Tag: Review

Many project management techniques were once reserved for large projects with lots of resources. However, many of those techniques can now be easily and painlessly accessed by anyone, using one of a range of cloud-based project management tools. Asana is one of the more popular options, with a reputation for being easy to use.

Being easy to use is great, but does it also offer all the important features you need to organize your project, at an affordable price? Check out our Asana review to find out if it’s a good match for your needs.

5 Things That Make Asana Stand Out From the Crowd

• Intuitive and easy to use.
• Combines ease of use with high-powered tools for organizing projects.
• Attractive, easy to assemble status updates, charts, and other reporting options.
• Easily track the progress of several different projects.
• Create or edit tasks from nearly any project view.

Where Asana Falls Short

• More expensive than some other options.
• You may need to pay for more expensive tiers of service for timely support.

Pricing

Asana may not exactly qualify as cheap project management software, but it provides value for money if you need a versatile project management tool. There is a free version that is great for organizing an individual or basic project. You’ll need to upgrade to one of the pay plans for many important features, like task start and end dates, or business quality reporting and analytics. Options include:

• Asana Basic: $0, up to 15 users.
• Asan Premium: $13.49/user each month.
• Asana Business: $30.49/user each month.
• Asana Enterprise: Requires inquiry.

The prices are higher than some competitors, such as ClickUp, but you can get a discount if you choose to pay annually. It’s also more complex than some options, such as Basecamp, which offers unlimited users and unlimited teams for a flat rate. However, each of the pay tiers offers a 30-day free trial, giving you a risk-free way to find out if it’s worth the cost.

Team Management

Keeping team communication simple is important, but the primary task of a team manager is often time management. The task scheduler Asana provides is intuitive and flexible, allowing you to assign team members, split off sub-tasks, or add everyone to create a team task. Doing so allows you to track progress, monitor deadlines, and use all of Asana’s other features easily.

The resource management features Asana offers come in a task management tool within the Portfolios feature. The Workload tab provides a way to monitor your team’s time commitments. You can also add the amount of effort a task requires by adding more weight to difficult tasks. Workload also provides access to the task assignments, so you can edit assignments without changing views.

Project Delivery Management

A project can be anything from planning strategic initiatives and company objectives to planning your next sprint. One reason Asana’s project management features are so appealing is how painless it is to switch between multiple projects. There are also many ways to switch between viewing a task and project, whatever tab you happen to be on. 

When creating projects, it’s also easy to ‘zoom out’ instead, seeing each project progress percentage at a glance. Each project can also be examined in multiple project views, using bar charts, timelines, and burnup charts. Dependencies can be mapped out in the project Timeline, where milestones can also be used for major completion dates.

Asana lacks a time tracking function, though it has partnered with Harvest and integrates with several other options.

A survey by the Project Management Institute (PMI) shows more than $122 million is wasted per $1 billion invested by companies because of low or bad project performance.

Risk/Issue Management

Asana provides a tool that allows you to label a project:

• On track.
• At risk.
• Off track.

The tool is available to only the project managers, who can select who it’s shared with as part of a regular status update. 

Otherwise, there isn’t a single tracking tool specifically for issue tracking, though there are tools that can work. The Timeline includes a customizable board, for example, into which troublesome tasks can be separated. The same tool can be set up with a range of automations and notifications. Of course, for a complex project, risk management may be split off into a project of its own.

Reporting

The center of each project is the project Timeline, where project managers can see daily tasks in the calendar view, view important messages, and monitor progress. It also provides the tool interface for most reporting features. The Overview provides just that, a quick look at team members, milestones, and objectives. The Overview also offers a simple way to create attractive project updates for even complex projects.

The customizable Dashboard has many reporting options for everyday needs, including burnup charts and other graphic ways of tracking tasks. The Timeline can provide Gantt charts for projects when dependencies are added to tasks. Finally, the Board tab can easily serve as a Kanban board, for Agile reporting.

Finance Management

Though project budgeting is a key aspect of project management, most software leaves that aspect to integrated apps focused on budgeting, invoicing, and so forth. That is an option, with Asana making it easy on a project manager in several ways. For example, integrating with a time tracking app allows for fairly straightforward timesheets, budgeting, payroll, and invoicing.

Asana integrates with another app, Power Bi, for more powerful finance management. It allows the creation of charts to track projected vs actual expenses. Power Bi also allows budget forecasting up to project completion. 

Asana has some native tools, such as setting a custom fiscal year for the project.

Collaboration and Communication

Like any other cloud-based project management tool, Asana puts a lot of effort into making communication easy. It’s straightforward to work with multiple users, including client-project access, as you’re able to grant different levels of permission. Status updates can be shared with the entire team, or just specific stakeholders. 

Project collaboration is also easily fostered. Comments can be added at any level, to tasks and also to uploaded files such as a client contract or email campaign. File storage is easy to manage, as a single tab lists all the files uploaded anywhere within that project. Additionally, client-project access can be customized to the project’s needs.

While it is an excellent collaboration tool, it doesn’t have all the features some alternatives offer, such as real-time chat. 

Integration With Other Apps

Asana offers a lot of options for task management and monitoring, with nearly every tool revolving around assigning, reporting, or communicating about a task. As we’ve already noted, some important project management tools aren’t native to Asana and will require integrating with an outside app. We’ve mentioned two already, Harvest for time tracking and Power Bi for analytics, but there are many more.

Slack, Microsoft products, and Google products all are easy to integrate. There are many other options as well, with companies providing integrations to join Asana’s partner program.

Artificial Intelligence

Automation of each repetitive daily task allows a project manager to focus on more important things, namely keeping their project organized. Asana offers a number of different ways to set up automatically recurring tasks or send free mail notifications to team members. 

Notifications can be sent out when managers assign tasks, tasks are completed, or deadlines missed. You can also set up reminders for your daily social media project posts or other daily tasks.

Other types of automation are aimed at helping you stay organized. For example, the Kanban-style Board will move tasks from section to section automatically, with user-defined rules. 

Automation also assists with reporting, allowing the easy creation and sharing of status reports.

Usability

Everyone’s experience will vary. Overall, most customer reviews share that the service offers a simple project management software that still provides vast capabilities for project planning. The user interface may take a little exploring to figure out, but there is plenty of guidance, including courses providing advice for specific use cases. 

Otherwise, it’s possible to assign tasks within moments of signing up. Project templates on offer provide an easy way to organize tasks. It’s also possible to define your own templates, to keep projects consistent across your organization. 

The ease of being able to manage tasks from any screen aids in making changes on the fly, allowing a user to track a specific task across Calendar, Board, or Timeline views. And, with their mobile app, you’re never more than a ping away from your team.

Support

Asana is fairly intuitive to use and is supported by a medium-sized library of support documents and tutorials, so any given team member should be able to dive in without a problem. However, when there is a hiccup, it might significantly impact a team’s productivity. When that’s the case, you’ll need to put in a support request and wait for a response.

If you opt for Asana Business or Enterprise, your request will jump to the front of the line, so it gets seen by Asana’s support team more quickly. 

Privacy

Security and privacy are some of Asana’s company objectives, described in detail on their website. They make several guarantees, including that they will only share information with third parties you elect to work with. You can also remove or delete information at will. Perhaps most impressively, Asana also allows you to choose where in the world your data is stored, though only if you’re an enterprise customer.

Methodology Suitability

With Asana, you can manage projects organized using either waterfall or Agile methodologies. The flexibility of the system, centered around task assignment, means that it can be built into more complicated projects. However, there are some features that might be better suited to an Agile approach.

In particular, the Board tab of the Timeline seems ready-made to be a Kanban board, tracking the progress of various tasks in a publicly visible way. The Dashboard/update system might work well into a Scrum workflow, detailing the most recent sprint.

On the other hand, the Calendar tab allows dependencies to be mapped out, turning it into a Gantt chart. There are many ways Asana could be used to bring traditional methods into a modern project.

Asana Alternatives

The task-and-project model is one that is commonly used with cloud-based project management software. As a result, there are several similar options out there, with a different project management tool potentially better fitting your needs. Some other project management tools include:

• Easy Project.
• Wrike.
• monday.com.
• Hive.
• Basecamp.

Most other options will also have a mobile app and several other standard offerings. However, other services may not offer all the tools Asana does. For example, Basecamp also uses a task-and-project approach. However, it uses a simpler payment structure, giving up some of the more powerful reporting and analytical tools in exchange. Find out more in our Basecamp review.

Final Thoughts on Asana Review

Asana has struck a difficult-to-find balance, managing to both offer almost all the tools needed for a modern, sophisticated project while also being relatively easy to use. As we’ve seen throughout our Asana review, the result is a powerful tool for keeping your team and organization on task.

However, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Access to those powerful tools comes with a higher price tag than some PM software alternatives.

Managing a business or project is no small task. It’s more like one human being against a never-ending mountain of work. Fortunately, there are tools out there that can cut out a lot of the mundane tasks while making the rest that much easier. 

We want to look in more detail at some of the best project management tools out there, so we put together this ClickUp review to see what it brings to the table.

Our Verdict

ClickUp at a Glance

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ClickUp is a versatile project management tool that can satisfy almost any project type and methodology. Use it for agile project management or the waterfall model. You can also change views to see a list, a Kanban-like style board, or a calendar view. ClickUp offers features to make it easy to collaborate in real time with your team, too. 

There’s a free version for budget-conscious small businesses, but it’s a relatively affordable project management software option if you’re considering upgrading. ClickUp works best for remote teams that need to work on projects together. However, it’s suitable for almost any size business, thanks to the tiers of paid plans and the multiple apps and integrations ClickUp offers.

• 15 unique views for sorting out tasks, teams, and data
• Fully customizable user interface
• Built-in chat for public and private conversations

• No video conferencing tools
• The large number of features can be overwhelming for some

Pricing

ClickUp has several pricing options, so you can invest in whatever level makes the most sense for your team.

Free Version

ClickUp offers a free plan that allows users to make use of the project management tool, but only so many features are made available.

Although there’s room for unlimited users, the free plan is best suited for solo users or small startups. Even solo users would make short work of the 100 megabytes of storage to work with. It’s possible to create unlimited projects, but there’s limited access to views and other ClickUp features.

Paid Versions

Should you opt to upgrade from the free version to a paid plan, ClickUp offers a 100% money-back guarantee during the first 30 days of use. If you’re not satisfied with ClickUp’s features, just shoot them an email for a full refund.

The project management system has four paid versions beyond its free plan with increasing levels of functionality. It is not cheap project management software, with ClickUp pricing varying whether you pay monthly or annually. An annual subscription is going to provide the most value for money.

Paid Plans at a Glance

• Unlimited Plan: $5 per person per month if paid annually, $9 if paid monthly
• Business Plan: $9 per person per month if paid annually, $19 if paid monthly
• Business Plus Plan: $19 per person per month if paid annually, $29 if paid monthly
• Enterprise Plan: Contact Clickup’s sales team for pricing

The Unlimited Plan adds in unlimited storage, users, and the views missing from the free plan. You can level up to the Business Plan, making it even easier to manage projects with advanced features and some customization options. The Business Plus Plan adds priority support, personalized testing, and even more customization to the software.

Finally, the Enterprise Plan has all the features ClickUp can throw your way. Enterprise customers have access to API tools and a dedicated account manager alongside white labeling and managed services. If your business needs this all-in-one solution, contact ClickUp’s sales team for more information.

Team Management

ClickUp features an Activity View that lets you see all the actions taking place in any List, Folder, Space, or your entire Workspace. You can also view team member profiles to see what they’ve been up to.

The Timeline View looks similar to Gantt charts but is sorted by users instead of projects. At a glance, you can see what specific team members are working on with projected task completion dates.

For resource allocation, the Workload View and Box View allow you to see multiple team members at a glance and what each is working on. It shows a day-by-day visualization of each user’s workload and how it compares to their capacity. From there, it’s simple to reallocate tasks to less burdened users through dragging and dropping.

Project Delivery Management

ClickUp is project management software with time tracking built-in, even at the free level. You can track time across single or multiple projects and also view timesheets for each user. Once enabled, time tracking allows users to log hours spent on tasks with the click of a button. You can use ClickUp’s time reporting to filter and view data any way you want to.

It’s possible to build your project timeline by providing estimates for the amount of time a project should take. You can compare this information against actual user progress to ensure goals are met. 

Furthermore, you or your team can create subtasks to define more detailed criteria for parent tasks. You can also assign comments to a task that behave like simple subtasks for the sake of accountability. Each subtask or comment can have its own assigned user and due date.

Milestones

ClickUp features milestones to display important events or deadlines. These visual tools are flagged in bold and with a diamond shape, making them stand out among multiple tasks. Changing a task to a milestone does not remove the ClickUp user or duration already assigned to it.

You can see milestones in several ways, including Gantt view, Board view, and even on your dashboard.

Sprints

ClickUp helps your team race to the finish line on old or new projects through the use of sprints.

Sprints are easy to create from the dashboard, where you can break projects into bite-size pieces. You can assign tasks to users alongside deadlines for each. You can prioritize tasks through ClickUp’s unique points system.

There’s a specific list dedicated to sprints that’s easy to navigate and provides to-the-minute updates on the status of each goal. You can also set up the task management software to automatically roll over unfinished work to your next sprint.

Sprint Features

Each sprint provides burnup and burndown charts to see how your team members are pacing against your target. You can create either chart with a few clicks, and they will be accessible from your sprint on the dashboard.

Velocity charts in ClickUp show the amount of work your team has accomplished on sprints in a given week. You can compare this information against the amount of work ClickUp estimates should have been done for the week.

The information appears in bar graph format, and you can choose to view the velocity of your team over one, two, three, six, and 12-month intervals.

Dependencies

Another of ClickUp’s best project management tools is dependencies. Dependencies indicate tasks that are either blocking or being blocked by another task to clarify which ones need to be completed first. ClickUp will automatically change the start and end dates of a blocked task if the task it depends on gets adjusted. 

Within Gantt View, you can draw lines between tasks to automatically link them as dependent. A drop-down in either List or Board view is another way to add dependencies between two items. These changes appear simultaneously across all boards.

Risk/Issue Management

Risk management in ClickUp is best handled by using Gantt charting and the Timeline View, which help you see if tasks are on track or falling behind. Due dates in the List View will show in red if an assignment is overdue. Similarly, you can check who on your team is overburdened in Workflow.

Reporting

ClickUp is a very visual project management software with several viewing options available. While the Free and Unlimited plans are somewhat limited, ClickUp contains over a dozen ways to peruse data, including Gantt charts, List View, Calendar View, and Mind Maps.

A banner at the top of the screen lists your favorite views, and a click allows you to move between them. ClickUp can even sync with your Google calendar. ClickUp’s dashboard is full of rich customization options, making it a breeze to build a great user interface in no time flat.

ClickUp has recently done away with its reporting page in favor of becoming even more simple project management software. You can now do all your reporting directly from your dashboard.

At a glance, you can see time estimates that will help you deliver projects on time alongside what your established and new users have been working on. ClickUp can tell you who’s ahead on task work and who is falling behind.

KPIs

Goals are ClickUp’s way of creating trackable KPI metrics. The project management software has a long list of metrics you can track, and these metrics are just one of the things you can watch on your dashboard. You can use this data to generate operational, analytical, or strategic reports to share with your team.

Finance Management

There’s no need to stop at task management. ClickUp has an array of tools you can use to keep tabs on finances as well.

You can track sales records, invoices, income, and even estimate revenue from within. By adding in expenses, the software can perform mind-numbing calculations with a click to see where money is going and to help allocate a budget.

ClickUp also has checklist templates for payments due, so you never miss a single one. It will automatically create future checklists based on those payments so you don’t have to.

Collaboration and Communication

One of ClickUp’s key features is Docs, allowing users to create and share documents. You can leave files as public access or choose who can view them through shareable links or permissions.

Real-time collaboration allows your team to edit documents together in Docs. Documents can be linked to workflows where you can assign tasks a deadline. 

Another of ClickUp’s collaboration tools is the chat feature. In addition to chatting in real-time, you can mention team members, create reminders, or embed files for others to look at. Once you create a chat, you can assign whichever users you want to participate and leave unnecessary members out.

Whiteboards are in beta testing and are currently available to all ClickUp plans. The digital space is malleable and easy for teams to develop ideas in real-time. You can save whiteboards for review somewhere down the line.

Roles

It’s possible to assign each user one of four roles within a workspace: Member, Admin, Owner, or Guest. Roles are easy to assign from a drop-down when a user joins the team. Note that Enterprise users can create custom roles for their teams.

Accessibility

ClickUp advertises “one app to rule them all”. They have an app for just about any device, including iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Linux. Functionality is standard across all devices and works well no matter where you go. If an app isn’t your thing, you can run ClickUp straight from a browser.

Integration With Other Apps

ClickUp allows external integrations with over 1,000 other software tools. Some of the most notable apps include:

• Slack: Create ClickUp tasks right in Slack and add Slack notifications to channels of your choice.
• Github/Gitlab: Create branches, pull requests, and perform bug tracking directly in ClickUp.
• Google Drive/OneDrive/Dropbox: Quickly attach external files to tasks in ClickUp.
• Google Calendar: Organize calendars and create events from ClickUp’s Calendar View.
• Zoom: Host meetings from within ClickUp tasks using Zoom.
• Toggl/Harvest/Everhour: Advanced time tracking tools that assimilate with ClickUp tasks.

Artificial Intelligence

You can use a set number of monthly automation based on your ClickUp subscription plan, from 100 to 25,000. These automations remove the monotony of adding in recurring tasks that you’re bound to lose track of over time.

What’s more, you can program triggers to perform an action when a task is complete. With a simple interface, you won’t need software advice to set up your automation conditions.

Usability

To decipher how usable this project management software is, we turned to sites like G2 and Trustradius to look at feedback from thousands of ClickUp reviews.

After poring over ClickUp reviews, the majority of subscribers state that ClickUp’s learning curve is relatively gentle, but can be steep at times. The general consensus is that it’s easy to get started, but the large number of features is overwhelming for some.

To help hit the ground running, ClickUp offers a platform demo and video tutorials. You can use a ClickUp specialist to help with onboarding, or the site has a FAQ and several documents explaining each feature.

Support

ClickUp has 24/7 customer support with even its most basic plan. Business Plus and Enterprise plans receive an enhanced level of support to get issues resolved even more quickly.

All ClickUp’s paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not satisfied within the first month, email ClickUp for a complete refund.

Privacy

ClickUp states in its privacy policy that it doesn’t disclose any information to third parties. The task management software uses Amazon Web Services for data security and encryption alongside two-factor authorization to ensure only the right people log in.

Methodology Suitability

There are a few popular approaches to project management, and ClickUp makes use of them all. Whether your method of choice is Scrum, Waterfall, or Agile, you’ll be good to go here. The software lets you customize your dashboards however you choose and has built-in templates to maximize your effectiveness with a preferred method.

ClickUp Alternatives

ClickUp uses a proven method to streamline projects through tasks, collaboration, and views. The platform does a great job of this, but it may not be for everyone. Here are a few viable alternatives:

• Asana
• Wrike
• Teamwork
• Jira
• Basecamp

Each tool has its own pros and cons that you may choose to weigh against ClickUp’s wide range of features. For instance, Asana is known for its ease of use alongside high-powered tools and a pleasant interface. You can read more about it in our Asana review.

Final Thoughts on ClickUp Review

The right project management software can make all the difference in running an efficient business. It’s essential to be able to track team members, projects, and finances in a single platform. Just as important is a tool that won’t break the bank.

Considering the features we’ve outlined in this ClickUp review, we believe it gets the job done and then some. The platform also isn’t afraid of rolling out new features to stay ahead of the competition.

Basecamp bills itself as a tool for working remotely, which is a great way to sum up its service. Even as recently as five years ago, most team communication could take place through conversations, post-it notes, and saved sections on a whiteboard. 

More and more, however, people are working remotely. Keeping a team working together collaboratively can be a challenge. As you’ll discover in our Basecamp review, it may be the answer to that challenge. We’re focusing specifically on the latest version, Basecamp 3.

5 Things That Make Basecamp Stand Out From the Crowd

• Simple and intuitive to use.
• Flat rate business plan of $99/month, for unlimited users and projects.
• Lots of tools for communicating and collaborating with your team.
• Offers tons of integrations with commonly used apps like Google Business, Toggl, Zapier, and more.
• Very secure; Basecamp has never had a data breach.

Where Basecamp Falls Short

• Lacks a lot of reporting, analysis, and automation tools.
• Relies on integrated apps for a lot of important features.

Pricing

Basecamp pricing may be the simplest of any of the cloud-based project management platforms. For individuals or teams with only a handful of people, it may also be the best option for cheap project management software. There are two options:

• Basecamp Personal: The free version with limited services. 
• Basecamp Business: Unlimited users and unlimited projects for $99/month flat (or pay yearly to get 15% off).

The Personal version allows three projects, 20 users, and up to 1GB of file storage. It doesn’t allow access to project templates, client access, priority support, or any of the other features $99/month buys you. As a result, it’s best for individual or basic projects.

Basecamp Business can be used for a 30-day free trial, also, providing access to all Basecamp’s features. Unlike other options which charge by user, the simple Basecamp cost makes it easy to decide if it’s worth it for your business.

Team Management

Project management software can often reflect the concerns of those using it. These days, that means a focus on keeping a team on task, collaborating effectively, and staying connected, all while the team may be spread over half the world. For a project manager, task management features are a key aspect of performing that magic trick.

In the latest version of the app, Basecamp 3, to-do lists form the primary method of tracking how many tasks each team member has and setting deadlines. An easy-to-access action log also helps you track what each team member has done, either within a specific project or for your company overall. 

Additionally, you can look over all the tasks you’ve assigned under the ‘My stuff’ tab. Message boards and the “campfire”, or team chat, help you keep in contact. 

There don’t appear to be any tools for time tracking or other types of resource allocation.

Project Delivery Management

In some ways, Basecamp is more like a virtual meeting space than anything else. Most Basecamp features, like the message board and campfire, focus on communication. There are fewer tools for tracking the progress of a particular project, estimating needs, or identifying pain points. 

Basecamp does allow you to manage multiple projects and multiple teams. However, project management requires more than good communication. Tools for time tracking, estimating needs in the future, sharing resources between different projects, distinguishing internal and external projects, and milestones are all missing. Perhaps most importantly, there are no tools for identifying or managing task dependencies. 

There is a scheduling tool, but you could use Google Calendar and get basically the same services. Basecamp 3 introduces the Hill Chart, which has some characteristics of a burndown chart and my help with velocity management. However, it’s really more of a visual aid than a reporting tool. 

It was reported by KPMG 70% of organizations suffered a failure and 50% failed consistently to achieve their goals due to poor, or a lack of proper, project management

Risk/Issue Management

There aren’t any tools aimed specifically at one of the more important aspects of project management, controlling risk. For example, there is no specific risk or issue log. On the other hand, part of Basecamp’s appeal may be its flexibility. It would be easy to use one of the other project management tools to track risks.

As an example, you could create a specific topic on the project’s message board for risk tracking. Automatic check-ins could be used to create reminders regarding risks. Tasks can be customized and updated with information, for example, regarding a risk. However, no specific tools means Basecamp doesn’t offer much in the way of risk analysis or reporting.

Reporting

Overall, Basecamp 3 has fairly few integrated reporting features. In fact, the only feature may be the Hill Chart. It is a bell-curved-shaped graph that allows you to track the progress of each to-do list. However, there isn’t any automation and everything has to be updated by hand. Note that the chart isn’t available in the free version of Basecamp for personal projects.

Beyond a few basic features, Basecamp looks to one of the many integrations it offers for things like Gantt charts or time tracking.

Finance Management

As with several other aspects of project management, there aren’t any dedicated financial tools within Basecamp. If you were to compare Basecamp to some of its competitors, for example ClickUp, Basecamp starts looking a little sparse.

However, some features might be used as ad-hoc budgeting tools. Alternatively, a range of integrations provide the same functions.

Collaboration and Communication

As we’ve mentioned, Basecamp 3 may have primarily been designed as a communication tool. All of its features are focused on allowing project managers to keep in touch with all team members, even if they’re all remote working. Most of Basecamp’s basic features provide different types of communication:

• Campfire: The group chat feature for Basecamp allows for most basic chat features, like tagging team members, attaching files, and editing, for real-time team collaboration.
• Message board: Less ephemeral than chat, message boards allow you to focus the conversation with topics and message categories.
• To-do lists: This is where you can find tasks assigned, annotated, changed, and marked complete.
• Documents: The document sharing feature in Basecamp creates documents similar to blog posts, allowing you to insert images or attach files, with additional options to keep track of versioning.
• File storage: Comments can be added to uploaded files or docs, which sends notifications to the team.
• Automatic check-ins: Essentially, this allows you to create recurring questions, either as reminders or for something like regular status reports.

Each tool is available at every level of communication, including the entire team or separate departments or project. This is important as you get unlimited users with the Business plan, which could add up to a lot of friendly-fire spam. 

Integration With Other Apps

Basecamp 3 can integrate with a large library of other apps, which is a good thing as it doesn’t have all the features its competitors offer. On the other hand, your team members may already be using some of these apps, including Google Docs and Calendar, Zapier, and Toggl. Other integrations like Automate.io and Zoho Flow offer additional options.

Artificial Intelligence

They say the best project management tool is the one between your ears. However, it’s nice to put some of that burden on your PM software. AI for project management tools looks less like Jarvis fetching Iron Man’s coffee, instead taking the form of automated reports, notifications, or even risk analysis. The only one that Basecamp offers, however, are some types of automated notifications.

With its focus on team communication, Basecamp’s automation centers on notifications. In particular, the automated check-in tool is the closest they offer.

Usability

Basecamp has to be among the most simple project management software options. One benefit of having a basic user interface and limited number of features is that the learning curve is pretty easy to climb. Different functions are divided among the different tools, so it’s always clear where to go for messages, to chat with team members, to manage tasks, and so forth. Overall, it’s very user-friendly.

Many tools link easily with apps you already use. For example, the Basecamp Calendar, its schedule tool, is easy to use and automatically links to Google Calendar. The mobile apps are similarly easy to use. 

The downside is that Basecamp may not be the best choice for complex projects, as it doesn’t offer many of the tools you’ll need to keep them organized and complete all the tasks efficiently. The Basecamp Personal plan is similarly simple to use, as it has even fewer functions.

The support documents and guides offered are really all you’ll need to use Basecamp effortlessly.

Support

Support for Basecamp 3 comes in three varieties:

• Help guides: The Basecamp manual, which walks you through its project management tools and some specific uses.
• Video tutorials: There is a small library of videos that go through how to use basic tools, as well as regular live video tutorials.
• Support messages: If you have a problem with one of the project management tools that’s not answered elsewhere, you can send a message, including file attachments, which Basecamp’s staff will respond to.

Basecamp Business does offer a small, but potentially very useful bump in support. When you sign up for the Business plan, your support messages get moved to the front of the line. That means answering them becomes a priority for Basecamp’s staff, which may be important as their support staff is only a small team. Paying for the Business plan gets you the answer you need much more quickly.

Privacy

Basecamp offers a “Customer Bill of Rights,” which is a grandiose way of describing a few service policies. Like most project management apps, Basecamp 3 and previous versions guarantee you own data in your account and you can expect complete privacy, which in this context means your user data won’t be shared with or sold to a third party. They promise not to share user data and claim they’ve never had a data breach.

Basecamp offers an added layer of secondary security as well. If you decide to leave Basecamp, you take all your data with you. The account owner can download the data whenever it’s required, to move to another service or whatever else they like.

Methodology Suitability

Basecamp’s overall rating for use with either waterfall methodology or Agile methodology is about the same. The software doesn’t offer the usual features for these PM methodologies and takes a different approach to project management.

However, some aspects of this project management solution might be better suited for adherents of Agile, such as the software industry, as it puts such a focus on team collaboration. Also, to-do lists could easily serve as a Kanban board.

However, there is no reason to-dos couldn’t also serve as a loose work breakdown structure. You don’t have to choose a PM methodology when you create projects. Either way, for time tracking, financial tools, or hardcore task management software, you’ll need to look to third-party integrations.

Basecamp Alternatives

There may be no such thing as a perfect project management system. However, Basecamp may be the best project management software for people with just a few specific concerns. As we’ve seen in our Basecamp review, it’s got a clean, super tight interface and a big focus on collaboration. Other options may have more tools for specific problems. Examples include:

• Easy Project.
• Wrike.
• Monday.com.
• ClickUp.
• Asana.

Basecamp Personal offers more users for free than most others, though check out our Asana review for a look at another option suited for small businesses. Many project management apps offer a free trial, just like Basecamp does, so you can check out a range of options for no cost.

Final Thoughts on Basecamp Review

While you may be as likely to find Agile methods in the advertising industry as software development these days, different industries or types of project require different tools. Communication tools are always required, so Basecamp can work with just about any project. However, you’ll need to look elsewhere for a lot of necessary business tools.

There are many types of project management software out there, but they are not all created the same. Wrike stands out for its accurate time tracking, specialized feature sets for your specific business, and easy to navigate UI. This review of Wrike covers in detail what makes it a tool worth considering. 

Wrike

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With so much customizability, Wrike fits into just about any type of business. With several tiers of features, it scales perfectly with organizations of any size. The price may be on the higher side, but you get what you pay for.

Built with people in mind, it’s easy to add and manage users and share documents with anyone you wish. Teams can work together within the platform and track projects along the way. Reports flow in real-time so you can be immediately aware if something or someone falls behind.

• Specialized packages for marketing, creative, and services delivery teams
• Time tracking within tasks, with timesheets tracking totals
• Analytics tool automatically generates charts

• Slightly more expensive than other PM software
• Templates can remove some options
• Can’t prioritize tasks

Pricing

A Wrike account may not be your first choice if you’re looking for cheap or free project management software. It’s neither the most nor the least expensive option to help manage projects, but it is closer to the costlier end of the spectrum. Wrike pricing does include a free version that allows unlimited users but is limited in tasks and features.

Access to many of the most useful features requires a paid subscription. Options include:

• Professional Plan: $9.80/user per month.
• Business Plan: $24.80/user per month.
• Enterprise Plan: Inquire for price.

Additionally, there is the Enterprise Pinnacle plan, which offers specific features for professionals who manage projects which require more sophisticated analytical tools. Like the Enterprise standard option, you’ll have to talk to their sales team about the cost. There are also special offerings for your creative team, marketing team, or service delivery team.

For those uncertain which tier to choose, Wrike offers a 30-day free trial.

Team Management

Most project management software out there, Wrike included, puts its focus in two areas. The first is team management, using task and subtask management to organize a team’s work. Your workspace can be broken up into multiple projects and multiple teams, with the Stream widget keeping you informed of everything that is happening.

Time tracking is included natively, which is an advantage over other platforms. It’s linked to specific tasks, which means it might be easy to lose track of it. On the other hand, it does make it easy to track resource allocation and your team members’ workload. Altogether, Wrike’s features make it suitable for either large teams or small teams.

There is an optional add-on with an additional cost called Wrike Resource that offers some more features such as timesheets and team utilization reports.

Project Delivery Management

The task management features project management software like Wrike offer is aimed at shepherding a team to project completion. In Wrike’s case, there are many tools to help managers track project progress, even complex projects, and identify problem areas.

We’ve mentioned time tracking and workloads. You can also create time estimates by adding ‘Effort’ estimates to tasks. You can also turn tasks into milestones as a way of noting important dates. 

Customizable dashboards offer a number of ways to organize information, dividing things into projects, spaces, folders, and tasks, all of which can be added with a click. The ‘Recent’ area of the dashboard may be of particular use for navigating larger projects. Different views can also be added to spaces and projects, for example, to track dependencies using Gantt charts. 

Risk/Issue Management

There isn’t a specific tool for issue tracking within Wrike, though you can get those tools through integration with Github. Alternatively, depending on your project management needs, one of Wrike’s other tools could fill the role of risk tracking. Wrike recommends using their Request forms as an issue tracker, for example.

There is also a Project Risk assessment that you can receive each week, which we’ll discuss a bit more when we get to Wrike’s AI options.

Reporting

Some of the most important project management tools are those that help visualize data in an understandable way, whether you’re trying to monitor progress, time tracking, due dates, or whatever. With Wrike, you can easily add Gantt charts to track a business plan or a workload chart to see time spent on each task. 

Additionally, the Analytics tab allows you to automatically generate various charts that are updated as tasks are for real-time visibility. Note that the analytics project management tool is only available for Business plans and above customers. 

Finance Management

Wrike offers some basic functionality for finance management. For example, you can set a project to track either billable or non-billable hours. Limited options in this area is not unusual for a project management system, which will often integrate with financial tools and then focus on managing other resources. Still, Wrike’s expense combined with the cost of separate financial software might be worth keeping in mind, particularly for projects on a tight budget.

Collaboration and Communication

We mentioned that team management is one area of focus for most project management solutions. The other is usually team collaboration, offering communication and collaboration features to keep remote team members working together. Wrike offers many features to foster communication, many focused on task management. For example, you can comment on individual tasks.

It’s also possible to send private messages to other users. Additionally, Wrike Proof allows you to mark up files stored on Wrike, allowing for some digital asset management, though file storage is somewhat limited. Even the Enterprise level is limited to 5GB per account, which for projects involving graphics or video may only scratch the surface. 

Tasks also have an approval process feature, giving managers a chance to review assignments before marking them complete.

Integration With Other Apps

No project management solution will have every tool you need. To pull those other project management tools, many of which can offer a huge advantage, into your Wrike dashboard you’ll need to look for an integration. Wrike offers a long list of options through their integration marketplace. 

There are a few standard options, including a Salesforce integration, and integrations with both Google and Microsoft products. There are also many specialized apps for specific uses. Additionally, two-way sync keeps information updated across platforms, though at a separate cost. 

Artificial Intelligence

Wrike offers some AI features in a few specific spots. The software uses its AI project management tool, called Work Intelligence, which is described as machine learning technology. It probably is doing a lot behind the scenes, but Wrike picks out instances in which you’ll see it in action:

• Risk: As long as enough information is entered, Wrike will assess project statuses and determine whether it’s likely to be successfully completed.
• Replies: Wrike will suggest three replies to messages and notifications based on the conversation context.
• Document processing: Work Intelligence also provides OCR technology to convert scanned or handwritten notes into text files. 

As far as work management goes, you’re also able to create some automated workflows, such as recurring tasks or notifications.

Usability

Wrike recently redesigned its user interface, adding some top features requested by users. One of the nicest new features is the ability to design your own Home, choosing what information is easily available. Once you figure out how to get around Wrike’s customizable dashboards, the learning curve is actually pretty easy to climb. The same tools are replicated in different views, so you generally only need to learn to do something once. 

Like most platforms, the different features are built on basic task management. You assign tasks to team members, then track progress, monitor workload, and create reports based on those tasks. Specific tasks can be turned into milestones, or you can add custom fields to all the tasks in a project. Time tracking also takes place within a task. 

Project templates offer you a different set of tools depending on your needs. You may not see the option to track billable hours if you select a template for creative teams, for example. While it’s not exactly simple project management software, anyone who has used similar platforms shouldn’t have a problem. A mobile app for Android and iOS is also available.

Support

It turns out that many people don’t object to complex, feature-rich platforms as long as they’re given the tools to figure it out. As a result, support options are vital. There is a standard set of offerings that has evolved for these platforms that include things like support docs, tutorials, videos, and community support. Wrike provides all of those.

One major difference is the support options for more expensive tiers. For many platforms, these come with dedicated support. However, that’s not true with Wrike.

Instead, it’s good to note that support is supplied by another service. They include things like professionally designed workspaces, help moving to Wrike, and how to get the most out of its analytics, as well as additional support options. 

Privacy

Wrike provides the same sort of security and privacy guarantees you’d expect from any similar platform. It has limited access to uploaded files, for example, and guarantees 99% uptime. Wrike also guarantees that its backup system operates in nearly real-time, so you won’t lose anything if there is a serious issue.

Several additional and professional features for security have an additional cost or require a more expensive subscription. For example, two-factor authentication is an optional add-on. Charging extra for some features is not unusual. Wrike is unusual in offering some of these options ala carte, so you could add them to less expensive tiers if you wanted.

Enterprise-level customers can also add on Wrike Lock, which provides a master encryption key for your account that only you have access to. 

Methodology Suitability

Unsurprisingly, Wrike’s project management solution includes some features tailored toward an Agile approach. If you choose the Software Development set of templates, it will even set up options for Sprint work management. In many ways, Wrike could be used for any type of PM methodology you can build out of a task management system, though choosing the right template may make things a lot easier.

The platform can easily be used with Waterfall methodologies as well. It depends on how you set it up or which template you choose. You get a different set of options with a content creation template than you do with the web development option.

Wrike Alternatives

Most project management software, as we’ve mentioned already in our Wrike review, is based around task management. There are a number of variations on the theme with different price points, interfaces, features, etc. Some examples include:

• Asana
• Monday.com
• Basecamp
• Hive
• Microsoft Project

Many Wrike features can also be found on other platforms. For example, Asana and Monday both provide an equivalent of Wrike Proof. Other options may also offer some of the professional services Wrike does.

The best project management software for your needs may be fairly similar to Wrike. However, since it actually offers some common features, top solutions that businesses look for, you may want to try out some of those other options and see how they suit you. 

The differences may not be apparent in a quick overview, so taking advantage of a free trial or free plan is often a good idea. Wrike does offer some unusual features, most notably native time tracking. 

If the task management model doesn’t appeal to you, there are a couple options that are organized differently, including Confluence and Basecamp. If you’re considering using a Wrike alternative, check out the battle between Microsoft Project vs Monday.com.

Final Thoughts on Wrike Review

While the higher price might initially put some people off, Wrike is one of the easier to use and feature-packed professional services out there. That may not make it the right choice for your project management requirements. However, it should be on your short list of platforms worth checking out.