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Mavenlink is a robust project management tool best suited for large teams in a corporate/enterprise setting because of its expensive pricing structure and long features list. Don't let this intimidate you, though. Mavenlink streamlines the project management process with a simple user interface and lots of helpful templates.
Mavenlink is everything Microsoft Project wants to be without all of the splintered features scattered across an entire ecosystem. Everything you could want in a project management software is right here in one convenient package. If you want to track tasks in lists or Gantt (timeline) charts, track/measure success, create budget reports, collaborate with other team members, track issues, share or store project files, or send invoices to clients, Mavenlink can do it all.
Unfortunately there are two areas where Mavenlink stumbles:
These are both also issues faced with Microsoft Project. But luckily, aside from the percentages issue, Mavenlink exceeds Microsoft Project by making their product easy to use and comprehensive.
So who is this product for? If it weren't for the price tag, I would say anyone. The basic task management and collaboration features are easy to learn and Mavenlink is more than happy to help walk you through anything else you need to know. They provide templates and instruction wherever needed to make your experience as seamless as possible.
Considering the pricing and extensive features, including billing and invoicing, this product is best suited to large enterprise or professional service businesses such as marketing, architectural, or consulting firms.
Mavenlink has so much to offer users. With the exception of an internal chat feature, this tool offers everything one would expect from project management software, even if it doesn't look great while it does it. But it's hard to complain about looks when you have access to everything you need.
Mavenlink is very easy to navigate considering the number of features and functions it offers. Personally I am a big fan of the Gantt chart feature in this tool. I never had to go back to the main task manager to create new tasks and add details to any one of them. With the exception of adding files to tasks, it could all be done from the Gantt chart view.
I can see when tasks begin, when they end, how far along they are, any issues that come up (such as running out of pretzels), and I can edit each of these tasks right here. Once tasks are added to the task list, I can go back in and add additional useful project details, such as task checklists, and adjust the task priority so the rest of my team knows what to focus on first.
These additional functions put Mavenlink ahead of the pack. Everything I need the team to know about a project is easy to find and easy to use, which is more than I can say for some of Mavenlink's competition.
Despite the many strengths of this software, I do have a few nitpicks. Please note that these are minor annoyances for what is overall an excellent product. Perhaps project management software vendors could learn to take these into consideration in the future.
The first one I mentioned back in the "Who is this product for?" section and that is the unnecessary details in tasks, particularly using percentages to measure the completion of a project. Users are able to report the status of completion through a percent, say 56%, as is says in the screenshot above. These percentages are not calculated by any set criteria. Instead they are subjective guesses made by the user. At first I hoped these percentages were dictated by the checklist feature in order to give some semblance of objective reporting, but I was wrong.
This was also a complaint I had with Microsoft Project, since most human beings don't think about their work in terms of percentages. Instead, I would rather Mavenlink (as well as other project management tools) rely on simple statuses. Mavenlink does do this with "Log Statuses" such as:
This is a step up from Microsoft Project's system, but it renders that percentage field unnecessary.
My second nitpick is the slightly bland user-interface. Don't get me wrong, this tool is easy to pick up and use, especially if you have experience with other project management platforms. But it's just not very exciting to look at. Aside from the Gantt charts, there is nothing particularly visually stimulating about Mavenlink, especially if you're a project manager that thrives off of visual aids in your dashboard.
These small nitpicks aside, anything I need as a project manager -- such as recording money spent in each individual task or tracking project issues to their resolution -- were all there at my disposal. That makes Mavenlink one of the first software options I've reviewed to earn a perfect 10 in my features score. It really does it all.
There once was a time when Mavenlink was transparent about its pricing. The plans weren't the most affordable on the market, but considering the product's positioning as an enterprise-level project management software, I didn't consider it to be quite as big a deal.
For reference, here was Mavenlink's pricing as of 2019:
Sure, the Premier and Enterprise tiers require you to contact the company, but at least you got an understanding of the price floor. Customers could go in with a general idea of what they could expect to pay once they began discussions with Mavenlink.
Fast forward a year from my initial review and, unfortunately, Mavenlink has gone the way of so many other software vendors. Instead of being upfront about the pricing, Mavenlink now hides its pricing tiers behind a lead capture form. I've complained about this practice time and time again because all it does is coerce potential buyers into a vendor's sales funnel without giving them the chance to compare pricing between different software options.
This is where Mavenlink shines. Any time I pick up a new project management tool to review that is this comprehensive, I worry about how complicated it might be. As I've said before, the best project management tools have to engage in a balancing act between functionality and ease of use. I believe Mavenlink strikes that balance perfectly with an easy to learn user-interface.
Put simply, Mavenlink is what Microsoft Project wishes it could be. It doesn't require a massive ecosystem to fill in any gaps, because besides a live internal chat function, there isn't much that Mavenlink is missing.
I particularly liked the fact that I didn't have to go searching for any of the functions I wanted. Everything is readily available right there on the project dashboard, including activity, project team members, upcoming tasks, a task tracker, Gantt charts, and even a dedicated file storage area.
Not only is the desktop version easy to use, so is Mavenlink's mobile app, although functionality is limited. On the mobile app I can check project records, view and create new tasks, and do minor edits to task details, including the description and start/end dates.
I was a bit disappointed that the Gantt charts do not work on the mobile app. If there is one function I would expect to work better on a mobile phone than on a desktop computer, it is a Gantt chart. The visual time blocks and drag-and-drop functions would work especially well on a touchscreen smartphone.
That said, Mavenlink's mobile app is just as easy to use, if not easier, than the desktop version of their software. It's perfect for checking up on your project on-the-go.
This software is the perfect combination of form and function, in spite of a slightly bland user-interface. If it weren't for the high pricing of this software, I would recommend this tool to nearly any project or team based on its high usability.
File Sharing | Budgeting | Collaborative Tools | Phone Support | |
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Mavenlink | ||||
Microsoft Project | ||||
Podio | ||||
Wrike | ||||
Asana |
Mavenlink does not offer a free version of its software. At best, it offers a 10-day free trial, which I don't think is long enough to decide whether or not a software purchase this large is right for your team.
Considering the substantial cost of Mavenlink, there should be at least a one-month trial period available. Luckily you can request to try more advanced plans or extend the trial period, but it isn't certain how long that extension would be.
As I've mentioned before, considering the high cost of entry, I would recommend this software to enterprise level users or professional service industries that require billing and invoicing features. Not only will they need this functionality, but realistically they are the only types of businesses that can justify the high prices.
That being said, you definitely get what you pay for with this easy to use, highly versatile, and comprehensive project management software.
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