10 Best Project Management Tools For Project Manager Of 2023

As a product manager, I've used a lot of different project management tools over the years. Some have been great, and some have been... not so great.

But after trying them all, I've finally found the 10 best project management tools for product managers in 2023. These tools are all easy to use, powerful, and flexible enough to meet the needs of any product team.

What Is A Project Management Tool?

A project management tool is a software application that helps teams to plan, organize, and manage their projects. It can be used to track tasks, deadlines, resources, and progress. Project management tools can also be used to communicate with team members and stakeholders.

Lastly, project management tools also offer a bird's-eye view of the entire project, allowing all stakeholders to understand project health and make informed decisions. 

The Need For Efficient Project Management:

First and foremost, project management is essential to provide a structured approach for achieving project objectives efficiently and effectively, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling projects. This makes it easier for projects to stay on course and within budget. Without proper project management, projects often lack clear goals, clear timelines, and efficient resource allocation. This can lead to delays, cost overruns, and a higher risk of failure. 

Secondly, project management enhances communication and collaboration among team members and stakeholders. Clear communication is the lifeblood of any successful project.

Types of Project Management Tools:

• Task Management Tools
• Communication and Collaboration Tools
• Scheduling Tools
• Resource Management Tools

10 Best Project Management Tools : Streamline Your Projects with Efficiency and Precision:

1. Monday project management tool:

Monday.com, formerly known as Dapulse, is a good online project management solution available today. It's named after everyone's least favourite day of the week, but I'm hoping that's not a sign of things to come. Let's take a closer look at the features that make Monday.com special.

What makes Monday.com special?

• Third-party collaboration: I can add as many third-party agents to my workspace as I want, and customize their access rights so they only see the projects they need to. This makes it easy to collaborate with freelancers and other external partners.
• Easy communication: Monday.com has comment sections and other features that make it easy for my team to communicate and share ideas. I can even follow Twitter and LinkedIn threads in the app to stay updated on relevant news and developments.
• Native integrations: Monday.com integrates with a wide range of popular tools, such as Google Drive, Dropbox Paper, and Zapier. This helps me streamline my workflow and get more done.
  

Overall, I find Monday.com to be a powerful and flexible project management tool that can help me and my team stay organized and on track.

Pricing: 

• Basic Plan: 8$ /month and user
• Standard Plan: 10$ /month and user
• Pro Plan: 16$ /month and user

2. Trello project management tool:

Trello is a simple, yet effective, project management tool. It's known for its iconic cards, which work like supercharged sticky notes. And just like sticky notes, Trello cards are great for simple tasks, but they're not as comprehensive as other project management tools.

Here are a few of the key features of Trello:

• Simple task management: Trello assigns a "board" to each task. I can access these boards from my dashboard and make changes with ease. I can add tags, custom fields, and priorities with a single click.
• Drag and drop functionality: Trello lets me drag and drop tasks around my dashboard. This makes it easy to reschedule and edit tasks and projects.
• Power-ups: I can assign power-ups to each project task based on my needs. Most power-ups are free, but some have paid upgrades for more functionality. Some popular power-ups include calendar views, Google Drive integrations, and quick file sharing. Trello's most popular power-up is the "Butler" feature, which lets me automate a set of tasks.

Overall, Trello is a good project management tool for simple tasks. It's easy to use and offers a variety of features that can help me stay organized and on track. However, if I need to manage more complex projects, I would consider using a different project management tool.

Pricing:

• Free version
• Standard: $5 per user per month
• Premium: $10 per user per month
• Enterprise: Starting at $17.50 per user per month and up

3. Proofhub project management tool:

ProofHub is a great online proofing tool, but it falls short of being the best project tracker out there.

I've tried ProofHub for a few projects, and I found it to be a bit clunky and difficult to use. The interface isn't as intuitive as some of the other project management tools I've tried, and it can be hard to find the information you need quickly.

ProofHub also lacks some of the features that I find most important in a project tracker, such as advanced task filtering and reporting. 

Overall, I think ProofHub is a good option for teams that need a basic project management tool with a built-in proofing tool, but it's not the best choice for teams that need a more powerful and feature-rich solution.

Here are the features that make ProofHub a powerful web-based project management tool:

• Customization: ProofHub offers a variety of customization options to suit my needs. I have complete control over the colour scheme and layout of the tool, and I can even white-label it with my company name and logo. ProofHub also supports multiple languages, including French, German, and Spanish.
• Access rights: ProofHub lets me assign custom roles to my employees, giving them varying levels of access to the tool. This is a great way to ensure that only certain people can access sensitive projects and information.

Overall, ProofHub is an average tool that provides some flexibility. But it is not comprehensive, and it is also a little tough to use, especially compared to the other options in the list.

Pricing: 

• Essential Version: 45$/month, billed annually (40 projects+15 GB cloud storage+ unlimited users)
• Ultimate Control version: 89$/month, billed annually (Unlimited projects+100 GB cloud storage+ unlimited users) 

4. Podio project management tool:

Citrix Podio is a good project management tool with a wide range of app integrations. It's known for its adaptability and customizability, but it does run the risk of being a jack-of-all-trades and a master-of-none.

Here are a few of the key features of Podio:

• App market: Podio's app market is its claim to fame. There are hundreds of web-based software add-ons available, including expense tracking apps, organization apps, notes apps, templates, invoicing tools, and more.
• Simple interface: Podio has a simple and user-friendly interface. My dashboard shows me my current projects, activity stream, and calendar, giving me everything I need in one place. Podio's interface also supports over 12 languages.
• Custom API: Podio is almost an open-source tool. My developers can use the Podio API to add as many custom integrations as they want.

Overall, I find Podio to be a good project management tool for teams that need a high degree of adaptability and customizability. However, if I need a tool that is more specialized or feature-rich, I would consider using a different project management tool.

Pricing:

• Free Plan: Basic project management
• Basic Plan: 9$/month (Project planning+ unlimited project and users)
• Plus Plan: 14$ /month (Advanced project planning + automated workflow)
• Premium Plan: 24$/month (visual report + interactive dashboards)

5. Asana project management tool:

Despite its laid-back yoga-inspired name, Asana is a dynamic project management tool that I use to manage my projects and stay organized. However, it does have a few limitations.

Here are a few of the features that make Asana a good project management tool for simple projects:

• Intuitive user interface: Asana's user interface is simple and easy to use. I can customize the layout and appearance of my workspace to suit my needs, and the activity feed on my dashboard helps me keep up with what my team members are working on.
• Visual project timeline: Asana's visual project timeline feature is a Gantt chart of sorts that highlights task due dates, assignees, and progress over time. It's not a true Gantt chart, but it's still a helpful tool for getting a detailed view of my project and making scheduling adjustments.
• Loads of integrations: Asana can integrate with a wide range of popular applications, including Slack, Outplanr, Google Calendar, Dropbox, and Unito. This makes it easy to centralize all of my business activities in one place.

Overall, I find Asana to be a good project management tool for simple projects. It's easy to use and offers a variety of features that can help me stay organized and on track. However, if I need more advanced features, I would consider using a different project management tool.

Pricing:

• Basic: Free version
• Premium: $10.99 per user per month, billed annually
• Business: $24.99 per user per month, billed annually
• Enterprise: Contact Asana for details

6. Workzone project management tool:

Workzone is a tried and tested web-based project management tool that has been around since 2000. It's not the most modern or feature-rich tool on the market, but it's still a good option for teams that need a simple and reliable way to manage their projects.

Here are a few of the key features of Workzone:

• Simple project management: Workzone offers a no-nonsense approach to project management. All of your projects are accessible from your dashboard, where you can easily check their status. When you open a project, you'll see a list of subtasks, due dates, and assignees. You'll also receive helpful notifications when deadlines are approaching.
• Smooth team collaboration: Workzone makes it easy for your team members to collaborate on projects. Each task has a comment section where team members can ask questions, share ideas, and post updates. This helps to keep all of your conversations organized and in one place.
• Reporting capabilities: Workzone offers a variety of reports that can help you to track your progress and identify areas for improvement. You can get reports on individual performances, project progress, and time management. You can also customize each report to view the data in the way that best suits your needs.

Overall, Workzone is a good project management tool for teams that need a simple and reliable way to manage their projects. It's not as feature-rich as the others on this list, but it's still a good option for teams that are looking for a no-nonsense solution.

Pricing: 

• Team: 24$/month and user (100 GB cloud storage)
• Professional: 34$ /month and user (150 GB cloud storage + team features)

7. Clickup project management tool:

ClickUp is a tool I've found incredibly powerful and versatile for managing projects. It has the ability to help my team, no matter its size, streamline workflows, work with multiple projects seamlessly, and ultimately ensure we meet project deadlines successfully.

What I appreciate about ClickUp are the following features:

• Flexibility and scalability: ClickUp can be tailored to suit any business, whether it's a small startup or a large enterprise. This adaptability is invaluable.

• Intuitive user interface: Even without prior experience with project management tools, I found ClickUp's user-friendly interface extremelt easy to navigate. It made getting started a breeze.

• Powerful integrations: ClickUp seamlessly integrates with numerous productivity tools, including Slack, Google Drive, and Jira. This integration simplifies our workflow and centralizes our project data.

• Flexible pricing: ClickUp's range of pricing plans ensures it can accommodate the budget and needs of any team or business.

Some of the benefits that ClickUp has unlocked for my team:

• Improved efficiency and productivity: ClickUp has streamlined our workflows and automated various tasks, boosting our overall efficiency and productivity significantly.

• Increased visibility and communication: With ClickUp, we have a central hub for tracking progress, sharing files, and communicating, which has enhanced visibility and communication among our team members.

• Reduced risk and errors: ClickUp's early problem detection and addressing capabilities have helped us minimize risks and errors throughout our projects.

• Improved decision-making: By providing insights into project performance and risks, ClickUp has empowered our team to make better-informed decisions.

In my opinion, ClickUp stands out as the top choice for project management in our business:

ClickUp's power, flexibility, and affordability make it the ultimate solution for effective project management.

If you're on the lookout for a tool to enhance your team's efficiency, productivity, and communication, look no further than ClickUp.

Pricing: 

• Free Forever Plan: Feature-rich free plan
• Unlimited Plan: $7 /user and month
• Business Plan: $12 per user per month
• Enterprise Plan: Contact ClickUp for custom pricing

8. Wrike Project management tool:

Wrike is an award-winning web-based project management tool that I've found particularly popular among large teams and huge corporations. It offers a range of features that, in my experience, make it the perfect choice for handling intricate projects. Some of these standout features include:

• Three-pane view: Wrike's three-pane view gives a comprehensive snapshot of projects, displaying the project hierarchy, task lists, and detailed task information. This layout makes it incredibly easy to monitor progress, identify bottlenecks, and engage in effective communication with team members.

• Powerful analytics: Wrike's analytics capabilities provide valuable insights into projects and teams. The global report offers an overview of task data, while the performance chart tracks progress over time. These reports have proven invaluable for tracking expenses, allocating resources, and making well-informed decisions.

• Forms and requests: Wrike's forms and requests feature has eliminated the need for endless email threads and direct message notifications. Now, I can effortlessly assign tasks and share vital information directly within the tool, resulting in streamlined workflows and improved communication.

• Real-time collaboration: The ability for team members to collaborate in real time is amazing and helps teams to always be on the same page.

• Customizable workflows: Wrike's adaptable workflows can be tailored to suit the unique requirements of each team and project.

• Integrations: The seamless integration of Wrike with various productivity tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Jira simplifies workflows, centralizing all project data in one convenient location.

All in all, I've found Wrike to be a powerful and versatile project management tool, ideally suited for the needs of large teams and expansive corporations. Its features have certainly helped us manage complex projects with greater efficiency.

Furthermore, there are some additional benefits to using Wrike:

• Security: Wrike provides enterprise-grade security features, ensuring the safety of our data.

• Scalability: Wrike's flexibility means it can scale to meet the demands of businesses of all sizes.

• Support: Wrike offers a range of support options, including online help, live chat, and phone support, which has been crucial for addressing any concerns or questions that arise.

If you're in search of an enterprise project management tool that can enhance your ability to effectively manage complex projects, I highly recommend considering Wrike.

Pricing: 

• Free version
• Team: $9.80 per user per month
• Business: $24.80 per user per month
• Enterprise: Contact Wrike for details
• Pinnacle: Contact Wrike for details

9. Teamwork Project management tool:

Teamwork is a great online project management tool that helps me to collaborate effectively with my team members.

Here are a few of the key features that I find most useful:

• Intuitive dashboard: Teamwork's dashboard allows me to see my most recent tasks at a glance. This helps me to stay focused and avoid getting lost in a sea of completed tasks. I can also customize the dashboard to include my company's name and logo.
• Email integration: Teamwork allows me to reply to comments and notifications via email. This makes it easy to respond to my team members and get things done quickly. I can also add multiple email accounts and signatures to further customize this process.
• Invoicing capabilities: Teamwork's time tracker has an invoicing tab that allows me to calculate billable hours and generate invoices for my clients. This is a great feature for freelancers and businesses that need to track their time and bill clients accurately.

Overall, I find Teamwork to be a powerful and flexible project management tool that helps me to stay organized and on track. I highly recommend it to teams of all sizes.

Personal note: I have used Teamwork on several projects and I have been very impressed with it. It is a very user-friendly and comprehensive tool that offers a wide range of features. I particularly like the intuitive dashboard, email integration, and invoicing capabilities.

Pricing:

• Basic Plan: Free
• Pro Plan: 12.50 /month and user (Workload view + 300 projects )
• Premium Plan: 22$ / month and user (50 project templates + 600 projects)
• Enterprise Plan (Price varies)

10. MeisterTask project management tool:

MeisterTask is a Kanban-based project management tool that I use to manage my projects and stay organized. It's a good option for agile project management, but it's not as comprehensive as some other project management tools in this list.

Here are a few of the key features that I find most useful:

• User-friendliness: MeisterTask is a very user-friendly tool. It's easy to use and the layout is visually appealing. Each project is listed as a card on my dashboard, which I can easily access and move around. Each card also has a built-in timer to show me how much time I have before deadlines arrive.
• Collaboration features: MeisterTask is a good project management collaboration software for teams. Each team member has a central place to share files and ideas with the rest of the team. There's also an activity stream for sharing deadlines, updates, and assignments.
• Customizability: MeisterTask lets me customize my dashboards to suit my needs. I can change the theme and switch projects around by dragging and dropping them to different places. I can also customize each project with features like video thumbnails. This ensures that I'm not stuck with the same rigid interface for each project.

Overall, I find MeisterTask to be a good project management tool for simple and agile projects. It's easy to use, offers good collaboration features, and is customizable. However, if I need a more comprehensive project management tool, I would consider using a different tool.

• Basic Plan: (unlimited users + projects)
• Pro Plan ($4.19/month per user, billed annually): (Unlimited users + projects + additional features + integrations)
• Business Plan ($10.39/month per user, billed annually): (Unlimited users + projects + additional security + priority customer support + security features)

‍Conclusion:

In a rapidly evolving business landscape, project management tools have emerged as indispensable assets. They empower teams to collaborate effectively, optimize resources, and achieve project success with precision. By embracing these tools, organizations can navigate complexity with ease and maintain a competitive edge.

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