Guest Post: Top 6 ClickUp Alternatives for Project Management
In a world where collaboration is the source of all successful projects, you need a tool that will help you organize, sort and manage all aspects of your work in an efficient and simple way. A lot of people’s first choice is ClickUp that although a great tool can be a bit overwhelming.
Today we will be talking about ClickUp alternative cloud solutions for people who are looking for something different that would fit their needs better. After all, why not review the best alternatives before you commit?
The importance of project management
There is no doubt that project management is an important thing. After all, could you imagine your work if all the projects would be made without a plan? If instead of a careful task dividing, figuring out what should be done first, what’s the end goal, you would simply gather a few people, say what’s the idea and just do it?
That is a recipe for chaos that will make you want to reconsider coming up with an idea in the first place, and might result in an unhappy higher management. And that’s the last thing you want on your plate, next to a failed design.
Project management allows you to establish responsibilities, tasks, find the best supporting processes and reach a project goal without spending above budget. At the same time it’s a much underappreciated work that doesn’;t get enough recognition. Thankfully nowadays, as a project manager you get a chance to lessen your workload a bit — by using apps.
What are you looking for?
If you decided to use a project management application you don’t want to just go to the first one you find and settle there. Allow yourself for some testing, before you make your final decision. If you’re not experienced with using project management apps, then there are a couple of things you want to take into consideration.
- Simple design
If you’re anything like me you don’t want to clutter your already overloaded brain with more things. You want an application that is simple to use and easy on the eyes. Something that won’t make you stressed on the login screen and won’t make your head dizzy from all the options.
According to the study, employees spend around one-third of their time at work being unproductive. We don’t want to add even more time to their “unproductive” hours with an overly complicated tool that will require multiple tutorials or even a dedicated training. And even though it’s been proved that during the pandemic the productivity went up over 13% it doesn’t mean that you can spend more time figuring out the management tool. There are more important tasks at hand that should be completed.
2. Ease of communication
When you want to manage your project effectively you should know the basis — communication. Without the ability to quickly contact your coworkers you risk backing up your project or getting a different result altogether. That’s why you need to have a tool that can assist you with effective communication, preferably integrated directly in your other project management apps. That way you can always reference the task if you need to.
3. Collaboration
When you’re creating a project, you’re not doing it alone. You’re in a team. And if you don’t have a tool to effectively communicate with the coworkers, your project can quickly go downhill. This is especially important during current times, where most people work remotely as a new normal.
What you need is a tool that will allow you to quickly get in touch with people, easily share designs and help you bring the project together, without making you feel overwhelmed.
Why not ClickUp?
In one of the ClickUp reviews it stated that this app “is one to rule them all” and the ClickUp itself goes with a similar slogan. While it might sound like a dream to have a project management app that can do everything you could possibly need, it can be quite a downside.
ClickUp is too chaotic. All the features are within one app, which means you have Docs, Project management, HR, Sales, Finances and so on. Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have those options, but when everything can be accessed through one login, without some sort of separation it can be quite overwhelming.
From the first time you log in you are literally bombarded with video tutorials, popup screens and long list of options, that doesn’t make you feel productive. It makes you feel confused, lost and discouraged. You might think that maybe it’s only the initial impression, however many have been complaining that after going through the tutorial section, the app is still too complex, and it takes far too much to get to relevant information. And speaking of relevant information, when creating a project you want to have a clear mind. I found it quite hard to achieve where in every “example” ClickUp used adjectives like “awesome” or “amazing”. It’s definitely cute but not needed.
If you’re looking for something more straightforward and simple, you definitely should read more, as we are giving you some of the best ClickUp alternatives on the market.
If you want an application that grows with you and is overall a simple, minimalistic and easy-to-use tool for project management — Nifty is a thing for you. Setting up takes only a few clicks where you get to choose the mode and you also get to set up a dedicated chat, so your communication needs are fulfilled.
Many people confirmed that one of the greatest features of Nifty is their massive integration library and the small learning curve, which makes this app fully usable from the start. No disturbing pop-up tutorials or an array of intense colors that make you feel overwhelmed before you even start.
Their UI is clean and has all the necessary elements for you to clearly see the options without getting confused. Furthermore they have equally usable mobile apps and take feedback from their customers very seriously.
When it comes to the price, you can get a starter pack for $39 with an impressive storage space, up to 10 team members, and quite a lot of options to match your needs. There is of course a trail and before you even log in, you can request a demo to make sure this is what you are looking for.
Another ClickUp alternative with substantially cleaner design that is perfect for small businesses. Especially if you’re starting out with creating and managing your first project management, Monday.com has a bunch of pre-made templates that can guide you on how to navigate your projects, without any additional fluff.
Their UI is very minimalist with tasteful popof colors which makes it very easy to navigate. Furthermore you get to color code the tasks and notes according to your whims. That means that you can see right away what needs to be done, and what is in progress. You also get to attach quotes or notes to keep the rest of the team updated throughout the project.
There is also one more feature, that users are loving, and that is automation. You get to automate certain repetitive tasks so you only really need to set them up once, and never bother with this again. It’s very useful for people who are very busy or on the run, and don’t have time to sit in front of the computer delegating assignments.
For the price of $39 you get five seats within the app and all the essentials, like forms, dashboard, mobile apps and unlimited viewers and as always, you get to try the app for free first.
There wouldn’t be a project management article if we didn’t mention Asana. Established in 2012 is globally recognized as a project management tool for larger businesses. However it is quite popular in startups as well.
Asana design is sleek but it also has some cute, funky elements — like flying unicorns or some monsters peeking at you during certain actions. It’s still very minimalistic and tasteful, which means that your dashboard is not overly cluttered, but it invites you to celebrate your achievements. It’s also quite a scalable one, where you can manage your whole company projects as well as your personal to-do tasks.
Their pricing is a little bit different, as they have a flat rate of $10,99 per user, per month. They do also have a free plan that has a lot of options, including unlimited free storage, up to 15 team members, integrations, time tracking and mobile apps. All the basics you need to start working!
If you’re looking for a minimalistic, simple approach to project management Basecamp is a great ClickUp alternative for you. Their dashboard works in tiles and it’s very transparent to use. They managed to keep the all-in-one application approach but made it elegant and not at all confusing.
You can search pretty much any element of your project and it will give you all the relevant results as well as sort it via types of tasks — to-do’s, schedules, documents and group chats are separated, making it very easy to see right away what you still need to finish, and what was already marked as done. Furthermore you have other options for dedicated employees. Different features for project managers, owners, viewers and other coworkers — it means that you can easily enable some options and you’ll avoid the possibility of someone clicking something they shouldn’t.
Basecamp pricing is a bit different from the rest of the project management apps you read about here. They have a flat rate instead of the usual, user-per-month plans. Although a bit pricey, because you pay $99 per month, it does have an option for a 30-day free trial as well as Basecamp:Personal, where you can use their app for free. Of course, there are limitations, but it’s a great way to check the app, and see how you like it.
Jira is one of those project management apps that work especially well for smaller businesses. Their UI is easy to use, intuitive and error-free. You simply drag and drop tasks. You can set up different actions, ETA’s, manage the employees and even check their activity all without clicking through ons of pages. Although it can be a bit confusing at first, as all the options are displayed in front, it doesn’t take much more than a day to get used to it.
Jira has a massive integration library, which means that you can truly make it your own. Combine that with a sleek design and non-invasive popup screens and you’ve got a management tool that is scalable and works well in technical as well as creative teams.
You should definitely keep this app in mind no matter if you’re running a startup or a big corporation. However it’s worth checking it out as it can bet a bit chaotic, the more employees and projects you create.
You can get Jira for free for up to 10 users or take advantage of their attractive pricing starting from $7/user/month. Included in the price is a massive storage, support and a bunch of features that will definitely come in handy.
If you’re looking for flexibility it’s worth checking out Wrike. Many compliment their ability to view the same data differently, and the option to adjust the dashboard exactly to your preferences. You can easily collaborate with other members by tagging, scheduling and sending messages. Additional perk is that Wrike is heavily community-based. So if you have an idea what can be changed, improved or added, other users can vote on that, and that ultimately can be added to the application. Neat!
Wrike is a bit more complicated to learn, as it does require you to go through some of their tutorials. However it still isn’t overwhelming, and with a little patience you can easily navigate even the most advanced functions in the system.
Wrike has a couple of pricing plans, starting with a free option, where you get a maximum of 5 users and some of their basic features to get you started. Their next pricing plan is for $9.80 per user per month and is up to 15 users. To be honest, their more interesting features start with the next plan which can be a bit more pricey, but you can always start a free trial to see which one really suits you best.
Wrapping up
As we mentioned before, project management apps are necessary if you want to lead your team to victory. They are an essential tool for your company and the only trick is to pick the right one. Hopefully this list of really nice apps that are a good alternative, especially for people who are looking for something fresh and different will come in handy.
There are tons of other project management apps that we didn’t mention. Let us know which app you are using and what is the number one thing you are looking for, for your project management needs.
About the Author
Anna is working as a Content Creator in Elastic Email. She’s an email marketing enthusiast with a millennial approach and love for extensive research. When she’s not writing she’s either buying plants, doing embroidery, and crossing things off her checklist.
About Elastic Email
All the email marketing and delivery tools you need to communicate with your customers. We try to make the world a better place by creating a faster, more efficient email platform. We strongly believe that #EmailSavesTrees, therefore we donate a percentage of all our sales to non-profit organizations protecting the forests around the world. Elastic Email offers a SMTP Relay, HTTP API, Account Interface, Contact Management, Template Editor and many more.
