11 Best Project Management Software For Small Business in 2023

Project management in a small business environment may seem the easiest of all we do on earth. Though such businesses consume fewer resources and employ relatively lesser manpower than large businesses, the project manager in a small business environment has to facilitate the activities of multiple departments and teams. This is unlike large businesses and enterprises with dedicated managers for sales, marketing, etc.

A study conducted by Project Management Institute shows that organizations can save 12% of their resources with an efficient project management tool. 

If you are a project manager employed in a small business, you will know how hard it is to maintain records in spreadsheets and docs. The good news is that you can organize the workflow and information more efficiently with the right project management software.

Project management software helps manage workflows, prioritize tasks, set milestones, track progress, review, offer feedback, etc. In this blog, we have curated simple and cost-effective small business project management software solutions. 

The Best Project Management Software For Small Businesses: A Quick Summary

There are tons of project management software available in the market for all kinds of businesses. Have a quick glance at a summary of the top project management software that can give your business an instant competitive edge:

Project Management Software for Small Business Comparison Criteria

How do we review and pick the best project management software for small business needs? Following are some of the key evaluation criteria. 

1. Integration

Does the project management software have the ability to get along well with other solutions in the tech stack that come in handy to meet small business needs? 

2. User Interface

We have evaluated the project management software for small business needs based on the intuitiveness of the interface. How easy is it to navigate through the software? We also check if it has faster loading times.

3. Usability

We check if the software is easy to learn and use. Is the learning curve steep, or is it shallow? Does the company offer installation support, user guidance, training, etc.? 

4. Customizable roles and permissions

When you scale your business, and your team expand, not everyone will have the same roles, permissions, rights, and scale of accessibility. You might want to give full admin rights and edit access to some and view-only access to others. We check if the software lets small business owners customize such roles and permissions. 

5. Value for Money

Is the software affordable for small businesses? Does it deliver value for the price they charge? 

6. Scalability

How flexible and scalable are the features of the software? How easy is it to scale the software when you expand the team? 

7. Updates

We evaluate if the company offers frequent updates to meet the demands of the ever-changing business environment. Is there an active customer support and development team behind to churn out updates and ensure that the software is free from bugs, defects, and flaws? 

So make sure to choose the best project management software to increase bottom-line results exponentially. 

11 Best Project Management Software For Small Business

Based on the criteria mentioned in the previous section, we evaluated the software and tools available for project management for small businesses and picked the best out of them. 

1. monday.com

Known for its user-friendliness, the project management software from monday.com is rich in features. It is used by some of the reputed brands like Uber, Unilever, Adobe, Canva, Hulu, and so on to manage projects effectively. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   Monday.com can be easily integrated with other project management applications, including Slack, Gsuite, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, HubSpot, JiraCloud, etc.

2. Intuitive interface

   Monday.com is very intuitive and easy to learn and use. Even if you don’t have a solid foundation or prior experience handling project management tools, its structure is easy to master.

3. Pricing plans

   Monday.com has affordable, basic pricing plans, including a free one. It offers five plans, so scaling up your business becomes easy. The free plan lets you access over 200 project templates and unlimited project boards. The free project template library has pre-defined templates for CRM tasks, HR forms, operations, campaign and advertisement planning, etc.

4. Customizable dashboards

   With monday.com, it is easy to monitor the progress of your projects. This way, you can make sure that the entire team is aware of the milestones and what’s expected of them.

Pricing

• Individual – $0 free forever, up to 2 seats
• Basic – $8 seat/month, Total – $24/ month billed annually
• Standard – $10 seat/month, Total – $30/ month billed annually
• Pro – $16 seat/month, Total – $48/ month billed annually
• Enterprise

Monday.com Pros and Cons

2. Wrike

Second on our list of project management software for small business needs is Wrike. It has over 2 million users globally and several innovative features that help small business owners manage projects effectively. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   Wrike offers 400+ pre-built integrations, including Salesforce, Tableau, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Gsuite, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. It also offers built-in email integration that lets you sync your inbox to Wrike within minutes.

2. Work schedule management

   Work schedule management is one of the key features of Wrike project management software, where you can designate the workweek for your team and let employees know how the week will be for each of them.

3. Dashboard

   The personalized dashboard in Wrike allows you to add widgets so the team can take a look at to-do tasks, overdue tasks, due dates, etc., for each of the employees in the team. They can also arrange tasks in the sequence of their priority.

4. Notifications

   In Wrike, you can snooze notifications and set a custom time for reminders. It lets you set 3 hours, 1 day, or 1 week by default. 

Pricing

• Free – $0 per user per month
• Team – $9.8 per user per month
• Business – $24.8 per user per month
• Enterprise for large teams
• Pinnacle – advanced tools and complex analytics

Wrike Pros and Cons

3. ClickUp

Next on our list is Clickup, one of the great project management software available in the market.  If you are managing a remote team, ClickUp is the most appropriate for you. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   ClickUp offers over 1000+ integration with Zapier. Beyond, you can easily integrate ClickUp with common project management tools for small businesses like Slack, Gsuite, GitHub, HubSpot, Calendars, YouTube, Zendesk, etc.

2. Pricing

   The basic plan is free, and other paid plans may look costly at first instance. When you take a deeper look, you will understand that it is worth the deal. Perhaps, the free version allows unlimited users and has all the features you need for a small business. 

3. Dashboard customization

   ClickUp lets you customize your dashboard, where you can choose over 20 widgets and features along with applications for tracking, screen recording, etc.

Pricing

• Free Forever 
• Unlimited – $5 per member per month
• Business – $12 per member per month
• Business Plus – $19 per member per month
• Enterprise – Contact Sales

Clickup Pros and Cons

4. Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is one of the popular project management and team collaboration software. It has a solid project management system with all that you need to keep track of every activity in the project, irrespective of the size and scope of the business. 

USP 

1. Integration support

   Zoho Projects offer integration support with other Zoho Apps like Zoho CRM, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Drive, Zoho Mail, etc., and third-party apps from Google, Microsoft, etc. It also offers integration with Slack, Zapier, Zen Desk, and so on.

2. Collaboration features

   The collaborative features in Zoho Projects help facilitate team and individual-level discussions. There is an interactive news feed that offers project updates, a built-in chat that facilitates the exchange of ideas, and forums for lengthier discussions.

3. Project planning features

   Zoho Projects has extensive project planning features, including Gantt Charts, Project time sheets, Resource utilization charts, Issue tracking, etc.

Pricing

• Free up to 3 users
• Premium- $4 per user per month, 10-day trial period 
• Enterprise- $9 per user per month 

Zoho Projects Pros and Cons

5. Asana

Asana is an excellent project management software affordable and appropriate for small business needs. With Asana, you are free to organize and visualize project steps in the tool however you wish. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   Asana offers integration with a broad range of software tools like Microsoft Teams, Splunk, Adobe Creative Cloud, Salesforce, Tableau, CloudApp, Slack, Microsoft Office 365, GSuite, Power BI, Zapier, etc.

2. Workflow management

   Asana offers a workflow builder to create automated processes, a Gantt chart for timeline management, and Kanban boards to track the work. It also has advanced features for goal management and real-time analytics for small business requirements.

3. Goal management

   The goal management feature is a unique provision of Asana. It helps the company set goals, quantify them, plan the workflow using workflow builder, and measure the completion through reports and analytics.

Pricing

• Basic $0 Free forever
• Premium $10.99 per user per month
• Business $24.99 per user per month

Asana Pros and Cons

6. Nifty

If you are looking for simple project management software for your small business, then Nifty is the most appropriate. Unlike other tools that offer too many features, Nifty offers small yet important and essential features. 

USP

1. Portability

   Nifty lets you import projects and tasks from other project management software tools. So, even if you are using other tools at the moment, the portability to Nifty is easy. You don’t have to waste time and resources in re-entering data and information.

2. Integration abilities

   Nifty offers integration support with Webex, Zoom, Microsoft Suite, Slack, Miro, Google Drive, and so on.

3. Portfolio management

   Nifty has portfolio management tools that let you organize your projects and tasks based on teams, departments, locations, etc.

4. Communication features

   Nifty has extensive communication features and collaboration tools that let you store all the conversations about a project together in the Discussions section. A team member can retrieve conversations without switching to Slack or other project management apps.

Pricing

• Free
• Starter $39 per month upto 10 members
• Pro $79 per month upto 20 members
• Business $124 per month upto 50 members
• Unlimited $399 per month unlimited members

Nifty Pros and Cons

7. Trello

Trello is one of the well-known Kanban board tools, and the learning curve is steep. It offers a free plan which is more apt for project management for small businesses. It has the power to serve as an effective planning and online project management tool. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   Trello provides integration with JIRA Cloud, Dropbox, Miro, Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce, and 200+ apps.

2. Digital board

   Trello’s digital board helps create, allocate, manage, and prioritize tasks. You can define workflows, set milestones, and keep an eye on the progress.

3. User-friendly interface

   Trello’s interface is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. This makes it usable across industries like construction, manufacturing, education, retail, healthcare, etc., where project teams may not be well-versed in IT.

4. Extensive features in the free plan

   Trello’s free plan has extensive features and functionalities that make it more appropriate for small businesses. It has up to 10 boards per workspace, unlimited storage, unlimited power-ups, unlimited activity log, and so on.

Pricing

• Free plan
• Standard plan – $5 per user per month
• Premium plan – $10 per user per month
• Enterprise plan – $17.50 per user per month

Trello Pros and Cons

8. JIRA

Jira is a team collaboration and project management tool. It allows the team. Jira was primarily intended for software development, but it has evolved for use as a tool for project management for small businesses with the Kanban workflow management system. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   JIRA software provides integration support with Trello, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, Google Sheets, Confluence, Gmail, and so on. It offers integration with other tools your dev team uses from the Atlassian suite.

2. Workflow management

   With Jira, you can completely customize workflows in an organization. Tasks can be moved from one stage to another- from the pending stage when it is started to review, completion, etc. You can also use the default workflow structure that comes with the JIRA software.

3. Automation abilities

   Using JIRA software, you can automate repetitive processes. This, in turn, helps businesses save time and cost. It has pre-defined automation templates, so you don’t have to invest your efforts into designing new templates.

Pricing

• Free for 10 users
• Standard – $7.75 per user per month
• Premium – $15,25 per user per month
• Enterprise- Contact sales 

JIRA Pros and Cons

9. Paymo

Paymo remains one of the most sought-after for managing  startups, small businesses, and freelancers. It helps them manage multiple tasks, track progress, and raise bills and invoices. 

USP

1. Integration support

   Paymo offers integration with several third-party project management apps like Zapier, Slack, Xero, Typeform, JotForm, Integromat, Pabbly, LambdaTest, and so on.

2. Task management

   Paymo simplifies task management for small businesses where you can add log time, track the time you spend on tasks, set a budget, generate reports and invoices, etc.

3. Workflow management

   Using Paymo, you can manage the entire workflow of your business. You can set tasks, assign people, set deadlines, define priorities, and monitor progress.

Pricing

• Free plan 
• Starter plan – $4.95 per user per month
• Small office plan – $9.95 per user per month 
• Business plan – $20.79 per user per month 

Paymo Pros and Cons

10. Teamwork

Teamwork is the only project management software that lets you collaborate efficiently with clients. It has a suite of software tools that makes it easy to collaborate with clients, colleagues, teammates, and management. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   Teamwork offers extensive integration with its suite of tools, including Teamwork CRM, Teamwork Spaces, Teamwork Desk, and so on. It also supports integration with third-party apps like Slack, MS Teams, Hubspot, Plecto, Usersnap, Integrately, Pabbly, etc.

2. Client collaboration

   Using Teamwork, you can customize the client’s ability to access the tool, project planning, track workflow, review, offer feedback and comments, etc.

3. Billing and invoicing

   The billing functionality is integrated with the app, where you can automatically generate bills and invoices. You can set a base rate, and the tool can generate the invoice by tracking the time taken to complete the task.

Pricing

• Free Forever
• Starter – $5.99 per user per month
• Deliver – $9.99 per user per month
• Grow – $17.99 per user per month

Teamwork Pros and Cons

11. TeamGantt

TeamGantt is an effective collaboration and task management tool for small teams, and it is based on Gantt Charts that form the cornerstone of project management tools used in the industry. It extends the Gantt Charts to cover task management features and communication abilities. 

USP

1. Integration abilities

   TeamGantt platform can be integrated with third-party tools like Trello, Slack, Dropbox, Zapier, Basecamp 2, and so on.

2. Gantt charts

   As the name suggests, TeamGantt has customizable, easy-to-use Gantt Charts. They can be tailored to meet the needs of the project.

3. Task management feature

   TeamGantt lets you know if the team is available to take up a task before you allocate them. You can move the project forward from allocation until completion, update progress, and track the time spent on a task or a project.

Pricing

• Lite plan – $19 per manager per month
• Pro plan – $49 per manager per month
• Enterprise – $99 per manager per month

TeamGantt Pros and Cons

Which Project Management Software for Small Businesses Should You Use? 

Each project management software solution listed above has different integration abilities, features and functionalities, and degrees of customization and flexibility. 

Before choosing a project management software for your business, you should evaluate and define your requirements clearly. What are your primary requirements- is it project planning, workflow management, task management, or client management? Do you need billing and invoicing support?

List down the other project management tools you currently use and check for integration and portability. How much customization and flexibility do you require? The good thing is that most project management software solutions listed in the above section offer free trial. You can try them before choosing one. 

Need Expert Help Selecting the Right Project Management Tool?

If you’re looking for the best project management software for your small team, our experts at SoftwareSuggest is here to help. We provide experienced advice and support in locating the best project management solutions for your company.

We recommend efficient tools and software solutions based on your business structure and project requirements. The best thing is we will also fetch you discounts and deals!