In the previous part of the series, we discussed 10 Communication tools you can use to achieve seamless remote team management. Communication is surely an important aspect to focus on while managing a remote team for any software development project.
But, is having only communication tools enough? No, it surely isn’t enough. What about the process and progress of the project, how would you evaluate whether the tasks are done properly or not? That’s when using the right project management tools would come into the picture.
Choosing the right and efficient project management tool is essential to manage a remote software development project smoothly. No matter, if you are working with an outsourced software development company or even if you hire remote developers to build your remote team, using the right project management tools is pretty essential.
So, let’s begin this exciting journey in the second part of the series and find out the Top 15 project management tools that you should use in software development projects.
What do we learn here? We’ll cover the discussion circling what are project management tools, their needs, and questions to ask before buying a specific project management tool, and lastly the list of the 15 best project management tools.
So, are you ready to begin? Then, grab a pen, and let’s note the best tools to use for your software development project.
Let’s first begin by understanding What are project management tools
A project management tool is like a digital helper which makes it easier for someone or a team to keep the software development projects in check. You must have heard some people talking about “PM tools” have you?
If yes, then when they say “PM tools” they are simply talking about project management tools that can help you manage projects. You can either buy them or use the free versions available with limited features.
In the rapidly growing business world, being efficient in remote software development project management becomes important for any organization that wants to succeed. While managing a project, you need to plan, organize, and use the available resources optimally to hit your goals on time.
But achieving this can be a tough task, as it would take a lot of time, and sometimes things might go in the wrong direction. That’s when the concept of project management comes into the limelight. Project management offers lots of helpful features to tackle the above-mentioned issues.
Now, let’s understand why you need a project management tool.
Project management tools are super important for making software because they help keep everything organized and let you see how your project is doing. Without these tools, it would be really hard to figure out what work needs to be done, how far along a job is, and when it needs to be finished.
Here’s why using a project management tool for making software is a smart move:
You can watch your project as it moves forward to make sure it’s done on time and doesn’t go over budget.
You can talk better with your team and everyone else involved to keep things running smoothly.
You can spot any problems early on and deal with them before they get worse.
You can plan and use your resources (like time and people) in the best way possible to get great results.
Now, let’s identify a few questions that you should ask before choosing the right project management tool
Would you purchase a software development project management tool that only lets you plan better but doesn’t allow you to check the progress of your daily tasks? If such is the case, then below are some questions that you should ask before choosing any project management tool.
So, let’s understand all of them one by one.
Providing you with the right communication framework should be the top priority of your project management tool. A shared workplace would make way for enhancing your visibility into what each team member is doing and it would also double up as a place to interlink all the projects and portfolios together.
Moreover, its feature of mentioning a particular individual allows for enhancing contextual collaboration to provide a seamless experience. Thus, having the right collaboration setup is the first step in a project management journey.
After establishing your collaboration platform, the next step is to decide what project management method you want to use. This can differ from a Waterfall to an Agile or a Hybrid model based on the requirements of the project
Having the luxury of choosing your desired method allows your IT Team the luxury to manage the project smoothly. Doing this is advantageous for your team as it allows an easier way to monitor progress and establish proper timelines for execution.
This might seem like a basic thing to say, but it's important enough to mention. If you work in IT, you've probably learned from your own experience that just having lots of features doesn't make a tool good. What matters is if the people using it every day find it easy and comfortable to use.
If it takes forever to learn how to use it or if it's too complicated with lots of unnecessary parts, those are big warning signs. When you're picking out a project management tool, pay close attention to how you can move your old data to the new system. Knowing this will make switching to a new tool a lot smoother.
You would have the most effective tool for your project management. But it is good only if it can work well with other tools in your toolkit. By integrating one tool with the other tools can help you provide a smoother experience of all your other project assets.
Moreover, it also eliminates the urge to keep track of all updates across different software. If you have the right tool that can integrate easily with another set of tools then you are a champion.
You might think being able to customize project management software is just a nice extra, but it's important. Making the software fit the way your team works makes everyone more likely to use it and get on board with it. For example, imagine not everyone in your team does the same job.
One IT person might be setting up or getting rid of IT stuff, while another does regular checks. Since they do different things, they need the software to work in a way that suits their specific jobs. Being able to change the software to meet everyone's needs makes it more likely everyone will use it.
Would you prefer a software project management tool if it works well with other teams in your organization? If, yes then it is vital from many fronts. If everyone in the team uses the same tool it would be easier to adopt all the same processes.
For example, a software development team that is following an agile methodology and another team that is following a hybrid model would use the same software. Doing this will make the entire operation effective and the project managers across the team would be able to collaborate on improving the overall outcome of the project.
Having a way to report on what's happening is super important in any project management software. Even if the software looks good, works with cool extras, and everyone in your company is using it, it won't matter much if you can't get any feedback on how things are going.
Being able to report on your project lets you keep a close eye on it and deal with any problems before they get too big. If your software can give you updates through custom reports when you want them, it helps finish things on time and makes your IT team more successful.
It is important to choose an IT project management tool that is affordable and matches the needs of your team. Spending a lot of money on a tool that is not used by everyone can be termed a costly decision. In such a situation it is advisable to look for a tool that has a reasonable price so that you can easily keep your budget in check.
Now, let’s jump and learn about the Top 15 Project Management tools to use when managing a software development outsourcing project.
There are many project management software choices out there, but they're all pretty unique, each with its own good points and not-so-good points. It's key that we talk about both so you know what you're getting into with the top-rated options in 2024. We'll guide you through the main features, how much they cost, and what users think of them to help you out.
The first efficient project management tool in the list is known as Wrike. It is a WOW choice for project management as it has a bunch of strong features to offer. Despite a lot of features, you do not need to consume a lot of your time to set up the software.
Wrike enables you to design some valuable project details in a spreadsheet column to manage the projects in it.
Larger enterprises like Dell, Google, and Airbnb are using Wrike as their project management tool.
Let’s understand some of its features
A task management feature
It offers advanced analytics
Can help you create online to-do lists for work
Offers some customized tools for teams
It also offers features like building Kanban boards, Gantt charts, etc.
It is also available on mobiles.
Now, let’s understand its Pros and Cons
Offers good customer service
Allows a powerful automation to automate tasks
It also enables a feature to find the task
It can easily integrate with applications
It’s onboarding process is difficult
It lacks filtering options
Has a slower speed in UI and UX
The paid version is pretty expensive
Free versions with fewer core features are available
The Professional version costs: $9.80 per user per month
The business version costs: $24.80 per user per month
For the pricing of an enterprise plan contact the support team of Wrike
Basecamp is the favorite project management tool of a majority of companies across the globe. It’s easy to use and can help team members and customers work together.
Each member who uses Basecamp can see the same thing, and hence can easily work on any project together. It shows neat items instead of long dull lists, thus making it nice to look at. The app is quite user-friendly, thus allowing all users to leave comments on the files, assign tasks, and see what tasks they’ve done recently.
Let’s understand some of its features
Allows a feature to automate check-ins
Enable you to store the performance records
Offers some efficient built-in communication features
Allows real-time management of project activities.
A user can also share and manage files
Now, let’s understand its Pros and Cons
It has an excellent user interface
Provides a simple pricing structure to avoid confusion
It is available on mobile apps
Enables a user to store files in a single location
It lacks a time-tracking features
Integration with tools like Dropbox and Google Drive requires you to use some extra services.
Offers a limited chat management option.
It offers a free trial for 30 days
Also offers a premium plan at $11 per month
Zoho Projects is another project management tool, it keeps track of almost every aspect of the development workflow.
One of the unique features of Zoho Projects is that it automates the document processes by including revision tracking, accessing control, and document search and retrieval.
Zoho allows a user to schedule tasks and projects, create budgets, assign tasks to all members, and also set due dates with its exciting project management feature.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers tools for task management
Offers a lot of Zoho integration
It also offers automation of tasks
Allows a feature to track the bugs
Can easily integrate G-suite tools.
Now, let’s understand its Pros and Cons
It offers excellent customer support
It also offers a variety of communication options
It has a stronger time-tracking ability
Can easily integrate with various project management tools
It’s dashboard is quite poor
Requires a higher learning curve
Any premade templates aren’t available to use
Offers a free plan for two projects for 3 members
Its premium plan costs $5 per user per month
Its enterprise plan costs $10 per user per month
This open-source project management software tool was developed by an engineering community. With an abundance of plugins and themes, you can customize your project.
Despite being free, it is not suitable for everyone. Moreover, in contrast to other project management tools, Redmine is not so easy to set up and use. If you are willing to use a free version then Redmine is the best. However, if you are willing to use an additional collaborative feature then using an Easy Redmine is the way to go.
This tool is built based on the Redmine open-source foundation but has been greatly enhanced with a newly coded GUI.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers Kanban boards
It also allows the tracking of multiple projects
Moreover, it also includes an issue-tracking system
It enables a Facile time-tracking
It is an open-source project management tool
It can be personalized with different themes and add-ons,
It can create sophisticated searches,
It works well with tools like Git or SVN for managing code versions.
Its search and reporting features do not work properly
There is no support included
Cannot be used by all (it is specially focused on software developers)
It is a free and open-source software
Its “Essentials” plan costs $5.90 per month per user
Its “Business” plan costs $11.90 per month per user
Its “Platform” plan costs $23.90 per month per user
Airtable is easy to use, letting you start new projects from the ground up. It helps organize your work by using templates and tables that fit your project's specific requirements.
The true strength of Airtable is how much you can customize it. You can tweak it to perfectly suit your needs. Although it takes some effort to fully customize, the possibilities are endless. You have lots of options to change things like the way you approach tasks, how information is displayed, what each column shows, the kinds of data you can enter, and the rules for that data.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers a Calendar Management
It also offers some tags and keywords
Can easily integrate with third-party integrations
It offers several Email integrations
It is quite simple to use
Offers several view options
It has a few power templates for many cases
An automatic refresh button is absent here
It is expensive
For a free user, there is no basic block available
It offers a free plan but with limited features
Its “Plus” plan costs $10 per month per user
Its “Pro” plan costs $20 per month per user
Paymo is designed to help SMBs and freelancers manage their projects efficiently. It focuses on building teamwork, tracking time, and handling project finances smoothly. Moreover, it helps you take care of a project from beginning to end.
Let’s understand some of its features
It has tools for keeping track of time spent on tasks
It also helps in organizing tasks
Can help you create invoices and estimates
Lastly, it also helps to review and approve files.
It is a comprehensive project management tool
Provides an actionable insight and report
Its filters can get confusing as there are at times too many or too less filters available
It is unable to track the cost of each of the project
It is free for only 1 user
Its starter plan costs $4.95 per user per month
Its small office plan costs $9.95 per user per month
Its Business plan costs $20.79 per user per month
Scoro is an efficient tool that helps agencies and consultancies everywhere keep everything organized. Scoro being a project management tool also lets you take care of your projects, handle customer relationships, send out bills automatically, and make reports, all in one spot. With Scoro, running your business becomes easy and efficient, from start to finish.
Let’s understand some of its features
It allows a feature to track real-time progress
It is a simple project management tool
It offers a feature to set tasks as a priority and schedule them accordingly
Lets you track the meetings and tasks
Offers faster customer service
Can help you in inventory management
Allows you to create invoices efficiently
It lacks contact synchronization with Gmail
Its CRM is quite poor
Filtering is quite difficult while using Scoro
Its “Essential” plan costs $26 per user/ month
Its “Standard” plan costs $37 per user/ month
Its “Pro” plan costs $63 per user/month
Its “Ultimate” plan is only available for big enterprises
Good project management is key to making any business project succeed. A big part of managing projects well is making sure everyone talks to each other. Using a tool like KrispCall, project managers can quickly chat with their team. When software development teams talk and work together smoothly, they can organize their tasks better.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers a feature-efficient call recording
Can help you in managing the leads
It is a complete messaging platform
Allows you to multitask to switch between calls
Also lets admins manage and customize one or more workspaces
Doesn’t allow you to track the location
It lacks the ability of video conferencing
Its “Essential” plan costs $15 per user/month
Its “Standard” plan costs $40 per user/month
Asana is a project management tool that offers features to automate tasks, create rules, and help manage the work environment. With its timeline, users can see how a project is built step by step and ensure everything stays on schedule as and when it progresses.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers a feature for reporting
Enables smooth Team management
Offers a customizable dashboard based on your requirements
It is quite easy to use
It is purely collaboration-focused
Can help you in managing tasks smoothly
It doesn’t offer a time-tracking feature
Needs you to have some experience
Assignment of tasks is limited
It offers a Free Trial
Its free package allows 15 users
Its premium package costs $21/ 5 users/month
Now, let’s find out the 10th one on the list. Any guesses?
It is a project management tool for enterprises that functions well in managing a software development project. Tasks like managing resources, planning the projects, scheduling the tasks and interacting with all the team members are possible by using ClickUp.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers the feature of real-time reporting
It also possesses a time-tracking ability
It makes team collaboration and communication easier
It is very cost-effective
It is a full-featured free version
It continually offers new features, improvements, etc.
It User Interface needs lots of improvements
It has too many options available for customization
Too many features make it overwhelming at times.
A free version is available
Its “Unlimited” Plan costs $5 per user/month
Its “Business” Plan costs $12 per user/month
Its “Business Plus” Plan costs $19 per user/month
Its enterprise plan is best for many large teams
Jira Software helps all kinds of teams manage their work better. It started out as a tool for tracking bugs and problems. Now, in the world of fast-paced software making, Jira is great for handling everything from what needs to be done to checking the work.
But, Jira can be a bit pricey for managing software projects, so you might think about looking for a cheaper alternative.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers many Project Management features
Also allows data and reporting
It can enable you to track projects and issues
Provides a feature of visual project management
Flexible work management
Getting everyone on the same page
Learning from reports and insights
Hard to set up
Not great for managing project
Lacks a way to chat or talk directly
Its Limited features are always free for 10 users
Its “Standard” plan costs $7.75 per user
Its “Premium” plan costs $15.25 per user
Teamwork is a platform made for software development companies to handle all their project work in one spot. It helps your team stay on the same page about what tasks are most important.
This tool has everything you'd need, like time tracking and money management, plus it lets clients join in for free to keep things on track. You can keep an eye on every detail, break work into smaller tasks, and make sure nothing gets forgotten.
Let’s understand some of its features
It offers many resource and workload management features
Also allows you to track the time of the team members
It can enable you to prioritize task
Can easily integrate with any third-party integration
It is very easy to use
It has an excellent interface
Teamwork software is also available as a mobile app
Can enable file storage in one place
Its free version has very few features. You need to upgrade it to avail all the features.
Its free plan with limited features is free forever
Its “starter pack” costs $5.99
Its “Deliver plan” costs $9.99
Its “Grow plan” costs $19.99
Trello is a software that helps you keep track of your projects in a really visual way. Imagine a board with different columns on it. You can put your tasks on cards and move them from one column to another to show how you're progressing. It's like a digital version of sticky notes on a wall.
Trello works great whether you're planning things for yourself or working with a team, making it easier for everyone to see what needs to be done and how things are moving along. It's a favorite tool among people who manage projects and teams, big or small.
Let’s understand some of its features
Make your own Kanban boards without any trouble.
Keep track of tasks easily on cards.
Show your ideas to your teammates in a way that's easy to see.
Share documents and pictures.
Make as many to-do lists as you need.
Arrange your lists by what's most important or by date.
Simple prices. Adding people is a breeze – just type in their email.
Trello is super user-friendly, so everyone can get the hang of it.
It is a great way to keep you updated.
Every time someone makes a change adds a comment or removes a task.
Trello lets you know right away through email or phone notifications.
It is difficult to handle big-size projects when using Trello
It has a limited storage limit
It offers a 14-day free trial
Its “Standard Plan” costs $5 per user/month
Its “Premium Plan” costs $10 per user/month
Its “Enterprise Plan” costs $17.50 per user/month
ProofHub is a tool that helps manage projects and teamwork, no matter the team's size. Experienced product managers understand that not all projects are the same, and ProofHub lets you adjust its look and feel to match what your project needs.
With ProofHub, you can see your project's schedule in four different ways, making it easy to hand out tasks, see how much your team can take on, keep an eye on how things are going, and quickly deal with any surprises. It also has a chat feature that makes working together, sharing files, checking documents, and pointing out any issues smooth and effective.
Let’s understand some of its features
Offers a feature to keep track of tasks
Can enable Working together
Setting specific job roles
Help you in making reports
Keeping an eye on the time spent
Using project shortcuts.
You don't have to juggle different apps anymore.
Organize, carry out, and oversee projects all in one spot.
From the start, you're in charge of a user-friendly and adjustable setup.
Bring on all the team members you want without extra costs.
Easy to start using.
Built-in chat makes working together a breeze.
It is not that suitable for an individual user
Notifications while using ProofHub can be overwhelming sometimes.
It offers a 14 free trial with all the features
Its “Essential” plan costs $45/month (billed annually for unlimited users)
Its “Ultimate” plan costs $89/month (billed annually for unlimited users)
Monday.com is a project management software that comes with a bunch of ready-to-use templates and tools to help teams work more efficiently and increase productivity. While it shows a lot of information for teams to use, sometimes important details can be missed in long lists of updates.
Let’s understand some of its features
Offers a feature to keep track of tasks
Can enable Working together
Setting specific job roles
Help you in making reports
Keeping an eye on the time spent
Using project shortcuts.
Monday.com allows you to monitor tasks effectively, ensuring that nothing gets overlooked and that progress is visible.
The platform enables team members to work together seamlessly, making it easier to share updates and stay on the same page.
You can assign specific job roles within the platform, which helps in delegating tasks and managing responsibilities clearly
The ability to create reports helps in analyzing performance, tracking progress, and making data-driven decisions.
With so much information displayed, key data might be missed amid long sequences of updates, potentially hindering productivity.
Given the range of features and customization options, new users might find the platform overwhelming, requiring time to get fully accustomed.
While templates are useful, there might be a risk of over-reliance, which could limit creativity or adaptability to unique project needs.
Now, let’s understand how you can choose the project management tool.
Choosing the right project management software isn't easy, especially when you need to convince others it's the right choice.
Here’s how to do it step by step:
Understand what your company needs.
Figure out what features your team needs.
Put together a team to make the decision.
Research your options, looking at user reviews, support, and security.
Try before you buy with free trials.
Share what you've learned with the bosses to get their approval.
Buy and start using your chosen software.
Check-in later to see how it’s going and if you need to make changes.
Don’t rush. Choosing software is more than spending money; it takes time to train people and get everyone on board. Some software, like Wrike, Asana, and Trello is quick to start but has more features to explore as you grow.
Security is super important because you’re keeping all your data in one spot. Make sure your choice is safe and fits well with the tools you already use, like Google Calendar or Slack, to save time and avoid headaches.
Now, let’s quickly understand what are some of the top features of any super-effective project management tool.
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Teams that handle big projects for companies have to deal with many tasks like saying yes to content and putting together reports on how the project is doing. Using project management software that fits their specific needs can make their work a lot simpler.
The top project management tools have these features:
A task management feature will give you the ability to create and assign task lists, add the due dates, and monitor the project's progress. This functionality is usually shown on a Kanban board.
A resource allocation feature enables you to oversee the team members' availability to assess who possesses the capacity to perform the new task.
Collaboration means using tools that let team members talk in real-time, edit documents together at the same time, and tag each other in messages to make sure everyone can work together well.
Project planning lets you create and adjust your project's schedule, including important goals and how tasks depend on each other. This is often shown on a chart called a Gantt chart, which helps you see the plan.
A budgeting feature enables you to estimate a project cost and monitor all the expenses to ensure you do not overspend.
Some project management tools let users automatically create reports, making it simple to see how the project is doing.
Customization means you can change your project management software to fit what you need. This includes how it looks, how your team works together, and the forms you use to ask for things.
Various app integrations mean you can streamline a lot of your tasks and work from a single yet effective platform.
Mobile apps let people work from anywhere—whether they're at home, in a coffee shop, or in the office—so you're always caught up on the latest news.
Having time-tracking tools built into the system is important for planning well and making sure billing is right.
To get all the details you need right from the start, set up your request forms to match the way you bring in new work.
Set up your tasks and work routines to run automatically. This makes your workflow better and faster, helping you finish things quicker.
Tools for checking work and getting approvals built into the system help speed things up, so you don't waste time waiting for feedback or changes. The best system lets teams work together and share ideas at the same time.
Choosing the right project management tool is crucial for the success of software development projects. It facilitates better planning, collaboration, and efficiency.
Whether you're managing a remote team or working on a large-scale project, finding a tool that fits your specific needs can significantly enhance productivity and ensure project success. So, that’s it from Part 2, stay tuned for Part 3
I love to make a difference. Thus, I started Acquaint Softtech with the vision of making developers easily accessible and affordable to all. Me and my beloved team have been fulfilling this vision for over 15 years now and will continue to get even bigger and better.
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