Whatever your profession, status, and the size of your company, there’s a strong likelihood that you need to manage projects, either occasionally or on a recurring basis. It might even be your job!
Project management, also called project administration, involves overseeing resources, costs and deadlines to successfully complete a project. It’s a very broad discipline that requires:
- managing the different stages, deadlines and milestones of a project: beginning, end, intermediate stages…
- overseeing the resources dedicated to the project, that is, the human and financial means necessary for the smooth running of the project: budget allocated to the project, people working on the project, expenditures implemented, material resources…
- managing tasks that may be linked to each other, and the assignment of these tasks to the right people.
That said, it’s possible that, like many companies, you aren’t using the right project management tools. To save you time, you’ll find here a list of software selected from among the best project management tools on the market:
Criteria to choose the best project management software
To help you choose your project management software well, here is a list of the main selection criteria.
Features
This is one of the most important criteria for choosing your project management tool. Depending on your activity and the organisation of your company, and according to the tools already in place, you won’t have the same needs.
Think about the functionalities you need today, but don’t neglect those you’ll need tomorrow if your company grows. There’s nothing worse than having to change project management software after a year!
Don’t hesitate to refer to our list and tick the functionalities that interest you; this will save you a lot of time in choosing your project management software.
Company size
The size of the company is an important criterion, as well as the number of users, which generally affects the price. Choose software that will be able to grow with your team! If you intend to recruit in the coming years, or manage more projects, ensure that the software is sized for this and that its cost will not increase exponentially. Also ensure that the software will remain user-friendly, even with a large volume of users and projects.
Project management methodology
In the field of project management, there are different methodologies, different approaches, and your tool should adapt to your way of working, not the other way around.
For example, Jira presents itself as the project management software for teams using the Agile method. Monday, Trello and Notion offer dedicated templates for teams that use the Scrum method. There are even software tools like Scrumfast, dedicated to Scrum masters!
Are you a fan of Kanban? Gantt charts? Lean Management? Be sure to choose a tool that meets your requirements!
Ease of use
Ergonomics and ease of use are important criteria. Indeed, project management software will be used daily by your team: its use must therefore be pleasant and must not waste time. Pay attention to performance: project management software must not be slow!
Fortunately, most project management software can be tested for free: you can thus form your own opinion before choosing. If your needs are relatively simple, there’s no need for an overly complex system: favour simple and intuitive tools!
Pricing
Cost is of course a very important criterion when choosing your project management software. Depending on the circumstances, the cost of project management software can range from £0 to several thousand pounds per month.
In most situations, the price depends on both the number of users and the features chosen.
But do take into account all the components of the price:
- do you have access to customer support?
- will you need to pay a consultant to help you set up the product?
- does this software allow you to save money (by replacing other tools that you have already implemented)?
If you’re looking for advanced features or need to store a lot of documents, a free solution will very quickly show its limitations. The same applies to integrations with third-party solutions. In most cases, you’ll need to spend money to access these.
Hosting and security
Most project management software today is sold on a subscription basis, in SaaS mode, with hosting included in the cost.
If you prefer to host the software yourself, your options will be more limited. This is possible with Jira for large enterprises (from 500 users). It is also an option with open-source software such as OpenProject, ProjeQtOr, and Taiga.
If you choose a SaaS-hosted solution, be sure to carefully review the company’s security policy, including GDPR compliance, backups, and uptime guarantees.
Turnkey or custom-made?
Will you choose a turnkey project management software solution, or a no-code tool that allows you to create a tailored project management system?
With ready-to-use project management software, there’s minimal setup required—everything is pre-configured. This can save you time during implementation, as you simply follow the built-in structure. Some solutions are even designed for specific industries or project methodologies, meaning they align with your terminology and processes from the start.
On the other hand, tools like Notion or Monday act more like toolkits, enabling you to build a customised project management system without writing a single line of code. They provide templates to get you started, but it’s up to you to configure the lists, tables, fields, and workflows to suit your needs.
Choosing the right solution depends on how much time you can dedicate to setup, the skills available within your team, and your specific requirements.
Integrations
Do you already use a lot of business software ? The ability of your project management software to integrate with your existing tools can be a key factor in your decision.
In some cases, your project management software may need to share data with your invoicing system or CRM.
It may also be necessary to integrate it with your internal messaging platform (Slack, Teams…), your email, or your calendar. Be sure to check the available connectors before choosing a project management solution.
Customer support
We’ve saved this criterion for last, but it’s certainly not the least important. Implementing project management software isn’t always easy, so make sure you choose a provider that offers strong support to assist you along the way!
Here are a few key aspects to check:
- Is the user help and documentation comprehensive?
- What support channels are available—chat, phone, or email?
- Is customer support available in your preferred language?
- What are the expected response times?
During your trial period, don’t hesitate to contact support to assess the level of service for yourself.