Simple projects may be managed with just a spreadsheet checklist, while complex projects require proper planning, assignment of tasks, setting deadlines to ensure everyone adheres to them, close collaboration, and tracking of all time spent.
Allowing project quantification and visualization, rational allocation of resources, easier collaboration and tracking, etc., are the value brought by modern tools. There are so many project management software out there, and if you are new to project management, it can be difficult to determine which one fits your needs, which features are beneficial, and which ones are a waste of your time. Below we will provide you with some references.
1. 15 Best Project Management Tools in 2023
If you're looking for project management software, here are the best project management software tools you should consider. The software in this list includes free and paid versions, and the features you can get with each plan.
1. PingCode
This is a localized product R&D project management tool. In 2021, it was rated as TOP1 in the domestic R&D project management list by 36 Krypton . Well-known clients include Xiaohongshu, China Unicom, Bank of Beijing, Xi'an Jiaotong University , etc.
PingCode can meet the one-stop management needs of R&D projects, such as requirements collection, requirements management, requirements prioritization, product roadmap, project management (agile/kanban/waterfall), test management, defect tracking, project document management, performance measurement etc., can be managed and collaborated on one tool, PingCode. It also integrates mainstream tools such as github, gitlab, jinkens, Qiwei, and Feishu.
Pricing : A free version is available for teams of up to 25 people. The paid version starts from 299/person/year [version price and function introduction]
Deployment plan: support SaaS, private deployment, buyout, etc., and support localization demands such as Xinchuang and Kirin.
Advantages and disadvantages : 1. The product is ready to use out of the box, easy to use, and does not require several months of training like Jira, and a dedicated system management expert to configure the system before it can be used; but there is no multi-language version available; Project management needs of business teams.
【Official address: https://sc.pingcode.com/wic37】
2. Worktile
One of the project management software with the highest domestic market share, the best choice for small and medium-sized team project management tools . It is widely used in almost all types of projects including e-commerce, marketing activities, law firm projects, manufacturing, administration, finance, design, engineering, education, scientific research, etc.
In terms of function, Worktile is a collection of tools, which has the capabilities of OKR goal management, project management, program management, project planning, project risk, project cost management, enterprise network disk, approval, and briefing. And it has powerful customization capabilities, can configure processes, forms, fields, and data reports that meet various project teams, and has a rich template market.
Pricing: Free version for teams of 10 or fewer. The paid version starts from 499/person/year. 【Version price and function introduction】
Deployment scheme: Like PingCode, it supports SaaS, private deployment, buyout, etc., and supports localization demands such as Xinchuang and Kirin.
Advantages and disadvantages: 1. Powerful customization capabilities to configure processes, forms, fields, and data reports that meet various project teams, as well as a rich template market. 2. However, the depth of project management in some vertical fields is lower than that of vertical field products. For example, PingCode may be more suitable in the field of software R&D projects. In CRM projects, Worktile may meet the management needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, but it is not shared by large customers. Sellers might be more appropriate.
[Official address: https://sc.pingcode.com/m2k4l ]
3.Trello
Trello is an online project management software for small teams and individuals. Let your team manage any type of project, workflow or task tracking. It's light, simple, and straightforward to use.
Pricing: The basic plan is free to use. However, paid plans add automation, integrations, priority support, and more.
Purchase plan: The local version may not be supported in China.
Advantages and disadvantages: 1. It is easy to use and can meet most simple task management demands. 2. However, the reporting function and project tracking function are relatively lacking, so it is very suitable for individuals or small teams who manage a small number of projects. 3. Domestic access requires tools, otherwise the access speed will be very slow.
[Official address: https://trello.com/]
4.Asana
Asana is a flexible saas project management tool with a focus on collaboration. There are automated workflows to automate repetitive tasks. It's intuitive, supports different ways of displaying tasks and supports custom fields and forms. You can even invite an unlimited number of guest users. There are also options to build custom rules and approval workflows.
Asana offers a lot of great things about efficiency and collaboration, but most of the core project management features are supplemented by integrated plugins, which may not be suitable for all users. It's suitable for businesses of all sizes, but not for freelancers. Some users feel that Asana's interface is too simple and the system is too rigid, but it cannot be denied that it has powerful task management and collaboration features.
Pricing: There is a free plan for up to 15 users. Their premium plan is $10.99 per user per month and supports timelines, reports, custom fields, automation rules, and more.
Advantages and disadvantages: 1. Some users feel that the interface of Asana is too simple and the system is too rigid. 2. There are also problems with domestic visits. 3. But it supports multiple languages and has mature functions.
【Official address: https://asana.com/】
5.Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is a popular product of Zoho. Its core functions include: project planning, coordinating teams, managing project progress and processes, etc. Zoho Projects keeps you on top of your key tasks and their dependencies, and immediately shows any deviation between planned and actual progress. Zoho Projects also has a very impressive suite of communication tools, including live chat and forum pages.
Pricing: Zoho offers a choice of several subscription plans:
- Forever free version for users with basic features and limitations
- The Standard plan costs $3 and comes with custom status and issue tracking. Supports up to 10 users.
- The Express plan costs $4 and supports up to 50 users. You'll get features like recurring tasks, Gantt charts, and timesheet approvals.
- Premium plans start at $5 and support up to 100 users. Includes features such as task automation, business rules, resource utilization and budgeting.
- The Enterprise plan is priced at $6 and has no cap on the number of users. Available features include custom roles, global Gantt charts, inter-project dependencies, and more.
All plans are per user per month.
Pros and Cons: 1. Zoho Projects is a tool known for being easy to use, implement and configure. It's the customization capability that allows me to manage and coordinate all of our projects in and out of the office. Thanks to this tool, I can create custom fields, layouts, states, and workflows, and I can easily create tasks and delegate team members to execute it. 2. Many users say that the Gantt chart is difficult to use, and the report segmentation may not be enough for large teams. 3. Foreign users commented that it does not support any standard project management process (PMI, PRINCE2, etc.).
【Official address: https://www.zoho.com/projects】
6.Wrike
Wrike is a cloud-based project management tool, its core features include: task management, timetable (Gantt chart), real-time reminders, document collaboration, task discussion, task priority, custom reports, workload management, time tracking etc. It also has plenty of integration options, making it a powerful project management suite.
It is ideal for different teams within an organization such as marketing, software development and professional services.
Pricing: There is a free version with limited features that supports up to five users. Paid plans start at $9.80 per user per month. There is also a business plan priced at $24.80 per user per month.
Advantages and disadvantages: 1. Wrike allows us to create projects composed of different workflows and processes; 2. It is applied to multiple types of project teams at the same time; 3. But there is a very large learning cost, the user interface is ugly, and most users do not know like it. 4. And the private version cannot be purchased in China.
[Official address: https://www.wrike.com/vx/]
7.Monday.com
monday.com is an efficiency tool abroad, it can manage projects for freelancers, and can also manage projects that require multi-person teamwork. It enables SMBs to build custom workflow applications to run projects, processes and routines in a code-free environment.
Pricing: Monday.com does not offer a free version. But there is a 30-day free trial period. Pricing plans vary based on the number of users and features needed, with prices starting at $8 per month.
Pros and Cons : 1. It is easy to learn and easy to understand; 2. The integration center supports easy integration with Slack, Dropbox, Teams, Outlook and many other applications; 3. The platform can be customized to meet each user's individual needs, and provides Templates and options to create custom workflows. 4. It does not provide services in the mainland, so it is more suitable for overseas or multinational teams.
【Official address: https://monday.com/project-management】
8.ProofHub
ProofHub emphasizes simplicity, so there are very few tools integrated and task management is quite limited. ProofHub is a great choice for freelancers and businesses of all sizes.
ProofHub provides a centralized workspace for task lists, workflows, Gantt charts, discussions, calendars, and documents. It helps you plan, organize and track your team's tasks. It also makes it easy to collaborate within the team and with external clients. There are many reports, such as workload and resource reports.
Pricing : ProofHub has no cap on the number of users and offers a flat fee regardless of the number of users. There are two plans: the Essential plan costs $50 per month, while the Ultimate Control plan costs $99 per month.
Advantages and disadvantages: It has powerful planning and monitoring management functions, but lacks some capabilities, such as the ability to migrate data from other tools and take notes.
【Official address: https://www.proofhub.com/】
9. Clarizen (renamed Planview)
Clarizen is a very highly rated online project management software for medium to large businesses. But it only supports web-based project management, so the lack of features like on-premises deployment may limit its usefulness for some teams. Clarizen is best suited for enterprise-level project managers, IT organizations and professional services teams who need powerful, flexible and intuitive web-based project management software.
Pricing: Pricing information is undisclosed but available upon request.
[Official address: https://www.planview.com/products-solutions/products/adaptivework/]
10.Airtable
Airtable is a new type of table making tool, a comprehensive tool that can aggregate text, pictures, links, documents and other materials into our private custom database . It can also be used as a to-do item management tool, it can be used as a spreadsheet software, and it can also be used as a database application, providing powerful data processing and analysis functions.
Airtable also supports multiple data types, and can easily import and export data with other applications. It is a very practical and convenient online data management tool.
Pricing: Airtable has a free plan that supports basic features like rich field types, multiple views, and collaboration. For companies with higher data storage needs, paid plans start at $10 per user per month. Their Pro plan offers advanced features like custom branded forms, personalized views, and domain-restricted sharing.
【Official address: https://www.airtable.com/】
11.Zenkit
Zenkit To Do is a good-looking, feature-rich, and simple task management app for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises. It lets users focus on daily tasks based on priority and using smart lists like "Assigned to me," "Favorites," "Week," and "Today." It is mainly aimed at those teams who prefer agile methods. But it also supports traditional project management methods.
Zenkit is a full-fledged project management tool that offers multiple views, reports, and resource management features, so it's always on the radar of those looking for flexible solutions to project needs.
Pricing : Zenkit ToDo offers a forever free version that allows up to 8 team members access to 80 lists, 500MB of attachment storage, 2400 tasks, and 20 folders. Fee plans include Plus ($4/month/user), Business ($19/month/user) and Enterprise (prices vary). Note that Zenkit subscriptions on non-free plans are billed automatically on a monthly or annual basis, billing users per member per month. As always, some countries may impose additional taxes
【Official address: https://zenkit.com/en/】
12.MeisterTask
MeisterTask is an online project management tool for teams collaborating in real time. With its powerful collaboration features and flexible Kanban-style project board, it can help members and teams organize task lists and manage projects of all types and sizes. You'll forget about what you have to do and you won't miss important deadlines.
Pricing: MeisterTask offers four tiers: Basic, Professional, Business, and Enterprise. The Basic plan is free and supports up to three projects. The Professional plan costs $4.19 per user per month, while the Business plan costs $10.39 per user per month. Pricing for the Enterprise plan is customizable.
【Official address: https://www.meistertask.com/zh】
13.ClickUp
Founded by Zeb Evans in 2017, ClickUp is an All-In-One project management app. Unlike other products that start with a single function, ClickUp has a powerful combination of functions and ease of use , including documents, instant messaging, OKRs, sales automation, graphic design, video, whiteboards and almost everything.
Capable of project and task management for PMOs and non-IT teams, Agile Scrum for DevOps and engineering, marketing campaign/content creation and management, product development for product planning, roadmaps and operations, professional services for managing client work, and more.
Pricing: The free plan offers 100MB of storage and unlimited tasks and members. The unlimited plan is $5 per user when billed annually and includes unlimited storage, integrations, and more. The Business plan is $9 per user when billed annually and includes Google SSO, destination folders, custom exports, and more. The Enterprise plan includes custom pricing with added API limits, a dedicated success manager, white labeling, and more.
【Official address: https://clickup.com/】
14. Paymo
Paymo is a modern and intuitive work management solution for small businesses and remote teams. It includes advanced task management, planning, scheduling, collaboration, invoicing, and time tracking features. Essentially, it allows you to track the entire lifecycle of a project without using and paying for multiple apps.
Pricing: The annual plan offers two additional months of usage. The Small Office plan costs $9.95 per user per month when billed annually. The Business plan costs $15.79 per user per month when billed annually.
【Official address: https://www.paymoapp.com/】
15.Teamwork
Teamwork is a Kanban-based project management tool. It offers more advanced reporting capabilities than Trello in a similar drag-and-drop interface.
Teamwork is an open source project from the software warehouse Sourceforge, designed for the entire management cycle of teamwork . Teamwork integrates multiple management modules such as project progress, team members, work logs, and issue tracking, and combines project management and document management together, which greatly facilitates the division of labor and collaboration of the project team, and improves the teamwork. work efficiency.
Pricing: The free plan allows 5 users and offers 100MB of storage. The Professional plan costs $10 per user per month when billed annually. The Premium plan costs $18 per user per month when billed annually. There is also custom enterprise pricing.
[Official address: https://www.teamwork.com/]
2. What are the core capabilities of online project management tools? which is more suitable for you
To help you out, here are six characteristics of a project management tool that you absolutely must have in order to lead a successful project:
1. Signboard
Kanban is a workspace for visualizing your projects and it helps tremendously in successful project management. Kanban utilizes a simple board and card system that allows everyone on the team to see, not just individual tasks, but the big picture of team activity. Citizen development without code is a great example of using Kanban.
Originally created by Toyota Motor for its manufacturing facilities, Kanban has been adopted and utilized by various industries over the past few decades. Kanban can be created in a physical space such as a whiteboard or in a digital space, which can be done in Kanban software.
2. Task management
A project is a collection of tasks that must all be completed to achieve a single goal. Some of these tasks are sequential or dependent. Some can be done simultaneously. Each task needs to be assigned to one or several people on the project team. The more complex the project, the more tasks need to be managed.
While this may not sound very appealing, task management is a key part of project management and tools that help in managing tasks efficiently are very important.
3. To-Do List
Good old fashioned to-do list. As simple as it is, it really helps you and your team get work done. Of course, it's more efficient to store your to-do list in a central, visible place that every team member can easily access.
A good project management software should include a to-do list, making sure everyone on the team can review and see what has been done and what still needs to be done.
4. Time Tracker
Every aspect of your project takes time, but when you're at the end of a project, it can sometimes be hard to know who spent how much time on which tasks. Confused? If you have a similar project coming up, you feel like you should know how much time should be allocated to each project task and phase, but if your team hasn't been able to track their time before, it's a bit of a guessing game. A good time tracker facilitates precise billing, thoughtful team management, and careful planning.
5. Collaboration
Whether you have two, twenty, or two hundred team members, collaboration is critical to successful project completion. A good project management system must include strong collaboration features so that citizen developers and other team members can communicate and collaborate whether across the room or across the globe.
Online project collaboration tools include features such as real-time updates, communications, and automatic notifications.
6. Integration
Projects are made up of many moving parts. Whenever there is a change, you need to know the effect of one variable on other variables. In other words, look for features that help analyze trade-offs and understand how resource allocation affects the overall plan for the project.
7. Detailed reports
Reports are the best way to get a strategic overview of project status. Specifically, you need to know how everything is going at the end of each week or month. Additionally, software that compiles all information related to schedules, costs, team performance, and resource availability into one structured document is what you need to look for.
A good online project management tool will allow you to generate project reports that provide you and your team with insights into project completion, budget status, inefficiencies, and more. Many project management software tools have standard reporting features. It would be even more helpful if these reports could be customized to your project.
in conclusion
The above is the whole content of some project management tools necessary for project managers. I hope it will be helpful for everyone in the selection.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What is a project management tool and why do we need it? A: Project management tools are software or systems that help project managers and team members plan, coordinate, track, and execute projects. We need it because it increases productivity, reduces errors, keeps teams collaborating, and helps better manage project time, budget, and resources.
- Which project management tools are most commonly used? A: There are many excellent project management tools, the most commonly used ones include Trello, Asana, JIRA, Microsoft Project, and Basecamp. The capabilities of these tools vary, and which one is best for you depends on your project needs.
- What are the main functions of project management tools? A: The main functions of project management tools usually include task management, time tracking, resource management, team collaboration, file sharing, and reporting and analysis. These features can help team members complete their work more efficiently.
- How should I choose the most suitable project management tool? A: When choosing a project management tool, you should consider your project needs, team size, budget, and specific features you need. At the same time, the tool's user interface, customer support, and customizability are also factors worth considering.
- What are the possible challenges of using project management tools? A: Potential challenges of using project management tools include the time it takes to learn a new tool, the tool may be overly complex or feature insufficient, team members may be reluctant to use the new tool, and there may be technical issues. To overcome these challenges, provide training, select tools that are easy to use, and encourage team members to participate in the tool selection process.