Project management software – Comparison of 5 tools

05.04.2019 - The market for project management software is a confusing mess of tools, growing day by day. The variety of products extends from simple to-do lists up to complex multiproject management solutions.

Do you intend to implement a project management software in your team, the department or even in the whole organisation? Then you are faced with many options: The most intuitive management tool on the web?  The most powerful platform for modern work? The most suitable solution for teamwork? The easiest way to complete tasks? You'll quickly notice that there is no lack of superlatives. But unfortunately they won't help you with your choice and create anything but transparency.



Criteria for the selection of a project management software

The biggest mistake you can make when choosing a suitable project management software is to focus only on individual functions. Basically, this doesn’t mean that features aren’t important. But: The pure ticking off of a checklist or a specification sheet should not exclusively decide whether a project management software is suitable for your team or not.

Focus on the user 

A very important criterion, which - in addition to the pure functional portfolio - is also of great importance, but is often disregarded, is the user and the usability of the software. A project management software is only successful if it also reaches the team and is used with pleasure. This is not about complex functions, but about intuitive operation and a user-friendly interface. The tool must represent real added value for every user and has to be easy to use.

Project views - it depends on the perspective 

Depending on the user and the application, it must be possible to select the suitable view of the project. While a project structure tree is ideally suitable for visualising complex relationships, the Kanban board provides transparency on the progress of tasks. With the Gantt chart, projects can be perfectly interlocked over time. The spreadsheet, on the other hand, enables fast processing by filtering, sorting and grouping. For basic task management, simple checklists may be sufficient to record and check off to-dos.

In the jungle of project management software providers there are not only all-rounders. You can also find products that specialize in a certain project view and give you a high degree of flexibility within this area. The disadvantage: You are limited to a specific view. Here you decide whether you need different perspectives on a project or prefer the greatest possible freedom within a view. For each type, we present you a suitable PM tool.


The right project management software for every need

Project management for allrounder: factro

The modern and user-oriented project management software factro is perfectly tailored to agile teamwork. Getting started right away is possible even without training. The easiest way to do this is with the project tree, whose branches consist of packages or tasks. Tasks can be created by a click and assigned to packages by drag & drop. With just one click, the user can change the project view and switch to the Kanban board, Gantt chart or spreadsheet. Thanks to the cross-project dashboard, all to-dos are always in view – ideal for multi-project management. factro is developed in Germany and offers a German server location and data protection. Free support completes the offer.

For further information please visit factro


Project management for table-lovers: Airtable

Airtable is a mixture of project management software and spreadsheet software. At first glance, it looks like Excel because the core of the system consists of tables. However, these are visually appealing and without complex formulas. In addition, cells cannot only take notes, but also include photos, employees or checkboxes. The feature-rich tool with a flexible user interface offers a variety of tagging and filtering options, so that not only project but also customer management is possible. You can also create relationships between individual tables so that information from different tables can be linked together. Your data is hosted on US servers.

For further information please visit Airtable


Project management for Kanban-fans: Meistertask

Meistertask is ideal for simple and flexible task management with Kanban technology. Projects are created as boards with lists. To each list you can add as many cards as you like. These cards can then be supplemented with text, checklists or attachments. In difference to the popular Trello, Meistertask doesn’t store the data in cloud data centers in the US, but has a German server location. Trello data can also be directly integrated.

For further information please visit Meistertask


Project management with Gantt: Agantty

With the project management software Agantty you organise and plan your projects while using a Gantt chart. To do this, you first create a project, define the project period and the team. The project appears in the Gantt chart and can be edited. Tasks can be created graphically in the form of a timeline and assigned to projects in Gantt via drag & drop. Your own tasks and to-dos can be displayed in a clear dashboard on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. So you always keep track.

For further information please visit Agantty


Task management for list-freaks: Wunderlist

Wunderlist is one of the easiest ways to capture and complete tasks in lists. Starting from private grocery lists, to vacation checklists up to task lists in the job. Ideas and thoughts can be noted quickly and provided with data. The lists can be shared with other persons, e.g. friends or colleagues at work. Created lists can also be printed out.

Update 2020-06-04:
Wunderlist stopped its service in May 2020. You can find alternatives to Wunderlist here.

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