Remote work is the name of the game these days—and that’s not going anywhere.
We all got a taste of what it’s like to join meetings from the comfort of our pajama pants, and we never looked back!
But we’re not alone here. In fact, three-quarters of the global workforce believes remote work is the new normal, and companies have followed suit as roughly 85% of businesses now offer flexible work policies.
With this rise in dispersed teams comes a greater need for powerful and collaborative project management software to align members on key goals and streamline daily processes.
Whether you work from home, from the office, or a little of both, project planning software is a must-have tool. Designed to assist you in every step of your workflow, project management software cuts down the time-consuming nature of project planning with features for managing tasks, teams, communication, and productivity from anywhere and at any time.
The issue we face isn’t whether we need project management software. It’s which one do we choose? Of the hundreds of tools on the market, we’ve done our homework to bring you the best of the best.
Follow along for everything you need to know about the best project management software including the top 15 tools for your business, key features, pros and cons, pricing plans, customer ratings, and more. 🙌🏼
10 Best Project Planning Tools for 2024
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat to Look for in a Project Planning Tool
The right project planning tool for you hinges entirely on your team’s unique needs. This includes the size of your team or company, the product or service you provide, whether your team collaborates in real-time, budget, and more.
That’s not all though.
More than just finding a tool that can do it all, it’s important to invest in software your team will actually use which makes UI, ease of use, and convenience a major factor to consider.
So, how do these factors really impact your decision long term and what else should you keep an eye out for before settling on your next project management software? We’ll show you!
Ease of use: Efficient project planning software should provide an intuitive and uncluttered user interface without compromising its functionality. The more accessible and easy to navigate the tool is, the more attractive it will be to each team member. Plus, fewer headaches! While the right software shouldn’t require hours-long tech training, still make sure there are plenty of customer support resources like webinars, help documents, and YouTube channels for fast solutions.
Features and functionality: Consider the software’s ability to support key project planning strategies and tools like Gantt charts, multiple project views, workflow automation, workload management, and more.
Collaboration: Especially if your team works asynchronously, make sure your project management software supports in-app chat, integrates with communication tools like Slack, and has the capacity to add comments.
Customization: Project management software works for you—not the other way around. Choose a tool that is flexible enough to scale with you and seamlessly align with your current processes and project plans. This will not only help the team adopt the tool faster but give you a fresh perspective on your workflows.
Integrations: Integrations extend the functionality of any project management software and help streamline your processes faster. Merging the power of project management software with tools you already use to manage your email, scheduling, meetings, data, and more.
Price: With so many tools at your disposal, there is no reason why you should have to break the bank for the project planning tool of your dreams. You don’t need an enterprise-worthy budget for rich features and zero compromises, trust us on this.
Customer satisfaction: Purchasing software without reading user reviews is like ordering seafood from a restaurant before looking it up on Yelp—it’ll come back to haunt you. Sure, a tool might sound great on paper, but what do its top customers think? Check official review sites like G2 or Capterra to see how well products follow through on their promises.
That might sound like a lot to ask of a single software, but it’s completely doable! We’ve sorted through every contender to bring you 10 of the very best project management tools for every team.
Summarize this article for me please15 Best Project Planning Software Tools in 2024
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is a productivity platform designed to bring teams and work together—all in one place. From daily tasks to complex projects, ClickUp’s intuitive interface creates a seamless experience for everyone to stay connected. Whether your team works asynchronously or in real-time, you’ll have the context and tools needed to keep projects moving.
Take your productivity to new heights by integrating ClickUp with your favorite apps and software so you’ll always have a single source of truth. Plus, ClickUp integrates with 1,000+ other work tools including Slack, Hubspot, Zapier, Chrome, Microsoft Teams, and more!
ClickUp features
- User roles and permissions that make it easy to work with internal and external partners
- Sharable screen recordings that can be converted directly into a task
- Automations that will simplify your workflows
- Project planning templates for every use case in the ClickUp Template Center
ClickUp pros
- Board View is separated by status columns so you can visualize where you are in your workflow with each task (useful for Sprint planning)
- Threaded comments that you can delegate to the team from any task, Doc, or Whiteboard
- Capacity planning tools like project briefs for resource management
- Task management tools like global time tracking and time estimates
ClickUp cons
- The level of customizability and the number of features available may lead to a learning curve
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7 per month per user
- Business: $12 per month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (1,400+reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)
Bonus: Download ClickUp’s project plan template for website development, non-profits, or even writing a book.
2. Hive
Hive is a project management software designed with a focus on team collaboration which shows in its variety of communication features. Project teams can collaborate with Hive Chat, Hive Mail, comments, project access, and multiple and shared inboxes.
With Hive, you can choose between the numerous ways to get your team focused on what you are working on through messages, card priority levels to alert them of urgent tasks, and tagging them in the comments.
Hive features
- Flexible views
- Instant messaging functionality
- Executive summary templates
- Portfolio management
- Time tracking
Hive pros
- Kanban boards, Gantt charts, tables, and calendars for easy planning
- Excellent communication features
- Intuitive and pleasant user interface
- Easy to integrate with various tools
Hive cons
- Steep learning curve due to the vastness of capabilities
- Limited functionality for mobile versions
- Limited views
Hive pricing
- Solo: Free
- Teams: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact Hive for details
Hive ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (370+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (150+ reviews)
3. Monday.com
Monday.com is one of the popular project management software helping project managers handle basic and complex projects. The platform enables users to easily collaborate, customize workflows, track project progress, and analyze information.
Built for transparency and collaboration, Monday offers features that allow you to handle all your tasks. Teams can view data through highly visual dashboards and manage multiple projects efficiently.
Monday features
- Resource management
- Third-party collaboration
- Reporting dashboards
- Numerous custom integrations
Monday pros
- Ability to add custom integrations with Open API architecture
- You can add freelancers as well as third-party agents
- Enables detailed reporting
Monday cons
- Integration with store inventory can be confusing
- No download or export button
Monday pricing
- Free: Accommodates up to 2 seats
- Basic: $12 per seat/month ($36 billed monthly)
- Standard: $14 per seat/month ($42 billed monthly)
- Pro: $24 per seat/month ($72 billed monthly)
Monday ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (5,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (2,000+ reviews)
4. nTask
This is another leading, free project management app built for teams and freelancers in various industries. nTask offers a simplified user interface in a robust software solution incorporating sophisticated and powerful features to manage projects in all phases.
nTask provides numerous features that help you monitor multiple projects at the same time. It lets you set the basis for an efficient project management system with its transparent and easy-to-use collaboration channel.
nTask features
- Multiple workspaces
- Visual project management to track projects
- Ability to add comments or convert comments to tasks
- Gantt charts to monitor project progress
nTask pros
- Efficient tracking
- Optimizes tasks and planning with kanban board views
- Custom statuses for a personalized workflow
nTask cons
- Lacks advanced reporting features
- Not built for large teams
nTask pricing
- Free plan
- Premium: $3/month per user
- Business: $8/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact nTask for details
nTask ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (10+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.1/5 (10+ reviews)
5. TeamGantt
TeamGantt is project planning and project management software helping project managers, teams, and organizations visualize project plans in an easy-to-use online Gantt chart.
It helps teams set project milestones, manage projects, create dependencies, and receive real-time updates. It also provides functionality to share project plans with clients, vendors, or other stakeholders—keeping everyone informed and aligned on project goals.
TeamGantt features
- Easy-to-access availability tab for resource management
- Portfolio views and reports
- Planned timeline vs. actual timeline
TeamGantt pros
- Flexible setup for project tracking
- No recipient logging in when sharing charts
- Available on Mac (Check out the best project management software for Mac)
TeamGantt cons
- Complex dependency functionality
- No in-app notifications
- Views are often behind changes
TeamGantt pricing
- Limited Free plan
- Lite: $19/month
- Pro: $49/month
- Enterprise: Starting at $99/month
TeamGantt ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (800+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (189+ reviews)
Check out these TeamGantt alternatives!
6. MeisterTask
MeisterTask is a project management software designed to help teams of all sizes and across industries collaborate on their project planning, tasks, and deadlines. It’s an Agile planning tool that offers intuitive task boards for project planning and task tracking.
MeisterTask features
- Activity stream on each board for team collaboration
- Customizable project dashboards with real-time updates
- Comment tags help keep everyone informed
- User friendly
MeisterTask pros
- Allows numerous integrations with solutions like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and GitHub
- Ability to customize project boards
- Easy team collaboration
MeisterTask cons
- Mobile app is not as powerful as the desktop app (delayed notifications)
- No dedicated task priorities feature
MeisterTask pricing
- Free plan
- Pro Plan: $14.50/month per user
- Business Plan: $29/month per user
MeisterTask ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (150+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (850+ reviews)
7. ProofHub
ProofHub is a project management software that enables teams to complete time-bound projects. It is a highly customizable platform project managers use to personalize reports, workflows, dashboards, and request forms.
ProofHub’s visual interface lets you quickly determine priorities by moving between powerful Kanban boards, table views, and interactive drag-and-drop Gantt charts to stay on top.
ProofHub features
- Good team collaboration
- Resource allocation
- Calendars for proper scheduling
- Interactive Gantt charts
- Customizable dashboard
ProofHub pros
- Customizability features
- Effective security features such as custom access rights
- Powerful mobile app for Android and iOS
ProofHub cons
- No additional functionality like budgeting
- Not built for complicated project management
ProofHub pricing
- Essential: $45/month
- Ultimate Control: $89/month
ProofHub ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (30+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (40+ reviews)
8. Teamwork
Teamwork is among the best project management software due to its core modules that focus on task management and, particularly, project planning. Teamwork’s Gantt charts, milestones feature, desktop timer for time tracking, and clean user interface makes this software a winning choice.
Teamwork features
- Intuitive task boards
- Email integration
- Color project templates and themes
- Budget management with invoicing capabilities
Teamwork pros
- Lots of customizability
- Numerous native features, like an invoicing tool for users with built-in timesheets
- Functional mobile apps
Teamwork cons
- The free plan is limited to only small teams working on a maximum of two or fewer projects
- Not meant for complex project management
Teamwork pricing
- Free Forever
- Starter: $5.99/user per month
- Deliver: $9.99/user per month
- Grow: $19.99/user per month
- Enterprise: Contact Teamwork for details
Teamwork ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (1,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (600+ reviews)
9. Toggl
Toggl is a project management tool that helps project managers keep track of project tasks and prioritize their workload. It comes with powerful project, task, and time management features that make project tracking and collaboration straightforward.
Toggl features
- Simple drag-and-drop interface for unlimited project plan timelines
- Backlog to save unscheduled project tasks
- Color-coded milestones
- Highly visual
Toggl pros
- Allows unlimited project timelines
- Best for time tracking
- Manage workloads visually
- Save unplanned tasks for later
Toggl cons
- Lacks extensive features
- The free plan is limited to solo users
Toggl pricing
- Free plan
- Team plan: $9/user per month
- Business: $15/user per month
- Enterprise plan: Contact Toggl for details
Toggl ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (1,500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,800+ reviews)
10. Trello
Another simple but fantastic project management tool on the list is Trello. Famous for its iconic cards, this application functions like supercharged sticky notes. It is an excellent tool for managing projects and various tasks and features associated with the project using Trello boards.
The Trello boards display all the information required by the project manager to organize all the activities team members must complete.
Trello features
- Easy drag-and-drop functionality
- Simple task management solution
- Allow power-ups for additional functionality
- Deadline reminders
- Email notifications
Trello pros
- User-friendly, simple interface
- Easy scheduling and task management
- Easy to upload files and attachments
- Ability to archive card records
Trello cons
- No views apart from Kanban views
- Lacks reporting functionality
- It relies on various external integrations
- No advanced features such as Gantt charts, Mind maps, and Docs
Trello pricing
- Free plan
- Standard: $5/user per month
- Premium: $10/user per month
- Enterprise: $17.50/user per month
Trello ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (12,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (22,000+ reviews)
11. Wrike
Wrike is a powerful project management tool that offers a comprehensive solution for planning, tracking, and managing projects of all sizes. With features like Gantt charts, task dependencies, and real-time updates, Wrike helps teams stay organized and productive.
Wrike features
- Gantt charts for visual project planning and timeline management
- Customizable workflows to suit different project needs
- Task dependencies to ensure efficient task sequencing
- Time tracking and reporting for better project management
Wrike pros
- Robust project management features for planning and tracking tasks
- Collaboration tools for seamless team communication and file sharing
- Automation capabilities to streamline repetitive tasks
- Integration with popular tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and more
Wrike cons
- Steeper learning curve for new users compared to simpler project management tools
- Pricing may be on the higher end for smaller teams or individuals
- Limited customization options for reports and dashboards
Wrike pricing
- Free
- Team: $9.80/month per user, billed annually
- Business: $24.80/month per user, billed annually
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- Pinnacle: Contact for pricing
Wrike ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (3,500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.3/5 (2,500+ reviews)
Check out these Wrike alternatives!
12. Asana
Asana is a popular project management tool known for its user-friendly interface and extensive features for task management, team collaboration, and project tracking. With options for both simple to-do lists and complex project workflows, Asana caters to teams of all sizes and industries.
Asana features
- Task assignment and due dates for efficient task management
- Project timelines and calendar views for better planning
- Customizable project templates for recurring workflows
- Integration with popular tools like Slack, Dropbox, and more
Asana pros
- Intuitive interface for easy onboarding and quick adoption
- Variety of project views to suit different work preferences
- Collaboration features like commenting and file attachments for seamless team communication
Asana cons
- Limited customization options for project views and dashboards
- Basic automation capabilities compared to other project management tools
- Higher pricing tiers for advanced features like custom fields and portfolio management functionality
Asana pricing
- Basic: Free forever
- Premium: $10.99/month per user
- Business: $24.99/month per user
*All listed prices refer to the yearly billing model
Asana ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (9,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (12,000+ reviews)
Check out these Asana alternatives!
13. Miro
Miro is a versatile project planning tool that enables teams to collaborate visually in real-time. With an intuitive interface and a wide range of templates, Miro is a go-to tool for project planning, brainstorming, and agile workflows.
Miro features
- Real-time collaboration for seamless team interaction
- Extensive library of templates for various project planning needs
- Integration with popular tools like Jira, Trello, Slack, and more
- Customizable boards for organizing tasks, ideas, and workflows
Miro pros
- User-friendly interface for easy adoption across teams
- Great for remote collaboration and brainstorming sessions
- Supports agile methodologies with features like Kanban boards and sprint planning
- Offers extensive integrations to streamline workflows
Miro cons
- Occasional lags and performance issues when working on large boards
- Pricing may be a bit high for smaller teams or individuals
- Learning curve for utilizing advanced features like automation and integrations
Miro pricing
- Free: $0
- Starter: $8/month per user
- Business: $16/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
*All listed prices refer to the yearly billing model
Miro ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (4,800+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,300+ reviews)
Check out these Miro alternatives!
14. Jira
As one of the most popular project management tools, Jira is known for its robust features and flexibility in handling complex projects. With its agile project management capabilities, customizable workflows, and integration with popular development tools, Jira is a powerhouse for teams looking to implement agile methodologies and track project progress effectively. While Jira may have a learning curve for new users, its extensive reporting features and active community support make it a go-to choice for many organizations.
Jira features
- Agile project management capabilities for scrum, kanban, and other methodologies
- Issue tracking and bug reporting functionalities
- Customizable workflows and boards for team collaboration
- Integration with development tools like GitHub and Bitbucket
Jira pros
- Highly customizable to fit a variety of project management needs
- Extensive reporting and analytics features for in-depth project insights
- Scalable for small teams to large enterprises
- Active community support and resources for user assistance
Jira cons
- Steep learning curve for new users unfamiliar with agile methodologies
- Higher pricing compared to some other project planning tools
- Limited options for visual customization of project boards
Jira pricing
- Free
- Standard: $8.15/month per user for 10 users
- Premium: $16/month per user for 10 users
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Jira ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (5,600+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (13,700+ reviews)
Check out these Jira alternatives!
15. Paymo
Paymo is a versatile project planning tool that offers a range of features for easy project management and collaboration. With its intuitive interface and robust capabilities, Paymo allows teams to track tasks, manage time effectively, and streamline workflows. From customizable project templates to in-depth reporting and analytics, Paymo is designed to help teams of all sizes stay organized and on track to meet their project goals.
Paymo features
- Task management and time tracking capabilities
- Team collaboration tools such as file sharing and messaging
- Customizable project templates to streamline workflow
- Reporting and analytics for tracking project progress
Paymo pros
- User-friendly interface for easy navigation
- Integration with popular tools like Slack, Google Apps, and QuickBooks
- Affordable pricing plans for teams of all sizes
- Mobile app for on-the-go project management
Paymo cons
- Limited customization options compared to some other project planning tools
- Some users may find the reporting and analytics features lacking in depth
- Advanced features may require upgrading to a higher pricing tier
Paymo pricing
- Free
- Starter: $5.9/month
- Small Office: $10.9/month
- Business: $16.9/month
*All listed prices refer to the yearly billing model
Paymo ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (400+ reviews)
Check out these Paymo alternatives!
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe Ultimate Project Planning Tool? Look No Further
Finding the most effective project management solution for your team sounds simple enough, but with all of the options available and the variety of functionality between them, there’s a lot more to consider before making your purchase.
These 15 options will give your search the kickstart it needs to find your desired software as quickly as possible. But if you’re looking for a tool designed to boost productivity and collaboration regardless of your team size, industry, or budget—look no further than ClickUp. 🙂
ClickUp is the only software on this list powerful enough to bring your work together across apps, saving you time and key resources that would’ve otherwise been spent hopping between tabs, navigating other tools, or waiting on updates.
With its rich set of features and vast Template Library for every use case, ClickUp helps teams streamline their planning processes and empowers them to work the way they want to. Plus, it can do it all at the fraction of the cost.
Access tons of dynamic project planning features, unlimited tasks, unlimited members, over 1,000 integrations, and more when you sign up for any ClickUp pricing plan, including the Free Forever Plan!
Gain the customization you’ve been searching for in project planning software without compromising on functionality when you sign up for ClickUp today.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
