The right project management tools can help managers become more organized while also reducing the costs involved with carrying out the project. Many of these programs allow team members to collaborate in real time as they share documents, ideas, and questions. Online tools can help make project cost management more affordable than it has ever been before.
These tools are ideal for helping managers complete their projects on time. With these low-cost options, managers can document their work, control project risk, and allocate resources. The only difficulty is finding the right low-cost option when there are so many different tools, features, and benefits available.
Best Affordable Project Management Software
1. Toggl Plan
Toggl Plan is one of the greatest all-around project management tools you’ll find online. It is a user-friendly software that you can access from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Use it to input project details, monitor their progress, and share information with team members in real time. Integrate the software with other apps like Slack and Gmail to improve the user experience even further.
Toggl Plan is free for solo users. Team plans have a 14-day free trial and are available with premium features starting at $8/user per month.
2. Liquid Planner
LiquidPlanner is another great project cost management tool that helps your team collaborate through a central hub. You can estimate work hours, balance workloads, and assign tasks through their easy-to-use dashboard.
Through this online tool, you can also integrate time tracking and manage many financial aspects of your business. This helps you stay on schedule while preventing your projects from running over the budget. Since this tool was made with IT teams in mind, it offers multiple customized options that can help developers. Prices start at $45 per month per user.
3. Asana
Asana is a solid online tools for quick and simple team collaboration. This platform lets you set up projects and tasks for your team members. Once the tasks are created, you can use any internet-enabled device to track your team’s progress.
Within the platform, you will find real-time updates, notifications, detailed progress reports and activity feeds. Multiple workspaces allow you to work on several projects at once. Through Asana, you can quickly share notes and upload attachments for your team members. You can start with the free version, with the option to pay for premium features.
4. Smartsheet
This online collaboration tool is great for working with your team, but it is also useful for sales pipeline tracking and crowdsourcing. It is designed with automated workflow capabilities and visual timeline management. Plus, it offers a free trial that lets you test it out before you commit to using the platform.
While the design looks like a spreadsheet, Smartsheet offers a number of customized features. You can integrate this program with other web services like Salesforce and Google Apps. The basic option starts at just $14 per month.
5. Basecamp
Another project cost management tool is available through Basecamp. Their software helps you collaborate with your team from anywhere in the world. It includes a native chat app, message boards, and file sharing that make project management a breeze.
Organize your projects, assign tasks, and monitor progress all in the same place. Basecamp has one set price of $99 per month, regardless of how many users.
6. Wrike
This impressive platform offers a free trial, so you can try it out before committing to a monthly plan. It includes useful options like task prioritization, workload management, and task management features. With an interactive timeline and real-time newsfeed, you can get updates as tasks are completed.
Through the platform, your team members can discuss the project, collaborate, and prioritize their tasks. Wrike has a central hub that is simple for both beginners and tech-savvy users to operate. Plus, the monthly plan starts at just $9.80.
7. Quire
Through Quire you can lower your cost by tackling big goals through a simple, easy-to-navigate platform. You can use this tools in the cloud and on any Android or iOS device. Quire offers Kanban boards that allow you to break up large tasks into smaller, more manageable segments.
With the filter function, you can focus on your highest priorities. Throughout the project, you can use progress stats to see how much work your team has to do. This free platform allows you to work with up to 30 team members on 80 projects.
8. ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab is a good project cost management option for smaller teams. It is a combination of project management, basic payments, communication, and digital asset management tools. Through this platform, you can track time and resources spent on a project.
In addition to online collaboration, ActiveCollab includes payment processing and invoice features as well. It is designed to help project managers lower costs through resource tracking and project management. Pricing starts at $25 per month for up to five users.
9. Trello
Trello is one of the most popular options on this list for project managers. It uses boards, task cards, and collaboration tools allowing teams to collaborate in real time. The platform is designed with deadline reminders, data filtering, and search functions that simplify project management. Through activity logs, email notifications and task assignments, your entire team can stay updated on the project’s progress.
In addition to the website version, Trello also offers apps for mobile devices. This allows your team to continue working from any location. The basic Business Class plan begins at $9.99 per month.
10. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is popular for businesses as it helps users productively manage their team and complete tasks on schedule. This cloud PM platform is outfitted with team collaboration and project monitoring features. These functions make it simple to boost your productivity and manage your team’s resources.
Through Zoho Projects, you can enjoy collaboration tools for your meetings, project chat, email, and a project calendar. The entire platform can be integrated with Google Apps and Dropbox. Through the program, you can also break large projects into manageable segments that match your deadline.
Project management software free
1. Instagantt
If you want online Gantt software, this is the way to go. It’s designed to work with Asana (which we’ll talk about in a moment) and also allows you to link schedules from other sources. That means you only have to put in all of your information once, and you’ll be able to see it across each of your different platforms. You can set up timelines and tasks as well as managing and monitoring your teams’ workload. While you’re at it, you’ll be able to see everything in a format that works for you and your team.
If you’re not using Asana, you can still get a lot out of this system, including monitoring and assigning tasks, assigning due dates, and evaluating progress. All of these things come in several different price points that will help you work with the team that you have and keep apprised of everything that needs to be done.
Some of Instagantt’s awesome features are:
- Gantt and workload view
- Task and subtasks
- Public snapshot sharing options
- Timelines
- Multiple projects and workspaces
- Dependencies and milestones
- Critical path
- Team collaboration options: notification and task assignment
- Estimated and actual cost
- Custom view and custom fields
- Custom color options for progress bars
- Risk and priority
- Baselines
- Drag & drop
- Diverse exporting options: Excel, image and PDF
2. TeamGantt
With this tool, you’re creating workflows, and you’re doing it in a way that’s simple for people to understand and get a handle on. You can create different projects, milestones, and tasks and even use it on any of your devices. This system works on iOS, Android, Google Chrome, and Web. That means any of your users and team members can access it no matter where they are or what type of device they use. And you can check in to see just what they’re doing through the snapshot view.
You get to assign high, low, and medium priority to tasks, see how your team is doing and even set up the start dates and due dates for everything. You’ll also be able to use Gantt style timelines to keep an eye on everything. And you can try out the whole thing for free for 30 days. Then you pay based on the number of people who are on your team.
Some of TeamGantt Features:
– Drag&Drop
– Guest permission
– Baselines
– Multiple project view in one Gantt chart
– Guest permission
– Baselines
– Tasks & Subtasks
3. Asana
You want to be able to keep track of everything that everyone is working on, and that’s where Asana does well. This program gives you the ability to create the task list you want and then move it as much as you like. You also have a visual project timeline that you can use to see everything you need to get done. You can even set up your progress, note due dates, and make sure that scheduling and rescheduling are simple and easy.
What makes this application even better is that it works with several of your other favorites. You can link it to your Slack, Outplanr, Google Calendar, and Dropbox. All of these links make it easy to integrate, and they also ensure you don’t have to put in information all at once. Plus, you can choose between different fee schedules to find what works for you. From free to enterprises.
Asana Features:
- Document Management
- Project Management
- Time & Expense Tracking
- CRM
- Collaboration Tools
- Portfolio Management
- Resource Management
- Integration with Instagantt
4. Click Up:
If you want to manage tasks efficiently, including managing your more substantial tasks, full projects, small tasks, and notes, you’ll want to check out this service. It’s designed to let you customize everything, so you have a system that works for you. It also enables you to do automatic scheduling with estimated times, and you can choose who gets to see what on the system. That way, when you bring your team into the system, they’re not automatically privy to everything.
You can set goals and see how they’re doing as well as changing up the view that works best for you, check on the status of projects and more. You’ll also have an inexpensive rate because this system is paid based on how many people you have on your team. You only pay $4.99 per person each month.
Click Up Features:
- Task tray
- Notepad
- Assigned comments
- Dark mode
- Integrations
- Assigned comments
- Multiple views
5. Wrike
This tool will give you the ability to communicate with your team through what they call ‘best-in-class’ collaboration. They also have document management tools and different communication features. You can even set up priorities for what needs to be done and make sure that your team is working more efficiently at the tasks that matter. If you already use Outlook, iCalendar, or Google, you can even sync your tasks or your milestones to keep everything working together.
With this system, you can use Gantt charts, which help you to create the timelines you’re looking for. You also get a more straightforward process for staying up-to-date on what’s happening in your projects so you can send the information on to your clients. Pricing is also based on the number of users that you have signed up with the service during the year.
Wrike Features:
- Critical path
- Collaborative team editing
- Folder hierarchy
6. Smartsheet
If you want your team to be able to collaborate on anything and everything, this is a great way to go. It offers you attachment options so you can upload files directly into the system from Google Drive, Onedrive, Dropbox, and many of your other favorites. You can even see who is busy and who isn’t on your team so you can contact people at more convenient times. All you need to do is take a look at the dashboard.
While you’re at it, you’re able to set up different permissions, and you can make sure everything is maintained and updated correctly along the way. That’s because it sends out automatic update requests to make sure everyone is on the same page. When you’re ready to try it out you’ll find time-tracking, reporting, resource management, and planning. It’s all entirely cloud-based, too, so you can access it from anywhere. Plus, some plans vary from $14 to $25 per month.
Smartsheet Features:
- Spreadsheet templates
- Predecessor tasks
- Automated workflows
7. Trello
Here you’re going to have a basic but easy to use a system for keeping track of all of your different tasks. You can create entirely different boards for different types of jobs, different projects, different teams, or anything else you like. What’s great about this system is that it’s a Kanban management tool, which is one of the most popular methods available. You get to switch between boards however you want and create any tasks that you want within them.
You can drag and drop your cards, add tags, fields, priority levels, and a whole lot more. The interface is user-friendly, and there are even power-ups that help you add on different features that you may need. You also can choose between different modes that range from free for individuals or small groups up to an enterprise version that’s available for each member of your team.
Trello Features:
- Kanban View
- Drag & drop
- Detailed & Quick Overviews of Front/Back Cards
- Tasks and subtasks
- In-Line Editing
- Deadline Alerts and Notifications
Best project management software
1 ClickUp
Best for unlimited users/seats
ClickUp is a project management software tool with powerful features for managing and completing all your team’s projects in one platform. Users can plan projects, schedule tasks, and manage resources in a centralized workspace, as well as communicate and collaborate with team members and guests.
Task management features include task checklists, subtasks, and task templates, as well as the ability to filter, sort, search for, easily reorder, and view tasks in the manner most convenient for the team. Users can also create Gantt charts, calendars, and timelines to visualize tasks.
ClickUp also includes features for creating, sharing, and collaborative editing for Wikis and documents. Users can comment on documents and tasks, assign comments, and chat with other team members for increased communication and collaboration. Reporting features include the ability to create custom dashboards, as well as six built-in report types for team reporting.
ClickUp offers native integrations with Slack, G Suite, Dropbox, and many more tools, as well as over 1,000+ integrations through Zapier.
ClickUp’s free plan is robust and includes all primary features. The unlimited plan starts at $5/user/month and offers additional functionality.
Free forever with paid plans starting at $5/user/month
PROS
- Free forever plan allows unlimited members
- Unlimited file storage on all paid account tiers
- Can email (set-up) a task directly from Outlook
CONS
- Read-only guest permissions are limited to paid account
- Reporting suite is limited to paid plans only
- Granular customization options results in a time consuming set-up
2 Smartsheet
Best for flexibility & customizability
Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like project management tool. It has won a few awards for quickly becoming a favorite business app. It’s a nice project management software if you’re comfortable working in Excel but wants a break from complicated formulas—Smartsheet performs all the calculations for you across multiple sheets. You can also add customized brand logos and set color themes for individual projects.
Smartsheet has useful project management features such as workflow automation and visualization of tasks in Gantt, calendar and card views. Team members get notified of critical changes in real-time, and the tool provides shared views, detail history, activity logs, automated alerts, reminders, and status reports to keep everyone aligned and informed. The Critical Path feature highlights all the tasks which directly impact your project completion date to keep an eye on important milestones. Reporting is a strong feature of this tool, with editable summary reports that you can easily export to Excel.
Smartsheet integrations include Microsoft and Google apps, as well as development essentials like Jira, and useful business apps like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Slack, Box, and Tableau. The platform is extensible through a REST API and webhooks.
Smartsheet costs from $7/user/month, with a minimum of 3 users and a maximum of 25 users. They also offer a 30-day free trial.
30 days free trial
From $7/user/month
PROS
- Sheet-to-sheet linking
- Many project templates & resources
- Ease of sharing
- Easily customizable dashboards
CONS
- Jira, Salesforce, Dynamics connector limited to Premier plan
- Changes don’t update in real-time
- Can’t customize chart colors
3 Kintone
Best for building custom project workflows
Kintone is a customizable project tracking software platform used by teams at Volvo Trucks North America, Japan Airlines, Shiseido, and over 23,000 organizations worldwide. Their unique approach to project and task management lets you build a wide variety of customizable “apps” either from scratch, using templates or from your existing spreadsheets, for data management, business processes, and workflows. Kintone apps can be customized for project management, sales CRM, customer databases, expense reports, shared to-do lists, equipment management, product feedback, and much more.
Kintone lets you build no-code project tracking apps by dragging and dropping elements that you want to see onto the page: 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.
Once you’ve built the app you want, you can use it to more easily manage whatever data and tasks you and your team need to track. And with custom notifications and reminders as well as detailed permissions settings, your project tracking solution can look and work however you want it to.
What makes Kintone particularly great for project tracking are the features to filter and prioritize tasks by data field or team member to generate custom reports or dashboard views, as well as the ability to automate reminders and handoffs between team members for multi-step workflows.
Kintone’s built-in communication features also allow teams to discuss projects directly in the app and in topic or project-based threads. Dedicated “spaces” organize everything your team needs for your project, including task-tracking apps and searchable conversation threads.
There are so many ways to customize Kintone it can be hard to know where to start. Read the starter blog “What Can You Build with Kintone?” or watch Creating an App from Scratch for a quick look at how the drag-and-drop builder works.
Kintone lets you expand its capabilities with both free native plugins built by the Kintone team as well as integrations with other tools like Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Tableau, Dropbox, Salesforce, HubSpot, Eventbrite, WordPress, QuickBooks, MailChimp, and many more through a paid plan with Zapier or via API integrations.
Kintone costs $24/user/month with a minimum requirement of 5 users. They offer a 30-day free trial (no credit card required) and discounted prices for nonprofits and educators. Kintone’s team also offers a free custom app build as part of the free trial process.
30 days free trial
From $24/user/month
PROS
- Flexible pricing that includes special deals for schools and NPOs
- Admin accounts have access to tons of customization tools
- Data is easy to pull and manipulate into good looking reports
CONS
- No single-user plan available (minimum 5 users)
- Limited to 5GB/user storage on every pricing tier
- No native templates for common project types or documents
4 Forecast.app
Best AI-native project planning tool
Forecast is an all-in-one platform for resource and project management, used in 40+ countries worldwide, by agency, software, and consulting companies. It’s equipped with tools to manage everything from quote to invoice, plus it offers intelligent automation to predict project delivery dates, forecast capacity needs, and become more efficient. Their AI uses cumulative learnings from hundreds of thousands of projects and creates rules based on that user data.
Let’s talk about features. The Auto-Schedule feature is great for project scheduling, providing estimates, automatically assigning resources to tasks. It’s got a drag-and-drop module that lets you adjust plans and resources in an instant. Another cool feature is that the tool automatically builds a budget for every project with key financial metrics to track planned vs. actuals. It also supports various billing types (fixed price, time & materials) side-by-side and in real-time. It has advanced up-to-the-minute reports you can customize.
Forecast also introduced a one-of-its-kind feature to manage projects in a retainer setup. A dashboard with retainer periods and totals lets you track the financials of ongoing projects without losing sight of staff workloads and time spent on delivery.
Forecast integrations include several turnkey integrations with mainstream project management tools and two-way sync with Jira on the market. It also complements accounting systems like Quickbooks and Xero with PM capabilities.
Forecast costs from $31.76/user/month (€27/user/month) with a 10-seat minimum requirement. They offer a 14-day free trial.
14 days free trial
From $31.76/user/month
PROS
- Predictive tasks for spreadsheets
- Can manage resources across multiple projects
- Easy to plan projects and timelines
CONS
- Milestone data is lumped together rather than separated
- Additional fee for onboarding/training
- Higher learning curve
5 GanttPro
Best project management tool for planning and scheduling projects with an online Gantt chart
GanttPRO is a project management software based on Gantt charts and useful for managing all kinds of projects and teams from different spheres. It stands out for its intuitive interface and powerful features.
The software includes features for breaking down projects in an efficient manner into subtasks, sibling tasks, and subprojects, as well as set dependencies and milestones. To get more visibility, users can choose between the Gantt chart, Board views, and task dashboards. GanttPRO also offers handy task management features such as statuses, priorities, duration & estimation, progress, dates and deadlines, assignees, and more.
The Gantt chart maker allows teams to collaborate in real-time using comments, mentions, and attachments. Resource management and workload features for monitoring team members workload and tasks are also included.
You can integrate your projects with Jira, Google Drive, Slack, and other applications. GanttPRO is widely used in software development, construction, healthcare, finances, events, education, and many other spheres.
Basic plans for 1 user start at $7.99/month if billed annually.
14 days free trial
From $7.99/user/month
PROS
- Intuitive interface with a short learning curve
- Multiple and flexible project views
- Professional Gantt chart templates
CONS
- Light on integrations
- Lack of options to create recurring tasks
Conclusion
If you’re looking to improve the way that your team runs and to make sure that you’re on top of everything, then you need the best project management tools. Well, that’s precisely what we have here. Hopefully, one or even several of these will turn out to be the best tool for your team. You can make sure that you have everything you need to keep your team on task and ready to go, no matter what you need next. Each of these tools has excellent features, and we know that you’re going to love them. Check out how each of them can work for you and where you can get signed up with any of them.