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The 15 Best Resource Scheduling Software Tools Of 2023

The Best Resource Scheduling Software

I’ve evaluated and selected the following as the best resource scheduling tools:

  1. 1. monday.com — Best for simple workload and capacity planning
  2. 2. Parallax — Best for resource scheduling at agencies and studios
  3. 3. Kantata — Best all-in-one resource planning, timesheets, and project financials
  4. 4. Float — Best resource scheduling for digital agencies
  5. 5. Saviom — Best Multi-dimensional Resource Scheduling Solution
  6. 6. Resource Guru — Best for preventing over-allocation using waitlists
  7. 7. eResource Scheduler — Best simple, standalone scheduling module
  8. 8. Microsoft Project — Best for organizations using Microsoft and Excel
  9. 9. Forecast — Best for managing your projects, resources, and finances in one
  10. 10. Productive — Best resource scheduling software for agencies in need of a scalable platform
  11. 11. ActiveCollab — Best to easily generate records for client invoicing
  12. 12. Jira Software — Best for project issue tracking & backlog management
  13. 13. Planview Clarizen — Fully-featured, enterprise-grade project management tool with resource scheduling
  14. 14. Celoxis — Best for optimizing resource allocation for maximum productivity and project efficiency
  15. 15. KeyedIn — Best for resource planning at the portfolio and program level

Resource scheduling software involves a set of tools that help allocate, schedule, and aggregate resources. This ensures projects have the right number of people needed to complete them and achieve maximum resource utilization.

Typically, people think of a Gantt charts. However, resource managers use various tools for scheduling resources, including resource calendars, timelines, and histograms with aggregated resource data.

To help you find the right tool for your projects, I've evaluated and selected some of the best resource scheduling software. Details about each tool's features and pricing are below.

The 15 Best Resource Scheduling Software

Here is each tool and its standout features along with information on what makes it great for resource scheduling. Feel free to check out how I picked the software on this list at any moment.

1

monday.com

Best for simple workload and capacity planning

monday.com is a flexible platform to help teams communicate in context, get a birds-eye view of outstanding projects, available resources, and projected timelines.

Why I picked monday.com: Its simplistic design and straightforward interface mean teams can get started planning timelines, assigning project ownership, and managing any project in minutes.

monday.com offers various views to represent data, so each team member can work according to his preferences. With workload view, you can easily see who’s able to take on more work and who’s not. Gain insight into your team’s work capacity and make adjustments to timelines or ownership accordingly— no matter where you are. The monday.com app gives you the flexibility and power to run your team on the go. You can organize your daily work, projects, and teams all in one place.

monday.com Standout Features & Integrations

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

Integrations include apps like Slack, Excel, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and others, accessible via Zapier.

monday.com is a platform that you can customize to make your resource scheduling as simple, or as complex as you need. Consider using templates to get started on your next project!

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)

Pros

  • Color coded status great for resource overviews
  • Easily create boards dedicated to operational resource tracking
  • New features being rolled out regularly
  • Quick learning curve

Cons

  • Does not have resource forecasting
  • Horizontal pipeline views means excessive scrolling
  • No single-user plan
2

Parallax

Best for resource scheduling at agencies and studios

Parallax is a cloud-based resource management and planning software that allows organizations to track resources including people, equipment, and tasks. The software uses automation to simplify scheduling and resource allocation across a large number of projects.

Why I picked Parallax: This tool uses algorithms to optimize the scheduling process, taking factors like cost-effectiveness, availability, capacity, and deadlines into account. These algorithms help maximize efficiency and minimize costs by allocating the most appropriate resources to tasks and projects. The platform also allows for customization to make sure it suits the realities and needs of the user.

For studio and agency environments, this software is particularly beneficial. The analytics tools gather insights on resource usage over time, and offer predictive insights to help businesses anticipate future resource demand based on past trends. For fast-paced, high-volume use cases, the algorithmic functions of the platform can support efficiency and reduce redundancy.

Parallex Standout Features & Integrations

Features include billable capacity tracking, resource forecasting, project health tracking, and cross-team visibility.

Integrations include Asana, Harvest, Hubspot, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Oracle NetSuite, Salesforce, and Tempo.

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

Pros

  • Automation features help increase efficiency over time
  • Friendly user interface makes the tool easy to use
  • Support team readily available to help with onboarding and troubleshooting

Cons

  • The software is relatively new and is regularly updated for improved usability
  • Data needs to be collected before predictive insights become reliable
3

Kantata

Best all-in-one resource planning, timesheets, and project financials

Kantata is a well-rounded resource management & PSA software that bridges the core planning, execution, project accounting, and analysis systems in a single operating environment.

Why I picked Kantata: It has modules for project management, accounting, resource management, business intelligence, and team collaboration. On top of this, it offers a system of dashboards, live time and expense tracking features, and a great documenting system.

Besides the resource scheduling-specific features shown below, Kantata offers a ton of other tools for managing a business beyond resource scheduling, including built-in BI reports, trend analysis, data visualization, data integration with other systems, project costing, invoicing, and much more.

What’s more, the company leverages its professional services expertise as part of their offering, making available their Kantata BI Consultants who can build reports specifically for your business. As well, they provide some great training resources that can help mitigate the risks and costs of implementation.

Kantata Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource forecasting, real-time utilization, capacity management, skills management, scenario planning, and role-based planning.

Integrations include pre-built connections with these tools: Expensify, G Suite, Xero, Salesforce, Netsuite, Jira, Hubspot, Slack, Concur, Dynamics 365, Qualtrics, Quickbooks, and Sage Intacct. They also provide an integration platform called M-Bridge that’s designed to simplify integration between Kantata and other business apps like CRM, HCM, and financial software.

Kantata offers plans to meet your needs. Choose from resource management to complete PSA with advanced BI. To receive accurate pricing information, contact Kantata directly.

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

Pros

  • Easy capacity management
  • Distinguish between soft and firm allocation
  • Good reporting functionality for resource data
  • Resourcing fully integrated with master planning

Cons

  • Custom Reports Can Be Difficult to create without training
  • Proofing solution is an add-on
4

Float

Best resource scheduling for digital agencies

Float is a resource management planning & scheduling software built for agencies, studios, and firms. Its intuitive interface and fast scheduling tools make Float a suitable solution for teams big and small.

Why I picked Float: Scheduling in Float is really easy. You can create and assign projects and tasks and make changes using its right-click menu full of editing shortcuts. Also, its drag-and-drop interface makes reassigning and updating tasks a breeze.

The schedule view is your go-to for a high-level overview of your project pipeline and resource capacity. Drill down deeper with a universal search bar, and filter functionality. Get an accurate view of your team’s availability with custom work hours, public holidays, and scheduled time off. Add custom tags such as location and skillsets to your people and projects, and use the scheduled status feature to let everyone know when you’re working remotely, from home, or offline in a team workshop on any day.

Track your resource utilization, monitor project budgets, and forecast your team’s capacity with real-time reporting. Adding time tracking to your account gives your team access to pre-filled timesheets so that you can compare your estimated hours with the actual time spent on project tasks.

Float Standout Features & Integrations

Features include capacity management, budget forecasting, resource allocation, access roles, timesheets, and an expense tracker.

Integrations include Jira, Trello, Asana, Teamwork, Quickbooks, Google Calendar, Slack, and Okta. It also has an integration with Zapier that you can use to connect to 1000+ apps.

Overall, Float is a great tool for businesses looking to switch from spreadsheets to a friendly resource planner and workload tracker.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 1068

30-day free trial

From $7.50/user/month

Pros

  • Easy-to-use resource editing tools
  • Set custom work hours
  • Easily add contract workers

Cons

  • Time tracking features require a higher plan
5

Saviom

Best Multi-dimensional Resource Scheduling Solution

Saviom is a resource management and professional services automation software that helps you reduce resource costs.

Why I picked Saviom: Saviom’s multidimensional resource scheduler goes beyond basic allocations and helps build an optimized workforce. Additionally, its Gantt chart view of resources with easy drag and drop facilitates real-time scheduling to meet dynamically changing needs.   

This solution provides 360-degree visibility and advanced filters to select the most suitable resources across multiple dimensions, such as skills, role, cost, team, project type, and location, before allocating them to various projects. Besides, you can analyze availability, utilization, etc., and prevent overbooking of resources, thus maintaining a healthy resource index.  

Businesses can use the tool’s bulk booking feature to reshuffle resource schedules or implement real-time bulk changes. In addition, the user-friendly interface enables you to split and reassign resources to projects in just a few clicks.

Moreover, it also allows you to create generic bookings to streamline pipeline project management with timely allocations. Forecasting and capacity planning helps identify resource excesses and shortages ahead of time, ensuring an optimized talent pool. Using the leave management portal, you can effectively schedule resources by considering planned and unplanned time-offs. Automated workflow streamlines the resource requisition process and eliminates scheduling conflicts.

The tool’s what-is analysis helps overcome resource constraints to arrive at the most viable resource plan. Besides, the tool’s open seat feature empowers resources to show interest in suitable opportunities which can be considered during allocations for better engagement and quality of deliverables.

Saviom Standout Features & Integrations

Features include an interactive resource scheduler, 360-degree visibility, resource utilization forecasting, capacity vs demand analysis, resource bench, skill database, and dynamic dashboards.

Integrations include ERP, ERM, Project planning tools, PPM, and HR management systems. Further, it will effortlessly align with your calendars, emails, MS Project, Excel, and other applications. This helps maintain a single source of truth across the organization and eliminates the chances of double data entry.


60-day free trial

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Split, Reassign, or perform bulk booking with just a few clicks
  • Multidimensional view of enterprise schedule
  • Advanced filters for competent allocation and scheduling
  • Multidimensional forecasting and capacity planning

Cons

  • Interfaces display a lot of information at once
  • Mostly suited for medium to large enterprises requiring complex scheduling
  • Pricing is available only on request
6

Resource Guru

Best for preventing over-allocation using waitlists

Resource Guru is a dedicated resource scheduling software tool that focuses on simplicity within resource management. But don't think for a second that it means they've sacrificed features for it.

Why I picked Resource Guru: The tool has all the features you would expect from a resource scheduler, presented in a clean and simple interface. With a great visual calendar-style interface, it shows what everyone’s working on and clearly displays availability so you can maximize utilization. The tool allows you to make bookings simultaneously with no chance of stepping on each other’s toes, thanks to its clash management notifications.

Additionally, its clash management feature helps you from having over-allocated resources that will affect your project delivery. Bookings can be added to a waiting list and used for capacity planning later. Finally, each staff member gets their own resource dashboard to know exactly what they should be working on, and powerful reports to monitor the utilization of your team and help with capacity planning.

Resource Guru Standout Features & Integrations

Features include multi-resource bookings, tentative and repeat bookings, absence management, a vacation tracker, clash management, personalized dashboards, and reporting.

Integrations include Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar. It also has an integration with Zapier that lets you connect with 1500+ additional apps.

Resource Guru is a user-friendly and easy-to-use option for companies that are new to resource scheduling while offering scalable features to support bigger operations.

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

Pros

  • Availability bar for capacity planning
  • Daily resource summary emails
  • Affordable per-user rate

Cons

  • Lacks zooming options in the calendar view
  • No copy-paste of resource tasks
7

eResource Scheduler

Best simple, standalone scheduling module

eResource Scheduler offers both Cloud and On-Premise versions with configurability & ease of use at core of its design. It’s been used by organizations of all sizes since 2011.

This resource scheduling tool’s features include a dashboard that highlights important information on single screen, along with multiple types of user-defined fields that allow capturing complete information (roles, skills, qualifications, certificates, team, office, etc.) about your projects.

The resource scheduling chart offers resources, projects and role views, and users can create their own scheduling views on the fly. Filters identify qualified resources as per project requirements. Meanwhile, features like drag and drop, availability and overload indicator, extend-shorten, precise split, copy-paste make scheduling efficient and quick. They also offer the option to schedule at both project and task levels. You’ll find multiple calendars with different timings, holidays, exceptions, and personal leaves (visible on scheduling chart) to ensure correct resource capacity for different types of employees (Full, Part-Time, Casual, etc.) Their reports show real-time utilization at different levels and their reporting offers several different views/filters which make the reports informative and useful.

To integrate their tool with your other business tools, you can use their Open REST API, and you can also take advantage of easy imports/exports.

And finally, their timesheets feature and financial module (complete with cost and billing rates and a forecasting report) make eResource Scheduler complete resource management package. eResource Scheduler costs $5/resource/month and provides annual billing discounts (14-day free trial).

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4 2

14-day free trial

From $5/resource/month

Pros

  • Resource notification emails
  • Ease of use and functionality
  • Change control records for resource data
  • Robust resource dashboard

Cons

  • No invoicing module
  • Convoluted pricing structure
8

Microsoft Project

Best for organizations using Microsoft and Excel

Microsoft Project can be clunky (which is why many people search for MS Project alternatives), but MS Project is still a standard, well-supported, and widely adopted tool.

Why I picked Microsoft Project: It includes familiar scheduling tools to assign project tasks to team members and use different views like Grid, Board, and Timeline (Gantt chart) to oversee the schedule. Users can view and compare how resources are used across projects to optimize assignments.

If you are familiar with other Microsoft programs, in particular Excel, then the interface and navigation will be familiar to you. This can help teams on a Usability level, as familiar software makes for easier training; thus, they evaluated well in Usability in this regard.

Microsoft Project Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource requests, visual heatmaps to identify over-allocation, resource analytics, task management, and portfolio management.

Integrations include other Microsoft software, like Outlook, Excel, Skype, and more.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 104

30-day free trial

From $10/user/month

Pros

  • Can generate a Gantt chart from a spreadsheet
  • Helpful project template descriptions for guidance
  • Driver prioritization module for ranking strategies/objectives
  • Integration with other Microsoft software

Cons

  • Limitations on collaboration tools
  • Higher learning curve
  • Few customization options
9

Forecast

Best for managing your projects, resources, and finances in one

Forecast is a resource scheduling software tool that unites your projects, resources, and financials in one AI-powered platform.

Why I picked Forecast: You can leverage Forecast’s workflow automation capabilities to create smart schedules, estimate timeframes and budgets, and populate timesheets instantly.

Additionally, you can control the workflow by building out detailed task lists and flagging clear priorities. Task cards allow every team member to easily comment, share files, and register time spent. Everything related to the specific task appears in one place, including dependencies and subtasks. You can put together projects for any type of work: fixed price, time and material, or retainer.

Forecast’s AI learns from previous work and suggests the number of hours you normally register on similar tasks to help you log time faster. You can monitor time registrations from a team perspective and notify each member if they forget to enter something in. Time tracking utilization on a company-wide level is calculated for you for easy alerts, estimates, and reporting.

Forecast Standout Features & Integrations

Features include project management, project accounting, fully customizable dashboards, advanced warnings to mitigate risk, timesheets, smart invoices, and project financials.

Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, iCloud Calendar, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Outlook, Harvest, Trello, Asana, GitLab, Github, and dozens more using a paid plan through Zapier. Higher-tier subscriptions include native integrations with Timelog, Xero, QuickBooks Online, JIRA, Azure DevOps, Salesforce, Okta, OneLogin, and Azure Active Directory.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 248

14-day free trial

From $29/user/month

Pros

  • Projects, resources and financials connected in one platform
  • AI powered auto-scheduling and time entry suggestions
  • Excellent iOS and Android apps
  • Automated cost and budget estimations

Cons

  • No browser extension for time trackin
  • No asset management
  • Minimum of 10 seats
10

Productive

Best resource scheduling software for agencies in need of a scalable platform

Productive is a scalable agency management system with a stack of powerful functionality that gives you the tools and data you need to keep your business profitable.

Why I picked Productive: The tool has the features to support your projects from prospect to payment. Getting a deal, sending a proposal, scheduling your team, tracking hours, and ultimately getting paid should come with a clear and transparent track record. With a focus on profitability, Productive gives you the power to understand your margins in real time, as well as forecasting budget spend in the future.

Productive Standout Features & Integrations

Features include placeholders for contractors, task tracking, scheduling, timesheets, budgeting, invoicing, and reporting.

Integrations include Jira, Xero, Exact, Slack, Quickbooks, Microsoft Outlook, Fortnox, Personio, and Zapier. It also has an open API available for custom integrations.

Productive supports your project planning and resource scheduling through its platform and mobile phone apps. Be careful with the pricing, though, as it can quickly get expensive.

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)

Pros

  • Quite easy to set up collaborative tasks
  • Plenty of custom tags to choose from
  • Built-in time management can bill multiple business entities

Cons

  • Roles/user rights are not as granular
  • Invoicing and quotation features are limited
11

ActiveCollab

Best to easily generate records for client invoicing

ActiveCollab is a project and resource management software that helps users manage their teams across projects, track time on tasks, and issue invoices for billable hours.

Why I picked ActiveCollab: This tool includes resource-relevant solutions like timesheets, profitability reports, internal hourly rates, and non-billable expense tracking.

ActiveCollab has rich planning features, great resource-tracking dashboards, timesheet tools, and financial estimates. These functions are all essential to any project manager in need of resource scheduling and planning help.

Per our evaluation, the software’s Usability would benefit from the ability to filter tasks by their completion status, rather than having completed tasks in the same list with open tasks. This could make progress clearly visible to you, your team, and your clients.

ActiveCollab Standout Features & Integrations

Features include resource scheduling and allocation, workload planner, time-off management, daily capacity, overtime indicators, and a drag-and-drop interface that will help you assign and reassign tasks in seconds.

Integrations include Google Drive, Dropbox, Trello, Basecamp, Asana, Wrike, Slack, Hubstaff, TimeCamp, Quickbooks, Xero, Authorize.Net, Braintree, PayPal, Stripe, and hundreds of other third-party apps using Zapier.

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

14-day free trial + free plan

From $6.25/user/month

Pros

  • Easy to invite collaborators
  • People/roll management
  • Fully customizable API
  • Great organization of task overview

Cons

  • Can’t duplicate task lists
  • No integration with GitHub
  • No Kanban cards/tasks
12

Jira Software

Best for project issue tracking & backlog management

Jira is a software development tool from Atlassian mainly used by agile teams. While the software was initially designed as an issue tracker instead of a resource planning tool, which meant users may not get the core resource management features they need right out of the box, Atlassian offers a marketplace populated by several powerful Jira resource planning and scheduling plugins.

Why I Picked Jira: With a wide variety of Jira panning plugins, users can customize the software based on their current requirements and preferences. The activity timeline plugin, for example, helps users visualize their project resource planning so they will have a clear idea of which team member is doing what and when, all within a single display. It also helps them keep track of all the tasks currently in progress.

Jira is equipped with features that play a significant role in optimizing the resource management process, and one example is the roadmaps feature. This feature provides users full visibility over their resources, so they can make quick decisions based on data and context while maintaining their focus on bigger goals.

Aside from using roadmaps to track the big picture in terms of resources and overall project lifecycle, the roadmapping software also enables users to monitor and get ahead of dependencies. Resource managers can visualize dependencies within their team, allowing them to create plans that take into account those specific areas. Resource managers can also track dependencies across multiple teams, programs, and projects.

Jira Standout Features & Integrations

Features include product management, project management, issue tracking, collaboration, customizable workflows, reporting & analytics, mobile support, permission & access management, time tracking, custom data fields, and third-party integrations/add-ons.

Integrations include Confluence, Slack, Trello, Google Drive, Bitbucket, GitHub, Salesforce, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams.

Jira Pricing & Plans

A free plan is also available for up to 10 users. Pricing for Jira Software starts at $7.75/user/month with the Standard plan, which includes a 7-day free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 4683

7-day free trial

$10/user/month

Pros

  • Freemium paln for 10 users
  • Tons of integration options
  • Great for companies of all sizes

Cons

  • Limited mobile app functionality
  • Limited functionality on free version
13

Planview Clarizen

Fully-featured, enterprise-grade project management tool with resource scheduling

If you’re looking for an enterprise level resource planning tool with a fully tailored project management toolkit , check out Clarizen – a complete professional services automation (PSA) platform with a great set of tools for managing projects, tasks, resources, and budgets – wrapped in a single product.

Clarizen brings together project management, configurable workflow automation, in-context collaboration and a tailored, role-based experience that simplifies work, reduces communication overload, and provides visibility so everyone can work more effectively and adapt to changes. It centralizes release plans, release backlog data, bugs, documents, communications and more into one system, helping you to deliver releases efficiently, track and prioritize incoming tickets and schedule them for iterations with stacks of handy built-in reporting. Clarizen costs from $30/user/month.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 530

Free trial + free demo available

Pricing upon request

Pros

  • Good at forecasting future workload
  • Simpler and more intuitive to use than other apps
  • Highlighting for what changes and the critical path

Cons

  • Highlighting for what changes and the critical path
  • No request tracking on hourly basis
  • Doesn’t track or allocate requests automatically on the basis of FIFO (First-in, First-out)
14

Celoxis

Best for optimizing resource allocation for maximum productivity and project efficiency

Celoxis a comprehensive project management and resource scheduling software that has really impressed me. It's designed to help you construct dynamic project plans, optimize resource allocation, monitor portfolios, facilitate in-depth analyses, and automate project requests.

Why I picked Celoxis: I included Celoxis in this list cause their software is globally recognized for its integrated resource scheduling and tracking system, exceptional reporting capabilities, and customizability. You can use Celoxis to gain a bird's eye view of all your projects and resources, and drill down into the nitty-gritty details as needed.

Their resource management tools take into account holidays and vacation requests, and include the ability to manage multiple locations, shifts, or teams. You can easily allocate your team resources to specific tasks based on their unique skills, and avoid overscheduling your team thanks to their integrated capacity planning and instant overload alert tools.

Celoxis Standout Features & Integrations

Standout features for Celoxis include distinct tools for project planning including inter-project dependencies, project tracking including task health indicators, and project accounting tools to forecast revenue, track profit margins, and create custom KPIs.

Another feature that sets Celoxis apart is its high degree of customizability. You can tailor the software to your specific needs - including everything from the dashboard and reports to the project files and workflows - making it a versatile tool for various project management scenarios. This flexibility is not commonly found in other resource scheduling software, making Celoxis a unique choice.

Other features I really appreciate are the interactive Gantt chart and resource load chart, which give you a visual representation of your project timelines and whether any of your team members are over or under-utilized.

Integrations are available with over 400 applications, including Google Drive, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, iCal, Jira, QuickBooks Online, Zapier, Salesforce, Microsoft Active Directory, Okta, Google Authentication, One Login, Evernote, Slack, Zendesk, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Trello, Freshdesk, GitHub, Harvest, Survey Monkey, MailChimp, and others.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 64

30-day free trial

From $25/user/month

Pros

  • Includes over 400+ integrations
  • Includes tools for project accounting related to resource costs
  • Very customizable

Cons

  • The wealth of features means there is a bit of a learning curve
  • 5 user minimum
15

KeyedIn

Best for resource planning at the portfolio and program level

KeyedIn is a great tool for resource scheduling (as well as PPM). In fact, it was recognized as an August 2019 Gartner Peer Insights Customer Choice for Project and Portfolio Management. Features include Kanban and project workflows, hierarchy and roll-ups, forecasting and budgeting, and key deliverable and dependency tracking.

Maintaining daily and weekly tasks are easy with KeyedIn, as you can add tasks against multiple projects and the system will even show the effort and cost estimations. This will help navigate resources around staff leaves, and so on.

Integrations include Jira, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, QuickBooks, Microsoft Outlook, Sage Intacct, Salesforce App Cloud, SugarCRM, SAP CRM, Pivotal Tracker, Microsoft Dynamics GP, VersionOne, Fulcrum. Additionally, the software uses API Version 3 that makes it easier for its customers to share or extract project and portfolio data with other business software solutions.

A dedicated customer portal would make this software easier for looping clients in on resource scheduling needs for projects and tasks. The tool lost a few marks in the Usability review category because of this oversight.

KeyedIn offers pricing upon request and has a free trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 27

Free interactive product tour available

Available upon request

Pros

  • Data-rich dashboards with multiple views
  • Robust forecast dashboard with charts
  • Supports multiple languages and currencies

Cons

  • Must scroll through tabs to get a holistic view
  • Project hierarchy gets complex for multiple projects
  • No customer portal available yet

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Resource Scheduling Software Comparison Chart

This table summarizes some of the key features to help you make a decision.

Tool Free Option Price
1
monday.com

Best for simple workload and capacity planning

14-day free trial + free plan available

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

Best for resource scheduling at agencies and studios

Free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
3
Kantata

Best all-in-one resource planning, timesheets, and project financials

Free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
4
Float

Best resource scheduling for digital agencies

30-day free trial

From $7.50/user/month Visit Website
5
Saviom

Best Multi-dimensional Resource Scheduling Solution

60-day free trial

Pricing upon request Visit Website
6
Resource Guru

Best for preventing over-allocation using waitlists

30-day free trial available

From $3/user/month Visit Website
7
eResource Scheduler

Best simple, standalone scheduling module

14-day free trial

From $5/resource/month Visit Website
8
Microsoft Project

Best for organizations using Microsoft and Excel

30-day free trial

From $10/user/month Visit Website
9
Forecast

Best for managing your projects, resources, and finances in one

14-day free trial

From $29/user/month Visit Website
10
Productive

Best resource scheduling software for agencies in need of a scalable platform

14-day free trial

From $9/user/month (billed annually) Visit Website
11
ActiveCollab

Best to easily generate records for client invoicing

14-day free trial + free plan

From $6.25/user/month Visit Website
12
Jira Software

Best for project issue tracking & backlog management

7-day free trial

$10/user/month Visit Website
13
Planview Clarizen

Fully-featured, enterprise-grade project management tool with resource scheduling

Free trial + free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
14
Celoxis

Best for optimizing resource allocation for maximum productivity and project efficiency

30-day free trial

From $25/user/month Visit Website
15
KeyedIn

Best for resource planning at the portfolio and program level

Free interactive product tour available

Available upon request Visit Website

Other Resource Scheduling Tools

Below is a list of additional tools for resource scheduling that didn’t make the top list:

  1. Projectworks

    Best resource scheduling software for professional service providers

  2. Hub Planner

    Best for midsized to large companies

  3. Silverbucket

    Best for resource scheduling on project-based work

  4. Runn

    Best real-time resource planning, tracking and forecasting

  5. Schedule It

    Best for its contractor scheduling capacity

  6. Retain

    Best for tech, accounting, and professional services companies

  7. Notion

    Best for users who prefer the flexibility of a database structure

  8. TeamGantt

    Best for getting started fast

  9. Primetric

    Best for IT service companies & digital agencies

  10. Dayshape

    Best AI powered Resource Management for Professional Services firms

How I Picked The Best Resource Scheduling Software

To help you make an informed buying decision, I researched popular resource scheduling tools on the market. Then, I scored them based on the following factors when writing this review:

Features For The Use Case

I evaluated whether the features and functionality that the tool offers is a strong fit for the use case we are considering. I explain the key features in the list below.

Amount of information displayed

I looked at the many ways in which we can see resource information on each tool. While some have one view with what is essentially a timesheet next to names, others have color-coded views, skills databases, and workload reporting to help you make decisions.

Supporting documentation

I examined how easy it is for users to learn and master the tool. I give preference to products with tutorials, video training, knowledge bases, and academies that can teach you how to use the tool.

Pricing

I consider pricing as it factors into the buying decision. I researched the available plans, monthly costs (monthly billing), and free trials. If there was any additional information on free versions or discounts, I added it.

Resource Scheduling Software FAQs

Find answers to the most common questions about this topic.

What's Next?

Now that you have an idea of the tools that can handle scheduling, you can learn about 5 resource-leveling techniques that work or what is resource loading.

Related tool lists:

Speaking of resources, we have a free resource you cannot miss! Our Insider Membership Newsletter goes out every week, full of added value content for you. Stay up to date on our most popular articles, see what other PMs are having conversations about, and learn productivity hacks.

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.

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108 Comments

  • hello there thanks for the information and posts

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  • Great list of tools ! Fanurio https://www.fanuriotimetracking.com is another project management software for small teams.

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  • Hi everyone, I have been looking for a planning tool for our online marketing agency for some time now. The main problem I keep bumping into is that with each planning tool you can only plan per day and not per week. We are an agency that work on a weekly basis. Every employee has 40 hours per week, every client gets a certain amount of hours out of these 40 every week. I am looking for a planning tool that allows us to plan these hours without placing it on a certain day. Our employees get to decide themselves whenever they want to spend those hours on that specific client. Does anybody know a planning tool that has this feature? I am looking forward hearing from you guys. Thanks in advance! Rosanne

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  • Hi, Please have a look at the features of StaffTimerApp (https://stafftimerapp.com/) and I am sure you would consider including it in the list. Screenshots capturing and processing Flawless hours tracking. Instant Screen Capture. Real Time Monitoring. Video Monitoring.

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  • We have been using Breeze for a few years and are still amazed by its powerful functionalities. Thanks Rene for the good work!

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  • Useful article! Thanks! My project management toolbox is LeaderTask (https://en.leadertask.com/) and common calendar aka Google.

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  • After testing dozens of different tools I ended up with Proggio, a new tool that save me time and add great visuals for my project plan. Also currently has free trial, check it out https://www.proggio.com

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  • We're happy to see that elapseit (https://elapseit.com/) project management online software is included into your list. :D

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  • Another one to consider is AlchemyWorks Projects, a comprehensive project and portfolio management system that has a strong mobile interface. https://www.alchemyworks.com/

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  • Great Post.

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  • Hi Ben! Such delightful article for project managers. Most tools offers resource management and capacity planning . I would like to take this opportunity to introduce https://www.techno-pm.com which has a variety of free project management templates on resource plan. Key features- It covers following templates https://www.techno-pm.com/p/resource-plan.html 1.Excel based resource plan 2.Excel Capacity Plan 3.Excel Resource Matrix 4.Resource Management Plan 5.Agile Capacity Planner 6.Team Resource Plan 7.Project Resource Planning 8.Advanced Resource Plan

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  • Hi Ben! Great article! I would just add https://www.ganttic.com/ to here. I feel this is one of the most simple and intuitive resource planning tools around.

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  • This list would be more complete with solutions that fit smaller teams and freelancers like https://paretocrm.com project management tool which is extremely easy to use and fits small businesses perfectly.

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  • Thanks for the great list, i would like to point out another Ad agency project management software called iWorkSync Ad that is created to manage daily activities of an advertising company or agency. iWorkSync-AD is a fully integrated business management solution designed specifically for Media companies businesses. iWorkSync-AD integrates functions of all your departments including Accounts, Production, Media and Finance. iWorkSync-AD offers whole business automation, quick-to-implement and easy-to-use. iWorkSync-AD promotes productivity, boosts creativity, and adds to the top and bottom lines of an advertising agency. See more about the product at - https://www.iantz.in/iworksync.php

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  • We use Briefcase and couldnt be happier. Suits the studio perfectly and the support and customer service we get is the best. We looked everywhere for a system that can combine everything instead of having to use 3-4 different applications.

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  • Great list. But I think there is another pressing need in the area of project / resource management that these tools do not address. These tools do a fantastic job of scheduling resources to project work at a tactical / low level. But as organizations scale (and they do not have to be that big) they need to then take strategic approach to their resource management. So by this I mean answering questions such as: - Given the projects underway and in the pipeline how many resources will we need over the next 12 months? - What skills mix will we need in those resources? - Will we have to hire / fire resources and if so when? - If we change around the priorities of our projects, how will this impact deadlines and resource needs? - What will happen if we start up 5 new projects next month? These kind of questions are key but rarely answered by project management or resource scheduling tools. Perhaps a good topic for another article? There are a few tools that do help you answer the questions above Kelloo (https://www.kelloo.com) is one I have used with good success. There was another I used (Atlantic Global) but I can't track a website down for them. Basically, Kelloo / AG includes features for resource planning, resource capacity planning, resource demand planning, scenario modeling, what-if modeling etc. They take a more strategic approach to resource planning. Something that most organizations do in spreadsheets but do very badly.

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    • Hi Ian:-) thanks for rich comment. I am looking for tool what you described and I think about Hub Planner, which is on the first place in article above. Did you use it? Thanks for help and great thanks for author of this article:-)

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      • Hi Sawek – yes I did try try Hub Planner. It was a nice tool, but was dealing with basic day to day scheduling of resources in a calendar format. It didn’t help me with the problems I was having as expanded upon in my prior post. I think we need to make a distinction when talking about resource planning / resource scheduling tools. There are many tools out there that let you allocate a resource to a piece of work for a period and then let you keep tabs on the resources utilization levels. So I would include tools like Hub Planner, Float and 1000K foot in this category. They tend to rely on the scheduler managing the schedule / allocating the tasks to smooth the workload of the resources. Then you have tools which are dynamic. What do I mean by this? – You do not have to manage the schedule at a low level, which is great as your resource levels increase. – They help you understand how you can solve your resource problems (not just tell you that you have a problem). – You can explore different resourcing options to optimize your resources usage. – You can model the impact different resource levels will have on your deadlines (i.e what happens if I hire / fire etc). – Selecting different project options will have a radical impact on your resource plans. I.e. if a new project is started up but others put on hold, you need to quickly understand how this impacts your resources. So these tools tend to have a higher level focus and the planning horizon tends to be weeks to months as opposed to what is happening today / this week. I would badge these tools as resource capacity planning solutions. I started off looking at https://www.liquidplanner.com. I liked the tool. The alternative to liquid planner that I ended up using was https://www.kelloo.com.

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  • Hi Ben. Great overview and I would also like to add our solution, Retain International. Founded in 1992, Retain is utilised by professional service firms to increase efficiency, revenue and remove the pain often associated with resource planning. We develop the software based on client feedback to offer the most effective solution possible. If you are looking for a better way, please take a moment to visit https://www.retaininternational.com and see how Retain has helped our clients. Many thanks. Daniel

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  • Thanks for the list! I'd like to add another project management tool - Deskun (https://deskun.com/), it's a cloud based system mostly suitable for small businesses.

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  • Hi Ben! Great article and summary of the tools. I would be happy if you spare a minute and also take a look at the tool for resource management we recently released - https://teamdeck.io - it's a complete solution for agencies and software houses when it comes to planning new projects and sales pipeline, measuring time via timetracker and timesheets or even requesting vacations.

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  • I would prefer one of the Best Resource Scheduling Software which I think you missed to mention here. eResource Scheduler is really a wonderful software for any company who is looking for resource management. Find more about it here- https://www.eresourcescheduler.com

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  • If you're using Outlook, TimeSheet Reporter makes it possible to track time via your appointments. Great article, thanks. :)

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  • Nice article... AT BETAPAGE, Fiirefly is a the project management tool you always wanted for your small company.

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  • Nice article thanks for sharing it.

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  • Hi Ben, Awesome list of PM tools, really appreciate the compilation! Coming from a digital agency background, we always struggled a bit with the complexity and unnecessary features in some of the more comprehensive PM tools. If you're looking for a streamlined approach to managing your agency's resources and projects, you could always look into something like resource management: https://www.scaleapp.com/blog/why-most-project-management-software-is-too-complex-for-agencies Hope it's helpful to a couple of PMs or agency people out there! Thanks again Ben! Ryan

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  • Could someone give me some advice. I hire out teams of 2 specialists to different customers. I whish that the specialists can list available time and I want the customer to see when the resource is available ( full team of 2 specialists) and be able to make a reservation. I will then confirm it and bill accordingly. Does anyone know of a system that handle this. I don`t want my customer to see who the specialist is, just availability.... Regards Stefan

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  • Hello, I am working in a digital agency who are currently scheduling with spreadsheets (ahhhhhhh) I know! I am looking to introduce a tool for resource scheduling and project management - I just dont know what ones to trial out I like Float Hub planner and resource guru and feedback on these ??

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    • Hi, Can I also recommend reviewing admation Admation offers both approval workflow, project management and resource management features. It comes with integrate image library and final assets library, basically meaning you can use one solution to manage your projects from beginning to end. You can find more information at www.admation.com Good luck with your search.

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  • Great read thanks for sharing! These tools are a great help especially for freelancers online businesses. Time tracking tools are also important as it helps you and your employees keep track of your time and productivity. By using web-based time tracking tool from sites like https://www.clockspot.com/ you can micro manage your projects and be more effective with completing your tasks.

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  • Hi All, If you want a SaaS for managing employees' schedules, I recommend QuickTask.com's Schedule, https://quicktask.com/schedule/ , software. For those that need a SaaS for customers to be able to take appointments, QuickTask.com offers its' Rendez-Vous, https://quicktask.com/rendez-vous/ , software. Schedule and Rendez-Vous are both easy and fun to use.

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    • Hi All, Schedule's webpage is the following URL: https://quicktask.com/en/rendez-vous/ ; and Rendez-Vous's webpage if the following: https://quicktask.com/en/schedule/ . My bad for the last post.

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  • All. The company I am with is using Basecamp and Harvest but I really am looking for something a bit more. Backstory: we work with a team of contractors that all have different levels of tasks they can do. Some are available at different times, some only can do specific tasks, and some only have a specific amount of hours they can work. I am looking for something to input their information in and to click a type of filter that lets me know who is available in the afternoon and can review a site on Firefox (for example). I don't want anything overly complicated. If it can be integrated with BC and Harvest, that would be great but not necessary. Thank you!!

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    • Hi All, De, i hear what your saying and the best product that has all in one is a product called briefcase software. worth checking out and im sure will suit. easy to use and looks great.

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    • Hi De, If you want something web-based you can try our product - Forecast.it There's a review on this site here - thedigitalprojectmanager.com/tool-review-forecast-it-a-smarter-way-to-run-projects-more-predictably/ We can import all your data from both BC and Harvest. Feel free to reach out if you want more info, a demo or just advice on how to tackle your challenges.

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    • Hi De, Have you considered admation. It does allow you to do the things you are after. You can schedule who is available when at an individual level, including late starts, early finishes and non-working days. You can also assign functions to your resources which helps you with the specific tasks issue. For more info visit www.admation.com

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  • I have used and loved Workamagig.

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  • Agreed with your initial line about 'my preference is for tools that do one thing really well rather than a catch-all tool which does lots of things, but none of them quite right'. I feel like resource scheduling tools always get grouped into other software offerings, (especially in PM tools) even though resource management should really be treated as a separate but integrated function. Saviom Resource Management Software (www.saviom.com/resource-management-software.aspx) are one of the few tools on the market that provide a full Enterprise Resource Scheduling solution. You should definetely check it out!

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  • Hi Ben, I just found you listing and wanted to add our product to that list. There are lots of products on the market, we believe that our system AccountAbility, www.accountabilityaccess.com, is one that more than merits this list. AccountAbility is an integrated project management, media and financial system built in the cloud and designed exclusively for today’s communication agency. We built it from the ground up so everything you see is in the system, no bolted on components, no emulation to access the system. Our clients highlight low cost, ease of use, and all agency integration as reasons, amongst others, why they work with AccountAbility. We are in 25+ nations, multi language, multi currency, with consolidated accounting across offices. We welcome comments and if more interest please contact me. Best, Chris Brown c.brown@accountabilityaccess.com

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  • Another great system in this area is Data Valley www.datavalley.co.uk, this is a modular based system which integrates into Production Jobs for project management, Media for managing Media schedules, Timesheets for logging internal or chargeable time and also has its own Accounts module as well as being able to export to other finance software such as Sage. Latest version for Production is all web based also.

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  • Great article and website. I'm not a DPM myself, but interested in a subject. What about Slack when it comes to useful tools? https://slack.com/

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  • I created this software -- Colarosa.com -- I advertise it as a system capable of "enabling increased efficiency with streamlined project dashboards, scheduling, file sharing and more." It's best feature is it's ability to get internal and external stakeholders all on the same page. Feel free to try it out! Best, Alessandro

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  • Hi Ben, The list would not be complete without eSilentPARTNER (www.eSilentPartner.com). It's fully integrated web-based project management and accounting software for ad agencies and professional services firms. They just released some slick project management features including Kanban boards and the system is HTML 5 compliant. The accounting is also strong with multi-company and multi-currency capabilities. It can also handle VAT tax for our Canadian friends:) Definitely worth a look! https://www.esilentpartner.com/index.html

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  • I run a creative agency and my team and I are currently using Briefcase - By far the best solution I've found for job management, scheduling, time tracking, reporting, invoices, quotes and estimates, everything we need in one place and more! A beautifully designed interface, it's intuitive, logical and clear! Would highly recommend giving them a go - https://getbriefcase.net/

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  • If you are in the film/TV industry and looking for resource scheduling, project and task management software, you should try FoxOMS. Its worth a look especially if you like working with a timeline interface. https://www.foxoms.com

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  • I would like to recommend workasteam. It provides a simple excel like interface for creating gantt charts which are updated in real time when team updates their work status. It also provides charts such a S-Curve, Effort utlization vs work % complete and Effort distribution among other things, giving you deeper insights into your project status. https://www.workasteam.com

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  • Hello, for project and project portfolio resourcing I'd like to mention Silverbucket as well. It's an option worth checking out if you are looking for a visual, simple solution for resourcing. There's also a time tracking feature included. https://www.silverbucket.fi/en/

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  • Blatant self promotion, but checkout Forecast.it Forecast.it is a full end-to-end data-driven Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) platform that is easy-to-use right in your browser. The solution predicts time and cost for your projects intelligently and lets you organize and run all your agile or traditional projects. With our easy-to-use interface you get the full portfolio and resource overview of all your projects in one solution. Forecast.it is for startups and enterprises who wish to get predictability into their budgets and projects. It is for companies who want the full portfolio and resource overview and organizations that want to get their distributed teams of any size more organized and productive.

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  • If you manage people as much or more as you do projects, if you need something more flexible then standard project tools, something that will cover 80% of what crosses your desk, and you're a manager or VP or C-level officer, and you wouldn't describe yourself as a project manager per se, then you fit what we do, and we use ManagePro (https://www.managepro.com). It's the project management tool that's designed for people who aren't. A lot of hp to handle everything from tracking what you've delegated to dashboards, and allows you to drag and drop Outlook emails into the project plans as well.

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  • Hi Ben, I would also like to mention WorkZone (www.workzone.com). Originally built with agencies in mind, it remains one of the longest running web-based project management and resource allocation tools on the market. Tracking projects becomes less stressful because everyone on your team has access to the current status of all projects and tasks. WorkZone also gives you a view on who is busy, allowing a manager to gauge workloads easily. Video (only 3-minutes!): https://www2.workzone.com/about-us/intro-to-workzone-video/ Thanks! Steve

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  • Hi, Andrew. I'd suggest to check out PM solution for agencies and studios by Comindware - https://www.comindware.com/solutions/marketing-project-management/ I like it for its automated priority-based planning, automated plan updates according to real-time project status, easy workload control and (my favorite!) advanced collaboration options including online discussion rooms. You have to buy license for key project members and can invite unlimited number of collaborators which can take part in discussions and see tasks assigned to them, but not project in general.

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  • Iprosh is web base software that gives possibility for small business to easily manage their online presence with help of project management, project planning, website, portfolio, online store, scheduling, time tracking, SEO booster, expense tracking, collaborative tools. Iprosh is the best way if you need either or both a front end solution to find clients and sell online and a back end to manage your business and work online with your clients. https://www.iprosh.com Give it a try for 30 days for FREE

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  • Check out Dryrun (https://dryrun.com). It’s a great tool for managing your business cash flow, building budgets, and comparing scenarios. Dryrun gives you the ability to make great business decisions quickly and easily without the need for complicated formulas and spreadsheets!

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  • Ok, this is great stuff but what about tools for individual / freelance boutique agencies trying to improve resource / load management - planning and booking projects by client - any apps ?? Thanks !

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  • May I suggest Comidor ( https://www.comidor.com), which is a collaboration platform that provides a wide range of business solutions (Collaboration, Project Management, CRM, Financials and BI). A small overview of Comidor's functionalities: - Collaboration: embedded email, chat, messages, video-calls, activity wall, organizational chart, calendar, wikis, personal profiles, contacts, accounts and more. - Document Management: document sharing, locking, versioning, rating, security levels, embedded viewers and more. - Task Assignment: tasks, events, discussions, issue tracking, workflows and more. - Project Management: scheduling, Gantt charts, resources, costs, milestones, deliverables, "Comidor ECHO MODEL" and more. - Customer Relationship Management: leads, opportunities, campaigns, contracts, accounts, funnel charts and more. - Financial: incomes, expenses, budgets, balances, cash flows, activity history and more. - Business Intelligence: reports, advanced filters, query designer, pie charts, line charts, geo analysis - Integration: MS Office, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Maps, Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, PDF, EDIs, custom connections via web services

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  • Hi Ben, I strongly suggest you add this to your list -- MSP_LEVELING. This tool can be found at the website: ara-project.com It works on Microsoft Project (MSP) applications. This tool provides automatic leveling of resources. Also provided: schedule quality inspection and various analysis reports which capture key information that the PM can use to review with management for approvals.

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  • Our team is using https://hitask.com - We can share task lists make managing team projects simple. As a team member I can create and assign tasks. We can leave comments for each other on tasks to keep track of progress and ask questions. Shared tasks are visible to assigned team members. You can be automatically notified when someone completes a task or makes a change. Aside from that it is very easy to navigate the entire page.

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  • Great list and stream of additional ideas... I'd love to know your opinion of Advantage software?

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    • I too would be interested in any opinions on the Advantage software. Love the list

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  • Here's another tip- Try Google Calendar + ClipPod. We've using it for our own resource scheduling + very basic project planning and it has worked out quite well so far.

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  • Hi Ben, I can highly recommending adding admation - www.admation.com to this list. Admation 's point of difference is that it is fully integrated with online approval workflow and marketing asset management, providing agencies and marketing teams with one central online location to manage their creative projects, plan and track resources, as well as manage the approval and storing of artwork and assets. Its is feature rich and user friendly. Please let me know if you are interested in a demonstration. Cheers,

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  • What about Collabtive? is it considered one of them as many people are recommending it.

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  • Hi Ben, what a great article with so many different types of project management tools! We'd also love to recommend Trello (https://trello.com) for to-do lists, Slack (https://slack.com) for team discussions, and our very own Concept.vu (https://www.concept.vu) for getting work signed off by clients :)

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  • For project management you can also give Brightpod ( https://brightpod.com ) a try. A simple app with bunch of collaboration features for marketing teams. Helps you get the bigger picture when you are working on so many different things.

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  • We recently dialed up the efforts to transform the way we manage convergent client campaigns and needed a software solution to not only create detailed campaign plans but also centralise multiple stakeholders in a collaborative environment to share ideas, work, and files. As we are no small agency we wanted to keep the training costs at a low level while focusing on an immediate, big impact. The tool we finally landed on (after reviewing pretty much every tool in the list above) is https://www.smartsheet.com

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    • Hi Timo, I'm interested in SmartSheet. Just started playing in the trial version. Is there any sort of resourcing element, so potentially looking at several jobs' schedules and consolidating a resource report, say where Shari is utilized across 8 projects, determining her bandwidth? Thank you.

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  • Ben, Your list as well as those added in the comments is easily the best roundup of cutting-edge project managers I've ever seen. Great resource.

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  • I just shopped for a project management tool for my team, I almost bought Asana and then I met the Streamframe team at SxSW. The project management space is so fragmented. Even with the most modern tools we still ended up relying on email and spreadsheets as a "catch all." Particularly worrying to us was how financial and efficiency tracking seemed to be completely ignored when managing projects. Even in Beta, Streamframe solves all these problems. Their feedback is quick and they have already started working some of my companies suggestions into their road map. Here is the URL: check it out https://www.streamframe.com

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  • A great and new collaborative resource planning tool is Pushpin Planner. It integrates with toggl and Basecamp, which I also use. It has a free plan and some of Pushpin Planner's features include Gantt chart visualization, allocation, overall team utilization and budget reporting.

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  • Hi Ben, just stumbled upon your great PM tools list. Wondering if you would consider adding https://www.productforce.com to it? Thanks again for this, Catherine

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  • Hi, Check another service www.oogwave.com, we built for SMBs. Simple to use, easy to adopt. For ideas, files and task collaboration. Available to discuss more anytime. rana.porter@oogwave.com (solution specialist, Oogwave)

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  • Think I saw it mentioned further up this list but thought I would include it myself anyway... I use WorkBook.net as my ONLY system for all areas of my agency. WorkBook is a fantastic integrated solution that covers CRM, Project Management, Resource Management + Accounting meaning that all info me and my team require is in 1 system. I would encourage all you advertising, PR, design etc. agency owners out there to take a look https://WorkBook.net

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    • Hi There, I had a demo of this tool and they quoted me 5K for the installation and only 3K for the service. did you pay almost double for the set up when compared to she service?

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  • Hi Ben, Thought you might want to add JobSuite to your mix. It is created specifically for creative project tracking. Fully web-based and built on the Salesforce.com platform. Many base features but can still be customized. Flexible scheduling, collaboration, calendars, vendor quotes, estimates, purchase orders, as well as a reports for all areas. Check it out at… https://jobsuite.net

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  • Another tool that you might want to add to the list is PIVOT. The FLOW module handles agency project management from sales to planning to invoicing and accepting payments. It is a digital suite that also allows agencies to integrates websites, promo & email campaigns, social media, analytics and more. Check it out at: https://www.pivotstack.com

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  • Hi Ben, Thank you for the list of Project Management tools you have mentioned. I would like to add one more i.e. eResource Scheduler. eRS is a collaborative multiuser project resource scheduling software which provides effective project management with enormous features like drag and drop scheduling, configurable reports, export to excel etc.

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  • We use qdPM Extended. It is a web based open source solution. One of its best features is that it has a built in ticketing system to allow customers to communicate with you to request quotes and changes, report issues, given feedback in UAT and so on. Tickets can spawns as many tasks as you want so its all connected. Compared to other paid solutions like Basecamp and Confluence+Jira, qdPM Extended is a bargain. There is also a free version qdPM.net

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  • Another program to check out is Function Point. We provide web based project management and resource scheduling software specifically designed for creative agencies. Check us out: www.functionpoint.com

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  • Also take a look at www.proofhub.com, It is simple and easy to use effective project management software that enables precise tracking, adequate highlighting and timely conduction of events and milestones. Timely email notifications are sent to team members, clients, customers and other stakeholders so they can mandatorily and timely participate in events, meetings without forgetting them.

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  • I am not happy with this list because it does not contain proofhub.com which offers features like gantt chart, time tracking, proofing, sub tasks, labels etc.

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  • At our studio we use a combination of different software to achieve our needs...In no particular order this is what our setup looks like for 2014 1. Project Tasks / Discussions / Interface We use a combination of Basecamp https://basecamp.com and Trello https://trello.com 2. Resource Planning and Scheduling We use Hub Planner https://hubplanner.com 3. Invoicing We use Harvest https://getharvest.com 4. Document Sharing We use Google Drive https://drive.google.com I am pretty happy with it...

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  • Great list! Newcomer, Allocate (www.allocatehq.com), is worth checking out too. It's a very simple resource management tool that helps you quickly see your team's availability. Set up and scheduling is super fast, and it's still in beta so it's currently free for all team sizes.

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  • Great list of PMS! You might as well check this list of over 40 project management software - https://blog.timedoctor.com/2011/02/02/43-project-management-software-alternatives It's a great resource for those who are looking for more alternatives.

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  • Project managers love this unique task board optimized for teams. Matthew Osborne created this project management system because my clients demanded it. He has developed a search function that worked effectively. online project management software.

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  • I'd like to recommend Neutrino (https://getneutrino.com). Neutrino is a multi-project tool that includes collaboration, documentation, and file sharing

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  • been using guru before and spreadsheets but now we just switched to Hub Planner https://hubplanner.com So far pretty impressed with the features and pretty UI.

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  • Hi Ben, I came across your article, and was wondering if you've seen our project management app? It's called Trigger (www.triggerapp.com), and it helps you manage tasks, projects, and log time. It's doing really well with creative agencies, and it constantly being updated. I used it personally myself before joining the team. I found it so easy to use, it looks damn nice, and is simple alternative! :)

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  • Hi Ben, thank you for your list. I highly recommed open source project management software Easy Redmine. I am using it for 1 year and it is really awsome. It has many extensions so it adapts to every kind of project, it is cheap and nice. https://www.easyredmine/ Katy

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  • In the same vein as OpenAir, I would like to mention Resource Planning by Retain International (https://www.retaininternational.com). They're UK-based and have been around for 20 years serving among others the big four audit/accounting firms. Not strictly PM software but resource planning and scheduling for staff and/or physical assets; well worth a look.

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  • Hi Ban, if you like visuals, please take a look at https://casual.pm/ it helps visualize and manage project workflows. Currently Casual is mainly used by teams with digital projects.

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  • Also, check out https://kanbantool.com/ intuitive and web-based solution for visual project management with online boards and cards.

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  • Thanks for including us in the awesome write-up, Ben! Just a small correction - our price starts at $10-$12/user/month and not the $19/user/month as listed above.

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    • Oops! Sorry I made you more expensive than I should have!

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  • For more agile project management check out Breeze ( https://breeze.pm ), it's Basecamp and Trello mashup, plus it adds more stuff like time tracking, calendars and reporting.

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  • As far as the web agency world goes, this resource planning tools beats a lot of the list above. Definitely deserves a mention. Hub Planner https://hubplanner.com

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    • I agree, Hub Planner nailed it! +1

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    • We also just moved over from using spreadsheets for our resource planning to using Hub Planner. I am greatly impressed with the software so far, pretty easy to get up and running with nice visuals and scheduling tools. Saying that, we were stuck in the gloomy world of Excel spreadsheet planning for quite some time, so anything that beats that on a Monday morning is fantastic IMO :)

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    • another positive vote for the product from Hub Planner - doing a fantastic job at managing my resources

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    • and now they have introduced Time Sheets to Hub Planner. Gotta love the amount of love going into this software...I'm a fan!

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    • For larger firms, is hubplanner really $7,000 a year when most of these are $900 - $1,200 a year for similar user/resource count.

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  • I really think www.workbook.net is missing on this list. Not only will it do resource planning and project management, but it also covers project-driven business need for software from a-z.

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    • I completely agree René! As I have written below, I would encourage all advertising, PR, design etc. agency owners to take a look

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  • Hi Ben, You missed RationalPlan - https://www.rationalplan.com/ It is a suite of products that can help you do project management, resource management and scheduling i.e. everything that you need. Cheers, Tibi

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  • Great list - thanks! The agency I work for currently uses salesforce for their entire CRM, I wonder if there are any PM tools you can recommend that are able to integrate with salesforce? Thanks, Nils

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  • I'd like to recommend LiquidPlanner (https://www.liquidplanner.com/). It's a wonderful online project management system. Here are some key features: - Flexible best/worst case estimates - Multi-project planning and organization - Drag-n-drop scheduling - Integrated timesheets - Integrated project portals - Collaboration and file sharing - Analysis and trend reporting - Email and calendar integration - Web, iPhone, iPad, and Android apps and much more!

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  • Thank you Ben for this resource, you have pointed out some new software that I've never heard about! In my company we are using Teamwork right now(not Teamwork pm :-)) and it is a really good software for scheduling resources. At first we also thought that a software for managing our resources' time was not necessary but since we started using it we immediately encountered its benefitl! We are now more conscious about which of our resources is overloaded and so we can manage the situation in time and all the team is happier :-) If you want to take a look at Teamwork here is the site https://www.twproject.com/

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    • Thank you Sarah for your precious suggestion! I already tried lot of PMS, but after your suggestion I gave Teamwork a try. Now we are completely addicted! We started with a very light approach, inserting only the root of each project and using issues for day-bay-day management (we found the issue planner quite comfortable). Now we structure complex projects using Teamwork Gantt editor and even dependencies, but only when really necessary (some of our customers love to ask us a printed Gantt :-) ) As you said, having a clear situation of work progress, project costs and work load makes our team happier :-) Thanks, thanks, thanks

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  • May I recommend StrikeBase ( www.strikebase.com ) It has --- * a Work Board for Tasks with Time Tracking * Chat on the Web and Desktop * File Sharing,File versioning * Dropbox and Google Drive integration * A Calendar with Google Calendar integration ...and lots more!

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