Best Project Management Tools for Freelancers
Many managers are not fond of full-time office jobs. That is why freelancing roles are becoming more and more popular.
Freelance work can bring essential benefits, especially since project managers have a wide range of powerful freelance project management tools. These tools assist them in managing several projects and considering numerous freelance nuances.
Let’s take a look at top-5 most popular software solutions that make freelancing project management more powerful. But first, let’s consider some theories.
Freelance project management definition
Freelancing means working as an independent company rather than be employed by someone else. Freelancers are self-employed; they earn money on a per-job or per-task basis, usually for short-term work. They have the liberty to complete different jobs concurrently by various companies or individuals.
Freelance project management ensures that everything gets done on behalf of a client on a set budget and on time. It includes the timely completion of deliverables and ensures that your project will align with the client’s business goals.
Freelance project managers commonly:
- Manage people, budgets, timelines, and professional tools.
- Monitor the bigger picture of a project.
- Create plans and schedules.
- Prepare strategies to respond to changes.
- Connect all project participants.
- Distribute tasks and set deadlines.
- Communicate with the key stakeholders.
Freelance project managers should manage tasks, projects, and people at the highest level to increase clients and profits.
For many, choosing a freelance PM model is fundamental restructuring that depends on flexible working. It is more about a forced reality than a considered choice.
Why do companies prefer to hire freelancers?
- 62% of companies admit that freelancers complete projects faster.
- 55% of businesses note that this reduces costs
- 49% think that freelancing increases transparency.
No matter how professional and experienced project managers are, they will conquer the world without robust project management services.
What makes project management tools effective for freelancers
If you want to work outside the office, keep in mind specific criteria that the selected software must meet. These criteria relate to the features and other nuances such as a free plan, cost, or a free trial. Anyway, you should have a list of features necessary for their work in freelance conditions.
What are the key features of freelancing project management software?
Many different features must or should be included in freelance project management tools. It all depends on individuals and their work needs.
Here is the list of the most common functionality:
- Task management.
- Planning and scheduling.
- Team collaboration.
- Time tracking.
- Reporting.
- Creating lists and notes.
- Prioritization.
- File sharing.
- Budget management.
Let’s dive into the details of the two most critical criteria when selecting systems for freelance project management — task management and planning.
Task management
Freelancers need task management to be updated about what needs to be done to move the project forward.
Top freelancing PM software solutions allow customizing workflows and provide handy task boards and cards to organize all tasks and track progress. To get more granularity, you can add start and end dates for each task, notes, attached files, and subtasks.
Timeline planning
Freelance project managers schedule their projects to deliver them before the set deadline. Appropriate management software should provide clarity on long-term and short-term goals and tasks.
They need visual roadmaps to divide projects into segments for better categorization. Here’s where Gantt charts come to the rescue. They allow adding working tasks across the timeline according to the schedule.
Advantages of freelance project management tools
- Automated organization.
- Advanced consistency.
- Streamlined workflows.
- A bird’s-eye view of the workload.
- Increased earnings.
There is no ideal project management software, and every single solution has strengths and weaknesses. However, here we combine top online PM platforms for freelancers in one list.
Best project management software for freelancers
There are many powerful project management apps. However, not all of them suit the needs of freelance project managers. The following overview contains the most reliable tools for freelance management and includes essential features that we’ve described above. Let’s explore them right away!
GanttPRO
If you are going to manage freelance projects, you need a powerful project planning solution. GanttPRO is a multifeatured project management tool based on Gantt charts that numerous freelancers utilize over the world.
This is one of the best Gantt chart software in the market capable to cover the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual planning issues. The tool allows creating unlimited projects and working with unlimited resources, even using a free trial.
GanttPRO provides a short learning curve, so instead of wasting time studying numerous details, freelance project managers get a robust system with essential features. You may apply GanttPRO in any freelance project in software development, construction, marketing, retail, healthcare, education, event planning, and many other spheres and industries.
What are the main features?
- Online Gantt charts for professional planning and scheduling.
- Comprehensive task management.
- Budget management.
- Exporting projects to pdf, png, and Excel formats.
- Time tracking.
- Notifications and deadlines.
- Sharing projects with third parties.
- Reporting with statistics.
- Handy Gantt chart templates.
Pricing:
- Free trial: 14 days.
- Basic: $7.99 user/month (billed annually).
- Pro: $12.99 user/month (billed annually).
- Business: $19.99 user/month (billed annually).
GanttPRO is also known as powerful construction project scheduling software https://blog.ganttpro.com/en/construction-scheduling-software/
Asana
Asana is a visually appealing project management tool easily ranked among the best PM software solutions for freelancers. Used by project teams all over the world, Asana’s functionality and design keep users engaged and active in the platform.
Even trying a free version, freelancers can get unlimited tasks and projects and collaborate with other colleagues. The platform is available on the web or through Android or iOS apps. It integrates with 100+ additional apps.
What are the main features?
- Friendly task planning.
- Helpful lists, boards, timelines, and calendars.
- Setting task dependencies for more effective planning.
- Set rules for automating critical actions.
- Advanced reporting system.
- Segmenting tasks into various categories.
Pricing:
- Free trial: 30 days.
- Premium: $10.99 user/month.
- Business: $ 24.99 user/month.
Monday
Another well-known project management software on the market (this is a new version of the previously known Dapulse).
Monday offers a clean interface and color-coded features. The tool is pretty straightforward to use and set up great for freelancing project managers and small business teams.
With the help of Monday, you will be able to centralize your data, leverage inbuilt integrations, reliable widgets, and third-party apps.
What are the main features?
- A colored timeline and option to sync a timeline with a calendar.
- Highly customizable workflows.
- Charts for timeline visualization.
- A map view for location-based projects.
- Handy portal for external stakeholders and customers.
- The undo button.
- Variety of templates for project managers.
- Cozy Kanban boards.
Pricing:
- Free trial: 14 days.
- Standard: $10 user/month.
- Pro: $16 user/month.
Trello
Trello provides a simple way to organize your projects with Kanban boards. Even a free plan allows unlimited boards and users, so this tool can be used by any freelancer.
Project managers use Trello to plan their assignments on a personal board, and teams can use the platform to build a complete project workflow with visibility at every stage.
You can track every detail of a project, support documentation, outbound links, photo files, and marketing copies. The interface looks straightforward for any team member to grasp quickly and master within a couple of weeks.
What are the main features?
- Easy-to-use online Kanban boards.
- Friendly task cards for adding and displaying various task details.
- Simple drag-and-drop editing.
- Integration with third-party app features.
- Built-in board repositories.
- Tags, labeling, and comments.
Pricing:
- Free trial: 14 days.
- Business: $12.50 user/month.
- Enterprise: $17.50 user/month.
ClickUp
ClickUp is a project management system that is used by leading companies and small freelance projects. The tool offers all the features project teams need to skyrocket their productivity and manage any task smoothly.
This is a free platform that is generous enough to accommodate multiple teams. Its simple structure is built to scale.
Project managers love its customizable dashboards and resource allocation feature that helps to gain more visibility into the project management process. If you’re on a small team or a freelancer, ClickUp might be the solution you’re looking for.
What are the main features?
- Multiple views for visualizing plans.
- Great features for remote work.
- Good for sprint management, bug tracking, or product launches.
- Custom statuses for any unique project that can be edited and colored individually.
- Timely alerts and notifications.
Pricing:
- Free trial: 14 days.
- Unlimited: $9 user/month.
Would you like to explore more reliable PM tools for freelancers?
The tools listed above will undoubtedly help you succeed if you choose the freelance path. However, there are even more powerful software services for freelance project management, so that you can choose the best one! Read on the following article on GanttPRO blog to get more: Best Freelance Project Management Software https://blog.ganttpro.com/en/freelance-project-management-tools/.
Anyway, note that freelance work requires choosing a reliable, friendly, and secure project management service. Many new coming project managers cannot do this, and it is pretty difficult for them to find remote work. However, it is worth their efforts.
Try your best to choose the best resource for freelancers and become a great PM!
