Top Project Management Software 2024 (Free & Paid)
In this post, we’re going to introduce and review several free and paid project management software. Let’s take a look at the top-notch project tracking and planning tools and find the most suitable one for you and your team to boost productivity at work.
1. Quire
If you’re doing some research online for the best online project management software on Capterra or G2Crowd, you must have come across Quire as one of the top rated project tracking and collaboration tools for business owners.
The intuitive and simple user interface is always a dealbreaker for anyone who comes across a new project management tool. Quire developer team has spent years of effort to strive for a delicate balance between simplicity and the powerful features. The elegant and intuitive interface is one of the aspects that Quire users appreciate the most.
You can get your teams on board with Quire set up each member with different roles and permissions. Quire allows you to create and manage all of your tasks categorized into different projects. With the hierarchical structure, all of your complex projects can be neatly organized and easily collaborated with other team members.
A lot of the project management software or project planning software adopt to-do list as one of the key features. However, Quire brought the flat to-do list to another level and introduced an infinite nested task list - unlimited tasks and subtasks that help you break down big ideas into smaller and doable tasks.
If your team has been working with a whiteboard with sticky notes for a long time, Quire exceptional Kanban board is a perfect option. Unlike other project management platforms, with Quire you can tackle your projects and get focused with both Kanban board and nested task list as a perfect duo.
The best thing with Quire is, you can switch between nested task list and Kanban board at anytime to get the best of both worlds. Quire is one of the very few, if not saying the first project planning platform allow this.
A good project tracking and planning software must have the simplest and most straightforward workflow to let teammates collaborate seamlessly with each other. Your team will always stay in sync with Quire real-time collaboration feature. You can access your projects using your mobile phones and web browsers at anytime. Not many project management solution can keep your data updated in real-time!
To put in a nutshell, Quire is not only an cloud-based project management software, Quire can help to drive your business to success!
Some more amazing features that make Quire your best investment:
- Nested Task list: Breakdown big tasks and organize with structured list.
- Kanban Board: Focus on selected crucial tasks in a short period of time.
- Sublist: For one to-do list, create as many sub-lists as you wish to focus on which matters the most to you.
- Timeline: A beautiful Gantt chart that helps to map out team schedules in the most intuitive way.
- Multiple Assignees: Assign a task to the people who are responsible for it.
- Schedule: Set start date, start time, due date, recurring date for a task to track the process.
- Project Template: Save time - duplicate a project or task to use as a template.
- Reports: A visual overview of how well each of your projects and members is performing.
- Smart Folders: View and organize tasks from different projects in one place.
- External Team: Outsource your tasks and assign to third parties without them seeing everything on your projects.
- Share Links: Send an invitation link to your clients so they can access your project without signing up.
- Integrations: Github, Slack, Google Drive, etc.
- Export and Import data: Pain-free migrating your data or export your projects to save as a local backup.
- Smart Keyboard Shortcuts: Tons of nifty shortcuts that allow you to work on your project without reaching the mouse.
- File Sharing: Easily upload a file or attach a file from Google Drive to your tasks.
You don’t have to take our word for it, see for yourself about all of the features here. Enjoy, work smart and have fun with Quire!
2. Wrike
Wrike is an online project organizer software that is designed to improve the working speed of a team or a group. The layout is very clean and simple so that users can view important data at a glance without any hassle.
One of the highlights with Wrike is the Timeline view. You can just drag and drop the task to set dependency and visualize the workflow. Wrike task list and board view are similar to other online project management tool, you can choose the layout that works best for you.
- Dashboard
- Board, task, calendar, timeline
- Integrations: Gmail, Google Drive, OneDrive, Outlook, Salesforce, etc.
- Pricing: Starting from $24.80/mo
3. Asana
Asana has always been one of the most popular project management tools. You can use Asana as a management tool to plan or track your personal tasks or a platform to collaborate with your small teams. With the Timeline feature, you will never miss a deadline with Asana. Users can choose different layout mode for each project set up, such as list, board, calendar, etc.
Asana interface uses a delightful theme with a lot of bright colors to enhance users’ productivity and working mood. However, it can be a huge drawback for anyone who is in love with the minimalist design.
- Different layout modes: tasks, boards, calendar (premium), timeline (premium)
- Scheduling a task, assignee
- Permission control (premium)
- Custom fields (premium)
- Google SSO (premium)
- Pricing: Starting from $9.99/mo
4. JIRA
Jira is a project planner trusted by many companies. Jira is designed for project managers to plan, assign and track their work. The whole workflow is customized especially for managers to collaborate with their team members. Jira has quite a few unique features and functionalities that are suitable for internal and external agile tracking and project management.
Though the complexity of its interface could be a shortcoming, Jira manages to be one of the top rated tools for agile management system.
- Unlimited custom fields
- Issue integrations and flexible REST APIs
- Advanced report
- Mobile interface
- Customizable dashboards
- Pricing: Starting from $10/mo
5. Trello
If you are looking for a free project schedule software with Kanban board, you may have come across Trello at least several times. You can set up a project with many cards representing different tasks and different boards for different progress of the project.
The visual workflow is laid out nicely as you move the cards from columns to columns despite the old fashioned interface. The sub-tasks are nested inside the card’s descriptions as checklists so you have a clean and appealing workspace. However, the lack of a list is one of the many reasons that users are seeking for a Trello alternative software.
If your team doesn’t need to work with a task list or your projects aren’t very complex, Trello appears to be a great option for project planning.
- Kanban board
- Schedule a task, stickers, labels
- Team collaboration tools
- Integrations to power up (premium)
- Permission control (premium)
- Pricing: Starting from $9.99/mo
6. TeamGantt
TeamGantt is a web-based project planning solution for SMB that needs to have a collaborative Gantt Chart to manage the projects. The software offers project tracking features, file sharing, and team communication features.
The interface is based entirely on a typical Gantt chart, which could be confusing for teams that are not familiar with this powerful feature. Users can drag and drop the task across the calendar to set dates, assign and track the progress of a project.
- Visual Gantt Chart
- Basic planning and collaboration options
- Project Milestone feature
- Pricing: Starting from $49.75/mo for 5 people team
7. Redbooth
Redbooth is a SaaS project management software. It enables users to manage portfolio, resources, time and expenses. Also, if you’re a project manager who is familiar with agile methodology, Redbooth is a good choice for you to track the progress of your team.
Redbooth can be complex at times with heavy features. The UI has been updated several times in order to create the most straightforward interface to onboard new team members.
- Agile Methodology
- Kanban board
- Client Portal
- Portfolio, resource, time & expense tracking
- Pricing: Starting from $9/mo
8. Binfire
Binfire is a simple project management software that is well-integrated and suitable for different businesses and industries. Binfire helps managers to follow and manage projects and following tasks with the six-level deep subtasks.
Binfire also enables users to plan and track projects using various methodologies, such as agile, waterfall, burnt-down chart and scrum. The project dashboard of Binfire lays out every important reports and details about a project to avoid information lost within teams.
- Project dashboard
- Collaborative project planning and tracking
- Interactive Gantt chart
- Limited tasks and subtasks
- Pricing: Starting from $5/mo
9. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is a collaborative project management software with a wide range of features that allow you to plan, schedule and track your projects, tasks and contacts. The main features of Bitrix24 include CRM & sales management and reports, time tracking, calendar view and simple project management functions.
As many other project management platforms offer, Bitrix24 also has real-time collaboration option for business to capture decisions quickly. However, if your team or company doesn’t require a hectic CRM system, maybe Bitrix24 isn’t the right project tracking app for you.
- Comprehensive CRM and sales report system
- Time management
- Calendar view
- Instant messaging feature
- Pricing: Starting from $69/mo
10. Airtable
Airtable is one of the most common project management tools online for team collaboration. Using the spreadsheet and database as the core features, Airtable is very user-friendly for those who are Excel-savvy. Recently, Airtable has also included several new views for tracking projects, such as: Calendar, Kanban board, Gallery and Form.
All the projects in Airtable can be treated as independent projects or grouped into a workspace. Teams can choose to work with different projects on different workspace. Also, if you prefer colorful theme, Airtable allows users to change the colors and do some customizations.
- Two-factor authentication
- Tasks and subtasks option
- Calendar, Kanban, Gallery, Form views
- Templates for each team
- Pricing: Starting from $10/mo
11. Paymo
Paymo is a delightful project management app that allows users to plan, schedule and track time seamlessly. No matter if you’re a freelancer or a small team, you can use Paymo as a solution to boost productivity.
The features are quite straightforward and simple, suitable for single users. Kanban board and Time tracking let team members or freelancers to keep track of their projects. The only drawback of Paymo is that if your team keeps growing, the capacity of this platform may run out before you’ve finished all of your projects.
- Task list, Kanban board
- Time tracking
- Real-time reports
- Schedule and monitor activities
- Pricing: Starting from $9.56/mo
12. Podio
Podio is a cost-efficient cloud-based project collaboration software which is highly customizable. Users can "build" their own workplace by putting different applications together and everything will be laid out in one single dashboard. The interface is simple and straightforward. You can add or remove the sections that best suit your needs.
Many reviews have stated that Podio is far from a full-fledged project management software, however, there are a lot of collaboration tools that you can take advantage of. Podio has the contact management feature that helps you set up your address book easily. The integrated chat feature enables you to stay in touch with your teammates at anytime.
- Online collaboration tool
- File sharing
- Open API
- Extensions: add-ons for better experiences
- Contact management
- Pricing: starting from $9/mo
13. Basecamp
Basecamp expands from a simple project management app to a collaborative work allocation software for teams. Now Basecamp has combined all of the features such as messaging, schedules, to-do lists, file storage, etc. to one flexible project management tool. One of the major selling points of Basecamp is the client portal feature that can be a dealbreaker for a lot of project managers.
- Cloud-based project management software
- Cross-platform availability: MacOS, Windows, iOS, Android
- 24/7 online support
- Calendar management, discussion boards, group chat
- Client portal
- Pricing: starting from $99/mo
14. Meistertask
Meistertask is a cloud-hosted project management platform that helps project administrators keep updated with the progress and details of the work scope. Though Meistertask is developed from a mind-mapping app, it still has the necessary project management tools, such as Kanban board, reporting, integration and dependency.
One of the major selling points for Meistertask is its flexible workflow. All of your teammates can instantly communicate and collaborate with each other or even share files.
- Task, subtasks, Kanban boards
- Task dependency
- Custom fields
- Integrations
- Pricing: Starting from $8.25/mo
15. Monday
Monday is a mature project management software for teams that many companies have been using. The vibrant theme is somewhat similar with Asana, which also uses very upbeat colors to promote good vibes. However, Monday user interface isn’t as simple and straightforward as other project management platforms.
Monday has various views such as board, list, chart, map, timeline, etc. which can benefit teams to keep up with their progress. Users can only choose one view for one project though. Given the powerful features, Monday is a good choice for a small creative team who handles complex projects on a daily basis. However, abundance of features can be a setback since this project tracker software requires a huge learning curve and effort, especially for initial setup.
- Different layout modes: tasks, boards, calendar, timeline (Standard package and above)
- Permission control (Standard package and above)
- iOS and Android Apps
- File Storage: 5GB (Basic package) and more
- Pricing: Starting from $25/mo
