Best Project Management Software For Freelancers | Expert Recommendations

Photo by olia danilevich
2 years ago
This article showcases our top picks for the Best Project Management Software For Freelancers. We reached out to industry leaders and experts who have contributed the suggestions within this article (they have been credited for their contributions below). We are keen to hear your feedback on all of our content and our comment section is a moderated space to express your thoughts and feelings related (or not) to this article This list is in no particular order.

Asana

This product was recommended by Ruben Gamez from SignWell

Most project management systems are too complex for freelancers when you just need help managing tasks and deadlines. Asana allows you to start small and expand from task management to project management as your business or team grows. It’s not as colorful or entertaining as, say, Trello, but sometimes those bells and whistles can leave a freelancer feeling winded. My favorite feature is setting up recurring tasks so I never forget those mundane yet necessary weekly to-dos.

Monday

This product was recommended by Joseph Moran from The Pixel Producer

I recommend this product because it’s highly customizable, making it feel so personal to my needs. I love having so much control. On top of that, it’s so simple to use making it a breeze to keep track of all the projects I have going on. Overall, I feel it never gets in my way and allows me to focus on what’s most important for my freelance work.

One Note

This product was recommended by Ian Sells from RebateKey

Microsoft One Note is not branded or promoted as a project management tool. However, it has functionalities that can mimic project management tools. This can be ideal to freelancers who are just beginning with project management. Most Windows users and even those with other OS have Microsoft Office installed in their devices, making One Note very accessible to them. One Note allows you to create notebooks and notes in the notebooks. It also allows you to categorize and prioritize notes, use tags and filters, make to-do lists, copy links, and even share your notes to others. For those who don’t or can’t spend money on project management tools, One Note is the best one out there for freelancers.

Trello

This product was recommended by Maria A. McDowell from EasySearchPeople

Trello is one of the best project management tool for freelancers that needs to track their tasks. It features a Kanban board that allows you to use cards to track your tasks and handle them according to priority. Trello has free and premium plans. The premium plan starts at $10 monthly per user.

Red Booth

This product was recommended by Maria A. McDowell from EasySearchPeople

Red Booth is a great project management tool that helps track your progress on a project and constantly reminds you when you are close to missing or missed a deadline. Red Booth has an automated notification feature and an easy-to-navigate interface. This tool is free for a single user but has a plan of $15 per month for 50GB storage and unlimited workspaces.

Thrivesolo

This product was recommended by Madilyn Hill from TruePersonFinder Inc.

Thrivesolo is an interesting, all-in-one project management app. This beautifully presented app manages projects and analyzes data effectively. It saves time by instant details filling and quick invoices creation, also simple to send. With Thrive, you can also assign hourly rates and analyze billable and nonbillable hours. This app is flexible, easy to use, and provides worthwhile services, including: – Effortless timesheet maintenance – keeps you up to date – Analyze task – Review performance – Organizes client details – Monitor expenses

Todoist

This product was recommended by Ellie Walters from FindPeopleFaster

Todoist is the best project management software for freelancers, which is not as easy to see what’s urgent and what’s less. It will be a top-notch choice if you don’t want to spend a single dime on project management. The free plan of Todoist is the best of all the simpler apps. Moreover, it has a plan for limitless users if you decide to boost your business from a one-person shop to an honest company, making it an appealing preference for ambitious freelancers.

TickTick

This product was recommended by Max Shak from Abtron

With its colorful interface, simple functionality, and inexpensive upgrade, TickTick is our favorite pick for freelancers. TickTick’s upgrade is so cheap that we feel we can bend the rule a little, even though we prefer free project management software for small businesses.

Fiverr Business

This product was recommended by Steven Walker from Spylix

Fiverr Business is a project management platform that allows you to manage your projects and Fiverr freelancers from a single dashboard. You can assign tasks, manage your goals, and track your finances, which will help you establish a successful process. It also makes it simple to bring in top-tier Fiverr pros for new projects and collaborate with them on the creative side. Plus, you can save freelancers you’ve worked with so you can reach out anytime they’re needed. Best of all, the first year of Fiverr business is free.

ActiveCollab

This product was recommended by Laura Jimenez from Ishine365

ActiveCollab boosts advanced project management features including invoicing and tracking expenses. ActiveCollab is now a more powerful and focused project management tool. It offers team collaborating features, task management, time tracking, and importing expenses. One of the biggest assets of ActiveCollab is it offers invoicing features. You are able to track payments and expenses and have invoices paid directly within ActiveCollab with PayPal, and other credit card payments.

Notion

This product was recommended by Lyle Florez from EasyPeopleSearch

The notion is an intriguing mixture of note-taking software and a task management system that accomplishes something few other hybrid applications can and does so well. It’s a good choice for freelancers because it’s free. However, you may pay $4 per month if you want to upgrade.

nTask

This product was recommended by Lyle Florez from EasyPeopleSearch

nTask is a better choice for freelancers than Asana in many respects. The free plan is slightly inferior to its competitor’s, while the Premium plan is far less expensive. However, nTask cannot get a higher score due to two issues: The free plan lacks a kanban board, and upgrading needs a minimum of three people.

Quire

This product was recommended by Roy Morejon from Enventys Partners

Quire is a free project management tool accessible through web-based applications, iOS, and Android. This software integrates with several Calendar apps, Slack, Google Drive, and Github, and allows sharing with external members. The tool allows the creation of unlimited tasks and subtasks, which can be specified by their description, start/due dates, priority level, assignees, time, comments, and statuses. It has a filter feature, making it easy to sort through your many tasks, and provides a Kanban board to visualize your workflow. This software is ideal for freelancers intending to optimize their workflow since it is free, integrable, and has unlimited task limits.

MBO Partners

This product was recommended by Miles Everson from MBO Partners

MBO is where large enterprises find in-demand talent on-demand. As part of our workforce optimization offering, MBO’s marketplace provides large enterprises direct access to highly skilled independent professionals. Since its founding in 1996, MBO has supported more than 500,000 client projects and has served more than 60,000 independent professionals and nearly 4,000 companies. MBO’s culture reflects its purpose – to give people the control to do work they love, the way they want. It’s a culture built on integrity, ongoing improvement, and a commitment to keeping the independent economy moving forward.

ProofHub

This product was recommended by Mark Daoust from QuietLight

Proofhub is an easy-to-use project management software based on the cloud, with a multilingual interface. It helps you to collaborate better with the team members on your project and keeps you in touch with clients for avoiding deadline issues. You can edit or review documents, share feedback, and track all the editing any team member has done. There’s even a time tracker to help deal with customer invoices. It’s everything you need to manage projects while you freelance.

Project. co

This product was recommended by Siva Mahesh from Dreamshala

Project.co is a recommended project management software for freelancers. It is especially designed for creatives who provide copywriting, content creation, and graphic design services, among many. Project.co has a visually appealing and organized interface, allowing users to navigate different functions easily. Freelancers can have a birds-eye view of the projects they have, monitor each one’s status, and check whether it is invoiced or not. The projects can also be seen on a Kanban board with cards that list specific action items. A click into each Kanban board will bring users to tools related to tasks, such as notes, files, and communication with clients. Freelancers using Project.co can even track the time they spend on each project to ensure maximum profitability.

Stoke Talent

This product was recommended by Will Cannon from Uplead

Stoke Talent application is specifically designed for freelancing professionals which offers a complete package from onboarding procedures, contracts, work time calculations, salary calculations, tax documentation, and invoicing, apart from just being a project management software. It supports freelance employers right from the hiring process which helps the recruiting organization to effectively manage the entire process of hiring freelancers.

Work Suite

This product was recommended by Will Cannon from Uplead

Work suite formerly known as Shortlist.co is a complete freelance management tool that offers the smartest way to hire, train, organize and pay freelance contractors. This tool is being used by some of the world’s largest brands to effectively manage their remote workforce. Work suite has already created quite a buzz among the freelance community with its easy features and options to monitor the entire process from onboarding to obtaining a payment detail after successful execution of the contracts.

Talent Desk

This product was recommended by Will Cannon from Uplead

Talent Desk is a similar freelance and contractors management tool built by one of the UK’s leading freelance marketplace, PeoplePerHour.com. With vast experience and a huge network of the freelance community, Talent Desk is considered to be the best tool to hire a freelancer with ease from its talent network and enables payment for the services in multiple currencies.

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Dedicated Team Model Balances fixed-price and time & material models, employing specialized teams for adaptable project scopes, ensuring reliability and flexibility in long-term delivery. The Importance of Dedicated Teams in Agile Development Agile development relies on dedicated teams, diverging from traditional project management methods. These teams prioritize frequent collaboration and communication to swiftly adjust requirements and task priorities. Comprised of professionals fully committed to the project, dedicated development teams collaborate to deliver innovative solutions and top-tier results. This section explores their crucial role in agile development and essential strategies for effective team management. Success in agile development depends on the expertise and cooperation of dedicated teams. Efficient communication, coordination, and excellence from every member are crucial for timely results, highlighting the necessity of dedicated software developers. Clear alignment with core business goals and expectations is essential for project success. The Advantages of Employing a Dedicated Team in Agile Development Using a dedicated development team in agile projects has many benefits. Firstly, their commitment ensures excellent results, boosting project success. Secondly, their teamwork increases productivity. Lastly, having a dedicated team improves oversight and control over the project's progress, aiding in accurate outcome estimation. Improved Collaboration and Communication Engaging a dedicated development team in agile projects also yields enhanced collaboration and communication advantages. This dedicated group fosters close cooperation among remote team members, bolstering comprehension of roles and responsibilities and accelerating progress towards business objectives. Establishing dedicated software development teams helps alleviate miscommunication and ensures alignment towards shared goals. Employing a dedicated team also fosters transparency, encouraging open expression of thoughts, seeking advice, and addressing concerns. Quality Assurance and Timely Delivery A dedicated development team in agile development leads to enhanced quality assurance, expedited delivery times, and early issue detection. Collaborative efforts enable swift and effective resolution of such matters, facilitating prompt progress to subsequent tasks. Implementing a dedicated software development team helps minimize delays and ensures alignment with quality expectations. Furthermore, dedicated teams operate with heightened productivity, enabling swift completion of development tasks and adherence to project deadlines. Flexibility and Scalability By enlisting a dedicated development team, projects become more adaptable and scalable. This enables easy adjustment to changes in market conditions or requirements. Businesses can readily modify the team size to match project needs without interrupting ongoing work, ensuring projects remain on schedule and are delivered punctually. Comparing In-House and Outsourced Development Teams In-House Development Team: An in-house dedicated team comprises full-time employees working solely for one company. They have deep knowledge of the company's culture, practices, and technology, smoothly handling projects from start to finish. However, there are challenges with in-house teams: Cost Concerns: Maintaining an in-house team can be expensive, including expenses like recruitment, training, salaries, and benefits, which may strain smaller companies or startups with limited budgets. Expertise Limitations: Internal teams may lack specialized knowledge, technical skills, or industry-specific expertise compared to external teams, particularly in niche industries or specific skill sets. Scalability Issues: In-house teams may struggle to adjust their capacity swiftly to meet changing project demands or priorities. Flexibility Constraints: Internally-based teams may find it challenging to accommodate varying working hours, meet project deadlines, or adapt to different methodologies compared to outsourced teams. Outsourced Development Team: External dedicated development teams, sourced from third-party providers, focus solely on the organization's projects. These professionals offer numerous advantages: Cost Savings: Outsourced teams often provide competitive pricing, reducing expenses on infrastructure, technology, and overhead costs. Access to Expertise: Engaging with a software outsourcing company grants access to specialists from a global talent pool with the required skills and experience. Scalability: Outsourced teams can adjust their workforce to match fluctuations in project scope and priorities, making them valuable for businesses. 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