Choosing the right project management platform is crucial for your project success. The best project management tools can significantly boost productivity and collaboration. In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the 5+ best project management tools, along with my top choices, so that you can pick the best one for you.
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Trello | Asana | Monday.com | Wrike | Notion |
Trello's visual and user-friendly interface makes it an excellent choice for a wide range of businesses. It's perfect for small teams, freelancers, and startups that prioritize simplicity and collaboration. | Asana's versatile platform suits the needs of small businesses perfectly. It offers task management, project tracking, and team communication in one package, enhancing productivity and project visibility. | Monday.com's customizable work operating system is ideal for large businesses with complex workflows. It provides tailored solutions for project tracking, resource allocation, and team collaboration. | Wrike specializes in remote team collaboration. It offers features like real-time task updates, document sharing, and time tracking, making it an essential tool for businesses with distributed teams. | Notion's all-in-one workspace adapts to your business's unique needs. Whether you're a freelancer, a small business, or a growing enterprise, Notion's flexibility accommodates different work styles. |
Project management tools helps to streamline workflows, centralize information, and provide clear visibility into project progress.
According to a report by Wellingtone, 77% of high-performing projects use project management software to stay organized and efficient.
These tools foster better collaboration among team members, facilitating communication, document sharing, and real-time updates.
What Are the Best Project Management Tools?
Here are my picks for the best project management tools to try this year.
1. Trello
Trello is used to visually organize tasks and projects on boards.
It’s great for creating to-do lists, managing tasks, and collaborating with team members using a card-based system.
Trello’s visual and intuitive board system allows teams to manage projects effortlessly. Create tasks as cards, move them across columns, assign due dates, and collaborate seamlessly.
It’s ideal for visual thinkers and small to medium-sized teams.
Key Features:
Other key features include:
- Built in dashboards
- Multi factor authentication
- Activity Tracking
- Activity/News Feed
- Agile Methodologies
- Mobile device management
User Experience:
Pricing:
Like/Dislike About Trello:
Like:
- Provides responsive web design.
- Adaptable and user-friendly interface.
- Offers a free version.
- Facilitates project visualization, organization, and rationalization.
Dislike:
- Advanced features, such as Gantt charts, are unavailable natively but can be added through integrations
Product Updates:
- Unified management of Trello alongside other Atlassian products: “It will come with a number of administration and security tools, which our customers have been asking us about for a while,” Victor says.
- Rich-text editor for card descriptions to increase accessibility: “We’re working out some last details and working with another team at Atlassian to make sure the new editor is accessible so that users with visual impairments can benefit fully from the changes. But as a longtime Trello user, it’s been a breath of fresh air, and I’m excited for everyone to have the chance to try it out,” Devan says.
- Advanced checklists notifications: “We are rolling out notifications for advanced checklists to help users stay on top of their assigned items. It’s something our users have been asking for (myself included!), so I’m very excited about this one,” Melanie says.
- Mobile notifications improvements: “Notifications is such a powerful feature that we’ve only scratched the surface of what we can do. I’m looking forward to improvements we have coming in this area, making them more relevant, easier to manage, and quicker to act upon,” Stacey says.
- Automatic license provisioning: “I am really looking forward to providing some of our biggest customers with better ways to manage Trello and ensure that everybody in the organization who wants and needs Trello can use it. This will include things like automated ways to grant new users licenses and much more,” Alexandros says.
Try Trello for free.
2. Asana
Asana is a web-based project management tool that allows teams to manage tasks and projects in one place.
It offers features such as task lists, calendars, file sharing, messaging, and more . Asana is designed to help teams stay organized and on track by providing a centralized platform for managing all aspects of a project, from planning and prioritizing tasks to tracking progress and collaborating with team members.
Asana is used by a wide range of organizations, from small startups to large enterprises, and is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design.
Key Features:
Other key features include:
- Task Management: Asana allows users to create and assign tasks, set due dates, and track progress on tasks.
- Project Management: Asana provides a centralized platform for managing all aspects of a project, from planning and prioritizing tasks to tracking progress and collaborating with team members.
- Collaboration: Asana allows team members to communicate and collaborate on tasks and projects in real-time, using features such as comments, file sharing, and messaging.
- Automation: Asana offers automation features that allow users to streamline repetitive tasks and workflows.
- Integrations: Asana integrates with a wide range of other tools and services, including Google Drive, Slack, Zoom, and more .
User Experience:
Pricing:
Like/Dislike About Asana:
Likes:
- User-friendly interface and intuitive design
- Real time collaboration, features such as comments, file sharing, and messaging.
- create and assign tasks, set due dates, and track progress on tasks
- Automation allows streamline repetitive tasks and workflows
- Integrates with other tools and services, including Google Drive, Slack, Zoom
Dislikes:
- Some users find that the tool is not customizable enough to meet their specific needs
Product Updates:
- First, use a formula custom field to create simple calculations between other number and date fields. You can add costs, calculate remaining time, manage prioritization scores, and more.
- Next, due dates between dependent tasks will now automatically shift from any project view.
- Finally, streamline your approval process by adding a rule to automatically convert a task to an approval.
Try Asana for free.
3. monday.com
Monday.com excels in customization, offering a work operating system that adapts to your team’s workflow.
It provides visual overviews of projects, making it easy to track progress and allocate resources.
Monday.com is used by a wide range of organizations, from small startups to large enterprises, and is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design.
Key Features:
Other key features include:
- Views – Visualizations through Gantt and Kanban
- Dashboards – real-time dashboards
- Custom workflows
- 200+ pre built automation to improve efficiency
User Experience:
Pricing:
Like/Dislike About monday.com:
Likes:
- Ease of use: Monday.com is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design, making it easy for users to get started with the tool.
- Customizable Workflows: Monday.com offers customizable workflows that allow users to tailor the tool to their specific needs.
- Collaboration: Monday.com allows team members to communicate and collaborate on tasks and projects in real-time, using features such as comments, file sharing, and messaging.
- Automation: Monday.com offers automation features that allow users to streamline repetitive tasks and workflows.
- Integrations: Monday.com integrates with a wide range of other tools and services, including Google Drive, Slack, Zoom, and more.
Dislikes:
- Pricing: Some users find Monday.com’s pricing to be too expensive, especially for small businesses or teams.
- Limited Customization: While Monday.com offers a range of features, some users find that the tool is not customizable enough to meet their specific needs.
- Learning Curve: While Monday.com is generally easy to use, some users may find that there is a learning curve when first getting started with the tool.
Product Updates:
Discover the latest feature releases, improvements, and updates on web, desktop and mobile apps.
- Send mass emails in one click
- Monday AI assistant
- No action mode for dependencies
- custom roles for account permissions
- What’s New
Try monday.com for free.
4. Wrike
Wrike is a cloud-based project management tool that helps teams manage tasks, deadlines, schedules, and more. It offers features such as Gantt charts, workload management tools, time tracking tools, and more.
It is designed to help teams stay organized and on track by providing a centralized platform for managing all aspects of a project, from planning and prioritizing tasks to tracking progress and collaborating with team members.
Wrike is used by a wide range of organizations, from small startups to large enterprises, and is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design.
Key Features:
Other key features include:
- Estimate how many hours a project will take and quickly determine if your chosen resource has the bandwidth to complete it.
- Workload charts
- Effort management
- Budgeting
- Shareable dashboards
User Experience:
Pricing:
What I Like/Dislike About Wrike:
Likes:
- Task management
- Collaboration
- Great Integration options
Dislikes:
- Limited customization
Product Updates:
New look & feel – as our functionality evolves, so does our design. Enjoy the modern and enhanced look and feel with Wrike Lightspeed ⚡
New home page (Wrike Labs) – the new home with everything an individual contributor needs to have quick access to inbox, tasks that are assigned to you, or recent items you’ve visited, and AI recommended tasks.
Customizability & Scalability
Custom Item Types – an enhanced platform capability that allows you to create work that mirrors your business processes in the Wrike workspace using your own terminology. For example, your team will be able to create and access domain-specific types of items like service requests, sales quotes, product bugs, objectives, candidate cards, and as many more as you can think of.
Customizable User Types – a new feature that allows you to create configured access control and build custom roles. You can now customize not only existing user types but edit the list of user types by creating new ones, renaming them, and deleting existing user types from your account.
Space Workflows – a new Space administration capability enabling fully independent customization of how each team or department works. Space Workflows empower team leaders who own the day-to-day processes, to seamlessly build and manage workflows for their team.
Try Wrike for free.
5. Notion
Notion is a web-based productivity tool that allows users to create notes, wikis, task lists, databases, and more in one place.
It offers features such as templates for different types of content creation and collaboration tools. Notion is designed to help users stay organized and on track by providing a centralized platform for managing all aspects of their work, from personal to professional.
Notion is used by a wide range of individuals and organizations, from students to small businesses to large enterprises, and is known for its flexibility and versatility.
Key Features:
Other key features include:
- Customizable interface
- Flexible task management
- Collaboration tools
- Rich media integration, and mobile app
User Experience:
Pricing:
What I Like/Dislike About Notion:
Likes:
- Flexibility
- Collaboration
- Customization
- Ease of Use
- Integration & Versatile
Dislikes:
- Overwhelming to use: so many different types of blocks and templates available that it can be hard to know where to start
Product Updates:
For latest product releases and updates Click here
Try Notion for free.
6. Microsoft Project
Best for Complex Projects: Microsoft Project excels in managing complex projects. Its advanced features for project planning, resource allocation, and scheduling make it a preferred choice for large enterprises tackling intricate projects.
Pricing:
7. Zoho Projects
Best for Versatility: Zoho Projects is a versatile solution suitable for businesses of all sizes. Whether you follow traditional or agile methodologies, Zoho Projects offers planning, collaboration, and time tracking tools.
Pricing:
What to look for in an online project management tool?
When selecting an online project management tool, there are several key factors to consider. Here’s a comprehensive list of what to look for:
- Ease of Use: The tool should have an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate and doesn’t require extensive training for your team to get started.
- Task and Project Management: Ensure the tool supports creating tasks, setting priorities, assigning responsibilities, and organizing them into projects or workflows.
- Collaboration Features: Look for tools that offer features like real-time collaboration, commenting, file sharing, and @mentions to facilitate seamless communication among team members.
- Customization: The ability to customize workflows, task statuses, and project templates can help tailor the tool to your team’s specific needs and processes.
- Task Dependencies: The tool should allow you to set task dependencies, ensuring that certain tasks can only start once others are completed.
- Deadline Tracking: Ensure the tool offers features to set due dates, send reminders, and track progress against deadlines.
- Resource Allocation and Management: Look for tools that allow you to assign resources, manage workloads, and ensure that team members are appropriately utilized.
- Gantt Charts: Gantt charts provide a visual representation of project timelines and dependencies, helping you manage and visualize the project’s progress.
- Reporting and Analytics: The tool should offer reporting features that allow you to track project performance, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions.
- Integration with Other Tools: Check if the tool can integrate with other software and tools your team uses, such as communication apps, calendars, and file storage platforms.
- Mobile Accessibility: In the era of remote work, mobile apps are crucial for on-the-go access and updates to tasks and projects.
- Security and Privacy: Make sure the tool provides adequate security measures to protect sensitive project data and offers role-based access control.
- Scalability: Consider whether the tool can accommodate your team’s growth and handle larger projects as your business expands.
- Customer Support and Training: Look for tools that offer comprehensive customer support, including training resources, help guides, and responsive customer service.
- Price and Value: Evaluate the pricing structure in relation to the features offered. Choose a tool that provides good value for your budget.
- User Reviews and Recommendations: Read reviews from other users to gain insights into their experiences with the tool and how well it met their needs.
- Trial Period: Whenever possible, opt for tools that offer a free trial period. This allows you to test the tool’s features and suitability before committing.
Conclusion
No matter the size of your business, there’s a project management tool that aligns with your unique needs. The 5 tools highlighted in this article cater to various business requirements, from small startups to large corporations. Carefully consider your business’s specific needs, team size, and project complexity when selecting the best tool to drive efficiency, collaboration, and success in your projects.
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