How to Compare Project Management Software in 2024

Figuring out how to compare project management software can be more complex than it seems. There are various guides out there that offer head-to-head comparisons of top solutions like Monday.com, Jira, and Microsoft Planner. However, few show you what you should be looking for in a project management tool to begin with and how to make the right decision.

The right project management software can be an excellent resource for modern teams. It makes it easier to monitor the progress of each project, align your teams, and boost productivity. That’s probably why around 1 in 4 companies have their own project management tools.

Unfortunately, only around 35% of business leaders are satisfied with the project management solutions they’re already using. After reviewing dozens of project management tools and applications, we’ve created this guide to help you make the right choice.

Why Compare Project Management Software?

So, why should you compare project management software in the first place? What can it do for your business and teams?

To answer that question, we must first answer, “What is Project Management software?”

Project management software is a solution or platform that provides businesses with the tools they need to plan, organize, and track the progress of projects. It helps you allocate resources efficiently, keep teams on the same page, and boost business efficiency.

Standard options include apps like Asana, Wrike, Monday.com, ClickUp, Notion, and Trello. Check out our reviews for in-depth insights into what each platform can do.

While the features of project management software can vary, the overall benefits are usually pretty consistent. Project management software helps you:

• Streamline planning and scheduling.
• Establish clear goals for your teams.
• Enhance resource management.
• Access insights into performance and progress.
• Identify risks and issues.
• Stick to project budgets.
• Improve team collaboration

How to Compare Project Management Software: Step-by-Step

To compare project management software, you need a clear understanding of your business operations, team requirements, and other factors. Here are the steps you can take to narrow down your options.

Step 1: Define your Goals, Pain Points, and Constraints

When choosing any new technology for your business, you must understand which challenges you need to overcome and what goals you want to accomplish. We recommend starting with an overview of your pain points to determine what your PM software should address.

For instance, do your employees struggle to meet deadlines? Are they unable to collaborate efficiently because they’re distributed across different environments? Maybe you’re unable to allocate resources effectively or lack insights into project progress and team performance.

Based on the pain points you discover, you can begin to identify goals for your PM software. For instance, you might want to increase productivity and efficiency, improve collaboration, address project visibility gaps, or minimize project risks.

Once you have your goals in mind, consider any constraints that might affect how you compare project management software, such as:

• A limited budget.
• Specific regulations or data compliance standards.
• Technology limitations (such as legacy tools without integration options).
• Network bandwidth or connectivity problems.
• Problems with disconnected data and teams.

Step 2: Assess Your Teams and Their Needs

When you compare project management software, your focus should be on finding a solution that’s easy for your team to adopt and use. If your employees are reluctant to use your software, you won’t get the best return on your investment.

Start by considering the structure of your workplace. Do you have hybrid and remote teams that must be aligned through the same software? If so, choosing a cloud-based tool will make sense. Think about the kind of projects your teams manage. Depending on your workflows, you may need your project management tool to integrate with existing tools for wireframing and prototyping, communication and collaboration, and so on.

Think about the different team members you have and the unique tools they may need to access. For instance, supervisors and managers may need access to more performance management and tracking tools than everyday employees.

Remember to consider your team’s working styles and preferences, too. For instance, do they prefer to plan and execute projects using timelines, Kanban boards, or Gantt charts? Are they looking for solutions seamlessly blending into their workflows on tools like Microsoft Teams? Do they need the option to customize the notifications and alerts they receive?

Step 3: Compare Project Management Software Features

Once you clearly understand your business goals, challenges, and team requirements, it’s time to start thinking about the project management features you need. While many of the best project management tools share similar features, like Kanban boards and Gantt charts, the capabilities of each tool can vary. Points to consider include:

• Central dashboards: A central dashboard gives you a big-picture view of all your projects, ideas, and progress in one space. Leading solutions like Zoho Projects and Asana allow you to customize your dashboards with various templates and widgets.
• Customization and integration: Look for a solution that can be customized to suit each team and department’s needs. Consider the integrations you’ll need to leverage for existing UCaaS and CCaaS tools, ERP, etc.
• Project views: As mentioned above, most project management tools support Kanban and Gantt-style dashboards. However, you might want to look for options that also include calendar and timeline views or custom grids.
• Role management: Different team members in your business will have different requirements. Look for a solution that allows you to provide specific features to each team member and control access permissions.
• Collaboration tools: Built-in collaboration tools, such as file-sharing capabilities, meeting options, chat features, and so on, help your teams work together. If your project management software doesn’t have collaboration built-in, ensure it can integrate with the tools you use.
• Business management features: What capabilities do you need for task time tracking, budget management, analytics, and reporting? Which features will help you to align and grow your business more effectively?
• Advanced features: Do you need specific cutting-edge features like workflow automation or artificial intelligence? Should your project management tool have a built-in assistant, like Microsoft Copilot?

Step 4: Remember Compliance and Security

When you compare project management software, it’s easy to get caught up looking at things like innovative automation capabilities or stunning dashboards. While those things are essential, it’s also crucial to remember that your project management tools will store a lot of vital data.

This means you must ensure your chosen solution meets your security and compliance needs. Most of the best project management tools will include things like end-to-end encryption for your data and secure cloud storage. However, you should also look for exceptional control.

Make sure you can easily add, manage, and remote employees and guests from your system. You might also want to implement things like SSO, SAML, and 2-factor authentication to help keep your business secure. Consider whether you need to apply different access permissions for different employees based on their needs to access specific data.

Consider how easy it will be to export, retain, and delete data as needed based on your retention policies. A good PM tool should always enable excellent security.

Step 5: Prioritize Exceptional Reporting Tools

When you compare project management tools, you will need to prioritize various essential features, from collaboration tools to task management capabilities. However, one of the most critical features no company can afford to overlook is reporting.

Reporting and analytical tools serve two purposes when choosing a project management tool. First, they ensure you can maintain visibility into your workflows, pinpointing potential issues, roadblocks, and opportunities. Your reports and dashboards will help you make intelligent decisions about allocating resources and managing team members.

Secondly, reporting and analytical tools will ensure you can track the “ROI” of your project management tool. If you can actively see how your software is helping your team members to save time on tasks (with automation), accomplish goals, and collaborate more effectively, it’s easier to justify the cost.

Step 6: Compare Project Management Software Vendors

Once you know what you’re looking for, you can compare project management software vendors. There are many options, from Zoho Project management to Wrike, Figjam, Smartsheet, and more. To ensure you’re comparing the suitable options, shortlist companies based on the features they provide using the list you created above.

As you sort through your options, look at things like:

• Reputation: Read project management software reviews, check vendor ratings on channels like TrustRadius and G2, and examine industry-specific success stories.
• Pricing structure: Examine how your project management software vendor charges for software. Do you pay by user or purchase seat packages?
• Flexibility: Consider the tools you need for your project management software to work with. If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for Zoom or Microsoft Teams, it’s worth checking out the “app marketplaces” these companies offer.

As a bonus tip, we recommend looking at project management software vendors who offer free trials and demos of their software, as this will allow you to take the next crucial comparison step.

Step 7: Test Each Solution Yourself

Often, the easiest way to compare project management software is to test each of your shortlisted tools yourself. Most of the top-rated software management tools offer free trials. You can test solutions like Trello, ClickUp, Asana, and Zoho Projects without paying anything.

For the best testing experience, we recommend establishing “scoring criteria” for your apps in advance. Decide on your priorities, such as excellent collaboration, reporting features, or user-friendliness, and assign weighted scores to each criterion.

Once you’ve tested the solution, ask crucial team members to do the same and share their feedback. Listening to your team’s insights ensures you can choose a solution that delivers the best possible employee experience. When experimenting with your team:

• Assign different access permissions to different employees and ask them to focus on using specific features relevant to their roles.
• Define specific test cases, such as setting deadlines, tracking task progression, examining task dependencies, and evaluating the ease of task reassignment.
• Source extensive feedback with surveys, meetings with employees, and other methods. Ask your teams specific questions about their experiences related to your priorities and goals.

Asking specific team members to test your project management tools also means you’ll have people in your workforce who understand the solution and can train others how to use it.

Step 8: Implement and Customize Your Solution

Finally, once you’ve narrowed your options to a specific tool, it’s time to implement the solution. As you compare project management software, it’s a good idea to look for a vendor that will make the implementation and customization of your solution as simple as possible.

Most leading vendors should offer resources, like guides and videos, to help you assign roles to team members, create dashboards, and use various features. They should also be able to provide extra support if you need it. For instance, if you have specific integration or security requirements, your vendor should help you to implement them.

Once you’ve implemented your software, pay close attention to metrics highlighting the tool’s success. Look for evidence of increased engagement, productivity, and efficiency. Continue to pay attention to your team’s feedback, and adjust your system as needed going forward.

Since most project management tool vendors offer monthly subscriptions, you can always consider switching to an alternative if you don’t feel you’re getting the right results.

Compare Project Management Software The Right Way

Figuring out how to compare project management software can seem complicated. There are hundreds of different tools and applications available today. Some focus specifically on specific industries and business sizes. Others offer unique and innovative tools, like AI and hyper-automation.

The right solution for you ultimately comes down to your team’s requirements, your budget, and the goals you want to achieve. If you need extra help, check out our reviews and insights into some of the top project management tools available today.

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