The Best Workflow Management Software
Here’s my selection of 10 of the best workflow tools for creating repeatable process and keeping your teams and tasks on track.
Workflow management software is a must-have to keep teams unified and on track, especially with the increasing complexity that comes with rapid growth. This software can support you as you schedule tasks, collaborate with your team, manage workloads, and evaluate progress—to help ensure that your project is delivered properly and that the quality of the project is maintained.
While the benefits of this powerful software are plenty, it’s critical that you choose the best workflow management for your team, your business goals, and your budget.
The 10 Best Workflow Management Software
Discover what the best workflow management platforms have to offer. Feel free to check out how I picked the software on this list at any moment.
Wrike
Best for reconnecting siloed teams
Wrike is an intuitive workflow management software suitable for teams of five or more, and offers an unlimited number of users. The software enables mangers to customize workflows, dashboards, reports, and request forms.
Why I picked Wrike: The software’s interface enables users to visualize priorities as Kanban boards, interactive Gantt charts, and traditional workload views. Wrike also features automation such as custom request forms that auto-assign tasks, push notifications, and deadline tracking.
Managers can access insightful data through KPI reports, resource management and allocation, and more. The workflow management software also offers a variety of different solutions depending on the type of team or organization, including marketing teams and professional service teams.
Wrike Standout Features & Integrations
Features include personalized app experience via AI Work Intelligence, user and team workload management functionality, account-wide work schedules, shareable dashboards, interactive workflow views, and more.
Integrations are offered natively for over 400 popular platforms including Microsoft, Google, Dropbox, Salesforce, and Marketo.
Pros
- In-app chat to reduce switch cost for collaboration
- Easily visualize workflow performance
- Individuals and teams can track workloads
- Comprehensive workflow modeling
Cons
- Limited to 10 workflows per space
- High learning curve to fully utilize
- Not suitable for small organizations
monday.com
Best for automating manual processes
monday.com is a project management software used across diverse industries, rapidly growing teams, and enterprise organizations. monday.com sits at the intersection of project management and workflow management software. It simplifies complex workflow processes by streamlining management to focus on structure and transparency.
Why I picked monday.com: you can create tasks on a board and then add the steps required to reach task completion. monday.com is highly customizable and easy to use right out of the box. I also find that it’s incredibly easy to import data from other workflow management software, and even spreadsheets!
Its workflow management software also offers various workflow views that can be arranged by list, geographical map, kanban board, or Gantt chart. These workflows can then be visualized in dashboards to create a bird’s-eye view of the progress and data workflow managers need to monitor. I find information especially useful for workflow managers that sit between their teams and the executive suite and need to communicate complex data sets through visual dashboards.
monday.com Standout Features & Integrations
Features include workflow templates inside of their workflow operating system (Work OS), with workflow automation, data visualization, robust workflow customization for task boards, managing task status, assignees, due dates, hours spent, and more.
Integrations through Zapier include Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and others.
Pros
- Large workflow template library to jumpstart planning
- Work OS—A specifically designed workflow system for custom workflow apps
- Lots of integrations to support 3rd party data
- Out-of-the-box workflow automation recipes
Cons
- Initial customization takes time
- Limited export functionality for reports
- Minimal multi-lang support
Pneumatic Workflow
Best for accessing a pre-built workflow template library
Pneumatic Workflow is a workflow management solution that helps teams identify, organize, and coordinate sets of tasks. You can use it to streamline your organization’s processes into workflows with automatic task assignments.
Why I picked Pneumatic Workflow: Their software helps teams effectively minimize routine errors, improve communication between teams, boost productivity, eliminate redundancy, and automate task management. Their workflows can be launched in four ways, namely running the workflow manually, sharing kick-off forms, using external SaaS systems, and using the Pneumatic public API.
Using Pneumatic Workflow, you can build assembly lines to pass the results of certain tasks along to the next team member quickly and efficiently. You can also select pre-built workflows from their free template library, or run unlimited workflows from one template. Their free template library includes all the popular workflows you'd expect, including employee onboarding, content development, purchase approval, customer retention, feature release, and more.
Pneumatic Workflow Standout Features & Integrations
Features include a workflow template builder, workflow variables & tools, a tasks interface, highlights, shareable kick-off forms, automations, activity highlights, urgent prioritization, video-based workflows, informative data dashboards, comments and mentions, and a WYSIWYG editor.
Integrations are available through their API or by connecting a paid Zapier account.
Pros
- They offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you are unsatisfied with their platform
- You can easily collaborate with guest (external) project stakeholders
- Their freemium plan includes enough features to get small teams started
Cons
- Limited chat support window (9 am to 5 pm CST)
- Not many built-in software integrations
Smartsheet
Best workflow management software for spreadsheet lovers
Smartsheet is a work management platform modeled after spreadsheets that enables users to organize tasks, schedules, processes, and more. It is an excellent workflow management software solution for managers currently using Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel for workflows and looking for an upgraded experience.
Why I picked Smartsheet: One of my favorite aspects of Smartsheet is that it automates calculations, even across multiple sheets. That automation enables workflow managers to gather data across multiple workflows and spaces without needing to write complex formulas.
Reporting is a strong feature of this workflow tool, with editable summary reports that can be easily exported to Excel or Sheets. The Critical Path feature highlights all the tasks that directly impact a project completion date so workflow managers can easily keep an eye on important milestones.
Smartsheet Standout Features & Integrations
Features include custom spreadsheet import, workflow automation, data visualization, custom branding, and workflow automation with built-in formula calculations.
Integrations through a REST API and webhooks include Microsoft Office and Teams apps, Google Drive, Jira, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Slack, Box, and Tableau.
Learn more about this workflow management software in my in-depth review of Smartsheet
Pros
- Workflow process notifications keep users on track
- Cross-sheet data sharing for holistic reports
- Great alternative to Google or Excel spreadsheets
- Low/no-code workflow automations
Cons
- Can be difficult to access support resources for answers
- Limited change-tracking functionality
- Set limit to rows per spreadsheet
Lucidchart
Best diagramming application for workflow management
Lucidchart is a cloud-based workflow management solution. This centralized platform helps you create flows of business processes, then share process maps with colleagues. Key features include feedback management, graphs, data import, customizable templates, and an infinite canvas for building out intelligent diagrams of your most critical workflows.
Why I Picked Lucidchart: You can also use the software to build organizational charts and upload employee data, identifying the requirements of various team members. Critical documents can be managed by configuring user access and providing view-only licenses.
Lucidchart provides a range of tools and features for creating a variety of diagrams, such as flowcharts, wireframes, network diagrams, and more, and allows multiple users to collaborate on the same document in real-time. Additionally, it offers integrations with popular tools and services, team management features, and mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Lucidchart Standout Features & Integrations
Features include real-time collaboration, diagram templates, shape library, interactive designs, data import & export,mobile app, automated diagramming, commenting, reviewing, and third-party integrations.
Integrations include Slack, Salesforce, GitHub, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and fits within a suite of additional Lucid Software products for collaboration and ideation (Lucidspark) and cloud visualization (Lucidscale).
Lucidchart has a limited free version where you can create up to 3 documents.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Mobile apps available
- Wide range of diagrams, shapes, & templates
Cons
- Revision history with versioning limited to Team plan & above
- Some customization limitations
Jotform Enterprise
Best for B2B-oriented enterprises
Jotform Enterprise is a a powerful, easy-to-use data collection process for businesses of all kinds who are looking to optimize their workflow management processes. With Jotform, businesses will have access to offline forms, surveys for product feedback and reviews, collaboration tools, approvals for automated workflows, and conditional logic for a personalized customer form experience. They specialize in B2B businesses but can be adapted to a wide range of customer markets and industries.
Why I Picked Jotform Enterprise: Jotform Enterprise offers companies an easy-to-use tool that makes closing deals, collaborating with coworkers, signing waivers, and collecting form responses a more seamless process. Jotform Enterprise provides you with a wide range of workflows, forms, reports, and automation tools that can be used to build custom applications tailored to your needs. It also allows you to create customized forms for collecting data from customers or employees and then create automated workflows based on this data.
Jotform workflows can automate everyday tasks such as customer onboarding, order processing, invoicing, approvals, reminders, notifications, and follow-ups, allowing businesses to save time by eliminating manual processes.You can set up automated form submissions so that all incoming data is automatically sent to the designated destination, like your customer database or email account.
Additional features include workflow automations, conditional logic, e-sign documents with automated signing orders, webhooks, API, and helpful ways to integrate feedback into your workflow.
Jotform Enterprise Standout Features & Integrations
Features include form building tools, mobile responsiveness, payment integration, conditional logic, data collection and management, form branding, multi-language support, SSL encryption, and integration with third-party apps.
Integrations include Google Drive, Google Sheets, Slack, Dropbox, PayPal, Stripe, Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Airtable. It also can integrate with Zapier to automate workflows and connect JotForm with over 1,000 other apps and services but this requires a Zapier account and may incur additional costs.
Pros
- Cost-effective, even for Enterprise plans
- Mobile-responsive forms & surveys
- Wide range of workflow templates
Cons
- Data visualization options are limited
- Required Zapier for most integrations
beSlick
Best workflow management software to identify and improve work processes
beSlick is a workflow management software for small to mid-sized businesses. The software has an excellent workflow builder that supports decision branching, loops, and dependent due dates within a familiar process flowchart view.
Why I picked beSlick: Creating workflows is as easy as selecting the workflow builder, choosing from their robust template library, and assigning task owners and due dates. Teams can set different owners for each step in a task, as well as customize notifications for owners. Tasks can also be automatically scheduled as recurring to ensure they’re not missed.
My favorite aspect of beSlick is the built-in workflow process management reporting. By serving up process quality analytics, feedback, and when steps can’t be completed, managers can measure and improve workflows.
beSlick Standout Features & Integrations
Features include workflow performance insights, guest access to tasks and projects, group and individual task management, and task process tracking.
Integrations include common platforms available through Zapier.
Pros
- Workflow implementation and support
- Discounts available for yearly subscribers and Good Causes
- Ability to identify workflow improvement opportunities
- Powerful workflow builder
Cons
- No public API (is on the roadmap)
- Workflow time tracking not native
- Can't batch export workflow data
Kintone
Best for designing custom workflow apps
Kintone is a customizable workflow management platform used by enterprise teams and organizations worldwide. Users can build a variety of “apps” either from scratch, using templates, or from existing spreadsheets.
Why I picked Kintone: It's easy to build a custom workflow management app—all you have to do is drag and drop elements onto the app-builder screen and click build! Elements include rich text fields, date fields, drop-down menus, number fields with built-in calculations, spaces for attachments, user or group selection menus, related data from other apps, tables, and more. That flexibility in creating apps carries over to how a team adapts—Kintone’s flexible workflow management platform allows users to improve their workflows and adjust as needs change.
As a workflow management platform, Kintone facilitates the ability to track all facets of your teams’ workflows across all the apps you create. That data can range from individual tasks and projects to multi-step approval processes with branching conditionals.
Kintone Standout Features & Integrations
Features are subjective to the “apps” being used for workflow management (giving you complete control over what you need). Common features include in-app communication, customizable filters, customizable reports and dashboards, and multi-step workflows.
Integrations through either API or Zapier include Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Tableau, Dropbox, Salesforce, HubSpot, Eventbrite, WordPress, QuickBooks, MailChimp, and many more.
Kintone Pricing & Plans
Kintone pricing begins at $24 per user per month with a minimum of 5 users and a 30-day free trial (no credit card required). There are also discounts available for nonprofits and educators. While it doesn’t offer any free plans, Kintone does provide a free custom app build as part of the free trial process.
Pros
- Onboarding support to help you set up
- Comprehensive mobile app
- Low-code customized & automated workflows
- Discounted plans for education, NGO, and government
Cons
- Per-user storage capped at 5GB (all plans)
- Some workflows are dependent on external apps
- Minimum 5 Users per plan
Kissflow
Best enterprise workflow management software
Kissflow is a low-code workflow management software solution that combines projects, cases, and collaboration within its core functionality. This solution is ideal for teams or projects whose makeup, processes, or framework require flexibility.
Why I picked Kissflow: The platform is highly intuitive, requiring little to no effort to utilize. Users can either build on top of existing app categories like HR, Finance, or Procurement, or build one from scratch. The visual interface lets users drag and drop elements to create any number of apps with low-code or no coding required.
The customizable workflows and dynamic routing let users adapt when requirements change or as teams scale. Users can prioritize work and easily delegate work to team members. Users get instant notifications when an item is complete or requires action.
Kissflow Features & Integrations
Features include workflow process reporting, task flow tracking, trigger-based workflow automation, and custom reporting like KPI dashboards and ad-hoc reports configuration.
Integrations are offered natively or through Zapier include Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, MailChimp, Slack, Microsoft Outlook, and others.
Kissflow Plans & Pricing
Kissflow pricing begins at $360 for up to 30 users a month and offers a free demo. No free plan is available.
Pros
- Community feedback voting for roadmap features
- Loads of configurable workflow design features
- Built-in, holistic workflow modeling
Cons
- Requires longer time to implement and onboard
- Not tailored for small organizations
Quixy
No-code workflow management software
Quixy is a user-friendly no-code business application platform that empowers users with no coding skills to automate workflows and processes. Users can assess, design, model, implement, monitor, and modify any processes using simple and efficient drag-and-drop design.
Why I chose Quixy: the workflow management platform provides dozens of pre-built workflow applications for a variety of use cases, such as CRM, project management, HRMS, travel and expense management, helpdesk and incident management, and much more. The software also offers automation options, and users can build custom workflows and processes to fit the needs of their team or department. The tool also includes capabilities for tracking project and task milestones.
The platform is rated Leader – Asia Pacific for No-Code Application Development on G2 and is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Quixy Standout Features & Integrations
Features include business rules and validation, mobile app, annual platform support, customizable workflow UI and designer, and more.
Quixy’s API allows integration with other third-party apps and tools.
Quixy Plans & Pricing
Pricing starts at $10/user/month. A 21-day free trial is available
Pros
- Excellent data tables and app referencing
- Workflow building requires zero coding skills
- Simple drag and drop workflow design
Cons
- Could benefit from larger variety of app templates
- More online help content welcomed
- No in app collaboration with other users in the workflow
Need expert help finding the right Workflow Management Software?
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Summary Of The Best Workflow Management Software
Here’s a table summarizing basic info about the tools described in this article. View pricing as well as the availability of free trials to make a quick side-by-side comparison.
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wrike Best for reconnecting siloed teams | Free plan available | From $9.80/user/month | Visit Website |
2 | monday.com Best for automating manual processes | 14-day free trial + freemium plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Visit Website |
3 | Pneumatic Workflow Best for accessing a pre-built workflow template library | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
4 | Smartsheet Best workflow management software for spreadsheet lovers | Freemium version available | From $7/user/month | Visit Website |
5 | Lucidchart Best diagramming application for workflow management | 7-day free trial + free plan available | From $7.95/user/month | Visit Website |
6 | Jotform Enterprise Best for B2B-oriented enterprises | Free plan available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
7 | beSlick Best workflow management software to identify and improve work processes | 14-day free trial | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
8 | Kintone Best for designing custom workflow apps | 30-day free trial | From $24/user/month | Visit Website |
9 | Kissflow Best enterprise workflow management software | Free demo available | From $18/user/month | Visit Website |
10 | Quixy No-code workflow management software | 21-day free trial | From $10/user/month when billed annually | Visit Website |
Other Workflow Management Software Worth Considering
I haven’t had a chance to review these properly, but if the tools included in the review aren’t working for you, consider checking out these additional BPM tools:
- Forecast
Best for managing your projects, resources, and finances in one
- Pipefy
Build shareable forms, portals & actions
- Cflow
Best workflow management software for growing organizations
- Avaza
iPhone, iPad, & Android friendly workflow app
- DocuWare
Best for document management & e-signatures
- Asana
Best workflow management software that’s free and easy to use
- Camunda Platform
Best for automating processes across diverse endpoints
- Hive
Best small business workflow management software
- Planview Clarizen
Workflow app for PMOs & professional services
- ProcessMaker
Low-code iBPMS for enterprise-level processes
How I Picked the Best Workflow Management Software
To decide which tools to feature in this list, I evaluated and compared the details for a number of popular workflow management tools. I weighed a variety of key factors and functions that would be top of mind for businesses of all sizes.
This is the set of criteria I considered to determine the best and most useful workflow management software:
Automation
I examined each tool’s time-saving automation functionalities, such as automatically assigning tasks, sending push notifications, routing documentation, reducing repetitive processes, sending status updates, and generating reports. The best software should include automation tools with customization options when it comes to workflows, notifications, business rules, process automation, and more. You can support your team with an entire ecosystem of business process management software (AKA BPM tools) for creating efficient, optimized workflows.
KPI reports
KPI and metrics reporting not only gives team members insight into their task or project status but also gives management a quick look at where inefficiencies may be occurring so you can make changes to optimize business processes. The best workflow management software should offer clean and easy-to-interpret KPI dashboards.
Deadline tracking
Even with a dashboard, it’s easy to lose sight of deadlines when you’re juggling dozens of workflows. To be most useful, a workflow tool has to offer a clear system for SLA indicators. each tool’s pricing plan is based on its simplicity, transparency, and value. Workflow management software should add a layer of structure and visibility to your workflow process. I looked for tools that employ notifications, color-coding, and dashboard views that display tasks by the due date in order to help you manage deadlines.
Integrations
Nearly all projects require using multiple tools. So, your workflow management software absolutely must play nice with other apps that you and your business use. I looked at how each of these workflow management tools might integrate with your calendars, CMS, development tools, databases, email and communication tools, payment processing apps, and more. I also delineate whether integrations are native or require Zapier.
Price
The value that you get from a workflow management tool has to align with the price you’re paying. It also must be within the scope of your budget. The best workflow software for you and your team won’t require you to pay for features you don’t need or users you don’t have. I evaluated the price based on features available at the standard vs. premium plans, based on per-user or feature pricing models, and how the overall offering matched the average seen on the market.
Workflow Management Software FAQs
Find answers to common questions other people ask about this topic.
What is workflow management software?
What Does Workflow Software Do?
What is the best workflow management platform?
Workflow Management Software Buyer's Guide
Here's a buyer's guide covering 2 use cases and information to help you choose the right workflow management tool.
Use case 1: Coordinating people-centric workflows
This use case focuses on organizing people by bringing their tasks, files, status updates, and comms into one place, with a clear structure to the flow of work.
This is often the case in businesses including:
- Digital agencies, development agencies, creative agencies (etc)
- Project and product teams or departments within companies
- Professional services companies
If you're among these users, the type of workflow software that's most useful for you will usually be focused on:
- collaboration
- scheduling
- file sharing
You also will want all these features in a no-code environment that simply organizes your business processes in a central place. Most of the products in my list here fall into this category.
Use case 2: Coordinating system-centric workflows
This use case focuses more on connecting business processes or systems together, integrating their functions and tech systems to create a unified workflow.
This is more common in enterprise companies, as well as in sectors including:
- IT and software
- Manufacturing and logistics
- Transportation
If you're among these users, the type of workflow software that is most useful is often an enterprise-grade solution. At the very least, you need access to a REST API and SLA manager to help you orchestrate across multiple systems.
At this level, though, many companies may go beyond a workflow SaaS product and use an Integration Platform As-A-Service (iPaaS) such as Make (formerly known as Integromat) offering connectors to unify their business process systems.
Who is going to use the workflow management software?
- How many people are on your team?
- Who is going to use the tool, and do you require role-based access control? What other stakeholders will be involved in using or accessing the tool (ex. clients, management, and others)?
- You’ll also need to ask yourself what types of people will be using the tool in order to decide if you require something code-based or with low code or no code.
- Does this tool fit in with your existing toolkit and integrate with the right tools?
- Does it align with your use cases?
- If this is one of the first tools you’re adding, will it scale and expand in order to meet your needs as you grow? Ask yourself whether your team will use it online, or if they need something that works offline as well.
Cost of workflow management software
Prices fall into a wide range from $0-$40 per user per month. Most SaaS workflow tools are priced per user, which highlights the importance of considering how many team members will use it—as well as how many team members are going to be using it in the future.
Make sure you look at how the cost will increase as you scale—not only will your costs increase with each team member, but you may also need to bump up your plan to a more expensive tier as your business needs increase.

What's Next?
Tools aside, as a project manager you can quickly align teams and find bottlenecks by scheduling a workflow diagramming session. Our complete guide to workflow diagrams has an example of how one of those sessions helped a team, and all the workflow diagram basics you need (+ templates!).
Other related reads:
- Approval Workflow Software For Project Managers
- Your Guide To Workflow Automation & The Software Tools
- Best Resource Management Software
Why do vampires make poor project managers? Because they refuse to meet with stake holders. You can find more fun and PM-related content in our Insider Membership Newsletter. Subscribe now.
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