Ecommerce

The Project Management Tools Comparison for Retailers & Marketers

By Tinuiti Team

Oct 09 2017

Multi-tasking is at the heart of any marketing director’s job description. They’re constantly juggling dozens of plates—managing 10 different projects simultaneously, all with their own unique budgets, deadlines and requirements.

If they’re at a big organization, there may even have a whole team under their purview—and that means even more to balance.

For these strapped-for-time and overwhelmed pros, project management tools can be a serious boon to productivity. They can help projects stay on track, provide constant visibility and keep things from falling through the cracks when times get busy.

But in today’s app-crazy landscape, choosing a project management tool is no easy feat. There are hundreds of options out there—each one boasting different features, device compatibility and, most importantly, pricing.

Not sure which PM tool can help keep your tasks on track best? Use these project management tools reviews to help.

Top 6 Project Management Tools Comparison

Trello

This one tops our project management tools list—and many others out there—thanks to its cross-platform functionality.

It also allows real-time discussion and collaboration, and you can add team members from both in and outside your organization. We like it some much here at CPC Strategy that we even use it ourselves.

Features:

Cloud-based
Document, image and video sharing
Offers team-based and individual boards
Kanban board layout
Easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality
Checklists with built-in progress meters

Price: Free for basic features, $9.99 to $20.83 per month for more app integrations, security and multiple team management

Asana

Just Googling project management tools reviews will bring up tons of info on this app—a super popular one among Type-A marketers.

Big on tracking, to-do lists, deadlines and reminders, Asana is a great way to track a project through the entire lifecycle—and hold every person accountable for their part.

Features:

Cloud-based
Document and media sharing
Project tracking
To-do lists and task hierarchies
Category tagging and searching

Price: Free for the basic version, $9.99 per more for premium

Basecamp

If collaboration is the destination, then Basecamp is your guidebook. One of the oldest project management tools on the books, Basecamp makes working together easier than ever.

Send direct messages to team members, participate in group chats for brainstorming, or even cheer on your colleagues for a job well done.

There are also client-facing elements that can keep customers in the loop as well.

Features:

Progress reporting tools
Document, image, video and file sharing
Group chats and direct messaging
Auto-notifications
Client feedback and approval tracking

Price: Free for teachers and students, $99 per month for businesses

Podio

Podio is all about communication. With built-in messaging functions and integrations with tons of different apps and programs, it helps teams work together to brainstorm, collaborate and keep group projects on track through all phases of the pipeline.

It’s used by major corporations like Sony and Volvo, so you know it’s a solid a choice.

Features:

Cloud-based
Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Calendar and Evernote integration
Project tracking
Built-in instant messenger
Project templates
Assignments, due dates and progress updates

Price: $9 to $24 per month

Wrike

When it comes to project management reporting tools, you won’t find one better than this.

With a comprehensive reporting dashboard, full visibility over all aspects of your projects and built-in report templates, it’s easy to create, share and even schedule regular progress and team reports.

Like the others, it’s also a project management and tracking tool.

Features:

Live editing and file management
Gantt-Charts and timelines
Time and budget tracking
@mention messaging
Proofing, approval and feedback functionality
Integration with Salesforce, Outlook, Microsoft Teams

Price: Free for up to 5 users, larger plans $9.80 to $34.60 per month

Smartsheet

Though it looks like a basic spreadsheet, Smartsheet is actually a super simplified PM tool, with collaborative features, calendars, task list and even Gantt charts.

There are templates to help you kick-start all sorts of projects, from ones with hard deadlines and complicated dependencies to projects that require task, team and resource management.

Features: