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20 Best Task Management Software Tools to Elevate Your Workflows [2024 Edition]

Sudarshan Somanathan

Head of Content

October 31, 2024

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Just a few years back, I was always stuck in a cycle of frustration and self-blame—all because my professional workload was spiraling out of control . I’d make ambitious plans for me and my team and watch in agony as they fell flat. Things became so bad that I got used to the anxiety that accompanied my zillion unattended tasks. What followed was constant overwhelm, a clear lack of motivation , and even sneaky health repercussions. 😔

Eventually, I confided in some peers and realized that I was definitely not alone. In fact, there’s research revealing that as many as 41% of workers experience stress due to their heavy workloads. 

I was able to get out of this rough patch over time, and I cannot emphasize enough how life-changing it was for me to find the right task management software. You see, it’s never the amount of work that creates chaos—but poor task management.

In my case, for instance, I once unknowingly orchestrated a team burnout as I had the habit of setting over-enthusiastic ( read: unreasonable ) deadlines and delegating tasks without realistic workload considerations. It was only after I found my perfect task management tool that I had the knowledge and visibility needed to make more practical choices.

I’d call myself a much saner task manager now, and I hope my team here at ClickUp agrees. We have worked together to bring you this article exploring the 20 best task management software , with a special focus on tools that can assist you in assigning tasks and optimizing priorities effectively in 2024. You can learn about their key features, limitations, and pricing before locking your ideal task manager tool. 🌻

What Should You Look for in a Task Management Tool?

• 1. ClickUp—best task management software

2. Asana—best for remote teams

3. jira—best for experienced it professionals, 4. monday.com—best for marketing and pmo teams, 5. trello—best for small teams, 6. hive—best task management software for multi-layered team collaboration, 7. meistertask—best for kanban task management, 8. ntask—best task management software for scheduling, 9. zenhub—best for software teams, 10. zoho projects—best for complex project management, 11. activecollab—best for personalized task management experience for client-based workflows, 12. wrike—best for scalable workflow management, 13. todoist—best for teams on a budget, 14. proofhub—best for granular task tracking, 15. smarttask—best for managing multiple projects, 16. hubspot (hubspot task management)—best for crm tasks, 17. paymo—best for client tasks and bookings, 18. timecamp—best for time tracking and billing tasks, 19. any.do—best for creating to-do lists, 20. smartsheet—best for spreadsheet-style task management, leveraging the best task management apps in 2024.

For cross-collaborative teams like mine, task management software doesn’t just help identify, monitor, and manage tasks . It goes beyond supporting a simple to-do list and offers features to efficiently collaborate on elaborate workflows for effective goal completion .

The best task management software allows my team to set deadlines, prioritize tasks , track progress, and adjust schedules with ease, which results in smoother decision-making. Other useful functionalities that we prioritize include:

• Flexibility: In my experience, good task management software is always the one that has a user-friendly interface. Bonus points if it runs smoothly on all major operating systems across devices, giving my team more control over everyday work
• Time tracking: We find it’s best to go for a task management solution that lets us improve our time management through seamless time tracking
• Task automation: As your business grows, automation plays a key role in expanding your task base sustainably. The best task management software lets us automate recurring admin tasks, leaving everyone more time to focus on cognitively demanding, high-level assignments
• Communication support: Because I’m running a busy, distributed team, I value tools that support productive task-related discussions, file sharing, and instant announcements
• Reporting and analytics: We’ve noticed that quality task management software provides reporting features to record and analyze information (like clock-in/clock-out data, absence, and overtime hours) for productivity analysis, invoicing, and payroll management
• Integration with other tools: Now this may be a personal preference, but I like it when my task management system integrates with other software we use, like messaging apps , project management tools , and writing assistants , simply because this eliminates context switching and makes team collaboration and task monitoring way easier 😇

20 Best Task Management Software in 2024

When we started testing out the tons of task management apps available on the market, one aspect was clear—they’re not all cut from the same cloth. For instance, some are versatile tools, while others focus on nailing specific functions like task dependencies.

We eventually narrowed down to 20 best task management software that just had to be on our list. We cherry-picked them after considering diverse criteria like feature set and affordability, so you’re sure to find something that addresses your immediate needs. 🧐

Here’s a snapshot of our list, which will be followed by detailed and honest reviews of each software:

1. ClickUp —best task management software

Why end with a bang when we can start with one? 💥

We might be a bit biased here, but ClickUp has repeatedly proved itself to be the best task management solution for individuals, professionals, and teams alike. It’s not just us; even G2 considers it to be the best-rated task management and team task management software , ranking it #1 in 15+ competitive categories in 2024!

What makes ClickUp click is its AI-enabled, end-to-end support for managing tasks and priorities, monitoring progress, and staying productive.

How we use ClickUp for hands-on task management

The way we leverage ClickUp for my team is pretty straightforward—for starters, we go to ClickUp Tasks for everything, from centralized task planning and scheduling to tracking individual assignments.

I love how the platform makes our task management process super intuitive and data-rich. We get to categorize team tasks by type and set Custom Task Status from To Do to Done to make tracking effortless. We can use as many Custom Fields as we want to set deadlines, add assignees, and define further details we want to track or filter through. For each task assignment, our team can also: 

• Add links and comments to centralize contextual knowledge and discussions
• Specify task dependencies to offer visibility for schedule management
• Define subtasks and checklists to support extensive deliverables 
• Use @mentions and action items to delegate tasks and share updates

Our Task View is by default a pop-up window, but we can also minimize it to a sidebar or Task Tray if we want to keep our individual to-do lists accessible or track time as we go.

If you are a visual task manager like me, there’s good news! I frequently use the 15+ project views of this task management software for comprehensive visibility over our entire workflow—I manage tasks on Kanban boards, sort through them in the List view, and visualize timelines with colorful Gantt charts. 🌈

ClickUp comes with a drag-and-drop Calendar view that aids our granular task planning. We also make use of the Recurring Tasks feature to schedule routine stuff, like meetings and sprint retrospectives, and visualize or adjust our day-to-day directly on the Calendar.

At any given day, we have 100+ active tasks across departments, and it’s near impossible to follow up on each one of them. Thankfully, we can stay on top of our task lists with ClickUp Reminders . We create them from any task comment or notification, which gives us more flexibility to manage team tasks seamlessly from any device we’re on without losing sight of inter-departmental dependencies.

And, if we’re dealing with an overwhelming workload, we identify what to prioritize and deprioritize using ClickUp Task Priorities and its color-coded tags. We also lighten team workloads with ClickUp Automatons , which lets us automate time-consuming tasks like checking emails or organizing documents.

Bonus! Our secret to stress-free productivity? ClickUp Brain and pre-made templates

Beyond tracking and prioritizing tasks, ClickUp also lends us a hand with Project Management . For instance, we employ ClickUp Brain , the platform’s AI assistant, to automate project summaries, task planning, and task standups and updates.

ClickUp Brain is a neural network connecting the team’s tasks, documents, and discussions living on the platform—it helps us extract and summarize information and action items through simple prompts and questions.

We also take our productivity to new heights with numerous customizable ClickUp templates that help us standardize task assignments immediately! If you’re new to the platform, the ClickUp Task Management Template can be a great starting point. By downloading this free template , you can organize your tasks into Lists like Action Items , Ideas , and Backlog for easier navigation. Open separate views to track assignments by department or priority label. 🚩

ClickUp best features

• 1,000+ templates to kickstart skillful task management
• Intuitive task scheduling platform with time tracking
• ClickUp Dashboards for real-time task tracking and productivity metrics
• ClickUp Goals to set measurable task KPIs
• Task Checklist feature for easy to-do list creation
• Multiple project views like List, Table, and Timeline
• Custom task statuses to complement your workflow
• A Bulk Action Toolbar to edit multiple tasks at once
• Automates recurring, error-prone tasks
• Built-in task prioritization levels  
• Universal Search and Tags to access tasks quickly
• Supports task generation directly from ClickUp Docs and Whiteboards
• Integrates with 1,000+ apps like Slack, Gmail, Zoom, Outlook, and HubSpot
• Dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android
• Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux
• Built-in chat and file-sharing options for task collaboration
• Easy-to-use, no-code interface

ClickUp limitations

• It takes time to explore all its task management features (you can leverage the ClickUp Help Center to ease the learning curve)
• A dedicated subtask reporting feature would be a great add-on

ClickUp pricing

Most of ClickUp’s task management features are accessible on the free plan. The price-to-features ratio on the paid options is one of the best in this space.

• Free Forever (supports unlimited tasks and members)
• Unlimited: $7/month per user
• Business: $12/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing
• ClickUp AI: Add to any paid plan for $7 per member per month

*All listed prices refer to the yearly billing model

ClickUp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (9,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (4,000+ reviews)

The platform has garnered largely positive reviews as a task management solution. Here’s how one user describes their experience :

My favorite feature is the ‘add to’ function for tasks, which enables me to have a central location for all major projects. Within the project/Epic, subtasks can be assigned to the correct space/list to be worked on by whoever needs it. Having a top-down view of the location and status of each subtask is invaluable to keeping track of what is completed and incomplete. Adding custom fields wherever I need them is also fantastic.

There’s no milder way to put it—we just love Asana as an online task management software for remote teams! For starters, we can use pre-built templates to organize our remote projects and coordinate on tasks and updates using the centralized Inbox feature.

As we tested the tool further, we noticed that it was incredibly easy to add and track cross-team tasks across multiple projects. Essentially, I can ensure the same task is never duplicated in another department, which is a common pain point for remote teams!

Its breadth of features is quite similar to ClickUp (you can check out a detailed ClickUp vs. Asana comparison here ). For instance, I can add task descriptions in the form of bulleted lists, embed files to add context, set due dates, and add assignees in a few clicks. It’s also effortless to create subtasks, identify blockers, and streamline approvals on task changes.

What makes Asana stand out among its alternatives for me is the Workflow Builder feature —it gives us a smooth interface to create workflows without coding, helping us automate routine tasks and expedite projects. This quality task management software also features a My Tasks list , which helps prioritize work by auto-promoting tasks based on due dates.

Overall, Asana is a collaborative task management tool for anyone working remotely —my distributed team was able to communicate directly within the app, encouraging cross-functional collaboration with minimal friction. For added transparency, we recommend adding relevant collaborators to your team’s tasks to keep them updated on progress async.

Asana best features

• Templates for task management
• Remote-friendly collaboration tools
• Zero-code workflow builder
• Search and filtering options for simpler navigation
• Integrates with apps like Slack and Dropbox, as well as ClickUp
• Mobile app for Android and iOS

Asana limitations

• May be challenging to implement for larger teams
• Storage and collaboration features could use improvement

Asana pricing

• Personal: Free forever (for up to 10 users)
• Starter: $10.99/month per user
• Advanced: $24.99/month per user

Asana ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (9,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (12,000+ reviews)

Many users have favorably reviewed Asana’s auto-reminders feature, like this one :

I like how Asana helps us to make and assign tasks to employees in our team, and also it auto gives them reminders to complete the tasks on time. Their reminder emails are very much helpful, this way our co-workers have the list of To-Do’s ready without checking multiple messaging platforms and emails.

When I first started exploring Jira, it was evident to me that this was not as beginner-friendly as other alternatives due to a somewhat complex feature set. But then, Jira is a popular task management software option among seasoned professionals in industries like IT, finance, marketing, and HR, so it was worth a try.

To give you some context, Jira was first launched by Atlassian as an issue-tracking tool for software developers—but has now branched out to become a useful tool for project managers and task managers alike. In my experience, I found it to be an incredibly handy tool for Agile project management .

My team tried to set up a sample workflow for a complex Agile project, and we were able to break everything into manageable sprints . We got the option to set up tasks under:

• Company-managed projects: A standard admin-controlled workflow
• Team-managed projects: A more self-contained workspace for independent teams

Jira’s multiple views, like boards and timelines, makes it easy to track sprint tasks and identify roadblocks to ensure continuous improvement . The tool also supports team collaboration by allowing members to brainstorm and exchange task information across departments through shared workflows.

Moving to productivity, it’s worth noting that Jira, like ClickUp , lets us update custom task statuses in real time, while its automaton feature allows for running manual actions in the background. Plus, project managers can automate work using its numerous task management templates . 😀

Tip: Explore the Jira-ClickUp integration to manage your Agile workflow better!

Jira best features

• Workflow automation support
• Multiple task views for agile teams
• Templates for niches like human resources , marketing, and IT
• Integrates with Atlassian Work Management and other popular apps
• Effective task management apps for Android and iOS

Jira limitations

• The system can be slow at times
• The user interface and dashboard design could be improved

Jira pricing

• Free: Up to 10 users
• Standard: $8.15/month per user
• Premium: $16/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

Jira’s business support is only available on paid tiers. However, free plan users can seek out community support .

Jira ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (5,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (13,000+ reviews)

Bonus read: Check out these Jira alternatives !

Can using Monday.com for managing tasks can make Mondays less dreadful? We think yes! This simple task management software provides all key features, from multiple task views to task templates, that you’d find in most Monday alternatives .

However, what our research team loves the most is the software’s specific task management features for marketing and PMO teams . For example, marketing teams can benefit from key features like brand asset management , robust Gantt charts (to build task timelines), and campaign tracking . Meanwhile, PMO teams rely on features for monitoring OKRs , identifying dependencies, and tracking time for future task planning.

I think Monday.com also stands out with its smooth interface . Its Work Management feature lets you create no-code marketing workflows for specific functions like content creation, social media, and event planning.

I consulted a few project managers who use the tool, and they even appreciated its intuitive layout. For example, the platform allows them to make informed decisions by accessing quick overviews of task progress on a dashboard. 📈

Plus, Monday.com allows you to organize workspaces into projects with individual tasks and subtasks, complete with color-coding options to help you track task priorities and statuses easily.

Overall, it’s a powerful task management tool—quite similar to ClickUp and Asana in terms of design and feature set. Plus, the platform integrates with top marketing tools as well as other collaborative platforms ( including ClickUp ).

Monday.com best features

• Includes 200+ automation options
• Color-coded custom task statuses and priority levels
• User-friendly project templates
• No-code workflows setup
• Offers a mobile app for iOS and Android
• Integrates with over 200 apps

Monday.com limitations

• The initial setup tends to be overwhelming
• Some users struggle with custom reminders and experience delays in notifications

Monday.com pricing

You can access the following plans by first signing up for a 14-day free trial:

• Free: Up to two users
• Basic: $9/month per user
• Standard: $12/month per user
• Pro: $19/month per user

Monday.com ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (10,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,000+ reviews)

I’m a religious fan of Kanban boards, which is partly why I always have a blast using Trello. One of the main reasons why I put it high up on our list is simplicity—most project management software are not as easy to learn as Trello, which makes it perfect for managing linear tasks on a smaller scale.

This good task management software is all about moving tasks like sticky notes on a drag-and-drop Kanban board for easier status tracking. Individuals can use it to create personalized task lists, while team members can rely on advanced checklists to add context to tasks by adding due dates and assignees. 

As far as basic task management is concerned, this software supports task prioritization through labels like high, medium, or low priority. Say I want to access a specific batch of tasks and prepare a quick status report—all I have to do is filter through these labels.

Trello’s no-code (and cute!) automation tool called Butler is also incredibly comfortable to use. Even the less tech-savvy members of my team can automate recurring tasks by creating simple rules, buttons, and commands.

Trello lets us view tasks on calendars, timelines, and neatly organized tables, which is often more than enough to manage workloads in smaller teams. However, if you’re running a larger team or a more complex project that requires agility and a wider variety of project views, Trello alternatives with enterprise features may be a better option.

Trello best features

• Butler—a no-code automation tool
• Kanban-based task tracking software
• Includes checklists, calendars, and timelines
• Color-coding helps prioritize tasks
• Android and iOS mobile apps
• Integrates with other task management systems like ClickUp and Jira

Trello limitations

• Gets costly as users increase in number
• May not support complex project management

Trello pricing

Trello’s free plan is pretty generous and supports up to 10 boards. You need to get a Premium tier to access more views and AI-driven features, which are necessary for effective task management in modern workspaces.

• Standard: $5/month per user
• Premium: $10/month per user
• Enterprise: $17.5/month per user

Trello ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (13,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (23,000+ reviews)

Here’s what one user had to say about completing tasks and projects with Trello:

Trello provides software development projects with a smooth platform for managing Agile and Kanban workflows. Tasks can be easily created and organized because of its user-friendly interface and customisable boards, lists, and cards. While Trello’s ease of use is one of its main advantages, it might not have all the complex project management capabilities of more all-inclusive applications. 

I had little idea of what Hive is like when I first started testing it. The platform advertises itself as an all-encompassing project management software with use cases ranging from project and resource management to client engagement. While I mostly explored features for task management, I can confidently say that this tool wins when it comes to facilitating team collaboration.

Hive provides any hybrid team with a task management platform to:

• Assign, track, and execute tasks together, regardless of location
• Monitor upcoming tasks across departments
• Streamline task intake data with forms
• Collaborate async or live with Hive Notes and Text and Voice Chat

Like ClickUp, Hive supports project collaboration by letting teammates communicate across projects by leaving comments on action cards or tagging team members.

Collaboration here is smoother because you get to observe your tasks from unique angles . For example, we can use the Portfolio view to get a detailed overview of tasks across projects or the Label view to categorize subtasks. I thought I could focus better by activating the My Actions view to display my task assignments in a concentrated way. 

We can also rely on key features like task status to easily track progress, templates to customize project layouts and business processes, and notifications to never miss a beat. Plus, Hive offers Workflows App —a no-code task automation tool to help you cut down on manual labor and design personalized automated workflows. 

Hive best features

• Collaborative task management tool
• Supports individual, group, or project discussions
• AI assistant ( HiveMind ) and templates to support standard tasks
• My Actions view tracks all the tasks assigned to you 
• Includes a no-code task automation tool
• Integrates with Dropbox and Google Drive

Hive limitations

• The mobile app has limited functionality
• UX may get compromised with many collaborators

Hive pricing

Hive’s free plan neatly supports basic task management for all your projects, but you’ll have to upgrade to paid plans for features like custom fields, task labels, and an in-app calendar.

• Starter: $5/month per user
• Teams: $12/month per user

Hive ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)

Bonus: Check out these Hive alternatives !

Most alternatives to MeisterTask include Kanban boards as one of their key features. However, I’d emphasize that MeisterTask excels as Kanban-based task management software because of how user-friendly and intuitive it is. 😻

The tool is beautifully crafted and provides customizable Kanban-style boards that let us organize and monitor task cards. We can mark if tasks are In Progress , Done , or on the To Do list (or create custom sections). What’s cool is that we can also switch to a Gantt-like timeline view to access more linear scheduling.

These boards keep all work centralized and let us communicate effectively through task comments. We can mention teammates in the comments, add them as project watchers, and assign them tasks directly from the board. Whenever you manage projects prone to changes, just activate real-time notifications to keep everyone in the loop about the latest updates.

Besides collaborative boards, the software offers personal Kanban pinboards called Agendas , where we can organize all the tasks assigned to us, as well as access due dates and important files faster.

Many user reviews for MeisterTask compliment the tool’s pretty interface —here’s what a verified user shared:

The colorful Kanban-type interface, the multiple project lists you can have, tags, integration from MindMeister, easy integration from other websites to spawn tasks. I use it on my phone, tablet, and iPad.

MeisterTask best features

• Easy-to-use Kanban boards to track project progress
• Can serve as a personal task management software
• Task-related collaboration through comments
• Dashboards to track tasks, time-tracking data, and notifications
• Lets you automate recurring tasks
• iOS and Android mobile apps

MeisterTask limitations

• The software could benefit from adding a workflow calendar to its features
• Notifications may be delayed on mobile devices

MeisterTask pricing

• Basic: Free (doesn’t allow integration with other apps)
• Pro: $6.50/month per user

MeisterTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,000+ reviews)

Bonus: AI To-Do List Apps !

nTask serves as an SMB-focused hub for tracking and scheduling tasks under three sections: To-Do, Workflow, and Projects . The idea is to create both personal and professional task lists, as well as define workflows for specific functions like designing, fund management, and freelancing. 

In my opinion, the Projects tab has quite a clutter-free interface to design granular schedules and assign tasks or entire task lists to your teammates. If you’re new to the platform, you can start with a weekly scheduling sheet to create a baseline of tasks, along with descriptions and assignees. Then, you can use the Task Builder to add tasks as needed.

As a visual task management tool, my team was able to use nTask to plan and prioritize tasks on a Kanban layout, manage interconnected delivery timelines, and visualize projects with color-coded Gantt charts.

For example, we scheduled tasks by setting planned and actual due dates and creating task dependencies and milestones to ensure timely completion. Then, we set priorities, custom statuses, and real-time notifications to ensure no action remains overlooked.

nTask’s robust time-tracking capabilities help us stay within realistic timeframes. I can monitor time spent on tasks and estimate the time my team will need for future tasks, which makes scheduling (and invoicing) easier over time.

nTask best features

• Offers multiple project views (board, grid, list, and calendar)
• Comprehensive task tracking
• Visual task management and task scheduling through Gantt charts
• Recurring tasks feature with daily, weekly, or monthly repeats
• Integrates with 1,000+ tools like Apple Calendar, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams
• Android and iOS support

nTask limitations

• Attaching documents and images to tasks may be challenging
• User interface could be more intuitive

nTask pricing

You can access a 7-day trial period for all plans. NGOs may be able to get up to 50% off upon contacting sales.

• Premium: $3/month per user
• Business: $8/month per user

nTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (10+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)

ZenHub is a project management solution that primarily caters to software development teams. It provides a native GitHub integration via a browser extension for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This helps reduce context switching by keeping project tasks connected with GitHub code. 

Plus, ZenHub offers automatic task updates as users complete issues in GitHub, streamlining task completion by eliminating manual status check-ins from your team’s to-do list. There are also automated hand-offs to update all connected workspaces.

This online task management software and software development tool brings tasks together on intuitive, drag-and-drop Kanban boards , allowing teams to view all current tasks and their statuses.

Use these boards to prioritize tasks, track projects, and attach pull requests to corresponding issues. Group related issues into Epics or connect various private and public GitHub repos to a single board. 👨‍🏫

Additionally, ZenHub offers sprint planning features, making it a handy tool for agile teams . It lets us set automated sprint cycles, auto-generate new sprints with prioritized and unfinished tasks, and receive periodical reports on progress.

I’ve also heard pretty exciting things about ZenHub AI (automatic issue categorization, sprint reviews, etc.). However, I wasn’t able to get past the waitlist to try out its beta program.

ZenHub best features

• Various key features for agile teams
• Native GitHub integration
• Provides spring planning and tracking
• Boards with intuitive task management capabilities
• Automate repetitive tasks and hand-offs
• Acts as a visual task management tool with roadmaps and timelines
• Integrates with Figma, Miro, and Loom

ZenHub limitations

• Steep learning curve
• The interface may be challenging to navigate

ZenHub pricing

• For Teams: $8.33/month per user (annual billing after a 14-day free trial)
• For Enterprises: Contact sales for pricing

ZenHub ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (30+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (30+ reviews)

Zoho Projects is a reliable project management software with features such as issue tracking, team monitoring , project timesheets, and resource utilization charts. From the range of use cases we explored, this platform can be excellent for managing complex projects in industries like marketing, construction, IT, and consulting.

Zoho Projects offers a comprehensive toolset for task management that assists us in breaking projects down into milestones, task lists, and subtasks for simpler tracking. This task management platform is all about details—each task can have attributes like assignees, work hours, priorities, and reminders. Plus, we can use timesheets and timers to record time spent on each task.

We were able to schedule tasks on a calendar and get an overview of team members’ capacity simultaneously. This, I think, is crucial for balanced task planning and avoiding the risk of team burnout.

Like many Zoho alternatives , this tool simplifies task organization by providing Kanban-style boards with drag-and-drop task cards and flexible statuses. As for planning and tracking complex workflows, we can use Gantt charts to identify granular team tasks, set dependencies, and monitor deadlines to ensure everything is done on time. ⌛

I believe that using Zoho Projects is great for consolidating your task ecosystem when you use other Zoho applications, such as Zoho Mail or Zoho CRM, as the tool gives you a unified view of your tasks across sister platforms.

Zoho Projects best features

• Quick-access Gantt charts
• Supports versatile task management use cases
• Highly customizable workflows with project templates
• Easy task scheduling on calendars
• Integrates with various Zoho, Google, and Microsoft apps 
• Task management apps (iOS 9.0+ and Android 4.1+)

Zoho Projects limitations

• Initial setup may be challenging
• Software customization can be time-consuming 

Zoho Projects pricing

• Free: Up to three users
• Premium: $4/month per user (10-day trial)
• Enterprise: $9/month per user (10-day trial)

Zoho Projects ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (400+ reviews)

Reviews mostly mention the product to be useful, albeit confusing at times. Here’s an excerpt :

Zoho Projects is useful when using to assign tasks, getting multiple projects done, and needing to know who will do it by when. It allows people to go in and time themselves to track how long it took them to do it. It does get really confusing at times to create tasks because of the many tedious needs that can be miscommunicated while trying to assign (tasks). 

ActiveCollab is all about increasing productivity and meeting deadlines with ease in client-based workflows. Whether you’re a startup or a small creative team, the tool lets you invite unlimited clients to the platform for improved collaboration and feedback loops. In my opinion, this alone can help eliminate those hard-to-keep-track-of client meetings and follow-up email chains.

My experience? Besides adding tasks for my team, I was also able to break down complex actions into subtasks for my clients, ensuring all assigned tasks got done as planned. Additionally, we saw functions to:

• Add due dates, assignees, and detailed task descriptions
• Group tasks based on different criteria
• Duplicate repetitive tasks

This online task management software offers only three project views to choose from, which is less than what ActiveCollab alternatives typically offer. Still, it includes frequently used views—the Kanban board, Gantt chart, and List view. 📝

I know automation is a recurring theme at this point, but still worth a mention—ActiveCollab can reduce manual labor by automating recurring tasks like drafting weekly reports. And, if you need to ensure actions are completed in a fixed order, just create dependencies between multiple tasks.

ActiveCollab stresses the importance of a personal task manager, which freelancers may find useful. It provides a My Work page where you can find and organize your task assignments by project, client, or due date. 

ActiveCollab’s timesheets also impress me quite a bit. Besides getting an overview of all my time records, I can access project-level time tracking for easier billing. I can even revisit my productivity in terms of the comments posted, tasks created or closed, or due dates modified.

ActiveCollab best features

• Excellent personal task management software
• Tools to automate repetitive tasks
• Dependencies for completing tasks in a specific order
• Android and iOS smartphone apps
• Integrates with other task management tools like Asana and Trello

ActiveCollab limitations

• The file-sharing feature of this task management software could be simpler to use
• Adding more customization options could be beneficial 

ActiveCollab pricing

All plans come with a 14-day free trial. However, you have to subscribe to the most expensive plan for features like workload management and days-off planning.

• Plus: $9.5/month 3 users/month
• Pro: $8/month per user/month
• Pro+Get Paid: $11.75/month per user

ActiveCollab ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (90+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (300+ reviews)

Wrike is well-known for its robust task and workflow management features. But what many users miss is how beautifully scalable it is! For instance, the platform lets me build a library of custom tasks that mimics our core processes—we can use it as a baseline for all our future workflows. And the best part is, we can expand this library to build a workspace tailored to a role, department, or even industry.

During the time we tested this tool, we created multi-level task lists across levels like folders, milestones, phases, and projects. Some of us even created personalized dashboards by pinning important tasks from our to-do list, all automatically sorted by priority and due date.

Like most of Wrike’s competitors , the platform supports strong teamwork —we can collaborate on real-time project plans, task assignments, and decision-making within the platform. Plus, the software includes built-in proofing tools for quick yet detailed task feedback and task automation to save time and increase work efficiency.

Additionally, Wrike allows project managers to build customizable reports on task and team performance. I was, for instance, able to further optimize workflows by analyzing relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) on dashboards.

Wrike best features

• Comprehensive project dashboards with personalized reports
• Supports feedback-friendly team collaboration
• Multiple project views
• Visualize tasks in views like Gantt Chart, Kanban, and Calendar
• 400+ third-party integrations
• Task automation

Wrike limitations

• Could use more custom display options
• Some users experience task syncing issues

Wrike pricing

Wrike offers integrations and additional cloud security features for an extra fee, but all of the following plans contain task management features:

• Team: $9.80/month per user
• Business: $24.80/month per user
• Enterprise and Pinnacle: Contact sales

Wrike ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (3,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (2,000+ reviews)

While many Todoist alternatives on our list offer additional project management features, this veteran app is purely focused on task management. I think Todoist is one of the few apps that consistently upgrades itself within its niche space. For instance, we can now create detailed daily to-do lists and set recurring tasks using natural language.

The tool ticks all the boxes for basic task planning and management—we can create tasks and subtasks, determine priorities, add due dates, and set reminders to ensure nothing goes overlooked. 👀

Although it’s primarily a task management app, Todoist can help you manage small-scale projects as it includes goal-setting features , labels to categorize tasks, and task descriptions to keep information centralized.

I personally loved its Upcoming calendar view —it displays which tasks are due urgently, and if anything’s too demanding, I can use a drag-and-drop function to reschedule assignments. And if I need to focus on team tasks that are currently due, I simply go to the Today view .

While Todoist’s simple navigation and low price make it a handy tool for personal task management, it’s also a good to-do list app for teams on a tight budget . Its project management features aren’t too comprehensive, but you can still assign tasks and leverage comments for better teamwork and transparency. Here’s what a small business owner had to share after using the tool :

Extremely easy to use for all levels of technological understanding. I use Todoist several times a day and we have integrated this across our whole team. We’ve experienced far less chance of tasks being lost or forgotten and people stay accountable because of the notifications received upon completion.

Tip: ClickUp has a neat Import from Todoist feature if you need to switch to a more extensive project management tool in the future.

Todoist best features

• Efficient daily task management
• Multiple task views (including Kanban boards and lists)
• Basic team collaboration support
• Easy navigation to monitor project progress
• Integrates with various productivity and time-tracking apps
• Has a to-do list app for Android and iOS

Todoist limitations

• Integrating the software with some apps may be challenging
• It would be beneficial if the app displayed tasks when you’re offline

Todoist pricing

• Beginner: Free
• Pro: $4/month per user
• Business: $6/month per user

Todoist ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (700+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (2,000+ reviews)

Besides being a good task management tool, ProofHub is a task tracking software that lets you easily create task lists and individual tasks, assign them to more than one team member, and closely follow due dates and priorities across task categories . I am particularly in awe of the platform’s Table view for task tracking—I get to monitor progress percentages for actions in different categories (without being a pesky micromanager). 😁

Similar to ProofHub alternatives , the software is fully customizable —we can build personalized workflows and use custom fields to capture any task-related data my team deems important. Custom fields enhance task tracking —because we customize them to track virtually any detail, be it deadlines or output.

Speaking of tracking, ProofHub has an intuitive interface for creating task dependencies for ensuring tasks are completed in a predetermined order. If you want to offer more clarity to assignees, leave comments on tasks or use mentions to guide them.

Additionally, ProofHub offers various reporting options to help gain insight into a project’s progress. You can enhance resource allocation by analyzing resource utilization reports or track project-specific progress with task completion reports.

ProofHub best features

• Multi-faceted task tracking software
• Customizable workflows
• Supports task-related discussions through comments and mentions
• Reports to gauge task progress
• Various project views like Kanbans and tables
• Mobile-friendly

ProofHub limitations

• Notifications can get difficult to manage
• Some users find its customization features complex

ProofHub pricing

Note that ProofHub currently avoids the per-user billing format, which may make it appealing for some teams.

• Essential: $45/month for unlimited users
• Ultimate Control: $150/month (or $89/month for a limited time offer)

ProofHub ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (80+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (90+ reviews)

SmartTask includes all key features you’d typically find in a task management tool. You can set deadlines, add dependencies, and manage tasks in views like calendar, list, and board. I’d highlight that you can create a realistic workflow here by optimizing dependent, overlapping, and ignored tasks—this is the kind of visibility you need when your team is juggling 5+ projects simultaneously.

This software stands out for me especially because of its tools for managing multiple projects simultaneously in a cross-functional setup. Its Project Portfolios feature allows you to create multiple boards to track separate goals, aligning your marketing, sales, and design teams. To play it safer, you can even share task lists across teams to prevent orphaned actions. 

SmartTask supports team collaboration by letting us comment on tasks and generate real-time notifications for updates. We can also invite clients, vendors, and external stakeholders to collaborate on any task or project by sending them an invitation.

Plus, it provides dashboard reports on both project tasks and sales that you can easily find through its advanced search bar. 🔎

SmartTask best features

• Internal and external team communication
• Set recurring tasks (daily, weekly, or monthly)
• Task and sales reports
• Supports managing tasks across projects
• Time tracking for individual tasks
• Task management tools for iOS and Android

SmartTask limitations

• The UI and UX could use some improvement
• Adding more integrations would be useful

SmartTask pricing

SmartTask may offer discounted pricing to NGOs upon contact. Eligible startups can also apply for a $1,000 worth of credit.

• Free Forever
• Premium: $7.99/month per user
• Business: $10.99/month per user

SmartTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (60+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (30+ reviews)

I’ll admit that HubSpot Task Management is far from a traditional task manager—it’s more of a suite designed to help marketers streamline Customer Relationship Management (CRM) processes. Now, we know that effective CRM depends on properly storing, tracking, and managing lead- and customer-based activities. HubSpot helps you streamline these scattered tasks to boost revenue.

We explored this software extensively and can confirm that it reduces the need to switch between multiple tabs when talking to prospects, all thanks to dashboards that centralize all CRM work. In terms of use cases, utilize the dashboards to track your to-do list items, view prospect details, and stay on top of meetings. 

Need to create new tasks? Do that directly from your workflows, email inbox, or to-do list. And if you need insights from past task performances, like deals made and activities completed, leverage HubSpot’s reporting tools. This platform simplifies communication with email templates (for sending messages in bulk) and real-time team chat. 

While sales and marketing teams may enjoy HubSpot’s task management style, some of HubSpot’s alternatives could be a better choice for companies in IT or finance. You can even consider the HubSpot-ClickUp integration if you want to organize your customer-facing processes more diligently.

HubSpot best features

• A wide array of CRM functionalities
• Live team chats
• Dashboards to centralize prospect-related work
• Integrates with apps like WordPress, Gmail, and Zapier
• iOS and Android mobile app for HubSpot CRM

HubSpot limitations

• Limited option to prioritize tasks
• Workflow automation is limited on the free plan

HubSpot pricing

For individuals and small teams:

• Starter: $15/month
• Professional: $800/month

HubSpot (CRM) ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (11,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (4,000+ reviews)

Paymo is a simple task management software and invoicing app rolled into one, so I can see how it holds enormous appeal for professionals and freelancers who want to manage client work, time tracking data, and resources within one platform . It lets you automatically set up ghost bookings based on the task details you’ve entered in the past, as well as receive a visual overview of all bookings for the immediate team on a single screen. 🖥️

Paymo also simplifies managing resources by allowing multiple managers to work on scheduling to avoid overbooking or underbooking. We can:

• Book time for time-sensitive tasks by the hour
• Accommodate unscheduled tasks with a simple drag-and-drop function
• Visualize our team’s availability on timelines
• Send booking notifications only to relevant team members

The platform lets my employees view their tasks in a single view, while our task managers monitor both their personal tasks and team’s work in separate views. Like with most Paymo alternatives , we get project views like Gantt charts, Tables, and Calendars to visualize tasks.

Paymo also encourages team collaboration, offering a detailed Task View to chat in real time about the latest task updates. Finally, Paymo provides task priority levels like critical, high, normal, or low across teams, which we can adjust based on our delivery commitment to clients.

Paymo best features

• Timelines to assess employee availability
• Allows booking time for client tasks by the hour
• Real-time chat
• Project views like Gantt chart and Kanban board
• Integrates with apps like Slack, Google Calendar, and JotForm
• Mobile app support for iOS and Android

Paymo limitations

• The mobile app may be tricky to navigate
• Takes time to train employees to use the platform

Paymo pricing

• Free (for up to five clients)
• Starter: $5.9/month per user
• Small Office: $10.9/month per user
• Business: $16.9/month per user

Paymo ratings and reviews

• Capterra: 4.8/5 (400+ reviews)

I have talked to many freelancers about their task management routines, and I think one of their main problem areas is connecting tasks to tracked hours and, eventually, invoices. That’s precisely why I made sure this handy all-in-one tool was on our list.

While most TimeCamp alternatives on this list include typical task and project management features, TimeCamp shifts its focus to time-task budgeting instead.

With its one-click time-tracking capabilities , you can track your or your team’s working hours effortlessly. You can use this data to standardize times for specific jobs, plan and create task assignments and invoice estimates, and monitor each team member’s productivity.

TimeCamp also provides features for measuring the profitability of your projects and tracking billable hours, streamlining invoicing and resource management. Basically, the tasks you had to do manually, like creating invoices and approving timesheets, are automated on this platform.

Although this software highlights time tracking, it’s still a task management tool. Its TimeCamp Planner product helps you organize tasks and monitor their progress on Kanban-style boards. 

If you’re dealing with repeatable tasks, automate them by specifying information like due dates, assignees, and progress statuses. Plus, you can switch from team task overview to your own using the My Tasks feature , which displays your assigned tasks on a list, calendar, or timeline view.

Note that TimeCamp’s time tracking and task management features are available on separate pricing plans .

TimeCamp best features

• Comprehensive time-tracking tools
• Kanban board for easy task tracking
• Personal task lists
• Can automate repeatable tasks
• Includes apps for Android and iOS
• ClickUp (you can use this integration to time your ClickUp tasks and enjoy billing accuracy)
• Google Calendar

TimeCamp limitations

• The user interface and server load time could be better
• The tool may be buggy at times

TimeCamp pricing (for TimeCamp Planner)

• Starter: $2.99/month per user (best for freelancers)
• Premium: $4.99/month per user (ideal for businesses tracking profitability)
• Ultimate: $7.99/month per user (for better analytical reporting)
• Enterprise: $11.99/month per user (for higher security and custom integrations)

TimeCamp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (500+ reviews)

Any.do specializes in providing easy-to-use to-do lists to help you achieve both personal or professional goals efficiently. It caters to individuals, families, and teams, and is available via 10+ platforms, including Mac, Safari, and iPad.

During my time with this tool, I was able to organize my to-dos in separate lists and projects, all color-coded to set clear priorities and determine task categories. We can enhance our task lists with:

• Subtasks and attachments for added task awareness
• Deadlines and reminders

Sharing responsibilities is also simple—just share a task list with your teammates or family to collaborate on task completion . For example, you can assign different items on a grocery list to family members and track the list to ensure they complete the task successfully. If there’s an urgent matter you wish to discuss, use the chat function to communicate in real time.  

For companies looking for a task management tool with project management capabilities, Any.do is a solid choice as it also offers features like customizable workflows, views, pre-made templates, and powerful integrations with other work tools.

If you want more comprehensive workflow features, though, explore some more advanced Any.do alternatives .

Any.do best features

• Provides simple to-do lists
• Great as a daily task manager
• Lets you share lists with teams, family, and friends
• Reminders for timely task completion
• Has apps for iOS and Android
• Integrates with other task management tools like ClickUp and Asana (via Zapier)

Any.do limitations

• Some users desire more integrations (like with Microsoft Calendar)
• Limited advanced features for this price range

Any.do pricing

Remember to get a Family or Teams plan to access shared lists.

• Premium: $2.99/month per user
• Family: $8.33/month per four users
• Teams: $4.99/month per user

*All listed prices refer to approx values billed annually

Any.do ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (100+ reviews)

At the time of reviewing this tool, we noted a few less-than-positive reviews by Android and iOS users, mostly about some UX elements. However, the reviews for the overall functionalities are quite positive. Here’s what a sales manager who uses the product had to say :

With Any.do, organizing my tasks is simple and fast. The app works fine, and it does the job that it’s supposed to do, setting daily reminders and scheduling to keep myself on track of what’s going on. I love apps that offer a simple, minimalistic professional design.

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like task management tool . It’s great for those who are comfortable tracking tasks in Excel but are open to switching to a tool with less complicated calculation work. The tool is popular in construction, healthcare, and education industries where task management is all about working with scattered data.

Like ClickUp, Smartsheet offers comprehensive project and task management tools for handling different workflows. For example, it lets you schedule tasks, create subtasks, allocate resources, and track assignments efficiently from one platform. ✅

Here, tasks are represented on spreadsheets for individual projects. Like most Smartsheet alternatives , we can add basic task information, like due dates and assignees, in clear fields and columns. We can also merge several spreadsheets to have a consolidated view of our tasks across categories.

However, these aren’t traditional spreadsheets—they also provide the advanced features of a modern task management tool. For instance, we can use checkboxes, dropdown lists, and comments to interact with tasks on Smartsheet.

This is a great task management software for teams working on extensive projects as it includes templates for agile project management, OKR tracking, budgeting, and resource management.

It also supports task automation, real-time collaboration , and advanced analytics. Plus, it integrates with services we may already use, like Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams.

Bonus read: Explore ClickUp vs. Smartsheet !

Smartsheet best features

• Spreadsheet-based project management tool
• Advanced functionalities for monitoring complex projects
• Supports real-time team communication
• Templates for agile project management
• Integrates with numerous communication, data visualization, and project delivery apps
• Available as an iOS or Android mobile app

Smartsheet limitations

• There may be a steep learning curve for users figuring out advanced features
• It could benefit from adding more template options

Smartsheet pricing

• Free (for up to two task editors)
• Pro: $7/month per user
• Business: $25/month per user

Smartsheet ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (14,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (3,000+ reviews)

Our first-hand experience with these tools has been both adventurous and enlightening. We think each of these options understands their target users and strives to deliver. However, if you’re still struggling to find “the one,” make a list of what you really prioritize in a task management platform.

Typically, great task management software provides features that help you plan, organize, track, and assign tasks, but you shouldn’t have to pay a fortune for these functions. Some features, like reminders, automation, and task views, are the bare minimum, and we see them in almost every tool we discussed.

What you can explore is the overall functionalities you get for a given price. Say Tool A gives you 30 advanced features and the more popular Tool B gives you 25 advanced features at the same price point—you know what to pick!

Lastly, the best task management tools are supposed to make your life easier, not vice versa, so ensure your chosen tool is easy to implement and fun to work with! 🥳

If you absolutely can’t make a choice, we’ll be cheeky and persuade you to try ClickUp ! It’s got all the features you’ll need to streamline task management with minimal effort. Whether you want to set goals, track and assign tasks, manage time, reduce manual labor, or communicate with your team, the possibilities are endless.

Sign up to ClickUp today and enjoy the best toolkit a free task management software has to offer! 💖

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• Free training & 24-hour support
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• 99.99% uptime the last 12 months

• Project Management

Best Task Management Software in 2024: Project Task Tracking Tools for Individuals and Teams

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Completing task lists can be stressful. That’s why it’s good practice to log tasks and organize them to create structure, rather than having them swirling around your mind. To help with that, we’ve created this roundup of the best task management software.

Last Updated: 07 Jun'24 2024-06-07T16:30:40+00:00

All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.

In the modern era, we always have things we need to do, both personally and professionally. As organized as we like to think we are, all of us can benefit from a little help when it comes to getting tasks in order and ensuring we don’t forget them. In the digital world, we can access plenty of support tools, and in this article, we look at the best task management software.

Key Takeaways:

• For its ease of use and list of features, Airtable will appeal to the widest range of users looking for a good task manager tool.
• monday.com is the best project management tool that includes task management.
• The four other choices include Todoist , Any.do , TickTick and Asana is the most advanced tool in this list, and will serve you well for both basic and more advanced use.

Much of what you read in this article is geared toward the basic user, either for personal use or small teams that don’t require a ton of features to be able to keep on top of new and recurring tasks. This article will also be useful for those transferring from paper-based task management to a visual online task management tool, as all options are super easy to use.

If you’re a project manager and came to this article looking for the best Gantt charts, Agile software tools and other advanced tools, you probably won’t find what you’re looking for. The good news is that we have an article that focuses on the best project management software , which will no doubt help you find what you need.

For those who just want to get on top of their to-do lists and find a piece of software to help organize individual tasks, continue reading. You’re exactly where you need to be.

How to Master Project Management Even if You're New to the Field

• Discover 10 fundamentals of project management
• Understand step-by-step plans for PM execution
• Learn tips to avoid 5 common mistakes by beginners

Updated the article to reflect monday.com’s latest pricing information.

The Top Task Management Apps

What Makes the Best Task Management Software?

We have tested and reviewed each of the online task management tools listed below. Our testing focuses on features, ease of use, security and customer support. While we have reviewed many task management software solutions, the five below are the cream of the crop and scored well on each of our criteria.

• Airtable — Offers the best task management features and will appeal to a range of users
• monday.com — Pound for pound, the best project management software for all users
• Todoist — Priorities simplicity over features, opting to do the basics very well
• Any.do — Goes out of the box and creates cool features that help with managing tasks
• TickTick — Has a beautifully designed app which is a joy to use
• Asana — Perfect for managing basic tasks and complex projects

Airtable is our top choice of the best software for task management. For a basic task management system, it’s certainly not lacking in features, and it’s easy to use. However, if you want task management and project management wrapped in one easy-to-use package, monday.com is the top choice.

Todoist was next, and some may prefer the design of the user interface. Any.do makes the list because of its excellent security and privacy, while TickTick and Asana are appealing because of the well-functioning task management tools each company has created. 

Task Management Tools vs Project Management Software

If you’ve read our article on best project management tools, you may be thinking this is a rerun of something you’ve seen before, but it’s not. While there’s a certain degree of crossover between task management and project management services, there are also many differences. 

Project management tools are best suited for large-scale, complex projects, often for multiple users who work on different pieces of a project. A good task management tool is more streamlined, offering a basic way to organize tasks, track task progress and help reduce the overwhelming that tends to occur when you have multiple pieces of work to complete. 

For a deeper understanding of the differences, check out our task management vs project management article .

The 6 Best Task Management Software

Moving on from that comparison, let’s get into this roundup of the best task management tools, starting with Airtable, our number one choice.

1. Airtable – Best Team Task Management Software

More details about Airtable:

• Pricing : Free; $10 per user per month, billed annually
• Provider website : airtable.com
• Super easy to use
• Free plan is great
• Good range of features
• Pro plan is expensive

Airtable is a super simple tool that still has enough features for us to label it versatile. While it doesn’t have a traditional list view, it has what it refers to as a “grid” view. This view is essentially built to resemble a spreadsheet, and it’s here you’ll likely view and manage tasks.

To help with managing tasks, you can track progress by labeling each task by status, either as “to do,” “in progress” or “done.” If you want to switch up your views, there’s also a basic kanban board. When we say basic, we mean a very bare board that doesn’t have as much substance as a tool such as Asana (which you’ll learn about farther down).

If you prefer a calendar view of your tasks, Airtable has a native calendar that we really like. Each part of the calendar is spaced out perfectly, and viewing it doesn’t give us a headache or overload our brains with information. Some may find the gray design a little dull, which we get, but it’s one of the best task management tools as far as functionality goes.

Set Task Dependencies

With Airtable, project managers can assign tasks and set task dependencies so the team can prioritize and complete them in order of importance. This feature is a great way of “eating the frog,” which is the process of completing the most difficult tasks first in order to move forward with your work as quickly as possible.

For those on a budget, Airtable’s free plan may suffice. You get most of the core task management views, including the grid, kanban and calendar. The only thing missing are views such as Gantt charts, which you can access through the Pro plan. Chances are, those looking for basic task management software will likely not miss having access to Gantt charts.

If you feel like spending your money, there’s no need to go past the Plus plan (which lets you enter more tasks and is good for larger teams). Overall, Airtable does what it needs to do and that’s why it’s a great work task tracker service. You can learn more about it by reading our Airtable review .

• Up to five users. Unlimited bases. 1,000 records, 1GB of storage per base. Revision and snapshot history for two weeks. Views: grid, calendar, form, Kanban board, gallery and list. 100 automations per month.
• Everything in free, plus unlimited users, 50,000 records and 20GB of storage space per base. Adds Gantt charts and timeline views. 25,000 automations per month.
• Everything in Team, plus 125,000 records, 100GB of storage per base, 100,000 automation per month. Admin controls, single sign-on (SSO) and premium integrations with third-party services.
• Everything in Business, plus 500,000 records, 1TB of storage per base, and 500,000 automation monthly.

2. monday.com – Best Project and Task Management Tool

More details about monday.com:

• Pricing : Free; $9 per user per month, billed annually
• Provider website : monday.com
• Plenty of features
• Easy to use
• Hundreds of integrations
• Nothing to note

monday.com is an easy-to-use project management tool that targets a range of users. Depending on what plan you subscribe to, you can use it as a fully fledged project management solution, or a space to log and track basic tasks. Keeping in theme with this article, we’ll zone in on monday.com’s free and Basic plans , both of which offer a list view.

After signing up for the service, you’re automatically greeted with the list view when you first enter your account. Here you can input whatever tasks you need to do, and also add details that clearly outline what the task entails.

All the traditional functionality comes with monday.com’s list view. You can assign tasks to other users (the free plan limits you to five users per account,) set due dates and log progress with the “working on it,” “stuck” and “done” labels, all of which are color coded in green, amber and red.

Use the Native Document Creator

If part of your task management involves creating documents, monday.com offers a native document creator which you can use for personal use or to collaborate with others. It’s not as advanced as Google Docs or MS Word, but it should suffice when creating a basic document. 

If you feel you want to bump up your user experience, monday.com has more expensive plans which provide Gantt charts and calendar views, as well as a host of third party software integrations for you to choose from. The software itself is easy to use, which is why monday.com is the best all rounder. To learn more, check out our monday.com review .

• Maximum users: 2
• Minimum users: 3; All prices per user
• Enterprise-level features.

3. Todoist – Simplest Task Manager

More details about Todoist:

• Pricing : Free; $4 per user per month, billed annually
• Provider website : todoist.com
• Excellent list view
• Comprehensive free plan
• Privacy concerns

Todoist epitomizes everything good online task management app needs to be. It’s not fancy and full of frills, nor does it overload you with more features than your mind can handle. Instead, it sticks to the basics and offers strong task management features that help bring some organization to your life.

Unlike Airtable, Todoist’s strength lies in its list view of tasks. The list view is what you would expect it to be: a linear view that lets you schedule tasks by adding due dates and priorities, as well as leave comments. It’s also possible to embed the exact location of where your task needs to be completed, both in the list view and the reminder section.

Todoist offers a basic kanban board view, which, although it won’t make it on our roundup of the best kanban boards, functions well enough to make task management simple and free of complications. Users can customize the board, however it’s only possible on the Pro plan. 

Unlimited Task Archive 

Although only available on the paid plans (which are super affordable), Todoist offers an unlimited task archive. This means that no matter how far in the past you completed a task, if you need a reminder of the work you did, you can simply search for it in the archive and it will be there. Todoist’s free plan does offer an archive; however, it’s limited to only one week.

Although it gets the basics right, Todoist isn’t without its flaws, which mainly pertain to privacy. While Todoist won’t sell customer data, it will share it with a list of vendors that’s far too long for our liking. It also holds your data for six years, unless you remember to opt out.

If that’s no concern for you and you just want the best tool for the job, Todoist is an excellent piece of task management software and we’re certain it will help you bring all your tasks together, so you can complete them. To learn more about the platform, check out our Todoist review .

• 1 main user 5 active projects 5 collaborators (per project) 5MB file uploads
• 1 main user 300 active projects 25 collaborators (per project) 100MB file uploads
• Multiple users, (price is per user) 500 active projects (per member) 50 people (per project)

4. Any.do – Excellent Task Organizer

More details about Any.do:

• Pricing : Free; $2.99 per user per month, billed annually
• Provider website : any.do
• Beautiful design
• Separate tasks
• WhatsApp integration 
• No native calendar

Aside from being an enjoyable name to say (try it and see), Any.do is a beautifully designed task management app that helps with both your personal and professional life. As soon as you enter the web app, you’re greeted by a very clear layout that helps you get going in no time at all.

Simply click “create task” and a new box will appear with very clear details of the type of data you can enter into your tasks.

You can set reminders, create recurring tasks (paid plan only), leave notes and add tags. There’s no native calendar built into the app; however, Google users can integrate their Google Calendar if they wish to have a calendar view of the tasks they need to complete.

One slight niggle is that regardless of whether you’re in your work or personal list, a new task will automatically go into the personal queue by default, unless you manually change it yourself. That’s our only real concern in terms of functionality; aside from that Any.do works exceptionally well.

Send WhatsApp Reminders

For those who use WhatsApp (ahem, everyone), you can integrate Any.do with your account. Once integrated, you can convert your WhatsApp messages into tasks or reminders and they will sync with your Any.do account. 

While Any.do offers a mobile app, this feature is great for those who don’t want lots of apps on their phones but still want to do some task management inside the apps they do have.

Although best used for personal task planning, Any.do does have a plan that targets team use. As with the Premium plan , Any.do allows you to prioritize tasks and assign them to the users you add to your account. It’s still very basic, but if you and your team only require a space to track tasks and complete basic work, there’s likely no need to look for an alternative software.

Because it’s so easy to use, we especially recommend Any.do to the novice user of visual task management software solutions. Advanced users may need more substance, although if you don’t, Any.do will suit your needs as well. To learn more, read our full Any.do review .

• Adds location-based reminders, tags, themes, recurring tasks and integration with WhatsApp.
• Adds team-focused features like kanban boards and a built-in calendar, among other things. Comes with a 14-day free trial. Price is per user.

5. TickTick – Best Task Management Tool for Individuals

More details about TickTick:

• Pricing : Free; $2.33 per user per month, billed annually
• Provider website : ticktick.com
• Efficient task management
• Voice recognition
• Constant pings to upgrade

Because of its range of features and straightforward design, TickTick is a popular task manager app among project managers. In addition to the traditional way of organizing tasks and to-do lists, TickTick also allows you to sort tasks into folders, providing you with a cleaner overview of all your projects and tasks.

To add more depth to your tasks, you can also log how much time you expect a particular task will take to complete. That’s slightly different from setting start and due dates, as this allows you to program the length of the task in minutes and hours. For example, you may say it takes two hours to write an article.

TickTick also ranks highly with regard to security and privacy. It doesn’t sell your data, and if you decide to delete your account, all your data will be deleted from its systems within 90 days. 

On a security front, TickTick promises to let you know if there’s been a data breach within 72 hours. There hasn’t been a breach to date, which is evidence that the platform is doing everything right in terms of keeping your data safe.

Use Voice Recognition

TickTick is one of the few task management tools that allows you to add tasks through speech to text. This takes away the sometimes cumbersome task of typing out multiple tasks, either on your computer or mobile device. When testing the performance of TickTick’s voice input feature, we found it to be very accurate, even with the not-quite-dulcet tones of a Northern English accent.

While TickTick’s free plan helps you log and prioritize tasks, the Premium plan takes things to the next level. You can create almost 300 more lists, add more members and attach more files to your tasks. There are also some reporting features that let you track the progress of your personal and assigned tasks.

In the world of task management apps, TickTick is right up there with the best of them. It could offer more detailed customer support, but for quality task management software like this, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be at a loss as to what to do with it. To find out if this is the task manager for you, check our TickTick review .

• List, Basic filters, Kanban, Caps on use
• Calendar, Extra filters, Track progress, Caps raised

6. Asana -Best Free Task Management Tools

More details about Asana:

• Pricing : Free; $10.99 per user per month, billed annually
• Provider website : asana.com
• Great kanban board
• Clean list view
• Advanced features

Like monday.com, Asana isn’t solely a piece of task management software. Asana comes with more advanced features like Gantt charts, time tracking tools and the ability to seamlessly manage multiple projects at once. It’s one of the best project management tools for multiple projects .  

The list view allows you to segregate tasks into different sections, allowing you to see start and due dates, as well as task priorities. Those on the paid subscription can create customer tabs, giving you ultimate control over how you manage and create tasks.

As far as this roundup goes, Asana has the best kanban board you can use. It’s great for assigning tasks, tracking task progress and navigating through multiple projects with ease. It’s not the head honcho of kanban boards — that title belongs to Trello.

Integrate Third-Party Apps

Asana has a long list of third-party app integrations. Being a popular online task management software service, it has been able to partner with the likes of Slack, Venmo and Microsoft, plus several more. Users can also integrate with Google apps, making Asana a great collaborative task management tool.

Compared to other task management software tools, such as Todoist, Asana is expensive. That’s mainly because it’s offering a lot more than the competition. The good news is that it’s one of the best free task management software solutions , and for those who don’t need the extra features, it will surely suffice. Check out our full Asana review to learn more.

• Up to 10 users
• Price is per user. unlimited users, expanded features
• Price is per user. unlimited users, even more features
• Custom pricing, advanced security features

Final Thoughts

Now that you know the best tools to manage tasks, all you need to do is select the right task management platform for your needs. Airtable remains the best task management tool, which should appeal to a range of project managers and solo professionals. Its user-friendly interface and generous free plan are why it’s our best task management tool.

The other options are not far behind, and all of them do what we would expect from a quality task management software provider. For more advanced task management, such as handling complex tasks and implementing strong team collaboration, monday.com is the stand-alone choice. If that’s not what you need, any of the other four services will serve you well.

Which is your favorite option in this roundup? Is there another task management solution you would like us to test and review? What’s the biggest hurdle you face when trying to manage projects and tasks? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading.

FAQ: Task Management Tools

A task management tool is a simple piece of software that allows you to log, visualize and prioritize your short-term and long-term tasks. Most tools provide a basic list view of all your tasks, making them easy to digest, manage and complete.

We’ve reviewed many and our top five are: monday.com , Asana , nTask , Wrike and Jira .

Atracker is an excellent time tracking app that allows you to monitor any type of activity you do, and pings when you’re taking too long to complete a task. Read our best time management tools guide to find more options.

I use kanbantool to manage my tasks. Have you tried it, I think the tool is amazing!

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Best Task Management Software of 2024

Task management software can be invaluable for those with busy lives. It allows people to keep better track of everything they need to get done, complete with dates by which to get things done, subtasks that could help along the way, and so on. Task management tools also can make it easier to collaborate with others.

In building this list of the best task management software, our contributor consulted experts and conducted extensive research on task management tools. He also conducted some hands-on testing to make sure he included only the best options.

Table of Contents

• Best Task Management Software
• Things To Consider When Buying
• How We Chose

AirTable  »

Easy to use

Highly customizable

Free plan available

Limited features without the paid plan

Can get a little expensive

If you’re looking for a highly customizable and advanced task management tool, then AirTable is worth considering. AirTable is built around “views,” or different ways to view the same data, such as Kanban boards. This allows different users to interact with data and tasks in a way that best serves their needs, without impacting how others view tasks and data. AirTable offers views like a List View, Timeline View, Kanban View, and Calendar View. Despite its advanced functionality, AirTable is generally easy to use. There’s a free plan available, but it limits things like the size of attachments, the number of automations, and access to extensions.

Also on the downside, Airtable's paid plans are a little more expensive than much of the competition, especially when you start adding multiple users to your plan. Still, those who want excellently customizable and easy-to-use task management software will want to consider AirTable.

Inexpensive

Real-time chat feature

Quite customizable

Somewhat of a learning curve

Some integration limitations

ClickUp is solid task management software for people on a budget. It offers a free plan, and its paid plans are generally cheaper than alternatives. Despite the lower price, ClickUp still offers relatively advanced features, including a real-time chat feature that allows teams to chat within the same service they use to manage projects. Further, ClickUp offers good customization tools, with customizable views and reports.

While ClickUp is relatively full-featured for the price, there are some caveats. For example, ClickUp comes with a slight learning curve, so you’ll need to be comfortable spending a little time learning how to use the platform. And while it has some good integrations with third parties, ClickUp doesn’t have quite the same number of integrations as some of the other options. Still, if you’re comfortable with these issues and could stand to save some cash on your task management tool, then ClickUp is worth considering.

Good free plan

Great integration selection

User-friendly interface

A little expensive

Views locked behind paid plans

Asana is excellent task management software for small businesses. Asana offers a great free plan, so small businesses that don’t need advanced features won’t necessarily have to pay for the software. It also supports a range of great integrations, ensuring that you can get the software to work with other software and services you’re already using. And, thanks to its easy-to-navigate interface, you won’t have to spend too much time learning how to use Asana – which is always helpful when you’re running a small business.

Despite the fact that Asana offers a great free plan, the paid tiers are a little expensive compared to the competition. Some views are locked behind paid plans, but the commonly used List, Board, and Calendar views are included in the free tier.

Offline tools

Natural language input

Some important features not available in the free tier

Limited views

Todoist is a simple task management solution with an easy-to-use interface and an excellent mobile app. Todoist is built around enhancing the to-do list experience. It offers advanced natural language input that allows you to type out due dates and tags without having to jump through multiple fields, automatically adding information as you type. Todoist also offers good offline support, syncing data again when you regain access, and it does all of this at a low price – even for the higher-end paid tiers.

Because Todoist is really built around enhancing a classic task list, it’s a little limited in the kinds of additional views and data manipulation tricks that it offers. It’s really meant for those who want to stick with list views and calendar views. Also, some of its more advanced features are unavailable in the free tier, like the ability to set task reminders and durations. Still, many won’t need these features, and the advantages of a simple yet high-end software like this will outweigh the disadvantages.

Jira Atlassian  »

Integrations with prominent creative tools

Multiple views for customizable workflow

High level of security

High learning curve

Can get expensive

Jira is a great option for creative professionals who need integration with creative tools and services. Jira supports integrations with services like Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma, among others. Further, it offers multiple views like Kanban boards and others for a more customizable workflow, and it prioritizes security tools to ensure that your company’s data remains safe and secure. There are also excellent reporting tools built in.

Because the software is so advanced, it can come with a slightly high learning curve. Moreover, the free plan isn't as advanced as some of the paid tiers. Still, if you want an advanced task management solution for creative tasks, Jira is the way to go.

Monday.com  »

Intuitive interface

Extremely customizable

Good selection of integrations

Slightly confusing pricing

Somewhat limited reporting tools

Monday.com stands out for its wide range of customization tools. It boasts an intuitive interface that's also highly customizable, ensuring that you and your team members can get the exact features that you need out of the platform. Customization tools include the ability to set different views and create templates for better work management. It also offers a good selection of integrations, so it will probably work with the other software that you use.

Monday.com's reporting tools are somewhat limited, so if reporting is important to you, you may want to keep looking. In addition, its pricing structure is a little confusing, forcing you to pay for sets of team members instead of individuals. Despite that, the software is highly customizable and boasts a good selection of integrations, so it's still absolutely worth considering for anyone who wants a customizable task management solution.

Tools for task management, creation, and more

Excellent note-taking tools

Can get a little complicated with many projects

Some missing advanced features

Notion isn’t just a great task management platform; it's also highly recommended for its document and creation tools. In particular, Notion boosts great note-taking tools that allow you to spend less time outside of your task management software and more time getting things done.

Notion is generally easy to use, but it may take time to get set up with the platform according to your needs. Plus, as you add more projects, it can start to get a little complicated to manage. And because Notion prioritizes features like note-taking and document creation, it lacks some of the advanced features that other task management platforms have, like some of the views and collaboration tools. Still, if you're looking for an end-to-end workspace that allows you to spend less time bouncing around apps, Notion is an excellent option.

Microsoft Project  »

Good integration with Microsoft tools

Automated scheduling tools

Good budgeting tools

No mobile app

Integrations a little limited

Microsoft users who want to remain in the larger Microsoft ecosystem should subscribe to Microsoft Project. Microsoft Project is a slightly niche service; it really only integrates well with Microsoft services, and all users will need a Microsoft account. However, for the right team that uses Microsoft Teams and relies on Office, it may well be the perfect solution. On top of the great integration with Microsoft tools and services, it also offers helpful budgeting tools, along with scheduling tools that can be automated for a more streamlined workflow.

There are some instances where Microsoft Project wouldn’t be the best option. For example, the service doesn’t have a mobile app, so if you want to access it on mobile, you’re limited to using the web interface. However teams that only use the desktop interface will be perfectly fine with this, and the additional tools like helpful custom fields, custom boards, and good reporting, may make these downsides worth the trade-off.

The Bottom Line

Great task management software allows you to customize the platform to your needs while remaining easy to use and relatively full-featured. Because of this, AirTable is the best option for most users, however, some may find that platforms like Notion, Asana, and ClickUp are better for their needs.

Things To Consider When  Buying Task Management Software

User-Friendliness: It can sometimes be hard to walk the line between ease of use and advanced features, but it's important that task management tools provide a relatively easy-to-use experience. Task management software should be usable almost right away, allowing you to jump right into managing your tasks without much hassle. Some more advanced task management software may take a little more time to get used to. Take into consideration how familiar you are with task management tools generally how much time you're willing to spend getting used to a new platform before you subscribe to one.

Functionality: What good is a platform that doesn't offer the features that you need? Task management services can offer a range of different functions, but very few offer every single function out there. Make a list of the types of features and functions that you need before you subscribe to a new task management platform. Common features include the ability to view data in different ways like with Kanban boards, reporting and analytics tools, and collaboration features. That said, you may not need all of these. For example, if you're looking for a platform that only you’ll use, then collaboration may not be as important.

“The devil is in the details, and, at an enterprise level, a shallow solution with a one-size-fits-all design doesn’t truly fit anyone,” says Kevin Tapscott, Global Leader, Software Solution Center, Zebra Technologies.

Customization: Customization tools are an incredibly important aspect of any task management platform. Your workflow will likely differ from anyone else's, so make sure you can customize a platform to better serve your workflow, rather than changing your workflow to serve the platform. Many task management platforms allow you to customize how you view data, how you label your data and tasks, the types of reminders you get, and more. These features may take some time to set up when you first log into your task management software. However, in the long run, they’ll save you tons of time in managing the tasks that you need to complete.

“In addition to basic office reminder tasks, service-based one-time and recurring tasks that have other assignments, schedules, and deadlines, as well as past due warnings and condition-based triggers are critical functions that software must have to be beneficial,” says Rick Agajanian, Chief Product Officer at WorkWave.

Integration: Look for a task that can integrate with the other tools that you already use. This will allow you to spend less time bouncing around between different apps. Many task management platforms integrate with other work-related services, like Slack, Google Drive, and more. If you use other services regularly, it's worth checking to make sure that your task management platform integrates with these services before you subscribe, if these types of integrations are important to your workflow.

Collaboration Features: Perhaps you're looking for a task management platform that only you'll use. In that case, collaborative tools won't be important to you or your workflow. But for anyone who plans on using a task management platform with team members, collaboration features are incredibly important. Commonly, task management platforms allow team collaboration, such as the ability to comment on different tasks and make changes to tasks as they're completed. Some services go further with built-in chat features and file-sharing features. If these kinds of features could enhance your workflow, whether you have a small team or a large one, make sure a platform offers them before you subscribe.

How We Chose The Best  Task Management Software

Our contributor Christian de Looper consulted several task management platform experts before compiling this list of the best task management software. These included Rick Agajanian, Chief Product Officer at WorkWave, and Kevin Tapscott, Global Leader, Software Solution Center, Zebra Technologies.

For each software considered, Christian considered aspects like user-friendliness, functionality, customization, integrations, and collaboration. He also considered what makes a particular platform unique in this category. Ultimately, While there are many task management tools out there, a few of them seem to be head and shoulders above the rest in terms of functionality – like AirTable, which includes most of the features that you would want from a task management platform. There should be a task management platform for all users’ needs.

WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST US?

Christian de Looper is a consumer tech expert who has spent countless hours reviewing software and devices. Christian knows what makes great software great. In his role as a freelance writer with many different clients that use different platforms, Christian himself has used many of the platforms on this list and has a deep understanding of what makes or breaks task management software, as well as what features are ultimately most important.

If you have to juggle many different tasks at any given time, then you really need some task management software. At the most basic task management software solutions could just be to do apps, like Apple Reminders or Google Tasks. However, other platforms will offer much more advanced features that could help you spend less time managing your tasks, and more time completing them. If you're unsure about whether or not you need task management software, it's worth trying out the free plan of one of the solutions on this list.

Task management software presents your tasks in an easy-to-understand way. Often, you'll be able to view all your tasks on a calendar, columns view, or even a simple to-do list. Task management software can also allow you to more easily collaborate with others. For example, you can have multiple users working on the same task at any given moment, while still remaining up-to-date on any changes to the task at hand. Some task management software offers other tools, like document, editing, and file sharing tools. “Users may be tempted by systems that are overly basic and seem appealing at first glance due to an easy interface, but these systems often end up being too lightweight or do not have the tracking and reporting aspects needed to properly manage work,” Agajanian says.

Task management software can vary widely in cost. Base plans are usually free, Allowing you to use the most basic features of a platform without having to pay at all. Usually, these free tiers are free forever so they aren't a free trial that expires after a few weeks. However, they're also usually limited in the kinds of features that they offer. Paid plans are usually paid on a subscription basis, and these can range up to $30 per user, per month, which can get expensive if you have many team members. Most average plans cost around $10 per user per month.

Usually task management software is web-based, meaning that you don't have to install anything on your computer to start using it. All you have to do is head to the website and you'll be able to start using the software. That said, often these platforms also work with mobile apps, which you will have to install on your mobile device. If you have an Android phone, that will involve going to Google Play and downloading the app. If you have an iPhone, you'll have to head to the App Store to download it. Downloading an app on your phone should be relatively easy, and the process is the same as any other app.

You'll know it's time to start looking for new task management software if you find that your current software doesn't offer the kinds of features that you need. Many task management software solutions are built to grow as you grow, so if you are finding that your software doesn't offer the kinds of features that you need, you may just need to upgrade to a higher-cost plan. That said, if the general workflow of the software you're currently using doesn't fit what you need any more, it may be time to start looking for an entirely new platform.

While task management software is often built around helping teams better work together, there’s plenty of great task management software for individuals too. Many of the task management platforms for teams can be used by individuals just as easily. There are plenty of task management options with base plans for one person, allowing individuals who want to better manage their workflow to do so at a reasonable price. There are even task management options that are specifically built for one person. However, these aren’t as common as those built for team collaboration.

Yes. Many task management software options offer a free plan to allow users to use basic features at no cost. The majority of these lock the most helpful features behind a paywall, however. In many of these cases, once you start using a free plan, you’ll find that you need to upgrade to get access to the tools that are most helpful to your workflow.

There are some task management platforms that are free to use, however their features are a little basic. For example, Apple users can use the Apple Reminders service, which is a simple to-do style app available on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Android users could use Google Tasks – Google’s take on a to-do app. If you’re willing to pay for task management software but would prefer not to, it’s a good idea to try the free versions of a task management platform first, then upgrade if you find that you absolutely need to. In most cases, you’ll likely find that you will need to upgrade, but at least you can make sure before you spend any money.

There are a number of different types of task management software. For starters, there’s the to-do style task management software. These platforms are designed around creating to-do lists. While they sometimes offer additional features like the ability to organize tasks in different ways, set recurring tasks, and so on, they’re still largely built around the concept of a to-do list. Other task management software is instead organized around databases or big spreadsheets of tasks that can be organized into boards, lists, calendars, and so on. Most task management software built for helping teams work together is organized into databases rather than to-do lists, even if many of them don’t refer to them as databases.

It depends on the task management software. Most task management software developers tout the security of their platforms, with many platforms arguing that they offer full encryption, for example. Most task management software should be secure, but if you're worried about security – for example if you store sensitive financial information in your task management software – then look at the specific claims around security of the platform that you’re interested in subscribing to. Again, the majority of them offer at least basic encryption, if not more, in terms of data security.

One of the best things about task management software is that it syncs in the cloud to ensure it’s up to date on all of your devices. As such, most task management software is at its best when you have an internet connection, but most platforms also allow you to update tasks and make changes even when offline, then syncing those changes when you reconnect. Keep in mind that if you’re working with others, the changes you make won’t be reflected for others if you’re offline. If you work alone, those changes won’t reflect on other devices until you reconnect to the internet.

About Our Team

Christian De Looper

Contributor

Jeff Kinney

Senior Editor

U.S. News 360 Reviews takes an unbiased approach to our recommendations. When you use our links to buy products, we may earn a commission but that in no way affects our editorial independence.

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25 Task Management Software & Tools To Work Faster in 2025

• Michaela Rollings
• October 18, 2024
• 20 min read

Table of Contents

Task management has been a buzzword, along with project management software, for the last four years. Teams have been working to streamline their processes and ensure the most successful task and project execution, and technology is an incredibly important part of that.

“Task management will become task execution. With the rise of AI, it’s going to be important to provide more value for users than ever more – in the future, it’s not just about helping someone manage their work, it’s about doing their work for them,” that’s what visionary John Furneaux Hive’s CEO and co-founder said in a recent interview about the future of project management. 

What Makes A Good Task Management System?

Some might say this future is already here but simply not available to everyone yet. The truth is task management tools have become smarter and an increasing necessity. The Project Management Institute  (PMI), stated in its 2024 report on the future of project work: that project professionals “need the technical skills to use AI to manage projects more effectively, the power skills to lead virtual teams through complex projects and the business acumen to deliver results that align with organizational goals.”

With more teams working in remote and hybrid environments, it’s become even more important to look for ways to improve collaboration and boost productivity while managing tasks. That’s where task management tools can help.

What is Task Management Software Used For?

By definition, task management tools are digital platforms that help individuals and teams manage their tasks. More than simple to-do-lists, task management tools allow teams to collaborate digitally by organizing, prioritizing, and assigning tasks to each other. 

So what exactly do task management tools do? As with most software, there is a range of complexity and technological advancement among different systems. With that being said, typical features include: 

• Task scheduling to set deadlines in advance.
• Task customization and editing to update for specific situations. 
• Task assignment , which may include internal coworkers, external partners, or both.  
• Notifications/Alerts to remind users about upcoming tasks and responsibilities. 
• Recurring tasks or templates to standardize repetitive steps in your workflow.  
• Sub-tasks or parent tasks to create additional steps within a task.   
• Time Tracking to record the amount of time spent on tasks.
• Progress reporting to track current positioning in regards to the overall goal.
• Task organization using tags, labels and channels to group by common team or project. 
• To-do-lists for easy task visualization.

Benefits Of Task Management Software

Whether you use task management systems as an individual or as part of a team, there are many benefits to your daily workflow. Some of the top benefits include:

Streamlined workflow. Task management helps individuals and teams record, assign, and organize all of the processes of a given workflow. This is beneficial because it ultimately reveals where there are redundancies, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks to be fixed. 

Improved productivity. Task management reduces the number of time workers have to spend sifting through information and getting organized. It also helps workers prioritize tasks, stay on top of current responsibilities, and prevent things from slipping through the cracks. When all is said and done, finding the best task management software for small businesses or large businesses can significantly improve team productivity.

More effective collaboration. How many times have you discussed next steps during a meeting or over the phone, but then you forget to write them down. Or perhaps you have a new due date for a project you’ve been working on, but now you have to individually tell each member of your team. Task management software brings everyone together on one platform, which helps improve communication and ensures that everyone knows what tasks they are responsible for, and when they need to complete them by. 

The Best Task Management Tools on the Market

1. hive  .

Hive is an all-encompassing productivity software that helps teams work faster. As a task management tool, Hive can be used by teams of all sizes to manage upcoming tasks, assign work to team members, and collaborate within the platform. In addition to being a great task management software, Hive is loved by thousands of teams for its project management capabilities, remote work tools, and powerful team collaboration solutions. 

Some features of Hive: 

• Flexible project layouts: Kanban, Gantt, Portfolio, Calendar, Table, List & more
• Create and assign tasks from meeting notes
• Create and assign tasks from emails
• Assign tasks to internal and external users
• Workflow automation to streamline tasks within and across apps
• Time-tracking and resourcing
• Upload, organize, and attach files to tasks
• Create repeatable tasks with templates
• Communicate on tasks with comments and tags

Managing tasks in Hive begins in Action cards, which function as the building blocks of projects. Within an Action card, you can create sub-actions, assign them to others with due dates, @mention teammates in comments, attach files, and even proof and approve documents. To see all upcoming tasks on your plate, simply use Hive’s My Actions view and filter based on project or status.

Whether you’re looking for a tool to use as an individual or part of a large organization, Hive is one of the most popular task management softwares. Start your Hive 14-day free trial to create your workspace and start managing tasks in minutes.

Todoist is a leading task management tool that helps people see everything they have to do in one place. It functions as an online to-do-list , where users can manage tasks and projects, whether for themselves or as part of a team. People like Todoist for its user-friendly interface and mobile app, which make it quick and easy to use on a daily basis as things pop up, which is why it’s the best task management tool for small business.

Because this software is less comprehensive than other task management tools though, Todoist is best for teams or organizations with simple workflows. For more complex needs like Gantt charts or Kanban boards, we recommend checking out other project management software options.  

Some features of Todoist:

• Create subtasks and recurring tasks
• Commenting on projects and tasks
• Favorites for keeping key projects, labels or filters top of mind
• Prioritization levels
• Todoist Karma awards points for completing tasks and maintaining streaks

Milestones in Nifty are a unique way to track the progress of any initiative, big or small. Tasks are attributed to Milestones that display phases of a project, indicating deliverables or sprints, and highlight the progress of a project as tasks are completed. Nifty is fantastic for anyone who wants to see the “big picture” context of whatever they’re working on.

Some features of Nifty:

• Discussions for focused collaboration
• Use Gantt Charts to visualize project milestones
• Tasks to facilitate detailed organizing, prioritizing and managing
• Docs & Files in an organized hub for each project
• Time Tracking for efficiency and smart decision making
• Reporting with overviews across all projects

4. ProofHub

ProofHub is a task management tool and team collaboration software used by teams of all sizes and industries. ProofHub allows you to have complete control over team members which helps in delegating tasks and receiving real-time progress updates when managing project activities. You can create task lists and even divide a task into smaller, more manageable subtasks with ProofHub. ProofHub’s Forms are another splendid feature that helps streamline work requests and gives users the ultimate control.

Furthermore, with the power of this Gantt chart tool in your hands, you may adjust work schedules in response to changing deadlines, highlight key paths, and track progress without jeopardizing the project.

Some features of ProofHub:

• Kanban boards to see work moving in multiple stages
• Gantt charts to visualize and plan tasks
• Custom task fields to store relevant task information
• In-built chat tool to communicate effectively
• Custom reports to see project progress

5. BIGContacts

BIGContacts is a robust CRM that also offers hellpful task management tools. It lets you streamline business processes by bringing all tasks and associated data to a single platform, eliminating the back and forth between platforms. This improves individual productivity and boosts the overall efficiency of tasks. BIGContacts lets you automate recurring tasks and set up reminders to never miss an important deadline.

All your team members can track their pending tasks using to-do lists and get a comprehensive view of the activity calendar to stay updated with upcoming events. Along with providing a comprehensive view of tasks, BIGContacts also offers intelligent reports, enabling you to monitor the progress and effectiveness of tasks with ease.

Some features of BIGContacts:

• Tasks & to-do lists with prioritization 
• Team and individual calendar view  
• Automated reminders and alerts
• Recurring tasks 
• Easy task assignment & tracking

6. MeisterTask

MeisterTask is a task management software that was designed with agile teams in mind, but it can accommodate teams with many different workflows. This software was made with streamlined features that are meant to be intuitive and user friendly.

In the platform, teams use customizable Kanban-style boards to organize tasks and monitor the progress of a project. One of the most appealing aspects is MeisterTask’s free basic plan, which offers limited usability (for an unlimited number of project members) for no cost.  

Some features of MeisterTask:

• Varying levels of responsibility with distinction between task “assignees” and “watchers”
• Built in Time-Tracking
• Option to add custom fields to tasks
• Multiple checklists within tasks
• Attach files and images to tasks
• Task relationships and tags

Casual’s workflow structure outlined.

Casual is a visual task management software that lets you arrange your tasks however you work best. Casual is great for all types of small or growing project-based teams, not just project managers. What’s different about Casual is that they don’t show tasks in traditional project layout views, instead letting users organize tasks how they actually see them in their mind. If you have never worked with visual project management, Casual even has pre-set templates that can help you get started. 

Some features of Casual:

• Visual workflow creation
• Task dependencies and grouping
• Assigning tasks and setting deadlines
• Repeatable tasks and projects
• Milestone tracking

nTask is a task management software and project management tool that facilitates tracking project development, collaboration across teams, and risk assessment. The application has an intuitive and minimalistic interface, making it effortless to onboard new users. nTask is also easy-to-access being available on multiple platforms. 

Some features of nTask: 

• Task management
• Risk management
• Project management
• Team management
• Gantt charts & Kanban boards

9. SmartTask

SmartTask is an all-in-one task management platform that helps solopreneurs, SMBs, and enterprises organize and manage their work from one location. Stop juggling between multiple apps for project & task management, CRM, time tracking, communication, and collaboration as you will get all of them with SmartTask.

It has typical task management features like recurring tasks, subtasks, due dates, and dependencies and lets you manage tasks with the list, board, calendar, and timeline views. You can handle multiple projects with the portfolio view and allocate resources effectively with the workload view.

Team collaboration features in SmartTask let you group chat, audio call, video conference, and share files with anyone in the organization. SmartTask integrates with Zapier, Slack, Jotform, Mailchimp, and many other applications. It also offers a white labeling feature that allows you to show off your branded workspace.

Some features of SmartTask:

• Manage tasks with the list, board, calendar, and timeline views
• Recurring tasks, subtasks, due dates, reminders, and dependencies
• Track time on tasks automatically and manually
• Trigger video conferences and voice calls from tasks
• Comment on tasks
• Import tasks from emails

10. Tasklog

Tasklog is a task management tool specifically designed for freelancers and is a great task management software for small business. Created with typical freelancing functions in mind, this tool helps freelancers manage their daily tasks in one single digital dashboard.

Users can create to-do-lists, manage projects, and assign tasks to clients. Tasklog also shows overviews and data insights to help users understand where they are most productive, what they have accomplished, and how they are pacing overall. 

Some features of Tasklog:

• Assign tasks to specific time entries
• Time-tracking
• Online invoicing and expenses
• Client task assignment
• Customizable Pomodoro Timer
• Reporting and insights

11. Hubspot Task Management

While HubSpot isn’t a traditional task management tool, its CRM platform has project and task management capabilities. If you’re a marketer or a salesperson and you’re looking for an integrated tool, then you might consider HubSpot CRM because of the free marketing, sales, service and, of course, task management tools that are natively integrated.

Once you want to set a task for a contact, simply choose the company, contact or deal in the HubSpot CRM. Click “Create task” and add your details and notes; set a due date; set an email reminder, task type, and task owner (all optional); and then click “Save Task.”

Once you’re ready to tackle your open tasks, you have the advantage of all of your contact information, meeting notes and deal stage in one place.

12. FunctionFox  

FunctionFox is a task management tool specifically loved by creative professionals at marketing agencies, PR firms, and design teams both large and small. These teams love this software because it was created by an ad agency with very specific needs in mind.

This platform is robust enough to support creative teams with the things they need on a daily basis — including creative project management, time-tracking, and resourcing — without additional features that may clutter their workspace. There are various pricing plans, affordably starting at $5 per month per user.

Some features of FunctionFox: 

• Multiple layouts including Gantt/timeline, task boards, and list views
• Client collaboration
• Reporting and analytics

Chanty is a team collaboration tool used for task management and communication between teams of all sizes. It helps you align all your work-related tasks in one place with multiple integrations.

Chanty allows you to stay up to date, streamline repetitive activities, and increase productivity without leaving the platform. With over 75,000 companies using Chanty, it is a perfect choice for your team to complete tasks on time, stay connected and be your most productive self. 

Some features of Chanty:

• Be organized with a teambook
• Kanban board
• Turn messages into tasks
• Create, assign and set due-dates to tasks
• Audio and video calls
• Voice messages
• Thread discussions

Paymo is a comprehensive tool that is especially useful for teams who want to manage tasks, estimate costs, and bill clients all in the same platform. Once you’ve planned out your project and corresponding tasks, simply convert it into an estimate with pre-filled tasks, hourly budgets, and costs. After you send it to your client for approval, you can quickly turn it into an invoice right in the app.

Paymo also lets you turn timesheet data into an invoice for clients, so you can stay up to date with payments as the project progresses. Oh and if you’re a freelancer, you can use Paymo for free.

Some features of Paymo: 

• Task prioritization levels
• Ability to attach files to any task
• Kanban and Gantt project views
• Invoicing, estimates, and expense management
• Mobile app for both Android and iOS

15. ProProfs Projects

ProProfs Project is an easy-to-use tool that lets you manage and prioritize tasks in a centralized space. Maximize productivity with its quick interface and seamless collaborative capability. You can extract deep insights into project status and identify gaps. You can even view your task status on its interactive Gantt charts and track task progress from start to finish. Meet your deadlines faster with task customization and time tracking.

Some features of ProProfs Project:

• Assign and manage tasks on a centralized dashboard
• Measure task progress effortlessly
• Set task status as open, on-hold, or complete
• Prioritize tasks with simple drag and drop functionality
• Give feedback on each task and subtask
• See team performance with smart reports

16. TimeCamp

If you need a reliable app for daily automatic work tracking , TimeCamp will be a perfect choice. Using this app, you can add as many projects, tasks, and subtasks as you wish to create an easily manageable work structure. What’s more, you’ll get an even more transparent project organization if you add tags.

But what’s TimeCamp is the most known of is automatic time tracking. Whether you use a web timer, a desktop or mobile app, or a browser plugin, the tool logs working hours and (if you want it to!) collects the computer activities, so you don’t have to waste time filling timesheets manually. 

Timecamp features include:

• Automatic time and activity tracking
• Daily and weekly timesheets
• Wide range of built-in and custom reports
• Billable/non-billable hours
• Attendance managemen t
• 30+ direct integrations with tools like Trello, Asana, Jira, Opensearch, Monday & more

Any.do is a simple yet complete task management solution if you are looking for a tool that gives you a quick overview of the tasks on your plate. The software offers an intuitive calendar, helping you to easily see how events and tasks fit together. Any.do allows you to organize tasks and filter your workflow by date or category. The app is available for iOs and Android.

Some features of Any.do:

• Time tracking add-ons
• To-do list reminders
• Daily planner to organize and prioritize to-dos
• Color-coded tasks
• Advanced customized recurring tasks

18. WebWork Tracker

In addition to facilitating task management, WebWork Time Tracker is an awesome time tracking and employee monitoring software suitable for big and small companies. Companies use the tool to increase their profitability, offering the most accurate reports and time tracking. Its features allow users to easily count time spent on every single project, website, or other platforms.

The tool is of significant importance for freelancers and companies that hire remote employees. It is the most straightforward but truthful way to calculate working time and consider work productivity. Time tracking is not the only advantage of the tool — a variety of screenshot monitoring modes allow the software access to an employee’s screen, collecting and presenting valuable data. 

Some features of WebWork Tracker:

• Time Tracking with screenshots
• Attendance Monitoring
• Apps/website usage monitoring
• Activity Level/ Productivity Monitoring
• Task Management

Trello is a project management software that utilizes Kanban boards, lists and cards as its key ingredients to give you a flexible overview of projects and tasks. Trello is an intuitive tool, its no-code automation features help you optimize the time spent on repetitive tasks. 

Additionally, Trello allows you to invite new members to collaborate in your workspace, track tasks, and use color-coded labels for organization. And it integrates with many popular apps like Slack, Google Drive, and Microsoft Teams, so there’s no need to stop using software you already love. Trello has a free version , and its paid plans start at $5 per user/month. 

Some features of Trello:

• See your work from multiple angles: Kanban board, timeline, table, calendar, and more
• Automate repetitive tasks and enhance workflow
• Integrate with over a hundred of your favorite tools
• Dozens of premade templates

20. Airtable

Airtable is a task management tool that lets you keep track of completed tasks in a separate view. The solution’s interactive interface helps you to manage your work routine while collaborating with your team. You can view your projects in different views, such as Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and calendar views. Plus, Airtable has several integrations and templates that offer a to-do list or task management structure ready to use. Airtable has a free plan with limited functionalities and a paid plan starting at $10/month. 

Some features of Airtable: 

• Interface customizable designer
• Different views: Kanban, calendar, Gantt chart and list
• Automations and integrations 
• Sync data across teams and tables
• Comprehensive reports 

Now that we’ve reviewed our top 20 tools, here are some other great options to consider for the best task and project management software.

21. ClickUp

ClickUp is a task management software for small business, task management tool with a highly efficient dashboard view and collaboration features. The platform’s free version offers tools that you only get in the paid plans of several other softwares, such as goals, embedded emails, conditional automation, task checklists, custom task statuses, sprints, and 24/7 support. ClickUp also offers native email, several templates and free integrations.

Some features of ClickUp:  

• Workload view
• Custom roles
• Dynamic Recurring Tasks
• Customizable Board View

To compare with other tools, check out these top Clickup alternatives on the market.

Wrike is a project management application with robust features and flexibility to manage tasks, projects, and team collaboration. With Wrike, you can create and assign tasks, set due dates, and track progress, ensuring everyone stays aligned and productive.

One thing I really like about Wrike is its flexibility in adapting to various project management methodologies , including Agile and Kanban. It allows you to customize workflows, create task dependencies, and set up automation rules to streamline your processes. Wrike also provides real-time collaboration features, such as commenting, file sharing, and task discussions, which is great for keeping communication centralized and transparent.

Some features of Wrike:

• Customizable workflows and task dependencies
• Real-time collaboration and commenting
• Project timeline and Gantt chart views
• Automation rules for process optimization

Asana stands out as a task management tool with its unique balance of flexibility and structure. It has a customizable and easy-to-use interface that lets you create a personalized work view and tailor it to your specific needs. It features a “My Tasks” list, which auto-promotes tasks based on due dates, helping you prioritize and focus on what needs to be done now, and the sections and columns layout support Kanban, list, or matrix-style workflows.

There’s search and filtering functions, allowing you to locate any task, comment, or file, and reduce time spent navigating through projects. Asana also has a “Focus Mode” that encourages deep work by minimizing distractions, enabling you to work faster and more efficiently.

Some features of Asana:

• Project timelines and calendars
• Pre-built templates
• Task dependencies
• Automation rules
• Integrations with over 100 other apps
• Workload view to monitor and manage the workload of team members

24. Monday.com

Monday.com is a good task management software designed for workflow organization and project planning. Its visual dashboards make it easy to comprehend your projects’ statuses and progress at a glance, and it allows you to use customizable templates that match your workflow. It also offers automations that take care of routine tasks, letting you focus on strategic matters. 

Monday.com also offers extensive integrations with popular tools such as Slack, Google Drive, and Mailchimp.

Monday.com features:

• Customizable templates
• Visual dashboards
• Automate repetitive tasks
• Extensive integrations with many popular third-party apps and tools
• Timeline and Gantt views
• Collaborative workspaces and team communication within the platform

Check out some alternatives to Monday.com and compare them to find the best task management platform for your company.

Quire is a task management tool with robust features and a free plan. Nest your list of tasks or view your project in Kanban board view, with the flexibility of Quire you can also add folders, sections and permission control to your projects and tasks. Quire is available for iOs and Android mobile apps and offers integration to third-party applications, such as Google Drive, Slack, and Zapier. Customization is another plus of Quire, you can personalize your workspace, change the theme, add widgets, and create custom templates even on its free plan. 

Quire’s features: 

• Kanban board, Gantt chart
• Document management
• Communication tools
• Discussion boards

Do you have another task management software that would be a great addition to this list? Let us know how you manage your personal and professional tasks in the comments below. And check back for updates as we explore more tools and options.

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