Project management tools are extremely useful for companies that have highly distributed teams. Even something as small as being able to quickly share your screen with someone on the other side of the world can be huge, especially if you are running an agile project. Most people think of agile project management tools in terms of either Git or Trello.
No matter how great agile software is, you can’t reduce your project management tasks to a simple click-click action. In fact, that’s not the way project management works offline as well as online. You need tools that will help you to complete all your tasks and give you an overall picture of the project development. So we’ve decided to offer you a list of the best free online agile project management tools available today and tomorrow.
Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a no-code platform that’s flexible and dynamic enough to handle both single project and end-to-end work management. According to their website, Smartsheet is trusted by more than 90% of Fortune 100 Companies.
Smartsheet pioneered the work on no-code platforms and has worked on the technology for over 15 years. Their goal is to help your business grow by giving you the ability to conveniently automate workflows, successfully align your global teams, and most importantly to rapidly build a virtually limitless number of scalable solutions.
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 $14/month and offers a free trial. Enterprise pricing details are available upon request.
monday.com
monday.com makes it easy to manage your agile projects in one place. Users can save time with workflow automations, visualize their information in views they prefer (Gantt, Kanban, timeline, calendar, tasklist), and make use of tons of templates and integrations.
Because monday.com so easy to navigate, most users can onboard quickly using the built-in tutorial wizard and training videos. Features like private messaging, uploading files, user tagging, drag-and-drop charts, and click-to-edit data fields are intuitive enough that even low tech individuals can learn fast.
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 $10/user/month and they offer a free forever plan for 2 seats and limited features. Enterprise pricing details are available upon request.
Hansoft
Hansoft’s fast and intuitive interface, powerful find/report tools, and a host of other features can run different project management methods depending on your project. Hansoft is scalable and configurable since it was inspired by the Project Management Institute (PMI), Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), and Large Scale SCRUM (LeSS). Its core feature critical for planning and tracking is the backlog, which can be refined by any custom attribute to your deliverables.
Cost: Completely free for up to 2 users. It allows unlimited projects and programs.
YouTrack
We found that YouTrack has the best reporting feature of any tools on this list. Whether you’re looking for burndown charts, timeline reports, and more—all available on a live dashboard. Newest features include improved, project-based swimlanes, advanced visibility options, and time report improvements.
Cost: Free for ten users and 5GB of storage. Paid options are based on the number of users and start at $20 per month.
Kintone
Kintone is a project management platform that allows project managers to track, prioritize, and review their team’s tasks for any given project workflow—no matter how complex.
This highly-customizable platform gives users the power to create a tailored project management solution using its drag-and-drop interface built for non-coders. Users can design the necessary workflows and easily review all related tasks.
Kintone’s customization features include the ability to create automated reminders, filter tasks or project phases by data field or team member to generate custom reports or dashboard views, and automate handoffs between team members for multi-step workflows. You can also view, edit, and update workflows from the platform’s mobile or desktop applications, so oversight doesn’t stop when you leave your desk.
One of the Kintone’s most valuable features is its built-in communication channels. These chat tools allow you to discuss projects with your team directly in the database, meaning your conversations and data stay connected. You can also create “spaces” for conversation organized by topic, team, project, or department. The best part is these spaces stay visible to everyone, so teammates who miss a discussion can come back later and catch up.
Kintone’s project management tool also features integrations with Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Tableau, Dropbox, Salesforce, HubSpot, and many more through Zapier.
Kintone starts at $24/user/month.
Nutcache
Nutcache is an all-in-one agile solution for managing your entire project lifecycle with an emphasis on team collaboration. Within Nutcache, users can customize tasks within a workplace, track project budgets, and manage time and expenses.
Nutcache offers a variety of easy-to-use project budgeting tools that agile teamswill love, including budget analytics with motion graphics and notification flags for overruns. Agile teams struggling with cost and scope maintenance will also appreciate their easy estimates vs actuals reports.
Nutcache integrates with PayPal, Stripe, QuickBooks, Dynacom Accounting, 2Checkout, Authorized.Net, Gmail, Google Drive, Github, Slack, and hundreds more using a paid plan through Zapier.
Nutcache is free for a maximum of 20 users. For paid plans, Nutcache costs from $7.95/user/month. Customized pricing for more than 150 users is available upon request.
Drag
Drag transforms your Gmail into organized Task Lists. It’s a free Chrome extension that turns your inbox into a manageable workspace (just like Trello, but for Gmail). Now, many well-known companies like Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, Spotify and others use it to improve the efficincy of email management. On the 18th June they are launching Drag Team! Now, not only individuals can organize their inbox in Trello-style boards, but also teams can collaborate on emails, right from inside Gmail. This means that teams working together in a project or managing accounts such as sales@ or support@ don’t need to manage multiple external apps to get things done.
Wrike
Wrike is a project management software with a collection of agile tools for managing projects, and the tool is suitable for teams of five or more. This highly configurable agile project management software allows users to customize workflows, dashboards, and reports.
Wrike’s simple interface enables users to switch between Kanban boards, interactive drag-and-drop Gantt charts, and workload views to visualize priorities. Wrike features a number of easy-to-use agile templates, backlog management functionalities, spaces for collaboration and feedback, and agile reporting and analytics. Other features include agile folder organization and automated task management.
Wrike’s features can be configured for each individual team’s needs, and the tool also offers a variety of specific solutions depending on the type of team or organization, including solutions for marketing teams and professional service teams.
The software offers more than 400 pre-built native integrations, including popular file management software from Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox, along with sales and marketing software from Salesforce and Marketo.
Pricing for Wrike 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.
Forecast.app
Forecast is an agile project management software for agile teams. The tool offers adaptive work processes and workflow automation to save project managers time and track projects, tasks, and milestones.
The platform uses AI to help make estimates, so users can get a more accurate view of sprint capacity and monitor velocity. Also included are AI-powered auto-scheduling and time entry suggestions. Forecast offers a centralized location for the team to groom the backlog, plan sprints, track progress and velocity, and discern where processes can be improved.
Forecast also integrates with the tools for developers, such as Azure DevOps, GitHub, GitLab, and Jira.
Forecast paid plans start at $29/user/month, and a 14-day free trial is available.
Conclusion:
The tools you use to manage your project can have a major impact on how well you achieve results. At the core of your project are people. Without the right knowledge management tools, your team will struggle to improve processes, collaborate, or even work together effectively. Feasible project management tools are important to not only the success of the project itself but also for your company’s success as well. Businesses must be careful when selecting software for their teams to use because they need to take into consideration both the person behind the screen and what exact roles they will be filling.