16 Best Project Management Software for Small Businesses for 2023

Looking for the best project management software for small businesses?

Well, you’ve come to the right place!

Small businesses often function with team members performing multiple responsibilities to deliver projects within the set timeline. They go about doing tasks as they come, chasing deadlines on an everyday basis. The result? Project deadlines are often missed, quality is not up-to-the-mark, and tasks are omitted altogether.

So, what’s the solution?

Adopting a feature-rich project management software.

Yes! A project management software for small business is the answer to all the chaos, confusion, and urgency of performing multiple tasks at once. So, what you need is a clearly defined project workflow that caters to the needs of both the project manager and the team members.

First, an ideal project management tool for growing teams must be affordable such that the business is able to afford the tool in the long run. Second, it offers all the essential features to ease team collaboration and establish project workflows with just a couple of clicks.

In this blog, we will look at the top project management software for small business along with pros, cons, and pricing.

How to Choose the Top Project Management Software for Small Businesses

Choosing the best business project management software involves ensuring that it fulfills basic criteria for sure-shot improved business outcomes.

Let’s take a look at these.

A. Core Features

An ideal tool is equipped with the core project management features that complement your project and team needs. For example, some businesses might require better collaboration features, while others may be in need of solid reporting or time tracking ability. Some basic features that a tool for small businesses must include are project views, automation for recurring tasks, milestone tracking, and much more.

B. Listed on Best Review Platforms

Being listed on top review sites such as Capterra, GetApp, and SoftwareWorld lends credibility to a user’s utility and functionality. These sites carry detailed and in-depth research on listed tools, offering features, pricing, pros, and cons of the tool in question. You can even compare the features and prices of tools and see which tool suits your needs better.

C. Consistently High Ratings

When reading about a tool, look for honest reviews by users. These users provide genuine, first-hand insight into the tool’s actual usability. This further gives you a better perspective of how the tool will work for you and your team. Also, ensure that the reviews and ratings are recently published, i.e., in the last one year.

D. Ease-of-use

A tool might have all the features and capabilities of being the right tool but lacks the most important aspect of managing projects – its ease of use. Yes. A tool must be easy to onboard and navigate right from the onset. If a tool requires intensive training to get familiar with its features and functionality, it is bound to deter users from actively adopting it.

E. Support & Training

The role of a tool’s customer support system doesn’t end at the tool’s onboarding. It extends to the entire time that the user wishes to use the tool for managing projects. As such, a tool might face lagging issues or may encounter frequent bugs. This calls for a proactive customer support team that aids the user in overcoming challenges and getting the projects running easily.

Read More: 16 Best Project Management Softwares for Creative Teams

What Are The Must-Have Features for Best Small Business Project Management Software?

Did you know that most project teams are between 6–10 members? And that 77% of high-performing teams use project management software?

These statistics make it clear that the use of project management software is paramount to succeeding at managing projects consistently.

Are you still wondering what is the best project management software for small business?

Well, don’t worry. Here are a few features that will give you a better understanding of the right project management tool for small businesses.

a. Project Planning & Scheduling

The right project management software allows you to plan and schedule project tasks and activities from a single source of truth. It supports project planning and task management no matter how small your team is. It enables you to create tasks, assign resources, and set due dates. You can even set up task dependencies and prioritize tasks to get work done faster.

b. Project Monitoring

Project monitoring is essential to keep a check on how your scheduled tasks are moving forward and whether they are on track to be accomplished within the defined timeline. A tool having multiple project views such as Gantt charts, Kanban board, and Calendar view gives a 360° perspective of ongoing tasks and project management activities in startups regardless of where team members are working from.

c. Actionable Reports

Reports offer much-needed insight into team performance. This, in turn, helps keep team productivity in check throughout a project’s life cycle. These reports also provide key project metrics that help you make informed decisions related to the project. This also helps keep stakeholders in the loop of the ground reality and what needs to be tweaked for best project results.

d. Dashboard Customization

Managing projects means adapting to evolving needs and requirements. For this, you sometimes might have to reschedule project workflows to push forward a deadline or prioritize a particular task. For this, it is crucial that you are able to customize the project dashboard in a matter of seconds. Being able to customize the dashboard with an easy drag and drop further eases project management.

e. Team Collaboration Features

Think of it. Can you complete a project without connecting to a fellow teammate? No, right? Collaboration features are important to help connect team members and ease overall project communication. Seamless team collaboration helps get in touch instantly to discuss and address roadblocks at the earliest. This then aids in timely risk mitigation and enables successful projects regardless of the size of the team.

f. Time Tracking

The time tracking feature is important to calculate billable and non-billable hours for each employee. Accurate time tracking ability takes the pain out of client invoicing and helps create hassle-free invoices every month. Also, these invoices can be customized to capture the company’s logo and other details. Besides, time tracking also enables project managers to track team productivity in real-time.

Read More: How to Implement Strategic Alignment In Project Management

A Quick Look at Best Project Management Software for Small Businesses & Their Key Features

List of 15 Best Project Management Tool for Small Businesses

Selecting a project management software for small business is not a cakewalk.

We have done all the heavy lifting and narrowed down the list of the top project management tools for small businesses for you below.

Let’s take a look at these.

1. ProProfs Project

ProProfs Project is a user-friendly project management system, apt for small teams and businesses. It helps align projects, processes, and people on one collaborative platform, centralizing everything in an easy-to-access place.

Equipped with solid project management features such as time tracking, project views, and much more, the tool provides a simple and intuitive platform to track progress and stay in control of your project workflows.

Also, with ready-to-use, customizable templates, you can get your project up and running within no time. These professionally designed templates allow you to tweak project and task names, add resources, set due dates, and get the ball rolling with just a few clicks. Overall, the tool lets you visualize progress in real-time to stay ahead of your competitors effortlessly.

Key Features of ProProfs Project:

• Task Management Capabilities

ProProfs Project offers excellent task management capabilities. You can create tasks, assign resources, and set due dates for multiple projects within minutes. You can even prioritize tasks and accomplish important projects first, leading to better client relationships. The tool even lets you set task dependencies. This helps establish crystal-clear workflows for project execution and avoid chaos and confusion while implementing set workflows.

• Project Tracking

The tool offers interactive project views such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, Calendar, and List views. With these, you have easy access to real-time project progress at your fingertips. So, if you want a comprehensive view of project progress, go for the Gantt chart. Leverage the Kanban board to increase task visibility. Also, view the Calendar and List view to track which tasks are due next.

• Collaboration Features

With task comments and file sharing, you can connect and collaborate with team members, regardless of which city or country they are working from. You can give instant feedback via task comments and keep feedback for specific tasks in one place. This helps address roadblocks on time and get projects across the finish line as expected. Further, its file-sharing ability lets you share files with team members instantly.

• Time Tracking

Tracking time is much more important than it appears. Why so? It helps track employees’ productive hours by calculating billable and non-billable hours for each employee. This then helped create accurate invoices for clients to refer to while negotiating employee pay. Also, time tracking lets project managers track which tasks their team members are engaged in at any point of the day.

• Powerful Dashboard

A tool’s dashboard is what decides whether a user will stay or leave the platform. It determines the ease of tool adoption. ProProfs offers a powerful dashboard that offers easy customization on the go. It lets you optimize workflows by adjusting them while managing projects. Also, the tool’s seamless drag and drop experience further enables team members to adjust workflows simply by moving tasks across the dashboard.

• Actionable Reports

Project reports provide actionable insights into project progress in real-time. These project reports let you analyze key project metrics and take business decisions for the future path with data-driven insights. You can extract these presentation-ready reports in an instant and share them with clients, team members, and stakeholders within minutes.

• Easy-to-use Interface

ProProfs is an easy-to-use project management software. It offers easy onboarding that does not require any specific training. With its smooth navigation, you can start creating project workflows almost immediately. Also, in case of lagging issues, you can reach out to their help desk team and ask queries that will be attended to in the best possible manner.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
1. You can switch between different views and analyze project progress the way you want	1. Lacks good third-party integration apart from Zapier
2. It is a user-friendly, scalable platform, perfect for growing teams	2. Needs a good mobile application

Best for: Project visualization, Task management, Reporting capabilities

Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Enterprises, Remote Teams

Pricing:

Starts at $39.97/month.

Read More: Creative Workflow Management: A Complete Guide

2. Trello

Trello is an excellent small business management software. With its Kanban-style dashboard, it lets you manage small teams handling bigger projects with ease. Using its Trello boards, you can categorize tasks under various names such as ‘To do,’; ‘Doing,’ or ‘Done’ to gain better clarity of where your project stands. This way, you can track scheduled project workflow at a glance.

Key Features of Trello:

• Customize workflows to suit team needs
• Use no-code automation for repetitive tasks
• Drag and drop tasks across the Trello board

Pros	Cons
1. Organize work with Trello cards that display due dates, assignees, and conversations related to a project	1. There is no offline access to the tool
2. Awesome integrations and power-ups for greater functionality	2. Handling tasks across multiple Trello boards can get chaotic

Best for: Task management, Workflow management

Suitable for: Small businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is Trello?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: 15 Trello Alternatives in 2022 (Both Free and Paid)

3. Monday.com

Monday.com is one of the trusted management tools for managing businesses with small teams. It lets you create project workflows, assign resources, and define deadlines accurately. Also, you can prioritize projects and get work done faster. Its reporting abilities provide much-needed insight into project progress right from the tool’s dashboard. This powerful analytics help monitor key metrics and tweak project workflow for best results.

Key Features of Monday.com:

• Get a ready project layout with customizable templates
• Leverage automation and integrations for increased efficiency
• Get real-time alerts and notifications to stay updated

Pros	Cons
1. Handle multiple complex projects with ease on a single platform	1. It can be difficult to get started initially
2. Visualize data with chart, Calendar, and Gantt view	2. Collaboration features can be enhanced

Best for: Project visualization, Workflow automation

Suitable for: Large businesses, Enterprises

How affordable is Monday.com?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: Best Monday.com Alternatives for Project Management in 2022

4. Wrike

Wrike is one of the top project management software for small businesses. It is a scalable platform that lets you plan, create, and deliver multiple projects at once. You can easily drag and drop tasks and adjust workflows on the fly. With its time tracking and timesheet generating abilities, you can get accurate time and effort estimates for upcoming projects and tasks.

Key Features of Wrike:

• Access project information across web, desktop, and mobile
• Use custom fields to suit project needs
• View live activity stream to monitor team activity

Pros	Cons
1. View scheduled tasks and set dependencies using Gantt charts	1. Its features can be overwhelming for beginners
2. Manage daily workflows by dragging tasks to ‘New,’ ‘In Progress,’ ‘Completed’ columns.	2. Needs more collaborative abilities

Best for: Project monitoring, Task management
Suitable for: Large businesses, Enterprises, Remote Teams

How affordable is Wrike?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: Top 10 Wrike Alternatives for Easy Project Management

5. Asana

Asana is an excellent project management software for small businesses. It lets you create crystal clear workflows for your projects. You can add subtasks to tasks and assign each of these to specific resources. Also, customizing these workflows is a matter of seconds with easy navigation throughout the project’s lifecycle. Besides, you can make use of unlimited tasks, projects, and messages to get your projects across the finish line.

Key Features of Asana:

• Start working on your project immediately choosing from 50+ templates
• Integrate with 100+ applications easily
• Monitor progress with List, Board, and Calendar view

Pros	Cons
1. Tracking tasks and subtasks is a walk in the park with simple and intuitive project dashboards	1. Lacks a time tracking feature
2. You can collaborate with up to 15 teammates hassle-free	2. Its interface is not very suitable to handle complex projects

Best for: Easy-to-use dashboard, Task management

Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is Asana?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: Asana vs. Trello: Which Project Management Tool Should You Choose?

6. Airtable

Airtable is a project planning software that lets you plan and manage projects with ease, regardless of which project methodology you follow. So, whether you’re following agile, scrum, or Kanban, you can strategize your project action plan and get started with execution sooner than expected. The tool is excellent to establish project workflows, allocate resources, and monitor progress on the go.

Key Features of Airtable:

• Create custom interfaces to suit team needs
• Integrate with third-party applications seamlessly
• Adjust workflows with seamless drag and drop experience

Pros	Cons
1. You can track the progress your way with customizable project views	1. Steep learning curve
2. The Airtable calendar lets you manage project tasks and activities no matter where your teams are located	2. Lacks solid collaboration features

Best for: Project tracking, Task management

Suitable for: Large businesses, Enterprises, Remote Teams

How affordable is Airtable?

Basic plan starts from $0.

7. Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project offers a flexible platform to align tasks and help move work forward. It lets you streamline processes and execute a well-defined workflow efficiently. You can track progress using Grid, Board, and Timeline view. Also, you can track resources and portfolios with built-in project reports. The tool lets you co-author project workflows, i.e., edit and update task lists and schedules in an instant.

Key Features of Microsoft Project:

• Increase project visibility with project roadmaps
• Calculate billable hours of employees with Timesheets
• Forecast and manage resource demand with insightful demand management

Pros	Cons
1. The tool is apt to handle complex projects being operated by cross-functional teams	1. It does not offer very affordable plans for small businesses
2. It centralizes all project information using an intelligent project management interface	2. Steep learning curve

Best for: Project tracking, Reporting capabilities
Suitable for: Large businesses, Enterprises

How affordable is Microsoft Project?

Basic plan starts from $9.44 per month.

8. Teamwork

Teamwork is a free project management software for small businesses. It lets you bring your team together to collaborate and achieve goals faster. Its task management capabilities let you add tags, assign resources, and define due dates accurately. Also, you can set task dependencies and establish crystal-clear workflows, eliminating any confusion related to who is responsible for which tasks of a project.

Key Features of Teamwork:

• Track time and keep team efficiency in check
• Use task list templates and automation for recurring tasks
• Organize tasks and create subtasks for improved work management

Pros	Cons
1. Optimize resources with workload management	1. Should offer more third-party integrations
2. The tool helps team members communicate with each other and address roadblocks instantly	2. Doesn’t offer very detailed reports

Best for: Team collaboration, Workload management
Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is Teamwork?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: 18 Best Marketing Project Management Software for Agencies in 2022

9. LiquidPlanner

LiquidPlanner is a great tool for managing smaller teams. Not only does the tool help organize all your tasks in one spot, but it also supports real-time project tracking for sure-shot project success. Its intuitive interface lets you adjust projects and workflows with how your teams work. Also, you can predict project deadlines and take up new work with accurate due dates without any hassle.

Key Features of LiquidPlanner:

• Manage uncertainty with smart risk estimation
• Level your resources and avoid resource overload
• Manage individual work with personal work views

Pros	Cons
1. It lets you forecast project due dates depending on how your scheduled tasks are progressing.	1. Can be complex to get started
2. Get data-driven insights for improved portfolio management	2. Does not offer milestone tracking

Best for: Reporting capabilities, Task management
Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Enterprises

How affordable is LiquidPlanner?

Basic plan starts from $0.

10. Mavenlink

Mavenlink is a great tool to handle professional projects within smaller teams and organizations. It offers a powerful platform that lets you create project workflows, assign responsibilities to team members, and set due dates throughout the project. Its project reporting capabilities provide you with actionable insights into project KPIs that assist you in making informed business decisions for better project outcomes.

Key Features of Mavenlink:

• Explore APIs for more functionality while managing projects
• Tailor project workflows as per your management needs
• Store all project data in an easy-to-access, intelligent workspace

Pros	Cons
1. Its project reports are relevant and comprehensive	1. The tool is not very easy to onboard
2. Ensure resource optimization with effective workload management	2. Does not offer a good mobile application

Best for: Workload management, Reporting capabilities
Suitable for: Large businesses, Enterprises

How affordable is Mavenlink?

Available on request.

Read More: 12 Critical Project Management Principles Every Business Owner Should Follow

11. nTask

nTask is one of the best free project management software for small businesses in the market today. You can plan projects, allocate resources, and organize your tasks in one place. Also, you can gain increased visibility into tasks using the tool’s pre-built Kanban board templates. Moreover, it offers budgetary and financial summaries of projects. This lets you manage budgets in real-time and adhere to the set budget for successful projects.

Key Features of nTask:

• Track issues across and accomplish projects on time
• View Timesheets to track team productivity
• Set milestones and track them on the go

Pros	Cons
1. Monitor how your tasks are moving forward via Gantt charts and Kanban board	1. Frequent lagging issues
2. The tool lets you analyze potential risks and dodge them timely	2. It would be great to have a powerful mobile application of the tool

Best for: Task tracking, Risk management
Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is nTask?

Basic plan starts from $0.

12. Paymo

Paymo is the best project management tool for small businesses regarding accurate client invoicing and time tracking abilities. You can ensure that resources are never overworked with effective workload management and easy resource visualization. Paymo offers transparent time tracking, ensuring that you pay your employees for their productive hours to accomplish set business goals.

Key Features of Paymo:

• Get priority support for seamless project management
• Get remote assistance for unhindered project execution
• Set up automation for recurring tasks

Pros	Cons
1. Track task progress using list, table, calendar, & board views	1. Lacks good reporting abilities
2. Invoices, expenses, and estimates are sorted with Paymo’s time tracking ability	2. Needs better project customization options

Best for: Project visualization, Client invoicing
Suitable for: Small businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is Paymo?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: 20 Best Project Collaboration Software of 2023

13. Basecamp

Basecamp is a feature-rich project management software for small businesses. Built specifically for enabling smooth project execution between remote team workers, the tool lets you plan, create, and deliver projects without any delay. Its project dashboard offers a holistic view of all your projects from start to finish. It offers a free plan that helps team members communicate, collaborate, and execute tasks while being on the same page.

Key Features of Basecamp:

• Communicate with team members via message boards and group chat
• Integrate with popular third-party apps for more advanced features
• Store and send documents for easier team collaboration

Pros	Cons
1. Powerful dashboard that offers every detail related to a project or task	1. Needs integration for more advanced project management features
2. Solid collaboration features for free-flowing projects	2. Needs a better user interface

Best for: Team collaboration, Workflow management
Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Remote Teams

How affordable is Basecamp?

Basic plan starts from $0.

Read More: Top 10 Basecamp Alternatives to Use in 2022

14. GanttPRO

GanttPRO is a feature-rich platform that allows you to manage everyday tasks with maximum efficiency. You can set up project schedules and track them in real-time using Gantt charts, Grid view, Board view, etc. Also, you can manage resources and complete projects on a budget by setting resource values per hour, per item, and just cost rates. This allows you to establish fixed budget estimates and control costs throughout the project.

Key Features of GanttPRO:

• Start your project with ready-to-use project templates
• Set task dependencies for clear workflows
• Attach files to tasks for easier access

Pros	Cons
1. Visualize progress using Gantt, Grid, Board, and portfolio views	1. Can be expensive for small businesses
2. A scalable platform, apt for growing companies	2. Not an easily navigable tool

Best for: Project monitoring, Resource management
Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is GanttPRO?

Basic plan starts from $15 per month.

15. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is one of the best project management software for small consulting firms. It allows you to create an all-in-one workspace for managing teams, projects, and workflows proactively. You can set up task priorities and gain visibility into real-time progress effortlessly. The tool lets you compare actual and estimated costs, ensuring transparency from executing projects to delivering projects within the defined budget.

Key Features of Smartsheet:

• Improve resource allocation with better project visualization
• Capture client data with forms
• Automate repetitive tasks

Pros	Cons
1. Robust task management capabilities for smooth-flowing projects	1. Steep learning curve
2. It is a flexible and scalable tool	2. Its pricing can be a hiccup for small businesses

Best for: Task management, Resource management
Suitable for: Small businesses, Large businesses, Personal Projects

How affordable is Smartsheet?

Basic plan starts from $7 per month.

Read More: Web Design Project Management in 2022: The Ultimate Guide

16. ProofHub

ProofHub is a robust project management software designed to be highly flexible and scalable. The platform allows project managers to exert total control over every aspect of an ongoing project, right from task delegation and resource monitoring to project visualization and insightful reporting. Its integrated chat and proofing capabilities allow small teams and businesses to have stellar collaboration functionality. Also, its time tracking and scheduling ability help you stay on track with project responsibilities. Besides, the tool’s Kanban boards and Gantt charts enable you to track workflows in real-time.

Key Features of ProofHub:

• Collaborate across time zones and geographic locations with discussions, chat, proofing, and review
• Track time with integrated timesheets
• Manage project progress via Table View, Kanban Boards, and Gantt Charts

Pros	Cons
1. You can easily integrate third-party storage platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox and drag & drop files into ProofHub	1. Complicated UI for beginners
2. It allows you to set up your custom domain to keep things organized and highly private within your organization	2. Clunky notification management

Best for: Task management, Workload management, Proofing

Suitable for: Large businesses, Enterprises

How affordable is ProofHub?

Basic plan starts from $45 per month.

Comparison of Best Project Management Collaboration Tools

Grow Your Business Faster With a Robust Project Management Tool

Selecting the best project management software for small businesses is not an easy feat. You need to adhere to various criteria while analyzing the key features of each tool.

By now, you must have chosen which tool you want to go with for your project and team needs. If not, then here’s what we think. You can go for ProProfs Project if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for your project management needs. It offers solid time tracking, automation, and invoicing ability for smooth-sailing projects.