Best Task Management Software (2024 Rankings)

Monday.com’s extensive project management features make it a great task management tool if you’re also interested in other work management features. “Monday work management” can combine project management with other CRM and sales functionality, making it a robust option compared to competitors. However, it may offer more functionality than small businesses need for simple task management.

Within the monday work management platform, teams can organize task cards into a variety of project board views like Gantt charts and Kanban boards. Project boards are highly customizable, meaning you can set up the building blocks of a particular view to suit your team. If you’re still playing around with how you want to visualize and manage tasks, monday work management allows for a lot of flexibility and experimentation.

Monday work management’s forever-free plan includes the essentials, but it’s limited to two users. Paid plans start at $9 per user per month when billed annually. For simple task management functionality, the free plan may be enough if only having two users is not a limitation. For larger teams, one of the paid plans will likely be necessary.

Wrike is another excellent task management solution for agile teams, especially when it comes to project planning. Its strategy tools earn Wrike the title of Best for Strategic Planning. Wrike’s features go beyond the task management or project planning essentials, with tools for resource allocation and workforce management. Teams can add tasks to projects and then create templates from those project boards, which helps automate workflows and save time. It’s easy for teams to visualize tasks in a variety of project board views like Kanban boards or Gantt charts. Team leaders can also create custom dashboards for easy reporting.

Wrike is uniquely set up to support multiple complex projects, so teams that are looking for a simple task management solution may find that its plans include more than they need. Wrike’s interface is easy to navigate, but there may be a learning curve for new users implementing Wrike as a task management solution.

Wrike offers a free plan with unlimited users, but functionality is somewhat limited depending on the features your team will need. Teams will need to choose a paid plan for custom fields within tasks and board views like Gantt charts. Wrike’s Team plan starts at $9.80 per user per month, billed monthly.

Smartsheet has much to offer regarding customer support, but it’s also a top choice as a task management solution. Teams can take advantage of spreadsheet-style project views to create to-do lists and prioritize tasks however they choose. It’s also easy to visualize tasks in other board views like timelines or Kanban boards.

Teams that are already using spreadsheets for task management may find that Smartsheet is an easy transition, with much more functionality for managing projects in one place. With advanced plans, teams can even add custom branding and email domains to send automated emails directly from Smartsheet.

If your team is unfamiliar with spreadsheet software or not wanting to rely on spreadsheet views for task management, Smartsheet may come with a slight learning curve. This all depends on what your team is comfortable with and what works best for your projects. Customer support is available through Smartsheet’s online web support and the Smartsheet Community forums for all plans. Many advanced customer support options are available as add-on features to some plans. The forever-free plan includes essential features, but it’s limited to one user. The Starter plan allows for up to 10 users and is priced at $7 per user per month, billed annually.

Teamwork.com is a task management solution that offers a ton of team collaboration features with helpful project tools like task lists and budget templates. Its combined functionality earns it the title of Best for Workforce Management. Teamwork allows businesses to track time, plan team capacity and manage tasks within the platform.

Tasks are organized into project board views, like to-do lists, Kanban boards or Gantt charts. This helps teams visualize tasks within the context of larger projects. Teamwork also has the added benefit of budget features, which sets it apart from alternatives. Team members can log time for specific tasks, and teams can designate billable hours within the platform. Businesses that are interested in task management for client work may find Teamwork’s time tracking and budget features to be an added bonus.

Teamwork.com does offer a free plan, but it’s limited to five users. The Starter plan has a three-user minimum and starts at $5.99 per user per month, billed annually.

ClickUp offers essential task management features for any project, with key features and templates that earn it the title of Best Overall. The software makes it easy to manage, assign and visualize tasks while allowing team collaboration with whiteboards and in-app chat features.

ClickUp’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to organize tasks as cards on project boards. Teams can visualize tasks within a project as a Kanban board, table, calendar, Gantt chart or list. Whether you prefer a simple to-do list or a broad calendar view, you can make the most of ClickUp templates or configure your own project views.

Teams can use docs, collaborate on digital whiteboards and chat back and forth within the platform. The forever-free plan has limited storage and integrations but still offers robust features for task management. Because of its collaboration features and intuitive project boards, ClickUp is a great option for remote teams that want to manage tasks together in real-time.

ClickUp offers customer support via an online chatbot and its extensive help center. The company does not currently offer a public customer support phone number. The starter Unlimited plan is priced at $7 per user per month, billed annually. There is a 14-day free trial available with no credit card required.

Asana is a powerful project management tool that works as a task management solution for highly collaborative teams. Asana is known for its detailed and customizable Kanban board and to-do list views that allow for automated rules, task dependencies and timelines. Each task card can be assigned to team members and customized with tags and custom fields. Cards also include a comment section for quick notes and easy team communication.

Teams can create task dependencies within a project and include docs or files to tasks as they move them through the project workflow. Asana offers integrations with work software you’re already using, like Google Workspace and Slack.

Asana offers a robust help center in addition to weekly live training sessions. However, the company doesn’t offer customer support via phone. Teams will need to reach out via live chat for help.

Asana’s free plan is limited to 10 users, and the Starter plan is priced at $10.99 per user per month when billed annually. A paid plan is likely necessary if you want to take full advantage of Asana’s task management features like task automations or specific project board views like Gantt charts.

Jira is a project management software offered by Atlassian. Though it’s popular with agile software development teams, it’s not limited to any one industry or work style. Atlassian has a marketplace of over 3,000 software apps that integrate with Jira, earning it the title of Best for Integrations.

Teams can use Jira to set up projects and create task cards within a Kanban board or timeline view, and it’s also uniquely set up to help teams organize task backlogs. This makes it helpful for teams that work cross-functionally and want to be able to communicate the work they have in progress.

Jira offers a simple interface, but its simplicity may actually take some getting used to. Each task can be customized, but the project boards are more utilitarian than they are visual. There is a free Jira plan, but it’s limited to 10 users. Jira’s Standard plan starts at $8.15 per user per month, estimated for 50 users. The Standard plan allows for up to 35,000 users, making it essentially unlimited for small businesses.

Notion is a user-friendly and highly customizable task management solution that teams can use to set up projects however they choose. Notion’s interface is set up around different project boards, called teamspaces, where teams can include different blocks. These blocks can be anything from tables and to-do lists to task boards and more. While the sheer variety of customization options for Notion might be overwhelming for new users, there are plenty of templates for teams to explore when getting started.

Teams can use project management templates for task cards to set up Kanban boards, timelines, lists and more. Setting up dashboards to organize different projects in one space is also easy. Automations are available, but they’re only included in Notion’s paid plans.

Notion’s forever-free plan includes its essential functionality, but teams will likely need to upgrade to avoid limitations regarding Notion blocks and project pages. The Notion Plus plan starts at $8 per user per month when billed annually.

Airtable is a task management solution with an advanced spreadsheet-style interface, which is ideal for teams looking to upgrade their task management from a running spreadsheet. Airtable allows teams to list out all tasks that need to be completed and then group them into projects and assign them to team members. Teams can make the most of key insights and analytics as they move tasks through workflows in Airtable, with helpful data for future decision-making.

Airtable is a great option for agile teams as it was designed with sprint work in mind. Tasks don’t need to be assigned to a particular project, and cross-functional teams can easily use Airtable’s interface to get on the same page in stand-ups or scrum meetings. Airtable’s intuitive interface is easy to pick up, but teams that aren’t as familiar with spreadsheet software for task management may experience a slight learning curve.

Airtable offers a free plan, but it’s limited to five users. Larger teams must consider paid plans, which start at $20 per user per month. Compared to other task management solutions, this is slightly more expensive for a starter plan. However, Airtable’s spreadsheet functionality is unique and offers more functionality than table views in other software options.

Basecamp is a comprehensive project management tool that makes sense as a task management solution. It combines project boards with communication features like in-app chat and real-time activity logs so your team can stay connected as they complete tasks.

Basecamp earns the title of Best for Real-Time Activity because of its robust activity log and team communication features, which set it apart from many alternatives. Tasks can be added to different projects, which each include their own group chat and message board. Its simple interface makes it easy for teams to use Basecamp as a task management tool, with simple board views like a Kanban.

However, Basecamp is missing some automation functionality. While not always essential for task management, teams that are interested in creating automated rules for project boards will need to integrate a separate software with Basecamp to make it happen. How this affects your workflow just depends on what your team is hoping to achieve with a task management software.

Basecamp is a great option for teams that want to track tasks for multiple projects simultaneously without overly complicated project boards. Basecamp does not offer a free plan, and the starter plan is priced at $15 per month per user when billed monthly. The other plan option, Basecamp Pro Unlimited, offers flat monthly pricing at $299 per month, billed annually. This might be a cost-effective solution for larger teams.

Pipedrive is a task management solution designed especially for sales teams. It’s a dedicated customer relationship management (CRM) software with an intuitive interface to help teams manage clients and leads within the sales lifecycle.

Teams can see at a glance where deals and clients are within a workflow with customizable board views. Your team can add tasks and assignees or client information all in one place, so multiple team members can interface with clients using the same information. Pipedrive allows users to visualize tasks in a Kanban board or timeline view and offers a wide variety of options for reporting and analytics based on project board data. Teams can also automate customer communication like email sends through Pipedrive to save time on routine follow-ups and other simple tasks.

Pipedrive does not offer a free plan. The Pipedrive Essential plan starts at $21.90 per user per month, billed monthly. This is slightly higher than many other task management solutions.

Trello, like Jira, is an Atlassian software designed for project management. As a task management solution, it could be considered Jira’s more “visual” counterpart. Trello’s simple interface is designed for easy Kanban views, earning the title of Best for Simplicity and making it ideal for task management.

Trello allows teams to create task cards and visualize them in different board views, allowing for plenty of customization. It’s not set up to manage multiple complex projects, but for simple task management, it’s a user-friendly solution for small businesses, particularly for remote or hybrid teams. Teams can easily set up projects or rely on simple checklists to manage tasks in one place.

Trello does offer a free plan, but it’s limited in terms of functionality. Teams will need to upgrade for access to unlimited boards, custom fields and advanced checklists, all of which are useful for task management. Trello’s paid plans are affordable compared to some alternatives, with the Standard plan starting at $5 per user per month when billed annually.