12 Project Management Software solutions for streamlining business

Whether you’re a freelancer or contractor, you manage three to five employees, or are a business owner with hundreds of employees, using the right project management software can increase productivity, organization, and even profit. Each project management software product offers something unique and each geared toward a specific type of user or company. As a result, you have many options, as there is software for every price point—even if you’re looking for something free. However, if free is what you need, remember that the software you choose may not have all the features that the pricier products provide. No matter if you’re trying to keep it simple or you need a complex and detailed product, here are twelve project management software products that you could implement today to improve your business tomorrow.

1. Basecamp

Basecamp – Basecamp offers pricing plans from $149 a month for unlimited projects and users and 75GB of storage to a free plan for one project with two whiteboards with 10MB of storage. And no matter which plan you choose, you’ll get a 30-day free trial for each. While Basecamp’s focus is ease-of-use, clarity, and simplicity, it’s marketed to everyone from freelancers to large corporations. According to Basecamp’s website, their well-known clients include National Geographic, Kellogg’s, and Warner Brothers. Basecamp features include file sharing, reusable templates, team updates through email, mobile phone accessibility without an app, group chat, time tracking, task assignments, milestones and deadline calendar, and automatically saves every version of every file, so it’s easy to find exactly what you’re looking for when you need it. It also is available in over a dozen languages.

2. AceProject

AceProject – Similar to Basecamp, AceProject has free basic plans and gold plans that cost $99 a month. The free plan can have a total of five active users and projects and up to fifty active tasks, as long as it uses within 250MB of storage space. The gold plan allows unlimited user, projects, and tasks and can store up to 20GB. Also, AceProject offers a 20% non-profit discount on all plans excluding the free plan. All plans include a secure connection, automatic updates with new features, and free support, and it’s not ad-supported. Features include reporting, expense tracking, document and project management, time tracking, and collaboration—which includes email and task reminders and chat options between users.

3. TeamLab

TeamLab – TeamLab only has one price point—free! Currently, active features include setting milestones, tasks, and due dates, report generation, user blogs and forums for easy communication, and document management. TeamLab is in the process of expanding and adding features, like a calendar, email, and a customer relations management tool. It even has three deployment solutions: 1) AMI – this is for companies who want to use their own server, 2) SaaS – for those who need ready-to-use service, and 3) Open Source – for those who are experienced and able to configure and maintain their own portal.

4. ProjectPier

ProjectPier – ProjectPier is free and must be downloaded onto your own server in order to use. Once it’s downloaded to your server, it’s completely web-based. There are no limits to users, projects, or even clients, and is simple and has easy usability. ProjectPier features include assigning and managing tasks, calendars, wikis, files, and tickets. Even non-administrators can create projects. While ProjectPier is very basic, it is perfect for freelancers or very small businesses with simple needs.

5. Intervals

Intervals – Every plan offered by Intervals comes with a free 30-day trial. And if you like Intervals after that first 30 days, you have five plans from which to choose. There is a free account, but it only allows one project, client, and invoice at a time and four active users, but it does allow unlimited tasks. However, Intervals offers unlimited users, clients, contacts, invoices, tasks, and milestones for all of their paid plans. With that being said, the only differences between the plans are the number of projects allowed and the level of storage space. The basic plan, for instance, allows 15 projects and 5GB of storage for $20 per month while the highest priced plan allows an unlimited number of projects and up to 75GB of storage for $175 per month. Features include time tracking, document storage, report generation, tasks, project management, and invoicing.

6. Project Bubble

Project Bubble – Project Bubble offers free plans and paid plans that range from $12 a month for 10 projects, one user, and 1GB of storage to $49 per month for unlimited projects and users and 15GB of storage. The highest priced plan also comes with a custom domain. If you’re interested in the free plan, it only allows one project and user and only comes with 10MB of space. Project Bubble also offers your first 15 days free, no matter which plan you’re on. All of the paid plans include daily backups, unlimited invoices, clients, and contacts, data importing and exporting, and API access. Features include task and project tracking and planning, time tracking, file sharing, team collaboration, invoices, and tracking expenses.

7. Zoho

Zoho – While Zoho does offer a free plan, it is only for personal use. However, for business professionals, there are 18 different options and features from which to choose. Zoho doesn’t have set plans with everything included. You can mix and match according to your needs. For example, for unlimited projects and users, it is $80 a month. If you want the bug tracker add-on, it’s an additional $80 per month. If you want to send 150 invoices every month, it will be $15 more a month, and 1,500 invoices will run you $35 a month. When it comes to features, Zoho offers something for everyone—maintain business contacts, track expenses, international transactions, accept online payments, project time tracking, dashboards, and report generation.

8. Pivotal Tracker

Pivotal Tracker – With pricing plans ranging from $7 to $175 per month, Pivotal Tracker is designed for small to medium-sized businesses. There is a free plan, but it’s for individuals, public projects, non-profits, and academic institutions. The $7 per month plan includes three collaborators, unlimited viewers, five projects and 1GB of file storage. If you choose the $175 per month plan, it includes 50 collaborators, unlimited viewers, projects, and file storage. Pivotal is also offering a 60-day free trial, and doesn’t even require a credit card with sign-up. Pivotal also keeps track of progress made on projects and documents and creates charts and graphs for all viewers, and all documents can be easily imported or exported.

9. QuickBase

QuickBase – QuickBase is designed for medium to large businesses with intensive project management needs. The lowest price plan starts at just under $300 a month. The two higher price points aren’t even published online, as you have to directly contact a representative for more information. For the lowest plan, it allows up to 10 users, 25,000 database records, and 1GB of storage space. The middle range allows up to 100 users, 75,000 database records and 5GB of space. The highest plan is for 200 users and it includes 100,000 records and 20GB of storage. QuickBase even offers add-on features. For example, if you need to add 5,000 more records, it will cost an additional $25 a month. For every extra GB of storage space, that’s an extra $25 per month.

10. Copper

Copper – Copper has three basic pricing plans–$49 a month for 25 users, $99 for 100 users, and $199 per month for 300. There is also the option to purchase a server license for just under $1,500. One of the many great things about using Copper’s project management software is that the number of projects and the amount of file storage is unlimited, no matter which plan you choose. Some of Copper’s clients include Pepperdine University, Allstate, and Motorola. Features include file preview, tasks and subtasks, to-do lists, client management, backups, reports, group calendars, and email alerts.

11. Clarizen

Clarizen – Clarizen offers a 30-day free trial and has plans starting at $25 per month. They also offer a pricing calculator so you can have a customized and personalized plan for your exact needs—whether that’s 50 users or 500. Features include budget tracking, time tracking, expense management, iPhone app, unlimited number of projects, resource management, report generation, customized dashboards, and email between users.

12. AtTask

AtTask – With a customer base including HBO, Apple, Nike, and Adobe, AtTask is the project management software for large companies. AtTask also does not post their prices online, as it’s meant for those with very large budgets. However, they do offer a free trial for those considering purchasing a monthly plan. AtTask features include customizable dashboards and profiles, interactive charts and graphs, task management, configurable reports, real-time project visibility, and capacity planning.

With so many available options, you’re sure to find the right project management software for your business needs—whether your budget is $30 a month or $1,000. While it may seem overwhelming to narrow your options, having so many options gives you the power. You can have everything you want in project management software by choosing a customizable plan or a set, dependable plan. Once you find the right plan for your professional situation, your business and employees will be more structured, organized, productive, and professional. And that will increase your profit.