Best Project Management Software for Small Teams & Businesses
We evaluated 45+ popular providers in the following list to determine the best project management software for small businesses and teams.
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Small Teams
ClickUp
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ClickUp is a versatile platform that blends task management with plenty of other features and automation capabilities, catering to a wide range of industries. Its unique selling point is its highly customizable interface, allowing users to tailor it extensively to their specific workflow needs.
Pros
Large range of project views
Comprehensive set of features
Great administrative controls
Excellent price-performance ratio
Cons
Can feel overwhelming for new users
Advanced security measures are only available for higher plans
Does not provide domain specific access
Asana
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Asana revolutionizes team collaboration with its intuitive design, seamlessly integrating task management with resource tracking. It's a favorite for its user-friendly interface and robust integrations, empowering teams to streamline workflows.
Pros
Intuitive and easy to use
Extensive range of native integrations
Cons
Limited to basic features
Lacks administrative controls
Does not provide domain specific access
Does not support budgeting
Birdview
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Targeted at mid to large-sized companies, Birdview excels in handling complex projects with features like resource management and advanced reporting. Its unique advantage is its adaptive AI, which helps predict project timelines and allocate resources efficiently.
In top 3 for
Pros
Lots of features
Cross-project dependencies
High security standards on all plans
Cons
No free plan available
Nifty
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Nifty stands out with its milestone-driven approach, helping teams manage projects through goal setting and progress tracking. It's particularly known for its sleek interface and integrated document collaboration tools.
In top 3 for
Pros
Extensive range of features
Milestone dependencies available
File proofing
Cons
Limited access to projects and tasks
Limited number of integrations
Teamwork
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Teamwork excels in helping service agencies manage their client work efficiently, with strong time tracking and billing features. It's unique for its client portal, which enhances client-agency collaboration.
In top 3 for
Pros
Excellent customer support
Extensive integrations available
Good security measures
Cons
Slightly expensive
Not so easy to use
Does not offer timeline view
- Our ranking applies to each individual plan that a provider offers. Subsequently, the scores of each plan are merged using a dynamically weighted model.
Choosing a project management solution for your team is always a great idea, whether you're a small or large business. Project management software helps you harmonize your team's efforts, streamline operations, and improve productivity. And if you have a smaller business, this is essential for growth and staying ahead of the competition.
But with many solutions on the market, making that choice is not always easy. How do you pick a project management solution for your small team that will help improve your agility and productivity? There are several critical factors to look out for, which will help you make the right decision. We've created this article to help you understand and consider these factors when choosing. Read on to find out what we've uncovered in our research.
What Makes the Best Project Management Software for Businesses?
Below are the critical factors you need to consider when choosing a project management solution for your team:
Simple and easy-to-use interface
One of the greatest strengths of a small team is its agility. You can impress your clients and edge out the competition when you're fast. To enhance your speed of delivery, having excellent project management software that's easy to use is extremely valuable. With simple, bugless software, your team can carry out tasks seamlessly from start to finish with little lag. You'll also be able to guarantee high-quality output, further increasing your competitiveness. Before picking a project management solution, explore and play around with the tool a little to ensure it is easy to use. For more information on ease-of-use project management solutions, check out this page.
Good features
The primary use of project management software is to ensure smooth and adequate project planning. When picking project management software, ensure it has sufficient features to meet your project planning, execution, management, and tracking requirements. From task creation and assigning to time tracking and task dependencies, a great suite of features will help you derive significant value from your team. While small businesses require fewer features and options for customization, it should still allow you to do everything you want to use it for. Here you can read more about choosing a project management solution with great features.
Useful integrations
Project management tools are great, but they're not necessarily designed for certain specialized activities for each department. For example, word processing and document editing are best done in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, and spreadsheets are best done in spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. To ensure that your team can use the tools they know and love seamlessly while using your project management tool, you may want to get software that supports such integrations. Software integrations help to streamline the project execution pipeline, ensuring that your team stays maximally productive.
Affordable pricing
While you want to allow your team to do better, there's no need to break the bank. That's why affordable pricing is an important factor in deciding for most small businesses. When choosing a reasonable solution, do ensure it also meets your specifications. This way, you'll win on both ends. If you are very tight on a budget and looking to find the cheapest solutions for your small team, you can check them out here.
Project views
Project views help you stay on top of the project and help you know how to keep your team motivated. They're also crucial for helping you as a team leader see where you need to make changes or adjust plans. When picking a project management solution, ensure it offers efficient viewing options so that you can quickly grasp your progress and understand where you need to make changes. From Kanban to simple lists and other views, you can check for many options. Look for the ones you use or prefer the most before choosing a solution.
Access
When choosing a project management solution for your small team, it's helpful to ensure that it supports access through multiple devices and offers enough storage to save files. Multiple access options will allow your team to work from their phone or desktop app to stay agile at all times. Click here to learn more about how you can confirm that your team's chosen project management solution has all the access options and how we make our in-depth assessments in this category.
Security
The security of company and client data is a high priority in any project. It's essential to ensure adequate options to guarantee that only authorized persons access data. Additionally, you should check for cloud storage options to keep your data protected and safe from loss or compromise while staying compliant with regulations. Want to know more about security options to check for while picking a project management solution? Read about it here.
10 Best Project Management Software for Small Teams
How to Choose a Project Management Software for Your Small Business
Picking the best project management solution for your team requires understanding your team first. While selecting a project management solution, choosing a solution that helps complement your team's strengths and facilitates improvement where needed is essential. Ensure to pick a robust solution in the areas we've highlighted in this article, but also keep the emphasis on the areas you consider most critical for your business.
Want to find a solution that meets your tailored requirements? Check out our finder tool. And if you need to compare multiple project management software to determine the best one for your team, you can try our comparison tool.
Quim P.
Updated: Sep 22, 2024
Project management enthusiast who loves building a good working atmosphere in organizations. Good project management means making team members and clients feel comfortable at every stage of the process. Change my mind.
FAQ
Is getting a free plan a good option for my team?
Free plans can be an excellent idea for your team, especially for small businesses where you only handle a few projects initially. If you don't plan to scale significantly, you may be okay with a free plan for quite some time. But if you intend to increase your business in a short period, it may be worthwhile to begin upgrading to a paid plan.
What is most important when choosing a project management software – features or usability?
Both factors are critical, so it's best to find the right balance between the two when choosing a solution for your small team. The right balance will also depend on your team member's skills, experience, and expertise. If your team comprises tech-savvy individuals comfortable with loads of features, then a feature-rich solution would be best for you. If your team has a bit more diversity in skills level, then a more straightforward tool will probably do you better.