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Completing a project is hard work with any size of team. Add in remote workers, hard deadlines, and critical status updates and the weekly office meeting just got more complicated.
A project management app can help you automate processes, encourage collaboration, and meet sales goals, but finding one that fits your business can be overwhelming. With a sea of options, diverse pricing structures, and multiple people to onboard, researching the best project management apps is critical for success.
A project management app should encompass all of your employees’ tasks, due dates, priorities and status updates. It should improve overall communication, collaboration and the ability to meet deadlines.
Ideally, the project management app will allow 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.
All of the project management apps below include a free trial, offer responsive customer service, and can scale to meet your current and future business needs.
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.
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.
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.
Basic plan: Free
Premium plan: $13.49 per user per month ($10.99 per month if billed annually)
Business plan: $30.49 per user per month ($24.99 per month billed annually)
Enterprise plan: Contact Asana for pricing.
Free trial: 30 days (Premium and Business)
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.
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.
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 the work hours of 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (CST), Monday to Friday. However, users have reported speedy responses outside of normal work hours too.
Basecamp Personal: Free
Basecamp Business: $99 per month
Free trial (Basecamp Business): 30 days; no credit card required, anytime cancellation
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.
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.
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.
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.
Individual: Free
Basic: $8 per seat per month
Standard: $10 per seat per month
Pro: $16 per seat per month
Enterprise: Contact monday.com for pricing.
Free trial: 14 days (Pro plan)
Smartsheet provides web-based collaboration tools to streamline your projects. It offers quicker onboarding than rival Wrike. Automation and resource management tools help balance allocations and prevent pinch points.
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.
Individual:
Business:
Enterprise:
Premier:
Individual: $14 per month (when billed annually)
Business: $25 per user per month (when billed annually; minimum of three licenses)
Enterprise: Contact Smartsheet for pricing.
Premier: Contact Smartsheet for pricing.
Free trial: 30 days; instant access, no credit card required
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.
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.
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.
Free: $0 per month
Business Class: $10 per user per month if billed annually ($12.50 if billed monthly)
Enterprise: Contact Trello for pricing.
Free trial: 14 days; no credit card required
Workfront features enterprise work management, time tracking and portfolio management. It was founded in 2001 (formerly AtTask). In December 2020, Workfront was acquired by Adobe Inc.
Workfront helps you automate workflows and customize forms and reports. The platform can be configured for any size of team in any industry. You can streamline projects and collaborate with your team whether you are in the same office or spread out across the globe. Workfront also provides top-in-class compliance, data privacy, and information security.
Workfront integrations are accessible in three ways: It offers built-in integrations, and you can access more integrations through Workfront API and/or Workfront Fusion 2.0.
Built-in integrations include Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, Salesforce, Slack and Zoom. Workfront API can be used by a development team, whereas Workfront Fusion 2.0 can be used by non-developers to create custom integrations without advanced technical knowledge.
Workfront provides documentation on its website to answer common questions, including e-books, training, videos and webinars. You can contact Workfront directly by phone, email or 24/7 live chat support.
Workfront’s pricing is personalized for each client. It charges a yearly fee based on the type of license and the plan you choose – Team, Pro, Business or Enterprise.
Free trial: Available upon request
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.
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.
Free Wrike account:
Standard (paid and trial Wrike account):
Premium (paid Wrike account with purchase of premium support):
Free: $0 per month
Professional: $9.80 per user per month (billed annually)
Business: $24.80 per user per month (billed annually)
Enterprise: Contact Wrike for pricing.
Add-on services:
Free trial: 14 days; call to set up.
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.
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.
Zoho customer service is available in both classic (free) and premium (paid) support options. If you have the free version of Zoho, you can utilize its knowledgebase, how-to videos and email support.
If you are on a paid monthly plan, you may call during business hours (9 a.m. to 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.
Free: $0
Premium: $5 per user per month ($4 if billed annually)
Enterprise: $9 per user per month ($10 if billed annually)
Free trial: 10 days; no credit card required