Challenges are inevitable in project management. Scope creep is a critical challenge in project management. When a project manager comes up with an initial project idea, the project’s scope may be expanded beyond the original agreement. This may affect the budget and schedule if not correctly managed.
That’s why Zoho Projects is built explicitly for project management to tackle such issues. We’ve curated the 15 best project management software solutions to address problems that may arise in managing projects.
So, what is the best project management tool?
Zoho Projects is the best project management platform as it offers efficient project and task management. Proper management of projects is the main priority for project managers in achieving their business goals. Similar project management tools provide the same features, but Zoho projects are game-changers.
Working on a project and managing it can be very challenging. So, project managers rely on Zoho projects to concentrate on the project itself instead of the process and address new challenges to enhance growth and development.
Table of Contents
List of the 15 best project management tools
- Zoho projects- Best for project management
- nTask- Best for task management
- Teamgantt- Best for usability
- Liquidplanner- Best for Predictive scheduling
- Proworkflow- Best for time tracking
- Proofhub- Best for prioritization of task
- Asana- Best for work management
- Basecamp- Best for small business
- ClickUp- Best for integration.
- Airtable- Best for data conversion
- Trello- Best for customization
- Jira- Best for issue tracking
- Microsoft projects- Best for Versatility
- Mavenlink- Best for resource management
- Scoro- Best for billing automation
1. Zoho projects
Zoho launched its project management solution in 2006, and it has grown from 50 paid clients by the end of 2006 to over 200,000 businesses worldwide. This growth is attributed to its ability to provide quality solutions to the needs of its clients.
Project managers use this software to guide their team members toward their goals within a specified time frame through planning, tracking, and execution. Project managers also use the built-in issue tracker module in Zoho Projects to resolve issues while keeping track of deadlines.
Most project managers rely on Zoho projects to boost their team’s productivity and improve overall efficiency. Working on a project and managing it simultaneously can be very challenging. Zoho’s project management tool enables managers to concentrate on the project instead of the process and address new challenges to enhance growth and development.
Key benefits of Zoho projects
Bug tracking: The success and failure of a project can only be determined by understanding the bugs that have been fixed and the ones that are still pending. Therefore, Zoho Projects enables you to track issues and bugs in your software, focusing on the high-priority ones rather than wasting time on more minor bugs. This allows you to resolve issues quickly, improving your software’s quality and overall profitability.
Task automation: In project management, task automation helps project managers scale faster and more sustainably. As the business grows, more hands are needed to complete tasks, and more money is spent on salaries. A powerful task automation tool like Zoho Projects can summon frequently used text and automatically populate your recipient’s details into a template without taking your hands off the keyboard.
Timeline management: Zoho Projects’ timeline management feature chronologically represents a project’s activities, enabling clients and teams to understand the schedule and track progress. This also facilitates effective and timely execution because there will be no need to send separate documents to the parties.
Collaboration tools: Zoho Projects cuts down unnecessary meetings and lengthy phone calls, as people can access what they need simultaneously and communicate instantly over instant messaging. They can ask questions and get quick responses from their team members and managers. Also, everyone can track the progress of the same project, even from home.
Project management: Most project managers rely on Zoho Projects to boost their team’s productivity and improve overall efficiency. Working on a project and managing it simultaneously can be very challenging. Zoho’s project management tool enables managers to concentrate on the project instead of the process and address new challenges to enhance growth and development.
Pricing details
- Free: US$0 for up to 3 users
- Premium: US$4 Per user per Month, billed annually
- Enterprise: US$9.00 Per user per Month, billed annually
Free Trial: 10 Days
2. nTask- Best for task management
nTask is a cloud-based project management tool that enables teams to stay organized. Designed for task management, as the name implies, it allows teams to set task priorities, visualize the progress of functions, and compile reports to direct future tasks.
Founded in 2015, it is a new software in the market, and more than 150,000 companies rely on it to manage their tasks. It perfectly fits all-sized teams that need a solid task management tool. The data produced by nTask can be reviewed so that end users can easily comprehend what needs to be done and how it can be done better.
Below are the key benefits that qualify nTask as a perfect task management tool, but most teams complain about its unreliable mobile app and no sign of updating them.
Key benefits of nTask
Time Tracking: nTask project management has an inbuilt time tracker in the upper left-hand corner, and the position of this timer enables you to remember when to turn it on or off. Each timer is connected to one user, allowing you to know how long each task takes. nTask has received a lot of accolades as a result of this feature.
Kanban Board: Most teams in a company work from different locations, and everyone needs to be on the same page. The Kanban Board feature of nTask enables them to understand a given task and know who is working on it. Teams can also sort out any hitch slowing the task process.
Issue Management: In project management, issues usually occur in the task process, which is unavoidable. That’s why nTask remains an essential tool in resolving any problem that may arise. This automates the task process and improves project management.
Other features that have declared nTask a powerful tool include Agile Methodologies, Alerts/Notifications, Assignment Management, Billing & Invoicing, Budget Management, Calendar Management, Chat/Messaging, Collaboration Tools, Project Scheduling, etc.
Pricing details
- Premium:$3/month billed yearly
- Business: $8/month Billed Yearly
- Enterprise: contact sales for price
Free Trial: 7 days
3. Teamgantt- Best for usability
TeamGantt is the easiest-to-use project management platform. It was designed and launched in 2010 for usability. Its user-friendliness has attracted big names such as Twitter, Expedia, etc.
With TeamGantt, you don’t have to waste your time entering data. You don’t even need to name the task. The drag-and-drop feature lets you place your cursor where you want the task to start and release it where you want it to end. Very simple! Small businesses would find this software very useful because of its user-friendliness. TeamGantt offers fewer customization options than other project management software and may restrict how teams position the software to their specific project needs.
Key benefits of Teamgantt
File Sharing: Company assets and documents are usually emailed between team members, including teams in different locations. This usually wastes time. TeamGantt allows team members to access the shared file location and get the updated file.
Progress Tracking: Tracking the success of your business goals is very necessary so that the efforts of all team members align with the same level of objectives. So, using TeamGantt to track your success rate lets them know whether they are contributing to the company’s growth.
Gantt/Timeline View: TeamGantt makes it easy to see the timeline, including the start to end date. It also allows team managers to quickly organize tasks on a visual timeline to create project plans. Other benefits include Capacity Management, Charting, Collaboration Tools, Customizable Templates, Dashboard Dependency Tracking, Drag & Drop, etc.
Pricing details
- Lite: $19/mo per manager
- Pro: $49/mo per manager
Free Plan: Yes
4. LiquidPlanner - Best for Predictive scheduling
LiquidPlanner is a project management tool designed explicitly for predictive scheduling. This software is basically for businesses that have complex project management needs. It uses probabilistic scheduling to predict project schedules. Its capability for predictive scheduling enables workers to have advance notice of their work schedule and plan their lives around it.
A study showed that the healthier work-life balance and financial stability that a predictive scheduling law allows increases employee happiness, which feeds into their performance and engagement at work. The only drawback found in LiquidPlanner is financial tracking limitations. Therefore, there would be limitations for teams tracking expenses and revenue in detail.
Key benefits of LiquidPlanner
Task Prioritization: LiquidPlanner allows team managers to select the most critical projects for an organization to focus on and sieve out unnecessary tasks. Prioritizing tasks is very necessary to prevent things from slipping through the cracks. It also helps them make the best estimate.
Range Estimation: Accuracy is essential in project management and can be achieved through appropriate estimation. So, LiquidPlanner has a technique that enables project managers to estimate the time and resources required for a given task. This reduces the chance of inaccurate or overly optimistic estimates.
Predictive Scheduling: LiquidPlanner allows team managers to select the most critical projects for an organization to focus on and sieve out unnecessary tasks. Prioritizing tasks is very necessary to prevent things from slipping through the cracks. It also helps them make the best estimate.
Pricing details
- Essential: $15 user/month with annual billing
- Professional: $28 user/month with annual billing
- Ultimate: $42 user/month with annual billing
Free Trial: 30 Days
5. ProWorkflow- Best for time tracking
ProWorkflow is a web-based project management platform designed to track time and workflow. Many companies don’t know that their projects are unprofitable without proper time and workflow tracking. So, project managers rely on this software to track the time and steps that teams and machines take to complete a given task.
ProWorkflow is best for businesses that manage multiple people and tasks. It allows them to organize the step-by-step tasks that need to be completed. Some users of this great software complained that they couldn’t export a built schedule in a client-ready/friendly version with specific tasks hidden. Apart from this complaint, ProWorkflow delivers good service regarding time tracking.
Key benefits of ProWorkflow
Resource Management: Improper optimization of resources, such as staff, equipment, time, etc., leads to inefficient use. It may cause project managers to assign tasks that do not align with the skill sets of available resources. So, ProWorkflow allows project managers to assign tasks to the right resources at the right time.
Reporting: ProWorkflow provides teams with an overview of the data the project generates in an accessible format. This report may include financial or production aspects. This enables them to understand the purpose of the assignment so that they can identify and know how to tackle any issue.
Time Tracking: ProWorkflow works well in tracking the time taken to complete a task and the steps in the workflow to ensure the task is assembled correctly. This prevents project managers from underestimating or overestimating the time to complete a project.
Pricing details
- Professional: (no user limit) $18 Per month/user
- Advanced: (Minimum of 5 users) $ 27 per month/user
- Enterprise: Contact team
Free Trial: 14 Days
6. Proofhub- Best for prioritization of task
ProofHub is task prioritization software built to enable teams to plan, collaborate, and deliver projects on time. In ProofHub, project managers can set a task to recur without having to create it manually again. They can also mention people in task comments to address them and grab their attention.
With prioritization, teams can finish all tasks simultaneously, but they may need direction, allowing them to assign orders to functions based on urgency and importance. This improves time management and productivity by focusing on and organizing tasks that must be completed.
Users of ProofHub complained about its limited integration and distracting notifications. ProofHub’s notifications come in every second and minute, causing distractions in task management.
Key benefits of ProofHub
Idea Management
Generating a lot of ideas is not enough to deliver more excellent value. Teams need a way to gather and assess suggestions against their strategic direction. With the help of ProofHub, teams can collect ideas, analyze, and prioritize them to improve existing products.
Communication Management
ProofHub enables you to develop a complete communication plan that specifies the goals, objectives, target audience, key messages, and communication channels. It also helps to track the effectiveness of the communication plan, ensuring that the project meets its goal.
Task Prioritization
With prioritization, people would avoid ending up frozen with indecision. So, ProofHub allows you to assign orders to tasks based on their urgency and importance. This improves time management and productivity by focusing on and organizing tasks you must complete.
Pricing details
- Ultimate: $89/month/billed annually
- Essential: $45/month/ billed annually
Free Trial: 14 Days
7. Asana- Best for work management
Asana is a popular project and work management tool designed to help project managers organize and track work. Launched in 2008, Asana has steadily grown in popularity, allowing users to create, assign, and prioritize tasks, providing transparency on project progress.
Compiling data manually from multiple sources for analysis drains time and human resources. Asana, the game-changer, enables project managers to integrate data from different sources into a centralized system for more efficient decision-making.
Asana’s capability in work management creates a centralized hub for all work to help teams track progress and work toward their most significant company initiatives. It also helps project managers coordinate employees by providing them with the information required to perform their roles efficiently.
This information usually includes tasks, deliverables, goals, timelines, tools, and resources. While Asana is a great work management tool, its time-tracking feature could be better.
key benefits of the Asana
Project Scheduling: Team members should know everything about their project at a glance and assess its performance. This can be achieved by using the Asana project management tool. This tool guides the entire project for the team and enables them to bring together the work to be done and the timeline for completion into a single resource. It is like a project roadmap for the team.
Data Connectors: Compiling data manually from multiple sources for analysis can consume both time and human resources. Businesses can now store and manage data in various systems with the help of the Asana project management tool. This tool allows project managers to integrate data from different sources into a centralized system for a better decision-making process.
Work Management: Asana creates a centralized hub for all work to help teams track progress and work toward their most significant company initiatives. It helps project managers coordinate employees by providing them with the information required to perform their roles efficiently. This information usually includes tasks, deliverables, goals, timelines, tools, and resources.
Pricing details
- Personal: $0 Free Forever
- Starter: $10.99 per user/per month billed annually
- Advanced: $30.49 per user/per month billed annually
Free Plan: Yes
8.Basecamp- Best for small business
Basecamp is a project management solution for small businesses. Launched in 1999, it’s an excellent platform for teams to have a complete view of what is happening in their business operations. This capability enables them to manage their projects easily within a unified interface. It’s hazardous to miss meetings, as this can lead to the loss of opportunities.
Psychological studies suggest that 50 to 70 percent of everyday memory failures involve forgetting our intentions. So, the reminder feature in Basecamp quickly reminds teams of the meeting dates and uses face-to-face communications to clarify and heighten the importance of the task. Basecamp is excellent software, especially for small business teams that need an easy project and collaboration, but the progress tracking feature could be better, causing frustration to the users.
Key benefits of Basecamp
Collaboration: The skills of all team members would be utilized to achieve the desired goal if they collaborate. Basecamp is the only software that can offer perfect partnership. Basecamp cuts down unnecessary meetings and lengthy phone calls, as people can access what they need simultaneously and communicate instantly over instant messaging.
Chat/Messaging: Instant messaging plays a significant role within an organization’s intranet since it is an internal communication tool. So, Basecamp enables employees to connect within a private network, share information, and communicate in real time, thereby enhancing overall work efficiency.
Role-Based Permission: Basecamp allows employees access to the information required to fulfill their responsibilities. Access rights and permissions are given to employees based on their job roles and designations. This helps protect business-critical data against misuse.
Other benefits of Basecamp include Commenting/Notes, Communication Management, and Create Subtasks.
Pricing details
- Pro Unlimited: Unlimited users ₹4800/month, billed annually.
Free Plan: Yes
9. ClickUp- Best for integration
ClickUp is a powerful project management platform that helps project managers bring teams together with connected workflows, docs, and real-time dashboards. This allows everyone to move faster and work smarter. Currently, it has millions of users. It has been reported that businesses worldwide are choosing ClickUp to meet the demands of their evolving workplaces.
Figuring out every activity needed to achieve your goal and organizing them into a manageable plan is essential in project management. It is an ideal solution, providing a clear picture of the tasks, including the necessary personnel and equipment.
Its ability to integrate ClickUp with other tools reduces the need to hire a project management professional on a long-term basis. Some of its powerful integrations include ClickUp Gantt chart integration, ClickUp GitHub integration, and ClickUp GitLab integration, etc.
Key benefits of ClickUp
Task Scheduling: Determining your priorities to allocate the right time to the right tasks is a primary function of ClickUp’s project management tool. This tool guides you in determining what your priorities are so that you can spend the right time on the right tasks. It also reminds you of any forthcoming deadlines.
Task Planning: As a project manager, identifying every activity necessary to achieve your goal and organizing them into a manageable plan is essential. With the help of ClickUp’s project management tool, you gain a clear picture of what needs to be done, including the required personnel and materials. This enables you to manage tasks and track progress on a day-to-day basis.
ClickUp Third-Party Integration: The ability to integrate ClickUp with other tools reduces the need to hire a project management professional on a long-term basis. Whether you’re a small business owner or part of a large enterprise, integrating GitLab with ClickUp enhances productivity and streamlines workflows.
Pricing details
- Unlimited: $7 per member per month
- Business: $12 per member per month
- Enterprise: Contact team
Free Trial: 14 Days
10. Airtable- Best for data conversion
Airtable is a cloud-based project management software that combines the intuitiveness of spreadsheets with the power and functionalities of databases to manage your projects. Teams widely use it for data conversion. It undergoes checks and validations during data conversion from one format to another to ensure it contains no mistakes. So, Airtable excels in this process.
Teams can also create apps on top of shared data and power their most critical and unique workflows using Airtable.
Key benefits of Airtable
Collaboration: Airtable enables entire teams to work together throughout the process. This makes them more productive and aware of each other’s perspectives, needs, and timelines. Even if a team member is in a different location, they can still be looped in and contribute.
Data Visualization: Airtable uses basic charts and graphs that follow principles of simplicity, clarity, and intentional design to showcase critical trends, metrics, and progress. This allows project managers to translate complex information into clear, actionable insights.
Data Conversion: Data conversion from one format to another undergoes a series of checks and validations to ensure it has no errors. So, Airtable perfectly carries out this function, and businesses may unleash hidden opportunities and gain a competitive advantage through this conversion.
Other benefits include Data Migration, Replication, Data Storage Management, Database Conversion, Deployment Management, Digital Asset Management, Discussions/Forums, and Document Management.
Pricing details
- Team: $20 per seat /month billed annually
- Business: $45 per seat /month billed annually
- Enterprise Scale: Contact Sales
Free Trial: 14 Days
11. Trello- Best for customization
Trello is a web-based collaboration tool for project management developed in 2011 by Trello Enterprise, a subsidiary of Atlassian. It is an effective solution for people of all skill levels, making it an excellent choice for businesses and individuals. It allows the user to customize and tailor the data based on what they want to see and how they want to see it.
With Trello, you can make changes anytime, add essential information, and implement customer feedback. This significantly improves the efficiency and productivity of a business.
Key benefits of Trello
Configurable Workflow: Businesses using Trello can define what needs to be done, and the system automatically initiates workflows and alerts the staff members who need to carry them out. This standardizes the processes and activities associated with each transaction.
Task Planning: Identifying activities necessary to achieve your goal and organizing them into a manageable plan is essential. So, you can gain a clear picture of what needs to be done with the help of this software, including the required personnel and materials. This enables you to manage tasks and track progress on a day-to-day basis.
Visual Workflow Management: Trello allows you to see problems hindering progress, such as who among the members was last to edit the document, etc. This prevents the project from falling victim to unnecessary delays. It also helps you determine how they fit into the overall workflow.
Pricing details
- Free: $0
- Standard: $5 Per user/month if billed annually ($6 billed monthly)
- Premium:$10 Per user/month if billed annually ($12.50 billed monthly)
- Enterprise:$17.50 Per user/month - billed annually ($210.00 annual price per user)
Free Plan: Available
12. Jira- Best for issue tracking
Jira is a project management platform developed by Atlassian specifically for issue tracking. Over 70,000 companies globally have adopted this excellent software for this purpose. It enables project managers to manage, track, and resolve issues or problems related to project tasks and activities. Jira’s customized query language works well in filtering issues based on criteria.
This platform is basically for agile teams and those who practice agile methodologies so that they can stay aligned and collaborate faster. The only negative side of this software is its limited number of integrations, and error notifications can sometimes be annoying.
Key benefits of Jira
Issue Tracking: Jira is a centralized platform where all project issues can be captured, organized, and tracked. It enables project managers to keep track of all activities, including topics and their updates, people assigned, team comments, and so on, which allows for greater visibility and collaboration across teams.
Reporting: Jira allows team members to create different types of reports to track project schedules, project budgets, and project progress. This describes an assignment’s purpose, which can provide team members with context for the project’s development.
Resource Management: Jira allows you to plan, schedule, and allocate resources to achieve the highest organizational value. Those resources can be intangible, such as skills and time, or tangible, such as equipment, materials, and finances.
Issue Management, Issue Scheduling
Iteration Management, Kanban Board
Log Collection, Marketing Automation, Marketing Calendar, etc are among its key benefits.
Pricing details
- Standard: $8.15 per user (estimated) $81.50 per month
- Premium: $16 per user (estimated) $160 per month
- Enterprise: Billed annually - Contact Sales
Free Plan: Available
13. Microsoft projects- Best for Versatility
Microsoft Project is a powerful project management tool widely known for its versatility. It acts in different stages of project management, but its area of expertise, which is most directly related, is in planning and control missions. Project managers use this software to manage resources, evaluate budgets, create schedules, measure performance, analyze opportunities, and assess risks.
The correct use of this tool will also give them total control over their projects and ensure the successful planning and execution of projects.
Key benefits of Microsoft Project Management
Collaboration: With the help of Microsoft Project, project managers can share information quickly and easily. With features like real-time messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing, team members can work together seamlessly without being physically present in the exact location.
Portfolio Analysis Platform: Microsoft Project has an easy and concise way to view all your projects’ health at a glance. This report is essential for project managers to keep a pulse on their projects.
File Sharing: Microsoft Project eliminates the back-and-forth emails and attachments that can complicate a project. It also helps keep files attached to the appropriate projects and conversations.
Free Plan: Yes
14. Mavenlink- Best for resource management
Mavelink, rebranded to Kantata, is a cloud-based project management software designed for professional services. Its users are in more than 150 countries at both public and private companies. Kantata is widely known for its perfect resource management capability. This leverages operations management science, advanced algorithms, and analytics to overcome previously intractable business problems.
This software perfectly fits service professionals such as consulting firms, marketing, creative agencies, etc. A slow and clunky user interface is the negative side of this great platform.
Key benefits of Mavelink
Resource Management: Kantata allows you to plan, schedule, and allocate resources to achieve the highest organizational value. Those resources can be intangible, such as skills and time, or tangible, such as equipment, materials, and finances.
Portfolio Management: With Kantata, project managers can select and control organizational projects aligned with its strategic objectives and capacity to deliver. This optimizes investment returns and balances the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business.
Bug Tracking: The success and failure of a project can only be determined by understanding the bugs that have been fixed and the ones that are still pending. Therefore, Kantata enables you to track issues and bugs in your software, focusing on the high-priority ones rather than wasting time on more minor bugs. This allows you to resolve issues quickly, improving your software’s quality and overall profitability.
Other values include Resource Scheduling, Risk Management, Role-Based Permissions, Search/Filter, Skills Tracking, Status Tracking, and Summary Reports.
Pricing details
- Team:$19/User/Month
- Professional: $39/User/Month
- Ultimate: $42 user/month with annual billing
Free Trial: 30 Days
15. Scoro- Best for billing automation
Scoro is a project management platform built for consultancies, agencies, and other professional service businesses to gain visibility, boost profitability, and standardize operations. Billing automation is the critical capability of this software. It allows agencies to send bills or invoices that outline the charges and payment terms to request payment for the products or services rendered and to ensure timely payment from customers or clients.
This software works well in catering to the needs of any service businesses that have grown weary of dealing with disjointed systems but whose email settings cannot be relied on. It usually appears that the message was sent but still needs to be received. Also, calendar synchronization might occasionally fail.
Key benefits of Scoro
Reporting: Scoro allows team members to create different types of reports to track project schedules, project budgets, and project progress. This describes an assignment’s purpose, which can provide team members with context for the project’s development.
Billing: With an effective billing system, businesses can avoid losing revenue and damaging their bottom line. That’s why Scoro helps companies set rates, prepare invoices, and collect payments for their project work to ensure timely payment from customers or clients.
Invoice Management: The profitability of a business can be impacted by sound invoice management and timely vendor payments just as much as by revenue. Scoro allows you to confirm the validity of the invoice received from a vendor and pay and record the payment accurately.
Pricing details
- Essential: $26per user/month
- Standard: $37per user/ month
Free Trial: 14 Days
Final Thoughts On The Best Project Management Software
Getting the best project management tool for your business would reduce unnecessary mistakes and shorten your time to finish a project. Choose Zoho Projects to minimize errors and scope creep, manage your project well, and get better results.
Go for TeamGantt if you’re searching for a user-friendly tool. Its drag-and-drop feature lets you place your cursor where you want the task to start and release it where you want it to end. ClickUp is also good as it reduces the need to hire a project management professional long-term.
You can scroll up to get the full details of other CRMs.
