8 Popular Project Management Tools and What They're Useful For

Key takeaways

No matter which project management methodology you work with, there are tools to make that work more efficient.

• Project management tools—software apps or platforms—are often designed to help teams stay organized.

• These tools are designed to help teams efficiently track, assign, and schedule various aspects of a project.

• Platforms like Airtable, Trello, and Asana are examples of some of the more popular project management tools available.

Learn more about the different project management tools to consider for your team's needs, reasons why project management tools are important, and how to pick the best one. Afterward, build your knowledge of foundational approaches to project management with the Google Project Management Professional Certificate.

What are project management tools useful for?

There are many different reasons why project managers use project management tools to help their teams have a visual home base. These include:

• Task management: Set priorities and deadlines, organize tasks in visually helpful ways, schedule, and assign tasks.

• Scheduling: Create and manage project timelines, using either Gantt charts to visualize schedules or calendar views for deadlines and milestones.

• Collaboration: Stay in touch with team members via chat or comments, share files and manage documents, and receive real-time updates.

• Resource management: Allocate and track team members' time and efforts, as well as manage equipment and material resources.

• Time tracking: Log time spent on tasks to ensure efficiency.

• Budgeting: Track project expenses, management budgets, and generate financial reports.

• Reporting and analytics: Create custom reports and dashboards for project overviews, and take advantage of data visualization tools.

• Risk management: Identify and track potential risks, plan risk mitigation strategies.

• Integration capabilities: Connect with other business tools, such as CRM or accounting tools.

8 popular project management tools

Project management tools are different kinds of software applications designed to help project managers and their teams maintain an organized workflow. These tools assist in various aspects of project management, from task allocation to resource management and reporting.

Let's review seven of the more popular platforms:

1. Airtable

Best for: Teams that want to customize their management process

Airtable does offer the resources to create a workflow, but it's ideal for those who want to code their own process. It's a highly customizable platform that benefits larger enterprises that need to track not only a project but also resources, budgets, and staff. 

Features include:

• Ability to import projects from other software

• Gain multiple project views for easier project data management 

• Ready-made processes for things like a product launch or collecting feedback

2. Trello 

Best for: Simple projects, small teams

Trello, a Kanban board-style system, is ideal for basic needs. You'll create a workflow and move projects through it. The stages of the project are on Boards, while the projects are listed on Cards. Two boards might say "Writing in progress," and the next might say "Ready for editing." You'll move the Card through each Board until it's complete. 

Features include: 

• Checklists

• Calendars

• Basic automation, like calendar reminders or items crossed off a checklist 

• Color-coded cards

3. Asana

Best for: Enterprise teams with complex needs

Asana offers features and functionality beyond the basics and meets the needs of larger teams that manage dozens or hundreds of projects at a time. Using shared workspaces, managers can set up a workflow, assign roles, and access a project calendar. 

Features include:

• A variety of ways to view work, like on a list, a calendar, and a bulletin board

• Ability to set goals and due dates

• Integration with apps like Microsoft Teams, Google, Slack, and Adobe Creative Cloud

4. Smartsheet 

Best for: Teams that rely on spreadsheets

If you organize projects by spreadsheets and are happy with the process but want more features and functionality than Excel or Sheets can provide, Smartsheet could be a good fit. Each column often represents a step in the workflow, and each row is a specific project that the project manager can assign to a team member. 

Features include:

• A messaging tool that makes communication easy

• Easy-to-send forms to gather feedback on a project

• Digital asset management

• Basic automation, like reminders and approval notices

5. Copilot

Best for: Teams that want to employ AI to accelerate productivity

Generative AI (GenAI) is a technology that can streamline minor tasks so your team can focus on bigger endeavors. Microsoft Copilot is a productivity tool that works with Microsoft 365 apps to increase productivity, creativity, and more.

Features include:

• Generative AI

• Workflow automation

• Project management

6. Jira

Best for: Software development teams and Agile project management

If you're managing software development projects or using agile methodologies, Jira is an excellent choice. It's designed to support the entire software development lifecycle, from planning and tracking to releasing and reporting. Jira's flexible boards allow teams to visualize their work and move tasks through different stages of completion.

Features include:

• Customizable workflows to match your team's processes

• Scrum and Kanban boards for agile project management

• Robust issue tracking and bug management

• Extensive reporting and analytics tools

• Integration with a wide range of development tools

7. Monday.com

Best for: Teams seeking a highly visual and customizable project management solution

If you want a versatile platform that can be adapted to various project types and team structures, Monday.com can be a strong option. Its colorful, intuitive interface allows for easy visualization of project progress, and its flexibility means it can be customized for marketing campaigns, product launches, HR processes, and more.

Features include:

• Customizable boards and views (Kanban, timeline, calendar, etc.)

• Workflow automations to reduce manual work

• Time tracking and workload management

• Integrations with popular tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom

• Collaborative features like @mentions and file sharing

8. Linear

Best for: Software development teams seeking a fast, streamlined project management experience

If you're looking for a project management tool specifically designed with developers in mind, Linear delivers exceptional performance and user experience. Built for speed and simplicity, Linear focuses on issue tracking, project planning, and team coordination without the bloat often found in traditional project management platforms. Its clean, keyboard-friendly interface and Git-like workflow make it particularly appealing to engineering teams who value efficiency and minimal friction in their daily workflows.

Features include:

• Issue tracking with intelligent auto-completion

• Roadmap planning with timeline views and milestone tracking

• GitHub, GitLab, and Slack integrations

• Advanced filtering and search capabilities

• Team cycles and sprint planning tools

• Real-time collaboration and notification system

There are also numerous AI project management tools, which identify patterns from past projects and offer data-driven suggestions based on those patterns. These either add AI functionality to some of the tools already discussed, or are completely new apps designed to reduce project risk, accelerate timelines, and help teams operate more efficiently.

How to choose the right project management software for your needs

The key to choosing the best project management software for your needs is matching your specific workflow requirements with the right feature set. Here's a strategic approach to making the best choice for your team:

Assess your team structure and workflow:

• Team size: Small teams often prefer simple, intuitive tools, while larger organizations need robust permission controls and advanced reporting.

• Industry: Creative teams benefit from visual boards and proofing features, while software teams need issue tracking and development integrations.

• Project complexity: Simple task management vs. multi-phase projects requiring dependencies, resource allocation, and timeline management.

Evaluate core capabilities:

• Organization: Reflect on what your team needs to stay organized, such as Kanban boards or Gantt charts.

• Collaboration: Understand what collaboration features, such as real-time editing or file sharing would be most useful.

• Reporting: Consider the different reporting needs your team requires, and what tool will best address them.

Consider implementation factors:

• Learning: Speak with sales reps about tool onboarding.

• Pricing structure: Review per-user costs, feature limitations, and long-term budget impact.

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