Are you using the best project management software for your business? Would you like to make your work easier? It’s a good idea to find a software that will help you do the job, especially if your work is related to any project. For example, if you are a project manager, you know that time management is one of your most important functions. To do it more effectively, some people tend to use different tools, like project management software and/or free project management tools. If you want to know more about free tools for project managers, here are some answers: What is a free tool?
Sick of the hassles of software trying to cram ads down your throat? Do you want a free project management software that doesn’t send gazillions of data points to corporations’ servers? Are you ready for the most safe, secure, and private version of the best project management software in 2017 which lets you manage your business from anywhere, any time? Then we have something special for you.
Deskaway (Brightpod)
Brightpod is a specialized project management system for marketing teams that uses flexibility, visualization, and simplicity to optimize performance. Being designed for marketing project management does not mean that Brightpod can’t work in other industries. For small businesses, the ability to adapt quickly and communicate effectively are paramount for success.
A project management tool like Brightpod can help you achieve that with the following features:
- Excellent visualization
- Task delegation and tracking
- Workflow automation
- Specialized widgets for content and social media strategy
- Task and project management
The pricing structure of Brightpod is also favorable for small businesses. Instead of paying for additional features depending on your requirement, Brightpod allows you to pay one flat rate for all services. You’ll pay for the number of users and projects you can run. Here are the 4 plans they offer:
- Professional ($29/month) – All the features with 5 users, 15 projects, and a maximum 10 GB storage.
- Studio ($59/month) – All the features with 12 users, 50 projects, and 100 GB storage.
- Agency ($99/month) – Unlimited projects for 25 users with 250 GB storage and advanced insights.
- Agency Plus ($199/month) – Unlimited projects for unlimited users with 500 GB storage and multiple add-ons.
Kissflow Project
Simplicity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Kissflow Project personifies these characteristics and successfully optimizes the way you handle projects. Small businesses seldom have project managers. This role is usually fulfilled by functional managers who are not formally trained or experienced in the field. Kissflow Project equips them with exactly what they need to succeed.
Here are some of the most important features of the Kissflow Project that are especially useful for small teams:
- Advanced communication channels
- Capability to create secret channels
- Project reporting and analytics
- Visualization tools between Kanban, matrix, and lists
- Excellent security features
- 24/7 support
- Custom fields
- Project and task status
Small businesses for project management don’t have the luxury of vast IT budgets and need to be frugal when selecting any tool. Kissflow Project understands that and offers multiple free and paid plans.
- Free – A basic package for small teams. Can allow 3 users and runs 1 project at a time.
- Starter ($45/month) – Equipped with everything you need to get your team on track. The package has a limit of 5 users and 5 projects. However, you can pay $5 per additional user.
- Professional ($75/month) – Unlimited custom views and unmatched capabilities. You’ll find everything you’ll need to optimize your workflows and streamline processes. The package has a limit of 5 users and 10 projects. You can add additional users at the rate of $10.
- Enterprise (Custom) – Tailored plans to fit your organization’s needs with their excellent capabilities. Enjoy unlimited views, storage, and file-sharing options at a very reasonable price. Kissflow Project pricing here.
Teamwork
Best PM app for client work
Teamwork allows users to view tasks on Kanban boards, as well as see status, due dates, and other assignees.
Trusted by over 6,000 businesses and 20,000 agencies, Teamwork provides tons of project management features, as well as offering a free project management system with some feature limitations. Track your team’s workload capacity in the app to avoid bottlenecks based on overloaded scheduling; you can easily drag-and-drop items to re-prioritize or re-assign blocked work.
Teamwork boasts plenty of self-lead training materials, which can be a huge help to SMBs who lack time and resources for 1:1 onboarding of new tools across the company. You can access prerecorded and live webinars, the Teamwork blog, a downloadable software guide, a detailed wiki/resource center, and feature videos.
Teamwork grants you unlimited “client” accounts to best include external stakeholders in your planning and execution processes. You can tailor client access and permissions within the admin menu, so that they can only see and touch items and reports that are relevant to their projects. Clients can add tasks, leave comments, and even log time from their guest account.
Teamwork integrates with Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, Dropbox, Slack, Microsoft Teams, MS Office, Harvest, Quickbooks, Xero, Hubspot, SharePoint, Microsoft Project, SoftSync, and hundreds of others using a paid plan through Zapier.
Teamwork has a free plan for basic task and project management. Paid plans cost from $10/user/month and come with a 30-day free trial.
Toggl Plan
Toggl Plan is beautifully simple project management software. It’s a tool that needs no training. And, your team can start using it from day one to plan and manage projects.
Toggl Plan comes with three primary features — plan timelines, team timelines, and boards. Depending on your PM method, you can either use timelines or boards to manage your project.
Plan timelines make planning projects a breeze. To plan project tasks, simply drag and drop tasks on the timeline. Also, you can add color-coded milestones to the timeline.
Team timelines help plan your team’s availability and workloads. They offer similar features to the Plan timeline. In addition to the Plan timeline, you can see if your team members are over or underworked on the team timeline.
If you prefer Agile methodologies, you’ll find boards helpful to manage task workflows. Plus, boards are fully customizable. So you can adapt boards to your way of working.
You can assign timeline and board tasks to one or more team members. Team members can work together on tasks using file attachments and comments.
Additional Features
- Manage recurring tasks.
- Track time spent on tasks with the Toggl Track integration.
- Grant role-based access to guests and external team members.
- Get in-app notifications when tasks and plans change.
- Mark a timeline/board as favorite for quick access.
- Track personal work from the “My Work” screen.
Toggl Plan Pricing
Toggl Plan’s free plan is perfect for individuals. You can manage unlimited projects and keep track of unlimited tasks with the free plan.
Paid plans range from $9-$15 per user per month. When you upgrade, you get team timelines, recurring tasks, time-tracking, and role-based access. Also, all paid plans have a 14-day free trial.
Get started with Toggl Plan for free.
Asana
Great Features, and an Even Better Free Plan
More details about Asana:
- Pricing: Free, or $10.99 per user per month for the Premium plan
- Website: asana.com
Pros:
- Great free plan
- Colorful interface
- Great advanced features
Cons:
- Pricey
Our second pick is Asana, and for two reasons. On the one hand, it’s the best free project management software out there, allowing up to 15 people to use a good chunk of its features without spending a penny. On the other, it has some amazing advanced features, making it a good pick for small companies that aspire to future growth.
The free plan is likely the biggest draw, as it’s just that good. Users get most of the features found in the Premium plan, but with a cap at the aforementioned 15 users and 1,000 tasks. Some smart planning can keep you under that limit, easy. We go into more detail in our article on Asana pricing, but do note that the free plan includes unlimited storage, which is generous.
Using Asana is pretty easy. It works much like monday.com in that you use the list to enter tasks and then sort them through different views. We like monday.com’s interface a smidge better, but that’s likely down to taste. What sets Asana apart aren’t its run-of-the mill features (read our Asana review for more on these), but rather its advanced ones.
Advanced Business Plans & Features
The Business and Enterprise plans include a number of really cool functions for larger companies, like setting milestones and plotting timelines. Though they’re likely not on the top of a small business’ list, it makes Asana an interesting option for a company planning for growth.
That said, these advanced plans are pretty pricey and, truth be told, so is the Premium plan, which is the upgrade from the free plan. With Asana, it seems you either pay nothing or a lot. Still, it’s good value for the money, and we recommend either giving the free version a spin or trying out one of the paid plans with a 30-day free trial.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a remote team collaboration tool with simple project management features. If you need collaboration features with simple task lists, Basecamp may be suitable for you.
With Basecamp, you can manage projects using simple task lists. You can assign a task to a team member. Also, you can set a due date for each task.
Task workflows are not customizable in Basecamp. So, tasks are either in the to-do or done status. Team members can discuss tasks using comments. Also, you can schedule milestones or critical events on the project calendar.
Basecamp comes with three ways to collaborate — message boards, team chat, and shared files.
Besides, you can also set up automatic check-ins. So, you don’t have to ask team members for status updates every day.
If Basecamp’s simple to-do lists are a no-go for you, take a look at other Basecamp alternatives as well.
Additional Features
- Get pop-up notifications when tasks and projects change.
- Set work hours to prevent notifications from popping up during non-work hours.
- See everything on your plate on the “My Stuff” screen.
Basecamp Pricing
With Basecamp’s free plan, you can manage up to 3 projects and 20 team members.
The paid plan costs $99 per month. With the paid plan, you can manage unlimited projects and team members. You also add unlimited clients and get access to ready-made project templates.
Conclusion:
Your boss just gave you the responsibility for managing a new implementation project. Or your team has been given the job of developing a new marketing campaign. Now what? You’ll need some tools to help manage your work and your time.