So you are looking for the best project management software, eh? You have come to the right place. It seems like every time I open Facebook, there is another article telling me about the best project management software free. But to be honest, most of those articles are absolutely terrible. They give you information on some software that you probably wouldn’t use and end up with a generic top 10 list. That’s not what we do at Best Project Management Software (or BPS for short). We are going to cover everything about project management software for you: interviews with project managers who will give real world examples of how they use software, which questions to ask when buying a new PM solution, what online course you should take as a beginner and much more.
The best project management software allow project managers to efficiently keep track of multiple projects. In addition, they are user-friendly and flexible. The top project management software automatically updates data, show the progress of your team, and help you stay on schedule. With the best project management software, it’s easier to delegate tasks to team members in different locations with little oversight, which can save you time and money.
Trello
Based around the kanban card-based management system, Trello’s simple interface and generous free tier makes it the ideal place for individuals and small teams to get started with basic project management.
Rather than traditional tools designed for managing resources and tracking progress towards a specific end date, kanban-based apps like Trello are more free-form and flexible.
You can manage both individual projects and ongoing workflows equally well, and the board and card metaphors are easy to understand. There’s plenty of power under the hood, with cards able to include images and attached files, hyperlinks, custom dropdowns, due dates, and plenty more.
Once you’re finished with a particular card or an entire board, it can be archived to hide it from daily view while still being accessible if needed in the future.
The basic free tier includes unlimited users and cards, up to 10 boards, and just one “Power-Up” (i.e., integration with other services) per board. Its unlimited storage is restricted to 10 megabytes per file. Paid plans start at $10 per month, with fewer or no limitations.
There’s very limited reporting built into Trello, and although third-party extensions add more options, you’ll likely still need to look elsewhere if detailed reports are a major requirement. For everyone else, however, Trello is a great place to start with project management. It’s available on the web, mobile, and desktop.
Wrike
If Trello’s approach seems a bit limited, but you don’t have hours to devote to learning and setting up a complex project management tool, it’s time to check out Wrike.
Standard project management features like Gantt charts, useful dashboards, and a comprehensive reporting suite are built in, and getting up and running on a small- to medium-sized project can be done quickly without learning all the ins and outs of a new, complicated system.
A time tracking tool is built in, available to both the individual working on a particular task and whoever is managing the project as a whole. Like those found in other project management tools, it’s not a replacement for a dedicated time tracking system but easily handles most basic requirements.
The interface is functional, and while it could do with a bit of a visual refresh, it is fine for the job. The free plan offers task management, interactive boards and spreadsheets, an account-wide work schedule tool, cloud integrations (Google Drive, OneBox, Box, OneDrive), and two gigabytes of total storage space for unlimited users.
Paid plans are a bit more expensive than some of the competition but open up all of the software’s options, starting with shareable dashboards, interactive Gantt charts, and productivity integrations like MS Projects at the Professional tier ($9.80 per month per user); and adding custom workflows, real-time reports, time tracking, salesforce integration, and five gigabytes of storage per user at the Business tier ($24.80 per month per user). Wrike is available on the Web, along with iOS and Android app versions.
Basecamp
A veteran of the project management world, Basecamp was launched in 2004 and has built a customer base of 3.5 million users.
The software makes much of its ability to replace several other paid monthly services, from Slack to Dropbox. While it’s not always a complete replacement, the software does take many of the features of those tools and rolls them all into one system. Scheduling and calendars, real-time chat, private messaging, file storage, and more are included.
An uncluttered interface and powerful search tools make it straightforward to find the task, image, or message you’re after, and a strong reporting suite lets you go as wide or deep as required.
Working with clients is handled well, with e-mail integration and the ability to share individual tasks and messages with people outside the organization. Notifications can be customized to your requirements, including shutting them off outside office hours.
Basecamp’s fixed $99 per month pricing makes it an appealing option for larger organizations, but small teams may find better value elsewhere. There’s no free plan, but the length of the 30-day trial is more generous than most. Web, desktop, and mobile versions are available.
Asana
Reasons to buy
+Handy tracking functions+Cloud-based+Team-oriented
Asana is a project management solution you may have heard of – even if you haven’t used the service in the past. While it offers a ton of handy features to boost productivity, there’s a bigger emphasis placed on tracking.
The app lets you create to-do lists and reminders so you always meet deadlines, plus you can add due dates, colleagues, instructions to tasks, and comment on items. You can even share images from other apps (like Google Drive) directly to Asana. And more importantly, you can actually track everything you and your colleagues work on in a bid to ensure the project is running smoothly and to schedule.
If you’re concerned with who is working on certain projects, then you can bring up a list of teams and individuals, and there’s also a search functionality so you can find completed tasks easily.
Asana offers a free Basic tier, with limited functionality and dashboards. Step up to the Premium tier, Business, or Enterprise tiers and you unlocked additional features, as well as administration and management options.
Zoho Projects
Reasons to buy
+Easy visualizations+Document storage options+Integration options
Zoho Projects is another project management tool that allows users to plan, organize, and collaborate on projects, while using Gantt charts for detailed visualization of progress and schedules.
There are also options for document management, time keeping, as well as tracking and fixing errors. A range of integrations are available, such as Slack, Google, Dropbox, as well as the numerous other Zoho suites.
Pricing is dependent on both the number of users, number of projects, and the depth of features required, with higher plans offering unlimited projects and higher limits according to the plan subscribed to. There is a free plan available to explore the software’s features.
Jira
Jira is an agile project management software used by development teams to plan, track, and release software. It is a popular tool designed specifically and used by agile teams. Aside from creating stories, planning sprints, tracking issues, and shipping up-to-date software, users also generate reports that help improve teams, and create their own workflows. As part of Atlassian, it integrates with many tools that enable teams to manage their projects and products from end to end. Jira Software is built for every member of your software team to plan,track, and release great software. Every team has a unique process for shipping software. Use an out-of-the-box workflow, or create one to match the way your team works.
MeisterTask
MeisterTask’s simple, yet powerful Kanban structure facilitates the smooth management of projects. With its wide range of collaborative capabilities, this smart, intuitive online task management tool is a popular choice for teams that value clean visual design and user experience.
Features such as watching, mentioning, tags and task scheduling make it simple and enjoyable to collaborate with colleagues both in-house and in home office. MeisterTask also includes the first-of-its-kind agenda: a personal board to which tasks from any project can be pinned and organized. Despite this extensive functionality, MeisterTask remains swift and logical thanks to a range of intelligent automations and robust native integrations with software including G Suite, Slack and GitHub.
Pricing: MeisterTask offers a free Basic version with selected core functionality. Pro ($8.25/per user/per month), offers a more comprehensive feature set for single users, while teams are best served by the Business ($20.75/per user/per month) and Enterprise (upon request) packages.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a popular project management software that is widely used by many project management teams. This software offers several different collaboration features such as a designated discussion area where users can leave behind comments. Additionally a recap of the projects your team is working (e.g. statuses and updates) is sent out on a daily basis to your email. Users can contribute to discussions via email as well. If you are unable to find a particular item, you can make use of this software’s powerful search tool to locate files or conversations. Some shortcomings, however, include the lack of milestones and customisation options as well as the inability to add an estimated duration for a task or assign it to more than one user.
Pricing: Basecamp is available to businesses for $99/month. For teachers and students it is entirely free of charge.
Nifty
Nifty is a new-wave project management tool that reduces project development cycles and improves team productivity by combining all of the important features of project management into one software. The end result is milestone-driven progress that keep teams inspired, insuring organizational goals remain on schedule. Nifty’s software allows you to manage tasks through both kanban or list view, has a built in calendar that can be integrated with Google, as well as file and document sharing. Collaborating on Nifty is natural because each project has an individual discussion thread encouraging project specific communication. Nifty also has an integration with Github that truly makes Nifty unique by encouraging cross departmental collaboration like no other.
Pricing: Nifty’s pricing ranges from $39 for 10 team members, $79 a month for 25 team members and $124 a month for 50 team members. In each plan teams can invite as many guests or clients as they would like for no extra charge.
Conclusion:
If you’re looking for the best web project management software but have no idea where to start, this post is for you. A lot of people make mistakes when it comes to choosing software for project management and we’re here to help. To begin with, you need to understand that what we mean by “best web project management software” today is a broad concept that can cover a wide range of topics. For instance, the most popular online project management tool is Trello, but it’s not meant for use in enterprise businesses or blockchain software development platforms. It offers limited functionality and scalability compared to other tools on the market.