Sep 3, 2020
Best Collaboration Software for Creative Teams ðŸŒ
Every business strives to deliver the best products and services to get more revenue and thrive. Even if you have the brightest professionals working for you, without communication and collaboration, they are not going to be productive and deliver the maximum value to your business. Imagine a team of designers working on branding without convening with the marketing team — the outcome will cost your business a penny.
It’s often the case that creatives need to communicate inside their team, brainstorm, share drafts and prototypes, get feedback and rework, as well as collaborate with other departments. Scattered teams and companies that hire freelance creatives are no stranger to collaboration issues. They need software that could help them maintain the balance between creative thinking and careful planning, where they could share their ideas, brainstorm, get feedback, and streamline communication across the teams and deliver projects on time.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the best collaboration software for creative teams.
Best Collaboration Software for Creatives
There are hundreds of different options on the market when it comes to collaboration software. Each one offers a unique set of features and has its pros and cons. We’ve done the work for you and picked out seven promising options to consider for your business.
1. HeySpace
Price: Free for up to 5 users with limited functionality.
Paid tiers start at $5 per user per month.
Overview: HeySpace is a popular piece of collaboration software with a Slack-style chat. A bent toward visual organization is especially suitable for creatives, thanks to the visual orientation of creative work. Share attachments and file links, converse in a group chat or privately, convert messages into tasks with one click. Customize tasks, use votes and estimates, add tags and use boards to visualize your workflow.
For teams of five and smaller, you get free access to 10 GB of Cloud storage, unlimited spaces, and integration with key apps like Gmail. However, even a small team might be tempted to upgrade. Pricing is reasonable next to high functionality, excel reports, unlimited storage, and high upload limits. Overall, HeySpace is a well-rounded, function-rich space for communication with great scalability.
2. Vectera
Deployment: Web-based, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Price: Free for 1:1 meetings with limited functionality.
Paid tiers start at $7,99 per month.
Overview: While many programs pitch themselves as an all-in-one solution for the digital office, Vectera has a razor-sharp focus on client interactions. It allows you to run video calls with up to four people and use digital whiteboards, in-built scheduling tools, and more, which makes it a perfect match for scattered teams and communication with freelancers.
With Vectera, you can easily join the conversation from mobile, tablet or desktop by clicking the link without installations. Price points are also attractive, as you can use Vectera casually free of charge. When you’re looking to upgrade, you only have modest monthly or hourly fees to consider.
Deployment: Web-based.
3. TeamViewer
Price: Free for personal use.
For pricing options, contact the vendor.
Overview: TeamViewer is an industry leader when it comes to screen sharing and co-browsing software. It doesn’t have a robust set of group communication software that other options do. However, that’s not TeamViewer’s priority. Instead, TeamViewer offers extensive, practical remote access functionality.
From a technical perspective, TeamViewer is unbeatable when it comes to empowering teams to offer mutual technical support and providing remote access. This empowers direct, hands-on cooperation and collaboration on design tasks and other jobs in a way few services do.
Deployment: Web-based, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
4. ClickMeeting
Price: Starting at $25 per month.
Overview: If you want a simple, browser-based video communication solution, ClickMeeting is what you’re looking for. Similar to other specialized options, it has a premium focus on one important area of online communication. Teams, management, and corporate leadership will all enjoy its smooth, low-latency video conference services. Additionally, Clickmeeting is a powerful webinar-hosting tool that can stream to thousands around the world.
Deployment: Web-based, Android, and iOS.
5. Highfive
Price: Starting at $9.99 per user per month and 10 users minimum.
Overview: Video conferences with Highfive are simultaneously customizable, straightforward, and streamlined. For one thing, you can employ custom URLs that people can easily write out need be, and as soon as someone enters the URL, they enter a waiting room to join the video. Anyone currently in the video call can allow them in, which is effective as a security measure but also highly efficient.
Compared to traditional security solutions such as keywords or admin-based admission, this removes a major flow-breaking intrusion into the calling experience. This subtle but important feature summarizes HighFive’s philosophy of smooth, pleasant video calling for groups of any size.
Deployment: Web-based, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
6. eXo Platform
Price: Starting at $5 per user per month and 100 users minimum.
Overview: Exoplatform has the core suite of collaboration software features, such as robust internal communications and cloud file sharing. However, the Exoplatform website displays its uniquely social orientation. Social media-style activity streams boost individual visibility and encourage people to share key information in a more public location.
Instead of listing activity streams in a bullet point, they file it under the ways Exoplatform empowers collaboration. The advertisement for the program and its features are equally human-centered, and this collaboration software even features a unique, customizable employee reward system built into the software. Exoplatform is uniquely successful in creating a friendly, social space for remote work as well as a practical and efficient one.
Deployment: Web-based, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
7. Clinked
Price: Starting at $83 per month.
Overview: Clinked is one of the most powerful collaboration software choices available, as it scales from 100 members all the way up to 1000. While it relies on downloaded software, it’s intuitive and easy to use, whether it’s on your computer or the mobile app. Your projects and teams will benefit from customizable workspaces that you’ll easily tailor to their specific needs. Robust file sharing and tremendous cloud storage are also a boon to any large operation. While Clinked may be too expensive for small teams, it contends with any other program as the best choice for mid-to-large operations.
Deployment: Web-based, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Bonus Tool: actiTIME
Due to poor communication or project management issues, creatives often have to spend time on rework leaving less resources for new, high-impact campaigns. If you manage tasks and resources in a single place, you have more time for what brings profit to your business.
actiTIME
Price: Free for up to 3 users with limited functionality.
Paid tiers start at $5 per user per month. 30-day trial period.
Overview: actiTIME offers flexible time and project management capabilities for individual users, small and middle-sized teams. It’s a multiplatform solution that allows you to create projects and tasks, set estimates and track time spent on every task, bill your clients, create reports and analyze your performance based on the collected data.
Use task statuses and comments to follow the workflow and effectively collaborate inside and outside the company. With customizable reports, project managers can get insight into employee productivity, while individual creatives and agencies can use the data to bill and invoice their clients.
On top of that, actiTIME integrates with more than 2,000 tools through Zapier and allows you to automate most routine tasks between the apps. With free mobile apps for Android and iOS, you can access your timesheet and tasks on the go.
Integrations: QuickBooks, BaseCamp, Trello, Slack, and more.
Deployment: Web-based, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
