring project task progress and metrics, as well as add custom fields and formula fields.
Further reporting capabilities include reports on custom fields and drill-down charts. Users can export reports, as well as schedule them to be sent via email.
Celoxis is highly customizable to suit a variety of business needs, and users can choose between cloud-based or on-premise deployment. The tool offers integrations with over 400 business applications.
Pricing starts at $25 per month, and free demos and trials are offered.
Nutcache
Project management tool with mobile time tracking functionality and capable of processing invoices.
Nutcache is a project management tool with a suite of communication and collaboration tools built into daily workflow processes.
First, you can use the Gantt chart to plan, track, and organize your tasks visually with easy drag-drop-and-click editing techniques. Then, you can prioritize and focus on critical tasks by building custom workflows and attaching multiple assignees to a task. Also, break down each phase of your project, make adjustments to reschedule your tasks, and visualize project deadlines.
Nutcache lets you use custom workflows, divide work into manageable chunks, prioritize tasks, assign multiple assignees to a task, define budget alerts, set budget tracking by the hour or amount, and use KPIs to stay on budget. They even have a freelancer app where you can handle projects with 3rd parties from estimate to invoice.
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 $12.49/user/month with a “Pro” plan with a minimum payment of $40/month (for teams smaller than 5).
TeamGantt
Gantt chart maker software to manage complex projects.
TeamGantt is an online Gantt chart maker software that works right in your browser, making it compatible with any OS. It is great for planning and managing projects using Gantt charts and inviting co-workers, teammates, and friends to view and collaborate on your work.
Further, you can see every project update and document on a single page and quickly share them with both internal and external stakeholders, making communication efficient and reliable.
TeamGantt’s project management software lets you keep all of your tasks, documents, conversations, and team availability in one place. You can also connect documents and conversations directly to an associated task or milestone.
TeamGantt integrates with Slack, Trello, Basecamp, Google Calendar, iCal, and Outlook. If you wish, you can also build a custom integration using its public RESTful API.
TeamGantt is free for up to 3 users and 1 project. Paid plans cost from $24/manager/month.
Teamwork
Project management tool with features that will keep your client work on track.
Used by the likes of PayPal and Disney, Teamwork is a project management tool that focuses on centralizing all your client work in one platform. Therefore, it contains a full suite of tools, including project management, helpdesk, team chat, CRM, and content collaboration called ‘Spaces.’
One of their outstanding features is ‘Portfolio’ makes it easy for project managers to get a high-level overview of multiple projects at once. Use Portfolio to see every project represented as a card and manage them all from one central place. Other features include time tracking, resource management, unlimited client users, and automations.
Teamwork’s chat app introduces easy communication seamlessly into your workflow, be it internal messaging or external client-facing collaboration. With one central place for users to share ideas and look for feedback, your project teams can reach a consensus and make decisions faster.
Teamwork integrates with over a hundred apps, including Gmail, HubSpot, Slack, Float, KingswaySoft, Databox, Numerics, Automate.io, Easy Insights, Integromat, and Chatify. Plus, you can always connect through Zapier with thousands more.
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.
ProWorkflow
Project planning and workflow platform that helps you assign staff, track time or reschedule projects, quote and invoice your clients.
ProWorkflow is a complete online project management solution with features that include resource and task management, file sharing, invoicing and reporting.
ProWorkflow considers tasks one of its most important assets, allowing you to specify start and finish dates, task assignees, hour allocations, and rates. It can then determine which of your staff might be available based on how many tasks they’re assigned to. Also, show you when all of those tasks will be active and how much time was allocated to them. Tasks allow for both file sharing and messaging, so you’ll always be fully informed and up to date on project progress.
The tool allows you to edit every aspect of the project throughout the whole project lifecycle, including things like dates, assignments, categories, and more. Many elements can be manipulated using click and drag functionality, such as the Gantt chart, the Kanban board, and assigning users to tasks.
The tool is also fairly straightforward with its layout — for example, all active projects and associated data can be found on the projects page, all info related to time can be found on the time page, etc.
ProWorkflow integrates directly with all of the most popular accounting platforms, like Xero, MYOB, and Quickbooks, as well as with popular file storage platforms like GSuite, Box, and OneDrive. There is also integration with SSO, like Azure. For everything else, the tool also integrates with Zapier.
Pricing starts at $20 per user per month. This specifically refers to staff access, with things like client and contractor access being cost inclusive. You can also receive help with onboarding and staff training, which is also cost-inclusive.
KeepSolid Goals
Goal management software with roadmap and goal map functionality.
KeepSolid Goals is a project management tool designed to facilitate setting and achieving projects goals and objectives. It can also handle project planning, collaboration, and project retrospectives.
With Goals, you can plan projects and objectives on roadmaps and timelines, as well as set milestones and due dates to keep your team members on track. If you are feeling like getting input from the team for an upcoming project, Goals also has built-in mind mapping capabilities!
The platform includes a wide variety of task management features as well, such as the ability to assign, prioritize, filter, and sort tasks. You can organize tasks into sprints and Kanban boards as well. When it comes to retrospectives, it is possible to generate reports on objectives, burnup charts, and task status reports.
Integrations with this platform are available through Zapier.
Pricing starts at $7.99 per user per month, and a 14-day free trial is available.
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The Best Project Management Tools Comparison Chart
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  monday.com A robust and popular project management platform that can be customized for almost any workflow. | 14 days free trial | From $8/user/month | Visit Website |
| 2 |  Smartsheet Best for flexibility & customizability | 30 days free trial | From $7/user/month | Visit Website |
| 3 |  ClickUp Project management tool with a comprehensive free plan to test features. | Freemium version | Free forever with paid plans starting at $5/user/month | Visit Website |
| 4 |  Kintone Work management platform with 100+ workflow templates to help you start faster. | 30 days free trial | From $24/user/month | Visit Website |
| 5 |  Celoxis Project portfolio management and collaboration solution for teams of all sizes. | 30 days free trial | From $25/month | Visit Website |
| 6 |  Nutcache Project management tool with mobile time tracking functionality and capable of processing invoices. | Not available | From $12.49/user/month with a Pro plan that requires 5 users. | Visit Website |
| 7 |  TeamGantt Gantt chart maker software to manage complex projects. | Freemium version 14 days free trial | From $24/manager/month | Visit Website |
| 8 |  Teamwork Project management tool with features that will keep your client work on track. | Freemium version 30 days free trial. No credit card required. | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
| 9 |  ProWorkflow Project planning and workflow platform that helps you assign staff, track time or reschedule projects, quote and invoice your clients. | 14 days free trial | From $20/user/month | Visit Website |
| 10 |  KeepSolid Goals Goal management software with roadmap and goal map functionality. | 14 days free trial | From $7.99/user/month | Visit Website |
Other Project Management Tool Options
Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list.
- Asana – Task management and team communication in one place to help your team be more productive.
- Jira – Issue and project tracking tool used by software development teams.
- Celoxis – Project portfolio management and collaboration solution for teams of all sizes.
- LiquidPlanner – Automated scheduling and forecasting software, helping teams to plan intelligently through smart estimation and predictive scheduling.
- Mavenlink – Enterprise-grade business and project management solution for professional services & businesses.
- Podio – Citrix freemium cloud-based project management and collaboration service with 99.99% uptime and a fully exposed front-end API.
- ProofHub – PM software with proofing capabilities, workflow management, task management, and fixed pricing plans.
What Are The Different Types Of Project Management Tools?
As mentioned above, there are a wide variety of project management tools for specific use cases (such as tools specifically for remote work and remote teams), functionalities, or for processes and activities closely related to project management.
I’ve written overviews of many types of project management tools that I’ve used in my projects, from task management software to collaboration tools to full-blown project management systems.
Below, I’ve listed the software reviews I’ve written according to the type of tools they cover so you can check out the other project management platform lists on The Digital Project Manager site and find the best project management software for your needs:
Agency Project Management Tools
- Agency management systems: These are general tools for managing agency teams and projects.
- Marketing project management tools: These tools help marketing teams or agencies plan, communicate, and track marketing projects from briefing through delivery.
- Advertising agency software: This type of software offers features like project management, resource allocation, CRM, accounting and billing, and reporting.
- Creative project management tools: Software for creative teams enhances collaboration and brainstorming and can automate some more technical or administrative tasks.
- Project management software with invoicing: Invoicing accurately and on time is critical for agencies. Try these options.
- PM software with client portals: Client portals can speed up agency work, approvals, and file sharing.
Project Management Tools For Project And Resource Planning
- Project management software: Includes everything from tools for project scheduling and project planning to enterprise project management with PPM and program management.
- Online project management software: This list covers tools that are specifically web-based (more of those here) or delivered as a SaaS, rather than on-premise.
- Project management software for Mac: Project managers looking for software that works well on Mac should start with these options.
- Project scheduling software: Scheduling software helps you plan your projects, create a project roadmap, and get a grip on what’s currently happening as the project unfolds.
- Resource scheduling software: Resource scheduling software can help plan, organize, and manage resources. They can be used to develop resource plans and forecasts.
- Resource management software: Resource management software makes it easy to plan and schedule projects, see capacity and available skills, and forecast utilization.
- Gantt chart maker: This includes project timelines and schedules, interdependent tasks and subtasks, time estimates, schedules for status reports, assignments, and more.
- Mind mapping software: Also called concept mapping software, this is a brainstorming tool that enables you to create visual diagrams of your ideas.
- Project planning tools: This type of tool provides a range of planning features, including Gantt charts, timelines, schedule builders, budget planning, task lists, and more.
- Project management calendar tools: These tools are specifically intended for scheduling and planning, keeping track of deadlines, and managing timelines.
- Visual project management software: This list covers project management tools with a strong visual organization component. Think colour-coding, Gantt charts and other visualizations, file previews and image uploads, and more.
Project Management Software For Small Orgs
- Free project management software: If you need totally free project managment software (or a freemium), try these options. This is also a good place to start if you’re wanting to start with some free trials.
- Project management software for small businesses & startups: These options meet the needs of project managers at small businesses and startups: flexibility, a quick learning curve, and lower costs.
Agile Project Management Tools
- Agile project management software: This type of software functions similarly to project management software, but it’s tailored specifically for agile teams and agile ways of working.
- Scrum tools: Scrum software is designed to facilitate the Scrum framework, as well as assist with communication, organizing workload, and planning for multiple iterations.
- Agile tools: Agile tools help manage projects with popular methods like Scrum and Kanban, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and track metrics that matter.
Collaboration And Communication Project Management Tools
- Communication tools: Communication tools include tools like email and phones, as well as software for web conferencing, screen sharing, sharing files, and group messaging.
- Collaboration tools: An online collaboration tool provides a unified platform for team discussion, file sharing, online storage, task assignments, and real-time collaboration.
- Team project management tools: These are more general project management tools with a specific focus on communication and collaboration.
Project Management Tools For Work Management
- Time tracking software: Time tracking tools help users fill in timesheets, understand how you’re tracking on budget, how much you should invoice clients, and profitability.
- Productivity apps: These tools can help carry out the important work of being effective with your time by automating, tracking, syncing, and reminding.
- Workflow management software: Workflow tools offer an interface for representing workflow, optimizing moving parts, scheduling tasks, managing workloads, and more.
- Change management tools: Change management tools are anything that can be used to alleviate tensions that arise during a shift in process, staff, or software.
- Flowchart software: Flowchart software is a program or app that can create a sequence diagram that outlines the flow, hierarchy, order, or structure of a plan or idea.
- Task management software: This type of tool includes task templates, task tags and organization, multiple task views, and real-time updates.
Project Management Tools For Software Development Projects
- Bug tracking tools: These tools bring bugs to your attention in a systematic way, and assist with isolating, backtracking, categorizing, prioritizing, and fixing bugs.
- Requirements management tools: Requirements management tools help you remove ambiguity from requirements and operate with clear and agreed-upon requirements.
- Wireframe tools: Wireframe software helps you mock up a wireframe layout and drag and drop placeholder elements to help you get a feel for your first draft design.
- ALM tools: ALM tools support your organization through all phases of the software development lifecycle, and help with business management and software engineering.
Project Management Tools For Related Business Processes
- Business intelligence tools: Business intelligence tools collect, process, analyze, and display large volumes of data, from sources like documents, forms, files, and more.
- Risk management software: This set of tools helps organizations estimate, plan for, measure, and mitigate risks by plotting risks, calculating costs, and keeping a database.
- GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) software: GRC tools help organizations manage IT-related operations and ensure they meet compliance and risk standards.
- Digital asset management software: Digital asset management systems make the process of storing, sharing, and tracking digital assets much easier.
- PPM tools: PPM software helps use project data to make decisions, allocate resources, create executive reports, fix performance issues, and assess risks across a portfolio.
- BPMS (business process management systems): BPM systems provide a process database and automations, and allow users to model workflows and processes visually.
- Help desk software: Help desk software is a digital hub where customers can send queries to be logged, organized, and resolved.
- CRMs for small business: These tools enable small teams to track customer details, collect feedback from customers, trace the sales cycle, develop campaigns, and more.
Alternatives To Popular Project Management Tools
- Trello alternatives: Trello is a collaboration software with Kanban boards. These alternatives provide more oomph, such as extra functionality or integrations.
- Microsoft Project alternatives: If you’re looking for an alternative to Microsoft Project, there are dozens of paid and free MS Project alternatives that can do the job.
- Microsoft Project for Mac: MS Project does not work on Macs—but there are workarounds and alternative tools that perform the same functions.
- Basecamp alternatives: Basecamp lacks in some areas where Basecamp alternatives have jumped in with their own solutions. Here are 10 Basecamp alternatives.
- Clickup alternatives: If Clickup is over-engineered for your needs, there are more basic alternatives to get up and running quickly. This list also includes options that include specific features that Clickup is missing.
- Hive alternatives: Hive doesn’t offer a ton of integrations (although it does include the basic ones), and it’s missing certain features, such as invoicing, that these alternatives offer.
- Mavelink alternatives: Mavelink can be expensive for small teams that don’t require its wide range of features. This list provides some cheaper alternatives.
- monday.com alternatives: monday.com is missing invoicing and advanced time tracking features, which might be critical for your needs. Try these alternatives.
- Smartsheet alternatives: If you’re not already working with spreadsheets and databases, Smartsheet’s UI might not work for you. Here’s some other options.
- Wrike alternatives: Wrike’s UI can be challenging to learn, and there is often a steep learning curve. Find simpler and less complex options in this list.
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