独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

Top 12 Project Management Tools Tested and Reviewed in 2021

This excerpt is part of an extensive review of project management tools. You can read the full article on Paymo’s blog:

Project management tools and software have come a long way in the last few years. I thought it was about time for a detailed review of the modern tools designed to support how teams work today.

I scoured the market to come up with the top tools used in project management. These products scale with you, let your team manage their projects the way they want and have a user experience that isn’t — well — horrible.

Most of the tools that made this list are more suited for small and medium businesses, and there are trade-offs here and there.

You’ll save hours of research by reading this guide, as I’ve already tested and compared all of these online project management tools for you. My colleague, Alexa, peer-reviewed this article and updated the screenshots.

Before you read on, put together a list of your top needs. Then go through all of the available options to pick your top 3 to run for a trial based on your requirements, budget, team type, and pain points you want to solve.

Remember that I only focused my research on tools with complete project management features. I left aside software used solely for time tracking, task management, human resources, file management, or accounting. Sometimes these market themselves as project management software but are not sufficient when compared to established pm tools.

I have conducted an in-depth review of the most used project management tools and software. Here’s my pick of the top 12 best project management tools. These are the first options you should consider due to their winning combo of features, usability, and reliability, along with good reviews from their users.

If you are worried that your employees or team members are wasting too much time doing specific tasks, if the project is getting delayed repeatedly, or you feel that you could do the whole project much faster, then Paymo is the right project management tool for you.

Paymo has something that many other pm tools lack, namely time tracking integrated into its core project management functionality. Time tracking is a native feature, which means smoother communication between modules. On top of that, you don’t have to spend extra dollars on dedicated time-tracking solutions.

This integration is critical in managing work and projects because you see exactly where time is spent at the end of the day. You will have a clear overall picture and be able to adjust tasks and priorities accordingly.

For example, by looking at where time is spent on your project, you may find that John is spending too much time on simple tasks. You can delegate the task to another team member or assign more people to work on it. This way, you can address problems as they occur and avoid ending up in bottlenecks where everybody starts blaming others (you know what I mean, right?) Then you can chat with him about the snag and take action before it’s too late.

Paymo is a work and project management tool best used by project managers who have issues with tracking time spent on tasks. Unlike many other popular pm tools like Asana, Basecamp, or Monday.com, Paymo has put a lot of time and effort into making time tracking as straightforward as possible.

Paymo even went so far as to develop a fully automated time tracking method, where you don’t have to do too much to track the time. Time tracking can be initiated from many places, as seen in the pictures below.

Knowing exactly how much money you make at the end of the day is the goal of any business. Although this is also missing from other pm software, a profitability feature would make Paymo even more helpful. At the moment, the only way to do this is to calculate the profit separately, but Paymo is currently making strides to launch a profitability feature in the near future.

What I would also like to see implemented is a more useful dashboard and the ability to import data from other systems. The app gets better the more you use it, so it’s a shame that people who come from other software don’t have an easy way to bring their data too.

Fourteen years ago, Paymo started as a time tracking and invoicing tool for freelancers. In time, Paymo evolved into a full-fledged work management software since more and more features have been added.

It allows small businesses to manage projects and tasks, create work schedules, invite collaborators into Paymo, or use the mobile app for complete project management solutions. As for product updates, both its mobile app and software get updated frequently.

With Monday everything is visual and colorful to make using the app more fun on a day-to-day basis. It was made for users who enjoy using a flat task structure, or as the guys from monday.com call it, “an intuitive, flat way to organize information.” By comparison, most online project management tools rely on a hierarchy that could be more difficult to navigate for certain teams and certain project types.

If color makes a big difference in managing tasks and priorities, you should consider giving Monday a try. But before you try it, you should know that even though the use of colors is among the most praised features, it’s also among the most criticized — some really like it, some people don’t. Check out the picture below for a glance over the interface. Make sure you are in the group of people who like it, at least before you pay.

Also, for those who’d rather use Monday.com in your native language, this project management tool is available in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hebrew, German, Chinese, Italian, Russian, and Dutch. If you’re looking for an alternative in your mother tongue, Paymo is also available in 20+ most common languages.

One of the frequent complaints users have is related to notifications. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by notifications if you have a larger team, but imagine getting unnecessary notifications even if you are not assigned to those tasks or projects. Make sure you are ok with it before you commit to it for the long term.

After checking hundreds of user reviews, the second most frequent complaint I noticed is how confusing or overwhelming it may be for new users. Even the best project management tools have this problem but to varying degrees. When compared to other project management software, Monday.com receives most of the complaints that it’s pretty complex, lacks tutorials, and it’s hard to pick up without training.

If you are one of those people that find it hard to understand new systems without step-by-step guidance, then maybe . . .

It is one of the most popular online project management tools that are complex and balanced, providing a bit of everything. It’s a good option for creative teams who are looking for varied functionalities and working with collaborators. Their top feature remains Wrike Proof, in which designers can offer visual feedback through multiple review cycles and even invite external reviewers.

A good example of how Wrike is better than its competitors would be in the case of a design agency. That’s if you have to communicate with many clients and get constant feedback, but you don’t want to train each one in the use of a complex and bloated project management tool. The Wrike Proof is the best thing for you. Like in the picture below, with just a few clicks, you can invite a guest reviewer, decide on what s/he is allowed to do, and set an access expiration date.

Guests can easily highlight exactly what they want to be changed, and over time you can compare the original with the updated versions. But this is nothing new in the industry, even among top project management tools. Other software — like Paymo or ActiveCollab — have proofing capabilities. Just that Wrike’s is more robust if you compare it with others. But before you decide on giving Wrike a try, let’s cover some of the parts about which users complain the most.

Looking also to get paid? Not with Wrike. You need to know that there are no financial indicators, invoicing, budgeting, or billing features, so Wrike can only help you take your project to delivery but not beyond it.

Pricing is another serious cause of concern. A lot of users complain about it being expensive, and about the fact you have to purchase at least 5 licenses (or seats). When you check their pricing page you see the price is $9.80/user/month. But this is very misleading because you have to pay for a minimum of 5 users. So this should be written as a minimum of 49 USD/month.

Even worse, if you want to buy it for 6 users/month you have to actually pay for 10 users. Their plans go in increments of 5 or 10. Why is this enforced, you ask me? Because they are really expensive, they just don’t want you to know upfront.

Two things set Basecamp apart from its competitors. First, there are the improved communication features, and second, the simplicity and ease of use. Because of these two aspects, Basecamp is one of the most popular project management tools that are better suited for teams and not managers. This is pretty rare because, for other tools like Monday or Wrike, one of the frequent complaints concerns the chat and team communication.

This is where Basecamp fills in the gap. With Basecamp, missing out on a piece of information or deadline is nearly impossible with features such as comments on all files and tasks, the Campfire chat room for non-work topics, message boards for announcements, and automatic check-ins to replace your daily scrums.

One of the most important complaints is that the product feels abandoned. Some users say that they have not seen any updates in over a year. This, summed up with the fact that the design looks a bit obsolete, gives the feeling that it does not belong to the present day.

Now let’s get back to the lack of features, and try to grasp the magnitude of the problem by looking at a real example of a user complaining:

“It seems like Basecamp may have been a good tool in its current state about ten years ago. However, since every company developing software already uses some form of git, the features of GitHub, GitLab, etc., and they have almost all the features as Basecamp, there’s no reason to use Basecamp. Your Git platform of choice + Slack is going to have more features, and odds are you’re already using them.”

Plus, many users ask for time tracking features, which are available only with integrations (many complaints voice how they are poorly done), a resource scheduler, invoicing, and budgeting. If time tracking and invoicing are crucial for your business, you should consider Paymo as an alternative. Basecamp also has limited reporting, which might be to the detriment of most companies.

This project management platform can take your team through each step of the project management process. Still, it lacks specialized features that could compete with others like file versioning, proofing, issue tracker, or even a CRM option. Also, if you require a work management tool to integrate with your current tech stack, keep in mind there aren’t that many alternatives to ActiveCollab.

ActiveCollab used to have a very outdated look, but they’ve recently updated their interface, which was dragging them down compared to their competition. This makes it much more enjoyable to use for regular users and a decent choice for project managers.

While missing project portfolios can keep larger teams from accurately looking at all projects, ActiveCollab has strong task management features complete with Kanban boards and Gantt Charts. You might already be accustomed to using these since they have a similar setup to the views in other top project management tools, like Paymo.

Since I recently tested many project management tools, I am now bombarded with aggressive ads on Youtube and whatever websites I navigate. I saw a lot of ads for Monday, ClickUp, Wrike, but not for ActiveCollab. It looks like their lack of popularity is because they don’t invest a lot in advertising. So, I won’t count this as a drawback or weakness. However, we have to rely on way fewer reviews to get a good overall opinion.

There is one important thing I found out about their pricing system. Compared to other tools like Wrike, it is not so bad, but it’s still a major problem — it has hidden fees. Yes, it’s sad that this is still a practice, but it’s real.

When you load the pricing page, you see $7.5 for the Plus plan meant “For smaller teams that need a platform for collaboration and managing projects. Limited to the three seats included in the plan. Get started”. A pretty good deal for a small team; “let’s do it!” you might think.

But when you end up using it, you find out that a boatload of features is not included in this plan. No expense tracking, no time reporting, no invoicing, no budgeting, and no cost tracking. What? Why didn’t they mention this at the beginning? They mentioned “seats” and “let’s start”. Nothing about minimal functionality — and now you have to pay $3 extra for invoicing. How is this affordable?

This tactic significantly chips away at ActiveCollab being one of the cheapest options on the project management tools market. It’s clearly not. I wanted you to know this from the beginning and avoid falling for this kind of trap. OK, so let’s cover a few more drawbacks when compared to other similar tools.

It is another one of the all-in-one project management tools that come with all features a team would appreciate. This, however, paired with a not-so-friendly interface, makes it an unwise choice for smaller teams looking for a tool that’s fun to use, not just chock-full of functionalities.

Add in one of the most expensive pricing options available in the industry, and you’re facing a tool that’s probably more suited for huge companies and enterprises. Zoho Projects comes at about $10 per user/month, which is for the standalone product. But Zoho comes in bundles, meaning you’ll have to pay $2–3 for every extra product, plus $3 for every client user you bring on.

Even so, you’ll still have to weigh the pros and cons as the portfolio management features are weak compared to other functionalities such as the resource utilization chart and Gantt Chart view.

Although packed with all features you might need, Zoho is pretty expensive and difficult to use. Its complexity makes it a better option when you need to ensure you’ve got all features in your stack. So why does a seemingly complete tool have slightly lower reviews than its competitors? It’s simply time-consuming.

Let’s just set this straight — Zoho Projects is not the most intuitive project management tool out there, and you’ll definitely need to go through all the learning materials beforehand. You’ll have to click on tasks and edit a bunch to change something, and the shortcuts are limited too. There is little to no automation and there are no templates available.

A group of people complain about the Zoho Projects interface being too “stale” and even asking for rebranding for a more eye-catching look. If the design and feel of the app are vital for you, then Monday.com would be a better pick owing to its visual and colorful interface.

There’s another downside to high complexity and numerous features, namely the slow load time. Precisely like in Basecamp’s case, people are complaining about the slow loading time. It’s practically inevitable — if you have more stuff to load, it will take more time. Keep this in mind when choosing a project management tool because if you don’t use most of the features, you will waste a lot of time waiting for them to load each time you use the app, similar to Monday.com.

It is the cheaper version of Basecamp [they built it as a free alternative] if you’re looking for a low-cost project management tool that relies heavily on collaboration. The Pro plan is cheaper than a cup of coffee, $2.50/user/month, and even cheaper when paying for the annual subscription. However, their most popular choice — their Business plan — starts at $8.99/user/month.

If you’re looking for a tool with solid communication features, like Basecamp, but want additional functionalities like time tracking or invoicing, try Freedcamp. This project management software was first created as a free alternative to Basecamp. Their pricing plans are much on the lower end so that anyone can afford its features.

The biggest issue with Freedcamp is that there’s no onboarding process to take you through the app or present the workspace’s elements. Your only choice is to turn to their knowledge base, YouTube channel, or customer support to save some time.

However, this project setup process is straightforward and will help you start work without an entirely blank canvas. No ready-made project templates, though, but you can import data from an XLS file.

The second most crucial issue is related to their mobile app. It’s simple. So simple, you can’t even order tasks. If using a mobile app is vital for your type of business, you are better off using another project management tool. But most project management solutions in the industry have issues with their mobile apps. However, Monday.com and Wrike seem to be the ones with the lowest number of complaints.

The tool is also not the most visually appealing when compared to its competitors. Some users don’t specifically like the dashboard, but they stick with it because of the low price. If you need something that looks good, then Monday would be a better alternative.

Some people also complain about the lack of features available in other tools used in project management, but let’s be realistic — the price point is somewhat connected to the sheer number of features. It would be ideal to be the cheapest and also the one with the most features. Feature development requires a lot of work, and the more complicated a tool gets, the more work has to be put in to fix all the problems that might appear.

Need a fun interface complete with unicorns? You’re likely to get accustomed to the interface from the very first minutes of using Asana. Its workspace is among the most used, as it is easy to get accustomed to by all kinds of team members, from creatives to analytical types.

Asana is a common choice for small teams and creatives looking for a colorful and fun interface — yes, they have unicorns (I know I mentioned that already). Out of all the best project management tools, this tool is better suited for non-complex projects that need to unite tasks, conversations, and files bundled up in one workspace.

However, on review websites, I noticed Asana users complaining that it’s missing basic task management features like multiple assignees per task. Having the ability to add a collaborator or a stakeholder from another department who needs to sign off or help in some way would clearly be beneficial.

Another major and frequent complaint about Asana is the pricing system. The pricing is hugely deceptive. This reminds me of Wrike’s pricing scheme. You have to purchase a bundle of seats (in increments of 10) when you need to expand. You can’t add them one by one as your team grows. And you guessed it — they don’t make this clear before you pay. They let you invest time and energy, and then it will be way harder to say no. Here is the summarized story of a user complaint:

“We worked with an account rep before signing a 2-year contract for Asana Business. We told the account rep that we needed 60 users, but we might need to add more in the future. A month later, when we went to add five more users, she said, “No, sorry, you can only add in blocks of 10 users.” . . . When it takes a few clicks and less than 30 seconds to add a new user to a software program, there’s no logical reason why Asana would force you to add users in blocks of 10 — or they told us the blocks increase to 25 users once you get beyond 100 total users! It’s downright deceptive that they don’t disclose this during the sales process or anywhere on the contract or pricing page.”

This is similar to what Wrike does, and, sadly, this is still happening. If you still decide on using them despite all these issues, make sure you do it first for a shorter period, and only after you have tested it thoroughly decide to use it for the long term. And keep an eye on price because it can easily reach crazy numbers.

It offers a balanced mix of project management and CRM capabilities that, although not easy to use, can help you manage all of the business aspects you need to monitor regularly.

The pm tool differentiates itself from other user-friendly project management tools by providing a complete CRM system. Its strong points rely on the multitude of apps you can add to your workspace, from contacts and leads to content planners, staff meetings, events, appointments, design approval, expenses, etc. Even a bunch of apps to help lawyers with settlements and incidents. You name it; they’ve got it. So if you’re looking for an easy-to-use, fun, and user-friendly option, Podio is not the right platform to consider.

While Podio is not exactly the most fun tool you can use, it is certainly not suited for a designer or a more creative person. It’s safe to say it’s not one of the project managing tools employees will enjoy using daily. It’s not even a project management platform as it is a CRM solution that’s better suited for teams who juggle multiple clients — we’re talking hundreds — and databases.

This project management tool provides endless customization opportunities in terms of functionality. At the same time, it seriously lacks when it comes to the colorful personalization options that other tools like Asana or Monday have. Many users complain that the application doesn’t have themes; you can’t change the colors or do much “fun” stuff. Honestly, it’s considered an ugly interface by many users.

However, Podio is currently developing a new look that will be released sometime in the future. Granted, this might not even be a major problem for you, so we’ll proceed to other issues.

In general, the more customization cloud-based project management tools have, the steeper their learning curve. Podio has a lot of customization features, and at the same time, many users complain about how hard it is to use and understand. Especially for newcomers.

If you think you have the skills to handle it, the next issue would be the loading time. The more complex a system is, the longer its loading time. You can create something that matches all your needs, but you should not expect it to load as quickly as the simple interfaces that most people use. If none of these problems are of particular concern to you, and you want that customization goodness, then you should go for it.

Excel fans and experts, rejoice! Smartsheet is a tool for enterprises and large organizations, but that doesn’t mean small or medium businesses can’t use it. It even comes with its own formulas — as you might already know if you’re an avid spreadsheet user. Their top feature remains the automated workflows that save time you’d otherwise spend doing everything manually.

It’s a good solution for large organizations looking to easily connect their ERP or CRM data to their projects through simple imports. So if you need a tool where you can see all tasks, details, and even a Gantt Chart in one single screen, Smartsheet could be an option for you but be prepared to do some training beforehand.

Smartsheet helps connect your ERP or CRM data to new projects, acting in many ways like a spreadsheet — hence its name — or database complete with Excel-like formulas. Since this tool is table-based, you can import new data from a spreadsheet, Microsoft Project project, or Trello board.

I’ll be honest and tell you that Smartsheet is probably one of the most challenging tools on this list to get accustomed to using, especially if you’re not a spreadsheet user. The word ‘expert’ is not an overstatement. In Smartsheet, instead of projects, you’ve got sheets. I highly recommend you get this project tracking template (or a similar one) before you get started to lower the time you’d spend on setting everything up. UI-wise, I’d place Smartsheet above Zoho but slightly below Airtable, which brings in a pop of color to your tables.

For these reasons, Smartsheet remains a tool for larger organizations that will probably only come in handy for managers who handle multiple databases (similar to Airtable) and even collect data through custom Smartsheet forms. Stakeholder communication is made easy through various sharing options, even when sending access to someone outside your organization.

The resource management feature is quite decent (and similar to MS Project if you ask me), allowing managers to see over and under-allocated team members, of course, all from a spreadsheet. All allocations can be adjusted from the same table.

Are you a spreadsheet lover who can’t imagine doing project management without a table? Airtable might just be right for you. This app is very different from other online project management tools. Instead of task lists, you’ve got advanced databases where you can connect tables, drag-and-drop files, filter them to your liking, collaborate on items, and so much more. The best part? You can embed all this on your website or blog post if you want to share the data.

If you can’t work without tables and spreadsheets, Airtable could be the right choice for your projects, allowing you to create advanced databases that you can share publicly. I can safely say they have the most templates available among all the cloud project management software — they send you emails to remind you of their templates.

Be warned, though, team members who strongly dislike spreadsheets will have difficulty using this tool. The search function used to fall short — you had to remember where a file or task was because you could only search for workspaces or bases. They just released advanced filters, so we’ll have to see how that pans out.

If you need to do reporting, bear in mind this feature is limited to creating charts via their beta Blocks. This offers a set of extra functionalities users can add to their database like a time tracker, map, 3D model explorer, video chat, countdown timer, and others.

There is a definite learning curve to Airtable since it’s different from standard spreadsheet products like Excel. In some ways, it’s similar to Smartsheet; it has a lot of versatility and many ways to view the same data, which, while helpful, is easy to get lost in.

Getting new team members to use it will take a long time, and there is often serious pushback in getting them to use it. It’s better to commit just for a short period, especially if you don’t know your team well enough.

It’s basically a business operating system integrated to drive efficiency. This tool works for all kinds of users, from small and medium teams to enterprises. There are also specific needs that Teamwork caters to through their risk register and file versioning options.

Teamwork is the kind of complex software that won’t be easy to start with. It’s like a sophisticated board game with tons of rules that require a lot of time to learn. But if you manage to get past this — it will take a while, though — the software becomes pretty intuitive to use. If you need everything in one place and are not scared by complexity, then Teamwork would be a good thing to try.

There are a few things worth mentioning that facilitate and improve the overall experience with this product. You can organize projects into folders and add files directly to projects, ensuring that everything related to a project is kept in the same place. There’s file versioning, multi-user assignment for tasks, copy projects feature, bulk edit, and a trash can, which is handy if you’ve deleted something by mistake.

In my experience, with every tool, there’s a trade-off. Teamwork doesn’t have a lot of room for personalization. You get exactly what you see. If you want the interface to look in a specific way, you would be better with other tools like Podio, Airtable, or Smartsheet.

Another consequence that comes out of complexity is that the system is glitchy. Users are complaining about frequent glitches, login problems, or downtime. But there’s not much you can do about this; developers are probably working constantly to fix the issues. If you need a complex system, you just have to get used to this downside. ActiveCollab is built on the same idea — to include as many features as possible — but it has similar problems dealing with glitches. If you want something with fewer problems like these, try Asana — but you will miss some features.

Some users complain about the graphic interface, saying it’s not among the best looking and that the minimalist icons make it harder for users to see if the task is completed. If looks are essential for you, Monday would be a better alternative — but again, you will miss some features.

The process of choosing the best project management tool for you and your team is not a simple one. There are many factors you have to take into consideration: budget, business needs, team needs, ease of use, adoption time frame, integrations with current software, implementation, etc.

Before researching which one of the project managing tools is right for you, think about your needs. Ideally, the final choice should be made by a team member who’s already familiar with the company and all its projects so they’ll be able to spot growth possibilities or issues that need to be addressed.

If this is not possible, just hold a couple of feedback sessions with your team to gather their input and find out the ‘musts’ and ‘nice-to-haves.’ This way, you’re not making a mistake that so many managers have already made, that is, choosing the tool they like without considering the team’s input.

Simply follow these three stages to make sure you’ve gone over everything:

For the following steps, here are seven things you need to consider when choosing any project management tool:

The good news is that I’ve gone over these seven steps for you, so you can easily choose a few project management tools you’d like to test yourself. Settling for the first option that catches your eye likely means you might miss out on a handy feature or a better overall deal.

Similarly, don’t just opt for the cheapest version or the tool everyone uses just because you heard it was OK. With so many PM software options out there, I can assure you they all work better or worse for certain kinds of teams and projects. Just in case you’ve ever wondered why there are so many, each has its specific buyer type.

Start with a free trial or ask for a demo tailored to your company’s requirements. As a quick industry secret, remember that many PM software vendors offer a free trial extension if you ask nicely or just if you haven’t visited your account in a while. This is nice extra time for you to decide and give the tool an in-depth or full examination.

Testing similar project management tools can get confusing, so make sure you:

You might have a general idea of how these solutions work, but if you’re not using project management software yet, it’s time you started to consider how it could help your business. Here are the top advantages of project management tools:

Add a comment

What is your view?

Send

Related posts:

Synapse featured on NASDAQ TradeTalks

The interview kicks off with a discussion about Synapse’s purpose-driven mission to ensure that people have access to high-class financial products regardless of their net worth or location. They go…