Find the best project management software

Answer 8 simple questions and get a list of tools that will fit all your needs and requirements. Note: you may see no results if you consider only free tools as their functionality is limited. In this case, try taking the quiz again. If you have any questions, please, contact us via marketing ganttpro. This site uses technical cookies and allows the sending of 'third-party' cookies. Project portfolio management software gives companies an interface to run several projects within one or more portfolios.

The project managers and stakeholders can then take a high level view of project progress, quickly identify bottlenecks, and drill down into problem areas with each project. These tools are also instrumental in team resource allocation and expense tracking across a number of project timelines, as they can show where slack can be taken up by other individuals.

A key feature of project portfolio management software is its ability to scale. These tools can manage unlimited projects with their own separate settings and workflows, but have reporting tools that are powerful enough to give a top-level view.

Microsoft Project, Jira, and Wrike all provide project portfolio management features. Also read: Microsoft Project Software Review. Mobile access via native project management apps helps all types of teams, and are especially useful for distributed or remote teams. It provides a familiar interface and functionality so users can catch up on work, track progress, and message their teammates easily while on the go.

The best project management tools have a solid core of PM features that allow users to manage an entire project effectively. It also has multiple integrations directly or via APIs for features and data sources outside of the project management tool. A flexible solution can readily integrate with many popular apps and services in use by companies today such as G Suite, Microsoft , Salesforce, or Dropbox.

Zoho Projects , Wrike , Asana , and many other project management vendors offer a lot of integrations to connect to many other business software types. When used for external clients, project management software will help teams with additional features such as white labeling, custom branding, or customization settings.

These features often appeal to sales and marketing agencies and global or multinational corporations who want to adapt their tool to meet language and cultural requirements. Project management software has reporting functionality included—but to varying degrees. Another feature to consider is the ability to export project data to a third-party business intelligence tool if your company has one or is planning to have one.

Helpful reporting features might track progress by due date or task type, update stakeholders on resource allocation, give a list of unfinished tasks, use tags to filter data, and estimate on-time delivery.

A PM software with scheduling functionality promotes organization in large, multiple, and remote teams. It allows the user to set schedules on tasks, create a project timeline with milestones, and determine dependencies and resources. For some, this is an essential project management function. However, for organizations with simple projects, short-duration projects, recurring tasks, or small teams, this may not be as important. Time management features in a project management app let team members track how much time they spend on independent tasks, let project managers set ideal time goals for the project, and integrate with a timesheet or payroll app.

Teams with long-term projects or that regularly employ contractors may find these tools especially useful. In software options built for large teams or industries with contractors, these features may also be called resource management and include expense tracking features. Microsoft Project offers resource management tools in their Project Plan 3 and Project Plan 5 pricing tiers.

A Project Management Office PMO is a department within an organization that standardizes and documents project management techniques. The PMO sets the scope for projects, trains staff, and tracks the metrics for all processes. Small businesses relying on spreadsheets or whiteboards miss an opportunity to manage their projects more efficiently.

They can enjoy the advantages of a modern solution and still stay within budget with careful planning and mindful selection of important items while purchasing an affordable PM solution. While it may be helpful for everyone on the team to have access to a project management tool, many options base price on user seats.

Companies can identify the essential personnel who need paid access and those who can collaborate for free through other channels such as email or integration. Smaller organizations can easily bring the rest of the team up-to-date through reports that are generated without costs.

While every company wants to save money on their software, free and low-priced options are especially attractive to small businesses who run on a shoestring budget. Affordable plans have limitations on the number of access or features, so it is important to plan for growth or expansion. Open source project management can provide a free or low-cost option, but these tools often do not provide the technical support or frequent updates that free or inexpensive SaaS tools cover.

Task and project visualizations help teams see the progress of multiple projects running at the same time. These tools can assist in managing the progress of the initiative, but they can also be useful for project planning by giving a visual mind map of the project timeline.

After all, you hold the money and own the goals and milestones. By getting consistently involved in it through the software solution, you can achieve significant cost cuttings and faster goal achievements. The consultant is an individual expert or a group of people who bring their extensive skills and experience. They advise supervisors and clients on efficient practices and approaches that promote compliance while reducing costs.

Consultants participate in all the phases of planning and implementation, and as such, they require applications for communication and visibility.

Using software solutions, these experts can improve planning and execution processes via timely reviews and feedback. A consultant's daily assignments involve managing budgets and relationships to reach organizational objectives.

They play a direct or advisory role in planning, creating, and executing schedules for the timely completion of assignments. All these roles require the use of a reliable application. With that in mind, the right project scheduling software would be very useful here. The right project management software for a small business can be very valuable.

You should use such a software solution to easily stay on budget and on schedule. At the same time, you can keep control of your project and establish accountability for all tasks involved. Your software solution may not scale up efficiently from a small business to a large enterprise. However, software that is specifically designed with project management for an enterprise in mind exists. This kind of software solution is more efficient when used to support a large number of teams.

Project management in the public sector can be challenging. That is because public organizations have to deal with different stakeholders from different departments. Consequently, each of them imposes a new set of conditions and limitations. There are many software solutions out there that can help you deal with situations like that. Here you can see the most popular types of project management software paid licenses.

There are also options for project management software with free license or open source project management software , but generally, they are not as powerful or as often updated as these.

A use time license defines the time you have access to the software solution. The time is metered to a certain point, after which you will no longer have access to the management program. You will be prompted to buy another use time license or upgrade to an unlimited software license. Most software solutions will notify you to renew the license in advance before it expires. Use time license is closely related to consumption-based licensing.

This is a type of metered licensing where you only pay for the actual usage of the software. A software solution may have a perpetual license. In other words, you can buy the solution once and use it forever. Under this license, once you buy the solution, you can use it as you desire without incurring any further charges from the owner.

Nevertheless, you might have to pay for upgrades, fixes, and patches in the course of ownership. For SMBs that want to reduce costs, the perpetual licensing model is the most common approach for implementing software solutions and other business applications. However, software sellers are moving from this to cloud models that bill usage based on time and consumption rate.

The feature license limits your usage based on the specific capabilities of the software solution. In feature licensing, the software vendor controls pricing with features; users pay a higher fee to access more and advanced capabilities.

A feature license model is, in fact, a type of metered license. It can be a cost-saving alternative to the other types of licensing. Businesses get to choose and pay for capabilities that are relevant to their processes and workflows. You can find and use free project management software with relative ease. Although this is something that can help you if you are just starting out, you will most likely need to upgrade sooner or later. A free trial on project management software is usually offered on all of these options in order to help the customer make a more informed software purchase decision.

Consumption-based pricing is similar to SaaS cloud delivery models. You pay for the usage level of the software which can be calculated based on the number of days you use the solution or the number of users you support. Typically, under this pricing model, the software vendor will provide a tiered subscription package. You can choose a package with fewer software capabilities at a lower cost or one with more capabilities and instant support at a higher price.

This can also include freemium project management software. You can get a subscription to project management software on a monthly or yearly basis for a specified number of users. Usually, vendors offer great discounts for long-time subscriptions.

That is something you can use for cost reductions if your project has a long-life cycle. One-time purchase project management software has all its features activated from the very beginning, and you can keep using it indefinitely. Access to the calendar, timesheets, and contact lists can enhance productivity in various ways. Team leaders can easily update assignment schedules, schedule meetings, and track performance with timesheets.

In addition, contact lists speed up issue resolution since groups can talk to each other with assured speed and availability. Effective time managing and tracking lead to improved planning , accurate resource allocation, and improved precision.

Therefore, when choosing the ideal software solution, consider capabilities such as calendars, timesheets, and other tracking software to improve development. Uncertain conditions might have powerful negative effects. From the start to the end, there is a chance of unforeseen situations emerging, having a big powerful impact on cost and timelines.

In that case, the supervisors must enhance their risk management efficiency to minimize setbacks. Therefore, consider choosing a software solution with well-designed risk management capabilities. Resource allocation and planning help groups divert resources to where they are needed for performance efficiency.

So, it would be helpful to use software that offers resource management functions and capabilities. It is convenient to use a software solution that can help you track, plan, and calculate expenditures and efficiently distribute employees. Your groups can work faster and accurately if the software solution seamlessly shares information with your existing business apps.

A solution designed for third-party integrations enhances business processes across all departments. When finding the ideal software solution, consider a solution that supports integration with word processing apps, your blog, OneDrive, Dropbox, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Trello, and Google Drive.

It's recommendable that when buying a software solution, one should check and see what business applications the software can connect with. Compatibility with a long list of apps is an indicator of improved usability when you implement the software solution.

A single project can have multiple assignments that are further broken down into subtasks. Therefore, the most efficient software solution should allow you to create and distribute assignments and update them with agility throughout the entire course. The increased visualization of functions and performance is integral for improved resource distribution and meeting client deadlines.

Visibility leads to improved decision-making. Supervisors and team members can track assignment statuses through all the stages. Moreover, the groups can manage assignments and elevate efficiency on execution. For all these functionalities, consider a solution that features control panels for effective task management.

Sales groups may not have to be looped into HR assignments and reports, but the business manager will have to see all of them. Is it possible then for the solution you have in mind to enable users to customize functions to their assignments? With the right solution, IT groups should have the flexibility to turn off messages and alerts from commercial teams, for instance, for a smoother and distraction-free experience.

Also, the right software solution should cater to all the work styles of your team. Customization functions can help your groups work effectively without feeling like they are struggling.

Collaboration is essential. Thus your system should enable you and your groups to collaborate on everything you work on.

Therefore, the right software should facilitate a smoother sharing of attachments, information, digital cards, job status, timelines, and assignments. Even better, an increasing number of these types of software now offer chat and interaction capabilities that can keep everyone on the same page. In addition to looking at collaboration capabilities, consider the solution's mobility. The modern manager is always on the go, in client meetings, or running sourcing errands. With the right solution, you should be able to do everything via the phone, everything that you can do on a laptop or desktop.

You can find countless solutions in an online software solution directory. These can be apps with many bells and whistles, from a user-friendly environment and collaboration capabilities to diverse analysis functionalities.

That's okay, but it can still be challenging to understand which option will work best for your company. Your answers might help you decide on the fitting capabilities and functionalities you desire in your software. If you are in the market for the ideal project management solution, consider the following:. Software integrations allow interaction with other business software. Thus, they help ensure that each element is properly coordinated.

A manager can also keep track of everything and everybody involved with confidence by using these integrations. The right software should be customizable to your needs. In addition, it should complement your management style. This means you should be able to configure the software to adapt to your unique roles. Then, the contractors can access information that is important to them. The right solution should also streamline workflows with team management elements.

Consequently, it should make it easy to allocate assignments and keep every team member updated on processes and procedures.

Then again, given the rising trend of distributed teams and remote working, your software must be optimized for mobile. A project management mobile app will help your teams work and receive instant updates on the go without hiccups.

Other factors that make an excellent software solution can be ease of use on-site or in the office. Both employees and clients should be able to pull reports and create and share attachments easily. Top software solutions enable all the above in a secure and well-encrypted environment. That environment keeps all information and files safe from intruders. Be sure to follow this link for a list of the best project management software tools with reviews and comparisons between them.

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Sign In with LinkedIn. Already have an account? Login here. All Listings Buyer's Guide. Monday Monday is the Work OS that powers teams to run processes, projects, and everyday work their way.

Visit Website Compare. Teamwork Teamwork is the all-in-one project management software that allows you to easily manage your projects from start to finish.

Slack Slack is where work happens. All your important information is stored in one central place. ProofHub offers a replacement for conventional emailing and many other tools, integrating multiple project management features under one roof. Basecamp is the preferred tool for thousands of project management teams, who enjoy its modern social media-like interface and carefree team collaboration features. Read on: Basecamp Alternative for Project Management.

Asana combines elements of project management, file storage, and collaboration and helps to manage projects across a team without email. Podio is a flexible and highly customizable online hub for work and team communication. For example, instruct your app to create a task or comment. Workzone was built by experienced ad executives who wanted to help agencies and creative teams get visibility into all of their work. JIRA is a cross-platform issue and bug tracking software with advanced project management capabilities and features.

Notion will give you a completely different take on project management. It helps plan and discuss projects, share everything with the team, and keep track of all the ideas. Check out this Trello alternative! ActiveCollab is a project management software helping your team stay organized while you outgrow email.

Redmine is an open-source project management tool, made highly flexible by its volunteer community. Zoho Projects is one of the best-known tools for simple project management that can help teams streamline their upcoming work and tasks. Check out the best Zoho Alternatives for business management!

WorkBook lets you choose exactly the modules that suit your needs and only pay for what you use. FunctionFox has many helpful project management features, such as milestone tracking and budget comparison. It also has a friendly user interface, making it pleasant to use. Nutcache is an all-in-one project management tool that includes time tracking and invoicing features. It was built for small teams that bill their clients on a project basis. Cage is all about improving the way creative teams collaborate and work.

It helps your team to manage projects and have active discussions. You can plan projects and organize video calls by using this one PM tool. Paymo offers a simple yet powerful tool bringing together project management, work reporting, and time billing.