There are many great collaboration tools online. But what are the best collaboration tools that are out there that you should use?
In this article, we look at the best collaboration tools for individuals and businesses available. We explored a wide range of platforms that provide a complete set of collaboration tools. Therefore, whether you’re looking for effective communication tools, project management features, real-time messaging, or even team training and onboarding solutions, you’ll surely find something useful in the list below.
MindMeister
You want somewhere to brainstorm effectively? Jump aboard the MindMeister bandwagon and start doing just that. The tool lets you manage meetings, plan projects and sketch out business plans with your team.
It is the go-to platform for teams to be more innovative as it provides them with the required environment for brainstorming and planning. Users can share their mind maps directly with others in real time or make the mind maps public for everyone to see instead. The platform has numerous templates for organizing work that users can choose from.
Pros
- Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
- Unlimited possibilities for brainstorming
- Multiple colors, themes, and styles for maps
- Cloud hosted, no installations needed
Cons
- Requires strong internet connectivity
Evernote
Evernote is known as a note taking app. It syncs across all devices to make your notes available on the go, everywhere you go, and has additional features for organizing, archiving and listing tasks.
With Evernote, your team can easily capture ideas on research and interviews, draft blog posts and eBooks on the go as the ideas emerge, save articles to read later, annotate PDFs, record audio, and save texts, links, and images with ease.
Pros
- Unlimited space for storage
- Has a robust search engine
Cons
- Paid version is pricey
- It is prone to occasional bugs
Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the most popular file storage solutions with file syncing and sharing.
For many business owners, we work from our homes, the local cafe, in our cars between meeting. The difficulty with this business lifestyle is having access to everything you want on all of your devices. There are multiple ways to store and share files. One of those ways is by using Dropbox.
Pros
- 16GB Free storage
- Easy to sync files across multiple platforms
- You can use the file version history feature to recover and restore deleted and previous versions of files
Cons
- Companies need to purchase employee licenses for Dropbox when using it as a business solution
- It can sometimes be challenging to find folders or files
GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is a robust online meeting and video conferencing tool designed to enable businesses to collaborate with their teams, clients, customers, and other businesses in real time via the Internet.
It is particularly great for international teams and can greatly reduce the learning curve as it also supports screen sharing.
The other handy features of the platform include messaging, group chat, recording, integration with other tools, and a one-click meeting feature that instantly schedules meetings in Google Calendar or Outlook.
Pros
- Intuitive user interface
- Can host large meetings
- Allows users to record meetings so you don’t have to attend in real time
Cons
- Subscription is fairly expensive
- Requires a stable internet connection
Hightail
This is a cloud service for sharing large files and obtaining feedback, over a secure channel. The tool allows for digital signing of files and synchronizing them.
It is loaded with creative collaborative features to make everything easy and seamless, eliminating the need to share files through emails which allow for miscommunications to occur.
Pros
- Unlimited online file storage
- Easily sends large files of up to 10gd in size
- Great security features including identity verification
Cons
- Less interactive support team
- Files shared tend to expire quickly
FreeConferenceCall.com
Like Skype, FreeConferenceCall.com is a popular online collaboration tool that allows teams to share files, share screens, video call and discuss tasks. The platform has stable and secure features including team rooms and is easy to use.
Pros
- Easy to use and maneuver
Cons
- Only Admins can set up chat groups
- Few bugs if any at all
Flock
If you are looking for more comprehensive communication features, then Flock is a great alternative for Slack (above). It is a communication tool that allows teams to have different channels, as well as individual and group conversations.
Unlike Slack, Flock is much faster with short load times and allows users to search through all messages, URL and files with ease. The tool is optimized to find virtually any search query regardless of its source in the channels. Further, it supports screen sharing, audio and video calls. Flock users can conduct polls, set reminders, share notes, and assign tasks for maximum productivity.
Pros
- Has short load times
- Messages are fully searchable
- Has unlimited message visibility
Cons
- Has fewer app integrations than Slack
- Does not support automated bots
Teamwork
Teamwork was built so you can manage ALL your client work in one platform. From invoicing, to time tracking, to unlimited client access, everything you need to run your client services is in Teamwork.
Teamwork gives you the tools and reports you need to maximize resources and never miss a billable minute again. Get a bird’s eye view of every project, from milestones to capacity planning, budgeting and time tracking and more.
Break work and projects into tasks and layers of subtasks – so nothing slips through the cracks and everyone knows what to do and when it’s done.
Pros
- Signup for a free 30-day trial of Teamwork with no commitments
- Teamwork has the growth-focused features like time tracking, custom client permissions, assigning tasks to multiple people and more
- A user-friendly learning curve and the essential features (like reports and resource management)
- Teamwork has the collaboration, client features and robust flexibility necessary for managing multiple complex projects
- Solid functionality so your team can manage large, complex projects without the learning curve and limitations
- Collaborate in real-time with your team and clients to get your questions answered and projects delivered on time & on budget.
Cons
- UX can be a bit cumbersome, but they are currently working on an overhaul
Nifty
True collaboration is where communication meets action. If you’re planning in one place and discussing in another — where is the collaboration truly occurring?
Nifty is the award-winning project management tool that closes the gap between communication and action to serve as the all-in-one remote office you and your team have been looking for. Packed with easy-to-use project management tools as well as direct and group messaging experiences, Nifty is the glue between planning and execution.
Pros
- Build roadmaps with Nifty’s milestones which are phase-based Gantts that roll up tasks into actionable steps and automate progress as the tasks are completed.
- Timeline, Kanban, List, and Swimlane views let teams of all types visualize their work in the way that suits them best.
- Tags scale across tasks, docs, and files in all projects to create scalability within the workspace
- Built in docs, including a two-way Google Doc, Sheet, and Presentations bring your notes, content, and specifications directly into your workspace.
- Overviews, Workloads, and All Tasks give automated managerial insight on project and portfolio health and make managing resources across projects as simple as can be.
- Project Discussions and Team Chat give opportunities for group and direct communications
Cons
- API in the process of being opened
- Free trial, but no Free plan
Chanty
Chanty is a simple team chat solution, with easy-to-use collaboration features, unlimited message history, and workplace apps to enable teams to foster healthy relationships through transparent and accessible communication.
It is a messaging tool that enables your team members to complete projects, activities, or tasks easier and faster. It also helps you consolidate all the information you need in one easy-to-use application.
Pros
- Unlimited searchable message history
- Inbuilt task manager
- Simple and clean interface
- Easy-to-start and easy-to-use
Explore pricing and features to find the Chanty plan that best fits your team.
Cons
- Limited in custom integrations
Whereby
Whereby is the best way to meet over video. You don’t need to download an app or any software. Just choose your own personalized URL and meet using your browser – on mobile or desktop – in one click.
Whereby has a range of features to help you collaborate and communicate. Like Breakout Groups, virtual whiteboards with Miro, screen sharing and recording, and integrations with Google Docs, Trello and YouTube.
Pros
- Voted ‘easiest to use’ video tool – start meetings in one click
- Host meetings with up to 50 participants
- No apps, downloads or installs required
- Simple, beautiful design
- Encrypted and secure video calls
- Personalized meeting room with custom backgrounds and your company logo
- Breakout Groups to run classes, virtual events, and workshops more easily
Cons
- 45-minute time limit for meetings with more than 2 participants on the Free plans
- Not as widely known as other video conferencing tools
15. Facebook Workplace
The world’s biggest social media network, Facebook, has a team collaboration service – Facebook Workplace – that can serve as a corporate intranet portal.
The platform has a very user-friendly interface where teams can collaborate through their own portals, as well as through the Facebook Pages, Notes and Docs. On Facebook Workplace, team members can collaborate on tasks via voice/video call and instant messaging. The platform also has machine learning bots built-in to automate certain tasks.
Pros
- Supports polls to measure employee opinions
- Integrates with other systems
- Unlimited photo and video uploads
Cons
- All data is stored on Facebook servers in the cloud, which may be prone to privacy issues.
Conclusion
The best collaboration tools reflect the changing relationship between employees. The way in which remote teams work used to be by email, then gradually moved to messaging apps like Slack and today it is Whatsapp or other Whatsapp like instant messaging tools.