Project Management The Best Cloud Project Management Software Of 2024 By Kriti Sahay Project Management No comments August 6, 2024 According to McKinsey’s estimates, cloud-based software can help companies generate up to a trillion dollars in value through cost-optimization and innovation-driven growth. Adopting cloud project management software is one way of ensuring you don’t miss out on your piece of the pie. While there’s no dearth of cloud-based project management options in the market, what you need is the best of the best — and we’re here to help you find it. Let’s explore the highest-rated cloud project management software options on the market today, according to SelectHub research and data. Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders Article Roadmap Best Cloud Project Management Software ClickUp Wrike Teamwork Monday.com Jira Needs Analysis Next Steps Best Cloud Project Management Software So, you’re looking for a cloud-based platform that can help you enhance productivity, track your performance, streamline your workflows and improve team collaboration. Sounds like an awful lot to account for, doesn’t it? Where do you even start? A solid cloud-based or online project management software offers a wide range of workflows, like scrum, kanban, gantt charts, mind maps and more, so you can adjust the interface to your business’s unique needs. It’ll also come with performance management and time tracking tools to support your team management needs. Overall, the solution should also be cost-effective, scalable and versatile enough to handle the projects of various teams, and develop alongside your changing and growing business needs. We went through a long list of project management systems and compared their individual modules and features, tallied their benefits and limitations, and assessed how they stack up against each other. Let’s dive into our top picks! Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders ClickUp ClickUp is a cloud-based project management solution that allows users to schedule, track and manage their projects in a systematic manner. The platform features customizable and pre-built dashboards, task-based time-tracking, collaboration tools and a built-in activity stream to help teams track progress. ClickUp also offers a variety of views for workflow management, including gantt charts, kanban boards, mind maps and list views. List mode project management with ClickUp. Source Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data Project Planning and Scheduling — 100 Team Collaboration — 96 Platform Features — 95 Customizations — 95 Dashboards and Reporting — 93 Top Benefits Better Task Management: ClickUp allows for more streamlined and efficient task management. Multiple views, including list, board, kanban, gantt charts and mind maps, allow teams to track progress on individual and group tasks. Task-based time tracking provides detailed insights to improve time management. Efficient Workforce Management: ClickUp features workforce management tools like time tracking, performance monitoring and reporting features. These make it easier for managers to supervise productivity and incentivize employees. Streamlined Workflows: Users can track task progress at team and individual levels and track projects through various phases. Flexibility: You can create custom views for team and individual use, customize reporting and integrate with various other apps to expand ClickUp’s functionality. Improved Collaboration: ClickUp is designed for collaborative project management. You can tag, mention other users, or attach notes and comments for team members on tasks to communicate efficiently. Primary Features Project Tracking: Centralized dashboards allow you to view and track projects and individual tasks. Multiple views, like kanban and list views, give you a comprehensive overview of how each project and its dependencies progress. Collaborative Project Management: Collaboration features include the ability to leave comments, attachments, notes and more to tasks. You can tag or mention users to share insights and messages about projects. Task-based Time Tracking: ClickUp enables time tracking on a granular level, allowing users to track time spent on each individual task. Time tracking down to this detail can provide valuable insights into how work time is spent and help boost employee productivity. To-do Lists: Multi-functional to-do lists enable users to manage projects more efficiently and stay on top of tasks. You can format lists according to your convenience and save them as templates for recurring tasks and checklists. Automations: ClickUp includes automations for a wide range of tasks including creating automatic due dates, task assignments, time estimates and more. A recent Slack report found that employees feel their workday is more productive when they save time with tools like automations. Limitations Lack of private messaging features. Steep learning curve. Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data Private Messaging — Supported With Integrations Project Completion Forecasting — Not Supported Locking Timesheets — Not Supported Resource Forecasting — Not Supported Price:$$$$$ Deployment: Platform: Company Size Suitability: S M L Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders Wrike Wrike is a cloud project management system that’s designed to encourage collaboration, manage distributed projects and help teams successfully finish projects. The platform comes with a diverse suite of features suitable for marketing, creative, product development, business operations, and a wide range of other teams and departments. Wrike allows you to view detailed project data through its dashboards and widgets, making it easy to monitor progress on projects through each stage. Gantt charts in Wrike. Source Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data Project Planning and Scheduling — 100 Platform Features — 99 Customization — 89 Team Collaboration — 88 Dashboards and Reporting — 86 Top Benefits Enhanced Productivity: Wrike helps enhance your team’s productivity by streamlining workflows and providing clear project overviews. Users can manage their tasks at a granular level and stay on top of time-sensitive work. Improved Collaboration: Wrike features a range of tools for collaborative project management, including easy file sharing, email integration, team calendars and activity feeds. By improving communication between teams, Wrike makes team project management more efficient. Streamlined Project Management: You can create streamlined workflows to ensure tasks move efficiently through each project phase. Dashboards give you a detailed, top-down overview of your project and its progress. User-Friendly Interface: Wrike has a user-friendly, visual interface which makes project management easy and intuitive. The platform also offers support materials and a dedicated customer support line for onboarding and implementation support. Primary Features Project Templates: Pre-built and customizable project templates help you efficiently handle recurring projects and tasks. Wrike offers pre-built templates for agile development, event management, project launches, kanban projects, help desk and more. Task Management: Create recurring tasks, assign task priorities and attach to-do lists to tasks. This centralizes all tasks into one single dashboard for easier task management, and can even integrate with your email to ensure you don’t miss important notifications. Multiple Views: Multiple views, including kanban, gantt charts, scrum, list view and more, provide the versatility to meet the needs of a wide variety of teams with different project management strategies. Custom Reporting: You can use the report builder to build reports personalized to your needs by entering input type, data sources, filters and layout preferences. You can create reports to monitor weekly project status, unassigned tasks and task progress by different assignees. Time Management: Track time spent on each individual project task, set estimates and view overall summaries. The platform also sets deadlines and sends assignees alerts and reminders to encourage proper time management. Limitations Lack of built-in team chat and private messaging features. Custom domains not supported. Limited time tracking features. Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data Responsive Web Portal — Not Supported Custom Domain — Not Supported Workload Overview and Optimization — Supported With Additional Modules Team Chat — Supported With Integrations Private Messaging — Supported With Integrations Price:$$$$$ Deployment: Platform: Company Size Suitability: S M L Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders Teamwork Teamwork is a cloud-based visual project management tool, especially designed for the needs of teams that handle client work. It allows users to collaborate effectively on group projects while also monitoring individual components and tasks. The real-time dashboard supports day to day task management and project tracking. Teamwork offers a mobile app which allows you to track and view your tasks while on the go. It also provides a range of different integrations and plugins to expand on its existing functionalities. Kanban boards in Teamwork. Source Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data Time Tracking and Management — 100 Project Planning and Scheduling — 97 Team Collaboration — 97 Customization — 95 Integrations and Extensibility — 93 Top Benefits Efficient Reporting: Stay on top of your team’s performance and KPIs by implementing an efficient reporting system. The platform allows you to create customized dashboards and use pre-built reports to monitor team performance and project progress. Efficient Project Management: Centralize all essential information on one single dashboard, allowing users to view the big picture. This simplifies task management and workforce management and helps teams achieve their goals. Better Collaboration: Support effective internal and external communication with tools like the real-time activity feed and team calendar, facilitating transparency and collaboration between team members. Client Work Speciality: Given that it’s designed for the special needs of client work, Teamwork is an ideal tool for client project management for designers, creative teams, web development and advertising agencies. Primary Features Collaboration Tools: Tag and mention team members in tasks, or create team chats and send private messages. The platform also offers a team calendar and activity feed to help teams track their collective progress. Project Tracking: Create project roadmaps, set milestones and create a personal calendar to track project progress. It also supports risk management and expense tracking in projects. Time Tracking: Create time estimates for each project and track time on a granular level within tasks. Teamwork also allows organizations to lock timesheets after a certain amount of time. Risk Management: Teamwork features risk management tools, like its risk register to help teams track and record events that may jeopardize their project. This allows teams to anticipate and protect themselves from possible risks, so they can meet their deadlines and project goals even if issues come up. Limitations No tools for resource forecasting. Limited mobile app. Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data Project Completion Forecasting — Not Supported Resource Forecasting — Not Supported Source Code Repository Integration — Supported With Integrations Custom Reporting — Supported With Integrations Price:$$$$$ Deployment: Platform: Company Size Suitability: S M L Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders monday.com monday.com is a web-based project management platform with a visual interface and a collaborative approach to task management. It helps users visualize project timelines and baselines to simplify project scheduling. It can be used for bug-tracking, CRM, marketing operations, and a range of other tasks and operations. monday.com can help organizations simplify and streamline their workflows, save time, and enhance collaboration and productivity. Project management with monday.com. Source Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data Customization — 100 Project Planning and Scheduling — 94 Mobile Capabilities — 92 Integrations and Extensibility — 92 Team Collaboration — 90 Top Benefits Better Project Management: Create tasks and subtasks for each project and add checklists to them to help manage projects more efficiently. You can also create recurring tasks and project templates for frequent use. Better Collaboration: Create in-app teams and distribute tasks among them on a shared interface for more efficient project handling. Customization: monday.com is easily one of the most customizable cloud project management tools. You can create custom workflows, tags and statuses per your needs. You can also use custom branding and host your workspace on your company’s custom domain. Expansive Integrations: monday.com offers a wide range of integrations to expand the base functionality of the platform. You can integrate it with your CRM and service desk software as well as Google Suite. You can also use webhooks and add custom integrations using APIs. Primary Features Visual Timelines: Visual timelines can help you better understand and visualize your project’s roadmap. You can view project schedules, statuses and due dates, giving you more insight into progress and helping promote more effective time management. Multiple Views: The platform features multiple views, including kanban, gantt charts and list views. This makes it a versatile tool suitable for various types of teams and project management strategies. Task Templates: Create reusable task templates to quickly start and open recurring tasks. Time Tracking: Track time at a task level, create time estimates and view summaries of tracked time. Limitations The cost of the platform is relatively expensive. Some users report that the platform can be clunky and glitchy. Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data Pre-built Reports — Not Supported File Versioning — Not Supported Multi-currency Support — Not Supported Team Chat — Supported With Integrations Private Messaging — Supported With Integrations. Price:$$$$$ Deployment: Platform: Company Size Suitability: S M L Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders Jira Jira is a popular cloud project management system that comes with a wide range of agile tools, like gantt charts, scrum and kanban boards, making it ideal for agile project management. Originally designed as a bug-tracking and software development tool, Jira can be used across various tasks and industries, such as retail, healthcare, finance, hospitality and more. Caption: Scrum board in Jira. Source Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data Project Planning and Scheduling — 95 Platform Features — 92 Team Collaboration — 90 Project Tracking — 88 Time Tracking and Management — 84 Top Benefits Improved Productivity: Jira is designed to maximize productivity through tools like kanban boards, gantt charts and scrum views. Project timelines ensure projects are completed by the deadline and no milestones are missed. Agile Team Specialty: Jira was originally designed for web development teams using agile PM strategies. While the software has since become popular with a wide variety of different teams, it’s still especially effective for agile product development. Improved Collaboration: Jira is designed to be a collaborative tool and offers a wide range of features to that effect. You can create teams and mention or tag team members on tasks. The platform also features an activity feed to help teams work towards collective goals. Primary Features Agile Project Management: Jira features a range of agile product development tools, including kanban boards, gantt charts, scrum tools and hybrid workflows. Project Templates: Create project templates to help teams open and manage recurring project types. This helps reduce manual work and saves time. Developer Tools: Jira features a range of developer tools, including its own query language JQL (Jira Query Language). It’s also compatible with Java and REST APIs. Project Roadmaps: Roadmaps allow you to better visualize a project’s trajectory and the milestones that need to be completed along the way. Jira lets users create roadmaps to specify timelines, scope and strategy. This also helps communicate project expectations and helps with efficient planning. Limitations Steep learning curve. No built-in custom reporting. Limited capabilities for private or team chats. Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data Locking Timesheets — Supported With Integrations Private Messaging — Supported With Integrations Custom Domain — Not Supported Custom Reporting — Supported With Integrations Team Chat — Supported With Integrations Price:$$$$$ Deployment: Platform: Company Size Suitability: S M L Compare Top Project Management Software Leaders Needs Analysis And here we are! These are our top picks for best cloud project management software based on our data and analyst research. Overall, ClickUp performs the best in terms of features and range of functionality, though our other picks all have their strengths. For example, Wrike performs exceptionally well in terms of project planning and scheduling, and Teamwork excels in time tracking and management. While all five are great options, ultimately, the best product for you is one that most closely meets your needs and requirements. To find the best cloud project management software for your business, the first thing you need to do is analyze your needs and the challenges you’re looking to address. To get started, make a list of your organizational needs and requirements, considering factors like the size of your team or organization, the types and complexity of projects you handle (client work, software development, marketing), and your budgetary concerns. Once you have your needs outlined, you can start comparing different products based on what matches your requirements most closely. If you need some help with this process, check out our project management software requirements checklist, or our free requirements template. Get our Requirements Template for Project Management Software Next Steps We hope this gave you a good point of comparison for the top cloud project management software on the market. Each of these platforms have their own pros and cons, but they all offer extensive features and a variety of potential benefits. If you’re interested in learning which cloud PM software is the best for you, our free comparison report will give you a detailed rundown on the best options in the market. What project management software do you use at your organization? What are some of its benefits and drawbacks? Let us know in the comments below! Analyst-Picked Related Content Pricing Guide: Discover the true cost of Project Management software Comparison Report: An interactive analyst report with comparison ratings, reviews and pricing for Project Management software Kriti SahayThe Best Cloud Project Management Software Of 202408.06.2024