Are you a software project manager? I don’t mean managing software updates or OS upgrades to the office computers. I mean, are you managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders, teams, and technology? If so, congratulations — you’ve taken on one of the most challenging jobs in the business world. It’s no wonder many project managers feel like they don’t know when they’ll be done with a project. However, there are tools you can use to make your job easier. Below we discuss the best project management tools in the industry.
Have you ever wondered, “What am I going to do if my project goes into an over-budget mode and we need to save money?” I definitely did. There are many ways to reduce software project costs, but some ways may be faster than others. Here are some of the best project management tools and techniques for managing a software project.
Kissflow Project
Best for ease of use
Kissflow Project allows users to plan their team’s work, see who’s working on what, and deliver great results with minimal tracking.
Kissflow Project is a lean project management tool for small businesses that focuses on hyper-customization over clutter when it comes to feature prioritization. It’s designed to be simple to use and navigate for digital project managers and non-PMs alike. You can access multiple project views—like list, Kanban, and matrix—according to your organizational preference.
Kissflow lets you design tasks, flag priorities, and assign items to team members with simple status labels for assignments that are on hold, in progress, or done. Managers can build a personalized dashboard to grab a quick view of where different tasks stand, what’s coming due, and where roadblocks have appeared. A centralized communication hub with chat and commenting ensures you can solicit updates and provide feedback without departmental silos blocking your way.
Kissflow lets you attach files to your projects and tasks for basic digital asset management and document management; up to 10MB per file for most plans. Their easy analytics suite lets you build visual reports according to flow, time, or tasks. However, they don’t yet have dependencies/linked items (quite a hiccup) but it’s on their future roadmap.
Kissflow integrations include native Microsoft and Google Workspace integrations, and the platform offers a REST API and webhooks.
Kissflow Project costs from $7/user/month for up to 3 projects.
Forecast.app
Best resource management + finances in one
Forecast’s auto schedule feature turns a rough list of tasks into a comprehensive project plan.
Forecast is a project management software for small business that unites your projects, resources, and financials in one AI-powered platform. Project managers can leverage Forecast’s workflow automation capabilities to create smart schedules, estimate timeframes and budgets, and populate timesheets instantly. Forecast is currently used in over 40 countries by an assortment of agencies, consulting companies, SMBs, and enterprises.
PMs can control the workflow by building out detailed task lists and flagging clear priorities. Task cards allow every team member to easily comment, share files, and register time spent. Everything related to the specific task appears in one place, including dependencies and subtasks. You can put together projects for any type of work: fixed price, time and material, or retainer.
Forecast’s AI learns from previous work and suggests the number of hours you normally register on similar tasks to help you log time faster. You can monitor time registrations from a team perspective and notify each member if they forget to enter something in. Time tracking utilization on a company-wide level is calculated for you for easy alerts, estimates, and reporting.
Forecast integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, iCloud Calendar, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Outlook, Harvest, Trello, Asana, GitLab, Github, and dozens more using a paid plan through Zapier. Higher-tier subscriptions include native integrations with Timelog, Xero, QuickBooks Online, JIRA, Azure DevOps, Salesforce, Okta, OneLogin, and Azure Active Directory.
Forecast cost from $29/user/month with a minimum of 10 users and offers a 14-day free trial.
NiftyPM
NiftyPM lives up to its name by centralizing work and creating an automated project management process for your team. This small business project management software comes with all the project and task management capabilities you can expect from any high-end project management software on the market.
- All-in-one tool
- Task and timeline management
- Collaborative functions
- Allows you to switch between Kanban, list, and matrix views
- Import workflows from other tools like Asana, Basecamp, etc.
Businesses at different stages have different requirements and Nifty caters to them. It offers 4 different packages that cover the requirements of all kinds of businesses easily. All rates are flat, so you won’t have to worry about paying a specific fee for every user.
- Starter ($49/month) – For small teams of up to 10 members. The package offers unlimited guest accounts and can run 40 projects at a time.
- Pro ($99/month) – A simple, but powerful choice for budding businesses. Can run unlimited projects at a time and supports up to 20 members.
- Business ($149/month) – Perfect choice for established businesses and teams looking for growth opportunities. This package allows up to 50 members and offers a storage space of 1 TB.
- Enterprise ($499/month) – A comprehensive choice for the most advanced teams. Enjoy all of Nifty’s solutions and add unlimited members to your team without any additional charges
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.
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.
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.
Conclusion:
Whether you are new to the field of project management, or are a seasoned pro, I wanted to put together a list of my favorite project management software and websites. These project management tools have been designed for different specialties within the industry. Some are great for managing a software development project, others for marketing, and there are also great project management tools for running an entire company.