Project management software is the Rolodex for businesses. It's the glue that holds everything together, the infrastructure that keeps everything organized, and the software that maintains structure and sanity in a busy, competitive, and ever-changing world that's high on demand and short on time.
Project management software helps businesses manage time, resources, budget, scope, and teams efficiently. So, you maximize your output and your profit. In short, it's good stuff.
Here’s our best project management software of 2023 to help you stay organized, and to help your teams collaborate better, even if you're working remotely from home.
Our Top 10 Best Project Management Software & Tools in 2023:
- Monday.com - Best project management software overall
- Asana - Best for managing complex projects
- Wrike - Best for managing projects and ongoing work
- Atlassian Jira - Best for small and large businesses
- Glip by RingCentral - Best for agile development teams
- FreshBooks - Best for small and growing teams
- Netsuite - Best project management software for automated scheduling
- Paymo - Best for all-in-one project management tools
- Zoho Projects - Best for integrations & add-ons
- Accelo - Best for service-based industries and agencies
This table provides a comparison of the prices, storage sizes, free trials, team collaboration tools, and views of various project management solutions. Different project management packages have their own pros and cons. Weighing the options against your team's needs will help you make an informed decision that best fits your business.
| Compare the Top Project Management Companies | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 158 reviews | 89 reviews | 92 reviews | Write Review | 29 reviews | Write Review | 41 reviews | Write Review | 26 reviews |
Price | From $24 per month | Free to $30.49/user/month | From $9.80 per user per month | Starting from $7.75 per user, per month
From $790 per year, depending on user tiers | From $19.99/user/mo | From $4.50/mo | By quote only | From $8.95 month | From $18 per month for 6 users |
Storage size | 5GB-unlimited | Unlimited | 2GB upwards as you go up in plans | 250GB for Standard plan, Unlimited storage for Premium and Enterprise plans | No limit | N/A | No limits | 50GB - 100GB | From 5GB upwards |
Free trial | 14-day (Pro plan) | Free plan | 14 days or free account | Seven-day free trial | 30-day | 30-day | Free product tour | 10 days free plan | |
Team collaboration tools | Chat, file-sharing, progress tracking | File sharing, mail and messaging integration | Live editor, @mentions, file sharing | Confluence, Slack, Team Calendars | Discussion area, file-sharing | Real time interactive charting and chat and comment functionalities | Chat | File sharing, chat, forums | |
Views | Kanban, Gantt, timeline, calendar, map, chart | Lists, Kanban boards, timelines | List, boards, Gantt, Stream | Board, timeline, Gantt, form, task | N/A | N/A | Dashboard view, visual project mode,and more | Gantt, Kanban, calendar | Blueprint, kanban, broad, custom views |
Top 10 Project Management Software Products
- PriceFrom $24
- Team collaboration toolsChat, file-sharing, progress tracking
- Free trial14-day (Pro plan)
monday.com Work OS is a flexible platform you can use to manage all of your team’s projects, processes and workflows in one place. While the platform is intuitive and visually stunning, it’s robust enough for large organizations to manage all of their work across departments. To use monday.com, simply choose one of the 200+ ready-made templates to start within minutes, and fully customize it with 20+ editable columns and dozens of no-code automations. Then import your data from spreadsheets and integrate all of the tools you’re already using for seamless onboarding.
With high-level overviews and automatically updating dashboards created uniquely for any team, everyone can see what tasks are still on the table, where they're holding in a project timeline, approaching deadlines, etc. Team members can also share files, add comments, and communicate directly within the task manager for ultimate transparency and collaboration. You can test drive monday.com and experience the difference.
Pros- Multiple views to choose from
- Task assignment and management
- Track progress with detailed, visual reports
Cons- The Basic Plan is limited
- Higher tiers are a bit pricey
- PriceFree to $30.49/user/month
- Team collaboration toolsFile sharing, mail and messaging integration
- Free trialFree plan
Asana is a project management software designed to help keep your business on track. The software makes it easy to break down projects into tasks and then assign those tasks to individual team members. Asana offers lists, kanban boards, and Gantt charts, which together, give employees and managers both a macro and micro view of the work that needs to be done.
Asana especially stands out for its flexibility and collaboration tools. Employees can comment on tasks and share updates, and Asana has built-in tools for automating routine work. Plus, it integrates with more than 100 popular business software platforms, including messaging apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Pros- Multiple ways to view your projects and tasks
- Supports automated workflows
- Powerful free plan
Cons- No resource management or budgeting tools
- Pricey for larger teams
- PriceFrom $9.80
- Team collaboration toolsLive editor, @mentions, file sharing
- Free trial14 days
Wrike makes it easy to manage your projects, from inception and planning, to reporting and analysis. Live editing and file management also make it easy to upload documents to a task and edit them directly in Wrike. Wrike also features plenty of collaboration tools and can be integrated with Gmail, Slack and Outlook.
Pros- Extremely affordable and pro plans
- Advanced integrations
- Impressive features even in lower level plans
Cons- Not ideal for small businesses
- Gets pricey as you go up in tiers
- PriceStarting from $7.75 per user, per month From $790 per year, depending on user tiers
- Team collaboration toolsConfluence, Slack, Team Calendars
- Free trialSeven-day free trial
Atlassian Jira is a project management software with over 3000 app integrations and top features to manage your staff, projects, schedule, and time. The software provides insights and reports on your team and organization’s performance and displays all the information on customizable dashboards to enable you to visualize everything that’s going on within your company.
It offers a free trial and a free version with basic functions, but the other plan prices may be confusing. Even so, you can make savings when you include more users in the plan. Overall, Atlassian Jira has the tools to meet your project management needs and it’s worth considering.
Pros- Free trial for seven days
- Pricing plan savings
- Self-managed data center and server option available
Cons- Limited file storage for lower-tier plans
- 24/7 customer support for Enterprise and Premium plans
- PriceFrom $19.99/user/mo
- Team collaboration toolsYes
- Free trial30-day
Glip from RingCentral puts a lot of other project management software options to shame. Why? For one reason, it offers a free version that is better than most of the competition’s paid-for accounts. With a free account from Glip, you'll get unlimited chat, storage, guest users, integrations, and teams. You'll also receive notifications about tasks, projects, and messages, a totally customizable workspace, file annotations, and a whole slew of third-party integrations so that you can bring all your favorite tools along for the ride.
But it gets better. Glip also has a paid-for account. For the laughably low price of $11.99 a month per user, you get all of the features mentioned above plus more. Things like 500 minutes a month per user for shared video chatting, 24/7 live support, and data retention policies come along with this "major" upgrade. Yes, Glip has definitely started making the competition reconsider their own paltry offerings. And it should make you reconsider paying any more for quality project management software. Learn more about RingCentral's outstanding PM software Glip.
Pros- Cloud data retention
- No time limit on Pro meetings
- Carrier class infrastructure
Cons- No Linux app
- Some users report hang up lags
- PriceFrom $4.50/mo
- Team collaboration toolsDiscussion area, file-sharing
- Free trial30-day
Freshbooks is an invoicing and time-management tool that’s ideal for freelancers and smaller teams. While it lacks some of the features of other project management tools, such as multiple chart views and desktop apps, the cloud-based tool puts its focus on helping freelancers chart their work, organize clients, and stay on top of payment and invoicing needs. To that end, it’s strongest tools, such as customizable invoices, automated payment nudges, and automatic tax calculations, may not speak to larger teams but make Freshbooks a unique and ideal option for freelancers looking to manage all the moving parts of their business.
Pros- Strong invoicing system
- Automated payment nudges
- Great for freelancers
Cons- Limited team collaboration
- No board-based views
- PriceBy quote only
- Team collaboration toolsReal time interactive charting and chat and comment functionalities
- Free trialFree product tour
Developed by Oracle, Netsuite is an enterprise-grade CRM tool that will let you seamlessly connect to data sources. You'll also be able to take advantage of the many features available from Netsuite, including sales forecasting, commission tracking, and detailed task tracking.
Pros- Enterprise grade tools
- Gantt charting
- Common milestone types
Cons- Not suitable for small business
- Custom pricing only
- PriceFrom $8.95 month
- Team collaboration toolsChat
- Free trialYes
Project managers with allocation issues will find plenty to be grateful for in Paymo’s project management tool. Task management is the strongest feature, with an extensive suite of tools designed to streamline tasks and keep projects organized and completed on time. This is evident in the web-based time-tracking system, which utilizes a browser-based tracker, agile time entry cards, and customized timesheets that help managers stay on top of their timeline. Paymo also excels in reporting with real-time reports as well as graphs and bird’s-eye-view time viewing by day, week, and month.
Pros- Kanban and meta Kanban views
- Unlimited project templates
- Customizable timesheets
Cons- Limited team collaboration
- Not ideal for larger teams
- PriceFrom $18
- Team collaboration toolsFile sharing, chat, forums
- Free trial10 days
While there are a lot of good project management software options out there, few can even come close to Zoho Projects. This company has thought of every possible use case, need, and pain point a manager or team member could come up with while planning and working on a task, and packed the solution into a single, comprehensive project management software.
Zoho Projects is loaded with everything you could possibly hope for. From task management and automation to time tracking, charts, reports, issue tracking, social project management, automation, email notifications, team collaboration, multiple visual views, you name it. Zoho Projects has truly thought of it all. It’s made project management a breeze, thanks to all its careful planning.
Pros- Email notifications
- Task automation
- In-depth charts and reporting
Cons- Learning curve until you get used to all the functions
- Free plan is limited to 1 actual project
- 10
Accelo
fair7.9Accelo project management software is designed to make project and team management easier. It is an end-to-end cloud-based platform that offers project managers up-to-date and secure analytics to help them make more informed decisions. Accelo integrates with popular software such as Microsoft, QuickBooks, Xero, Salesforce, Jira, and Mailchimp. It also helps teams by providing project planning tools such as Gantt charts and budget tracking.
Billing tracking systems are a useful feature, as users can choose to bill a pre-existing client retainer or track hours and invoices based on the hourly rate. This system also makes it easier for businesses to manage their service level agreements (SLAs).
It is a fantastic solution for agencies requiring a cloud-based project management tool to manage accounts effectively. It has many great collaboration features, including task splitting and assigning, separate document views, a central inbox, and the functionality to capture and attach webcam videos.
However, Accelo is designed exclusively for service-based industries and agencies, and those in different sectors may find other options focused on different business models to be a better fit.
Pros- Integrates with many platforms, including QuickBooks and Salesforce
- Easy project setup and tracking
- Robust billing tracking system
Cons- For businesses with large user bases
- Not suitable for non-service-based industries
.20220406073658.png "Wrike")
Key Features To Look For
Project management features will vary in importance depending on your business’s size, brand personality, and team members. In general, though, there are some features that you just don’t want to do without. Some of the really important ones include:
- Risk projection and management
A crucial component to any project planning software, risk management keeps you out of hot water.
- Resource management and allocation
This important feature ensures that you aren’t going over budget and that you have assigned the right resources to the right tasks/teams/projects etc.
- Dependencies and milestones
Dependencies ensure that your team is staying on track. Milestones help keep people motivated. They’re both important for workflow and sticking to a deadline. This also includes critical path analysis.
- Multiple views
You'll want the choice between different views such as Kanban, Gantt, timeline, etc. because different tasks, personalities, and projects will require a different view.
- Third-party integrations
This will allow you to cut down on time switching between apps for multiple tasks such as updating your timesheet, sending a text message, transferring a file, or checking your email.
- Task management
Probably the most important feature of all, task management allows you to assign tasks, keep tabs on them, track changes, and more. This is really the heart of any good project management software.
- Team collaboration
The second most important feature, team collaboration tools can help save you countless hours of work through simple communication. Things like file sharing, group chat, @mentions, and more will keep everyone on the same page and ensure a smoother, faster turnaround.
- Customizable everything
The more you can customize, the better. From dashboards to fields and even more so workflows, customization allows you to maximize the efficiency of your team and of the project management software altogether.
- Mobile accessibility
Because most teams are not office-bound these days, you need a product that will easily come with you wherever you go. Mobile-friendly or native apps are a must-have today.
Other features to look for may include agile workflow system and time tracking features.
What are the Differences in Project Management Software?
There are countless differences between the various project management software options available today. From price to feature sets, usability, and more, you’ve got something for everyone. One of the biggest differences you’ll find, though, is between the basic project management software options and the more comprehensive ones.
The first type is a simple tool that has limited functionality but does the job well enough. It's clean, easy to use, and might be the perfect solution for an SMB or startup to get their head around a tough project that needs organizing. These usually have some basic features like integration and team collaboration.
More comprehensive software will include a lot more features and functionality. These might have resource management, finance management, and accounting software included. Comprehensive tools will also give you more sophisticated and powerful options. Such precision will come with a bigger price tag and is usually better for larger businesses.
Why Do I Need Project Management Software?
Project management software is a force multiplier. It helps you organize your time and resource management, create reports about business and employee performance, and get a better idea of what’s working and what isn’t. Project management software can also make team collaboration easier and more seamless than ever before.
Is It Easy to Use?
Project management software is designed to be easy to use, after all, that's sort of the whole point of systems that are supposed to make your work easier. These programs shouldn't take long for employees to master and should have a straightforward, intuitive interface for carrying out tasks and communicating with teammates.
How Steep Is the Learning Curve?
Project management software platforms tend to have a wide range of capabilities, and if you were looking to master every facet, it could take you some time. For most employees, though, the basic tasks they would need to carry out shouldn't take long to master at all and won't require any previous tech know-how.
How Much Will It Cost Me?
That's a tricky question to answer. How much your project management software will cost you at the end of the day depends on how many users you want and what type of features you're looking for. A basic option like Glip can cost you nothing at all. And if you're an SMB working out of your garage, this is a great option.
Alternatively, enterprise-level plans will run you hundreds of dollars a month. But if you are big enough, and your budget can afford it, these plans will deliver the most in terms of functionality and style. Look for a plan that fits your budget and still offers a nice set of features.
Is My Data Safe with a Pm Software?
Considering the fact that it's handling your most sensitive and private business information, project management software needs to have top security. That's why you need to go with a trusted name that also has plenty of security measures built into its business profile to safeguard your data.
Monday.com, for example, is ISO certified, GDPR compliant, HIPAA compliant, and holds an EU-US privacy shield, among other protective measures.
It's also a good idea to safeguard your information by using leveled user security protection and passwords, features that top-quality project management software will have.
