With so many moving parts in your project management, having access to the right tools can mark the difference between successful projects and miserable failures.
One of the most common project management tools out there for the past few years has been Asana. However, despite its popularity, it’s not for everyone, which is why we’re going to pull back the curtain and reveal 10 Asana alternatives that you can use for your teams.
FAQs
Why should I use a project management tool?
Project management tools take care of a big chunk of your project admin, allowing you to spend more time fixing issues and planning for the future. You can set up seamless team workflows with tasks that include everything your team needs — perfect for a smooth-running project.
What are the common features of project management tools?
Why should I use time tracking software in my project management?
Time tracking software is a great addition to your project management strategy for the following reasons:
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Budget your time more efficiently
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Easy invoicing for providers and freelancers
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Accurate reporting for stakeholders
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Improve future project estimations
How does a good project management tool improve my team’s performance?
Project management software comes in a wide variety of price ranges. Almost all have a free version, while the paid options increase in price as you get more features and capabilities. To use your budget wisely, look for project management tools that also include collaboration software, document management, communication tools, and more.
Bitrix24
Bitrix24 has been rapidly gaining a strong reputation as one of the best project management solutions out there. Nowhere on this list of Asana alternatives will you find a product that provides as many solutions as Bitrix24. From project management and time tracking to communication, website building, and collaborative documents, you’ve got everything you need all in one place.
Take for example the workflow features. In short, you can set up a list of tasks and save it as a template, so whenever you repeat a project, you’re ready to go at the click of a button. With dependencies, all of these tasks are automatically assigned in the order you set them to.
You’d think all of these features would break the bank, but sign up is free and the more advanced packages are very budget-friendly considering the wealth of tools you get.
Redbooth
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Easy visualizations
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Great audio and video
Redbooth is one of the best Asana alternatives with a great quick view dashboard and visual project timelines.
Geared towards easy communication, Redbooth comes with a Business Chat app that allows you to rapidly ping messages back and forth throughout your project. It also comes with a really impressive video chat functionality as standard, which is a great touch for remote teams. For even more diverse communication tools, there are a lot of integrations out there with platforms like Slack. Gmail, and Dropbox.
Redbooth is a versatile platform that you can use on your desktop as well as on Apple and Android, so you can get notifications and reminders from wherever you happen to be. For your peace of mind, you can also store your platform on your own servers with Redbooth Private Cloud behind your on-site firewall.
Workzone
Workzone is a dedicated project management tool that can easily compete with the more well-known Asana alternatives in this list.
You can set up your tasks and subtasks in minute detail with responsible people and deadlines. Like Bitrix24, you can also make use of dependencies so the completion of one task triggers the assignment of a subsequent task.
Everybody involved gets automatic notifications when updates are made as well as warnings when tasks are approaching their deadline. This is great for managers who can get an overall idea of how things are going without having to sift through individual tasks.
If you’ve got multiple projects running at the same time, you can make use of project templates to avoid creating every task again and again. You can also create multiple workspaces for different groups and restrict access to certain individuals for greater security.
Basecamp
Basecamp has been around since 1999 and is still one of the most popular tools for companies. Unlike our other Asana alternatives, it is not 100% focused on project management, with most users seeing it more as a collaboration tool. This means it lacks features like Gantt charts and deadline notifications that most project management see as a high priority.
However, if you’re a service business looking to have free-flowing communication with your clients, there are still few better tools than basecamp. Also, with a flat rate of $99 per month, it is easy to set your budget for the year, with no increases in cost as your team grows. Sure, this can be a drawback for small businesses who can’t fork out the top dollar on a monthly basis, but big teams appreciate the cap on costs.
Adobe Workfront
From the world-renowned Adobe, Workfront is one of the most complete Asana alternatives you can find. You’ll get a nice array of functionalities such as creating custom workflows so you can set your projects into motion and focus on things like analysis, rather than micromanaging every task.
Project managers love the connectivity between tasks and reporting tools. This means it’s easy to view your performance and that of your team, identifying issues as soon as possible and dealing with them.
You can follow different working methodologies to suit your team’s preferences, and as you grow, Workfront will grow with you.
As you might expect with Adobe, it’s certainly not on the cheap side. With every pricing plan custom made for your company, you can’t expect to get a cheap (or free!) project management solution out of the box and ready to go. Therefore, Adobe Workfront is best for teams working on big projects who have the resources for a serious investment.
Advanced Project Management & Time Tracking
For everything you have to define, structure, and assign, Bitrix24 is there to help. Enjoy what you love about your job the most, and put the rest on autopilot.
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Wrike
Wrike is another one of our Asana alternatives that you can use for free. In this case, as long as you have under five users, you can get to work without spending a penny. It’s certainly not a deal breaker once you start growing either: getting a Professional account is only $9.80 per user per month.
And it’s hardly lacking in features either. Wrike has more project management tools than Asana, such as Gantt charts with task dependencies, as well as cloud-based file storage. Pushing the boat out even further, you get classic to-do lists, real-time interactive reporting, and for any missing features, Wrike has plenty of integrations with other tools.
Like all the best work management tools, Wrike is fully compatible with all platforms, from your desktop to Android and iOS. Just like Asana, you get a neat, user-friendly interface wherever you use it.
Trello
As one of the most popular Asana alternatives out there, Trello shares a lot in common with its rival, with an easy-to-use Kanban visualization that you can customize however you want it. Assign team members to each task, set a deadline, and receive notifications and reminders to keep everyone on track.
The simple layout makes Trello a great choice for non-technical teams as people can pick it up very quickly. Similarly, if you regularly work with providers and freelancers, it’s easy to stay on track. The free version gives you more than enough project management capabilities to get yourself started, with an activity log and unlimited cards.
However, it is still not the most specialist tool and lacks some of the more advanced views and analytics compared to tools like Bitrix24. This means you’ve got to connect all your documents from a third party, which can drive your monthly costs up.
Zoho Projects
Part of the Zoho range of apps, Zoho Projects follows the game plan of many other platforms on this list with task management, a good suite of internal and external communications tools. It has extra features that not all other apps include, such as time tracking and Gantt charts, as well as good workflow automation and an internal social media feed to keep your team up to date.
Zoho’s reporting is competent, with detailed analysis of your progress so you can nip problems in the bud without waiting until the project has finished. Perfect for software teams, Zoho Projects comes with a bug-tracking feature that you can run periodically to ensure quality.
While it doesn’t have the far-reaching capabilities of all-in-one business tools like Bitrix24, you can integrate it with other dedicated Zoho products, like Zoho CRM.
Jira
Jira’s focus is on agile working methodologies, which makes it a favorite for coders and programmers. This means you get Scrum boards, Kanban boards, and roadmaps as standard — much more advanced than other Asana alternatives in this list. Similarly, you get a great bunch of analytics and reporting tools that are above and beyond what you could expect from Asana.
Despite being so popular among tech teams, Jira lacks a fair few extra features that others in this list include. For example, you can’t launch a video or phone call from the app itself, and the more apps you use, the more costly your monthly budget.
On the subject of cost, Jira is on the cheaper side and there is always a free version for teams that are just starting out. So if you’re looking to get into Agile methodology, you can launch your projects nice and quickly.
MindManager
MindManager is another of the more complex apps on the market and it has a price tag to match once you’ve finished the 30-day trial.
It stands out from the other Asana alternatives due to its focus on mind mapping. It is incredibly customizable and you can make flowcharts, workflows, organization charts, and all kinds of other applications. It comes with a wide variety of features and a bunch of add-ons and integrations if you find you’re missing anything.
Focusing specifically on project management, you can create schedules and deadlines, as well as Gantt charts for easy visualization. “Smart rules” take things further, allowing you to input conditional formatting to get intelligent charts that adapt to the data inside them.
One of the drawbacks is that the Microsoft version is noticeably better than the Mac version, and you can’t just flick between devices like you can with most of the other apps on this list.
We hope you’ve got a clear picture of what Asana alternatives are out there, and how the best one for you may not be the most powerful and complete one. Each product is aimed at its own audience, for example, Jira is for the software developers, Wrike is for small teams, and Basecamp is aimed at collaboration more than project management.
There are countless factors to take into consideration when choosing which is best for you, but one that is undoubtedly going to crop up is cost. Some of the top tools are prohibitively expensive, and in reality, most companies don’t need the top drawer products.
You can sign up for Bitrix24 for free and get started with a huge range of project management solutions and visualizations that are almost impossible to find in its competitors.
Where it really stands out is in the huge variety of quality tools you get from day one. With all your communication and collaboration tools tied in with your project and task management, you don’t have to worry about paying for several accounts just to be able to cover all areas of your project.
