21 Best Tools for Project Managers – 2023 Guide

Best Project Management Tools

What are Project Management Tools?

Project management tools aim to simplify managing projects and tasks. They are software solutions that you can purchase or access for free online. Effective project management ensures success in today’s fast-paced business environment.

The essence of project management lies in meticulous planning, efficient organization, and resource management to achieve specific goals within a set timeframe. However, manual management can be time-consuming and error-prone. It is where project management tools come to the rescue, offering a wide range of features to streamline the process.

In this article, we will explore the 21 best project management tools. We will focus on helping you choose the right tool that suits your business needs and practical tips to optimize your projects effectively.

Let’s begin this informative journey into the world of project management tools, where efficiency and productivity meet!

21 Best Tools for Project Management

Communication Tools

  • Chisel– Best for Product Management
  • Miro – Best for Remote Collaboration
  • Proofhub– Best for Project Collaboration
  • Podio– Best for Workflow Management

Task Management Tools

Time Tracking Tools

Project Planning Tools

Project Risk Management Tools

Project Portfolio Management Tools

Communication Tools

We have divided project management tools into various categories so that you can choose the tool that fits your bill.

1. Chisel– Best for Product Management

Chisel stands out as the most comprehensive agile platform available, skillfully harmonizing the three crucial aspects of product management: product roadmapping, team alignment, and customer connection. 

This empowering tool enables product teams to foster effective communication, make informed prioritization decisions, and actively engage with their customers throughout development.

Key Features

There is no better marketing tool than a happy customer, and there is no better way to create satisfied customers than through customer focus. 

With Chisel, customers get the focus they deserve in product development. They get to participate in the roadmap prioritization, follow progress, and receive the features they want when they want them. 

That participative environment doesn’t just make them more likely to use your product. It delights them. It turns them into advocates for your brands. It makes them more likely to share your products with their network, adding happy customers to your user base without extra sales or marketing resources.

Chisel enables you and your teams to collaborate on the roadmap asynchronously to keep everyone on the same page:

  • Team Vote lets Product Managers request other stakeholders to provide their perspective on the roadmap using our score-based prioritization model. To maximize engagement, you can send Team Vote requests via collaboration tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Alignment Matric by Chisel
Alignment Matric by Chisel
  • Alignment Matrix lets Product Managers visualize how well stakeholders align with the planned roadmap and identify features where misalignment between Product and other teams requires attention.
Your Feedback by Chisel
Your Feedback by Chisel
  • The Your Feedback’ view provides a simple and efficient way for team members to express their opinions.
Idea Box by Chisel
Idea Box by Chisel
  • Chisel’s Idea Box is a powerful tool for collaboration. It allows teams to share ideas, discuss them, and track their progress. 

Pricing

Essential Plan: Free Forever Version

Premium Version: $49 per month per user, billed annually

Enterprise Plan: Need to contact sales

Sign up for Chisel’s Free Forever Version here. 

2. Miro – Best for Remote Collaboration

Miro is a digital whiteboard designed to facilitate seamless collaboration with others. This versatile software offers the flexibility to create notes and designs, effortlessly rearrange elements, and foster communication through embedded video calls or online chats. 

Key Features

  • Build a customer-centric marketing strategy: Miro allows you to collaboratively build visual, interactive journey maps. It helps you to align teams around solving the needs that will genuinely impact the business.
Brainstorming tool by Miro - best project management tools
Brainstorming tool by Miro
  • Plan, brainstorm, and co-create campaigns in Miro: Miro’s easy-to-use visual canvas makes brainstorming, researching, and mapping even the most complex campaigns easy. You can add sketches, wireframes, pictures, videos, and more to get everyone working together in one location.
  • Connect your tools and close your tabs: Miro integrates with more than 100 tools that you already use and appreciate. You can easily connect Miro with your favorite tools, such as Google Docs, Jira, and Zoom.
  • Collaborate in real-time: Miro allows you to collaborate with your team. It means everyone can see the same thing and work together to create amazing things.
  • Share your work easily: Miro makes it easy to share your work with others. You can share your boards via a link, embed them in a website, or export them as a PDF.

Pricing

Free Version: Available.

Team Plan: $8 per user per month billed annually.

Business Plan: $16 per user per month billed annually.

Enterprise Plan: Contact the sales team. 

3. Proofhub– Best for Project Collaboration

ProofHub is a cloud-based solution catered to teams across various industries. This comprehensive platform offers a range of applications for effective project management, seamless project collaboration, efficient resource management, task tracking, and much more. 

With its versatile features, ProofHub equips teams with the tools to stay organized, communicate effectively, and achieve project success.

Key Features  

  • Organize conversations with discussion topics: Proofhub allows you to organize conversations. It helps keep discussions on track and ensures everyone is on the same page.
Discussions by Proofhub
Discussions by Proofhub
  • Loop in team members & stakeholders: Proofhub allows you to loop in team members and stakeholders to conversations. It helps keep everyone informed and ensures everyone has a voice in the discussion.
  • Give topics a specific privacy level: Proofhub allows you to give topics a particular privacy level. It helps to protect sensitive information and to ensure that only the right people have access to it.
  • Share & approve files with teams: Proofhub allows you to share and approve files with teams. It helps to keep everyone on the same page and to ensure that everyone is using the latest versions of the files.
  • Leave comments: Proofhub allows you to leave comments on files. It helps to collaborate with the team and ensure everyone is aware of the latest changes.
  • Always just a mention away: Proofhub lets you mention any team member to get their attention. It helps ensure that everyone is notified of important messages and avoids miscommunication.
  • A robust virtual workspace: Proofhub provides a robust virtual workspace that allows you to create a wholesome work environment with clearly defined roles and an optimal allocation of resources.
  • Promote accountability in the workplace: Proofhub helps to promote accountability in the workplace by tracking project milestones and deadlines, following a project timeline, documenting project scope, and outlining individual roles.
  • ProofHub for effective communication: Proofhub facilitates effective communication within teams as well as with clients by providing a variety of communication tools, such as discussion topics, file sharing, and comments.

Pricing

  • A 14-day free trial is available. 
  • The ultimate control plan costs $89 per month.
  • The Essential plan costs $45 per month.

4. Podio– Best for Workflow Management

Podio is a highly flexible and customizable collaboration database that empowers you to expedite and streamline your work processes. This all-in-one solution accelerates productivity by digitizing essential workflows, simplifying data collection, and automating document processes, all within a secure and reliable tool. 

Key Features

  • Structured and social: Podio helps you keep everyone on the same page by providing a structured way to collaborate. Adding comments lets you assign tasks, attach files, and discuss details. 
Seamless collaboration by Podio - 21 Best project management tools
Seamless collaboration by Podio
  • Content, context, and conversations in one place: Podio lets you combine everything related to a project or task. It includes content, context, and conversations.
  • Connect and share with everyone in your company: Podio allows you to connect and share with everyone. You can use activity streams to post company news, a shared calendar to plan events, file-sharing and tasks to collaborate across your business, and chat instant messaging for a faster, real-time alternative to email.
  • People and processes in one place: Podio allows you to streamline everything from expense reporting to vacation calendaring to office FAQs. 
  • Created in minutes by your, for you: Podio is easy to customize to suit the processes in your company. You can change the names of features, add new fields, and integrate with other tools. 

Pricing

Free Version is available.

Basic Plan: $7.20 per user per month billed annually.

Plus Plan: $11.20 per user per month billed annually.

Premium Plan: $19.20 user per month billed annually.

Other Options: Slack, Sharepoint, Google Workspace

Comparison Table

ToolBest Features for CommunicationPricingBest for
ChiselCustomer focus: Chisel allows customers to participate in roadmap prioritization, follow progress, and receive requested features, creating happy customers who spread the word.Free Forever Plan or Premium Plan: $49 per month per user, billed annuallyProduct management
MiroReal-time collaboration: Miro enables seamless teamwork in real-time, ideal for brainstorming, planning, and designing projects.Free Version or Team Plan: $8 per user per month, billed annuallyRemote Collaboration
ProofHubDiscussion topics: ProofHub organizes conversations with discussion topics, ensuring clarity and engagement with team members and stakeholders.14-day free trial or Ultimate Control Plan: $89 per monthProject collaboration
PodioStructured and social: Podio fosters structured collaboration through task assignments, file attachments, and comments, while offering social connectivity across the organization.Free Version or Basic Plan: $7.20 per user per month, billed annuallyWorkflow management

Task Management Tools

A Task Management Tool is a software or application designed to help individuals and teams organize, track, and manage tasks and activities effectively. 

5. Chisel– Best for Product Teams

Chisel streamlines and organize workflows to help teams build better products. Its unique feature is a focus on collaboration, enabling team members to communicate and work efficiently on projects. 

Key Features

  • Task Management: Chisel allows product managers and team members to easily create, assign, and track tasks. Thanks to features like the Treeview tool, the platform facilitates task delegation. It ensures everyone knows their responsibilities, deadlines, and progress.
Timeline View by Chisel that helps you in time and milestone tracking
Timeline View by Chisel that helps you in time and milestone tracking
  • Time Tracking: Chisel includes time tracking capabilities, essential for effective task management, with the help of Timeline View.
  • Milestone Tracking: Setting milestones is crucial for project management, as it helps gauge progress and ensures that projects stay on track. Chisel’s milestone tracking feature enables you to define key milestones and monitor their achievement.
  • Collaboration: Chisel prioritizes collaboration features, allowing team members to communicate and work together effectively with the help of the Team Radar pillar, which promotes collaboration. 
Managing Dependencies by Chisel
Managing Dependencies by Chisel

Pricing

Essential Plan: Free Forever Version

Premium Version: $49 per month per user, billed annually

Enterprise Plan: Need to contact sales

Sign up for Chisel’s Free Forever Version here. 

6. SmartTask– Best for Multiple Project Management

SmartTask is a versatile cloud-based collaboration solution designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes across diverse industries. This comprehensive platform provides many features, including task management, project management, customer relationship management, location tracking, and team monitoring. 

With SmartTask, teams can efficiently manage tasks, projects, and customer interactions while ensuring effective location tracking and team performance monitoring.

Key Features

  • Streamline communication: SmartTask lets you keep everyone on the same page with powerful chat and video conferencing. 
Customized report view -  21 Best proejct management tools
Customized report view
  • Customizable views: SmartTask allows you to work with a view that suits your team. You can choose from various views, including list, board, calendar, timeline, and dashboard. 
  • Intuitive dashboards: SmartTask allows you to create intuitive dashboards that track your progress and performance. It helps you to identify potential problems and to keep your work on track.
  • Portfolio view: SmartTask allows you to track multiple projects in a single portfolio view. 
  • Workload view: SmartTask allows you to create realistic work plans by organizing dependent, overlapping, and unscheduled tasks. 
  • Built-in chat and video conferencing: SmartTask includes built-in chat and video conferencing features. 
  • Project templates: SmartTask includes a variety of project templates that you can use to get started quickly.

Pricing

Free forever version is available

Premium Plan: $7.99 per user per month, billed annually

Business Plan: $10.98 per month, billed annually

Enterprise Plan: Customizable; need to contact sales

7. nTask– Best for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses

nTask is a cloud-based task management solution for small businesses and individuals. This comprehensive platform offers a range of tools that facilitate seamless collaboration with team members, efficient task management, and easy meeting scheduling, among other features. 

Key Features

  • Plan tasks faster and smarter: nTask allows you to plan, create, and systematically manage your tasks. You can set due dates, add subtasks and dependencies. 
  • Assign tasks and collaborate: You can delegate work to team members and work together in real-time using nTask. You can share comments, images, videos, and documents. 
  • Measure progress with clarity: nTask allows you to track your progress and see how your team is doing. You can use progress meters, set statuses, and give priorities. 
  • Manage task dependencies like a pro: nTask allows you to manage task dependencies. It means you can see how tasks relate and impact each other.
Gantt Chart by nTask -  21 Best project management tools
Gantt Chart by nTask
  • Use interactive Gantt charts: nTask allows you to use interactive Gantt charts to track your progress. 
  • Stay in the loop: nTask allows you to stay in the loop with real-time notifications. It means you will always know the latest developments and never miss deadlines.
  • Document sharing and file management: nTask allows you to share documents and files with your team. 

Pricing

A Free Trial is available.

Premium Plan: Starts at $3/ user per month if billed yearly.

Business Plan: Starts at $8/user per month if billed yearly.

8. MeisterTask– Best for Personalized Dashboards

MeisterTask is a powerful online project and team collaboration management tool that allows users to create project dashboards and collaborate with team members in real-time. With MeisterTask, teams can work seamlessly together, ensuring efficient communication and productivity. 

Key Features

Dashboard by MeisterTask -  21 best project management tools
Dashboard by MeisterTask
  • Dashboard: MeisterTask’s dashboard is customizable and includes a personal checklist, notifications, and time-tracking information. 
  • Projects: MeisterTask projects can get visualized on Kanban-style boards, which helps you to keep track of tasks and optimize workflows.
  • Tasks: MeisterTask tasks can specify requirements, communicate with coworkers, and link to reference material.
  • Agenda: MeisterTask’s Agenda is a personal, private board where you can pin tasks from any project. 
  • Assignees & Watchers: MeisterTask allows you to assign tasks to specific people and to add watchers to tasks. It helps to ensure that everyone who needs to be involved in a task is aware of it.
  • Due Dates: MeisterTask allows you to set due dates for tasks. It helps to keep your team on track and to avoid missed deadlines.
  • Time Tracking: MeisterTask includes a built-in time tracker that lets you track your time on tasks. It is a great way to monitor team performance and bill clients accurately.
  • Custom Fields: MeisterTask allows you to add custom fields to tasks. It is a great way to track additional information about tasks, such as their priority or status.
  • Multiple Checklists: MeisterTask allows you to create multiple checklists for each task. 

Pricing

Basic Plan: Free forever version is available

Pro Plan: $6.49 per user per month, if billed annually

Business Plan: $11.99 per user per month, if billed annually

Enterprise Plan: Customized plan, need to contact sales

Other Options: Hive, Basecamp, Todoist

Comparison Table

ToolBest forKey FeaturesPricing
ChiselProduct teamsTask management, time tracking, milestone tracking, collaboration, managing dependenciesFree forever version; Premium version: $49/month/user, billed annually; Enterprise version: need to contact sales
SmartTaskMultiple project managementStreamline communication, customizable views, intuitive dashboards, portfolio view, workload view, built-in chat, and video conferencing, project templatesFree forever version; Premium plan: $7.99/month/user, billed annually; Business plan: $10.98/month/user, billed annually; Enterprise plan: customized plan, need to contact sales
nTaskSmall to medium-sized businessesPlan tasks faster and smarter, assign tasks and collaborate, measure progress with clarity, manage task dependencies like a pro, use interactive Gantt charts, stay in the loop, document sharing and file managementFree trial; Premium plan: $3/month/user, billed yearly; Business plan: $8/month/user, billed yearly
MeisterTaskPersonalized dashboardsDashboard, projects, tasks, agenda, assignees & watchers, due dates, time tracking, custom fields, multiple checklistsBasic plan: Free forever version; Pro plan: $6.49/month/user, billed annually; Business plan: $11.99/month/user, billed annually; Enterprise plan: customized plan, need to contact sales

Time Tracking Tools

Time Tracking Tools are software applications or systems that help individuals and organizations monitor and record the time spent on various activities, tasks, or projects. 

9. Toggl Track– Best for Balancing Workload

Toggl Track is a versatile time-tracking app that seamlessly integrates into any workflow. Whether you work solo or with a large team, Toggl Track optimizes efficiency and saves time and resources.

Key Features

  • Easy time tracking: Toggl Track makes it easy to track your time with a one-click timer that syncs across multiple platforms.
Employee time tracking - 21 best project management tools
Employee time tracking
  • Employee buy-in: Toggl Track empowers teams with knowledge, not micromanage them. Employees can track their time and see how their hours get spent.
  • Flexible reporting: Toggl Track offers flexible reporting customized to your team’s needs. You can create reports by user, task, project, or any other criteria.
  • Client-ready visuals: Toggl Track can generate beautiful visuals showing where your time gets spent.
  • Project profitability tracking: Toggl Track can track project profitability in real time. It helps you see how your projects are performing and make necessary adjustments.
  • Integrations: Toggl Track integrates with over 100 apps to track your time from anywhere.

Pricing

Free forever plan is available

Starter Plan: $9 per user per month, if billed annually

Premium Plan: $18 per user per month, if billed annually

Enterprise Plan: Need to contact sales

10. Timely– Best for Flexible Planning

Timely, the world’s first automatic time-tracking app, originates from Norway, developed by Vikings. It serves 5,000 companies across 160 countries, enabling seamless communication with their workforce and accurate business reporting. Timely covers various aspects, including payroll, project management, team management, and capacity planning. 

Key Features

  • Automatic time tracking: Timely automatically tracks your time in different web and desktop apps, so you don’t have to enter it manually. 
  • Real-time overview: Timely gives you a real-time overview of how you spend time, so you can see where your time is going and make adjustments as needed. 
  • Planning tool: Timely helps you flexibly adapt plans to shifting priorities, deadlines, and availability. 
Timesheets by Timely - 21 Best project management tools
Timesheets by Timely
  • Accurate timesheets: Timely automatically generates correct timesheets, so you can easily bill clients for your work. 
  • Privacy: Timely is a privacy-focused time-tracking tool. All tracked work activity stays private to each user, and they control what information to share. 

Pricing

Starter Plan: $9 per user per month, billed annually

Premium Plan: $16 per user per month, billed annually

Unlimited Plan: $22 per user per month, billed annually

Unlimited + Plan: Customizable plan

11. Clockify– Best for Small Teams

Clockify is a versatile productivity and time-tracking tool suitable for businesses of all sizes, digital agencies, NGOs, and educational institutions. It facilitates efficient tracking of billable work hours across multiple projects.

With Clockify, managers can set time durations for each project, monitor employees’ hourly rates, keep track of ongoing activities, and gain valuable insights through visualizing time breakdowns for various tasks. 

Key Features

  • Time tracking: Clockify allows you to track your time spent on tasks, projects, and clients. You can also track your breaks and overtime.
  • Timesheets: Clockify generates timesheets for you to easily track your billable hours and submit them to your clients.
Scheduling by Clockify - 21 Best project management tools
Scheduling by Clockify
  • Scheduling: Clockify allows you to schedule work, assignments, and shifts. 
  • Time off: Clockify allows you to track your time off, such as vacation days and sick days. It can help you manage your workload and ensure you are taking enough time for yourself.
  • Approvals: Clockify allows you to submit and approve timesheets. It can help you ensure that your time tracking is accurate and that you get paid for your work.
  • Invoicing: Clockify allows you to create invoices from your timesheets. It can help you bill your clients quickly and easily.
  • Breaks: Clockify allows you to track your breaks. It can help you stay productive and avoid burnout.
  • Activity: Clockify allows you to see how much you have worked. It can help you track your productivity and identify areas to improve.

Pricing

Basic Plan: $3.99 per user per month, if billed annually

Standard Plan: $5.99 per user per month, if billed annually

Pro Plan: $7.99 per user per month, if billed annually

Enterprise Plan: $11.99 per user per month, if billed annually

12. Connecteam– Best for Scheduling

Connecteam is an advanced workforce management app designed to streamline business processes and empower managers to focus on business growth. Additionally, it enhances employees’ productivity, flexibility, and overall happiness. 

By leveraging mobile-first custom checklists, forms, and reports, Connecteam enables businesses to save time and boost productivity.

Key Features

  • Easy time tracking: Employees can clock in and out from their smartphones, and managers can monitor who clocked in and out in real time from anywhere. It makes it easy to track employee hours and ensure that everyone is on the clock when they should be.
Tracking employee working hours - 21 Best tools for project managers
Tracking employee working hours
  • Timesheet management: Connecteam automatically generates employee timesheets, and managers can quickly review and approve them. 
  • Payroll integrations: Connecteam integrates with QuickBooks and Gusto, so managers can easily import timesheets into their payroll software
  • Other features: Connecteam offers several other features, such as absence and PTO management, task management, and communication tools. These features can help managers to improve employee productivity and communication, and they can also help to keep track of projects and tasks.

Pricing

Small Business Plan: Free of cost

Basic Plan: $29 per month for the first 30 users and $0.5 per month for each additional user, if billed annually

Advanced Plan: $49 per month for the first 30 users, $1.5 per month for each additional user, if billed annually

Expert Plan: $119 per month for the first 30 users, $3.6 per month for each additional user, if billed annually

Other tools: Paymo, Hubstaff, and TMetric.

Comparison Table

ToolBest forKey FeaturesPricing
Toggl TrackBalancing WorkloadEasy time tracking, employee buy-in, flexible reporting, client-ready visuals, project profitability tracking, integrationsFree forever plan is available
TimelyFlexible PlanningAutomatic time tracking, real-time overview, planning tool, accurate timesheets, privacyStarter Plan: $9 per user per month, billed annually
ClockifySmall TeamsTime tracking, timesheets, scheduling, time off, approvals, invoicing, breaks, activityBasic Plan: $3.99 per user per month, if billed annually
ConnecteamSchedulingEasy time tracking, employee location tracking, timesheet management, payroll integrations, other featuresSmall Business Plan: Free of cost

Project Planning Tools

Project planning software is a digital tool designed to assist users in efficiently planning, organizing, and managing projects from inception to completion. It offers a centralized platform for defining project goals, creating tasks and dependencies, assigning resources, establishing deadlines, and monitoring progress. 

13. Chisel – Best for Roadmap Management

Chisel is a valuable tool that helps in project planning and product management. It offers a range of comprehensive features to assist product leaders and teams in streamlining their workflows and achieving successful project outcomes.

Key Features

  • Feature Roadmaps: Chisel provides a clear and visual roadmap of product features, helping product managers plan and prioritize developing and releasing new functionalities. This roadmap guides the entire team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone aligns on the product’s direction.
Treeview by Chisel
Treeview by Chisel
  • Team Prioritization: The tool facilitates inclusive team prioritization processes, allowing team members to actively participate in decision-making and align on which projects to focus on. This collaborative approach helps ensure that suitable projects receive the necessary attention and resources.
  • Customer Feedback Integration: Chisel directly integrates customer feedback into product management. It allows product managers to gather customer insights through surveys and post-launch feedback, validating user needs and incorporating customer perspectives into the decision-making process.
Feedback Portal by Chisel
Feedback Portal by Chisel
  • Team Radar for Alignment: Chisel offers a feature called “Team Radar,” which provides data-based insights to manage disagreements and ensure alignment within the team effectively.
  • Single Pane of Glass: Acting as a centralized hub, Chisel serves as a single pane of glass for product managers. It streamlines stakeholder alignment by providing easy access to relevant information on epics and user stories. This unified view enhances efficiency and reduces the complexity of managing multiple tools or platforms.

Pricing

Essential Plan: Free Forever Version

Premium Version: $49 per month per user, billed annually

Enterprise Plan: Need to contact sales

Sign up for Chisel’s Free Forever Version here. 

14. monday.com – Best for Users of Google

monday.com is a widely recognized project management software known for handling simple and complex projects effortlessly. Users benefit from easy collaboration, progress tracking, customizable workflows, and advanced data analysis, all integrated within the platform.

Key Features

  • Collaboration: monday.com is a collaborative platform allowing teams to work seamlessly. You can easily share information and files; everyone can see the project’s progress in real-time.
  • Streamlining: monday.com helps you streamline your work by centralizing your data and processes in one place.
  • Visibility: monday.com gives you visibility into all aspects of your project. You can see who is working on what, and you can track the progress of each task.
Customized automation - 21 Best tools for Project Managers
Customized automation
  • Automation: monday.com can automate many tasks, such as sending notifications and updating data. 
  • Customization: monday.com is highly customizable, so you can tailor it to your needs. You can create custom views, add new fields, and connect them to other apps.

Pricing

Individual: Free of cost 

Basic: $8 per member per month, billed annually

Standard:$10 per member per month, billed annually

Pro: $19 per member per month, billed annually

Enterprise: Contact Sales

15. Nuclino

Nuclino is an integrated collaboration tool that centralizes all your team’s knowledge, documents, and projects. This versatile platform adjusts to your team’s workflow, functioning as a collective brain. By consolidating all work in one place, Nuclino enables seamless collaboration without the hassle of files and folders, context switching, or isolated information. 

Key Features

  • All-in-one workspace: Nuclino is a single workspace where you can keep your docs, projects, tasks, and knowledge organized. It helps you avoid context-switching between tools and stay focused on your work.
  • Collaborative documents: Nuclino documents are collaborative, so you can easily share ideas and work together. You can add notes, assign tasks, and embed files, all in the same place.
  • Lightning-fast search: Nuclino’s search is lightning-fast, so you can find what you need quickly and easily. You can also use flexible filters to narrow down your results.
  • Hotkeys and Markdown: Nuclino supports hotkeys and Markdown so that you can work more efficiently. You can also use slash commands to access different features quickly.
Verson History feature - 21 best tools for project managers
Verson History feature
  • Version history: Nuclino records all document changes, so you can easily track and revert to previous versions.
  • User roles and access rights: You can control who can access your Nuclino workspace and what they can do. It helps you keep your work secure and private.
  • Interactive media embeds: Nuclino supports interactive media embeds to add videos, images, and other media to your documents. It makes your documents more engaging and informative.

Pricing

Free Version is available.

Standard Version: $5 per user per month, billed annually.

Premium Plan: $10 per user per month, billed annually

16. Hub Planner – Best for Project Budgeting

Hub Planner is a cloud-based project management solution that caters to small, midsize, and large businesses. Its key features encompass resource scheduling, project planning, timesheets, and robust reporting and analytics capabilities. 

With Hub Planner, businesses can efficiently manage their projects, allocate resources effectively, track time, and gain valuable insights through comprehensive analytics.

Key Features

  • Instant availability insights: Hub Planner gives instant insights into your team members’ availability. You can see who is available when they are available, and what they are working on. 
  • Team transparency: Hub Planner provides transparency into your team’s utilization and availability. It allows you to identify any gaps in the schedule.
Custom fields
Custom fields
  • Target date range: You can select from pre-formatted options or customize a date range for a real-time view of resource availability or utilization rates in the schedule. It helps you plan ahead and ensure your team is available when needed.
  • Filter teams by utilization: You can filter teams by utilization to see how each team performs. It helps you to identify any teams that are over-scheduled or under-scheduled.
  • Built-in templates: Hub Planner has built-in templates that you can use to create reports. These reports provide insights into your projects, resources, utilization, spending, and budgets. This information can help you to make better decisions about future planning and forecasting.

Pricing

Plug & Play Plan: $7 per resource per month, if billed annually

Premium Plan: $18 per resource per month, if billed annually

Business Leader Plan: Need to contact the sales team for customized prices.

Other Options: Miro, Kantata, and Forecast

Comparison Table

ToolBest forKey FeaturesPricing
ChiselRoadmap ManagementFeature Roadmaps, Team Prioritization, Customer Feedback Integration, Team Radar for Alignment, Single Pane of GlassEssential Plan: Free Forever Version, Premium Version: $49 per month per user, billed annually, Enterprise Plan: Need to contact sales
monday.comUsers of GoogleCollaboration, Streamlining, Visibility, Automation, CustomizationIndividual: Free of cost, Basic: $8 per member per month, billed annually, Standard: $10 per member per month, billed annually, Pro: $19 per member per month, billed annually, Enterprise: Contact Sales
NuclinoIntegrated CollaborationAll-in-one workspace, Collaborative documents, Lightning-fast search, Hotkeys and Markdown, Version history, User roles and access rights, Interactive media embedsFree Version is available, Standard Version: $5 per user per month, billed annually, Premium Plan: $10 per user per month, billed annually
Hub PlannerProject BudgetingInstant availability insights, Team transparency, Target date range, Filter teams by utilization, Built-in templatesPlug & Play Plan: $7 per resource per month, if billed annually, Premium Plan: $18 per resource per month, if billed annually, Business Leader Plan: Need to contact the sales team for customized prices.

Project Risk Management Tools

Project Risk Management involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks that could affect the success of a project. There are various tools available to aid in the process of managing project risks. Here are some commonly used ones.

17. Risk Cloud – Best for GRC Processes

LogicGate Risk Cloud® is a cutting-edge governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform that requires no coding, making it highly adaptable to your business’s evolving needs and regulatory standards. This platform combines specialized applications with intuitive technology, empowering risk professionals to develop, modify, and effectively communicate an industry-leading risk strategy.

Key Features

  • Enterprise Risk Management: Risk Cloud helps you to get a handle on the big picture by spotting, monitoring, and managing business risks across your organization. You can turn these risks into opportunities by using the platform’s features.
  • Third-Party Risk Management: Risk Cloud may assist you with streamlining security and privacy procedures, speeding up vendor onboarding, and automating your third-party risk assessment processes.
Cyber risk management -  21 Best project management tools
Cyber risk management
  • Cyber Risk Management: Risk Cloud can help you control your cyber risk posture by prioritizing response by vulnerability severity and business impact. 
  • Critical Escalation Team: In a crucial incident, Risk Cloud’s Critical Escalation Team will ensure that communication with impacted customers and the next steps are quick, direct, and timely.
  • Customer Point of Contact: During a potential critical incident, Risk Cloud will give you a single point of contact to ensure your team can get the information required to verify or take appropriate action on your data.
  • Incident Response Testing: Risk Cloud’s team initiates “dry runs” periodically to ensure that their team has established procedures that are tested for their role if a critical incident occurs.
  • Response To Recovery: Risk Cloud’s team will work with customers and internally to move from response triage into recovery, ensuring they adjust any controls between internal and external teams to prevent future incidents.

Pricing

For custom Pricing, you need to contact sales.

18. Riskonnect– Best for Compliance Management

Riskonnect is a robust enterprise-level tool designed to comprehensively understand, monitor, and manage risks, ultimately enhancing shareholder value.

Key Features

  • Plan for successful project outcomes: Project Risk Management by Riskonnect helps you identify, analyze, control, monitor, mitigate, and report on risk across silos. 
  • Remove uncertainty from your projects: Project Risk Management by Riskonnect has a powerful quantitative risk analysis tool that helps you to prioritize risk mitigation activities. 
  • Keep your projects on a budget: Riskonnect has a risk cost and schedule risk analysis tool that helps you forecast cost impacts and manage contingency funds across projects and programs. 
Integrated risk management -  21 Best tools for project managers
Integrated risk management
  • Communicate the status of risks: Riskonnect helps you to communicate the status of risks and other key indicators quickly and effectively.
  • Collect critical business threat information: Project Risk Management by Riskonnect has automated tools that help you to collect essential business threat information quickly and easily. 
  • Present leaders with a meaningful visualization of your assessed risks: Riskonnect has visualization tools that help you to present leaders with a meaningful visualization of your assessed risks.
  • Build your organization’s risk profile: Riskonnect helps you to build your organization’s risk profile by keeping your biggest threats front and center. 
  • Easily customize your reporting and dashboards: Project Risk Management by Riskonnect’s reporting and dashboard tools are easy to customize. 

Pricing

Need to contact sales

19. Project Risk Manager– Best for Risk Managers

Project Risk Manager offers a straightforward project risk management solution, making installation, setup, and usage hassle-free. Despite its simplicity, the user-interface functionality is robust and intuitive. The tool utilizes predefined impact categories and ranking descriptions, streamlining the process of prioritizing potential threats effectively.

Key Features

  • Multiple installation copies: Project Risk Manager can be installed on multiple computers, allowing multiple users to access their projects and risks simultaneously.
  • Secure database: Project Risk Manager uses a secure database to store all project and risk data. 
  • Automatic risk alerts: Project Risk Manager can automatically notify users of new risks, upcoming risk occurrence dates, and target mitigation dates. 
Customizable parameters
Customizable parameters
  • Customizable parameters: Project Risk Manager allows users to customize the application to their needs. 
  • Public Risk Directory: Project Risk Manager includes a Public Risk Directory, enabling users to share risks with other users. It can help share best practices and identify risks common to multiple projects.
  • Parent and consequential risks: Project Risk Manager allows users to link parent and consequential risks.
  • Automatic email alerts: Project Risk Manager can automatically send email alerts to users when new risks are assigned to them, when risk occurrence dates or target mitigation dates are approaching, or when risks are updated.
  • Smart search and filter functions: Project Risk Manager includes smart search and filter functions that allow users to quickly and easily find the necessary information.

Pricing

Free Plan is available

Pro Plan: £15 per user per month

Other tools: Vendor 360, Lendflow and Resolver

Comparison Table

ToolBest forKey FeaturesPricing
Risk CloudGRC ProcessesEnterprise risk management, third-party risk management, cyber risk managementCustom pricing
RiskonnectCompliance ManagementPlan for successful project outcomes, remove uncertainty from your projects, keep your projects on budget, communicate the status of risks, collect critical business threat information, present leaders with a meaningful visualization of your assessed risks, build your organization’s risk profile, easily customize your reporting and dashboardsNeed to contact sales
Project Risk ManagerRisk ManagersMultiple installation copies, secure database, automatic risk alerts, customizable parameters, Public Risk Directory, parent and consequential risks, automatic email alerts, smart search and filter functionsFree plan available<br>Pro Plan: £15 per user per month

Project Portfolio Management Tools

Portfolio management tools provide a holistic view, enabling you to grasp the bigger picture and ensure projects remain aligned with your objectives.

20. Planview– Best for Medium-Sized Companies

Planview is an innovative cloud-based work and resource management software application that empowers companies to streamline their processes from strategy to delivery. 

Key Features

  • Prioritize and focus on what matters most: Planview helps you prioritize and focus on what matters most by giving you real-time visibility into your portfolio. 
  • Increase operational efficiency to reduce costs and unlock capacity: Planview helps you to increase operational efficiency by optimizing workflows and resource utilization. 
  • Accelerate strategic project and work delivery: Planview helps accelerate strategic projects and work delivery by ensuring resource capacity supports committed plans.
Portfolio planning and prioritization - 21 best tools for project managers
Portfolio planning and prioritization
  • Portfolio Planning & Prioritization: Planview helps you to prioritize your portfolio by using top-down scoring methodologies or decentralizing prioritization across projects and work. 
  • Portfolio and Program Management: Planview allows you to manage your portfolio and programs by visualizing dependencies across programs, projects, and work. 
  • Scenario Modeling and Comparison: Planview helps you to model the reallocation of funding and resource capacity. 
  • Application Portfolio Management: Planview aids in the visualization and comprehension of the interdependence between your organization’s business competencies, application portfolios, and underlying technological stack.  
  • Technology Portfolio Management: By combining technology and business context, Planview enables you to drive business outcomes. 
  • Project Intake and Demand Management: Planview helps automate the work intake process. 
  • Innovation Management: Planview helps you to support a culture of innovation. It helps you generate, capture, collaborate, and refine new ideas, managing the entire evaluation process and prioritization with crowdsourced challenges.

Pricing

You need to get in touch with their sales team for pricing details. 

21. Zoho Projects Best Cloud-Based Project Management Tool

Zoho Projects, an award-winning project management and collaboration tool from Zoho, stands out for its versatility and ability to adapt to the requirements of both traditional project managers and agile teams. With Zoho Projects, users gain access to a wealth of customization options, enabling seamless tailoring of the platform to suit their specific workflows and preferences.

Key Features

  • Resource management: Zoho Projects helps you to manage your resources effectively by providing you with real-time visibility into the workload of your team members. You can also create and balance workloads with just a click.
  • Budgeting: Zoho Projects helps you to track your budget and forecast your project costs. You can also create invoices and track your timesheets.
  • Customization: Zoho Projects is highly customizable so that you can tailor it to your needs. You can change the various modules’ colors, arrangement, and visibility.
  • Different task views: Zoho Projects offers Classic, Plain, and Kanban tasks. The Classic view provides a thorough task list, the Plain view offers a short list of chores, and the Kanban board lists tasks as cards arranged in various columns according to their statuses.
  • Gantt charts: Zoho Projects allows you to plan your projects, track progress, visualize dependencies, and reschedule tasks if needed.
Backlog management -  21 best project management tools
Backlog management
  • Portfolio management: Zoho Projects will enable you to create dependencies between projects. The dashboard’s portfolio widget helps you get an overview of all projects at a glance.
  • Hand-offs: Zoho Projects is one of the few PPM tools that allows you to manage multiple hand-offs. 
  • Project dashboard: Zoho Projects provides a dashboard showing your project progress. The dashboard features a number of reports on the project budget, task and issue status, past-due work items, and team status.
  • Budget forecasting: Zoho Projects allows you to forecast the total estimated cost for a project based on its current percentage completion. You can also use budget forecasting to identify potential cost overruns early on so that you can take corrective action.

Pricing

The free Version is available for up to 3 users.

Premium Version: $4 per user per month billed annually.

Enterprise Version: $8 per user per month billed annually.

Other tools: Corporate, Bubble PPM, and Smartsheet

Comparison Table

ToolBest forKey FeaturesPricing
PlanviewMedium Sized CompaniesPrioritize and focus on what matters most, increase operational efficiency to reduce costs and unlock capacity, accelerate strategic project and work delivery, portfolio planning & prioritization, portfolio and program management, scenario modeling and comparison, application portfolio managementContact sales for pricing
Zoho ProjectsSmall to Medium Sized BusinessesResource management, budgeting, customization, different task views, Gantt charts, portfolio management, hand-offs, project dashboard, budget forecastingThe free Version is available for up to 3 users.<br>Premium Version: $4 per user per month billed annually.<br>Enterprise Version: $8 per user per month billed annually.

Conclusion

Navigating the vast landscape of project management can be made much smoother with the right tools. As we’ve explored in this discussion, there are various categories of project management tools, each serving a specific purpose in enhancing collaboration, organization, and efficiency.

Communication tools act as virtual bridges that connect team members and stakeholders, fostering seamless interactions and clear channels for information flow. Task management tools help keep everyone on track, ensuring every assignment is accounted for, assigned, and completed without missing a beat.

Time-tracking tools assist in monitoring progress and provide valuable insights into resource allocation and productivity. Meanwhile, project planning tools offer the means to chart the course of your project, set milestones, and create actionable roadmaps.

Project risk management tools highlight potential pitfalls, empowering proactive strategies to mitigate uncertainty. And finally, project portfolio management tools provide a bird’s-eye view of all ongoing endeavors, allowing for better decision-making and resource allocation across multiple projects.

By leveraging these tools effectively and integrating them into your project management processes, you can elevate your team’s performance, foster collaboration, and achieve project success with greater ease. So, as you embark on your next venture, remember to arm yourself with the appropriate tools from each category to steer your team toward excellence.

Happy managing, and may your projects be filled with success and satisfaction!

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