Managing a project takes more than a simple to-do list. From tracking interdependencies, to juggling overlapping deadlines, to Gantt chart visualizations, you can benefit from having a true online project management solution to get from start to finish. Find the right online project management tools for your team among these 22 online project management tools.
Liquid Planner’s technology lets you visualize how changes to one project impact others (they call this Realistic Estimation). Another cool feature is automatic workload leveling; so you don’t overbook anyone on your team. 30-day free trial. Plans start at $29/mo.
Zoho is pretty well known for its entire suite of office productivity tools. Zoho Project is for most business users, but also offers a useful issue tracking tool that looks ideal for development teams — allowing you to report and track bugs. They offer real-time chat tools as well as time tracking. Starts with “always free” account, then plans start at $99/year.
Smartsheet integrates with Google Apps or operates as a standalone solution. Smartsheet uses the familiar spreadsheet format for organizing information. Don’t be deceived by the simplicity of this approach, as there’s far more than a simple one-dimensional spreadsheet under the hood. You’ll find file sharing, Gantt charts, and the ability to have a discussion row by row. Free 30-day trial. Plans start at $9.95/mo.
5pmWeb offers easy task management, interactive time-line charts, and a handy time tracker. You can manage your tasks via email, too. 14-day free trial. Plans start at $18/month for up to 5 users.
Insightly appears to be a CRM system at first glance, but you’ll find in the features that it helps you manage a project from the address book. Their system then uses advanced e-mail analytics to find links or connections between your projects and contact, allowing you to tap into the right people to get your project finished. Free with Google Apps.
Huddle might be familiar to LinkedIn users because it was one of the first to create social tools and allow you to share files (think slide presentations) with your LinkedIn network. They also offer web and telephone conferencing making for an all-in-one place to collaborate on projects. Free 14-day trial, then plan starts at $200/mo for up to 10 users.
MavenLink is an impressive way to manage a project with strong ties to the financial aspect. There are invoicing tools tied to PayPal (with reduced fees), documentation options around who has been paid, time tracking, and expenses. MavenLink is another tool integrated with Google Apps with an easy-to-understand layout.
Wrike has this very cool intelligent email engine that helps you leverage the inbox with your project progress, including the ability to construct Gantt charts based on inbox data. You can then manage each member of your team and keep track with powerful reporting tools. 15-day free trial. Pricing starts at $49/mo for up to 5 users.
Manymoon was recently acquired by Salesforce.com. They are also top-rated in Google Apps and have built on a social networking model. Manymoon is combines crowdsourcing with your private network. Manymoon integrates well with Google Docs and Calendar. Free plan to get started. Monthly plans start at $19/mo.
Base Camp is probably one of the best known project management apps on the planet. The Base Camp tool offers a way to manage your project and also connects to other 37Signals tools for CRM, chat, and organizing your business. 30-day free trial with credit card required. Plans start at $49/mo.
Teambox is project management for the Facebook and Twitter generation. They call it “procial” which is a made-up word combining project and social. They integrate social networking utilities into functional project management. You’ll see your activity streams, threaded conversations and commenting, inbox management and alerts, RSS feeds and more to see your tasks and projects in one view. Free plan. Monthly pricing starts at $12/mo.
AgileZen took the lean manufacturing concepts and integrated them into project management. It offers an extremely elegant visual approach to managing a project and it has to be seen to be appreciated. They call each piece of work a “story” and you see it in a storyboard fashion. Free plan. Pricing starts at $9/mo.
WebCollaboration compares itself to a time vault that saves all of your important projects, messages, and documents so you can access them anytime from anywhere. They have powerful search options making it easy to find documents and project components. 30-day free trial, then pricing starts at $29/mo for up to 10 users.
Central Desktop is a highly rated project management web app. Create, share and manage files in one place. Meet project deadlines with task lists and online calendars. Free plan for up to 5 users, then starts at $99/mo for up to 20 users.
Tracker is aiming to augment your project management toolset specifically for budget forecasting and planning. Free and open source.
Project Spaces stands out because the site talks about project management, but positions itself as an extranet that you can customize to your look, feel, and needs. It offers web-based and self-hosted options meant to compete with both Base Camp and SharePoint. 30-day free trial. Pricing starts at $29/mo.
Comindwork bills itself as the project management tool for knowledge-intensive projects. It integrates with MS Project, Base Camp, Facebook, Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter and Salesforce. It is web-based, but they also have a self-hosted plan, too. Limited free plan, then starts at $49/mo.
HyperOffice is a full office suite with collaboration at the center. You can manage documents, email, contacts, and calendar together or pick the app you need. Gantt charts, multi-project management, and project task tracking are just a few of the integrated project management features. 30-day free trial. Plans start at $44.99 for 5 users.
DeskAway promises to help the user who wants to move away from email or spreadsheets as a way to manage a project. Their all-in-one dashboard keeps the project details in front of each key team member. Free plan. Pricing starts at $25/mo for up to 35 active projects.
WorkETC is aimed at becoming a small business management software with CRM, project management, billing and more wrapped together. The billing component is a key differentiator, because billing typically sits outside the other functions. 14-day free trial, then $39/mo per user.
CopperProject is catching attention for being extremely intuitive and easy to use. You start by entering client data, which tells you a bit about how they approach a project or workflow. Sync with Microsoft Project and Outlook allows you to integrate existing workflow. 30-day free trial, then $29/mo for up to 4 users.
Although Microsoft Project is often considered overkill for most projects, it is powerful. In conjunction with SharePoint, Microsoft Project offers online collaboration beyond the desktop. Given the 60-day fully functional free trial, you can at least give it a try and not worry about price.
What features do you look for in online project management?
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