There are numerous tools that Software Project Manager use to manage their efforts and keep everyone in sync. These tools range from tools like Asana to JIRA and other team management software. Which is best I can’t say and it will vary based on your personal needs and preferences. However, we’ll take a look at some of the Software Project Manager Tools I use and recommend to my clients.
For a software project manager, software project management tools are of the biggest importance. The greatest tool of all is knowledge of project management principles of course. But there are a number of tools that go a long way in helping you achieve your goals if you use them correctly. These can be used by a novice or a seasoned professional and the list below contains the best amongst them.
Kissflow Project [ Get Started Now 
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This all-in-one powerful app is one of the most favorite project management software out there. Kissflow Project is an ideal project management tool option for functional project managers and people who are new to project management. Kissflow Project checks all the boxes with a comprehensive suite of project management features. It is an easy-to-use and aesthetic Graphical User Interface that makes this one-stop solution an excellent choice for all types of organizations.
Custom forms, rule-based WIP limits, and personalized boards meet the unique needs of your project and organization. The “user swimlane view” gives you a holistic view of what each project participant is working on.
Pricing:
Kissflow Project offers 3 pricing tiers: Starter, Pro, and Enterprise, which can be selected after a full-featured free trial period of 15 days.
- Starter plan: Costs $7 for one user per month and allows 3 projects.
- Pro plan: Costs $12 for one user per month and allows 5 projects.
- Enterprise plan: Involves custom, negotiable pricing.
Asana
Asana is a flexible saas project management tool with a focus on collaboration. There are workflows that automate recurring tasks. It is intuitive with different task displays and supports custom fields and forms. You can even invite unlimited guest users. There are also options to build custom rules and approval workflows.
Asana offers a lot for productivity and collaboration while a lot of the core project management functionalities are handled through integrations which may not be ideal for all users. It’s good for all-size businesses but not ideal for freelancers. Some users feel Asana’s interface is overly simple and the system is too rigid, but it has strong task management and collaboration features. If your style of project organization software matches well with Asana, you’ll love it.
Pricing: There’s a free plan for up to 15 users. You can manage tasks by viewing them as lists, on a calendar, and on a Kanban board. Their Premium plan costs $10.99/month/user and supports timelines, reporting, custom fields, automation rules, and more. The Business plan offers a multitude of features– like approvals, portfolios, rule builders, workload, and advanced integrations–that are unavailable in the other plans. It’s priced at $24.99/user/month when paid annually.
Scoro
Scoro is a comprehensive solution that combines all the features you might need in project management software: projects & tasks, contact management, quotes, team collaboration, billing, and reporting.
Top features:
- Projects with sub-tasks and deadlines
- Real-time KPI dashboard
- Shared team calendar & meeting scheduling
- Contact management
- Time tracking and billing for work
- Detailed reports on project progress and finances
- Quoting and invoicing with pre-set templates
What’s special about this tool: Scoro helps to streamline your entire work progress, so you don’t need to use a lot of different tools for every task. All your important information is stored in one central place.
Pricing: From $26 user/month
Basecamp
Basecamp is the preferred tool for thousands of project management teams, who enjoy its modern social media-like interface and carefree team collaboration features.
Top features:
- Projects to manage multiple users’ work
- Message boards for discussing new projects or ideas
- In-app collaboration with the team
- Reporting on project performance
- Separate dashboard for showing to clients
- Email and desktop notifications
What’s special about this tool: Compared to some other project management alternatives, Basecamp doesn’t charge you per person, and it’s free for teachers and students!
Price: Free plans available, paid plans from $99/month
ProofHub
ProofHub is a versatile project management software used by leading organizations like NASA, Disney, Taco Bell, and many more. This all-in-one tool comes packed with powerful features to eliminate the need of depending on tens of different tools to run your project.
Whether you’re a team of 10, 50, or 500 project members, ProofHub is an extremely scalable solution for managing project activities. Managers can use it to take charge of all kinds of project tasks, side-by-side full control on project communication. One of the highlights of ProofHub is that it brings must-have project tools such as files, time tracking, team chat, calendar – everything you can imagine in a neat web portal.
The latest release is ideal for work-from-home teams and outsourced projects because it’s 100% cloud-enabled. Team members can log in to a single project management tool for all their project needs. Using the secured IP feature that lets you restrict IP addresses accessing your ProofHub account, you can truly ensure data security and safe telecommuting.
Another useful highlight of ProofHub is its digital proofing feature. Cross-functional teams that work on web design, social media, advertising projects can greatly streamline their creative process. Organize project flows into “pending”, “in-review” and “approved” stages with all the key stakeholders chiming in seamlessly.
Features:
Task Management
Managers can hand out tasks in a detailed and organized way. Each task comes with useful context points such as due date, billed time, assignees, files, and comments. This ensures that the team members always know what to do and how to do it.
Time Management
ProofHub comes with its own timesheets feature that lets team members record time spent on tasks. This is very useful when the project is billed by the hour as the managers can accurately plan the project ahead. It makes client communication much more transparent, enabling teams to never struggle while getting bills cleared.
Project Communication
ProofHub offers three tools for communication – Discussions, 1:1 Chat, and Group Chat. Alternatively, team members can also share ideas and thoughts in task comments.
Discussions are Slack-like shared talk boards wherein everyone can post updates for the entire team to take note of. Best for holding discussions, openly sharing feedback, and making topical announcements. Discussions can be subscribed to, just like a Slack channel.
1:1 Chat is meant for personally reaching out to team members. It supports emojis, file attachments and works smoothly in the mobile app.
Group Chat lets teams of all sizes create their own chat groups for sharing internal updates. Any three members can create a group of their own for a more focused discussion experience.
Collaboration
As ProofHub brings all kinds of Project Management Tools under one umbrella, it makes collaboration a breeze. Team members can simultaneously work on the same document, send messages, and update tasks without changing the window. The proofing tool, which comes with in-file annotations further enhances the collaboration experience.
Project Planning
Managers can use nifty tools such as Gantt Charts and Project Timeline Calendar to stay on top of the planning process. These tools directly pull data from the task lists to create a visually perceptible project planning environment. This contributes to fewer missed deadlines, and timely actions whenever there is a roadblock.
Project Reporting
Managers also get insights into critical parameters such as team productivity, time spent on tasks, tasks completed in a week, and so on. These reports make it easy for the manager to make well-informed decisions. If the team is underperforming or if a certain member is off-schedule, the manager will always know. This improves both the quality and timeliness of their decisions.
Pricing: ProofHub and all of its Project Management Tools come with a flat fee of $89 per month, regardless of the number of users. A free trial is available for new users.
Conclusion
Many people believe that software project management is only needed to manage huge projects with multi-million dollar budgets. That it is not necessary to keep software projects on track for small companies or individuals without an army of employees to assign tasks to. However, even small projects can get confusing if not managed. Smaller projects are easier to lose track of and make mistakes.