Project management techniques and skills are necessary to survive in today’s business world. For this purpose, today, there is a wide variety of tools that enable you to master project management and boost workplace productivity. As we have previously mentioned, implementing a robust project management strategy not only helps you organize daily activities but makes your company more flexible to sudden changes. Which is of utmost importance, especially for SMBs. Therefore, if you are looking for the best project management software for small businesses, read on.
Project management software for every business type
Elorus is a full-featured, cloud application that allows you to manage projects and tasks in a billable hour oriented way. Invoicing, online billing, expense management, and estimates, all in one place! Through Elorus, you can also monitor your employees by meticulous time tracking while keeping project costs under control.
In addition, Elorus offers a Client Portal. Of course, it should not be forgotten that extensive reporting can provide insightful information on your business finances, productivity, and overall growth. So, using all these features helps you optimize the workflow of your small business.
However, there are business niches that need in-depth project management. If your business model falls into that category, you might want to go for a more sophisticated solution.
In this article, we have selected the best project and task management applications. Then, we’ve compared them based on the use case, pricing, and size of businesses they are more suitable for. This shall make your selection process much easier!
All you need to do is assess your business needs, cash flow, and workflow preferences before selecting an agile project management software.
The Top 10 Best Online Task Management Software
# 1 Basecamp
Basecamp is a simple yet powerful task manager app. In fact, it enables companies to keep their communications organized and their tasks clear, so everyone is on the same page effortlessly.
Scope: It is ideal for larger enterprises with complex communication needs and several departments that need to communicate seamlessly. Mainly, the toughest obstacle larger enterprises face is that each department uses a separate project management tool. This way, management costs, and complexity are automatically increased.
Basecamp provides you with features that allow central management of projects while splitting your projects into divisions. Therefore, you have a place to make company-wide announcements and stay on top of individual projects without missing a single deadline.
- Pros: Multi-department project management, to-do lists, chat rooms, file sharing (500BG storage), automatic key updates on projects, and latest activity.
- Cons: No timeline and calendar management.
- Pricing: 30-days free plan and 99$/month paid plan.
#2 Jira
If you are a developer, you probably have already heard of Jira!
Scope: It is considered to be the number one choice among developer teams or enterprises. It primarily offers a comprehensive solution from planning to releasing great software. It helps you monitor your projects effectively and track the hours your team members have worked on each one. Moreover, its reporting tools bring a new level of transparency to your team’s work, giving your team critical insight into their agile process.
Jira’s main advantage is that it helps you create the perfect workflow and roadmap. Use an existing project plan template, or create one to match the way your team works. Moreover, you can integrate Jira with over 3,000 other apps.
- Pros: Timelines, issue management, daily and long-term management, real-time collaboration, workflow and portfolio features, developer tool integrations, and a robust set of APIs. Jira integration with Elorus is available.
- Cons: File sharing and storage are not provided.
- Pricing: There is a plan that costs 10$/month for up to 10 users, which is great for SMBs as well as a plan for 11-100 users at 7$/month. For enterprise use that requires 101+ users, you can contact them for a custom quote.
#3 Wrike
Next on the list of business project management tools is Wrike, which promises to simplify your planning and overall workflow.
Scope: Wrike is a project portfolio management tool suitable for advertising and marketing agencies. Specifically, it can break projects into smaller, more manageable, tasks without causing communication gaps across teams.
- Pros: Variety of project management templates, feedback, and approval cycles with full context, interactive reports, file uploading and sharing, time, and budget tracking.
- Cons: No user permissions.
- Pricing: You can start for free and then add features along the way, depending on your specific needs.
#4 Smartsheet
Smartsheet does away with your project’s heavy lifting! Basically, it claims to automate the management process, so you have room for more innovation. No wonder their clientele ranges from companies like Netflix to Bayer!
Scope: Smartsheet is among the best project management software for small businesses as well as large corporations. It also offers a more comprehensive approach to project management. Hence, you can use it regardless of industry or business size to give your workflow flexibility, agility, and structure.
- Pros: Calendar, Gantt charts, file sharing, reminders, mobile app, resource management, user permissions, RESTful API.
- Cons: Does not support multiple project management features.
- Pricing: Starts at 13$/month.
#5 Asana
Scope: Asana is a popular option among online project management tools. In fact, it is most appealing to marketing teams or startups on a tight budget. Therefore, it is a great project management software for small businesses. Its features can be utilized by any team that needs to streamline their projects and meet deadlines, though.
- Pros: Detailed project management, calendar, file storage, user permissions, 100+ integrations, bug tracking, project templates. Asana integration with Elorus is at your disposal.
- Cons: No resource management and project portfolio management.
- Pricing: 9.25$/month per team member.
#6 Trello
Trello is the king of all free project management software! It allows you to keep track of tasks’ progress live by creating boards, lists, and cards. Plus, it’s fun and easy to use. Therefore, if you are seeking project management software for small businesses, Trello is a smart choice.
Scope: Trello is ideal for day-to-day project management. It caters to the needs of all business structures – be it freelancers or large enterprises. Essentially, it’s a combination of team, project, and task management features.
- Pros: Web-based and mobile app, Kanban support, RESTful web API, multiple integrations, checklists, customizable permissions, templates for common tasks, or projects. Elorus-Trello integration provided.
- Cons: Does not support multi-department projects and workflow.
- Pricing: While you can enjoy the free plan forever, there are also paid plans that give you more options from $9.99 to $20.83.
#7 Confluence
Confluence is an Atlassian product used to help teams to collaborate and share knowledge efficiently. Furthermore, it is trusted by more than 40,000 customers worldwide. Confluence is the ideal project management software for agencies and large corporations.
Scope: A powerful project management app for teams that aims to easily create a roadmap, checklist, and knowledge base, and centralize everything in one place too.
- Pros: Customisable themes, project management, collaboration and communication features, best-practice templates, Jira integration, permission controls.
- Cons: Can be overly complex, does not feature a visual Gantt chart.
- Pricing: 10$/month per user up to 10 members and $5/month for 11-100 users.
#8 Monday
Monday is one of the easiest and most fun project management tools. In other words, it is suitable for any team that is interested in a simple interface with all the necessary planning features. Definitely a project management software for small businesses!
Scope: It’s a visual to-do list for teams that manages strong projects and task management without the technical expertise that usually entails. Additionally, Monday enables team members to collaborate effectively and centralize all their workload and files.
- Pros: Visual display of progress, updates based on relevance, integrations (Dropbox, Google Drive, Pipedrive), knowledge base, project management template boards.
- Cons: No reporting tools and customizable user permissions.
- Pricing: Depending on the combination of users and features, their paid plans start from €25/month.
#9 Aha!
In short, Aha! is an online project planning tool suitable for product teams regardless of industry or business size.
Scope: Its basic ability is that it helps you build an online roadmap for your company. In detail, it keeps track of your product development from planning to release, spots weaknesses, and brainstorms new ideas! As a result, these features make it one of the best project management software for small businesses!
- Pros: Tasks and project management, detailed planning, new ideas feature, multiple integrations with popular apps, roadmap templates.
- Cons: Does not support complex reporting and resource management.
- Pricing: Starts from 59$/month per user and up to $149/month.
#10 Teamwork
Teamwork is a suite of project management software for agencies and creative teams that optimizes collaboration and boosts productivity.
Scope: Teamwork can answer the needs of marketing, development, or support teams! It also offers a wide variety of features that offer a one-stop solution for your business, be it big or small.
- Pros: Time tracking and billing, customer service, ticketing, employee management, project planning, document sharing, client portal, reporting tools, mobile app, API.
- Cons: Does not support real-time updates and project permissions.
- Pricing: A forever-free plan is available and paid plans that range from $9/month to $15/month.
#11 Proofhub
ProofHub is an all-in-one task management software with powerful team collaboration features. Basically, it aims to bring together everything a team needs to stay in ultimate control of their tasks, projects, clients, and communications.
Scope: ProofHub is ideal for everyone, be it a freelancer, a small team, or a large enterprise. It gives flexible task management options, with powerful team collaboration features to simplify the way teams handle their day-to-day activities, whether they are working under the same roof or remotely.
- Pros: Multiple views (List view, Kanban board view, Gantt chart view (timeline view), and Calendar view), Custom workflows, In-built chat app, Online proofing, Dedicated space for real-time collaboration, Custom reports.
- Cons: Limited number of third-party integrations
- Pricing: Simple, no per-user pricing. The Ultimate Control plan with unlimited users and projects is available at $89 per month.
Web-based project management tools & apps enhance your teamwork
Finally, this comprehensive guide about the best project management software for small businesses will hopefully change the way you work forever!