7 Min. Read

3 Best Project Tracking Software (Review & Pricing)

January 16, 2024

Project management software is an online collaboration tool. With it, everyone involved in the project can log in and see what they should be working on and when. This software also allows the entire team to record their progress on various task lists in real-time.

In doing so, your team can enter in relevant details and notate any changes they made. Moreover, anyone with the proper permission level can see what others are doing – or need to do – and when. Whoever’s in charge of managing the project, the tracking software provides a clear synopsis of the project and its health status.

As you can imagine, such tools are essential to the life of the business owner or manager. But are all project management tools the same? Far from it. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that one surpasses all others on the market.

So join us as we share with you the best project tracking software for your consideration. As you’ll soon discover, choosing the right software plays a fundamental role in the success of your projects.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Makes a Great Project Tracking App?

Top Project Tracking Apps

Key Takeaways

What Makes a Great Project Tracking App?

There’s no doubt that project tracking software varies wildly in what it allows you to do. Most allow you to track and manage almost any type of project. This includes creating a new product, building a website or even a house, or starting your very own marketing campaign. However, the top applications have key project management features that you should pay attention to, such as:

Project budget management
Project timeline overview
Work with remote teams
Resource management
Team collaboration
Time management
File sharing

The project dashboard displays all of the essential tools and features you need to complete successful projects. What’s more, teams using project tracking software usually track multiple projects at once. The software can help them determine when to schedule work based on what they need to complete and available resources.

The very best project tracking apps are capable of detecting problems before they occur. By tracking ongoing project progress, the apps can alert you if there’s likely to be a delay in meeting the project completion deadline. By letting you know this before it happens, you can make the appropriate adjustments to ensure that your project goals don’t suffer too greatly.

But here’s the great part. The best and most powerful software can automatically reschedule your project tasks for you. This is handy in the event that one deviates from its proposed schedule. You’ll also know if there are members of your team that have too great a workload or not enough.

And finally, there are project management platforms that have robust reporting tools. These additional features allow you to keep track of project budgets and record billable time worked. As such, you can send invoices when and where appropriate.

Does this sound like something you could use in your business? Then let’s shift gears and focus on the best project tracking software.

Top Project Tracking Apps

Now that you have a general understanding of what project tracking apps do, it’s time to explore the best of the best. As you’ll learn, some do things better than others and have features that are exclusive to their respective software. Use this guide to determine which one is the best fit for your needs.

FreshBooks

Pricing: Lite – $19.00/mo | Plus – $33.00/mo | Premium – $60.00/mo

FreshBooks is built for small business owners and their teams to increase productivity. This all-in-wonder is jam-packed with features. You can invite employees, contractors and business partners to manage your various projects. Need to keep an eye on your inventory? What about file storage? FreshBooks has you covered.

Thanks to this robust project tracking software, you can easily assign due dates, share files and images, assign rates and hours to each project, examine project status and much more. Do you like having the ability to customize your invoices? FreshBooks makes it easy.

You can choose which template best fits your business, add your company logo and even make adjustments to the color schemes and fonts. If your goal is to stand out to your clients, FreshBooks is an excellent fit for your brand.

Do you like to get paid faster? Who doesn’t, right? Thanks to FreshBooks, you can effortlessly accept credit card payments and get paid twice as fast. Not only that, but you can also send out recurring invoices and request deposits from your clients.

Another big plus is the sheer flexibility of FreshBooks. You can accept various types of currency and add discounts to your invoices, to name a few. It’s clear that the team behind FreshBooks sought to cover all the bases.

In short, if you’re a business owner who likes to have control over your projects, FreshBooks is for you. It’s a powerful tool that can help you manage your team more efficiently, tighten up productivity and increase revenue. This is one project tracking app that’s hard to beat.

FreshBooks offers a free trial if you want to get a feel for it before you buy. And rather than pay by the month, FreshBooks has yearly rates, as well.

LiquidPlanner

Pricing: Essentials – $29.00/mo | Professional – $39.00/mo | Ultimate – Call for price

LiquidPlanner offers a compelling way for teams to plan and execute work. Thanks to clever AI, this project tracking software uses resource-based predictive scheduling technology. With it, LiquidPlanner considers the priority of tasks and the resources needed to complete them. It also looks for any uncertainty within your tasks.

These features culminate in a focused effort that highlights the right work at the right time. And it does so all while making decisions that benefit your business. However, unlike FreshBooks, LiquidPlanner’s project tracking tools take a lot of time and effort to learn.

And even then, you may still find yourself struggling to put everything together in working order. Project planning feels a bit clunky at times as a result. But if you have the extra time and patience to learn its ropes, LiquidPlanner has the potential to serve you well.

Please note that LiquidPlanner is pretty pricey. Because of this, it’s likely to turn away potential clients who could put it to good use. With that said, there is a free version available that accommodates teams smaller than 10 people.

Zoho Projects

Pricing: Premium – $5.00/mo | Enterprise – $10.00/mo

If you’re on a tight budget but need a solid project management solution for your team, Zoho Projects is worth a look. Sure, it’s missing some notable features that make it less accessible than other project team apps. But for the price, Zoho Projects holds its own.

As with more advanced options, Zoho Projects lets you track time, manage project performance, and oversee the progress of tasks. Plus, Zoho Projects lets you configure the app to your liking, affording you a personalized approach to tracking projects.

It’s also nice to see seamless integration with third-party software. Zoho Projects might not be the most intuitive project tracking software. But it provides enough tools to meet many of your project management needs.

Perhaps best of all, there’s a free version of Zoho Projects available if you don’t have more than 3 people on your team. Limited, sure, but ideal for the smaller businesses out there.

Key Takeaways

As a project manager, it’s important to choose the right software for your team. If you want the best deal for your money, FreshBooks is hands-down the most versatile project management solution. It’s easy to use, robust, and highly affordable.

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