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NetSuite OpenAir offers buyers a collection of applications designed to support every stage of the professional services delivery lifecycle. Offered as Software-as-a-Service, the platform includes applications to manage projects, resources, expenses, and t...Read more about NetSuite OpenAir
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Smartsheet is a work execution platform and collaboration tool with a familiar spreadsheet-like interface that helps teams plan, track, and manage projects in real-time. Smartsheet features include a range of project management tools, such as document and ...Read more about Smartsheet
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Kintone is a cloud-based, customizable workflow management platform suitable for businesses of all sizes. The key features of the solution include compliance management, approval process control, forms management, event monitoring and application-library a...Read more about kintone
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BigTime helps professional services firms reduce operational costs, easily align talent to the right projects, and accelerate time to get paid for completed work, all while enabling quicker decision-making by getting you the information you need. By stre...Read more about BigTime
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BQE’s powerful all-in-one platform and expert support give Architecture, Consulting, and Engineering firms the intuitive tools they need to meet the demands of their firm, empower their team, maximize profitability, and deliver superior results to clients....Read more about BQE CORE Suite
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With 20+ years of real-world use, Workzone is a Project Management Software built for teams of 5+ users who manage large volumes of projects: Marketing, Creative, Operations, PMO, IT, and Back-office. Gain complete visibility with a portfolio-to-task lev...Read more about Workzone
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Deltek Ajera is an integrated accounting and project management solution built for architecture and engineering (A/E) firms. It is suitable for small to mid-size firms seeking an industry-tailored solution to improve project level profitability, staff util...Read more about Deltek Ajera
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The 100% free time tracking software, used by thousands around the world including Tesla, Pizza Hut, Hyundai, the UK'S National Health Service, and Skanska. It's free for unlimited users. Instant facial recognition and GPS allow for accurate attendance. ...Read more about Jibble
Clockify is a cloud-based time tracking solution designed to help businesses monitor employee productivity, attendance and billable hours. Key features include time audit, reminders, data export, customizable reporting and permissions management. The appl...Read more about Clockify
GitHub is a project management and code sharing platform that allows users to share their codes with others and create/iterate using collective intelligence. The software can be used for different kinds of coding assignments including personal, open-source...Read more about GitHub
SuiteDash is the ultimate All-in-One Business Software multi-tool tailored for small to medium-sized businesses, designed to streamline and enhance your operations. Seamlessly integrating CRM, project management, invoicing, file sharing, and client portals...Read more about SuiteDash
My Hours is a cloud-based time tracking solution that enables organizations to monitor employees working hours. The solution tracks time manages billing and assists in the scheduling of tasks. It features client reporting, supervision of tasks perform...Read more about My Hours
GanttPRO is a cloud-based project management solution for small to midsize companies, as well as individual users. The software offers Gantt charts, scheduling, progress tracking and more. GanttPRO enables managers to schedule projects using a visual ...Read more about GanttPRO
Notion is a digital workspace that lets small to large businesses streamline and manage notes, tasks, projects, records, calendar and more. Key features include portfolio tracker, designer templates, database management, documentation and data export. Dep...Read more about Notion
Flowlu is a cloud-based, all-in-one business management solution designed for teams of all sizes and industries. Whether you're managing projects, tracking sales, or handling finances, Flowlu brings everything together in a single, intuitive platform. Pow...Read more about Flowlu
Miro is a visual workspace for innovation that enables distributed teams of any size to dream, design, and build the future together. Miro enables distributed teams to come together to synthesize information, clarify complex ideas, and make decisions fast...Read more about Miro
Project.co is a cloud-based solution that helps small to large enterprises manage multiple elements of projects including payments, tasks, time, people, files and more. It lets users request clients to process payments electronically via credit cards and g...Read more about Project.co
Dotloop is a cloud-based real estate transaction management software designed for brokers, teams, agents and service providers. Primary features include transaction management, workflow tools, audit trails, digital signatures, document management, task tem...Read more about dotloop
Glasscubes offers cloud-based collaboration solution for businesses. It provides for file sharing, collaboration and document management, making it accessible from devices with an internet connection. Glasscubes’ file sharing module lets users store t...Read more about Glasscubes
Resource Guru is the blissfully simple resource management software that helps busy teams keep projects on track. Get a crystal clear view of team availability and time off and find the perfect person for every job. Create schedules at speed, keep workloa...Read more about Resource Guru
Financial Cents is an easy to use practice management solution built for accountant and bookkeepers. Track client work, communicate with your team, store client information, and track your client’s financial performance all in one place. Financial Cen...Read more about Financial Cents
Aha! Suite is a comprehensive suite of tools designed to assist in every stage of the product development lifecycle. It aims to facilitate the creation of valuable software by enabling teams to strategize, plan, build, and deliver products efficiently. Cov...Read more about Aha!
Airtable is an app-building platform that allows teams to create custom business applications without coding. The platform caters to a range of industries, from marketing to finance. It enables users to connect data from various apps, workflows, and tools ...Read more about Airtable
Agiled is an all in one business management platform. It comes with built-in CRM, HRM, Financial Management, Project Management and Time Tracking. Users can manage all of their business in one place and provide a client portal access to their customers. A...Read more about Agiled
Quire stands as the pinnacle of modern project management software, introducing a transformative approach to your workflow. It empowers you to seamlessly break down ambitious goals into manageable, actionable steps, ensuring you embark on your journey from...Read more about Quire
Software Advice uses reviews from real software users to highlight the top-rated Small Business Project Management products in North America.
Learn how products are chosen“Usability” includes user ratings for Functionality and Ease of Use.
“Customer Satisfaction” includes user ratings for Customer Support, Likelihood to Recommend and Value for Money.
Reviews analysis period: The reviews analysis period spans two years and ends the 15th of the month prior to publication.
This detailed guide will help you find and buy the right small business project management software for you and your business.
Last Updated on January 27, 2025Small businesses that replace inefficient manual systems with project management software reduce operating costs. Besides lowering costs, these tools help businesses improve employee productivity, resulting in better products and higher revenue.
That said, project management (PM) tools for small businesses differ in functionality, pricing and deployment. For instance, certain PM offerings are better for managing IT projects, while some solutions are more suitable for small marketing teams.
In this Buyer's Guide, we look at the core features, uses and benefits of small business PM software. Read on to learn what you should look for when deciding on the best PM tools for your business.
Here's what we'll cover:
What Is Small Business Project Management Software?
Common Features of Small Business Project Management Software
Project management tools offer functionality that help small businesses plan and track projects on visual dashboards. These tools also serve as a repository of project related information and offer insights on employee performance and ROI of projects.
Small businesses that consult Software Advice for project management software have a low number of software users (less than 50), and are looking for an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution.
As a result, small businesses often choose cloud-based solutions that are available online, require no upkeep and offer intuitive interfaces with features such as drag-and-drop kanban dashboards.
Drag-and-drop in a Trello board
At small businesses, choosing a PM tool is a decision made by a handful of people at most. While this can simplify the decision-making process, it can be challenging to understand what functionality a particular small business needs. Once you identify the features most important to your company, you can identify the best candidates.
Task management | Build to-do-lists, add due dates to tasks and set-up automated reminders |
Collaboration | Communicate with colleagues and stakeholders using task comments, activity streams and built-in chat boards |
Document management | Store and share files, documents, videos etc, with project members on a centralized platform |
Workflow visualization | View and track project progress as a series of task-lists or cards on Kanban/Scrum boards |
User management | Control the access of users to a project, functionality or file by setting-up permissions |
Reporting | View project progress reports as charts and graphs or as an email digest |
Time tracking | Monitor the time employees spend on a single task or the whole project |
Research and advisory firm Gartner defines small businesses having under 100 employees and with less than $50 million in annual revenue. However, even within this broad category, the right PM tool for each small business differs based on factors such as actual number of software users, primary business challenges and so on.
Here are the three common types of small business PM software buyers:
Individual buyers: Individuals can manage projects by using low-cost or even free solutions. Common capabilities include basic task management with the ability to set due dates and reminders. Some software options offer additional functionality such as file sharing for attaching documents to tasks.
Best-of-breed buyers: These buyers are looking for software that solves specific challenges. For instance, one small business may be looking for a tool that helps improve team communication between project members working out of different locations. In this case, collaboration tools can be a good choice. On the other hand, small IT teams might be interested in bug tracking software, which is a specialized tool for tracking the time taken to resolve bugs in software.
Full-suite buyers: Some small businesses need all of the common PM features, with support for multiple users and additional functionality such as attaching documents to tasks. Full-suite small business PM tools are different from enterprise-grade tools called project portfolio management software, which offer sophisticated functionality such as analytics and resource planning.
As a small business, you want to invest in software that is low-cost, yet offers the relevant features you need. Likewise, you don't want a tool that employees need extensive training to use.
Here's are some of the top considerations small business buyers have when selecting project management software:
Deployment and availability: The first question when selecting software is whether to opt for an on-premise or cloud-based solution. For small businesses the latter option, also known as online project management software, is preferable as there are no upfront costs. If users are going to be accessing PM tools from Windows, Mac and mobile devices, you'll want an OS-agnostic solution.
Free vs. open source vs. low-cost: Many small business PM tools offer a free version with limited features. These are suitable for individuals, but not for businesses that need to track multiple simultaneous projects and users, and want full control over their project data. These businesses may be deciding between open source and low-cost tools. While open source PM tools are free to use, they can result in long-term costs since these systems have to be maintained on-site by a team member who has a lot of technical knowledge.
Integration: Last but not the least, small businesses should ensure that the PM tool offers basic integration with third-party tools that they use regularly. An increasingly important one is email integration, which allows project members to directly turn email into tasks. Similarly, integration with file sharing tools such as Box or Dropbox helps project members to easily attach notes and files to tasks.
From our research and conversations with small business project management buyers, we've identified these three emerging trends:
Agile project management: There has been a rise in specialized PM tools that help small businesses execute agile frameworks such as Scrum and Kanban. The reason behind this is the increasing popularity of agile PM, an approach that began with software companies but is becoming increasingly popular in businesses of all types.
Workplace collaboration: Social networking tools have changed how people communicate online. As a result, email has taken a back seat to collaborative tools that offer functionality such as comment threads for tasks, social chat groups, hashtags and ratings. Nearly all small business PM tools offer some level of collaboration, but some focus more closely on social media-like functionality.
Chatbots: An emerging trend in PM technology is the use of chatbots, which automate many different kinds of tasks. These can include project scheduling, booking online meetings, project status reporting and many more. The technology is relevant to small businesses as it's relatively cheap and easy to deploy.