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.

Small Teams

Entry Price
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$10/month

ClickUp

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Rank 1

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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.

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8.6/10
Ease of Use
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7.4/10
Support
Show details
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Pricing
Plan 1
$10
Plan 2
$19
Plan 3
Custom
Free Plan
Yes
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Support
24/7 Support
Yes
Email
Yes
Chat
Yes
Phone
No
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Access
Number of Projects
Unlimited
Number of Tasks
Unlimited
Number of Users
Unlimited
Storage
Unlimited
Mobile App
Yes
Desktop App
Yes
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Project Views
Board / Kanban
Yes
List / Grid / Table
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Map
Yes
Timeline
Yes
Gantt
Yes
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Features
Tasks & Sub-tasks
Yes
Start & Due Dates
Yes
Priorities
Yes
Milestones
Yes
Task Dependencies
Yes
Project Templates
Yes
Checklists
Yes
Automated Workflows
Yes
Time Tracking
Yes
Project Budgeting
Yes
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Integrations
No. of Native Integrations
56
Slack
Yes
Gmail
Yes
Microsoft 365
Yes
Dropbox
Yes
Google Drive
Yes
Google Calendar
Yes
GitHub
Yes
HubSpot
Yes
Salesforce
Yes
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Administration
Project Dashboard
Yes
Reporting
Yes
Custom Fields
Yes
Project Portfolios
Yes
Goals
Yes
Workload Management
Yes
User Permissions
Yes
Data Export
Yes
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Security
Two-Factor Authentication
Yes
Audit Logs
No
SSO
No
SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance
Yes
SAML
No
SCIM
No
Data Backups
Yes
Domain Specific Access
No

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

Entry Price
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$13.49/month

Asana

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Rank 2

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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.

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9/10
Ease of Use
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7.7/10
Support
Show details
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Pricing
Plan 1
$13.49
Plan 2
$30.49
Plan 3
-
Free Plan
Yes
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Support
24/7 Support
No
Email
Yes
Chat
Yes
Phone
No
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Access
Number of Projects
Unlimited
Number of Tasks
Unlimited
Number of Users
Unlimited
Storage
Unlimited
Mobile App
Yes
Desktop App
Yes
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Project Views
Board / Kanban
Yes
List / Grid / Table
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Map
No
Timeline
Yes
Gantt
Yes
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Features
Tasks & Sub-tasks
Yes
Start & Due Dates
Yes
Priorities
Yes
Milestones
Yes
Task Dependencies
Yes
Project Templates
Yes
Checklists
Yes
Automated Workflows
Yes
Time Tracking
No
Project Budgeting
No
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Integrations
No. of Native Integrations
291
Slack
Yes
Gmail
Yes
Microsoft 365
Yes
Dropbox
Yes
Google Drive
Yes
Google Calendar
Yes
GitHub
Yes
HubSpot
Yes
Salesforce
No
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Administration
Project Dashboard
Yes
Reporting
Yes
Custom Fields
Yes
Project Portfolios
No
Goals
No
Workload Management
No
User Permissions
Yes
Data Export
No
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Security
Two-Factor Authentication
Yes
Audit Logs
No
SSO
Yes
SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance
Yes
SAML
No
SCIM
No
Data Backups
No
Domain Specific Access
No

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

Entry Price
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$9/month

Birdview

star
Rank 3

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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.

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8.2/10
Ease of Use
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6.7/10
Support
Show details
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Pricing
Plan 1
$9
Plan 2
$19
Plan 3
Custom
Free Plan
No
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Support
24/7 Support
No
Email
Yes
Chat
Yes
Phone
Yes
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Access
Number of Projects
Unlimited
Number of Tasks
Unlimited
Number of Users
Unlimited
Storage
100 GB
Mobile App
Yes
Desktop App
No
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Project Views
Board / Kanban
Yes
List / Grid / Table
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Map
No
Timeline
No
Gantt
Yes
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Features
Tasks & Sub-tasks
Yes
Start & Due Dates
Yes
Priorities
Yes
Milestones
Yes
Task Dependencies
Yes
Project Templates
Yes
Checklists
Yes
Automated Workflows
Yes
Time Tracking
Yes
Project Budgeting
Yes
icon
Integrations
No. of Native Integrations
74
Slack
Yes
Gmail
Yes
Microsoft 365
Yes
Dropbox
Yes
Google Drive
No
Google Calendar
Yes
GitHub
Yes
HubSpot
No
Salesforce
Yes
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Administration
Project Dashboard
Yes
Reporting
Yes
Custom Fields
Yes
Project Portfolios
Yes
Goals
Yes
Workload Management
Yes
User Permissions
Yes
Data Export
Yes
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Security
Two-Factor Authentication
Yes
Audit Logs
Yes
SSO
Yes
SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance
Yes
SAML
Yes
SCIM
Yes
Data Backups
Yes
Domain Specific Access
Yes

Pros

  • Lots of features

  • Cross-project dependencies

  • High security standards on all plans

Cons

  • No free plan available

Entry Price
info
$9/month

Nifty

star
Rank 4

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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.

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9.1/10
Ease of Use
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6.3/10
Support
Show details
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Pricing
Plan 1
$9
Plan 2
$16
Plan 3
$25
Free Plan
Yes
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Support
24/7 Support
Yes
Email
Yes
Chat
Yes
Phone
No
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Access
Number of Projects
40
Number of Tasks
Unlimited
Number of Users
10
Storage
100 GB
Mobile App
Yes
Desktop App
Yes
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Project Views
Board / Kanban
Yes
List / Grid / Table
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Map
No
Timeline
Yes
Gantt
Yes
icon
Features
Tasks & Sub-tasks
Yes
Start & Due Dates
Yes
Priorities
Yes
Milestones
Yes
Task Dependencies
Yes
Project Templates
Yes
Checklists
Yes
Automated Workflows
Yes
Time Tracking
Yes
Project Budgeting
Yes
icon
Integrations
No. of Native Integrations
9
Slack
Yes
Gmail
No
Microsoft 365
Yes
Dropbox
No
Google Drive
Yes
Google Calendar
Yes
GitHub
Yes
HubSpot
No
Salesforce
No
icon
Administration
Project Dashboard
Yes
Reporting
Yes
Custom Fields
Yes
Project Portfolios
Yes
Goals
Yes
Workload Management
No
User Permissions
Yes
Data Export
Yes
icon
Security
Two-Factor Authentication
Yes
Audit Logs
Yes
SSO
No
SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance
Yes
SAML
No
SCIM
No
Data Backups
Yes
Domain Specific Access
Yes

Pros

  • Extensive range of features

  • Milestone dependencies available

  • File proofing

Cons

  • Limited access to projects and tasks

  • Limited number of integrations

Entry Price
info
$69.95/month

Teamwork

star
Rank 5

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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

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8.5/10
Ease of Use
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8.8/10
Support
Show details
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Pricing
Plan 1
$69.95
Plan 2
$124.95
Plan 3
Custom
Free Plan
Yes
icon
Support
24/7 Support
No
Email
Yes
Chat
Yes
Phone
Yes
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Access
Number of Projects
300
Number of Tasks
Unlimited
Number of Users
Unlimited
Storage
100 GB
Mobile App
Yes
Desktop App
Yes
icon
Project Views
Board / Kanban
Yes
List / Grid / Table
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Map
No
Timeline
No
Gantt
Yes
icon
Features
Tasks & Sub-tasks
Yes
Start & Due Dates
Yes
Priorities
No
Milestones
Yes
Task Dependencies
Yes
Project Templates
Yes
Checklists
Yes
Automated Workflows
Yes
Time Tracking
Yes
Project Budgeting
No
icon
Integrations
No. of Native Integrations
95
Slack
Yes
Gmail
Yes
Microsoft 365
Yes
Dropbox
Yes
Google Drive
Yes
Google Calendar
Yes
GitHub
No
HubSpot
Yes
Salesforce
No
icon
Administration
Project Dashboard
Yes
Reporting
No
Custom Fields
No
Project Portfolios
No
Goals
Yes
Workload Management
Yes
User Permissions
Yes
Data Export
Yes
icon
Security
Two-Factor Authentication
No
Audit Logs
Yes
SSO
Yes
SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance
Yes
SAML
No
SCIM
No
Data Backups
Yes
Domain Specific Access
Yes

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.

Quim P.

Updated: Oct 25, 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.