Top project
management tools in 2022
1. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is a cloud-based project management solution that caters to businesses of all sizes and industries. The preferred project management software of more than 200,000 businesses worldwide, Zoho Projects is an intuitive, user-friendly platform that makes planning, tracking and collaborating on your work simple. Onboarding your employees is also easy with its single-page layout that ensures ease of access to all the important modules in one click.
Zoho Projects is a comprehensive solution with features like Gantt chart, resource utilization chart, workflow automation, issue tracking, time tracking and advanced reporting features. The tool is also fully customizable to suit your business needs and supports work from anywhere with its remote collaboration capabilities and mobile applications.
Pricing: Paid plans starting from $5/user/month with a 10-day free trial.
Forever free plan also available.2. Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project is one of the oldest project management tools in the market, making for a great user community. It's a comprehensive platform that has both cloud and on-premise versions available. Microsoft Project also has all the features a traditional project management practitioner may look for like portfolio management, project scheduling and budget management. Although it has limited third-party integrations available, for people using the Microsoft ecosystem, this may be an option that fits right in.
Pricing: Paid plans starting from $7.5/user/month with the premium version costing around $14.5/user/month. Free version available.
Looking for a better fit? We've put together a list of top Microsoft Project alternatives available.
3. Jira
Jira is a renowned agile project management tool offered by Atlassian. It has great project and issue tracking features, making it one of the most popular tools used amongst IT project managers. Jira also has several third-party plugins available which highlights its potential to expand according to your business needs. For people without a technical background, this tool may prove to be difficult to adapt to with a steeper learning curve because of its agile-specific nature. There's also no built-in channels to promote communication within teams.
Pricing: Paid plans starting from $7.5/user/month with the premium version costing around $14.5/user/month. Free version available.
Looking for a better option? See why Zoho Projects is one of the top Jira alternatives on the market.
4. monday.com
monday.com is an online work management platform with an intuitive user interface and templates that cater to several industries. This visually appealing tool requires minimal learning and has strong collaboration features. Although a bit more focussed on task management rather than project management, this is easily adaptable by teams of all sizes. It also has great automation and reporting features making for a scalable platform. There's also a mobile app to promote the new work from anywhere culture although it lacks in functionality compared to the desktop version.
Pricing: Paid plans begin from $8/user/month with the Pro version costing $16/user/month. A free plan is also available.
Looking for options with stronger project management capabilities? Check out this list of top monday.com alternatives.
5. Wrike
Wrike is a work management tool that's feature-rich in collaboration and project reporting areas. Although the UI could be deemed a bit complex, Wrike has several benefits in the form of custom workflows for any type of business function, risk prediction capabilities and advanced reporting features. It has one of the best free versions available on the market, though the paid plans can get quite expensive. While this could be better-suited for smaller teams that manage simple projects, it's a tool that makes sure that there's effective transparency between and within teams.
Pricing: Paid plans begin from $9.8/user/month with just the Standard plan costing $24.8/user/month. Free version is available.
Looking for more affordable options? Check out this list of top Wrike alternatives.
6. Asana
Asana is a web-based project management platform that has a simple, easy-to-use interface which is easily adaptable by anyone. This tool has several great features that promote cross-functional collaboration. It has a basic work breakdown structure that facilitates easy onboarding, free support and unlimited storage. For smaller teams, the pricing could be a bit on the higher side for the features offered. The tool also lacks native time and budget tracking features. It makes up for this lag with its custom workflows, risk forecasting and project tracking abilities. A free version is available although it's limited.
Pricing: Paid plans begin from $13.49/user/month with its Business plan costing $30.49/user/month. Free plan available.
Looking for a better option? Learn why Zoho Projects is one of the top Asana alternatives
that's available today.
What is Project Management Software?
Project management software is designed to help project teams to plan a project, track its progress, and collaborate effectively with team members and stake stakeholders to achieve the defined project goals within the set time.
Key features of a great project management software
Apart from basic task management, the best project management tools out there also include:
Budgeting
Track expenses, track actual cost to invoice clients and pay employees, compare planned and actual cost, forecast budget, and analyze your budget health.
Budget forecasting
Estimate the project restrictions using budget predictions, EVM, or baselines based on your existing performance.
Resource allocation
Avoid overworking or under working your employees by using the resource utilization chart.
Collaboration
Effortless collaboration is an essential aspect of an online project management tool.
Quality management
Issue tracking and resolution capabilities greatly help managing the quality of your projects consistently.
Importance of using project management software
Here are some of the reasons why it's important to use project management software:
- Keeping your work organized
- Making sure that nothing slips through the crack.
- Tracking work status.
- Managing deadlines. Looking out for bottlenecks and delays.
- Managing budget to maintain planned costs
- Resource management to avoid burnt-out employees
- Planning effectively. Simulating projects in real time to come up with a workable plan.
- Keeping everyone in the loop. Effective communication that doesn't require much effort.
- Analyzing the efforts put in and the progress made with the help of reports.
- Tracking time taken by employees for billing clients accordingly
What makes the best project management software?
Plan and track every aspect of your work
Gantt chart software assists in addressing real-time delays. It helps record and manage job dependencies and their impact on task completion time.
Breakdown complex projects into smaller work items
Gantt chart software assists in addressing real-time delays. It helps record and manage job dependencies and their impact on task completion time.
Never overshoot your budget
The cost baseline is a comparison of your initial estimate and actual project costs. It works closely with schedule and scope baselines, as these aspects are interrelated and may easily cause a project's cost to diverge from its budget.
Collaboration is the key
Collaborate on activities outside of work to improve team communication. The greatest project management tools for teams empower employees to ask questions rather than overextend themselves, challenge ideas that may not work, and achieve success at work.
"We found Zoho Projects the best fit, as we got everything we were looking for at a very affordable price."
Rakesh Nautiyal, Sunnyland Tours