Choosing a project management software solution for your business has become more challenging over the past few years with numerous new options becoming available in the marketplace. With a plethora of features, pricing levels and web and desktop based versions available, making a choice which is right for you and your business needs can be tough. To help out, we’ve selected five well reviewed and widely used project management software solution to review to assist you in making your choice. In no particular order, and without bias, at very least one of these fine software solutions should be able to greatly assist you in planning your next project timeline and deliverables, and on a platform which suits your preference.
Basecamp
Basecamp is quite possibly the world’s most popular cloud based project management software solution. With 8 million+ projects managed since 2004, Basecamp is a constantly evolving and is a recommended project management platform chosen by thousands of customers all around the world.
Basecamp is famously superfast and easy to use with a highly visual user interface making it such a popular choice for many professionals managing complex projects and collaborating with teams. Basecamp’s strong feature set includes:
- Real-time collaboration
- Exceptional web-based calendaring
- Full permissions controls
- Instant notifications
- Drag and drop file functionality
- Strong invite and people/company grouping capabilities, and
- …the ability to mistake proof your projects by recovering deleted content just to name a few.
Basecamp is an affordable and high quality choice for companies no matter the scale of the project.
Pricing: $20/month – $150/month
FREE Trial: 60 days
Customer Notes: Recommended by 97% of all registered users both past and present.
Genius Project
Genius Project as the name suggests is an enterprise level and extremely popular project management software solution used by many of the world’s largest brands. Genius Project is hosted on site and offers a fully customizable project management, budget management and workflow solution tailored specifically to a wide range of industries including Healthcare, Manufacturing, the Public Sector, Professional Services, Financial Services, IT and Higher Education. Not only this but Genius Project offers solutions per role catering to Executives, Project managers, Project Team Members and Project Stakeholders.
Genius Project offers one of the most flexible and dynamic project management solutions which adapts to your business’ needs, and can be easily integrated into your ERP, CRM or Help Desk. Not only this, but Genius Project supports project management methodologies such as Prince2, PMI and Phase Review, and comes with numerous industry templates and 500+ pre-canned reports all of which can be utilized via a top-down or bottom-up tactical project management processes.
Customer Notes: Used by AEGON, Amway, Bacardi, Baccarat, Braun, Commonwealth Bank, Danone, Gardena, Rolex, Schneider Electric, Toshiba, United Nations…
Pricing: Custom price on request
FREE Trial: 15 days
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project is one of the world’s best known project management software solutions. Microsoft Project, which is a primarily a desktop project management software solution is a fantastic extension of the Microsoft Office suite. With full user collaboration capabilities, a familiar and intuitive user interface similar to that of the Office package, and user-controlled scheduling, Microsoft Project is a great choice for professionals looking to use a familiar project management software solution which integrates well into their existing PC infrastructure.
Coupled with Microsoft Project Server, you may also choose to host and access a browser based version of Microsoft Project. Although this is not strictly a cloud based solution, this does offer the best of both world’s enabling you to access files locally via your PC without an Internet connection, or via a browser tapping into Microsoft Project Server’s strengths.
FREE Trial: 60 days
Pricing: $999.95 USD approx for single license
Customer Notes: 20 million customers and over 10,000 users of Microsoft Project Server including Intel, CSC, Volvo, Thomas Cook University, Axis Bank, Coca Cola, Korean Air, Revlon…
OneDesk
OneDesk is a highly recommended project management software solution. OneDesk offers a suite of tightly integrated applications including feedback management, innovation and ideas management, help desk, requirements management, project portfolio management, product roadmapping and issue tracking. Not only this, but OneDesk is one of the most affordable and best value for money Project Management software solutions on the market, offering fantastic business benefits which include project and social collaboration, automated workflow, budgeting, scheduling, and the ability to share projects beyond the boundaries of your organization.
OneDesk is unique because it offers a fully unified product platform which ties together many of your project and customer challenges into one succinct package at a very affordable price.
Pricing: $30/month for Pro version
FREE Trial: Limited to 100mb storage, 3 projects and 3 users per organization
Customer Notes: Numerous well known clients including LifeLearn, Nike, Disney, Panasonic, Kofax, IBM, NBC and many more…
PlanBox
Planbox is a powerful and incredibly easy to use Agile based project management software solution used by a wide array of global brands. Whether you’re planning a project, collaborating with team members from across the globe or right inside your office, Planbox is a fantastic tool to help you deliver your projects on time and to budget.
Planbox includes many clever features making it a popular choice for organizations of varying scale. Some such features include:
- Intuitive user interface
- Real-time collaboration
- Mobile application for Tablet and Smart Phone
- Task based Project Management
- The ability to re-group projects into initiatives
- Time Tracking
- Customizable email notifications
- Deadline management
- Agile reporting,
- and Source Control Management.
Planbox is an excellent choice for those looking for a constantly developing, affordable project management software solution via the cloud enabling Agile methodology such as SCRUM.
Pricing: $20/month – $80/month, Custom Packages available on request.
FREE Trial: 2 users, Non-profits and students. 15 day FREE Trial for packages ranging from $20/month to $80/month.
Customer Notes: Used by numerous well-known and global brands including StarBucks, Samsung, RackSpace, Philips, Optimis Corp, Xuba, Open Media, DKM Systems and CGI…
Conclusion
So regardless of whether you’re looking to find an enterprise project management solution or a scalable cloud based solution, there is definitely some quality alternatives on the market. With literally thousands and in some cases, millions of prior or current users, these project management software solutions are all excellent options worth exploring. Remember though, that choosing a project management software solution is best made when you are choosing one that suits your current needs and can scale, so don’t scale immediately if you just don’t need it. You’ll save time and dollars this way, and make the learning curve that much easier.
Another solution that can be considered is RationalPlan:
http://www.rationalplan.com/
It is a suite with several project management products raging from simple tools and up to a server based solution.
Thanks Tiberiu, great tip. Looks like another great project management software solution.
I’d suggest Wrike (www.wrike.com) as an addition to this short list. It’s a web-based platform that combines full-featured project management (Gantt charts, reports, etc.) with friendly real-time collaboration features (activity streams, live document collaboration, etc.) The app is integrated with email, Google Drive, Dropbox and some other popular tools. Also, an attractive bonus is that there is a free version available for teams up to 5 users.
Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like a great service!