12 best project management tools to help small and medium-sized businesses and creators. |
Discover the 12 best software tools to manage your projects that are ideal for creatives and small business owners for increased productivity, reducing stress, and remain organized.
TL;DR
Get organized by using the top project management software
Project management tools are digital software that lets you organize tasks and map out the big picture targets. If you're a leader or working on your own the tools will help you accomplish more tasks in less time.
These are some of our favorite project management software options:
- Trello
- Asana
- Airtable
- ClickUp
- Amazing Marvin
- Monday
- Friyay
- Notion
- NTask
- MeisterTask
- Basecamp
- Wrike
With the right project management software in hand and you'll be well on your journey to hitting new milestones and increasing your productivity. I'm eager to see the many things you accomplish.
Right as you're about to shut down your laptop, a deadline notification pops up on your screen. The heart sinks. That project you were supposed to submit today has completely fell off your radar.
There was only an option to keep your work organized at a single location, in order to make sure you never have to miss another deadline.
With project management software, you'll be able to have all that and much more.
12 top project management tools
Editor's note: Pricing is accurate at time of publication, however it is can change with the course of. Hopefully, it only changes in the money-saving direction.
Trello
If you like to-do lists, you'll love Trello . Trello is a well-liked tools for managing projects. It uses a Kanban design to arrange the workflow, tasks, as well as other vital information about your organization.
Kanban boards are the basis of Trello's bread and butter However, you can change to the more premium edition of Trello for calendars, timelinesand tables as well as advanced dashboards.
Features:
Trello comes with templates built in for project management.
Task cards that are detailed can be used to create checklists, upload files as well as assign team members, make remarks, and even add deadline dates.
Who it's best for:
Designers that mainly require project management features and who are not as concerned about creating workflows
People who need a wide selection of Kanban board templates to aid them to get started
Teams who require small-business project management software
Pricing:
Free-of-cost plan
Standard: $6/month
Premium: $12.50/month
Enterprise: Starting at $17.50/month/user
Asana
Asana is renowned as a flexible and adaptable organizational system for groups and individuals alike. One of the things I enjoy most about Asana is the ability to quickly switch between a display view of the board, a list view, and calendar view with just a few clicks, all with the free plan.
Asana Users can work on an unlimited number of tasks and projects. It also lets you choose the pre-designed templates and automated time savers to eliminate the hassle of busy tasks.
Features:
Asana makes it possible to work with your team. It allows you to assign tasks, message your team members, and even share important due dates.
The plan for free includes the view of a calendar, a board layout, and the list view.
The business and premium plans come with time-line views, other dashboards and reports, as well as advanced.
Asana offers more than 100 Integrations, including time tracking.
Who it's best for:
Creators who are new to managing projects and are looking for an organized interface for their to-do lists
Small teams looking for built-in messages and lots of Integrations
Pricing:
Free-of-cost plan
Premium: $13.49/month
Business: $30.49/month
Airtable
If you're a fan of spreadsheets, you'll love Airtable . Airtable helps you manage, sort, and connect the information in your business using interactive spreadsheets.
Airtable allows you to see the activities of your business from several angles using views. Sort tasks using a grid view as well as gallery, calendar Gantt board, Kanban boards, and the timeline.
Automated processes can also be utilized to streamline your work. Airtable integrates with dozens of applications so that you can utilize it as a hub to manage all digital aspects of your company.
Features:
Airtable comes with several templates that will help you get started faster.
Their unique interface designer permits you to create your own programs.
The sync feature lets you to pull data from multiple sources and view the entire data in one spot.
Who it's best for:
The creators of data who are looking for a smart spreadsheet alternative
Pricing:
Free plan
Plus: $12/month
Pro: $24/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing
ClickUp
ClickUp is among my most used tools to stay on top of things and arrange large images alongside daily tasks. It claims their program helps users save one day each week, and after trying it out, I believe them.
ClickUp has a visually appealing interface which allows people and teams to track progress, visualize goals, and also communicate. In each card, ClickUp lets you create custom fields and checklists as well as subtasks and due dates.
There's also the option of an interactive document so that you can collaborate, edit, and store important information together in one spot.
Features:
All ClickUp plans include the ability to have unlimited members and tasks.
Advanced teamwork tools are available like document collaboration tools, time tracking and work management.
The ability is available to define goals and build personalized dashboards.
The advanced features have an initial learning curve but the program is extremely powerful.
Who is it best for?
Solo artists who need custom task cards with the ability to contain a lot of data
Small businesses and teams who require a robust organizational and collaboration tool
Pricing:
Free-of-cost plan
Unlimited: $9/month
Business: $19/month
Business Plus Business Plus: $29/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Amazing Marvin
Fantastic Marvin Combines minimalistic design and unique features ideal for those who love productivity.
Through Amazing Marvin, you can personalize your dashboard according to exactly your preferences. You can color-code tasks and organize your schedule and switch between different perspectives for a comprehensive view of what's in store. All you need to do is drag and drop items to organize your calendar.
There are also positive reward games that can be used to stay motivated. You can, for instance, set your preferences so that when you finish your tasks, you receive rewards.
Features:
The amazing Marvin allows you to organize your work schedule in the way you prefer. You can create sectioned to-do lists , and utilize time blockers to control your time.
Helpful productivity tools for project management have been integrated into.
The planner includes a day-to-day schedule and an overview of the week, month and year view.
If you'd like to develop healthier habits, you can use an everyday habit tracker.
The best person to recommend it to:
Individual creators that don't have a team
Creators who want a daily planning tool with advanced tools like time-blocking, habit-tracking
Pricing:
Monthly subscription: $12 per month
Lifetime deal: $300/life
Monday.com
Monday.com is a software that allows creators to reduce time by implementing custom workflows and automated processes that reduce the amount of work.
Monday.com mainly functions as the board-based system. However, more expensive plans offer timeline, Gantt, as well as calendar views.
The platform also comes with thousands of templates for various industries that can help start quickly. Whether you're working on developing software, brainstorming for on a brand new calendar of content, and managing clients who freelance, Monday has a template that fits your needs.
Features:
More than 100,000 teams make use of Monday to stay organized.
Monday is a great platform for connections, such as the Zapier integration.
This program is perfect for team collaboration since it supports real-time document editing.
Who it's best for:
Creators with teams who want to implement custom automations as well as workflows
Pricing:
Individual: Free plan for groups of up to 1-2 persons
Basic: $10/person/month
Standard: $12/person/month
Pro: $20/person/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Friyay
Friyay will bring joy back to finishing chores. It's a kind of toolbox, a vibrant productive, time-saving toolbox.
It's totally customizable and you're able to make your own dashboard by combining every module you require and everything else you'd like to.
Friyay is also a user-friendly pricing system. For most creators, the free plan is sufficient. It comes with all Friyay tools as well as the ability to have unlimited guests, users, and collaborators. If you need to add team members with more advanced capabilities, you'll pay per month on a monthly basis.
Features:
Build a work hub with modules like to-do lists, notes and file sharing, group chat, time tracking, goal tracking, and more.
Create an informational wiki to store important information for your business.
Everybody is able to access timeline views, calendar views, Kanban boards, and views of projects.
Friyay integrates to Google Drive, Slack, Box, Dropbox, and Trello.
The best person to recommend it to:
Small and creative businesses that want to design their own productivity tools from the Friyay foundational blocks
Pricing:
Free workspace: forever free
Superior workspaces: $4$ 16/month/person based on the nature of the user
Notion
If you're fond of simple and minimalistic design Try giving Notion a try. You can browse through their extensive template collection You'll likely see something that catches your attention.
Notion is a way to manage the projects and your documents in one place. The best part is that all the data stored in Notion is linked. If you've got a deadline in your calendar, link it to a task card or a team memo to help you quickly reference.
Notion excels in both the individuals and teams. Teams can use built-in collaboration tools, while independent creators are able to manage their work and personal life within one spot.
Features:
It is easy to create a team-wiki and archive internal documents in order to keep everyone on the same page.
The default settings come with daily journals, a reading list along with a schedule and a to-do list already created, however, there's so much you can add to the system.
Create projects or to-do lists with detailed task cards.
Because Notion combines note-taking and to-do lists, it's great for fields that require a lot of writing.
The best person to recommend it to:
Individuals and teams who want the ability to keep track of written notes and plans
One of the top team planners that is ideal for teams searching for a central location to keep documents and details on how to
Pricing:
Personal: Free
Personal Pro: $5/month
Team: $10/month
Enterprise: Designed for teams of large size
nTask
nTask is a highly effective software for project management designed for entrepreneurs with small businesses that require the most functionality all all in one location.
While some project planning tools depend on integrations nTask has a variety of features integrated, making it the ideal tool for users who like simplicity out of the box.
nTask excels as a software for team management. It comes with built-in time tracking, and allows users to create timesheets. It also has a unique meeting planner where participants can add agenda notes and helpful details for each scheduled meeting.
Features:
The basic plan includes a list, calendar and grid view. great for managing daily tasks.
The plan with the most premium features Gantt boards as well as Kanban boards that can handle larger projects.
You can ensure everyone knows what to do by assigning tasks to team members and giving the team members a priority.
Who is it best for?
Team-based creators as nTask gives team-management tools including timesheets and meeting planners
Pricing:
The Basics: Cost-free for individual and 5 team members.
Premium: $4/person/month
Business: $12/person/month
MeisterTask
In lieu of adding more features, MeisterTask focuses exclusively on a dashboard, tasks, and projects. It's simple and easy to set up as well as customizable to suit the workflows you want to use.
Begin by looking at your dashboard, which will allow you to view all of your projects and tasks in one location. For each project, there will be able to see an Kanban board for detailed task tracking.
Features:
MeisterTask is hosted in the EU and has more than 2 million users.
All users have an agenda section in which they can organize their task lists and plan their day.
There are numerous ways to integrate with the most popular software.
It's very easy to communicate on team projects through discussions or mentions.
The best person to recommend it to:
Developers who would like their software to be based within the EU
Teams that want to work together in one location
Pricing:
Free-of-cost plan
Pro: $8.25/month/user
Business: $20.75/month/user
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Basecamp
Basecamp is a business and project management software specifically designed for teams working remotely. The tool provides one central point for communication, so that everyone knows what to do.
In each project or department you have, there's the dashboard, which includes a messaging board, to-do lists, a schedule, and an uploading area for documents. There's also a chat room feature where the entire team can ask questions and collaborate.
Members have their own area where they can see new assignments, meetings and bookmark items.
Basecamp is praised by the customers who use it who are raving about it, and 9/10 users claim to have gained a greater understanding of their businesses since they joined.
Features:
Basecamp is great for teamwork and comes with functions like an online message board, automated check-ins, and an option for group chats.
It's easy to create to-do lists and schedules which can be assigned to coworkers.
It is possible to upload your documents and collaborate with them all in one place.
Basecamp provides client collaboration tools, ideal for any who needs a location to interact with customers.
The best person to recommend it to:
Teams looking for a central hub to manage all their projects
Freelancers who want a place to work with clients
Pricing:
Personal: No Cost
Business Monthly flat rate of $99 regardless of the size of your team is
Wrike
Wrike provides teams with the capability to oversee project activities as well as share documents and develop efficient workflows.
Project templates make it easy to begin, and Wrike has plenty of tools for communication so that you can stay in touch with the whole team from beginning.
Features:
Wrike is a time tracker that integrates as well as resource management and the management of workloads.
It is compatible with many other tools in your business stack.
Users get a customized workspace where they can see what they need to do throughout each day.
Wrike offers several plans suitable for complex projects across different industries, as well as a free version for individuals.
Who it's best for:
Professionals and teams seeking advanced small business project management instruments
Service teams and marketing teams as Wrike has specialized plans for those industries
Pricing:
Free-of-cost plan
Professional: $9.80/person/month
Business: $24.80/person/month
Enterprise: Custom for big businesses
Pinnacle: Designed specifically for large businesses
The best project planning tools are available in many kinds of sizes and shapes, and we hope this guide will help you locate the perfect tool for your needs!