7 Best Project Management Apps

How do you choose a project management app?

To make sure you choose the best project management app for your team, you need to carefully review your needs and the leading tools on the market. Follow these steps to make the right choice for your business and find a project management software that suits your team and workflow.

1. Evaluate your needs

A project management app should encompass all your employees’ tasks, due dates, priorities and status updates. Review your existing workflow and how your team interacts with one another to determine which are the most important features and tools you’ll need.

Ideally, a project management app features online chat or messages within the platform so all communication is easy to track (compared to multiple emails scattered across everyone’s separate email accounts). It will also allow your team to upload files, such as images, videos and documents, to keep the project organized.

Software that updates in real time can prevent mistakes when workers are spread out across the country or globe. Mobile accessibility can keep projects moving forward even when employees are on the go.

Integrations with marketing tools, design, reporting functions, Google Workspace, etc. allow employees to work seamlessly within the project management app without having to open several tabs or remember multiple passwords. Different views and customizable drag-and-drop features can cater to each employee’s work style.

2. Research the market

Once you’ve given thought to your specific needs, take a look at some of the leading project management software on the market. We’ve done some of the work for you below, so consider our list to see if any of our recommendations fit your needs. 

Start by looking at pricing and comparing plans to your budget. This is an easy way to narrow down the list — it won’t matter if a project management tool seems effective if it’s way out of your price range. 

When reviewing these project management apps at a high level, keep notes and identify a couple to add to a shortlist. These are the platforms you’ll want to investigate more closely.

3. Attend demos and test free trials

Once you have your shortlist of candidates narrowed down, check to see if the vendor offers a free trial. If so, take the software for a spin. Make sure each member of your team gets a chance to try it out too, and ask them for their feedback. After all, they’re the ones who will be using the software in their day-to-day role. 

If a company doesn’t offer free trials, reach out and ask for a live demonstration. This will give you a chance to see the software in action. You can also ask company representatives questions about the platform to make sure it meets your needs. Again, invite members of your team to attend to ask questions of their own and offer feedback after the demo.

4. Check out customer reviews

Before making your final decision, check out reviews from existing customers. Sometimes, a project management app seems useful in a free trial or demonstration, but there are significant issues customers face once signing up. Checking out reviews can help you avoid choosing the wrong company. Keep an eye out for repetitive complaints; if multiple customers are having the same issue, it should serve as a red flag.

All the project management apps below include a free trial, offer responsive customer service, and can scale to meet your current and future business needs.

Asana

If you are a fan of Trello (which we cover below) but need more robust features, Asana is a good choice. Asana provides an all-in-one project management system that can track individual team members and all of the tasks they are working on. The platform updates in real time so you can keep up with the project pipeline’s tasks, notes, workspaces, and tags.

Asana allows you to set permissions for each team member, and team members can share project documents within the platform to eliminate the need for multiple emails.

Available project views

• List
• Board
• Timeline
• Calendar
• Progress
• Forms

Source: Asana

Integrations

Asana integrates with over 200 apps, including 21 built by Asana for seamless integration. Popular integrations include Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite), Microsoft Teams, Slack, Mailchimp, Dropbox and GitHub.

Customer service

Asana provides how-to documentation, a community forum, the Asana Academy for training on the software, an online onboarding guide, use cases, and an API guide on its website.

All users can contact Asana by email. Asana’s paid plans give access to priority support (customer success managers) and admin controls.

Pricing

Personal plan: Free

• Unlimited tasks
• Unlimited projects
• Unlimited messages
• Unlimited activity log
• Unlimited file storage (100MB per file)
• Collaboration with up to 15 teammates
• List view of projects
• Board view
• Calendar view
• Assignee and due dates
• Project overview
• Project brief
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Time tracking with integrations
• Over 100 free integrations with your favorite apps

Starter plan: $13.49 per user per month ($10.99 per month if billed annually)

• Timeline
• Dashboards
• Advanced search and reporting
• Custom fields
• Unlimited free guests
• Forms
• Rules
• Milestones
• Admin console
• Private teams and projects

Advanced plan: $30.49 per user per month ($24.99 per month billed annually)

• Portfolios
• Goals
• Workload
• Custom rules builder
• Forms branching and customization
• Approvals
• Proofing
• Lockable custom fields
• Advanced integrations with Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, Tableau, Power BI

Enterprise plan: Contact Asana for pricing.

• SAML
• User provisioning and deprovisioning (SCIM)
• Data export and deletion
• Block native integrations
• Attachment controls
• Custom branding
• Priority support

Free trial: 30 days

Basecamp

Basecamp is best for team collaboration, project organization and file sharing. The platform offers robust integrations, which can cut down on the amount of software you need to run your business. Basecamp uses flat-fee pricing (instead of charging per user), which is a refreshing change from its competitors.

Source: Basecamp

Available project views

• Campfire (informal group chat, no size limit)
• Message boards
• To-dos
• Schedules
• Docs and files (upload files and organize by folder)
• Automatic check-ins (task alerts)

Integrations

Basecamp has several integrations, like Timely and Proposify, but lacks direct marketing integrations. However, the platform does integrate with Zapier (which offers over 750 business apps) and Automate.io (over 50 apps, including Slack, Gmail and Pipedrive), providing you with more options than most businesses need.

Customer service

For general questions and how-tos, Basecamp offers video tutorials, written guides, and live classes. You can also contact Basecamp by email and receive a response in under 20 minutes during work hours, from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (CST), Monday to Friday. However, users have reported speedy responses outside of normal work hours too.

Pricing

Basecamp Per User: $15 per user, per month

• Up to three projects
• 20 users
• 1GB storage space

Basecamp Pro Unlimited: $299 per month

• Unlimited projects
• Unlimited users
• 500GB storage space
• Company HQ (centralized platform for companywide communications)
• Team projects
• Unlimited clients
• Advanced client access
• Project templates
• Priority support

Free trial: 30 days

monday.com

monday.com provides over 200 visual templates to get you up and running. You can drag and drop over 30 column types to create a custom workflow. You can also automate routine tasks to eliminate busywork and maximize productivity.

You can communicate with team members, add files to projects, and link boards to streamline complex processes. Managers can use the workload view to get a glimpse of what each team member is working on without unnecessary meetings.

Source: monday.com

Available project views

• Table
• Gantt
• Calendar
• Chart
• Kanban
• Form
• Timeline
• Workload

Integrations

monday.com excels in business integrations, listing over 40 in project management, CRM, marketing, software development and more. Its top integrations include Shopify, Google Calendar, Zoom, Zapier, Adobe Creative Cloud, Stripe and HubSpot.

Customer service

monday.com offers an active online user community, extensive documentation of all aspects of the platform, professional services (one-on-one help for an additional cost), video tutorials, and a blog and podcast on its website.

Source: monday.com

All monday.com users, even those on the free plan, have access to 24/7 customer support. (However, paying users receive priority support.) You simply fill out the form on the contact page to get help with your issue.

Pricing

Individual: Free

• Two seats
• Two team members
• Unlimited boards
• Over 200 templates
• Over 20 column types
• iOS and Android apps

Basic: $9 per seat per month

• All Individual plan features
• Unlimited free viewers
• Unlimited items
• 5GB file storage
• Priority customer support
• Custom dashboard based on one board

Standard: $12 per seat per month

• All Basic plan features
• Timeline and Gantt views
• Calendar view
• Guest access
• Automations (250 actions per month)
• Integrations (250 actions per month)
• Custom dashboard that combines up to five boards

Pro: $19 per seat per month

• All Standard plan features
• Private boards
• Chart view
• Time tracking
• Formula column
• Automations (25,000 actions per month)
• Integrations (25,000 actions per month)
• Custom dashboard that combines up to 10 boards

Enterprise: Contact monday.com for pricing.

• All Pro plan features
• Enterprise-scale automations and integrations
• Enterprise-grade security and governance
• Advanced reporting and analytics
• Multi-level permissions
• Tailored onboarding
• Premium support
• Custom dashboard that combines up to 50 boards

Free trial: 14 days

Smartsheet

Smartsheet provides web-based collaboration tools to streamline your projects. It offers quicker onboarding than its rival Wrike. Automation and resource management tools help balance allocations and prevent pinch points.

Available project views

• Card
• Gantt
• Calendar
• Grid

Source: Smartsheet

Source: Smartsheet

Integrations

Smartsheet has over 65 integrations, including logistics tools, accounts payable, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Workplace by Facebook. You can use Automate.io to connect Smartsheet with apps like Gmail, Slack and Salesforce.

Customer service

Individual:

• Help and learning center
• Smartsheet community
• Support by email
• On-demand training (extra cost)
• Instructor-led training (extra cost)

Business:

• Help and learning center
• Smartsheet community
• Support by email
• Support by phone (extra cost)
• Professional support (extra cost)
• On-demand training (extra cost)
• Instructor-led training (extra cost)

Enterprise:

• Help and learning center
• Smartsheet community
• Support by email
• Support by phone
• Professional support (extra cost)
• On-demand training
• Instructor-led training (extra cost)

Premier:

• Help and learning center
• Smartsheet community
• Support by email
• Support by phone
• Professional support
• On-demand training
• Instructor-led training (extra cost)

Pricing

Pro: $9 per user, per month

• Free users (access for users without a paid license)
• Integration with apps like Google Workspace and Office 365
• Library of free templates
• Data-capture forms
• Automated workflows and tasks

Business: $19 per user, per month

• All Individual plan features
• Dashboards and charts for data visualization
• Activity log
• Reporting
• Connectors (integrations) for extended data analytics
• Group and user management
• Custom branding

Enterprise: Contact Smartsheet for pricing.

• All Business plan features
• Unlimited sheets
• WorkApps (no extra cost for licensed users)
• Single sign-on with Active Directory integration
• Automation of adding users
• Approved domain sharing
• Configurable file storage options
• Customizable user experience
• System and group admin features

Free trial: 30 days

Trello

Trello is a top choice for small businesses that are moving beyond the common spreadsheet. It is also a good choice for personal use, since its free plan offers many useful features. If you need plug-and-play project management software with great security and a mobile app, Trello will not disappoint.

Source: Trello

Available project views

• Card (Kanban)
• Additional project views with integrations

Integrations (Power-Ups)

Trello offers a large variety of Power-Ups, which are integrations that can boost the features of your Trello boards. Integrations include Google Drive for adding files directly into a project card, Slack for communication and collaboration, and Planyway, which adds a calendar, timeline, and time tracker.

Customer service

Trello has written documentation on its website to answer frequently asked questions. You can also ask the Trello Community for a quick answer or email Trello’s support specialists.

Pricing

Free: $0 per month

• Unlimited cards
• Unlimited members
• Up to 10 boards
• One Power-Up per board
• Unlimited storage (10MB per file)
• 50 automated command runs per month
• Unlimited activity log
• Assignee and due dates
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Two-factor authentication

Standard: $5 per user per month

• All Free plan features
• Unlimited boards
• Unlimited Power-Ups
• Dashboard view
• Timeline view
• Team table view
• Calendar view
• Map view
• Advanced checklists
• 1,000 automated command runs per team plus 200 per user (up to 6,000 per month)
• Unlimited storage (250MB per file)
• Admin and security features
• Team board templates
• Collections
• Observers
• Single-board guests
• Custom backgrounds and stickers
• Saved searches
• Priority support
• Google Apps sign-on
• Simple data export

Premium: $10 per user, per month

• All Standard plan features
• Views: Calendar, timeline, table, dashboard and map
• Workspace views: Table and calendar
• Unlimited workspace command runs
• Atlassian Intelligence (AI)
• Admin and security features
• Workspace-level templates
• Collections
• Observers
• Simple data export

Enterprise: Starts at $17.50 per user, per month

• All Business Class plan features
• Organization-wide permissions
• Organization-visible boards
• Public board management
• Multi-board guests
• Attachment permissions
• Power-Up administration
• Unlimited automated command runs

Free trial: 14 days; no credit card required

Wrike

Wrike is best for larger teams and businesses that employ remote workers. This project management platform features several dashboard views, integration capabilities, a time tracker and a mobile app. Its new Work Intelligence AI feature offers automated risk projections, voice command functionality, and document processing.

Source: Wrike

Available project views

• Gantt
• Table
• Timelog
• Wrike (custom)
• Files
• Board
• Analytics

Integrations

Integrations are available as an add-on to the Business plan or higher. With the add-on, you can connect Wrike to popular business apps like QuickBooks, Mailchimp and Salesforce.

Customer service

Free Wrike account:

• Email
• 24/5 availability

Team (paid and trial Wrike account):

• Email, help center chat, phone
• 24/5 availability
• 24-hour response time

Business (paid Wrike account with purchase of premium support):

• Email, help center chat, dedicated phone line, workspace chat
• 24/7 availability
• One-hour response time
• Extra cost with subscription

Pricing

Free: $0 per month

• Five users
• Board view
• Task management
• File sharing
• Real-time activity stream
• Spreadsheet view
• Basic integrations (Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365)
• Desktop and mobile app
• Cloud storage integrations (Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Office 365 and OneDrive)
• 2GB of storage space

Team: $9.80 per user per month (billed annually)

• All Free plan features
• Up to 200 users
• Task and subtask management
• Gantt chart
• Advanced integrations (MS Project, Excel, RSS, etc.)
• Shareable dashboards
• Collaborators
• Storage space starting at 5GB

Business: $24.80 per user per month (billed annually)

• All Professional plan features
• Up to 200 users
• Custom fields and workflows
• Shared real-time reports with scheduled notifications
• Report templates
• Graphical analytics
• Calendars
• Request forms
• Project and task approvals
• Time tracking
• User groups and permissions
• Salesforce integration
• Branded workspace
• Storage space starting at 50GB
• Automation engine

Enterprise: Contact Wrike for pricing.

• All Business plan features
• Five unlimited users
• Active Directory integration
• SAML 2.0 single sign-on
• Two-factor authentication
• Password policies
• IT-controlled admin permissions
• Advanced user access controls
• User audit reports
• Network access and compliance policies
• Integration with business intelligence tools
• Storage space starting at 100GB
• Automation engine

Add-on services:

• Wrike for Marketers
• Wrike for Marketers Performance
• Wrike for Professional Services
• Wrike for Professional Services Performance

Free trial: 14 days; call to set up

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is an all-in-one project management solution. The platform features a customizable CRM, collaboration apps, finance, automation, human resources, IT, AI data, and sales and marketing tools. You can even sell custom extensions, apps, or solutions through the Zoho Marketplace, which gives you access to Zoho’s 60 million users across the globe.

Source: Zoho

Available project views

• Gantt
• Calendar
• Kanban
• Dependency
• Milestones
• Classic (task detail)
• Plain (task and subtasks)

Integrations

Zoho Projects provides 13 in-house apps along with over 25 direct integrations. Its popular integrations include Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox and Slack. Zoho also partners with Zapier to significantly increase its integration options.

Customer service

Zoho customer service is available in both classic (free) and premium (paid) support options. If you have the free version of Zoho, you can use its knowledge base, how-to videos and email support.

If you are on a paid monthly plan, you can call during business hours (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) or send an email. If you opt for a premium support plan, you will have access to 24-hour Zoho Projects support Monday through Friday, with an average six-hour response time. However, premium support costs $990 per year on top of the monthly subscription costs.

Pricing

Free: $0

• Three users
• Two projects
• 10MB storage
• One project (pages and chat)
• Read-only chronology Gantt chart
• Basic reports

Premium: $5 per user per month ($4 if billed annually)

• Up to 50 users
• Unlimited projects
• 100GB storage space
• 20 project templates
• All projects (pages and chat)
• Editable Gantt charts (within projects)
• Advanced reporting

Enterprise: $9 per user per month ($10 if billed annually)

• No upper limit
• Unlimited projects
• 120GB storage space
• 30 project templates
• All projects (pages and chat)
• Editable Gantt charts (across projects)
• Advanced reporting

Free trial: 10 days; no credit card required

Benefits of using project management software

Choosing the right project management software can provide the following benefits to your business:

• Improved collaboration: Project management software allows your team to better collaborate and communicate. When one team member completes a task and needs to hand it off to the next person in the workflow, they simply update the record in your project management system and the stakeholders who need to take action can be notified. This tightens coordination between team members, even if they’re not located in the same place.
• Boosted productivity: When everything is housed in one place, team members can see all their tasks in front of them and better plan their work. They can also easily follow up with others when they’re waiting on action before they can move forward. The result is improved productivity and less confusion.
• Improved task management: Housing all tasks in a project management app makes it easy to see who is assigned which task and what the current status is. This makes it easier for managers to ensure every team member is staying on top of the tasks assigned to them. If anyone starts falling behind, managers can step in to offer additional support or help them reprioritize their agenda.
• Detailed performance management: Project management apps provide an auditable archive that can be reviewed during performance reviews. Managers can look at an employee’s track record by accessing the project management app and seeing their entire workload and how they’ve progressed over time.
• Clear expectations: Using a project management app puts in no uncertain terms what a team lead’s expectations are for their employees. A project management app displays who owns what task and the target deadline. When expectations are clear, teams can function more smoothly.

Project management apps boost team efficiency

If you’re finding tasks are falling through the cracks or team members are confused about their responsibilities, it could be time for a project management app. These platforms serve to organize individual tasks and larger projects, making it easy for the whole team to stay on the same page and drive progress. As your business grows, project management apps become essential to staying organized, on task, and meeting deadlines. The recommended platforms above can get the job done. 

Tejas Vemparala contributed to this article.