10 Best Visual Project Management Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 40 tools reviewed.
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There are seemingly countless project management software solutions that offer visuals, so figuring out which is best for you is tough. You want to have understand project performance through visuals that turn complex data into simple and actionable insights but need to figure out which tool is the best fit. I've got you! In this post I make things simple, leveraging my experience managing big, complex projects, and using dozens of different PM tools to bring you this shortlist of the best visual project management software.
What is visual project management software?
Visual project management software is a specialized tool that leverages visual representations to facilitate project planning, tracking, and communication. It goes beyond traditional text-based interfaces, offering graphical elements such as charts, diagrams, and dashboards to present project information in a more digestible and actionable format.
Visual project management software helps streamline project oversight by providing a visually intuitive platform that fosters better communication with stakeholders, understanding of complex information, and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
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Hub Planner
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.2 -
ClickUp
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.7 -
Miro
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8
Overviews Of The 10 Best Visual Project Management Solutions
Here’s a brief description of each of the visual project management software that is featured on this list.
ClickUp
Hyper-customizable visual interface to let you emphasize what is important to you.
ClickUp is a project management powerhouse that has a wide range of features and customization options. You can visually customize the overall look and feel of the interface, plus what you see inside your project spaces.
To get the most out of your experience, I recommend you enable the sidebar dark mode and use the modern layout. If you do it, it should look exactly like the screenshot above. Regarding your project spaces, you should know you can add emojis to any field that supports text. Also, dropdown-type fields will let you have background colors so your fields stand out.
Lesson learned: not everything needs a color. Otherwise it will look like the most confusing rainbow you’ve ever seen.
ClickUp offers native integrations with Slack, G Suite, Dropbox, and many more tools, as well as over 1,000+ integrations through Zapier.
ClickUp is free with limited storage for an unlimited number of users. Paid plans start at $5/user/month and offer a free-trial.
monday.com is a bold, easy-to-use visual project management software that lets you view your projects, tasks, and milestones in a variety of ways—Gantt chart, calendar views, task lists, Kanban boards, and completion-level bar charts. Each user can build their own visual dashboard using widgets to pull in and display the data they need mostar in their day-to-day.
monday also has in-app commenting and messaging, making for easy workflow collaboration and approvals. Team members can attach documents right into the project space, including graphics, text files, videos, and spreadsheets. Plus, monday.com boasts fully featured iOS and Android mobile apps.
Higher level paid plans will unlock simple, point-and-click automations that can change statuses or send notifications as soon as certain conditions are met. This greatly reduces the organizational and administrative burden on your project management team.
monday.com’s integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform and many more, accessible through a paid plan with Zapier.
monday.com costs from $6/user/month and comes with a free 14-day trial. They offer a free plan for up to 2 users.
Wrike is a project management software suitable for teams of five or more, as the software allows for an unlimited number of users. The tool is highly configurable and allows users to customize workflows, dashboards, reports, and request forms.
Wrike enables users to switch between Kanban boards, interactive drag-and-drop Gantt charts, and traditional workload views, allowing them to choose how to visualize priorities. Wrike also features task lists, subtasks, schedules, shared workflows, file sharing, and real-time communication and collaboration. Users can get advanced insights on their project with performance reporting tools, resource management and allocation, and time tracking.
Wrike has an easy-to-use, intuitive interface and navigation with distinct spaces, folders, and tasks. You can switch between the home screen and timesheets, dashboards, calendars, reports, and stream (for notifications and messages). Wrike also has a dedicated help center with interactive training, videos, a ‘Getting Started’ guide, and a thriving community.
Wrike also offers a variety of specific solutions depending on the type of team or organization — including marketing teams and professional service teams. Users can also try a variety of templates for common organizational processes.
Wrike offers 400+ pre-built native integrations, including the most popular file management software from Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox, along with sales and marketing software from Salesforce and Marketo.
Pricing starts at $9.80/user/month. There are four different price points, including a free version and plans which offer the ability to invite free external collaborators to a paid account.
Notion is an easy-to-use project planning tool with a focus on docs & wiki building and is used by teams from Loom, Spotify, Slack, Nike, and Pixar. The interface is designed to marry your daily task view with knowledge base documentation in the same space so that you don't need to jump back and forth or worry about straying from the project expectations. This approach is particularly useful for remote or hybrid teams, who may not have 1:1 access to management support at all times.
Key features include drag-and-drop dashboards, a community-curated template library, real-time collaboration with in-app commenting and discussions, and granular permission levels. They offer a web-based SaaS or on-premise option, as well as versions for both macOS and Windows. They also have a free mobile app.
Notion's API for integrations is currently in the beta stage. They do not advertise any native third-party connections, which puts them at somewhat of a disadvantage when compared to others on this list.
Notion is free to use with some feature limitations. Paid plans cost from $10/user/month.
Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard widely adopted for its vast template library, supporting everything from mind maps to flowcharts. Esteemed by leading corporations, it streamlines project management with visual boards and built-in video conferencing, alongside Agile and wireframing tools.
For project oversight, Miro's Planner feature allows users to visualize tasks using various categories for clearer project landscapes. Miro's Dependencies App also aids in identifying task interconnections across sprints, ensuring informed planning decisions. Furthermore, the tool's capacity planner option offers insights into team bandwidth, aiding in sprint adjustments based on actual task completion timelines.
Overall, Miro's integration of planning tools and project visualization aids teams in visualizing content workflows and navigating project complexities in today's hybrid work setups.
Miro has integrations with a whole suite of tools, including Zoom, Figma, Asana, Microsoft Teams, Monday.com, Confluence, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, Box, Airtable, Notion, Azure, and Webex. Some integrations are limited to paid plans only.
Miro is free to use for unlimited members with up to 3 editable boards. Paid plans start at $8/user/month (billed annually).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Built-in communication features for streamlined collaboration
- Intuitive and easy setup
- Free forever plan available
Cons:
- Free version does not allow high-quality export to pdf
- Zooming can be jumpy on larger projects
- Visitor/guest accounts locked to paid plans only
FigJam is an online whiteboard tool created by Figma. It's a flexible and versatile tool that can be used for various aspects of your project planning and management. Because you start with a blank canvas, it can facilitate everything from brainstorming and ideation to workflow mapping and task tracking. The software comes with several pre-built templates you can draw from, too.
Whiteboards can be customized with stickers, comments, shapes, lines, arrows, images, and more. You can use these boards to map out concepts, ideas, and plans. Templates available cover things like project brainstorm structures, roadmaps, flowcharts, timelines, and more. There's also lots of support documentation available, both from Figma and from the Figma community.
What makes FigJam particularly useful in my opinion is its integration with Figma's design platform. For product and design teams, this is super useful because you can plan, manage, and execute your work all within the same environment.
Native integrations are available for Figma, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Jira, Mixpanel, and Github.
A freemium plan is available for up to 3 boards, and paid plans start from $3 per user, per month.
Airtable is a super robust and highly customizable visual project management software with smart sorting and filtering capabilities, an assortment of different data visualization styles, and very flexible workflow automations to accommodate any process. It can be tricky to learn all the ins and outs of the system but it’s well worth the effort.
Airtable is so data dense and informationally rich that its internal search function tends to lag behind what is needed for the tool. Don’t let this stop you from trying it out, though, as you’ll definitely find the broad functionality of the system gets you a bang for your buck.
Airtable integrates with Asana, Basecamp, Dropbox, Box, Email, Eventbrite, Evernote, Facebook, Github, Gmail, Google Drive/calendar/contacts, Instagram, JotForm, MailChimp, LinkedIn, MeetUp, Pocket, Slack, SMS, Soundcloud, Stripe, Trello, Tumblr, Twilio, Twitter, Typeform, WordPress, Wunderlist, YouTube, and Zendesk. You can connect to thousands of other apps using Zapier, Workato, Integromat, or Automate.io (may require a paid plan) or leverage their robust API to do the same.
Airtable offers a free plan with some feature and size limitations. Paid plans cost from $10/user/month and come with a 14-day free trial.
Backlog is project management and code management united, making it particularly well suited for software development teams who want a modern, visual workspace. Backlog has everything that you would expect from a visual project management tool: sprint planning, communication tools, real-time updates, and a healthy number of workflow-related integrations. Backlog has both an iOS and Android mobile app, as well.
Backlog also has all the stuff that software dev PMS need: issue and bug tracking, remote work support, version controls, and tons of built-in storage space 100 GB for enterprise level plans). You can even add issues directly from whatever email solution you use. They also empower code review and collaboration through Git, Subversion (SVN), and wikis.
Backlog integrates with Typetalk, Cacoo, Nulab Pass, Slack, Redmine, Jira Importer, Jenkins, iCal Sync, email platforms, Google Sheets, and LambdaTest. You can also build your own integrations and add-ons with Backlog's API.
Backlog is free for up to 10 users and 1 project. Paid plans cost from $35/month for up to 30 users and come with a 30-day free trial.
KeyedIn is a visual project management tool that combines all of your PMO’s projects, tasks, resources, and reports across a modern, clean interface. Simple dashboard views can flag overdue deliveries, tasks, and actions so that your team can address them quickly. They also offer risk & issue management features: track, manage and resolve risks and issues associated with portfolio projects.
KeyedIn is available in over a dozen languages, inlucing English (US & UK), Spanish (Mexico & Spain), Chinese Manderin, and French. They also offer their services in different hyper-focused modules to address things like manufacturing enterprise resource planning, project portfolio management, or professional services PM.
KeyedIn integrates with Salesforce, Cherwell, JIRA, CAST Software Intelligence, Sage, Microsoft BI, and other apps not listed directly on their site. Their enterprise-level plan boasts support for third-party integrations for things like predictive analytics, IT product analysis, advanced reporting, and AL/machine learning.
KeyedIn costs from $15.30/user/month depending on permissions/feature needs. They also offer a free trial for new users.
Office Timeline is a project management tool designed to help users create project visuals like timelines and Gantt charts within PowerPoint. It stands out for its capacity to produce professional and persuasive visuals, which is why it is considered the best tool for PowerPoint project visuals, aiding in better project planning and communication.
I chose Office Timeline for its proficiency in generating sophisticated project visuals such as timelines and Gantt charts within PowerPoint. Its distinction lies in the blend of simplicity and powerful features, coupled with the adaptability of its collaborative web tool. I believe Office Timeline is best suited for PowerPoint project visuals due to its desktop tool's richness, enabling detailed customization of graphics, which is crucial for presenting projects compellingly to stakeholders.
Standout Features include a timeline maker, a Gantt chart maker, swimline diagrams, a variety of pre-designed templates that users can select and customize to create their timelines quickly, and online collaboration tools that enable multiple users to view and edit timelines in real-time.
Integrations include Jira, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Wrike, and Smartsheet.
Pricing starts at $99 per year and includes a free plugin.
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The Best Visual Project Management Solutions Software Comparison Chart
Tools | Price | |
---|---|---|
ClickUp | From $7/user/month | Website |
monday.com | From $8/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
Wrike | From $9.80/user/month (min of 2 seats) | Website |
Notion | From $8/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
Miro | From $8/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
FigJam | From $15/full seat/month (billed annually) | Website |
Airtable | From $20/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
Backlog | From $35/month (up to 30 users) | Website |
KeyedIn | Available upon request | Website |
Office Timeline | From $149/license/year | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareOther Visual Project Management Options
Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list. If you need additional suggestions for handy visual PM apps, check these out.
How I Picked The Best Visual Project Management Software
What am I looking for when we select visual tools for review? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
User Interface (UI)
A clean user interface will help streamline your use of the tool and prevent bottlenecks caused by tool navigation problems. The tools on this list have tons of features that range from task management to team collaboration features. Therefore, it is easy for a UI to look crowded.
Usability
Ideally, you want to reduce the user's learning curve, increase tool adoption, and ensure they can master it. Therefore, I look at the tool's tech support, user support, tutorials, and knowledge bases. I also look into versions of the software on mobile devices.
Integrations
Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations? Does it connect with whatever project management tool you may already use in your day-to-day? Does it connect to image storage systems like Google Drive?
Pricing
How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?
Visual Project Management FAQs
Find answers to common questions other people ask about this topic.
What key features are in visual PM software?
- Drag-and-drop visual organization of tasks and project planning
- Color coding (for due dates, project status, or project progress)
- Task management including task dependencies, custom fields, etc.
- File sharing or the ability to exchange and manage docs
- Reporting and analytics dashboards to measure productivity and output
- Checklists or to-do lists for individual or shared task prioritization
- Multiple project views like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, timeline views, calendar views, etc.
- Collaboration tools so remote teams can work together in real-time
- Agile project management features to manage the project lifecycle
- The ability to visualize and track complex projects in progress
What is the benefit of using visual PM software?
The main benefit is the positive impact on your productivity and your team’s productivity. This is related to the objectives pursued by user interface design and is caused by a reduction in thinking time. The less you think about finding the information, the more you spend time analyzing it, drawing conclusions, and executing.
How do you visually track a project?
There are 3 common ways to visually track projects:
- Gantt charts. Seeing your project schedule in a timeline view is a great way to see where you are standing, dependencies between tasks, and your main deliverables.
- Kanban boards. Similar to timelines, boards let you have your workflows in a single view. This helps teams work with agile frameworks and quickly change the status of a task with a simple drag and drop.
- Dashboards. A quick way to get summarized information of various project components.
What's Next?
Have you tried out any visual project management apps listed above? Is there a SAAS visual project management tool that you would add to this list? Sound off in the comments.
Related tool lists:
If you’re still looking, find other types of project management software and overviews in this article.