Introduction
If you’re working a management job, or have a project to supervise - it can often be overwhelming. The sheer amount of variables and considerations required, make workflow management a daunting task. That’s why Workflow Software exists. These tools allow teams to automate and manage tasks, collaborate on projects, and track progress in real-time.
However, the workflow management industry is saturated. It is hard to decide on one software amidst a sea of similar-looking ones. In this article, we will be discussing the top 10 workflow management tools currently on the market. We will cover their key features, pricing, and suitability for different industries.
From project management software to team collaboration tools, we will provide an in-depth look at the top choices for businesses looking to improve their workflow. Whether you're a small startup or a massive enterprise, there is a tool on this list that will meet your needs. Still interested? Keep reading to get introduced to the top 10 workflow management software today!
What is Workflow Management Software?
Workflow management software is a software system designed to help streamline business processes and optimize productivity. It is a modern solution that lets you manage your workflow on a digital interface.
Workflow management software is capable of doing many things, such as:
- Automating repetitive tasks
- Streamlining communication
- Enabling collaboration between teams
- Providing real-time visibility of tasks
- Allowing customizations of workflows
- Tracking progress
- Automatically generating reports
Top 10 workflow management software
OneThread’s features can help free time and resources, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. With that being considered, Workflow Management Software can be beneficial.
1.OneThread
OneThread is a new & impact-first workflow management software. Most project management software targets experienced users. OneThread is the contrarian, as it took on the daunting task of helping adoption amongst traditional users who have never used software like this before.
"OneThread has become a game-changer for us. It has helped us organize our work, improve efficiency, and enhance productivity."
- Minhaz-us-Salakeen, CEO, Battery Low Interactive Ltd.
OneThread can be described easily as an 'affordable & easy to set up' solution to workflow & project management. Project Managers looking for a simple and affordable solution will be highly impressed by how capable OneThread is. These are why we listed OneThread as #1 in the top 10 workflow management software list.
Key Features & Capabilities
OneThread is an intelligent software, and it can do the following:
Task Planning: You can plan your tasks in detail via OneThread. Unlike popular software, OneThread lets you set goals & milestones to visualize your tasks better.
Task Tracking: OneThread can track your team's tasks in real-time and help in timely execution.
Team Management: Ensure co-working and optimal task assignment. You can manage your workload and get individual performance reports via OneThread.
Discussions & Note Taking: Create group chats or threads to discuss work. Take notes, highlight and manage essential points within your discussions.
File Management: OneThread offers effortless file management. Users can share files and documents with their teams, and key stakeholders. They can also import files directly from their local disk or Google Drive.
Pros & Cons
OneThread has a clean & user-friendly UI; it is simple - and affordable. Alongside being a compact solution, it is scalable, fixable, and customizable. Companies can find immense value and extract great productivity from using OneThread as the backbone of their operations.
However, OneThread is still new. It has yet to release many exciting features that can be seen in its roadmap. In the upcoming year, OneThread may launch many exciting features - including but not limited to Android App, Repeated Tasks, Blog Setup & More!
Pricing Plans
OneThread offers three different pricing plans and offers discounts for annual subscriptions.
Free Plan: offers critical features for up to 10 users - with unlimited access to projects, tasks, and organizations. However, it does limit storage capacity to 15GB each.
Growth Plan: Priced at approximately 3$ per user per month, and is ideal if you have 11-50 members in your team. The Growth Plan offers Access Control, Unlimited Storage, Export Tasks, and Standardized Reporting outside the Free Plan. Startups can apply for free or discounted access to the Growth Plan.
Scale Plan: Priced at 5$ per user per month, and is perfect for up to 200 users. Alongside the previously mentioned - it has early access to new features. It will also include upcoming features such as Risk Management, Custom Workflow, Custom Templates, Issue Management, Raid Log, and Budgeting.
If you have more than 200 members, you can contact OneThread to get a quotation regarding the OneThread Enterprise Plan. This offers in-house training for employees and dedicated customer management as well. OneThread is absolutely worth it.
2. Asana
Asana is one of the select few popular project management software on the market and is apt for businesses both small and large. It has an intuitive UI, intuitive features, and native mobile apps. It is suitable for companies of all sizes and is comprehensive enough to keep a group-wide project running smoothly.
Key Features & Capabilities
Asana is famous for a reason; see what it can do.
Project planning: You can divide projects into various categories per the organization's needs and manage them accordingly.
Task management: You can create tasks, assign owners and assign deadlines to give you a clear overview of the entire project.
Time tracking: You can track the entire project's progress and keep tabs on how much time each task is taking.
Task delegation: You can quickly and easily assign tasks to the relevant people and monitor their progress.
Collaboration: You can work together in live time with colleagues to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Pros & Cons
Asana is feature-rich and excellent for those needing comprehensive project management software. It is reliable, and its mobile apps are beneficial. Asana includes a free-plan for a maximum of 15-users.
However, Asana does have some drawbacks. For instance, it has a high learning curve and is relatively costly compared to its competitors. Sadly, not the most accessible.
Pricing Plans
Asana offers two plans.
Free Plan: This is limited in features and the number of users. The premium version is priced at 13.49$ per user per month with the monthly billing plan. It offers more features than the free plan, such as reports, private projects, custom fields, advanced search, and more.
Business Plan: Priced at 30.49$ per user per month and is for larger teams looking for more features. It offers features like Single Sign On, Priority Support, Custom onboarding, and many integrations like PowerBI, Tableau, Salesforce & Adobe Creative Cloud.
3. Trello
Trello is a workflow management software that has kept businesses of all sizes organized and productive. Despite being strong, it is easy to use. Trello has been immensely popular over the years because of how simple it is to use and how many features it offers.
Key Features & Capabilities
When it comes to features, Trello is amazingly capable. It can do the following:
Organization:
- Kanban Boards, cards, lists, and more for project management
- Checklists that enable subtasks within cards
- Assign tasks to multiple team members
- Task Management:
- Managing deadlines and team task management
- Activity log to see an overview of task actions taken
Attachments for organizing resources, and other tags
- Automation:
Built-in automation tools
- Multiple integrations & API
Pros & Cons
Trello is an extremely popular project management software for good reason. It is simple, affordable, and powerful. It is also highly customizable and offers a plethora of options.
However, its highly customizable nature is a double-sided blade. Users wanting advanced features may need more support from Trello. In addition, Trello's customer support is often considered understaffed compared to its large user pool.
Pricing Plans
Trello boasts a few plans on its website; they include:
Free Plan: This plan is ideal for individuals or small teams who want to get organized and keep their projects on track. You get unlimited cards, up to 10 boards/workspace, unlimited Power-Ups, and 10 MB of storage per file with the Free plan. Additionally, you'll get access to mobile apps, 2-factor authentication, and custom backgrounds & stickers.
Standard Plan: The Standard plan is perfect for small teams requiring more features to manage work and scale collaboration. Priced at $5 per user/month, you'll get everything in the Free plan, unlimited boards, advanced checklists, custom fields, and more.
**Premium Plan:**The Premium package is a fantastic option if your team needs to track and display several projects in a variety of ways. For $10 per user/month, you'll get all the Standard plan features, plus Views (Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard, and Map), Workspace views, and more.
Enterprise Plan: Trello has an Enterprise plan for those enterprises that want extra security and governance. You'll get everything in the Premium plan, unlimited Workspaces, organization-wide permissions, and more. The Enterprise Plan costs $17.50 per user/month at 50 users - and reduces if you have more accounts needed.
4. Monday
Monday is a compelling project management platform that enables teams to get organized and make work better. It's great for large-scale operations and gives teams visibility into high-level tasks, allowing them to track any project, plan, or task.
Key Features & Capabilities
Monday is a potent tool and packs a lot of features.
Project tracking: Track the progress of tasks, milestones, and projects across the board. Monitor deadlines, assign resources, and track budgets.
Task management: Assign tasks to individual team members, provide them with deadlines, and monitor their progress
Workflows automation: You can automate the tedious work. Workflow automations make life easier for your team members.
Data Visualization: Create interactive, colorful, and insightful project reports, giving you an in-depth view of progress.
Pros & Cons
Monday is a strong project management tool with all the features you'd want in a premium item.It is compelling and is designed to be used by large teams.
However, Monday is on the pricier side and does carry a learning curve. Therefore, it could be better for users looking for a more complex solution. At the same time, it is likely disadvantageous for small teams on a project-management budget.
Additionally, it doesn't integrate with outside products, and its mobile app can be problematic. If your team wants to build cross-functional tools with your Monday workflow, this is a disaster.
Pricing Plans
Monday has multiple pricing plans; they include:
Individual Plan: Free, up to 2 seats, for individuals to track work. The Individual Plan includes three boards, unlimited docs, 200+ templates, 20+ column types, 2 team members, and iOS/Android apps.
Basic Plan: This plan is priced at $8/seat/month. You can Manage all teamwork in one place, with unlimited viewers, unlimited items, 5GB storage, prioritized support, and one board dashboard.
Standard Plan: Most popular, $10/seat/month, $30 total/month, billed annually. Collaborate and optimize team processes with timeline/Gantt views, calendar, guest access, automation (250/month), integrations (250/month), and five board dashboards.
Pro Plan: $16/seat/month, $48 total/month, billed annually. Streamline complex workflows with private boards/docs, chart view, time tracking, formula/dependency column, automation (25,000/month), integrations (25,000/month), and ten board dashboards.
Enterprise Plan: For organizations, includes Pro plan features, enterprise-scale, advanced reporting/analytics, security/governance, tailored onboarding, premium support, and up to 50 board dashboards.
5. Jira
Jira is a strong project management tool from Atlassian that aids teams in efficiently and systematically planning, tracking, and releasing software. It boasts many features and functionalities, making it the perfect tool for agile software development.
Key Features & Capabilities
Jira has a variety of features available, such as.
Project tracking: Track progress, monitor deadlines, assign resources, and track budgets
Task management: Assign tasks to individual team members, provide them with deadlines, and monitor their progress
Workflow Automations: Automating workflows enables teams to concentrate on higher-level tasks by automating laborious tasks.
Data Visualization: Create interactive, colourful, and insightful project reports, giving you an in-depth view of the progress
Scrum and Kanban boards: Create and manage scrum boards and Kanban boards, helping track the progress of the task
Integrations: Connects with a wide range of tools, including Slack and Bitbucket.
Pros & Cons
Jira is a robust tool and is used by many successful teams. However, it is only sometimes ideal for smaller teams or teams on a budget. Jira is quite complicated and has a learning curve, so it may take some time to get up to speed. Additionally, it lacks a mobile app and can be challenging to customize. Jira also has its query language, meaning users must understand the language to create complex queries.
Pricing Plans
Jira offers a few plans, they include:
Free Plan: Free up to 10 users for ten project boards, 2GB storage, and community support.
Standard Plan: This plan is priced at $7.75/user/month (approx. $77.50/year). It is workable for a maximum of 35,000 users. It has audit logs, data residency, 250GB of storage, and business hour support.
Premium Plan: This is priced at $15.25/user/month (approx. $152.50/year). It has a great stack of features including: advanced roadmaps, project archiving, sandbox & release tracks, guaranteed uptime SLA, unlimited storage, and 24/7 premium support.
Enterprise Plan: Jira’s enterprise plan is billed yearly. It features unlimited sites, centralized security controls, centralized user subscriptions, and round-the-clock enterprise support, in addition to everything from the Premium plan.
6. Basecamp
Basecamp is a powerful project management tool that helps teams plan, organize, and manage projects efficiently and effectively. This popular tool helps teams stay organized and on track throughout product development.
Key Features & Capabilities
Basecamp packs several great features that help teams work together and stay organized. Here are a few of them
Project tracking: Track progress, monitor deadlines, assign resources, and track budget
Task management: Assign tasks to individual team members, provide them with deadlines, and monitor their progress
Message boards: To continue the conversation, create message boards.
Documents & Files: Upload and store documents and files in one central location
Calendar: View activities and tasks on a calendar
Start/ Stop timer: Track time spent on tasks with the Start/Stop time
Pros & Cons
Basecamp is a well-liked and widely used tool. It is perfect for small teams because it is simple to use and learn. For big teams, there are better options because it is deficient in more sophisticated features. It is also pricey, so it may not be ideal for tight budgets. Furthermore, it does not integrate with third-party tools, so you may need to look for other project management tools if you require advanced integration capabilities.
Pricing Plans
Unlike other platforms, Basecamp has two plans only.
Basecamp Plan is for individuals or smaller teams and offers every feature and 500GB of storage. This plan is priced at 15$/month, and you are billed per employee.
Basecamp Pro Unlimited is expensive at 299$/month, regardless of users. It also offers every feature and 5 Terabytes of Storage. You can pay annually and have accounting support in the Pro Unlimited Plan. Basecamp will also offer Priority Support and even do a 1:1 onboarding.
7. ClickUp
ClickUp is an intuitive and robust project management software that can quickly help teams plan, manage, and track projects. It has a wide array of features that make it the perfect tool for teams of any size, from small startup teams to large enterprises.
Key Features & Capabilities
ClickUp offers a wealth of features, including
Spaces, Folders, and Teams: You can organize your teams - by department or project. Break it into a clean visual hierarchy, and store all the information in folders.
Customizable Tasks: Clickup offers over 35+ Clickapps to customize task management. When used in cohesion, they can do some incredibly advanced things. Including:
- Automating routine work and other processes via parameters
- Templates to save time in creating new pages
- Connecting databases via Relationships
- Heightening workflow with third-party integrations
Real-Time Reporting: Clickup gives you live performance dashboards. You can see the progress of your sprints, goals, and overall project status.
Time Tracking: You can also track and target time for task completion. Time Tracking allows users to see an overview of their performance as well.
Pros & Cons
ClickUp is a reliable and easy-to-use project management tool. Clickup is ideal for teams of any size, and users can easily customize it to fit their team’s needs. It is also very affordable, with $5/user/month plans. However, it has fewer features than some more advanced project management tools.
Pricing Plans
Free Forever: Best for personal use, Free Forever offers 100MB storage, unlimited tasks, and unlimited free plan members.In-app video recording, collaborative documents, whiteboards, real-time chat, Kanban boards, sprint management, and two-factor authentication are also included. You also get help around-the-clock.
Unlimited This is recommended for small teams, With the exception of email in ClickUp, teams (user groups), goals & portfolios, form view, resource management, agile reporting, unlimited storage, unlimited integrations, virtually limitless dashboards, guests with permissions, unlimited Gantt Charts, unlimited custom fields, and more, Unlimited costs just $5 per member per month. It also encompasses everything you get with the Free Forever plan.
Business: The Business plan, which is ideal for mid-sized teams, costs $12 per member per month and includes all the features of the Unlimited plan as well as Google SSO, unlimited teams, custom exporting, advanced public sharing, advanced automation, advanced dashboard features, advanced time tracking, granular time estimates, workload management, timelines & mind maps, goal folders, and more.
Business Plus: Business Plus, which is best for multiple teams, costs $19 per member per month and includes all the features of the Business plan as well as team sharing, subtasks in multiple lists, custom role creation, custom permissions, custom workload capacity, increased automation & API, admin training webinar, priority support, and more.
Enterprise: Enterprise is the plan that works best for many large teams because it includes everything that Business Plus does, as well as white labeling, advanced permissions, an enterprise API, unlimited custom roles, team sharing for spaces, default personal views, MSA & HIPAA availability, single sign-on (SSO), live onboarding training, a dedicated success manager, and access to managed services. To find out more, speak with Sales.
8. Airtable
Airtable is an easy-to-use yet powerful and collaborative project management software. It enables teams to organize tasks, share resources, and collaborate on projects all in one place.
Key Features & Capabilities
Security: Airtable has a number of features, including Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Single Sign On (SSO) integrations, and advanced account permissions. Big-name providers like Okta, One Login, Google Authenticate, ADFS, and Azure AD are supported by the SSO integration. 2FA provides extra identity verification, and advanced account permissions allow restricted access to only the right users.
Planning: Airtable provides a task scheduler and prioritization system with different task management views, including task lists, kanban boards, Gantt charts, and its unique gallery view. A shared team calendar, resource management, and time tracking are also available. The platform also provides pre-made templates and automation features to save time.
Documentation: Airtable provides a comprehensive documentation system, allowing you to store all project materials, including documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, images, videos, and other files. Each task provides a space to store and organize these materials.
Collaboration: Airtable has communication features, including a task commenting system, file sharing, team dashboards and a mobile app. The Airtable Sync feature allows for real-time changes between teams without refreshing pages.
Budgeting: Airtable provides budget reports and dashboards created through custom spreadsheets. You can easily monitor expenses and keep your project on budget.
Pros & Cons
Airtable has a ton of features and is incredibly user-friendly. It is an excellent tool for small businesses and startups because it can be used by teams of any size. Although it lacks project management features like task tracking and resource management, there are still better options available. Furthermore, its pricing plans can be expensive for larger teams.
Pricing Plan
Airtable has four main plans.
Free: The free plan offers unlimited bases, with a limit of 1,200 records per base. This limits your data-entry capabilities - but is still viable, considering it's free. At the same time, the Free Plan only allows one 1-extension per base and is not ideal for power users.
Plus: Plus is priced at $10 per user per month. It offers everything in the basic plan, plus unlimited bases, space for up to 5,000 records per base, up to 20 collaborators for each base, advanced collaboration tools, and unlimited API calls
Pro: Pro costs $20 per user per month. It offers everything in the plus plan, plus unlimited record space and up to 40 collaborators for each base, additional collaboration tools and API calls, and the ability to customize user access
Enterprise: The Airtable Enterprise Plan requires you to contact their sales department for a quotation. It offers everything in the Pro plan, plus additional collaboration and API tools, customization options, enterprise API access, and unlimited API access
9. Wrike
Wrike is a project management tool for teams to coordinate and collaborate on tasks. It features planning and scheduling capabilities, advanced file sharing, customized workflow automation, and extensive reporting.
Key Features & Capabilities
Enterprise-Level Project Management Capabilities: Wrike offers several project management features, including a Gantt Chart software that allows you to monitor work progress and reschedule activities. Furthermore, the Wrike Proof tool streamlines the proofing and feedback process for tasks and projects, the ability to create statuses for your workflow, and a file-sharing tool to share, store, and manage all project-related documents for quick team collaboration.
Built-in time tracking: Wrike has built-in time tracking software to monitor employee work hours. The tool aids in monitoring team output and spotting potential problems. Project managers or leadership can use Wrike's tracking reports to understand which tasks are taking longer and step in to help.
Detailed Analytical Features: Wrike's analytics offer in-depth insights on projects and tasks with useful metrics like Task Digest, Milestones, Task Duration, Tracked Time, Top Performers, and Conflicts. The real-time updates ensure that the data is always accurate.
Two-factor authentication support: Wrike provides a secure online experience with two-factor authentication support through SAML single sign-on and the Google Authenticator app. The app passcode adds an extra layer of verification for enhanced security when dealing with sensitive client and company information.
Pros & Cons
Wrike is an excellent project and collaboration tool for teams. Its ability to track progress and deliver insights provides project visibility for successful management. It is also highly customizable for specific needs. It integrates with other popular programs like Google Calendar, Salesforce, and Slack. However, some users find it challenging to use, and a lack of customer support can be an issue. Furthermore, many of its solutions need to be more intuitive.
Pricing Plan
Five project management plans are available through Wrike: Free, Professional, Business, Enterprise, and Pinnacle. The Professional plan ($9.80/user/month) adds shareable dashboards, Gantt charts, and pre-built project management dashboards.
Free: This plan is ideal for solo entrepreneurs, small teams, and those just starting. It includes features like task management, Kanban boards, spreadsheets, and AI-recommended tasks. It is free, and the limitations are justified.
Professional: The Professional plan ($9.80/user/month) adds shareable dashboards, Gantt charts, and pre-built project management dashboards.
Business: The Business plan ($24.80/user/month) includes customizable fields, workflows, time tracking, and online proofing software.
The Enterprise and Pinnacle plans offer advanced security and analytics for large teams, with pricing only available upon request. Add-on premium features are available for the Business, Enterprise and Pinnacle levels.
10. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a project management tool with an easy-to-use spreadsheet-style interface. With Smartsheet, users can create and manage complex projects, assign tasks to specific team members, track projects in real time, and collaborate with team members across departments and locations.
####Key Features & Capabilities
Task Management & Planning: Smartsheet has several options for task prioritization and scheduling, including a standard spreadsheet (grid) view, a Gantt chart, a card view suitable for scrum ceremonies, and a calendar view. This flexibility allows for plenty of options in project planning. The shared team calendar displays tasks over the period they are intended to be completed. Time tracking is also possible through the customizability of the grid view, and all project resources are trackable.
Collaboration: Smartsheet includes a commenting column for team members and project managers to communicate progress for each task. Team dashboards, which are custom-created based on selected data in the project grid sheet, are also available.
Budgeting: Smartsheet can generate and display detailed financial reports that are organized by hours, days, and amounts. Budget dashboards can also be created using specific project metrics from the grid sheet.
Document Storage: Smartsheet includes a file column in each spreadsheet where relevant files, such as images and documents, can be uploaded for each task.
Pros & Cons
Smart-sheet is comparatively complex to operate. Thankfully, it has a particular training module & good documentation to back it up. Unfortunately, training is only an option for some teams - they want something more straightforward. Compared to the training dashboard, the actual application was much more complex. Smartsheet is an early version of Airtable - without the fancy features, Airtable boasts.
Pricing
Smartsheet has four plans, which are as follows:
Individual: $14/month -- 1 User + Limited Collaborator Access, Unlimited Spreadsheets, Ideal for Cross-functional Teams, Integrations, Templates, and Automated Workflows.
Business: $25/month/user -- Includes all Individual features, Dashboards, Activity Log, Reporting, and Custom Branding.
Enterprise: Contact for Pricing -- Includes all Business features, Enhanced Administrative Controls, and System Admin Features.
Premier: Contact for Pricing -- Includes all Enterprise features, Premium Support, Premium Apps, Premium Integrations (e.g. Salesforce, Jira).
Does Microsoft have a workflow tool?
Yes, Microsoft offers a workflow tool that can help you manage your workflows. Automation of workflows and apps. With Microsoft Teams, you can automate workflows and make processes more efficient.
Does Google have a workflow tool?
An Excel workflow is a process that uses Excel spreadsheets and forms in order to collect data, record job outcomes, or perform calculations.
What is replacing Microsoft flow?
The Power Automate and Microsoft Flow are separate products, there is a great deal of information on the web about both products. It is imperative to note that they are the same tools. Ft has recently upgraded Flow by integrating a few new features and renaming it Microsoft Power Automate.
Is Visio a workflow tool?
Visio, a Microsoft 365 offering, can be used by businesses of all sizes to generate visual charts for team communication. With Visio, teams can automate processes and link charts and diagrams to real-time data. The application includes a library of pre-built templates and shapes to streamline diagramming activities and projects. The Visio software can be downloaded and installed on Windows PCs or used as a cloud-based application.
Is Jira a workflow management tool?
A great piece of software can be planned, tracked, and released by following procedures that are tailored to each endeavor or project. Create a template or a unique procedure to get your team working more efficiently and openly.
Final Thoughts
Project management tools help teams collaborate more effectively and increase productivity. Base
d on our evaluation, we've found OneThread to be the perfect fit for most teams. It's incredibly affordable and offers a host of features desired by many. Even if you disagree, you will still find a decent alternative amongst the top 10 workflow management software. Good luck!