Introduction
Whether you’re a project manager leading remote teams or an entrepreneur running a small business, efficient time tracking has never been more important for productivity and profitability. However, with so many options on the market, it can be difficult to identify the project management software that offers the right balance of features and usability. This guide evaluates the top 15 project management tools based on their time tracking functionality, ease of use, pricing, and over 2,500 customer reviews to help you choose the best solution for your unique needs in 2023.
Methods of Evaluation
To rank the top project management software, we evaluated each tool based on the following criteria: features and functionality of the time tracking module, intuitiveness of the user interface, mobile app capabilities, pricing and plan options, customer star ratings on G2 and Capterra, and metrics like number of backlinks, traffic and keyword trend to ascertain popularity and ranking potential.
1. Airtable
Airtable is a low-code platform that allows users to create custom databases, applications, and workflows. With Airtable, users can build collaborative workspaces to track projects, tasks, customers, and more. Some key features of Airtable include a flexible database interface, powerful automation through Zapier integrations, and simple time tracking capabilities.
Pros: Some key advantages of Airtable include:
– Database interface with custom views allowing flexible data organization and presentation
– Ability to integrate with hundreds of other tools and services through Zapier for powerful automation
– Simple time tracking functionality built-in to track billable hours and time spent on projects
– Intuitive UI making it easy for both technical and non-technical users
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that as a low-code platform, there may be some limitations to what can be built compared to more full-featured project management software. Advanced coding, scripting, or integrations may require third-party development.
Pricing: Airtable offers both free and paid subscription plans. The free plan provides basic functionality for up to 3 databases and 3GB of storage. Paid plans start at $5/user/month for early-stage companies and $10/user/month otherwise for additional features like more storage, custom domains, priority support, automated workflows, and integrations.
Some key stats about Airtable include:
– Used by over 180,000 companies including IBM, Lyft, Canva, and Notion
– Over 10 million users globally
– Integrates with over 500+ apps through Zapier
– Offers both free and paid subscription plans
2. Asana
Asana is a project management and work tracking tool that helps teams organize, track, and manage their work. Founded in 2008 and based in San Francisco, Asana aims to make collaboration seamless for distributed and remote teams through its intuitive interface and mobile apps.
Pros: Some of the key advantages of Asana include: – Intuitive and easy to use interface that requires little training – Wide feature set including task and project management, time tracking, reporting and integrations – Strong mobile app support that allows teams to work from anywhere – Affordable pricing plans for teams of all sizes
Cons: A potential disadvantage is that the free plan has limited features and storage which may not meet the needs of larger teams.
Pricing: Asana offers both free and paid plans. The free forever plan supports up to 15 users. Paid plans start at $9.99/user/month for the Premium plan and $19.99/user/month for the Business plan which unlock additional features like reporting and admin controls.
Some key stats about Asana include: – Used by over 90,000 paying customers including Starbucks, Uber and Atlassian – Supports over 100 million users total – Integrations with over 150 apps like Slack, Dropbox and Google Drive – Available in 12 languages
3. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a leading work management platform that helps organizations plan, capture, manage, automate, and report on work at massive scale. Founded in 2005, Smartsheet equips millions of users across leading companies and organizations with capabilities to plan, capture, manage, automate, and report on work. With Smartsheet, teams can manage projects, automate processes and scale their programs across the entire enterprise.
Pros: Some key advantages of Smartsheet include:
– Visual workspace interface that is intuitive to use
– Strong reporting and analytics capabilities to track progress and identify bottlenecks
– Ability to integrate with common collaboration tools like Microsoft Office, Salesforce, and Slack
– Robust time tracking capabilities to capture and report on time spent on projects and tasks
Cons: A potential disadvantage of Smartsheet is that the free version has limited functionality compared to the paid tiers which may not meet the needs of larger or more complex projects.
Pricing: Smartsheet offers various paid subscription plans starting from $15 per user per month for their basic plan up to $35 per user per month for their high-end enterprise plan. Pricing is based on the number of users and additional features/capabilities.
Some key stats about Smartsheet include:
– Used by over 90,000 paying customers including 93% of the Fortune 500
– Over 100 million workspaces created on the platform
– Continued year-over-year growth in revenue with $544 million in annual recurring revenue as of Q3 2023
4. Monday.com
Monday.com is a popular visual project management and work execution platform. With its simple and intuitive board interface and powerful customization options, Monday.com allows teams to plan, track, and collaborate on work and projects.
Pros: Some key advantages of Monday.com include: – Visual board interface is intuitive and easy for anyone to use – Powerful customization options allow teams to build just about any workflow – Built-in time tracking helps manage resources and track billable hours – Integrates smoothly with various collaboration tools teams already use like Slack and Google Drive
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that Monday.com does not have the robust project management features of dedicated project management software like Microsoft Project. It is best suited for visual teamwork and work execution rather than detailed project planning and management.
Pricing: Monday.com offers a free forever plan for up to 3 users as well as paid plans starting from $8/user per month for the Standard plan. Premium and Enterprise pricing is available for larger teams and comes with additional features and support.
Some key stats about Monday.com: – Used by over 150,000 organizations worldwide – Supports teams of all sizes from small businesses to large enterprises like NASA and Siemens – Integrates with over 200 tools including GitHub, Slack, Google Workspace, and more.
5. todoist
Todoist is a popular project management and to-do list app that helps users stay organized and productive. With over 30 million users worldwide, Todoist provides a simple and intuitive interface to manage tasks and projects across desktop, mobile, and web apps. A key feature of Todoist is its automatic time tracking functionality, allowing users to track the time spent on different tasks and projects.
Pros: Some key advantages of Todoist include:
– Simple and intuitive to-do list interface that makes it easy to stay organized
– Automatic time tracking to see how long you spend on different tasks and projects
– Deep integrations with other productivity apps like Google Calendar and Dropbox
– Cross-platform support with desktop, web, and mobile apps for great flexibility
– Free basic plan with premium paid plans that unlock more features
Cons: Potential disadvantages of Todoist could include:
– Free version has limited functionality compared to paid tiers
– Interface may not be as robust as some project management specialized software
– Automatic time tracking requires manual start/stop versus more advanced background tracking in some competitors
Pricing: Todoist offers three pricing tiers:
– Free plan limits to-do lists and tasks to 20 items
– Premium individual plan is $3/month billed annually ($36/year)
– Premium team plan starts at $5/month per user billed annually
Some key stats and facts about Todoist include:
– 30 million+ active users worldwide
– Integrations with over 200+ apps including Google Calendar, Dropbox, Slack, and Trello
– Available on all major platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web
– Supports multiple workspaces to separate personal and professional tasks
6. Wrike
Wrike is a project management and work management software company founded in 2006 and headquartered in San Jose, California. Wrike provides a cloud-based collaborative work management platform that integrates with several popular business apps.
Pros: Key advantages of Wrike include: – Robust feature set including templates, approvals, and reporting dashboards – Powerful customization via hundreds of integrations with other tools – Strong time tracking across projects that can be billed to clients – Competitively priced compared to similar work management tools
Cons: A potential disadvantage is that the learning curve may be steeper for users accustomed to basic project management tools with fewer capabilities.
Pricing: Wrike offers three pricing tiers: Free (limited to 3 users), Professional ($9.80/user/month billed annually), and Enterprise (custom quote). Discounts are available for annual billing and additional users.
Some key stats about Wrike include: – Used by over 12,000 companies worldwide including Samsung, Oath, and Anthropic – Supports over 25 languages – Has over 1 million users – Integrates with over 150 apps like Slack, Trello, Evernote, and Salesforce
7. OmniPlan
OmniPlan is a project management and Gantt chart software developed by The Omni Group. It allows users to plan projects visually using a Gantt chart interface and offers key features like resource management, time tracking, and customizable reports.
Pros: Some key advantages of OmniPlan include:
– Visual Gantt chart based planning
– Resource management capabilities to assign tasks to team members
– Large library of templates and reports that can be customized
– Built-in time tracking and timesheets to log work hours
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that it only supports macOS and iOS platforms, so it may not be suitable for multi-platform teams.
Pricing: OmniPlan offers perpetual licenses starting at $99 for individual users or $249 for a family pack. Subscription plans start at $9.99/month or $99/year for an individual and $24.99/month or $249/year for a team.
Some key stats about OmniPlan include:
– Used by over 1 million users worldwide
– Available on macOS and iOS platforms
– Integrates with services like Dropbox, OneDrive, and iCloud
– Supports multiple currencies and 15+ languages
8. Podio
Citrix Podio is a flexible project management software that allows teams to customize workflows and collaborate in a visual workspace. With Podio, teams can manage projects, track time, create invoices and communicate more effectively.
Pros: Some key advantages of Podio include:
– Visual workspaces that are customizable for any workflow needs
– Intuitive time tracking and invoicing capabilities
– Affordable pricing plans for teams of all sizes
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that the free Basic plan has limited capabilities compared to the paid plans which may be necessary for larger teams or more advanced features.
Pricing: Podio offers three paid plans in addition to a free Basic plan. The Starter plan is $5/user/month, Professional is $10/user/month and Enterprise starts at $15/user/month. All paid plans include advanced features like unlimited workspaces and storage.
Some key stats about Podio include:
– Used by over 40,000 companies worldwide
– Supports more than 35 languages
– 12 integrated apps to customize workflows
– Available on mobile and desktop
9. Aha!
Aha! is a project management and roadmapping tool that helps product teams plan strategy and work together toward a shared vision. With Aha!, teams can build product roadmaps, organize work into kanban boards, and track time spent on tasks.
Pros: Some key advantages of Aha! include:
– Intuitive product roadmapping capabilities to plan strategy and coordinate work
– Visual kanban boards to track work across sprints or iterations
– Extensive integration options to fit seamlessly into most dev workflows
– Basic time tracking included to understand time spent on tasks
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that Aha! only offers basic time tracking functionality. More advanced features like task scheduling, time off tracking, and billing are not included.
Pricing: Aha! offers both free and paid plans. The free Basic plan includes basic features for up to 3 users. Paid plans start at $9/user per month for the Plus plan and scale up to $24/user per month for the Enterprise plan which includes additional features like advanced permissions and SSO.
Some key stats about Aha! include:
– Used by over 700,000 product teams worldwide
– Integrates with over 150 tools including Jira, GitHub, and Slack
– Time tracking feature has been used for over 1 billion hours of work
– Average customer retention rate of 90%+
10. Taskade
Taskade is an AI-powered productivity platform that provides a central workspace for teams to collaborate in real-time. With its clean and intuitive interface, Taskade aims to be a unified space where teams can plan projects, write documentation, take notes, and track tasks and time all in one place. Taskade utilizes AI-powered generative workflows and task automation to help teams work more efficiently.
Pros: Some key advantages of Taskade include:
– Beautiful interface optimized for remote collaboration
– Integrated time tracking with timestamps on comments
– Real-time document editing like Google Docs
– AI-powered generative workflows to automate repetitive tasks
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that the free tier has limited features compared to paid plans, which may not support the needs of large teams.
Pricing: Taskade offers the following pricing plans:
– Free forever tier: Supports up to 5 team members with limited features
– Premium plan: $8/user/month, removes member limits and enables additional features
– Business plan: $12/user/month, includes SAML SSO, administrator controls, and priority support
Some key stats about Taskade include:
– Used by over 50,000 teams worldwide
– Integrates with services like GitHub, Notion, Dropbox, and Slack
– Free forever tier supports up to 5 team members
– Paid tiers start at $8/user/month for additional features and team members
11. Teamwork
Teamwork is a project management software with robust time tracking capabilities. Founded in 2006, Teamwork helps organizations of all sizes manage projects, tasks and teams in one centralized place. With over 10,000 customers worldwide, Teamwork aims to make project collaboration and delivery easy with its full-featured yet intuitive platform.
Pros: Some key advantages of Teamwork include:
– Robust task and project management capabilities to keep projects on track
– Good reporting and analytics to track team performance and project health
– Intuitive interface that is easy for both project managers and stakeholders to use
– Integrations with commonly used tools like Google Drive for seamless collaboration
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that the free plan only allows for 3 concurrent projects which may not meet the needs of some very large teams.
Pricing: Teamwork offers four pricing tiers:
– Free: For up to 3 active projects and 5 members
– Professional: $7/user/month billed annually for unlimited projects and members
– Business: $12/user/month billed annually plus additional features
– Enterprise: Customized bundled solution for very large enterprises
Some key stats about Teamwork include:
– Over 10,000 customers globally across many industries
– Tracks over 100 million hours logged by users annually
– Integrates with over 150 tools including Google Workspace, Dropbox, Microsoft Teams and others
12. ProjectManager.com
ProjectManager.com is a cloud-based project and work management software that helps teams plan, track and collaborate on projects of any size. In business since 2006, ProjectManager.com has grown to support over 25,000 customers worldwide with an easy to use and affordable software solution.
Pros: Some key advantages of ProjectManager.com include:
– Easy to use interface designed for both technical and non-technical users
– Affordable pricing plans starting from just $5/user per month
– Built-in time tracking to log work hours against tasks and projects
– Project dashboards to provide stakeholders visibility of project status
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that the free plan only allows for 5 active projects compared to unlimited projects on paid plans. For some very large projects or portfolio teams, this could be limiting.
Pricing: ProjectManager.com offers three paid plans – Basic, Pro and Team. Pricing starts from just $5 per user per month for the Basic plan (billed annually) which removes the project limit of the free tier and adds additional features like task dependencies and approvals. The Team plan starts at $8 per user per month (billed annually) and is suited for larger teams or companies.
Some key stats about ProjectManager.com include:
– Used by over 25,000 customers globally
– Supports teams of all sizes from freelancers to enterprises
– Integrates with over 150+ other business apps like Gmail, Dropbox, Slack, etc.
– Available in over 35+ languages
13. Workfront
Workfront is a leading enterprise project management software developed by Adobe. With over 3,000 customers worldwide across industries like technology, healthcare, manufacturing and more, Workfront helps businesses effectively manage complex projects, work and spend.
Pros: Some key advantages of Workfront include:
– Robust enterprise project portfolio management capabilities to manage complex projects
– Advanced reporting and analytics dashboards for real-time project insights
– Workflow automation features to streamline and optimize business processes
– Integrates seamlessly with other key applications used by the business
Cons: One potential disadvantage of Workfront is that as an enterprise-grade software, it may have a higher learning curve and implementation timeline compared to some other project management software options.
Pricing: Workfront pricing starts from $50 per user per month for the Standard plan for up to 50 users. It also offers Professional and Enterprise edition plans starting at $75 and $100 per user per month respectively. Pricing is dependent on the number of users, features, customization and support needed.
Some key stats about Workfront include:
– Used by over 3,000 companies globally across industries
– Supports over 25 million users
– Integrates with over 150+ applications like Microsoft, Salesforce, ServiceNow etc.
– Offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities with over 50 standard reports
14. Nulab
Nulab is a project management and collaboration software created by Japanese software company Nulab, Inc. Nulab offers both self-hosted and cloud-hosted versions of its project management software aimed at software development teams, creative agencies, and businesses of all sizes.
Pros: Some key advantages of Nulab include:
– Kanban boards and backlogs to visualize workflows
– Pre-built templates for common project types and workflows
– Deep integrations for developers to connect codes to tasks
– Time tracking features to log hours against tasks and projects
Cons: One potential disadvantages is that the free plan only allows for 3 users which could limit its use for larger teams.
Pricing: Nulab offers 3 paid tiers:
– Basic: $29/user/month billed annually
– Standard: $39/user/month billed annually
– Premium: $59/user/month billed annually
All plans include access to mobile apps and integrations. The Premium plan unlocks additional features for larger deployments.
Some key facts about Nulab include:
– Used by over 50,000 companies worldwide
– Integrates with over 150 apps like GitHub, Slack, Dropbox, and others
– Available in 12 languages including English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German and more
15. OpenProject
OpenProject is an open source project management software for classic, agile, and hybrid project management. It offers features like task management, Gantt charts, boards, team collaboration, and time and cost reporting. It has been used by over 1 million users globally since its initial release in 2006.
Pros: Some key advantages of OpenProject include:
– Free and open source which allows for customization and extensibility
– Large plugin ecosystem available to extend functionality
– Visual boards and cards interface for collaboration and tracking progress
– Gantt charts available for classic project scheduling and planning
– Built-in time tracking and reporting capabilities
Cons: A potential disadvantage is that as open source software, it does not receive the same commercial support as paid project management alternatives. However, paid support plans are available from OpenProject GmbH for enterprises.
Pricing: OpenProject is free to download and use with no limitations. Paid hosted cloud subscriptions and support plans are available starting at $9 per user per month for additional features, priority support, and uptime guarantees.
Some key stats about OpenProject include:
– Used by over 1 million users globally
– Available in over 30 languages thanks to translation plugins
– Supported and developed by the company OpenProject GmbH
– Free and open source software released under the GPL license
Conclusion
Whether you’re a solopreneur, creative agency or Fortune 500 company, there is a project management tool on this list with robust time tracking to suit your budget and workflow. Do your research on the top- reviewed options, take full advantage of free trials to test features, and choose the one that offers the best balance of usability, value and capability to maximize your team’s productivity in 2023.