Best Project Management Software
User-friendly visual layout and easy task assignment
Yes
Free online guidance on using templates
Custom dashboards and easy-to-find tasks and calendars
Yes
Fee-based customer certification program that offers employees courses with assessments
Functionality to coordinate multiple projects and users across departments, can integrate up to 35,000 users
Yes, for up to 10 users
Free training that provides a deep dive into topics such as managing users, Jira automation and customizing workflows
Robust financial and employee management tools, real-time data for all projects
No, but free 14-day trial plan available
Fee-based onboarding program that covers topics such as setting up your site, configuring templates, importing and setting up your employee training
Ability to track performance, tasks and project progress for more than 50 clients, multiple project templates available
Yes, for up to five users
Free training through Teamwork Academy which offers a series of video lessons and PDFs to use while you are in the application
When managing multiple projects and teams manually, it's easy to go over budget and leave tasks left undone. However, project management software can bring organization, efficiency and transparency to help your company succeed and grow. These tools show you hours worked, tasks completed and deadline projections so you can monitor progress and fix problems as they occur.
To help you find the right platform, we've researched and reviewed the best project management software available. For each of our top picks, we look at features and examine each software's advantages and disadvantages. We also provide a project management software guide so you can better understand what this tool is, how it works and what you should consider when choosing what's best for you.
Our Top Picks For Best Project Management Software
Best Project Management Software Reviews
Best Free Option: Trello
Why we chose it: Trello's free version offers extensive functionality. Additionally, the interface is easy-to-understand and tasks are simple to assign.
Trello's project management software is a good place to get started because of the simplicity of its visual layout. Trello facilitates team management by providing a navigation center, or board, for each project. Each board is divided into cards that list tasks for each assignee. This simplicity can help your team to get started quickly and stay organized through the project lifecycle.
On top of that, Trello has an internal automation system, otherwise known as the Butler app, that helps you to automate repetitive tasks. For example, if a card has moved from an "assigned" column to a "review" column, Butler can mark that card completed and notify the user who's in charge of reviewing tasks.
You can grow with Trello as your needs change because the company also offers paid plans that add functionality.
- The free plan comes with 10 boards (projects), unlimited storage (10MB/file) and unlimited activity log.
- The first paid tier, or Standard plan, is $5 per user per month when billed annually. This plan enables users to have unlimited boards and a 250 MB/file upload limit.
- The Premium plan is $10 per user per month when billed annually and includes everything in the Standard plan in addition to a timeline of all projects, calendar and data export features.
- The Enterprise plan is $17.50 per user per month when billed annually and includes everything in the Premium plan plus additional features like unlimited workspaces, the ability to set permissions, and board visibility for an entire company.
With all plans, you can attach files to cards, making it easy to share charts, graphs and documents to support completing a task or project. You can also add plug-ins, called power-ups, that integrate third-party apps like Gmail and Microsoft Teams.
According to customers on third-party review websites, Trello's platform has an intuitive visual layout that makes it easy to assign tasks. This software is well-suited for small business project management but can grow to support projects for larger companies.
However, for users of the free plan, the 10 MB limit on attachment sizes may not be very useful, especially if projects involve photos and videos. Also, large projects can get confusing, as more tasks mean more cards and potentially an overly complex interface. This can make such a project difficult to understand at a glance.
Best For Remote Teams: Wrike
Why we chose it: Wrike works seamlessly for remote collaboration with an easy-to-view dashboard that highlights collaborative tasks. It also has a number of integrations that make project progress easy to track, manage and edit no matter where employees are located.
Wrike's dashboard shows the details of projects you share with other team members, so you can see at a glance what tasks you should work on to support your collaborators. Buttons connect you to items such as your to-do lists, calendars and reports.
Each user has a personal homepage, which is not the case for all project management software. This screen features Spaces, a set of links to various teams you are working with. This means collaboration is built into the homepage, and employees don't have to search to find the projects they share with others.
Every user homepage has various tabs, including:
- Shared with me
- A list of tasks you are sharing with others
- Created by me
- My to-do list
- Starred tasks
- A list of top-priority tasks
- Recycle bin
- Deleted items
Wrike also integrates with a number of remote collaboration tools including Github, Slack, Dropbox and more.
The free trial offers limited functionality, so you may need to choose from Teams, Business, Enterprise and Pinnacle plans to get the number of users you want and add features such as additional dashboards, time tracking and automation options.
- The Free plan provides apps for desktop and mobile use. It gives you access to simple task lists on boards for up to five users.
- The Team plan is $10 per user per month and allows unlimited projects. It is for two to 25 users and includes interactive Gantt charts.
- Business is $25 per user per month and provides time tracking, resource management and reports for five to 200 users.
- The Enterprise plan allows unlimited users and includes admin permissions, as well as two-factor authentication. It must be custom-priced.
- The Pinnacle plan also accepts unlimited users and comes with team utilization analysis, along with billable hours and budgeting. This plan is also custom-priced.
Online customer reviews in platforms mention difficulty learning and using the tool due to its complexity. However, a majority of customers are happy with the product, with many saying that it provides superior project tracking for the price.
Best For Larger Teams: Jira
- Agile functionality, including Scrum
- Views that show project progress and align teams with goals
- Offers more than 20 project templates
- Complicated set-up procedures
- Limited integrations
Why we chose it: This enterprise project management software is designed to handle complex initiatives with multiple stakeholders and includes a number of features that optimize the management of large teams.
Because Jira is designed for larger teams, it includes functionalities such as project-wide reporting and visibility in all core packages. With more than 20 project templates, it is suitable for large projects that may have a lot of moving parts.
In addition, Jira has a status overview graphic that changes in real time. This makes it easy to track and analyze the completion rate for large projects.
The primary view contains a to-do lane for tasks that don't have a status. As each task's status changes, you see whether it still needs to be assigned, whether it's in progress or when it's finished. In the primary view, you can also add subtasks, import data and view task details. All of this means you can update big projects in one place, which is helpful for complex initiatives.
Jira offers Free, Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans.
- The free plan accommodates up to 10 users and provides 2 GB of storage with unlimited project boards.
- For $8 per user per month, the Standard plan accepts up to 35,000 users and allows for permissions. It offers 250 GB of storage.
- Premium is $15 per user per month. It also works for up to 35,000 users but adds 24/7 support.
- The Enterprise includes all the features of the other plans and allows you to use it at an unlimited number of locations. It also includes advanced security controls. To view pricing for this plan, you'll need to contact a sales representative.
Some customers claim Jira is difficult to set up and use, while others are displeased with the platform's limited opportunities for integration. However, many users praise its customization options and ability to easily track project progress.
Best For Advanced Features: Scoro
- Milestone tracking
- CRM (customer relationship management)
- Financial management
- High cost
- Complicated setup
Why we chose it: Scoro offers a number of advanced features as a core part of its packages, giving users a wider degree of functionality and customizability than most other project management software. It offers not only project management but also functions for marketing, finances and client relationships.
With Scoro, CRM, milestone tracking, and financial and employee management tools are included in each plan. You can customize the dashboard to prioritize what you see, and teams can see data about all projects in real time. This eliminates the need to examine multiple spreadsheets to understand overall project health.
Additionally, Scoro automatically tracks the budget for each project. It also shows you the hours spent on each project and compares income to cost. Your profitability appears in real time, even on tasks and projects that are in progress.
Scoro's plans are below.
- The Essential plan gives you calendars, task boards, invoicing and reports. It costs $26 per user per month.
- The Standard plan adds milestones, Gantt charts, time tracking and project templates for $37 per user per month.
- The Pro plan comes with everything from the above plans, plus project budgeting, tracking of billable time and resource utilization reports. It costs $63 per user per month.
- The Ultimate plan adds forecasts, supplier management and a customer portal. Pricing for this option is custom.
Scoro is more expensive than many of its competitors, but if you can benefit from its advanced features, it may save you money by not having to purchase add-ons or third-party apps.
Customers on online review websites praise Scoro's wide range of features and easy-to-use interface. However, many users say that initial setup is complicated for beginners. There have also been complaints of too many updates that can be hard to keep up with.
Best For Client Management: Teamwork
- Project-plan-sharing for team members
- Alerts for milestones and tasks
- Advanced client management tools
- Easy collaboration and messaging
- Difficult-to-understand tasks view
- Sluggish interface
Why we chose it: Teamwork was created to enable teams to manage clients. It handles communications for up to 50 customer projects simultaneously and includes tools like appointment scheduling, invoicing and a team video call feature.
Teamwork allows you to see projects and customer relationship management through from beginning to completion. You can view and manage contacts at whatever stage they're at in the sales pipeline, allowing you to identify opportunities and obstacles to conversions.
With sophisticated reporting features, you can also monitor lead and client progress. Teamwork also allows you to store client profiles. These profiles contain details such as contact information, previous interactions, project history, and any other relevant data. By having all this information in one place, you and your team members can easily access and review the history and details of your interactions with each client. Ultimately, this will help you understand your client's needs and preferences, anticipate their future needs, and maintain quality relationships with them.
Additionally, Teamwork's centralized workplace shows each team member their deadlines while also making all team tasks visible. Managers and team leaders can easily track performance and task completion for individual members. Milestones are simple to set and measure, with a function that displays expected versus actual progress in real time.
Time tracking allows you to monitor hours for contractors and teams so you can analyze and adjust tasks based on the amount of time you have budgeted. You can record expected hours to completion and indicate whether those are billable hours. Also, you can see workloads for each member, which you can adjust to spread tasks among employees.
The five plans are Free Forever, Starter, Deliver, Grow and Scale.
- The Free Forever plan offers project and client management essentials, plus core integration capabilities, for up to five users.
- The Starter plan provides everything from the Free plan, plus dashboards and custom templates and intake forms. This costs $6 per user per month.
- Deliver offers everything above, plus automation, advanced team management features and status reports. This plan costs $10 per user per month.
- Grow is Teamwork's highest-tier plan at $20 per month per user. It gives you everything in the above plans, plus capacity management and advanced reporting and budgeting.
According to online reviews customers give Teamwork high scores for its constant innovations and updates, as well as comprehensive project management capabilities. However, some find it too complex and say there are glitches. The user interface can also be sluggish and needs to be improved according to many users.
Other Project Management Software We Considered
WorkOtter
- Individual private dashboards
- Milestone management
- Agile methodology compatibility
- Intense learning curve requiring training
- Complex setup
WorkOtter offers a comprehensive suite of features, including collaboration tools and cost management capabilities. The software works well for small to large companies and organizations because of its customizable templates.
It offers functionality for governance that includes Business Cases and a Business Value Scorecard. These help you align projects with company goals. You can use Jira Sync, MS Project Sync and Kanban with it.
The software also allows you to track time on a project and run what-if scenarios. These scenarios can be useful for small companies that want to adjust quickly to changing circumstances, such as a shortage of resources. The "what-if" function also shows how budget changes may alter project deadlines.
Why WorkOtter didn't make the cut: Some users said they had to sit down and study the manual extensively to set up the software and use it. If you lack team members with advanced software knowledge, this software could cause problems.
LiquidPlanner
- Ability to limit access to a project
- Robust scheduling tools
- Automated timeline projections
- Limit of two support consultations for setup
- User delays can cascade
With LiquidPlanner, managers have a lot of leeway in granting permissions to employees. This means you can limit which team members may access tasks and functions. Automatic resource balancing helps distribute workloads evenly among team members, and you can evaluate how members spend their time so you can eliminate bottlenecks.
You can also assign a certainty percentage to your deadline projections to evaluate how taking on a new project will affect your current timelines. Predictive scheduling allows you to assign resources to meet deadlines and cost objectives. The company claims a 90% reliability rate for predicting project completion dates.
The variety of views helps you understand projects from different perspectives, including:
- Portfolio Management
- Project Priority
- Assignments
- Workload
- Project Grid
LiquidPlanner provides integrated time tracking so you can see where you need to adjust overall assigned hours to stay within your time budget. It also offers individual timesheet and personal workflow views.
Why LiquidPlanner didn't make the cut: If one user experiences delays when completing a task, this can cause delays for other users and extend project deadlines. Waiting for someone else to finish a task cuts down on collaboration and coordination of employee efforts. Additionally, although it is a fairly complex tool, each user is limited to two support consultations during the setup process.
Paymo
- Reports are easy to create and share
- Real-time updates on project progress
- Task tracker that doesn't account for idle time
- Lagginess
Paymo turns timesheets into invoices, and its project management functions automatically measure expenses against project budgets. Users report that it is easy to set up and use.
Paymo's platform allows you to make spreadsheets, to-do lists and calendar views of all tasks. You can also create subtasks and set alerts. It comes with milestone calendar views, templates, and workflows that you can customize and monitor in real time. For complete transparency and timely feedback, you can add clients as users.
Why Paymo didn't make the cut: The app can be slow, according to online reviewers. Additionally, the task tracker isn't comprehensive as it doesn't account for users' idle time.
Project Management Software Guide
What Is Project Management Software?
Project management software assigns employee tasks and tracks them to completion. It measures tasks against milestones and monitors costs while providing a central platform for collaboration and communication.
Project management software typically includes features such as task management, scheduling, resource allocation, budgeting, risk assessment and reporting. Some software may also offer additional features like document management, team collaboration tools and integrations with third-party software and apps.
How Does Project Management Software Work?
Project management software coordinates all aspects of the work teams do to reach their goals. This includes breaking projects into milestones, collaborating, managing resources and creating reports for stakeholders. Users can typically view individual, and sometimes team tasks and progress on one centralized dashboard.
Project management software also integrates external tools such as calendars, email programs, and communications apps. You can incorporate all functionality from your other software to gain efficiency.
Important Features To Look For In Project Management Software
Free Trial
You can learn about the various software tools for project management by trying them out before you buy. This is why it's helpful to look for a free trial option.
Note that many free trial versions have significant limitations, meaning you may not get a feel for advanced features. Another option is to sign up for paid software that allows you to cancel at any time without entering into a contract.
Intuitive User Interface
Look for a software interface that makes sense at first glance so you and other users won't have to search through complex instructions. See if you can figure out the main functions by looking at the home screen.
However, if you prefer advanced project management software, make sure you can access customer support and training resources so you can navigate and create projects without constantly referencing a manual. It can be useful to assign one employee or team to learn the software and then teach it to coworkers.
Collaboration Tools
You can eliminate unnecessary emails and long meetings by choosing software that allows everyone to contribute ideas in one central place.
Most project management software focuses on collaboration, so make sure you have access to some kind of chat function for people to work together in real time. If the software does not have built-in chat, make sure you can integrate the team communication platform you use.
Custom Dashboards And Workflows
Check to see if you can create workflows that fit your projects, and look at the dashboard to see what is customizable. You need the ability to create unique milestones, quality checks and approvals that accommodate your protocols.
If you need customized templates for invoicing or budgeting, ensure that this is an available option. In addition, you may want to check that you can add your logo.
Wide Range Of Integrations
Depending on your company's activities, you may need to integrate other software and apps such as Quickbooks, Office 365, Hubspot and Google Drive. Before you commit to any software, make sure you will be able to use your essential apps with it. You should also check the compatibility of imported data.
File Sharing
You can eliminate the need to email file attachments by choosing a project management software with built-in file sharing. One of the limitations of the various tiers of project management software may be file size. If you need to share large files, make sure the management tool you buy can handle them. Also, check to see if you can share files in various modules and views.
Real-Time Reporting
Look for software that allows you to review work done by team members as they save or complete it. Some software allows you to monitor tasks in progress, while others only share completed items.
How We Chose The Best Project Management Software
We looked for software that would accommodate all sizes of businesses so that you can upgrade as a company grows. We avoided software that focuses on too narrow a purpose or targets a specific industry.
Specifically, we considered the following capabilities in compiling our top picks:
- Coordination of tasks and milestones
- Collaborative functions
- Ability to monitor project and task progress
- Opportunities to customize
- Availability of scheduling tools
