Categories   >   ALM Tools
Last Reviewed: November 11th, 2024

Best ALM Tools Of 2024

What are ALM Tools?

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tools are designed to manage the entire lifespan of a software application. These tools are an answer to the challenge of coordinating various stages of application development, from initial planning and coding to the final stages of testing and deployment. ALM tools offer major benefits such as project transparency, regulatory compliance, and improved communication among team members. Recently, they have expanded to include features like real-time analytics, seamless integration, and AI-powered predictive modeling. While all software development sectors can profit from ALM tools, they appear particularly beneficial to large, distributed teams dealing with complex projects. Some of the limitations might include difficulties in integrating with existing systems, steep learning curves, and initial setup time. In conclusion, the primary value of ALM tools lies in the cohesive, transparent, and controlled management of software application development, ultimately ensuring high-quality output and significant time savings.

What Are The Key Benefits of ALM Tools?

  • Improves project transparency
  • Ensures regulatory compliance
  • Enhances cross-team communication
  • Streamlines development processes
  • Boosts productivity
  • Reduces software lifecycles
  • Supports quality assurance
  • Integrates with other platforms
  • Facilitates real-time analytics
  • Promotes predictive decision-making
Read more

Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 58 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best ALM Tools overall:

Wrike
Wrike
Start Price
$9.80
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked Wrike

Wrike, a cloud-based project management platform, has attracted significant attention for its comprehensive features and ability to streamline workflows. Users frequently highlight its intuitive interface, robust functionality, and scalability as key strengths. The platform's customizability empowers teams to tailor their project management processes to their specific needs, enhancing efficiency and productivity. Wrike's Gantt charts, for instance, provide a clear visual representation of project timelines and dependencies, enabling project managers to track progress and identify potential bottlenecks. Additionally, Wrike's automation capabilities, such as automated workflows and custom request forms, free up valuable time for teams to focus on high-impact tasks.

However, some users note that Wrike's extensive features can lead to a steeper learning curve compared to simpler project management tools. Navigating the interface and discovering all the functionalities may require some initial investment of time and effort. Additionally, while Wrike offers various pricing plans to accommodate different team sizes and requirements, some users find the cost to be relatively high compared to other options in the market. Despite these considerations, Wrike remains a popular choice for teams seeking a powerful and versatile project management solution. Its ability to adapt to diverse workflows, coupled with its robust features and scalability, makes it particularly well-suited for larger teams and organizations with complex project requirements. Wrike's comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities further enhance its value proposition, providing valuable insights into team performance and project progress.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly Interface: Approximately 60% of users mention Wrike’s user-friendly interface and features in addition to easy installation.
  • Collaboration: According to 90% of users, it's easy to share files and collaborate with internal and external team members, stakeholders and business partners.
  • Support and Learning Materials: Wrike offers helpful customer support to help with implementation questions and any other concerns that arise as stated by 65% of users.
  • Customizable and Flexible: Approximately 75% of users say Wrike has a customizable and flexible system to fit their business needs.
  • Organization: There are plenty of folders and labels to keep files and projects organized, as reported by 85% of users.
  • Notifications: Wrike delivers various project notifications and alerts as stated by 61% of users.
  • Helpful Tools: Approximately 71% of users appreciate Wrike's various dashboards, Gantt charts, reports and other distinct modules.
  • Steep Learning Curve: Of the users who describe Wrike's user interface, 39% say the interface has a steep learning curve and is hard to understand.
  • Training: Approximately 35% of users iterate that implementation training and support is available but is difficult to learn.
  • Alerts: Of the users who discuss Wrike's alerts and notifications, 38% of them say there's no way to adjust how many they receive.

Key Features

  • Gantt Charts: Zoom out to see the full view of a project’s tasks, dependencies, timeline and scope. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to adjust task dates and add dependencies. It’s also easy to toggle between different views (day, week, month, etc.). Wrike facilitates data transfer for users switching from Microsoft Project, ensuring all elements are imported for MPP, MPX and XML formats. 
  • Task Management: Wrike brings together all aspects of your project — tasks, schedules and team communications — into a single location for more efficient project management. The platform connects with Gmail, Apple Mail and Outlook, allowing you to manage tasks directly from your inbox. It also facilitates time tracking and reporting. 
  • Project Templates: A range of pre-built templates allow teams to start with key elements already in place. Specific template types include agile teamwork, project scheduling, event management, product launches, Kanban projects, ticketing and helpdesk, sprint planning, and product roadmaps. 
  • Reports: Wrike offers reporting capabilities to users with business and enterprise accounts. The report builder takes you through the four-stage process of creating a report, with inputs for type, source data, filters and layout (table or column). Report topics include weekly project status, unassigned tasks, active tasks by assignee and others. 
  • Wrike Resource (premium add-on): This feature provides resource management and is available with Business, Wrike for Marketers and Enterprise plans. A visual, intuitive interface facilitates workload planning and changes, providing full visibility of team performance. You can also customize resource utilization analytics tools to track KPIs for better insight. 
  • Wrike Proof (premium add-on): Streamline feedback processes and review cycles with visual tools and a centralized system that keeps version control in check. You can assign approvers internally as well as invite external reviewers. The software also connects with Adobe Creative Cloud tools, letting creatives review feedback and make updates from the app they work in. 
  • Wrike Lock (premium add-on): Wrike provides cloud security and privacy with encryption keys. Both your data and the keys are encrypted, letting you determine who can access and edit the information stored on the platform. You have full control over the individual keys via a master key that’s stored by the Key Management Service from AWS. 
  • Wrike Publish (premium add-on): This feature enables digital asset management (DAM). Integrations with DAM platforms provide a range of capabilities, including stakeholder collaboration and file proofing. You can also attach files to tasks, quickly search your workspace for the right asset and gain brand consistency across campaigns. 
Asana
Asana
Start Price
$10.99
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked Asana

Asana is a work management platform designed to help users organize and streamline operations with a user-friendly, customizable interface, automation and AI. Key features include the ability to create custom fields, deadlines, and subtasks, utilize various project views like Kanban boards and timelines, and leverage AI for summarizing tasks and drafting workflows. During my test of the software, I liked how easy it was to create a task by email and create project and task summaries using their AI tool.

Customization was also a win. I built a task template for my Content Creation project with custom fields, relative due dates, assignees and a bulleted checklist. However, head’s up, adding task templates to existing tasks requires creating a new task with the template and merging it. Hands down, workflow management was one of my favorite parts of testing Asana. Adding in new sections (without having to go to the list view) and creating custom rules for transitions with a little help from their version of prompts was a breeze.

Collaboration is another plus, with in-card comments and mentions, an inbox, group and individual messaging in platform and guest accounts with custom permissions for external users.

On the downside, if you don’t have access to a free trial of the paid version (like I did), the free version may not be as effective. You won’t be able to access AI features, certain project views and resource management. The setup also isn’t exactly intuitive, and you may need training plus multiple visits to the help center to conceptualize your project and pick the right template.

Overall, Asana is a fantastic all-in-one project management solution for users looking for a flexible tool with AI assistance and don’t mind springing for one of the paid plans.

Pros & Cons

  • User Friendly: Reviewers appreciated that the system is easy to use and intuitive with a clean UI, even if you’re new to projects.
  • Overall Functionality: Workflows and automation, task management and collaboration are everything you’d look for in a project management system, according to users.
  • Customization: Users liked the customization options for unique team needs, projects and workflows.
  • >Cost: Users mentioned Asana’s paid plans were too expensive for smaller businesses making it difficult to upgrade from the limited free version.
  • Set-Up: Getting started can be overwhelming with so many customizations and task options. Users said you may need extra time to implement it effectively.
  • Advanced Features: Reviewers noted some features like AI, advanced project views, resource management and multiple task assignees require expensive plan upgrades.

Key Features

  • Task Management: Create tasks with custom fields, deadlines, tags, subtasks, dependencies and descriptions during setup, adding tasks to the section you want when you create your first project or forwarding an email to [email protected]. Save time by converting your custom tasks into a template you can apply to new tasks and using AI to summarize tasks and draft subtasks. Switch between list, board, timeline, calendar and Gantt views to optimize visualization and drag-and-drop tasks between sections.
  • Project Planning and Scheduling: Kick your projects off with a plethora of templates ranging from product rollouts to hiring pipelines, or import your project from a spreadsheet. Convert tasks into milestones on the card and add details about why it’s a milestone. Add tasks to multiple projects and organize strategic initiatives by creating a portfolio where you can track the updates of all your projects.
  • Resource Management: Keep track of what’s on everyone’s plate by switching to the workload view. Drag and drop tasks to manage timelines and assignees and assign custom values like hours or points to tasks to accurately factor in employee effort.
  • Sprint Management: Hit the ground running by applying the sprint template to a new project. Add custom fields, use the timeline tab to map out sprint tasks and deadlines and set start and finish dates in the project view.
  • Collaboration Features: Add updates, questions and notes into the description. Comment on cards with mentions, files, lists, code blocks and even AI assists. Send messages directly to individuals or teams using the inbox. Keep your clients in the loop by creating guest accounts and sharing specific tasks and projects with them.
  • Reports and Insights: Tap into a bird’s eye view of your project by clicking on the dashboard tab where you can monitor overdue, complete and incomplete tasks and burnup charts and create custom charts with their AI tool. Visit the reporting tab to view trends, progress, resourcing and work health.
  • Custom Automations and Workflows: Build a workflow that’s a perfect fit for your project in the workflow tab by adding sections for each step in the process with custom transitions and rules when tasks are moved. Add custom automations and rules from scratch, use the options provided as a starting point or get a helping hand from the AI studio. Check out the automations we built in depth below.
Jira
Jira
Start Price
$10
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked Jira

Jira is an agile-based project management platform that caters to a vast range of industries thanks to its all-in-one functionality, customization and flexibility. It allows users to fully customize workflows, issue types, fields and automations.

After watching a few tutorials, I personally found it quite simple to create my own projects using the templates and modifying it to meet my needs. Although some of the automation actions and issues have some programming language involved, it’s not a huge roadblock and I created and tested multiple automations successfully.

Task (or issue) management was on point, with multiple views, custom workflows, task assignment, in-card collaboration and time tracking and custom fields. It offered comprehensive (but not overly advanced) reports and a helpful summary dashboard.

Sprints were intuitive and easy to execute, and I especially appreciated the drag-and-drop feature for planning. Some users mentioned a learning curve, and I would agree, as I relied on videos to guide me through some parts of the setup lest this test take weeks not days.

Overall, Jira is a match made in heaven for agile enthusiasts and users who want a flexible, customizable project management platform and don’t mind getting into the weeds with learning courses and tutorials.

Pros & Cons

  • Functionality: Users appreciated the ability to customize workflows, issue types and fields and the flexibility to navigate complex projects and problem-solve.
  • Collaborative: The system helps users collaborate with other teams, projects, and stakeholders and efficiently bridges gaps between remote teams, noted reviewers.
  • Integrations: Reviewers liked the extensive integrations with most third-party modules like Slack, Bitbucket and more to complete workflows and processes.

What Users Like

  • Customization: “We were able to tailor the workflow to fit our specific needs, which greatly enhanced our efficiency. For instance, we created custom issue types that aligned with our unique project phases, making it easier for team members to understand their tasks at a glance.” - Balázs Keszthelyi, Founder and CEO at TechnoLynx
  • Project Visualization: “[Jira’s robust roadmapping and dependency tracking capabilities are] invaluable for coordinating multiple product launches. Also, the premium version's Advanced Roadmaps feature lets us visualize our entire product pipeline so that's from sourcing to launch, but you've got to invest time in learning the system, and I think for smaller operations, it might be overkill.” - Dennis Sanders, Founder and CEO of Burning Daily
  • Task Management: “Jira has given us the structure to break down our complex workflows into clear, manageable steps, which was exactly what we needed as we expanded our customer base. With Jira, we can create specific 'boards' for each client’s SEO campaign, where every task is detailed and assigned to the right team member. Each board has phases, like keyword research, content writing, and on-page optimization, with clear deadlines. Having this setup has helped us catch any bottlenecks early. If the content team takes longer to deliver, for instance, we can adjust the timeline for the next steps right away instead of rushing it.” - Mushfiq Sarker, CEO of LaGrande Marketing
  • Lags: Reviewers noted that the system sometimes lags and takes time to load, especially for multiple projects and large data sets.
  • Learning Curve: Its UX can feel complex, and it takes time to set up, customize and use to its full ability. An internal Jira expert may be required, according to some users.
  • Administration: Users mentioned that the system is difficult to administer, and its back-end is hard to manage.

What Users Dislike

  • Slow Loading Time: “Its interface moves like molasses.” - Dennis Sanders, Founder and CEO of Burning Daily
  • Learning Curve: “We had some initial challenges with team members who were not familiar with the platform, which required additional training sessions to ensure everyone was on the same page. However, once they became accustomed to the interface, the benefits outweighed the initial hurdles.” - Balázs Keszthelyi, Founder and CEO at TechnoLynx

Key Features

  • Agile Boards: Manage your tasks, or issues using Scrum and Kanban boards with custom statuses, fields and transitions. Create new issues using the button below each status. You can view projects using a list, board or timeline view.
  • Reports and Insights: Get insights into where your team is at throughout every stage of the project by generating custom reports like the average age report, created vs. resolved issues report and sprint report. Manage workloads with the time tracking report, user workload report and version workload report. Use the summary view to monitor activity, status overview, priority breakdown and related projects.
  • Collaboration Features: Communicate with team members and assignees directly on the issue card with comments and mentions. Attach files, view card activity and add descriptions for additional instructions. Integrate with Outlook, Slack and other communication tools.
  • Custom Automations: Build custom automation rules by setting a trigger with the option to add an action, a condition or a branch. Get a helping hand by searching for triggers related to what you want to automate and selecting recommended actions and conditions.
  • Sprint Management: Use the Scrum option to run sprints. Fill in project details like name, duration and scope and add tasks and drag and drop them to your sprint using the backlog. Complete your sprints and auto-add pending tasks to the backlog or to a new sprint and run a sprint report for insights.
  • Task Management: Manage tasks by creating customizable issue cards under each status or by importing issues from CSV files. Add assignees, due dates, time tracking, comments, descriptions, teams, labels, status and priority to issues. Move tasks from status to status using transitions and workflow automation.
  • Customizable Workflows: Create custom workflows for your tasks and subtasks by going to project settings and clicking on issue types. Set statuses based on the type of task you’re completing or from the project template you select. Automate actions by setting rules for transitions from one status to another.
monday.com
monday.com
Start Price
$9
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked monday.com

monday.com is a cloud-based project management platform that caters to a wide range of industries thanks to its customization, user-friendly interface and templates. It allows users to build boards from templates or from scratch and view projects through multiple views like list, calendar, Ganntt and Kanban. During our test, we enjoyed using the platform's pre-built templates and drag-and-drop feature to set up projects and reorganize tasks.

Its task management features are stellar. We liked how easy it is to custom groups for tasks, assign them to specific team members, and leverage various communication tools like comments, mentions and board discussions. The updates feature means everyone is on the same page and the view option boosts accountability. On the automation front, we successfully used the built-in automation engine, which comes with both pre-made templates and no-code customization options, to build a custom automation for status changes with little to no difficulty.

On the flip side, monday.com may have a slight learning curve for users who aren’t familiar with project management tools. Additionally, some advanced features, such as custom notifications and time tracking, require upgrading to a higher pricing tier, which could become expensive for larger teams.

All in all, we thought monday’s intuitive interface, customization options and no-code automations make it a great option for users without a ton of technical expertise and a flexible budget.

Pros & Cons

  • Task Management: Users appreciated how easy it is to monitor tasks with customized views, an activity feed and task updates.
  • Collaboration: Instant messaging, integrations, board discussions and easy scheduling and planning were a plus for reviewers.
  • User-Friendly: Reviewers said it was simple to set up and use for less tech-savvy users, and liked the attractive, colorful interface with helpful templates.

What Users Like

  • Project Tracking: "The ability to customize columns and task dependencies lets us create a clear, tailored workflow." - Jeffery Zhou, CEO and Founder of Fig Loans
  • Interface: "The timeline and calendar views were particularly useful when we had multiple projects running alongside each other, helping everyone stay aligned without a lot of back-and-forth." - Rob Stevenson, Founder of BackupVault
  • Notifications: “The automation features were especially useful in notifying different people responsible at different steps of the journey while maintaining transparency and accountability with the rest of the team and building a frictionless and trust-based culture.” - Alok Jain, CEO of Reveal
  • Cost: Reviewers noted that advanced features like customized notifications or time tracking required a plan upgrade which could become expensive.
  • Learning Curve: It takes time to get used to the navigation and features according to users.
  • Mobile App: Some users said the mobile app doesn’t have all the features available.

What Users Dislike

  • Complexity: “[monday.com] lacked some flexibility in handling complex, multi-step tasks that needed a lot of customization, which sometimes left us manually tracking those details elsewhere.” - Rob Stevenson, Founder of BackupVault
  • Time-Based Automations: “Creating an automation to notify a user three days after a certain date, for example, was more complex than it needed to be. We had to set up custom date columns to drive these instead of just being able to calculate it as a part of automation.” - Alok Jain, CEO of Reveal

Key Features

  • Custom Dashboard: Build your own custom dashboard using built-in widgets and third-party integrations. Get a bird’s eye view of your boards and teams along with individual team member and board views. Monitor workload, timelines, feed activity and custom charts, like in-progress tasks, from a central location.
  • Multiple Views: Toggle between different views to track your projects using Gantt charts, Kanban boards, calendar views, project reports and custom filters like task owner, status and timeline.
  • Task Management: Create tasks under custom groups like To-Do, In-Progress, On-Hold, and Complete and add personalized fields, assignees, due dates, labels, statuses and priorities. Mention assignees, add comments, files, links and tables directly in the tasks using the Updates tab. Drag and drop tasks and groups to reorganize things.
  • Automations: Streamline workflows with no-code automations using templates or building custom automations from scratch using conditions and actions. Apply automations to specific boards and save your custom automations as a template to use on other boards.
  • Templates: Create boards suited to your project needs by accessing the template center and choosing from a range of templates, including marketing, project management, sales and CRM, design, software development, and HR.
  • Workflow Management: Organize your processes by creating custom workflows. Search for the trigger you’re looking for and add it as a starting block. Build on those blocks by choosing from several options: action, if or else or delay. Select the board where you want the action to happen, add conditions and edit blocks. View active workflows and pause or edit workflows as processes change.
Smartsheet
Smartsheet
Start Price
$9
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a cloud-based work management platform that helps users streamline and organize processes with a spreadsheet-esque interface, flexible templates, multiple views and team collaboration. Apart from the grid view, you can visualize projects using a Gantt chart, Kanban board, calendar view, card view or timeline view. No-code automations are another note-worthy feature, where you can build from templates or scratch.

It streamlines project creation with templates suited to different industries and end goals, so you have a jumping-off point instead of going in blind. Team collaboration is another area where Smartsheet shines, with comments, conversations and file and sheet sharing (even with people outside your organization). It also offers a customizable dashboard view, although I did find some of the chart widgets a little tricky to work, without training.

Highlights for me were definitely the familiarity of spreadsheet formatting (but with more views and automations), robust collaboration capabilities and guided explainers throughout the setup. However, user reviews noted limited filters and integrations, lags and expensive add-ons as downsides.

Overall, Smartsheet is a great option for teams familiar with spreadsheets but are on the lookout for more visualization and collaboration, along with the budget to spend on advanced features.

Pros & Cons

  • Automation: Reviewers appreciated the no-code automation and said that it helps to eliminate productivity killers and saves time.
  • Collaboration: Users liked the sharing option with level-based permissions that allow collaboration with non-users and help coworkers and external stakeholders stay up-to-date on projects and processes.
  • Ease of Use: A user-friendly interface and templates make it easy to set up, customize and access multiple views, according to reviewers.

What Users Like

  • Customization: “We can customize it to fit various projects, whether we’re tracking client cases, managing document revisions, or planning team tasks. For instance, I created a project tracker for a major client contract negotiation. The ability to set deadlines, assign tasks, and update statuses in real time has streamlined our communication and kept everyone on the same page.” - Russ Johnson, Founder of Linx Legal
  • Collaboration: “We had this one job in a high-rise condo that put Smartsheet to the test. The sliding door system was an older model with custom-sized panels that aren’t easy to source, and it needed specific adjustments due to the unique structure of the frame. Typically, coordinating the right parts, tools, and technician experience for something like this would require several phone calls and a lot of back-and-forth. With Smartsheet, we were able to set up the job details to track not only the special parts needed but also assign a technician who was experienced with that model. When the parts came in, the technician was notified directly through Smartsheet, so he knew the moment everything was ready. It saved us from potential delays and kept the customer fully updated on when the work could be done.” - Gal Cohen, Business Development Leader and Field Area Manager JDM Sliding Doors
  • System Integration: Limited integrations and complex configurations were an issue for reviewers.
  • Premium Add-Ons: Reviewers noted that advanced features come with a price tag that can be prohibitive for some businesses.
  • Slow Loading Time: Users reported it takes time to display screens export formats occasionally.

What Users Dislike

  • Integration: “Despite its many benefits, integrating Smartsheet with other systems posed some challenges. Initially, we experienced issues with data syncing between Smartsheet and our CRM software, leading to discrepancies in our financial reporting. Recognizing this, I allocated specific time for thorough testing before our full implementation, allowing us to identify and resolve any integration issues early on.” - Austin Rulfs, Founder of Zanda Wealth Mortgage Brokers
  • Learning Curve: “While Smartsheet is powerful, it can feel a bit overwhelming at first. I found that investing time in training sessions helped bridge that gap, making it easier for everyone to adapt and use the tool effectively.” - Russ Johnson, Founder of Linx Legal

Key Features

  • Dashboards and Reports: Customize your dashboard by adding widgets like reports, project-specific charts, shortcuts, images and text. Consolidate data from multiple sheets into a summary view using system reports. Track sheet changes using bi-directional functionality. Send reports via collaborative tools and change statuses to recur.
  • Multiple Views: View your tasks using the grid view, akin to a spreadsheet, a Gantt view as an add-on to your grid view, a Kanban board where you can drag and drop tasks and group them by assignee or status, a timeline view, a card view with customizable lanes and a calendar view that displays your tasks across its duration or by start dates only.
  • Task Management: Add your tasks and subtasks into each cell and use the indent and outdent buttons to divide tasks into groups that can be minimized to provide a project overview. Create or modify custom fields with your own text, dropdown lists and symbols to show status, assignees, priority, dates and latest comment. Attach files and proofs, write comments and mention users and set reminders for tasks.
  • Automations and Workflows: Save time with custom processes and workflows you can build by modifying templates for reminders and alerts, document generation, row changes, sheet changes and updates, and approval requests. Build your own workflow automations from scratch by choosing your trigger, setting conditions and adding actions. Manage automations by deactivating, deleting, duplicating or unsubscribing.
  • Templates: Use pre-built templates ranging from event management to HR workflows and marketing to streamline project creation. View complexity, task management and process before you apply a template. Build and save your own templates by customizing pre-built templates or creating them from scratch.
  • Integrations: Drive productivity with integrations like Office 365, Dropbox, DocuSign and Google Workspace and use iCal or Google Calendar to track project statuses.
  • Team Collaboration: Communicate with team members by commenting and mentioning users in individual tasks, adding files for additional information and chatting via the conversations tool where everyone with access to the sheet can see your comments. Integrate with Slack or Microsoft Teams to receive updates about your sheet and send messages to channels.
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project
Start Price
$10
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project remains a robust project management software, praised for its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set. Users appreciate its Gantt charts, resource management capabilities, and integration with other Microsoft products. However, some find its advanced features overwhelming and its reporting capabilities limited compared to specialized project management tools.

Project differentiates itself with its ease of use and integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. Its intuitive interface makes it accessible to users of all skill levels, while its integration with tools like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint streamlines collaboration. These strengths make it an excellent choice for teams heavily reliant on Microsoft products.

Microsoft Project is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses and teams that prioritize ease of use and Microsoft integration. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set make it a valuable tool for managing projects effectively, while its integration with other Microsoft products enhances collaboration and productivity.

Pros & Cons

  • User Friendly: The platform’s functionalities are intuitive and easy to use, as noted by approximately 80% of users who mention the system’s usability.
  • Project Scheduling: Approximately 81% of the users find its project scheduling capabilities helpful.
  • Feature-Rich: Approximately 81% of the users who mentioned features said the system provides everything required for proper project handling. It can handle complex projects, create Gantt charts, project timelines and reports.
  • Customization: Nearly 61% of users who mentioned customization said its customization options were helpful. It integrates with ClearQuest seamlessly and 67% of users find its integrations helpful.
  • Support: Support is responsive, knowledgeable and helpful, as reported by 100% of reviewers who mention support.
  • Templates: Approximately 80% of users who mentioned templates find them to be helpful as they display data in an organized manner.
  • Learning Curve: Nearly 96% of the users that mentioned accessibility think that the software has a steep learning curve.
  • Efficiency: About 72% of users that mentioned efficiency said the software improved their process optimization.
  • Collaboration: Close to 83% of the users who mention collaboration said that Project does not facilitate collaborative processes well.
  • Cost: Approximately 94% of the users who mention cost think that its price is prohibitive and that the software is very expensive for the features it offers.

Key Features

  • Resource Management: Set up teams for success by requesting resources. Heat maps help identify overworked or underused resources. Lets managers project usage, monitor progress and address issues using analytics.  
  • Portfolio Optimization: Models different scenarios using tools like analysis scatter charts. Weigh project proposals against strategic business drivers with organizational cost and resource constraints in mind. 
  • Reports: Offers a number of reports that include a dashboard, progress and cost that provide insight into project metrics. Individual reports include burndowns, project overviews, critical tasks, cash flow, earned value, late tasks and more. Create a customized report from four template types: blank, chart, table and comparison.  
  • BI Capability: Connect with business intelligence apps like Power BI Pro to gain visibility across portfolios. Supports data aggregation to gain comprehensive insights. 
  • Proposal Evaluation: Gather project ideas, use standardized processes to evaluate them and funnel project charters and business cases to management for review and approval.
OpenAir
OpenAir
Start Price
$399
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked OpenAir

OpenAir, a project management software solution, has received positive feedback from users for its ability to streamline project management processes. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface, flexibility, and comprehensive features that enhance efficiency and organization. The software's task management, resource management, collaboration tools, and reporting capabilities have significantly improved project outcomes for many businesses.

Compared to similar products, OpenAir stands out due to its ease of use and adaptability to various project types and sizes. Users have highlighted its intuitive design, which allows for quick adoption and minimal training time. Additionally, OpenAir's flexibility enables businesses to customize workflows, dashboards, and reports to align with their specific needs. This adaptability is crucial for organizations with diverse project requirements and evolving processes.

OpenAir is well-suited for businesses of all sizes seeking to enhance their project management practices. Its scalability and comprehensive features make it an ideal choice for small teams, large enterprises, and everything in between. The software's ability to centralize project information, facilitate collaboration, and provide real-time insights empowers teams to make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and deliver projects on time and within budget.

Pros & Cons

  • User Friendly: The system is easy to use and intuitive, as noted by approximately 86% of users who mention the system’s usability.
  • Time Tracking and Expense Reports: Approximately 90% of the users reviewed think this feature increases their productivity and effectiveness.
  • Customization: Nearly 75% of the users reviewed find this feature to be quite robust.
  • Reporting: About 57% of the users reviewed find its reporting capabilities to be helpful and informative.
  • Support: Nearly 67% of the users reviewed think the support offered by OpenAir is helpful.
  • Cost: Nearly 100% of users who mentioned cost reported that OpenAir’s offerings were too expensive for smaller businesses or prohibitive.
  • Implementation: The physical implementation process misses the mark, and can be difficult according to 70% of reviewers who mention implementation.
  • Intuitive Interface: Nearly 65% of the users reviewed think that the interface is not intuitive and that administrative tools are limited.
  • Bugs: Approximately 100% of users that mentioned bugs or slowdowns think that the system is clunky and disrupts work.
  • Integration: Nearly 60% of the users who mention integration think that integration between OpenAir and NetSuite is not seamless. Also, Microsoft Projects importing is not smooth.

Key Features

  • Time Tracking: Customizes timesheet approvals by client and project, supports multi-level and project-based approvals and lets users track leave and vacation time. View who is in or out of the office to schedule meetings and appointments. Add notes and descriptions to each input, and sort time by billable and non-billable hours.  
  • Project Management: Users can view the complete status of a project to keep tasks on-track and reduce the potential for errors or incomplete deliverables. Develop “what if” project planning scenarios to adjust margins, billing rates, pricing and staffing. Also supports Gantt charts, project status summaries and exceptions reports.  
  • Reporting/Dashboard: Dashboards reflect KPIs on initial login. Present profit margins, resource utilization and projected vs. actual budgets as graphs to make development of actionable insights faster and easier. Build reports using drag-and-drop tools. 
  • Resource Management: View labor resource allocation and deploy staff members to different projects based on experience, skills, availability and more. using the resource management tool. Deploy labor resources from across the globe, attribute work back to the correct project teams and bill labor resources in the appropriate currency.  
  • Expense Tracking: Integrates with workflows like project accounting and invoicing to expedite the expense management cycle, including expense submission, approval and reporting. Expenses are tied directly to projects, eliminating confusion regarding where an expense came from and who should be billed.  
  • Invoicing: Supports multi-currency and multi-taxation requirements such as PST, VAT and GST. Manages finances from the time a bid is prepared to the time an internal charge-back is issued. Project profitability is tracked on a case-by-case basis due to the complexity of measuring ROI for diverse projects. Revenue recognition is conducted separately from project billing. 
Trello
Trello
Start Price
$5
Per User, Monthly
Company Size
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Platform
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Why We Picked Trello

Trello includes robust workflow management and organizational capabilities for users to efficiently manage a project lifecycle. Its intuitive UI and clean dashboards simplify task delegation and monitoring, along with streamlining workflows. Its collaborative tools foster team communication and information sharing, while flexible integration capabilities help complete workflows. However, it lacks enterprise-grade project management abilities and is not suitable to handle large projects that require bulk movements. Additionally, the system provides limited features in its basic plan, and its mobile application lacks several functionalities offered by the desktop version.

Pros & Cons

  • Functionality: Trello offers robust organizational tools that simplify task delegation and streamline workflows, as reported by nearly 88% of the users who mention the product’s functionality.
  • Easy to Use: The system is intuitive, user friendly and doesn’t require a steep learning curve to understand its features, as noted by approximately 82% of users who referred to its usability.
  • Collaborative: Approximately 79% of users who talked about collaboration noted that project collaborations are a breeze with Trello as it shares information with team members and clients in an organized manner while adding specific members to project cards.
  • Customizable: The system is highly customizable with numerous display choices and features to adapt to users’ requirements, as reported by nearly 74% of reviewers who referred to customization.
  • Scalability: Nearly 75% of reviewers who mention scalability note that it is cumbersome to scale the system to a company’s growing needs and cannot manage complex projects.
  • Cost: Trello offers limited functional and storage capabilities in its basic version, and advanced version requires per-user licensing, making it expensive for large teams, reported nearly 83% of users who mentioned cost.
  • Mobile Application: The system doesn’t perform well on mobile platforms, and its mobile application cannot perform all the functions of the desktop version, as reported by nearly 71% of users who mentioned mobile accessibility.
  • Installation: Trello is challenging to install and can overwhelm new users with its host of features, as reported by nearly 69% of users who talked about product set-up.

Key Features

  • Boards: Create multiple boards for different projects, workflows or other needs. Keep all related information organized in a single location. 
  • Cards: Build processes, follow progress and manage all aspects of a project. Foster collaboration and organization within teams. 
  • Task Management: Represent tasks on each card and move them through the workflow. Set up and manage task dependencies by creating checklists and linking associated cards to one another. 
  • Templates: Create real-world boards from the inspiration section for teams. Use pre-built or custom templates to create boards, lists or cards. 
  • Power-Ups: Integrate it with apps like Slack, Zapier, Google Drive, MailChimp, Salesforce, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey and Zendesk to complete workflows. Choose from over 130 modules for file management, reporting, automation and developer tools.
  • Mobile Apps: Access it through iOS and Android devices, including smartphones, iPads, smart watches and Kindle fire tablets. 
Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects
Start Price
$4
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Why We Picked Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects offers comprehensive solutions for its customers to tackle multiple business needs with ease. Users have full control of their projects as they can manage every stage of project progress, allocate resources, manage tasks, record timesheets and automate workflow processes for standardization. It offers an extensive knowledge base and fosters team collaboration for efficient project completion. However, its UI is clunky and difficult to use, it requires a steep learning curve to make optimal use of its full capabilities, comes with limited features in its basic version and offers sluggish customer support.

Pros & Cons

  • Functionality: Zoho Projects offers robust tools to manage multiple business needs, including project management, resource allocation, efficient collaboration and timesheets, as reported by approximately 90% of the users who mention the product’s functionality.
  • Flexible: The system is highly flexible and can be configured for different purposes like marketing and other business requirements, noted nearly 85% of customers who talked about its flexibility.
  • Integrations: Approximately 75% of the reviewers who mentioned integrations observed that the solution offers multiple APIs and seamless integration with other Zoho suite products and popular external modules for project planning and implementation.
  • Centralized Communication: The system centralizes all project communication between teams, which makes it easy to search and fix issues, noted nearly 72% of the users who talked about its communication capabilities.
  • Not Intuitive: The system is not user-friendly with a clunky and unintuitive UI compared to its competitors, reported 88% of reviewers who mentioned the system’s usability.
  • Cost: Nearly 92% of the users who mentioned cost remarked that Zoho Projects is expensive for small teams looking for more features on a limited budget, doesn’t offer options to customize functionality and its package price is a costly investment for bigger teams with more users.
  • Data and Reporting: Data generated by the system is difficult to comprehend, and it doesn’t allow report customization using different fields and visuals, observed by about 86% of customers who mentioned reporting.
  • Support: Customer support is slow and doesn’t offer enough support documentation or tutorial videos to exploit the system’s capabilities fully, noted 80% of reviewers who talked about support.

Key Features

  • Task Management: Control important task details, add important information such as priority or duration with tasks and subtasks. Link tasks to create dependencies. Highlight each project phase with milestones. Organize tasks using drag-and-drop Kanban boards and custom layouts. 
  • Social Project Management: Communicate and collaborate for effective project management. Create public or private chat rooms, pages for team knowledge base and forums to engage in discussion. Centralize project updates with feeds. Create new posts while adding comments to existing posts. 
  • Charts and Reports: View project details and metrics using a variety of charts. Get a high-level view of project tasks and dependencies through Gantt charts while resource utilization charts break down each team member’s workload by day. Gain insights into project performance across a wide range of KPIs with over 50 out-of-the-box reports and dashboards. 
  • Time Tracking: Let employees log their hours on a timesheet automatically or manually while allowing managers to view reports based on personnel, time or project. Transform a timesheet to an invoice with a few simple steps. Compare the expected task duration with the actual time spent on a task. Track each member’s availability, issues and milestones using calendar views. 
  • Issue Tracking: Report issues with all the relevant details and assign them for attention. Importing issues in bulk keeps them all in one place, and you can then export them as an XLS or CSV file. Track all issues according to criteria using filtered views. View committed changes with all changeset details included. 

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All ALM Tools (58 found)

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Wrike

by Wrike, Inc.
Wrike
Wrike is a cloud-based software that helps users manage distributed projects and promotes team collaboration. With this program, teams can align priorities and speed up execution to boost business results.With a strong focus on equipping teams to succeed, this vendor provides a robust suite of features that cater to marketing, creative, product development, business operations and professional services teams. It’s equipped with enterprise-level security and is designed to scale at a team and organizational level.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Asana

by Asana
Asana
Asana is a cloud-based project management platform designed to help teams of all sizes manage and organize projects with customization, automation, AI and collaboration. Users can build custom workflows, templates and tasks, and visualize projects in multiple ways, including list, timeline, calendar, Kanban and Gantt views.You can also build and trigger automation rules when tasks are moved or status or priority is changed. Stay aligned with goals, locate risks and hit project deadlines with reports and collaboration tools. Connect with other solutions using its open API and native integration with dozens of apps.Our Research Process for AsanaTaking software at face value for a product page review is so passe. Luckily, with a little help from my company’s email address, I got a free trial of Asana’s Advanced plan for 30 days.I set up a dummy project for content creation, complete with the stages and automations we currently use, so I’d have a more apples-to-apples comparison of a real-world project.Additionally, I tested some “standout” features our researchers suggested and investigated the pros and cons users mentioned on review sites.To learn the ropes, I visited the help center, watched demo videos and scoured Reddit for shortcuts. This webpage is the result of a week of dedicating all my working hours to living and breathing Asana.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
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Jira

by Atlassian
Jira
Jira is an all-in-one solution suite that helps organizations manage projects with agile methodologies, customization and collaboration. It helps teams track, plan and release projects and supports Kanban, Scrum or hybrid workflows. Managers can plan and prioritize their team’s assignments in a fully-visible environment that tracks performance as progress is made.It’s supported by over 3,000 modules that can be customized to enhance user experience. It’s accessible via internet-connected mobile devices and helps manage projects on-the-go. It integrates with tools like Azure, GitHub and Bamboo while remaining scalable for operations of any size.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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monday.com

by monday.com
monday.com
monday.com is a list-based cloud project management solution designed to streamline processes with automation, customization and collaboration. It allows users to build boards using templates or from scratch and customize fields, automations, colors and workflows. Users can view progress using custom dashboards or multiple views including Kanban boards, Gantt charts and calendars.Collaboration tools include board discussions, updates and comments with mentions. It supports a mobile app and multiple integrations.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Smartsheet

by Smartsheet
Smartsheet
Smartsheet is an enterprise-level SaaS management application that helps teams streamline processes through collaboration, project planning and task management. Users can set up tasks using a grid view, similar to a spreadsheet with automations, formulas, comments and mentions. It provides templates for projects and automations that can be modified and saved as a template to save time. Project views include a Kanban board, Gantt chart, timeline, calendar view, card view and a custom dashboard.Its file and sheet sharing capabilities, comment feature and conversations remove team and data silos and give stakeholders insight into project details. A user-friendly interface helps managers and team members boost adoption rates, maintain consistency and increase efficiency.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Microsoft Project

by Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project is a robust project management software designed to assist professionals in planning, managing, and tracking projects effectively. It is particularly suitable for organizations that require detailed project planning, resource allocation, and progress monitoring. The software offers comprehensive features such as Gantt charts, task dependencies, resource leveling, and budget management. Key benefits include improved project visibility, enhanced collaboration, streamlined task management, and efficient resource allocation. Its user-friendly interface and customizable templates make it accessible to users of all skill levels. Compared to similar products, Microsoft Project stands out with its advanced features, integration with other Microsoft applications, and extensive support resources. Pricing varies depending on the specific version and licensing options. Microsoft Project offers flexible pricing plans, including subscription-based models and perpetual licenses, to cater to different business needs.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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OpenAir

by NetSuite, Inc.
OpenAir
OpenAir by NetSuite, Inc. is a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline project management tasks. It is particularly well-suited for businesses looking for an all-in-one platform to manage projects, resources, and expenses efficiently. One of the key benefits of OpenAir is its ability to enhance project delivery through improved planning and resource allocation, making it a valuable tool for organizations aiming to optimize their project management processes. The software boasts popular features such as time tracking, expense management, and invoicing, which collectively contribute to its robust project management capabilities. When compared to similar products, users often highlight OpenAir's seamless integration with other business systems and its scalability as significant advantages. Pricing considerations for OpenAir typically involve a subscription model, where costs are based on the number of users and the specific features required, allowing for flexibility to suit various business sizes and needs.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: good
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
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Trello

by Trello
Trello
Trello is a cloud-based visual collaboration solution that can be used by organizations of any size to plan tasks and projects. It helps users define projects, requirements and workflows to ensure they are completed in a planned and sequential manner. It organizes projects into boards and provides a peek into ongoing projects and tasks. It helps administrators delegate tasks, set deadlines and define workflows while supporting a range of project types. Specific team use cases include marketing, engineering, product management, support, design and sales. It is also useful for remote teams and startups.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Zoho Projects

by Zoho Corporation
Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is a cloud-based solution that lets teams effectively plan and execute projects of any size and duration. It handles tasks, enhances collaboration, provides business intelligence for reporting and supports time tracking and issue management. Businesses can extend it using numerous integrations and customizations to align it with their requirements. It is usable by teams of smaller than five people up to teams with thousands of users. Zoho provides robust data security and is compliant with the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework. It also supports 17 different languages.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Mavenlink

by Mavenlink
Mavenlink
Mavenlink merged with Kimble PSA in 2021 to become the Kantata Professional Services Cloud. For more information, visit our Kantata review.It enables services businesses to manage and execute projects at each stage of the lifecycle. By uniting project and resource management, team collaboration, accounting, and business intelligence, it enables organizations to streamline planning and delivery. Includes the option to purchase expert services that cater to companies in the professional services space. When choosing the primary package, businesses work with a team comprised of a manager, a business consultant, a BI consultant, a technical consultant and a training expert.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
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Clarizen

by Clarizen
Clarizen
Clarizen (now known as Planview AdaptiveWork) is a project management and professional services software that manages projects and simple updates with up-to-the-minute status using smartphones anytime, anywhere. It automatically shares project-related information with key stakeholders and updates any changes made across teams. It includes proprietary analytics and management tools for live insights about departments, projects and businesses. It manages individual and team projects with collaborative tools for project managers, and coaching for groups.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
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TeamWave

by TeamWave
TeamWave
TeamWave is a cloud-based integrated solution that helps its users with essential business processes like collaboration, contact management, marketing automation, sales and time tracking. Its robust functions include numerous modules for companies to effectively deliver projects, meet sales targets and support their customers. It offers businesses visibility into sales deals at different stages, sales pipelines and date filtering capabilities. Users can forecast sales with a timeline view that arranges ongoing deals alongside closed deals. Some of its other inclusions help prepare tasks, manage priorities and add comments, notes and attachments to tasks. Its time tracking module monitors time spent on projects, non-billable and billable hours. It also offers email integrations with MailChimp, Gmail and Microsoft.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
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Deployment
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Bitrix24

by Bitrix
Bitrix24
Bitrix24 facilitates the execution of the customer journey. It supplies organizations with tools for marketing, sales and customer service activities such as lead generation, marketing automation, campaign management and call center support.It comes with a free edition for companies with less advanced needs or a smaller budget. Deployment is available in the cloud and on-premise. It’s suitable for smaller businesses as well as enterprises with up to 50,000 employees.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
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SharePoint

by Microsoft Corporation
SharePoint
SharePoint by Microsoft offers collaboration and content management system (CMS) capabilities like reporting and analytics, digital and document asset management, contract management and website content management. Businesses can prepare, review and manage various types of content in a central location. It lets users manage multiple files and documents throughout their publishing cycle. Organizations can leverage its scorecards and dashboards to prepare content reports to pinpoint publishing and content requirements. It provides robust capabilities to manage published and unpublished content on websites. It offers content support for internal intranet sites and external sites and can be deployed both on-premises and hosted on the cloud.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Pivotal Tracker

by Pivotal Labs, Inc.
Pivotal Tracker
Pivotal Tracker is a cloud-hosted project planning solution that facilitates real-time communication and collaboration within cross-functional agile teams. Businesses can keep a tab on progress throughout a project’s lifecycle. It helps teams delegate and prioritize tasks, list actionable components and set deadlines. Project status, conversations and workflows are stored at a central location for easy accessibility and defining priorities. It computes the time required to complete a project or smaller tasks based on previous data. Managers can use this data to estimate delivery time for every project subject to workforce availability and other conditions. It offers an iteration module that helps prioritize project tasks and divide them into manageable subtasks. Project status, everyday tasks and resource availability are displayed on a shared calendar.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Deployment
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Basecamp

by Basecamp
Basecamp
Basecamp is a cloud-based solution for team collaboration and management. It allows users to create to-dos, assign them to one or more people, add shared and searchable file attachments and more. It makes it easier to stay organized when there are multiple concurrent projects, each with its own team and needs. Streamline project communication by keeping specific teams together, with all project-related files in one location. It gives each project its own separate space, avoiding clutter and other confusion between projects.It is suitable for all sizes of teams like SMBs to groups in large companies. Subscriptions are scalable, with levels for different storage amounts and number of users. It also offers a free tier and application for iPad/iPhone and Android.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
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Project Insight

by Project Insight
Project Insight
Project Insight is an enterprise web-based solution that serves as a centralized hub to delegate tasks, monitor productivity and collaborate at every stage of the project cycle. Users can formalize the process for internal project requests or submit project proposals to clients with customized forms.It emphasizes project prioritization, collaboration, resource allocation and management, reporting and scheduling to help managers with better decision making. It serves project-based industries like market research, networking hardware company, healthcare organization, heavy industry and more. It also provides a free edition with modules that can be added at an extra cost.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
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Deployment
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Dotloop

by Dotloop
Dotloop
Dotloop is a software solution designed for real estate brokers, teams, agents and service providers. It operates on a cloud-based platform and provides a comprehensive suite of features, including transaction management, workflow tools, audit trails, digital signatures, document management and task templates.It also offers compliance, storage and form editing tools that streamline the process of creating new documents. Additionally, Dotloop provides detailed reporting capabilities, allowing users to monitor their business performance over time.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
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Deployment
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Platform
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Hive

by Hive
Hive
Hive is a cloud-based service that allows teams to schedule, execute, communicate, and track projects while predicting activities that may affect work. Access files, share and collaborate with team members with its thousands of external integrations. It sends out notifications in real time that alert users to team productivity. All project views reflect updates to ensure that all team members are always on the same page.It caters to teams of all sizes in industries like marketing, operations, education and more. It is available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. It also provides a 14-day free trial without collecting credit card information, and pricing plans are measured per user, per month.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
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Deployment
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Teamwork

by Teamwork.com
Teamwork
Teamwork is a visual solution that helps businesses plan, manage, collaborate and accomplish projects of any size. It allows teams to view the full scope of a single project or a portfolio of projects while monitoring individual project components. Capabilities range from Gantt charts and task management to team collaboration and dashboards. It is suitable for the needs of professional services, marketing, support and product teams. Data replication in real time provides continuous backups. It also comes equipped with robust security. Organizations can set complex passwords, and some plans support two-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO).
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Buyer's Guide

ALM Tools Are All About Automating Software Development and Delivery Processes

By Pragya Singh, Technical Writer and Market Analyst at SelectHub

ALM Tools BG Intro

Administering software development processes from conception to release while tracking changes isn’t easy. Project management solutions that specialize in application lifecycle management (ALM) monitor and manage changes throughout a software’s journey.

If you’re looking for ways to streamline software development and delivery processes, ALM tools might work for you. In this buyer’s guide, we’ll go over what ALM software is, its benefits and selecting the best system.

Executive Summary

  • Application lifecycle management tools standardize collaboration between software development, testing and operations teams.
  • They streamline software delivery workflows while driving efficiency.
  • You should clarify your doubts with potential vendors before making a purchasing decision.
What This Guide Covers:

What Are ALM Tools?

ALM tools are comprehensive software suites that automate software development and release processes by standardizing collaboration between development, operations and testing teams.

They organize workflows to achieve repeatable and predictable application delivery processes while boosting efficiency.

They create integrated environments to improve work progress at every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). They aim for greater connectivity between engineering and business processes.

Sophisticated ALM software:

  • Manages end-to-end software development processes — planning and tracking, building and testing, deployment, operations, monitoring and learning.
  • Governs resource and requirements management and system administration like user access, data security, deployment control, change tracking and review, and rollbacks.
  • Maintains app deployment and optional and dependent technologies.

Primary Benefits

Here are some advantages of implementing ALM tools.

ALM Tools Categories

ALM Tools Benefits

Manage Projects Effectively

ALM software helps development teams plan, schedule, estimate, track and allocate available resources. They delegate individual tasks, create dependencies and set deadlines.

Project managers can update real-time statuses while improving transparency for easier collaboration.

Control Change

These tools equip project managers to keep initiatives on track when requirements change. These programs allow smooth transitions from one version to another.

ALM software manages and controls processes, development codes and document modifications.

Foster Collaboration

It integrates several product development and business management processes. They offer channels to strengthen collaboration and communication between app development, testing and operations teams.

Teams can share real-time progress and gather feedback to fast track processes while updating everyone.

Key Features & Functionality

Requirements Management

ALM tools help development teams control, define and communicate software development project goals while highlighting regulation-impacting processes.

Teams can track, document, assess and agree on requirements. They offer team channels to communicate information to relevant stakeholders.
Software Design

Software design processes involve transforming user requirements into suitable forms for developers to code and implement.

ALM tools ensure that finished products adhere to all technical specifications while meeting end-user needs.
Testing

Quality assurance teams can use ALM software to detect and correct software bugs and issues, manually and automatically.

Development teams can check whether the product matches requirements without defects.
Monitoring and Reporting

These systems offer real-time insights into software projects while measuring KPIs against set goals.

They describe project progress within specific periods and measure them against initiative plans.
Integrations

These programs integrate with third-party applications like workforce management, project management, PPM, project scheduling, POS, resource management, ERP, payroll and time and attendance modules.

Software Comparison Strategy

Though most ALM tools offer similar features, it can be time-consuming to find the right fit. You can use our Lean Selection Methodology to organize your search process.

Start by accurately identifying your company requirements, the number of employees who’ll use the program and whether they’ll require training assistance.

You need to identify gaps in your current software development processes and how the solution addresses them. Research your potential vendor by checking online reviews, industry guides and first-hand recommendations.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

Selecting a product that falls within your budget is crucial. Most vendors provide monthly subscription packages depending on user numbers.

Look for a solution that supports both Agile and Waterfall SDLC models while offering variations like Big Bang and Spiral. It must be flexible to support multiple SDLC processes while aligning with your current workflows.

The Most Popular ALM Software

Simplify your software selection journey with our research team’s list of the most popular ALM software.

ClickUp

ClickUp is an online project management and collaboration solution that offers built-in communication and collaboration modules, manages task delegation and status, and provides a task toolbar.

Managers can assign tasks and comments to individual employees and groups. It displays projects on Agile dashboards while the activity stream displays real-time task status.

ClickUp

ClickUp manages workflows, tracks project updates and boosts team collaboration. Source

Wrike

Wrike is a cloud-hosted work management system that supports remote work and collaboration between geographically distributed teams. It offers capabilities like Gantt charts, calendars and workload views to manage resources and customizable dashboards with real-time updates.

It organizes tasks by projects and folders while automatically assigning jobs based on task statuses.

Wrike

Wrike’s drag-and-drop scheduler adjusts resources and task delegation in real time while avoiding burnout. Source

Teamwork

Teamwork is a work management suite designed to reduce friction, deliver projects on time and understand profitability. It offers functionalities like knowledge sharing, collaboration, a help desk and customer relationship management.

Its robust tracking capabilities monitor task statuses at a granular level while providing real-time updates.

Teamwork

Teamwork forecasts daily capacity planning to manage resources effectively. Source

 

 

Questions To Ask

Use these questions as a starting point for internal discussions:

  • What are my current app development challenges?
  • Which features will address those issues?
  • What’s my budget?
  • Who’ll use the system?
  • Will my employees require training?

ALM Tools Key Questions To Ask

Clarifying doubts about the new system is always beneficial. Use these questions to learn more about the vendor and their software:

  • Is the solution customizable?
  • Is it compatible with my current systems?
  • What training plans do you offer?
  • How does your technical support team handle help requests?
  • How many years of expertise do you have in the industry?

Next Steps

ALM tools help conceptualize, develop and deliver software faster while boosting efficiency. They offer built-in communication channels to foster inter-departmental collaboration and deploy bug-free apps to the market.

Still feeling overwhelmed in your product search? Check out our free comparison report to find out how popular applications fare against your key requirements.

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Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Kriti
By Kriti Sahay
Technical Content Writer
Kriti Sahay is a Technical Content Writer at SelectHub, writing content for Help Desk and Call Center Software. Kriti is based out of New Delhi, India. When she's not handling Buyer's Guides and other informational articles, she can be found experimenting in her kitchen, street shopping, or painting!
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Joan
Technical Research By Joan Akash
Senior Analyst
Joan Akash, a Senior Research Analyst at SelectHub, holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management with a specialization in Marketing. Her expertise as a researcher and reviewer spans diverse software categories, including Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, Live Chat, and Help Desk. Beyond her professional pursuits, Joan is spiritually driven, with a passion for teaching children and a penchant for reading biblical blogs and crafting poetry.
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Manan
Technical Review By Manan Roy
Principal Analyst
Manan is a native of Tezpur, Assam (India), who currently lives in Kolkata, West Bengal (India). At SelectHub, he works on categories like CRM, HR, PPM, BI, and EHR. He has a Bachelor of Technology in CSE from The Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Master of Technology from The Institute of Engineering and Management IT, and an MBA in Finance from St. Xavier's College. He's published two research papers, one in a conference and the other in a journal, during his Master of Technology.
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Dianna
Edited By Dianna Dragonetti
Content Editor
As an editor, Dianna Dragonetti leads a team of five writers in writing about a variety of software, with an emphasis on how these tools empower businesses. Categories include accounting, learning management systems, content management systems, supply chain management, and electronic data interchange.
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