10 Cloud-Based Project Management Tools to Serve Every Company’s Needs

By moving to the cloud, project management tools can offer more collaboration features. Here is a look at 10 such tools that will keep projects on track.

The Citrix Podio app has long been a favorite among teams. The app includes the ability to share files and assign tasks to team members while tracking their progress. Podio also features the ability for team members to communicate with each other both privately and with the entire team. There’s even an app marketplace that integrates Google Drive, Evernote, GoToMeeting and several other platforms. The service costs $7.20 per user per month.

Basecamp is one of the simplest applications in this roundup. The service allows companies to quickly create tasks and assign team members to them. It also includes an email alert system to notify employees when they’ve been assigned to a job. Basecamp tacks on file storage, an improved search and a “bird’s eye view” feature for managers to see what employees are up to. The service costs $29 per month for teams, but jumps to $79 per month for those who want to use Basecamp for both project management and client communication.

Zoho Projects includes full cloud-storage integration, as well as document management and the ability for employees to keep track of their time to ensure they’re within budget. The app also includes an “invoices and expenses” function for users to bill clients. Zoho is free for a single project. Its cheapest paid plan costs $25 per month for collaboration on up to 20 simultaneous projects.

Bitrix 24 incorporates a little bit of everything into its platform. The service includes a social networking feature for employees to stay in touch, but also includes full task management. In addition, the app boasts document storage, calendaring and even a mail application. Add that to CRM features, video conferencing and its HR functions, and Bitrix 24 is one full-featured application. The app is available for free to those who need 5GB or less of document storage. Paid plans jump to $39 per month for additional storage.

Active Collab is a bit simpler than Bitrix 24, but it’s still quite popular. The app includes a streamlined interface that’s designed to keep clutter off the user’s screen. It includes to-do list tracking and the ability for employees to communicate via direct messages. Like some of the other solutions in this roundup, Active Collab includes invoicing support. While Active Collab comes with a free, 30-day trial, its plans start at $25 per month for up to five users.

Pivotal Tracker comes with a slightly different design than its counterparts, offering a series for columns for users to see what’s happening in any point in time. The service’s foundation is made of Stories, which it calls “small, actionable components of work” that can be created for the team. Those stories can then be dragged and dropped up and down based on their level of importance. The service also tracks milestones and notifications, and features an “Epics” component that organizes all of a team’s “stories” into a broader roadmap for getting things done. It’s a little different compared with most platforms, but it might work for some companies. There’s a free version available, but paid plans start at $150 per year for additional storage.

Microsoft’s Office 365 is a combination of tools all designed to get people working. At the center of its collaboration effort are SharePoint and Yammer. The platforms allow users to set up a project, assign team members tasks and communicate with each other through Yammer. And since SharePoint is integrated into Office 365, users can also use Skype for video calls, OneDrive for storage and Word to create documents. Microsoft’s solution isn’t all in one, but it gets the job done. Office 365 starts at $5 per user per month.

ProjectTurf is similar to many of the other applications in this roundup, featuring the ability for users to be assigned tasks and inform their managers on their progress. In addition to task management, the service will send users email alerts when they’ve been assigned something, and they can reply to questions posed in ProjectTurf through email. Like many of the other apps in this roundup, ProjectTurf also includes file and contact management, and will provide managers with reports to see who’s doing what—and how well. The service’s price starts at $20 per month.

Huddle has become one of the more popular cloud-collaboration platforms in recent years. The service enables users to work together, but its key ingredient is collaboration with service providers and their clients. Huddle users’ clients can securely share content and documents, and keep a full audit trail of what was sent and when. It’s widely used by some of the biggest client service agencies in the world, including KPMG and Deloitte. Huddle is a little on the expensive side, costing $20 per user per month.

Clarizen can do just about everything. The app includes the ability to see what employees are working on, evaluate who might be able to get the job done most efficiently and centralize all content about a client in a single repository. Most importantly, it’s expandable with a broad application marketplace that covers everything from email automation to time tracking. There are few limits on just how much users can do with Clarizen. However, those features come at a price; pricing starts at $30 per user per month for service.