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Managing projects can be daunting, especially if you’re not using the right tools.
Without the right tools, project management can quickly become overwhelming. You’ll spend more time tracking progress and figuring out what’s going on than you will be working on your projects.
Check out our top 13 project management software for small businesses in 2022! These tools will help you quickly create and track tasks, assign them to team members, and get a quick overview of each project’s progress.
How to choose the right project management software
When choosing a project management software for your small business, there are several important factors to consider. Of course, the most crucial criterion is likely the software’s ability to meet the specific needs of your business. Other factors to consider include:
- User Interface: How easy is the software to use? Can you easily create and manage projects? Are the features easy to understand and navigate?
- Flexibility: How flexible is the software? Can you easily adjust it to meet your specific needs? Does it allow for collaboration between team members?
- Pricing: How much does the software cost? Is there a free trial period? Is there a discount for small businesses?
- Integrations: How well does the software integrate with other project management tools? Can it easily share data with other applications?
- Support: How good is the customer support? Is there a help desk or user manual available? Are there online forums or groups for users to discuss the software?
Important Features of Project Management
Project management is the process of organizing and managing resources to achieve specific goals. Several important project management features can help you be more successful in achieving your goals.
Some key project management features include task management, time tracking, resource management, user role management, kanban board, and report and analysis.
→ Task Management
Task Management is managing a project by dividing it into tasks, assigning them to specific team members, and tracking the progress of each task. Good task management software will help you to:
- Assign tasks to specific team members
- Track the progress of each task
- Set deadlines for each task
- Get alerts when tasks are due
- Send reminders to team members about upcoming deadlines
- Generate reports on the progress of a project
→ Time Tracking
Time tracking is an essential feature of any project management software, as it allows you to track how much time you spend on each task. This can help determine whether a task is taking longer than expected and help you budget your time more effectively.
There are several different time tracking features available, but some of the most popular include:
- Time tracking by task
- Time tracking by project
- Time tracking by client
- Time tracking by employee
Each feature has its benefits, and you’ll need to decide which one is right for your business. However, they can help you keep track of your time more effectively and ensure that you’re using your time efficiently.
→ Resource Management
Project managers need to manage resources to complete projects successfully and effectively. This includes, but is not limited to, people, money, and equipment.
Good project management software should help managers track these resources and monitor the project’s progress.
→ User Role Management
User role management is critical for any project manager who wants to keep their project organized and on track.
It ensures everyone has the necessary information and that no one can make changes without authorization. In addition, this feature allows the project manager to assign specific roles and permissions to team members.
→ Kanban Board
Kanban boards are one of the critical features of project management software for small businesses. They allow you to track the progress of your tasks and see which ones are closest to being completed. This can help you stay on top of your work and ensure that no tasks fall through the cracks.
→ Report & Analysis
An important feature of project management software is generating reports and analyses. This allows you to track the progress of your projects and identify any potential issues that may arise. Reports and analyses can also help you assess the impact of changes to your project schedule or budget.
Related: Creating and Managing Project Timelines
Overview Of The Best Project Management Software For Small Business
There are several project management software solutions available on the market today. But which one is the best for small businesses? Here is a list of the best project management software for small businesses, based on our findings:
1. Monday.com
Monday.com is a cloud-based project management software that helps small businesses manage their projects more effectively. It offers a variety of features such as task management, file sharing, and communication tools that allow team members to collaborate more efficiently.
Additionally, Monday.com provides users with insights and analytics to help them make better decisions about their projects. Monday.com is the best project management software for small businesses with its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing.
Monday does the heavy lifting that you don’t have time for to get back to growing your business. It’s designed around everyday tasks and offers multiple plans at various price points with tools like Google Drive integration and CRM.
The Basic plan is $8/month and includes prioritized customer support and 5 GB of file storage. The Standard plan is $10/month and offers a calendar view, guest access, and up to 5 boards. The Pro plan is $16/month and consists of private boards, time tracking, and additional integrations and customizations. And the Enterprise plan is priced on a custom basis for businesses with more than 50 boards, Advanced reporting & analytics, and premium support!
With Monday, you can try out the Solo plan for free for 14 days to see if it’s a good fit for your business. After that, you can choose to upgrade to one of the paid plans or continue using the Solo plan at no cost with limited features. Whichever plan you choose, you’ll get access to Monday’s world-class customer support.
Related: Monday.com Review
2. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is a web-based application that allows team members to collaborate on projects, control costs, reduce paperwork and manage schedules to ensure timely project completion.
The software enables easier collaboration with colleagues within the same organization or across geographical regions by giving you an easy way to share documents and content online. You can also communicate with team members using the inbuilt chat application or send them updates and notifications via email.
With Zoho Projects, you can create custom project templates to save time setting up new projects. The software also includes a range of reports and dashboards that give insights into your project’s progress, budget, and performance.
The software offers Gantt charts, resource allocation, time tracking, reports and dashboards, CRM integration, and more.
Zoho Projects starts with a plan that is always free and also provides a free trial for its project management software so that small businesses can try it out before committing to a paid subscription. In addition, the pricing plans are designed to be affordable for small businesses, with the entry-level plan costing only $5 per month.
Related: Zoho CRM
3. Asana
Asana is a web-based and mobile project management software that enables users to manage their projects collaboratively. It offers a range of features such as task management, assigning tasks to team members, tracking progress, creating reports, setting deadlines, and more. Asana aims to help teams organize and track their work to focus on their goals and achieve better results.
In Asana Projects, you can manage all the tasks within your current project with due dates and priorities; As in-context collaboration comments: teammates’ tasks appear on their task list as they work. In addition, it enables casual conversation or formal communications around tasks.
Asana is a great way to share tasks and organize projects with your team members. It’s also straightforward because no long sign-up forms or credit card details are necessary to get started–just a name and email address!
Asana also has integrations with Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and JIRA Cloud, making it easy to manage projects with those tools. In addition, Harvest is also integrated with Asana, so you can easily keep track of time spent on tasks and bill clients accordingly.
Asana’s free basic plan is excellent for small businesses because it offers many helpful features for managing projects. The free version of Asana is for teams of up to 15 people, and Asana Premium costs $10.99 per user per month when billed annually and $13.49 per user per month when billed monthly. In addition, Asana offers many helpful features for managing projects, such as task lists, kanban boards, and Gantt charts.
Related: ClickUp vs Asana
4. nTask
The nTask platform is a comprehensive solution for managing projects and tasks. It offers a Scheduling feature that enables users to create a project timeline and track deadlines.
The Prioritization feature lets users rank tasks by importance, while the Tracking feature monitors task completion status. The Comments & Notes feature allows team members to communicate and collaborate on tasks.
NTask is an effective way to break down your work into manageable, achievable goals. It has interactive reports and dashboards that help you see the big picture while being good with details. With NTask, there are no excuses for unfinished agendas.
If a project needs more than one person to get anywhere, NTask’s assign and collaborates feature will come in handy. You can create tasks, subtasks, and milestones; assign them to team members, and track their progress in one place.
Plus, with task tracking reports that are updated in real-time, you’ll always know what’s going on with your project. And if you’re the kind of person who likes things organized and visual, the task visualization feature will help you see your project’s progress at a glance.
5. GanttPRO
Not just a project planner, GanttPRO is designed for business users who need to create dynamic work schedules, assign jobs and costs to resources, maintain job priority lists, develop reporting and analysis capabilities, and create network diagrams.
This robust PM software offers many time-saving features such as direct entry of tasks with complete date flexibility, drag and drop scheduling, automatic calculation of critical paths, and resource utilization.
Additionally, GanttPRO offers a free 30-day trial, so you can try it before buying it. GanttPRO integrates with many popular tools and services, including Google Drive, Slack, and Jira Cloud.
It has project time-tracking, resource management, work breakdown structure building, and milestone tracking (e.g., Gantt Chart). It will be valuable to any busy small business owner who would like more control of their day-to-day tasks by delegating them to team members and tracking their progress.
GanttPRO offers several pricing plans, the most affordable of which is the Individual plan. This costs $15 per month and allows for one user. Team plans start at $8.90 per user per month, with discounts available for those who purchase annually.
Custom team plans are also available, so businesses can get the needed features. In addition, with its various pricing plans, companies can find a plan that fits their needs and budget. And with its user-friendly interface, GanttPRO is simple enough for even those without project management experience to use.
6. Wrike
Wrike is a project management software that supports collaborative teamwork. Not only can you assign and track the status of your tasks, but you can also submit comments, chat with your teammates and delegate responsibility across departments on projects.
Wrike’s integration with Google Drive allows everyone to share data in real-time without manually updating files like Excel sheets or Word docs.
It is a powerful yet easy-to-use project management software that helps teams collaborate and get work done faster. In addition, the free plan now allows unlimited users, making it great for small businesses.
The Professional plan costs $9.80 per user/month and includes advanced security, admin controls, and reporting. The Business plan costs $24.80 per user/month and includes all of the features in the professional plan plus custom branding, dedicated support, and more.
In Wrike, you will find plenty of valuable features for tracking work, including the capacity to organize tasks in manageable buckets and set reminders and notifications by sending updates through email or SMS messages when something needs attention.
Seeing what everyone is working on and when they are working on it in real-time is a great way to keep your complex projects organized and moving forward. You can also attach files from your computer or Google Drive and drag and drop them into Wrike for easy organization.
7. Kintone
Kintone is a web-based platform enabling businesses to create custom apps without programming quickly. With Kintone, you can easily track your company’s data and processes through customizable dashboards and reports. Additionally, you can access your app anywhere, anytime, on any device. This gives employees the flexibility to get their work done from anywhere.
The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom fields, forms, and workflows to manage your sales and customer service processes.
You can also create automations to streamline your workflow and make it easier to track your progress.
Kintone also offers a variety of integrations with other software, such as Salesforce, Google Drive, and Zapier, that make it easy to connect your data and workflows with the tools you’re already using. Plus, Kintone is available on both desktop and mobile devices so that you can manage multiple projects from anywhere.
It’s easy for users to respond online using the commenting system or offer feedback via polls. Kintone plans start at $24/mo per user and have a minimum requirement of five users.
8. Celoxis
Celoxis is a comprehensive project management software that enables small businesses to manage projects, resources, and client collaboration in one central location.
The software offers a variety of features such as portfolio management, team collaboration, resource management, project planning, project accounting, and project request tracking. Celoxis is an easy-to-use software that helps small businesses to stay organized and efficient in their project management process.
It is an excellent solution for small businesses looking for all-in-one project management software. It also offers a client portal that allows clients to access project information and updates. In addition, Celoxis is affordable for small businesses looking for sophisticated project management software.
Celoxis offers many customizations, so you can tailor the software to your specific needs. For example, you can customize the user interface report templates, fields, and workflows. Celoxis also offers a variety of integrations, so you can connect the software to other tools and applications you use.
The CLOUD plan is a subscription-based plan that costs $22.5 per user per month. This plan includes all of the features of the software.
The ON-PREMISE plan is a licensed plan that costs $450 per user. This plan includes all of the software’s features and priority support from the Celoxis team. In addition, the ON-PREMISE plan allows businesses to host the software on their server.
Both plans include access to updates and upgrades for the life of the subscription or license. Celoxis offers a free trial for both plans, so you can try out the software before committing to a plan. However, you need at least five licensed users who have purchased the software.
9. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a cloud-based collaborative project management software that enables users to create and manage tasks, track progress, and share files. In addition, it offers a variety of features such as a Gantt chart view, resource management, and customizable reports to help users manage their projects effectively.
Smartsheet integrates with other popular applications such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft Office 365, making it a versatile tool for small businesses.
Users can share their information with others and even collaborate on that data without switching apps with the connector functionality. In addition, connectors are a premium capability available for additional fees to customers with Business and Enterprise plans.
This added functionality makes Smartsheet an even more valuable tool for businesses that need to manage projects and collaborate with other stakeholders.
The Premium add-ons offer businesses an enterprise-level comprehensive and user-friendly solution, making it a great option for small businesses.
Smartsheet dynamic view also helps businesses manage their projects more efficiently. All the features of Smartsheet make it one of the best project management apps.
Priced at $7 per month for Pro users and $25 per user/month for Business users, Smartsheet is a great value for the features it offers. Moreover, if you want to sign-up for the Enterprise plan, you will have to contact the company for a custom quote.
10. LiquidPlanner
LiquidPlanner is a powerful project management software designed for businesses of all sizes. It offers a variety of features that can help you manage your projects more effectively, including task scheduling, Gantt charts, and reporting tools.
LiquidPlanner also offers a unique “priority” feature that helps you rank your tasks based on their importance. This can be a valuable tool for small businesses, as it can help ensure that your most important projects are always given the attention they deserve.
LiquidPlanner’s Predictive Scheduling feature can help small businesses manage their projects more effectively. This feature uses artificial intelligence to predict how long a task will take and automatically updates the schedule accordingly.
This can be a valuable tool for businesses often faced with unexpected delays. It can help you stay on track and ensure that your projects are completed on time.
Collaboration tools allow you to work with team members from anywhere globally, which can be a valuable asset for businesses with employees in different parts of the globe.
The Built-in Learning Academy can help you get the most out of the software. The academy offers a variety of tutorials and videos that can help you learn how to use the software’s features effectively. You can also participate in online courses and webinars to help you get the most out of LiquidPlanner.
LiquidPlanner’s pricing plans are designed to be flexible and affordable. The free plan offers a great way for small businesses to get started with the software. The professional and ultimate plans are packed with features and capabilities and customized to fit your needs. Depending on your preference, you can also choose a monthly or annual subscription plan.
11. ConnectWise Manage
ConnectWise Manage is a great project management solution designed for small businesses. It offers a wide range of features that can help you manage your projects effectively and efficiently. Some features include task management, time tracking, billing, and report generation.
With ConnectWise Manage, you can easily create and manage tasks. You can set due dates and track the progress of each task. This feature ensures that each task is completed on time and within budget.
ConnectWise Manage offers a time tracking feature that allows you to track the time spent on each task. This information can be used to generate reports, invoices, and bills.
Moreover, You can specify the amount of time spent on each task, the rate per hour, and the taxes that should be applied. This can be used to generate accurate invoices and bills.
The report generation feature in ConnectWise Manage allows you to create detailed reports on your projects. For example, you can view the amount of time spent on each task, the budget, and the expenses. This information can help you track the progress of your project and make necessary adjustments.
It integrates with other popular software such as QuickBooks and Salesforce.com. This allows you to manage your projects more effectively and efficiently. For example, you can import data from QuickBooks into ConnectWise Manage to generate invoices and bills. You can also import data from Salesforce.com to track the progress of your project.
ConnectWise Manage offers Basic, Standard, and Premium plans. All plannings are based on custom pricing; however, you can get a free trial for any of these plans.
If you are not satisfied with the features offered by the standard or premium plans, you can downgrade to the basic plan. You can also upgrade to a higher plan at any time. ConnectWise Manage is designed to help you manage your projects effectively and efficiently.
12. Trello
Trello is a popular project management tool for small businesses. It’s simple to use and can be customized to fit your needs. For example, you can create boards to track your projects and add cards to the boards with all the information you need. You can also invite team members to collaborate on projects and track progress and deadlines.
Codeless automation allows you to automate tasks with minimal effort, so you can focus on your work and not worry about the little things. Trello also integrates with some third-party apps, allowing you to get the most out of your project management.
Some of the integrations include Google Drive, Evernote, and Dropbox. This allows you to easily access your project files and notes and keep everything in one place. You can also create automation with IFTTT and Zapier.
Trello offers a free plan and three paid plans: Standard, Premium, and Enterprise. The Standard plan costs $5 per month per user and includes unlimited boards and cards, file attachments, and integrations.
The Premium plan costs $10 per month per user and includes custom fields, priority support, and more. The Enterprise plan costs $17.50 per month per user and includes features like unlimited teams, detailed usage reports, and more. You can also add team members to any paid plans for free.
13. Redmine
Redmine is a project management software that helps small businesses to organize and manage their projects. Redmine also allows you to create custom fields and track your project’s budget. Redmine is open-source software, which means that it is free to use. It can be installed on your server or used as a hosted solution.
Time tracking is one of the most important features of this software, as it allows you to track how much time you spend on each task. This can help you stay on budget and ensure that your projects are completed on schedule. Another great feature of Redmine is its ability to create Gantt charts.
Gantt charts allow you to visualize your project’s timeline and see which tasks depend on each other. This can be extremely helpful for project planning.
Redmine also offers a variety of plugins, which can add additional features to your instance. For example, there are plugins for time tracking, budgeting, and issue tracking. Overall, Redmine is a great project management software for small businesses. It is free to use, has various features, and can be customized with plugins.
Related: Best Free CRM Software
What Can You Do With a Project Management App?
Quite a lot. Project management apps can help you track your projects, assign tasks to team members, and track deadlines and progress. They can also help you keep everything organized and in one place.
Many project management apps also integrate with third-party apps to work more efficiently.
And some even offer automations to help you save time. So if you’re looking for a way to streamline your work and get more organized, a project management app might be just what you need.
Related: Best Softwares for Small Business
Closing Thoughts
Project management software can be a lifesaver for small businesses struggling to keep track of everything. By automating tasks and organizing projects into one place, this software can help you stay on top of deadlines and avoid overlap or confusion.
Despite these drawbacks, project management solutions can be an excellent option for small businesses that need to manage projects but can’t afford or don’t have the resources for a more traditional software suite. In addition, cloud-based project management software often includes features like task lists, file sharing, and Gantt charts that can help businesses track their progress and stay on schedule.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the number of tasks you have to do, or if you’re struggling to keep track of multiple projects at once, consider investing in project management software!
