Whether you are a startup or a small business owner that is looking to grow, project management is the ultimate key. And to make sure nothing goes wrong while managing projects and clients, you need to have the right kind of tools and software. This is because the post-its stuck on your laptop won’t help you anymore when the pressure increases and there are several deadlines to be met.
At times like this is when project management apps can come to your rescue. The best part about using online tools or apps for project management is that you can access from both your office and your home, irrespective of where you are or what you are doing. There are tools available online that come with a small subscription fee, while there are some with are free of cost. The following is a list of 15 such tools that can simplify project management for you that too without any cost! Keep reading to know more.
Free tools for project collaboration
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Asana
Asana is an ideal tool which offers a collaborative task list that supports multiple projects. By using this tool, your team members will be able to generate and prioritize tasks for the same project. Along with generating tasks, it offers a separate section for comments, notes and file integration to enhance collaboration.
Free for: Core features for 15 users
Upgrade for: Private projects and company-wide dashboards starting from $21 per month for 5 users
2. Orchard Collaboration
Orchard Collaboration is another free tool that comes with its Orchard CMS, which brings workflows, project management, content management, and ticketing management together. You can easily customise its project management features and also set different levels authorisation for each project.
Free for: Unlimited users and projects
3. Trello
With Trello, you can get a shared perspective on any kind of project you are working on. On this platform, you and your team members can create boards that further include lists and cards. So, if you create a separate board for your content team, make separate cards for each type of content piece (eg. blog/ article/ PR), and then drag and drop these cards in the respective lists; which could be ‘in progress’, ‘pending’, ‘completed’, or ‘published’.
Free for: Unlimited users and projects
Upgrade for: Larger attachments, customised backgrounds, and extra power-ups for $9.99 each month per user.
4. Cohuman
You can use Cohuman to promote collaboration and enhance teamwork. This platform offers task-transparency, algorithm-driven task prioritization & email task integration. By using this platform, all your team members will be able to see tasks and projects assigned to each member.
Free for: Unlimited projects with 1GB of local file storage
Upgrade for: Professional version for $20 per month with additional features
5. Bitrix24
Do you have a large project team to keep on track? If yes, Bitrix24 is here for you that can combine project management features with native collaboration tools. Bitrix24 is a one-stop solution when it comes to video-conferencing, managing teams and clients, and your company as a whole. With this tool, you can also track employee workload and deadlines, which can help avoid burning out team members.
Free for: Unlimited users, tasks and projects
Upgrade for: Custom fields, enhanced reporting and improve time management with new features starting from $39 per month
Project management tools to get more organised
6. Producteev
It can often get confusing to keep a track of all projects, and tasks, if your entire team is using just one project management software. To solve this problem, you should consider using Producteev, which offers extra layers of organisation in the form of “Networks”. With this platform, you can organise projects based on their department, product or anything else that suits you.
Free for: Up to 100 users and unlimited projects
Upgrade for: Personalised support, customisable network colours and logos starting from $99 per month
7. Allthings
Do you prefer a simple to-do list to note down all your tasks for the day? Then Allthings might be the ideal solution for you. Use Allthings, to quickly note down what needs to be done, then tag tasks with workflow steps; and then finally use the kanban board to share it with your team. This tool is suitable for managing the workload for a small team.
Free for: Unlimited users and up to 5 projects
Upgrade for: Unlimited projects, templates and other features starting at $3.99 per month for each user
8. Pivotal Tracker
With Pivotal Tracker, you can keep a track of all your projects in customisable dashboards. This platform is especially suitable for software development teams to work together and create real-time solutions. With this software, everyone will have the same access and updates to their projects and can easily determine how to move forward. The main objective of this software is to simplify the collaboration process, help teams to organise priorities and develop software faster.
Free for: Unlimited public projects, 2 private projects with 3 users
Upgrade for: All features and more than five projects starting from $12.50 per month for three users
9. ActiveCollab
As the name suggests, ActiveCollab is suitable for collaboration and getting things organised. With this tool, you can delegate tasks to your team, get a detailed overview of all the activities, track time spent on individual tasks, and issue invoices to clients quickly. With Active Collab, you can store all your data in one place, where your team can communicat , keep a track, see what is getting completed and understand what they need to work on next.
Free for: 30 days
Upgrade for: Six packages available for different team sizes. To know more click here.
10. Quire
Another project management platform that is designed to help your team stay organised is Quire. With Quire, your team can accomplish complex tasks by breaking them into multiple subtasks displayed in a tree-structure.
Free for: Unlimited projects and users
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Tools for managing client projects
11. Avaza
From submitting a quote to accepting payment, Avaza can be your comprehensive solution for managing clients. Depending on your business requirements, you can choose from various modules offered by Avaza. These modules are for project management, collaboration, time tracking, expense management, and invoicing and quoting.
Free for: Up to 10 customers, 10 MB storage, 5 active projects and 5 invoices per month
Upgrade for: Unlimited customers, 20 active projects, 2 GB storage, and 50 invoices per month starting from $9.95
12. Freshsales
Freshsales is a CRM which is designed for teams to keep a track of contacts and addressing their queries. With this software, your sales team can contact the right leads with its automated leading scoring. Freshsales offers five SMB and enterprise pricing plans.
Free for: 30 days with all features
Upgrade for: Blossom. Garden, Estate and Forest plans
13. Insightly
Insightly is a project management tool that can simplify clientele management by storing all the contact information, breaking down projects and monitoring your business activities. With this tool, you can manage your clientele on your mobile too.
Free for: 14 day trial for up to 2 users, 2500 record limit and much more
Upgrade for: 100000 record limit, 50 custom fields and a lot more starting from $35/month per user
14. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is another tool that can be used by contractors to build customer loyalty. As this tool can be easily integrated with Google Apps, you can sync email, attach documents, import and export contacts, add events to the calendar . One of the best reasons, you should use this software is because it offers you reports to give you an idea about your business performance.
Free for: for up to 10 users
Upgrade for: 4 paid plans: Standard, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate
15. Cloze
Did you know your contacts can be related? Cloze can help you find this information by telling you which company they worked at, or the city they live in. You can also analyse conversations to understand how ‘close’ you are with each of your contacts in the list and who else are they related to.
Free for: Core features and 25k contacts
Upgrade for: Cloze Pro version with additional apps starting from $19.99 per month
These are some of the tools, software, and apps that can simplify project management for your business. Keep reading iTMunch for more such blogs, updates, and developments to enhance your business!
