Kantata, previously known as Mavenlink, has been around for a long time. However, has this been long enough for it to perfect the art of project management?
With a G2 rating of 4.1, the short answer is not yet. It goes without saying that despite offering world-class collaborative project management software, Mavenlink still leaves much to be desired by customers needing more innovative features.
Fortunately, you have a lot of good project management software options. In that regard, any shortcomings of Mavenlink can be adequately addressed by its dozens of competitors.
That’s why we’re looking at the 10 best Mavenlink alternatives (or Kantata alternatives) if you’re looking for more advanced project management features.
Top 10 Mavenlink Alternatives and Competitors for Your Team
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is Kantata (Mavenlink)?
Kantata is a versatile project management software solution that provides visibility, collaboration, and automation features for better project execution, project tracking, and workflow management. It combines traditional project management features with resource management tools that are specifically enjoyed by professional services businesses.
Additionally, many users enjoy this platform to better manage multiple projects as well as project financials, project requests, and portfolios. Again, this makes Kantata a favorite among professional services teams.
Even with a name change, Kantata has proven itself as a handy tool if you want more visual project tracking and increased team collaboration across ongoing projects. Some of its other notable features include:
- Multiple chart view options
- Real-time activity feed
- Clean and crisp user interface
- Time and expense tracking
However, some issues like its elaborate pricing structure and sluggish interface have sent many looking for alternatives to Mavenlink. Don’t get stuck with something that just scratches the surface of what your need to manage tasks, better define project deadlines, and develop a truly robust project strategy for your business.
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 10 Best Mavenlink Alternatives You Need to Know
Here is a list of 10 competitors and alternatives to Mavenlink that may be better suited to your teams, goals, and circumstances:
1. ClickUp
ClickUp hasn’t been around as long as some of the other Mavenlink alternatives on this list, but it has quickly become one of the best wall-to-wall productivity tools. It’s not only a solution for small and enterprise companies, but it’s fantastic for professional service businesses needing a more centralized work hub to get work done.
This advanced project management platform has something for everyone. With team collaboration at its core, users can visualize, customize, and build ClickUp exactly to their own liking. Additionally, ClickUp’s task management tools allow people to assign comments to a team member and set up recurring tasks with automation features.
Simple drag-and-drop options make it easier to pivot and enhance workflows without creating bottlenecks. ClickUp is one of the most dynamic workspace tools that can be totally customized to your specific needs, so you complete projects faster.
ClickUp key features
ClickUp is filled with project management features to help you plan, manage, and visualize your work. And if you’re on a tight budget, ClickUp’s Free Forever plan comes with a ton of the advanced project management features in its paid plans. Let’s look at some of the customer favorites, including:
- Communication and collaboration galore with comments and assigned comments
- Ability to embed views from Airtable, Miro, inVision, and Google Docs
- Turn boring data into eye candy with Mind Maps, Whiteboards, Gantt charts, and more
- State-of-the-art task prioritization and customizable to-do lists
- Ability to switch between different views (board view, list view, box view, calendar view, etc.)
- Prebuilt and custom reports and dashboards which increase visibility
- An intuitive drag-and-drop user interface that makes it a breeze to create and assign tasks
- Performance management and workflow automation for advanced resource scheduling
- Track projects from cost to completion
ClickUp pros
- ClickUp offers a robust free plan
- Hundreds of free project management templates to get started immediately
- Simple task tracking to manage projects more efficiently
- Unbeatable customization
- 24/7 email and chat support available in the free plan
- Time-tracking available in the free plan
- Easy to integrate into your existing systems
- Competitive pricing means more value for your money
ClickUp cons
- Advanced customizations can be overwhelming for new users
- Search and filter speeds can be slower (…for now!)
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever Plan
- Unlimited Plan: $5 per user per month
- Business Plan: $12 per user per month
- Business Plus: $19 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact Sales
ClickUp customer ratings
- G2: 4.7/5 (4,800 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (3,117 reviews)
2. Wrike
Write is a project management tool that promises productivity, visibility, and efficiency in your team-based workflows.
By providing reliable project planning, visualization, and management, Wrike has earned a name for itself as a top project management software and resource management solution.
As one of the top Mavenlink alternatives, Wrike takes pride in its state-of-the-art features, tools, and customer support that have endeared thousands of teams to it.
For example, Wrike has a KPI monitoring and reporting feature, which Mavenlink unfortunately lacks.
Wrike key features
Some of the features that have made Wrike a recognizable name in project management include:
- Workload view allows a project manager to see how tasks are broken down and how teams handle each task
- Collaborative editing allows a team member to work on different files, folders, and documents
- A built-in chat function that allows you to keep tabs with your teams
- Efficient time logging and time tracking capabilities
- KPI monitoring and reporting to track deliverables
Wrike pros
- Unlike Mavenlink, Wrike has a free plan and a free trial period
- A central dashboard brings all the projects and workflow operations together
- Multiple deployments, including a browser version, an app, and a mobile app
Wrike cons
- Wrike’s complex web API makes onboarding difficult for teams
- Many will find the desktop version of Wrike to be non-intuitive
- Wrike is relatively expensive compared to equally powerful tools
- Importing data into Wrike requires users to meet exact parameters
Wrike pricing
- Free
- Professional: $9.80 per user per month, best for fast-growing teams
- Business: $24.80 per user per month, best for all teams across an organization
Wrike customer ratings
- G2: 4.2/5 (3,192 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.3/5 (1,806 reviews)
3. Monday.com
Mondays are awful for teams without a project management application, but there’s a tool that wants to fix that.
Monday is an interactive and colorful project management software that seeks to create transparency and visibility in your project operations.Â
While at it, Monday also automates your repetitive tasks, enhances team collaboration, and creates visibility in your workflows for the ultimate project success.
The secret of Monday lies in its board feature. A board is a spreadsheet-like task table from where you can assign all your projects, track deliverables and automate tasks.
Monday key features
- Colorful design and interface make using Monday a breeze
- Automation recipes that create event-based automation for mundane tasks
- Multiple views for your boards (chart view, form timeline view, Kanban view, and file view)
- Impressive data visualization that turns your KPI into visual graphics
- Monday Apps marketplace where you can buy additional appsÂ
Monday pros
- Monday integrates with third-party productivity platforms such as Slack, Google, Mailchimp, and Spotify
- An intuitive drag and drop timeline
- Reliable 24/7 customer support and a prebuilt knowledge base
Monday cons
- The cost adds up fast when you have large teams
- A convoluted pricing structure
- Offers time tracking feature on higher pricing plans
- Gantt charts and timelines are a preserve for higher pricing plans
Monday pricing
- Basic: $8 per seat per month (4 seats per month)
- Standard: $10 per seat per month (3 seats per month)
- Pro: $16 per seat per month (3 seats per month)
- Enterprise: Contact Monday for details
Monday customer ratings
- G2: 4.7/5 (6,248 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (2,752 reviews)
4. Zoho Projects
A list of Mavenlink competitors isn’t complete without a mention of Zoho Projects. Zoho Projects is a cloud-based software that provides project management, automation, and collaboration essentials to small and medium-sized teams.
With Zoho Projects, your teams can now reap the benefits of automated project software; creating tasks, assigning them to teams, and tracking their progress.
In addition, Zoho Projects also comes with issue tracking capabilities that make it ideal for issue, request, and bug tracking.
Zoho Projects key features
- Gantt chart helps visualize your task dependencies, deadlines, and task lists
- Ability to customize the parameters for project management
- Resource utilization chart allows you to load balance across your resources
- Ability to track the time and consumption costs of each project in real-time
Zoho Projects pros
- Zoho has an inbuilt chat function that enhances collaboration within your teams
- Seamless integration with other Zoho products
- Setting milestones and tracking progress is a hassle-free experience
- Can be affordable project management software for some (free trial options available)
Zoho Projects cons
- Onboarding and setting up Zoho has an inbuilt chat function that enhances collaboration within your teams
- A steep learning curve that results from the endless customization
- Zoho’s complex UI leaves a lot to be desired
- Zoho requires you to move across five different apps
- Zoho lacks offline access
Zoho Projects pricing
- Free: $0 for 3 users and 2 projects
- Premium: $4 per user per month
- Enterprise: $9 (no upper limit on users)
Zoho Projects customer ratings
- G2: 4.2/5 (282 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (259 reviews)
5. Asana
Due to Asana’s reputation, you shouldn’t be scrolling any list of Mavenlink alternatives for long before you come across it.
Asana is a project management software that helps teams augment their projects, develop agile workflows, and track preset deliverables.
This tool uses a simple yet complex list-based task table to solve all your project management challenges. This can be a contact list, a to-do list, or any other type of list from where you can then create tasks/ subtasks and assign them to your team.Â
Asana key features
- Real-time reporting options including advanced search, saved search reports, milestones, and workload
- Create tasks, subtasks, and subtasks of subtasks on multiple levels
- Multiple views from which you can view your data (board, calendar, list views)
- Task scheduling that moves tasks automatically from board to board
Asana pros
- Asana has an active community (Asana community forum)
- Asana has a clean, crisp, and intuitive interface for tracking projects
- Responsive and friendly customer support
Asana cons
- Asana requires all users with a similar domain to be licensed, treating them as guests. This eventually increases prices
- Due to the level of customization, Asana has a steep learning curve
- Data set building and customization in Asana is relatively limited
- Unlike ClickUp, Asana lacks a time tracking feature on its free plan
Asana pricing
- Basic: Available to teams of up to 15 people and free trial option
- Premium: $10.99 per user per month
- Business: $24.99 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact Asana for details
Asana customer ratings
- G2: 4.3/5 (8,926 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (11, 398 reviews)
6. ProofHub
ProofHub is a simple project management and collaboration software that offers a suite of productivity and collaborative tools to small teams.
This is of the top Mavenlink alternatives because it offers unrivaled simplicity without compromising project management fundamentals, creating an intuitive, simple yet powerful solution.
Being an all-in-one solution, Proof Hub declutters your project management tech stack, leaving you with a single dependable solution.Â
ProofHub key features
- Detailed activity logs
- White labeling
- WorkflowsÂ
- Excellent task management ( Kanban boards and Gantt charts)
- Amazing collaboration features such as chat, announcements, and discussions
ProofHub pros
- An almost non-existent learning curve
- Impressive customizability gives your team maximum flexibility
- Creating and assigning tasks is as straightforward as it gets
- Competitive pricing and free trial options
ProofHub cons
- The Gantt chart still needs some improvement
- The mobile app is relatively limited
ProofHub pricing
- A flat rate of $89/month billed annually
- A flat rate of $45/month billed annually (lacks most of the features)
ProofHub customer ratings
- G2: 4.5/5 (63 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (67 reviews)
7. Teamwork
Teamwork is no new name in project management and is one that’s not going anywhere any time soon. As its name suggests, this tool makes the list of Mavenlink alternatives because it focuses on collaboration and has been making teams efficient since 2007, one automation at a time.
Don’t mistake its simplicity and intuitive interface for inability; its collaborative, visualization, and automation features pack a punch. As one of the top Mavenlink alternatives, its professional services automation software is perfect for those working with clients or needing detailed portfolio management solutions.
Teamwork key features
- The Portfolios feature allows the creation and management of complex projects
- In-built time tracking for seamless billing
- Workload management makes it simple for resource management
- Project accounting features like billing and invoicing make it a better business intelligence solution
- Prebuilt workflow and task management templates
- Clients can be added for free to work seamlessly with project managers
Teamwork pros
- Teamwork offers more products (CRM, CHAT, Spaces) than a simple project management solution
- Friendly customer service available on the phone, live chat, and video tutorials
- Project accounting features ideals for those managing clients
Teamwork cons
- It doesn’t have Kanban boards in its free version, unlike ClickUp
Teamwork pricing
- Free Forever: 30-day free trial available
- Deliver: $9.99 per user per month
- Grow: $17.99 per user per month
- Scale: Contact Teamwork for details
Teamwork customer ratings
- G2: 4.4/5 (1,011 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (728 reviews)
8. Jira
Jira is a project management tool that was built with dev teams in mind. However, after years of over-delivery, this feature-rich tool enjoys significant utility outside its initial target market.
Today, Jira describes itself as project management, issue tracking, and time tracking software for any team and organization. If you’re looking for alternatives to Mavenlink, this one certainly has its pros and cons.
Jira software, which is part of the larger Jira software stack, is your go-to for agile software development, task allocation, prioritization, and privacy. It’s a favorite for project managers to, well, manage projects more efficiently.
Jira key features
- Excellent issue tracking and bug management for software projects
- Custom workflows allow you to create workflows from scratch
- Scrum and Kanban boards for your agile development
- Project roadmaps allow you to visualize your entire project journey to completion
- Advanced permissions and access controls
- Audit logsÂ
Jira pros
- Jira is the only tool in this list that specializes in issue management
- Thousands of integrations with third-party tools
- Unmatched reporting with the software offering upwards of 12 reports
- Unmatched reporting with the software offering upwards of 12 reports
Jira cons
- Upcoming changes on February 2024 may require full or partial system migration
- Jira doesn’t come with a Gannt chart or timeline view and can’t assign tasks within a view
- The level of customization gives Jira a steep learning curve
- Managing extensions and plugins in Jira is no pleasant experience
- Jira lacks an inbuilt communication and collaboration tool
Jira pricing
- Free: $0 for a maximum of 10 users
- Standard: $7.50 per user (average)
- Premium: $14.50 per user (average)
- Enterprise: Contact Jira for details
Jira customer ratings
- G2: 4.2/5 (4,869 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (12, 343 reviews)
9. Basecamp
Basecamp is a basic project management tool that addresses the complexities of project planning for small businesses and teams.
Being simple and basic, which many project managers see as Basecamp’s primary weakness, also serves as its greatest strength for other project team leads.
To some customers, a simple dashboard, spreadsheets, and a few visualizations are all they need to breathe life into their projects.
That said, BaseCamp only serves as a Mavenlink alternative in instances where your project is too simple to require a more complicated tool.
Basecamp key features
- Hill Charts help you visualize progress on projects
- An inbuilt message board where you can post announcements and brainstorm
- The campfire feature allows you to chat with your team membersCampfire chat feature allows communication with your team
- To-do lists offer a simple way to create tasksÂ
- Scheduling can be linked to Google Calendar
Basecamp pros
- A clean and intuitive interface
- An affordable price due to its limited number of features
- Availability of ready-made project templates
Basecamp cons
- Lack of project management essential such as timelines and views
- Lacks project management tools such as kanban boards and Gantt charts
- Lacks basic features such as Timelines and subtasks
- Lacks project management essentials such as Gantt charts
Basecamp pricing
- $99/month flat (with the option of a free trial)
Basecamp customer ratings
- G2: 4.1/5 (5,061 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.3/5 (13, 669)
10. Notion
Notion sticks out of this list of Mavenlink alternatives as a customizable wizard that allows you to create and assign whatever you want, whenever you want it.
This PM tool excels at consolidating your workflows, creating visibility, and integrating almost everything under a powerful and customizable tool.
Its document management capabilities are exemplary too, putting your teams within secure reach of resources they require to perform their daily functions.
Notion key features
- Multiple views including table, list, calendar, Kanban, and gallery
- Live document collaborationÂ
- More than 50 starter templates
- Multiple integrations with other third-party software
Notion pros
- Suitable for note-taking and document management
- A simple and easy-to-learn interface
- Being a one-stop-shop notion creates centralization
Notion cons
- Its wealth of features and customizations create a steep learning curve
- Some customers are not satisfied with the number of templates Notion offers
- Some feel its business intelligence offerings aren’t as strong as others in this list
Notion pricing
- Free
- Personal Pro: $4 per month billed annually
- Team: $8 per user per month billed annually
- Enterprise: Contact Notion for details
Notion customer ratings
- G2: 4.6/5 (863 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (782 reviews)
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhy Have Several Apps When You Can Have One?
Tired of team silos, miscommunication, and inefficiencies? It’s high time you start reaping the benefits of project management software.
If you’re in the market for a tool that glues your teams together, breaks silos, improves productivity, and brings all your operations within view, ClickUp might be what you’re looking for.Â
Create a free ClickUp account and get started today!
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