15 Useful Project Management Tools
by Cameron Chapman
There is a huge variety of project management applications out there. Most are general purpose apps, not aimed at any one industry. But there is a growing number of project management apps aimed specifically at one industry or another. Applications geared to creative types are becoming more readily available, and some of the offerings are really quite good.
Many of these project management apps have built-in code repositories and subversion browsers (or are built around them). A few have built-in bug and issue tracking. Others include more than just basic project management. All of them can help you keep track of activities and team members. There are both free and paid options. Some have very slick interfaces, and some are modeled more after desktop applications. All are relatively easy to use and easy to set up.
Below are 15 useful project management applications, almost all of which are targeted directly at Web developers, designers (both Web and print) and other creative types. The last one is not geared specifically to creative types but is the most unique project management application I’ve found and is included on that basis as well as because of its potential usefulness for designers and developers.
Also consider our previous article:
1. Basic Project Management Apps
These applications are marketed specifically for project management. Most include things like task-, team-, and goal-management features. Some include additional features such as time tracking and invoicing.
Lighthouse
Lighthouse is a bug- and issue-tracking app that tracks timelines and milestones, integrates with your email client and more. You can update tickets through your inbox, manage your beta testing (by making tickets and milestones public), integrate it with subversion and manage and prioritize your tickets.
Project creation is simple; only a project title and description is required. Once a project is created, tickets, messages and milestones can be entered. Ticket creation can be done by email (the email address to send tickets to is displayed on the “Tickets” page). You can show tickets based on a variety of criteria, including date, state (open or closed) and who is responsible for them. Message creation is easier than email, and you can attach files up to 50 MB in size. When you create a milestone you simply enter the title, the date it’s due and the goals or focus for that particular milestone. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Permissions are easy to set, and you can invite users by email. One of the best features of Lighthouse is its Beacon and API integration. With the API, you can customize tickets, projects, changesets, milestones, messages and more. Integrate it with other services (such as Google Calendar), or make desktop applications that use Lighthouse. The APIs make Lighthouse infinitely more useful, because you can really customize it to fit your current workflow.
Lighthouse is great for Web development teams (or individuals) and has a very easy-to-use interface. They have paid and free plans, all of which include unlimited open-source projects. The free plan lets you manage one private project with up to two people on the account. The paid plans range from $10 per month for the Personal plan (with up to 3 projects, 10 users and 100 MB of file upload storage space) to $120 per month for the Platinum plan (with unlimited projects, up to 50 public projects, unlimited users and 30 GB of file upload space).
When combined with a subversion app, Lighthouse provides a pretty complete project management app for developers. Subversion integration is pretty straightforward, and the help file provided gives complete step-by-step instructions for setup.
Springloops
Springloops is another subversion browser that integrates project management. It counts a unique AJAX code browser and Basecamp integration as among its features.
The Springloops interface is very intuitive and easy to use. Tabbed navigation provides access to the log, source and deployment information. Adding users is done via email, along with the ability to create usernames and passwords (making it easier and faster for them to get on board with a project). Creating new projects is simple, with a few different templates available (including a starter template). You can migrate an existing repository into Springloops as well (including plain text dumps). For added project management ability, Springloops can be integrated with Basecamp.
Springloops has a number of plans available, both paid and free. The free plan includes 25 MB of space, 3 projects, 3 deployments per day (using FTP or SFTP connections), roll-back capabilities, Basecamp integration, subversion and an unlimited number of users. The paid plans range from the “Flowerpot” plan at $9 per month (including 1 GB of space and 10 projects) to the “Forest” plan at $96 per month (including 18 GB of storage, unlimited projects, automatic deployment and secure SSL encryption). All of the paid plans include a free 30-day trial.
CreativePro Office
CreativePro Office offers complete office management tools. CreativePro Office is completely free, setting it apart from the other apps here.
CreativePro Office has the usual tabbed navigation, including tabs for clients, projects, time sheets, finances and team members. The dashboard presents a calendar with upcoming events, a list of your projects, outstanding invoices, notes and search functionality. Project creation is a bit more in-depth than with most other apps listed here, though only a client name and project name is required (you can also fill in a project URL, description or comments, category, date range, status, contacts and tags). Client tracking is integrated, making this handy for those who work with lots of different clients, and it could even serve as a simple CRM program, depending on your needs.
Integrated invoices and financial information is handy, and the finances page gives you options for viewing and creating invoices, expenses and reports.
CreativePro Office is very robust for a completely free application and is definitely worth checking out before shelling out for an expensive paid solution.
Jumpchart
Jumpchart is a website planning application that allows you to plan the navigation of your website by creating, dragging and dropping pages into the plan. You can also add text and formatting to pages and then export your CSS files and site map when you’re finished.
This is a great planning app for Web designers, though it’s not strictly a project management application. You can add comments to each page, which could serve to keep track of tasks related to specific pages. More traditional project management functions could be kept track of in the text of each mockup page or through the comments. The mockup and planning capabilities of Jumpchart make it worth using, even if hacks are needed to make it more conducive to full project management.
The free Jumpchart plan offers 1 project with 1 MB of storage and a maximum of 10 pages and 2 users. The paid plans range from the Simple plan at $5 per month (including up to 5 projects, with 25 pages and 5 users per project, and 100 MB of storage) to the Deluxe plan at $50 per month (including up to 30 projects with unlimited pages and users and 5000 MB of storage).
No Kahuna
No Kahuna is a simple project management and issue-tracking platform. It’s very straightforward and easy to use, with an excellent user interface. Features include task and activity tracking and collaboration tools.
No Kahuna is excellent for basic project management and ticket tracking. There aren’t a ton of features, which can be a very good thing. It’s very quick to get started, also a big plus.
There are free accounts available that include unlimited projects and users. However, if your projects accumulate more than 30 open tasks, you will need to upgrade. Paid options are reasonably priced, ranging from 3 projects for $9 per month up to 100 projects for $99 per month. Open-source projects are always free, no matter how many open tasks you have.
Basecamp
Basecamp is often considered to be the best project management and collaboration platform out there. Its features are impressive: to-do lists, file sharing, message boards, milestones, time tracking, project overviews and commenting.
The user interface is definitely one of the best out there, and because of its popularity, tons of other companies are making products that integrate with Basecamp, extending its capabilities.
Pricing is reasonable, though it’s definitely not the cheapest solution out there. The Basic plan is only $24 per month and includes up to 15 active projects, 3 GB of file storage and unlimited clients and users. The Max plan is a hefty $149 per month, but includes unlimited projects, 50 GB of file storage, time tracking, SSL security and a free Campfire Premium account.
2. Wiki-Based Project Management
Wikis are another option for project management, whether you use one instead of a basic project management application or in addition to one. One of the solutions below is geared to complete project management and includes additional features, while the other is just a wiki and is suitable for project management and other uses.
Trac Project
Trac Project is a project management app that is based on wiki functionality. It also includes a subversion browser, a timeline, ticket tracking, a road map (showing milestones and the number of current open and closed tickets) and builds status tracking.
One of Trac’s best features is the range of plug-ins available for it. There are plug-ins for Web administration, authentication, code documentation, file management, ticketing, testing, user management and version control.
Another big advantage: Trac is free and licensed under a modified BSD license.
PBwiki
PBwiki is one of the easiest free wikis out there to use. You can share files with other users, set access controls for individual pages and folders, add other users to your wiki, monitor and track version changes and more.
Setup is quick and easy and can be done in less than a minute. The PBwiki interface is very intuitive, and there is virtually no learning curve. Creating folders and pages is straightforward, as is editing existing pages. You can also comment on each page, and get a printable version with a single click.
There are multiple themes you can choose from for the design, as well as templates for individual page content (or you can start from scratch). There are a few different plans available, both paid and free. The free plan allows from 1 to 3 users. Paid plans range from $4 per month per user (if you have more than 10,000 users) to $8 per month per user (for 4 to 999 users).
3. Bug and Ticket Tracking
Any time you work on a Web application or website, there are going to be bugs and issues that crop up. While some basic project management applications have built-in ticket tracking, others don’t, and sometimes the built-in solution doesn’t quite meet your needs (either because it’s too robust or is missing key features).
16bugs
16bugs is a very simple bug-tracking system. Its main advantage is the color-coding system used for different types of information (like updates, comments and closed tickets).
Setup is quick and easy. The user interface is easy to figure out. Creating bugs is easy, and the color-coded labels on the activity tab make it easy to see what’s going on at a glance.
There are a variety of account types available. The free account allows 1 project, 1 MB of storage and Basecamp imports. Starting at $8 per month, paid plans include more projects (3 with the Basic plan), 150 MB to 10 GB of storage, RSS and email notifications, Campfire notifications and SSL (starting with the $15-per-month Big plan).
JIRA
JIRA is issue- and bug-tracking software that includes a lot of great features. It has advanced reporting features, workflow mapping as well as issue and project organizing; it is also customizable.
JIRA also offers a number of plug-ins to extend its functionality, including Bamboo integration, charting, time tracking, project management, a calendar and more. By using plug-ins, you can customize JIRA to meet your exact project management and issue-tracking needs.
JIRA’s biggest drawback is its pricing; it’s not cheap. A hosted account starts at $299 per month for up to 25 users and goes up from there (250 users costs $599 per month). If you want to download JIRA and host it on your own server, it starts at $1200 for a single project team, and goes as high as $4800 for an entire organization. If you need an academic license, solutions start at only $600.
4. Collaboration and Conferencing
If you’re working with a remote team on your project, you’re probably going to need some online space to collaborate and meet, whether it’s to work on general concepts or to work out specific bugs. Here are three solutions to help you collaborate with those on your team or with your clients.
activeCollab
activeCollab is a project management and collaboration tool that lets you set up a collaboration area right on your website. You can have unlimited projects, organized into groups for easy management.
Collaboration features include file sharing, discussions (set up like an online forum), assignments, collaborative writing and reminders. Project management features include printing and exporting, time tracking, calendar and schedule functionality, ticket management and milestones. Plug-ins (modules) mean that activeCollab can be extended to suit your specific needs.
There are two pricing options available: Corporate and Small Business. The Small Business edition includes source-code browsing, plug-in support, themes, discussions, milestones, checklists, files, project templates, a mobile interface and localization support. It’s priced at $199, with support and upgrades being an additional $99 per year after the first year. The Corporate edition has all of the above features, plus the calendar, tickets, time tracking, pages (with collaborative writing and more), a project explorer, and status updates. Both packages include unlimited projects and users. You can also purchase a Copyright Removal license, which removes the “activeCollab Powered” graphic from the footer of each page, for an additional $199.
DimDim
DimDim is a Web-conferencing platform that provides collaboration tools for meeting online. It’s scalable, reliable and flexible, with both hosted and on-site versions available.
DimDim allows you to share your desktop with those you’re meeting with, as well as share and present documents (both PowerPoint and PDFs). You can also share Whiteboards, and it has built-in voice-over-IP and teleconferencing capabilities. There are public and private chat capabilities as well as annotation and markup tools.
There are free and paid plans available. The free plan offers the complete feature set, with support for meetings of up to 20 people. DimDim Pro offers the complete feature set, plus custom branding and up to 100 people in a meeting for only $99 per year. There is also an Enterprise-level package that includes all of the above but also allows simultaneous meetings with up to 1000 attendees for $1998 per year.
Vyew
Vyew is a browser-based Web presentation service that allows for custom branding and PowerPoint-like authoring. With Vyew, you can give a live presentation or just post a document for your colleagues to review at their convenience.
Features include real-time desktop sharing, whiteboarding and drawing tools, embedded comments, built-in voice over IP, free teleconferencing, built-in webcam video support, text chat, dedicated rooms and direct URLs and more. It’s a complete solution for Web conferencing.
Vyew has a number of plans available, including a free plan, which includes unlimited meetings, SSL secure log-in, up to 20 participants (all seeing ads) and up to 5 VyewBooks (presentations) with up to 50 pages each. There are two paid plans: Plus at $6.95 per month, which includes everything the free plan has plus up to 25 participants (or 5 with no ads), and up to 25 VyewBooks with up to 100 pages each, and Professional at $13.95 per month, which includes everything the Plus plan has, but with up to 45 participants (or 15 with no ads), and up to 100 VyewBooks with up to 300 pages each.
5. Invoicing
Unless you’re working on an internal project, chances are you’ll need to send out invoices. Having an invoice program that also does proposals is helpful, as is having one that integrates directly with your project management app.
Simply Invoices
Simply Invoices integrates with Basecamp, More Honey, Tick and Harvest to invoice based on time that you track with those programs. Features include invoice templates, unlimited invoices, the ability to save invoices as PDFs and invoice tracking.
There are a few different plans available, including a free plan that includes up to five invoice templates and SSL support. Paid plans start at $9 per month (which includes up to ten invoice templates, plus a custom logo and link-free invoices) and go up to $25 per month (which includes an unlimited number of templates).
Less Accounting
Less Accounting is a simple online accounting and invoicing program that is incredibly easy to use. Less Accounting has a variety of features, including proposal creation and tracking, mileage tracking, sales-lead management and expense tracking. You can import your existing Wesabe.com account, and you can even invite your CPA to look at your books. Less Accounting also sends a weekly email with an update on the status of your accounts.
There are a variety of account plans available, including a free plan. The free plan includes up to 5 invoices, expenses, sales notes, deposits, proposals, mileage logs each month, SSL encryption, reports and bank-account integration. The paid plans range from the Even Less plan at $12 per month (including invoicing, expenses, contacts, SSL encryption, technical support, deposits and reports) to the More plan at $24 per month (including everything in the Even Less plan, plus sales notes, bank accounts, proposals, mileage logs, bank reconciliation, support for multiple types of sales tax and more). A 30-day free trial is available for all plans.
6. Time Tracking
Whether you need to keep track of your time for billing purposes, for your boss, or just to measure your own productivity, chances are you’ll need a time-tracking application.
LiveTimer
LiveTimer is an easy-to-use time-tracking program that works on both your computer and iPhone. It can be used for billing purposes or simply to improve your productivity and accountability.
Features include a daily ledger, bulk time entry (by day or week), customizable classifications, multiple currencies, custom billing rates, intelligent report filters and a developer API. The iPhone integration makes it easy to track your time even if you’re not at your desk, making it more useful than many other Web-based time-tracking applications.
Pricing is cheap, at only $5 per active user per month. Qualifying non-profits get a 50% discount. There is a 30-day free trial available.
fourteenDayz
fourteenDayz is a time-tracking program specifically for teams. It features day-by-day time sheets, exportable reports (in both PDF and Excel formats), drag-and-drop categories and no user limit.
There are 6 different plans offered, including a free account (which includes up to 4 active projects/clients, 10 project categories, an unlimited number of users and reporting functions). The paid plans range from the Personal at $5 per month (which includes the free account features plus up to 7 active projects/clients, 15 project categories, 30 project subcategories and PDF reports) to the Platinum at $99 per month (which includes all the Personal features plus unlimited active projects/clients, unlimited project categories and subcategories, XLS/CSV exportability and SSL connections).
Further Resources
For more project management applications, check out:
- Simple Spark
Directory of Web 2.0 applications, with a list of more than 300 project management apps. - Listio
Another directory of Web 2.0 applications, with a huge list of project management apps.
(al)
Tracey
May 2nd, 2011 10:26 amAdding to this list – Denote! http://www.denoteapp.com – for collaborating with teams on website development projects.
Mark Spance
May 12th, 2011 12:42 amHi everybody
We use WorkForceTrack because it includes such business tools as Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, Human Resource Management System, Accouting, Payroll and many others that are useful for our business. Another reason of using this system is its affordable price (especially for small and mid-sized organization) and well-organized Customer Support Service
Mikas
May 18th, 2011 12:07 amJust stumbled upon this extensive list of free project management software: http://www.vivalogo.com/vl-resources/free-project-management-software-systems.htm
Stu Green
May 18th, 2011 9:40 amI’d like to suggest another useful project management tool, that is Project Bubble. It has Time Tracking and Invoicing as well which is quite rare in this field. The company is about 2 years old now and gaining lots of popularity particularly with Freelancers: http://projectbubble.com
vijay
May 25th, 2011 12:35 pmwow its fantastic , thanks miss
Dan
June 8th, 2011 2:33 amGood article and thanks for sending us on our way
we tried a few of the tools mentioned above after having used basecamp. We found dooster.net to be the best. Frankly it is awesome. It has all the features we need to run our business. The great thing is it is so simple to get any new person (ie client or team) started on it.
They have much better features and ideas about what’s needed than basecamp but are so much cheaper. Hope that helps
Chris
June 10th, 2011 7:40 amHi, enjoyed reading through other solutions which I’m more interested now that we’ve been using Dooster for a couple of months. So much less mess (post-its etc) mainly because we just seem to be getting things done more than organising what’s to be done. We’ll definitely be sticking with Dooster.net too but it’s good to know what else is out there.
Andy
June 13th, 2011 6:42 amWorkgroups 2011 is another useful project management suite. It includes modules for digital asset management, online proofing and job management. The online proofing module has a free version. Here’s the link: metacommunications.com/products/.
Issara
June 15th, 2011 1:18 amMay I suggest eTaskMan. It is ok too. No charge. No complex. Easy handle with tag function. No switching projects (everything needed is in 1 page)
Enrique
June 15th, 2011 3:06 amI find this post very useful. Thanks!!!
I agree with Peter Kingsbury that you should take a look at dotProject. It is opensource and is continuously improving.
The interface is not that easy as some other tools you have mentioned but i think this might be due to its multiple modules.
Jared R
June 27th, 2011 6:32 amMost of these solutions seem to be for small teams. What about workflow tools for catalogs and large-scale projects with multiple deadlines? I know Virtual Ticket is one, I’ve also been looking into Workgroups 2011. Are there others?
Brenda
July 15th, 2011 11:12 amIndeed! These stuff are useful! Thanks for the information guys..
kay
July 28th, 2011 5:41 amhi cameron, may i add another (open source) project management system to the list: todoyu – http://www.todoyu.com/
Allan Kapten
August 6th, 2011 4:59 pmThank you for the great article
Vasiliy
August 15th, 2011 12:58 pmI’m using a free online project management system http://projects-manager.com
Jack
August 17th, 2011 12:03 pmWe have been using Dooster.net and we looked at a few packages before the owners made their decision. The ones I recognise from the list are Basecamp and Active Colab otherwise it was 5pm, Zoho and a couple of others. Dooster’s pretty god.
Jack
August 17th, 2011 12:05 pmWe have been using Dooster for a while now (beginning of the year) but before the owners made their decision we looked at some other softwares two of which I recognise from your list are Basecamp and ActivCollab and the ones I remember otherwise among the others are 5pm and Zoho. Dooster’s pretty good.
Michael Kaplan
August 21st, 2011 7:40 amI really like this list of tools for project management. I’m developing PM products that integrate with Google Sites and Google Docs. If you are looking for a collaborative PM solution that comes fully integrated with project management process and templates and is deployed as a team site template, look here for more info: http://blog.mypmbot.com, or follow @mypmbot on twitter.
Chris
August 21st, 2011 8:00 pmAndy and Jared seem right on. I’ve also worked with Workgroups for years and have witnessed first hand the benefits it can provide for a company. My old job turned around the design/production much faster and with fewer hiccups as soon as we started implementing their system. http://www.metacommunications.com/products/workgroups
Marco
August 24th, 2011 11:44 amI’ve been using ProjectFramework, a tool capable of creating 50+ IT Project Deliverables automatically: just need to fulfill straightforward forms and voilà, your documents are created out of the box, in Word or Excel, to be handed directly to the Customer.
Have a look at projectframework.com
Foo
August 27th, 2011 7:08 amGreat! Bingo! I was thinking of how to find a suitable proj mgmt software. there r only 2 listed on apple store and all pay w no free option or free trial. TQ
Lucy
September 6th, 2011 12:28 pmWe got Dooster recently which was a totally new thing for me as I have never used collaboration software before. My boss had really wanted to get Basecamp but really more for a quality mark, we’re not that big yet and he couldn’t resist the saving. We looked at a couple of packages and settled on Dooster which I like.
Pete
September 7th, 2011 3:03 amWe use Manitoo from ADIOSCLOUD.com. It’s easy to use and powerful when it comes to managing customers/projects/tasks. Comes also with smart invoicing and integrated chat.
Silvia
September 9th, 2011 7:28 amHi guys,
this is a really well done article with a lot of interesting information. I’ve made a complete research for my company and at the end we will go with Teamwork.
It is a tools with many interesting feature. We have decided to use this because it has a well done mobile application and a great dashboard management(that was really important for us because we have different figures in our company). Teamwork share also free task pages that we use to communicate with our customers without creating users for them in the application.
Hope this helps somebody!
Nagib
January 10th, 2012 1:53 pmThe reports of these tools are good?
Pascal Bernard
September 13th, 2011 3:09 amGreat List.
Could be completed with :
=> Bug Tracking : Mantis BT
And new Catagory “Fully integrated” :
=> Smartsheet
=> ]Open[Project
=> Project’Or RIA
Pilar
September 30th, 2011 6:11 amGreat article full of useful applications. Thanks a lot.
By the way, we use TeamLab – free collaboration platform – http://www.teamlab.com
Ben Blodgett
October 3rd, 2011 9:09 pmThis is a great article to find, and also comforting on my quest in understanding how web designers and agencies manage their clients/projects. I set out a couple months ago to develop a specialized project management system for web design – and have had a lot of feedback.
I have been dying to get some smashing magazine followers opinions (as they are the best) – so if any of you could take the time to fill out this quick wufoo survey (its painless) or leave your opinion on if you would find this useful I’d really appreciate it.
http://sitecollab.wufoo.com/forms/z7x3k1/
Ravi Sharma
October 5th, 2011 8:33 amAll of these 15 project management tools are great. I would also tell you a 16th project management tool which you all may consider. Its teamworklive.com/ which is a web-based online project management software and collaboration tool for managing internal and client projects.
rainier
October 15th, 2011 2:59 amThey all look great but we build pipe lines so a project tool to manage the progress AND the financial progress is what I am looking for. it must have the capacity for you to define multiple actions on one section and then pull those costs in and report it against the budgeted figures.
Wha twould the best tool be for this. MS cannot do it. Excell can do it but it is one hell of a sheet that I have to create
RC
Tanvir Hussain
October 21st, 2011 6:19 pmHi Cameron,
Great post! We have been using BaseCamp for most of our graphic and web design projects. Absolutely amazing!
mike
October 27th, 2011 3:56 amCool useful list, Thanks!
Richard Smallwood
November 1st, 2011 4:49 pmI would like to add our system to the list: http://www.hotproject.com
We think that Google Docs integration is really important too – and are working on a set of features to support this over the coming months.
Hot Project provides an integrated approach to:
- Task Management
- Document Management
- Online Creative Review and Approvals
- Project Management reporting
Check us out, the system is free for up to 5 users.
Vipin
November 8th, 2011 12:58 amGreat post, I guess you should review MangoApps (www.mangospring.com) as well, its a powerful software which works on any mobile platform with options of in-house, on premise or private cloud implementation. MangoApps has all the components of Project, Task, Idea, Events & Performance Management. One of the best enterprise social network allowing both internal & external collaboration which guarantees e-mail reduction upto 80% or more…
JH
November 14th, 2011 10:34 amNice post. Big miss is Zoho Projects and their suite of products in general. Their Projects app is full-featured and even includes advanced bug tracking and integration with GitHub. The recently revamped their GUI and now it’s also much more user-friendly. It’s easily configurable and in my opinion much better than Basecamp. Basecamp is better at marketing though.
Julia
November 22nd, 2011 5:49 amGreat list. Amazing tool for project management and collaboration. What’s really cool is the ability to create and customize your own apps…honestly unlike any other tool out there. Check it out! Highly highly highly recommend it!!
Jack Piper
November 29th, 2011 1:32 amIt really depends on what you want to do; whether you are tracking a simple to-do list or managing complex project portfolios. We have used Basecamp before but soon outgrew it. We now use Celoxis and are quite happy with their features and their price.
Asanga.N.Jayawardana
December 6th, 2011 9:22 amThis ‘ll be very useful to students like us.coz this provides a broad knowledge abt pm softwears
sTeVee
January 13th, 2012 2:12 pmThank you dear Cameron Chapman for this article,
It looks like all these products are web-based and browser-driven. That’s ok nowadays, as many people prefer a more mobile style of life, with freelancing, working from their homes to economize office space, etc. That’s great, but we are a small office-based team, and we have our own LAN between our workstations, and we don’t travel a lot, so using on-line applications seems not so good idea for us – we tried a couple of web-based applications (do not want to make bad advertising for them) and we usually suffered from extremely low performance, especially during some peak hours. In other cases their pages stayed just inaccessible for minutes or even hours. We currently try some desktop-based installable products as they show much better performance and security. I think you should make a review of desktop applications as well (thanks in advance!). As an example of tools that we currently try I can name VIP Task Manager ( http://www.taskmanagementsoft.com/ ) – it has quite interesting task-oriented functionality and it works inside of our LAN (also it doesn’t require any recurring subscriptions), and we are looking forward for more reviews! :) thanks
Mark
January 19th, 2012 11:13 pmYou should try arcilook.com. They have project management and amazing co-sketch tool. You can draw online on the same time with two and more collaborators and clients.
Chyngys Barynov
January 20th, 2012 2:13 pmNice list. You should also check out Worksection.com.
Features: task management,calendar,delimited access control,Gantt charting,activity, custom FTP,tagging,notifications,exportable reports,time tracking,mobile version,customizable interface,dual-language account mode
Also there is free plan and very friendly prices in paid plans.
Danny
January 20th, 2012 7:42 pmNice article. But re this: “Basecamp is often considered to be the best project management and collaboration platform out there.”
Really? and reasonably priced. Hmm I’d say it’s the best known – because it’s one of the oldest and they had a slick web 2.0 approach. But no way is it the best. In fact its really quite limited and their attitude to customers left a lot to be desired. (They took their long standing forum down a few months ago around the time we left. It was riddled with examples of bad atitude). and their pricing is just a joke.
So guys please dont plug basecamp so much.There are many many better solutions out there. I’m fed up with people recommending it to us. We’ve been there done that and moved on to much better tools (Google Apps with Dooster for tasks/tickets / billing and Freshbooks for invoicing if you’re interested)
Alain Francoeur
January 24th, 2012 9:15 pmGreat article Cameron! At work we use Trac Project to keep track of all our bugs and a mean to manage our codes. I highly recommend it and the best thing it’s free.
We also use it in conjunction with Vertabase (vertabase.com) to manage all of our projects, time entries and client billing. The 2 software provide our company with a complete project management solution because like a few others here, we have used Basecamp at the beginning but soon out grew its limited functionality.
Siden
February 18th, 2012 2:23 pmDear all,
I used to see Google have Web Base Project Management but I can’t find it now. Everyone call tell me the URL of Google web base project management?
Thank you.
Sunny
March 2nd, 2012 1:23 pmYodiz is a service to manage your Agile scrum, issue tracking, group discussions and coding at a single place. It is most fun and engaging way to work in teams.
Abby Ole
March 14th, 2012 10:56 pmI agree with Danny, there are so many new PM tools now. We have actually texted two: Projecturf and GroupCamp Project groupcamp.com/online-project-management-software
The first one for the way the UI allows you to handle a large number of projects and GroupCamp Project for the time tracking and the Google Apps integration.
AO
Oriol
April 9th, 2012 1:15 pmI also agree with Danny and Abby. Basecamp is no longer the best Project Management tool ever, actually there are a lot of tools out there so it is difficult to say that one of them is the best.
I would like to recommend TransparentBusiness . I have been using this tool for some time and I am really really happy with it. One of the nice things of it, is that it integrates different facets of the Project Management process: basic project management, time tracking, wiki, collaboration/discussion, etc. It is also cloud-based and free for teams of up to 5 users (after that it costs about $300/year per extra member).
It also can be used to manage large teams and projects, since it make it very easy to create projects with phases, tasks, sub-tasks, etc. and view all of it as a Gantt Diagram. Furthermore, the Gantt Diagram is updated in real-time to show the overall progress of a project, so it is very easy to see how a project is going, even if it is a large one. Team members can be further controlled using its time tracking feature, that will take screenshots of a workers screen at regular time intervals while he is working, so that the project manager can easily review the work that has been done.
So, I would really recommend it, since it is the best of all the tools that I have tried and it has many benefits over them.
Alden
April 10th, 2012 5:46 pmGreat roundup Cameron. I’ve used tools like this for 20 years — long before they even arrived on the web — and for me the biggest hurdle has been getting staff to consistently use them. It’s no wonder. They’re all about tasks and treat people as machines you feed task lists to.
I found something that takes a different approach. It puts people first and addresses issues like creating supportive teams, developing my skills and finding challenging and fulfilling work. IMO, if you have that, the task part is easy. Check it here: propstoyou.com
Samia Lee
May 22nd, 2012 2:27 pmHello
Thanks for these professional applications!
I recommend a business application “Beesy” for note taking/ToDo/Project management.
I often use my iPad at work especially for meetings. I used as note taking EverNote and then Awesome Note for a long time and their ability to sync but both had a disadvantage ; the lack of features to accommodate tasks, to-do and make monitoring.
So I was seeking an alternative application to save time for my meeting. I have almost tested all the apps on Notes/ ToDo on the APPstore and I must admit I am still surprised they do not fit with a pro use. A month ago, I discovered Beesy, an note taking and management app ToDo which include taking notes with a business way. Until now I’m really satisfied by Beesy. It’s really efficient and maybe the only disadavantage is you need a bit time to use it efficiently.
I love shortcuts of Beesy’s icons in order to use it quicky and easily add notes. Also, the advantage is to submit easily by email minutes about my different meeting.
If you are interested you can google “Beesy” of go to the application’s website http://www.beesapps.com/beesy-ipad-to-do/
All the best,
Sam
Tom
May 30th, 2012 12:45 amI would like to add our system to the list: http://www.easy-pm.de
EASY-PM provides an integrated approach to:
- Project Management / Task Management
- Document Management
- Project Management reporting
- Test Management
- Requirement management
and much more
We think that Microsoft Office integration is a really important feature of EASY-PM too.
Check us out, the system is great!
Laurent
June 7th, 2012 6:02 pmI would like to add a project management software to your list.
Project Monitor is a french tool for project management published by Virage Group that I know well because I work in this company.
You can manage planning, tasks, ressources and budgets of a set of projects. You can have a global vision of different sets of project.
It’s a powerfull tool very usefull.
This tool supports the English language as well.
You can visit company site for further information: http://www.viragegroup.com
Raven
July 4th, 2012 11:22 amGreat list of useful tools, in addition to your list of time tracking tools is Time Doctor. Using this tool it can track time accurately in real time and gives you analytics for your work day, allowing you to improve your productivity and eliminate distractions or less productivity activities. It gives you an accurate data of exactly where time is spent, and how much of that time was productive or unproductive.
You can check this tool here: timedoctor.com/
Dallas
July 23rd, 2012 8:29 amWorketc does pretty much all of the above, from project management to CRM and invoicing.
http://worketc.com
I’ve been using it for about 6 months.
Because of its breadth, its a bit challenging to get into but from my research its the only product that lets you run your entire business. It also integrates with Google Apps and Xero, which completes its functionality. Well worth including in your list.
Hammad
September 2nd, 2012 7:01 pmWell you guys should give a try to Prozacta.
Feel free to sign up as a free user at prozacta.com
Jeremy Kleier
January 22nd, 2013 11:29 pmAnother good project management tool that can be added to the list is http://Clikcollab.com
It is in beta right now, but if you can get an invite it’s worth take some time to check it out.
Michael Lynn
January 27th, 2013 7:27 pmThese are all great project management solutions for the software developer – or for managing projects in conjunction with a development team. What about solutions for the non-dev space? I tend to leverage tools I own – such as microsoft project. I wouldn’t necessarily use this to manage an SDLC but for other implementations, definitely. I created a free excel template that incorporates an easy to use task management system along with a GANTT chart… read more here if you’re interested… http://www.mlynn.org/2013/01/project-management-with-microsoft-excel/
Tony Bocock
February 4th, 2013 1:03 pmJust a word on the new Version 5 of Project Monitor, released in January and now powering our SaaS client platforms. New ergonomics, several improvements to the Resource / Timesheet module; and still so user friendly. We have just completed a major roll-out for an international company with user training sessions fully via webex. We will be present at Project Challenge in London, March 13th & 14th.
Visit us now on http://www.viragegroup.com/en
Giovanni Collazo
February 12th, 2013 4:20 pmAnother great tool to manage projects and keep remote teams in sync is Blimp http://getblimp.com
Marina
February 16th, 2013 6:27 pmThat’s a really impressive and well put together article – I wonder how many hours were devoted to its preparation! Also interesting to learn about many other tools that are not in the article and people just sharing in comments. In fact, at different points of our company’s life we have used Jira, Basecamp, PivotalTracker, which have either been too complicated for clients to use, or were just overloaded with many featured that we didn’t actually need. So we created our own project management tool called tracker.pm/, where clients appreciated its simplicity, straightforwardness and ease of use; so they can be involved as much as they want and on track with their project and its tasks.
Trello is probably the closest tool to Tracker in terms of its functionality and visual representation, as they both are based on Kanban; but Trello was developed much later than we started work on Tracker and used it internally. Oh and it is too generic and not tailored to developers, which is what we needed; so Trello wouldn’t be for us anyway. Just recently we opened Tracker publicly, as many clients of ours, including agencies and independent entrepreneurs, wanted to use it for their every-day trading. Would be great to learn more about other tools, and perhaps get some feedback on Tracker too!
Barbara
February 26th, 2013 5:51 pmThank you for this article. I’m a big fan of such lists, especially with so many screenshots. It helps stay tuned with all the latest updates of the interfaces/features of leading project management apps.
I still rank Wrike as a number one app in terms of design and functionality. Love their “Wrikeman” on the homepage (http://www.wrike.com)!
Addison Collins
March 1st, 2013 6:27 amGreat list of tools. Very interesting that may be helpful. Thanks!
Katy
March 11th, 2013 12:24 pmThanks for this amazing list. I’m using Easy Redmine http://www.easyredmine.com. It is open source web based project management system, very easy and helpful, with many extensions.
Ajay Joshi
March 17th, 2013 10:34 amExcellent article. I was looking for a project management tool to manage ERP implementations. I am going to try out couple of these tools..
Thanks once again…
Steven
March 18th, 2013 3:16 pmHi! I would like to add Projify to the list: http://www.projify.com
Projify is a cloud based project management tool that allows users to work on project planning, ticket & milestone management, document management and blogs. It can be used as an intranet solution as well. Try it for free!
Peter Willemson
March 26th, 2013 7:43 pmHey, I strongly recommend : http://www.ionprojects.com
This tool in the cloud is rather new, but full of nice features such as CRM, Project management, Resource planning, Time tracking and automatic invoicing. It covers the whole flow of any service driven company.
Besides the nice features it also has an attractive and modern layout.
George
March 27th, 2013 7:21 pmhi!
i’ve been using ganttic so far and that’s helped me a lot. but i’ll be sure to try out some of the ones mentioned above.
respect!
G.
William
April 5th, 2013 4:12 pmi’ve been attach with http://www.projectmanagementwatch.com/ last couple of months, and your post is very helpful to me for arranging some idea about my blog.
Rick Mosenkis
April 22nd, 2013 10:40 pmAnother tool worth considering is WorkZone (workzone.com)….it’s a powerful tool that blends project management and online collaboration software …..more sophisticated than entry-level tools like Basecamp, much less complicated than tools like Microsoft Project.
Spencer Kelly
April 24th, 2013 5:50 pmI’m a long time user of Basecamp and it works great as a collaboration tool and project tracker, but lacks a little bit as a task scheduling tool.
I’ve tended to use Workstack (www.workstack.me) as an addon to Basecamp to fill the scheduling gap as it gives me a team overview calendar that means I can plan my week ahead.
Dmitry
April 29th, 2013 8:49 pmI want to recommend LiquidPlanner. Their user interface is very simple and user-friendly. We’ve been using them for two years now and they meet all the needs of a small business.