Project Management Collaboration Tools: 6 Top Picks

Improving project management processes is the top priority for over 50% of surveyed PMOs. If you've made it here, you're probably a part of that group. Project management tools let you take much of the processing and analytical load off your shoulders so you can focus on interpersonal and behavioral skills.

But with so many team and project management tools, how do you choose the best collaboration software? We've got you.

Below, we'll compare the six top picks for the most practical project management collaboration tools so you don't have to waste time on research. We included a transparent comparison table to help you decide between the options. Scroll down to see the criteria for selecting the best collaboration tools for this list.

6 best project management collaboration tools

workstreams.ai

workstreams.ai is an AI project management tool that helps you juggle all tasks without missing a beat. 70% of our customers say their task management processes have become more efficient since using workstreams.ai. That's thanks to our powerful yet easy-to-use project management workflow features, including a modern in-built AI assistant.

The growing popularity of AI tools in project collaboration tools is clear. One report shows that the commonness of such solutions grew from 10% to almost 30% in 2022 alone. Its main advantage is streamlining repetitive and time-consuming tasks so project managers can focus on working directly with people.

However, that's not the only convenience workstreams.ai gives you. It's best for teams of any size looking for workflow management software with AI functionalities, project planning, and time tracking, all in a friendly UI and at an affordable price.

You'll find that this is one of the best project collaboration software options, as it also includes handy integrations:

• Integrations with messaging apps allow you to manage projects in Slack or Microsoft Teams, directly from where you discuss ideas

• A Trello integration that mirrors every change you make in workstreams.ai

• Calendar integration that you can connect with the workstreams.ai in-app calendar

• Webhook integration – a tech-oriented feature that lets you push data from any source and create tasks out of it in workstreams.ai

Features

• AI Task Description Generator: This allows you to save time by only writing prompts for AI to expand on

• Smart action items: workstreams.ai automatically breaks down detailed task descriptions into checkable subtasks that you can assign to any team member

• Prompt shortcuts: Save your best prompts as shortcuts and access them instantly without wasting time on brainstorming ideas again

• Time allocation: The in-built time tracking feature calculates how long it takes to complete every step of the process so you can manage time and resources more effectively

• Frozen tasks: workstreams.ai pinpoints the tasks that nobody touched and marks them in grey so you can easily see where your team gets stuck

• In-app calendar: With a monthly, weekly, and daily agenda view, you can always stay organized; completed and overdue tasks are marked accordingly

• Task automation: Set up forwarding rules, feedback loops, and repeating tasks to streamline your workflow

Pricing

workstreams.ai comes in three pricing tiers:

• Free: Includes everything from the Pro plan for up to three team members

• Pro: From $7,99/user/month

• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Check out our 14-day free Pro trial to see how smoothly your team collaboration can run.

Psst: We suggest yearly or quarterly payments if you want to save money or monthly billing if you're still unsure about our project collaboration software, even after the free trial.

ClickUp

ClickUp is a robust team management software with many features to streamline workflows. Its suite of team collaboration tools, task and resource management capabilities, and detailed analytics make it a well-rounded platform for project management.

Moreover, ClickUp's versatility is evident in its 15+ project views, including Gantt, map, timeline, list, and box views, all of which can be tailored to different working styles.

With its agile reporting, sprint planning, and issue-tracking features, this team collaboration tool is best suited for product development teams.

Source: G2

See also: ClickUp alternatives

Features

• Customizable workspaces and task management: Set up the platform so it fits your team's working style

• Collaboration features: See what tasks others have viewed, edit and sync in real time, assign comments, add mentions, and more

• Time management: This includes project timeline view, workload view, and time in status, all to help you always deliver on schedule

• Reporting tools: Track progress and get feedback on your productivity to make more informed decisions in the future

• Integrations: Connect ClickUp with collaboration tools like Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Loom, and Microsoft Office

Pricing

ClickUp has four pricing options, each subsequent with a more robust feature set (all above Free allow unlimited users):

• Free Forever: For up to five spaces

• Unlimited: From $7/user/month

• Business: From $12/user/month

• Enterprise: Custom pricing

ClickUp AI is paid extra and can be added to any paid plan for an additional $5/month.

Asana

Asana is a comprehensive yet fairly user-friendly project management software that offers advanced automation, workload management, approval workflows, and other features.

In terms of team collaboration, the platform allows task comments, project or team discussions, and private messaging. Additionally, you can follow your team members to stay updated on their progress and activities.

This project collaboration tool is best used as a marketing project management software, as it has many marketing-specific templates.

Source: G2

See also: Asana alternatives

Features

• Project management: This includes task and project organization, custom project views, labels for filtering, and status updates

• Workflow Builder: Create automated tasks, processes, and dependencies between them with a drag-and-drop interface and save them as templates for future reuse in optimized workflows

• Portfolio management: This section lets you handle multiple projects at the same time, assign owners, and invite team members

• Goals and reporting: Dashboards help you visualize your progress and project data

• Resource management: Time tracking and workload management give you insight into how busy your team is, where you need to reallocate tasks or shift your budget

• Asana Intelligence: Use the AI task manager to write smart custom fields, extract action items and highlights from conversations, edit text, identify roadblocks, and answer your questions

• Integrations: Asana connects to communication, IT and development, marketing, design, and productivity tools, like Slack, MS Teams, Zoom, Google Drive, Okta, Trello, Canva, etc.

Pricing

Asana has three pricing tiers for individuals and small teams, each consecutive giving you access to more features:

• Personal: Free forever for up to ten users (AI features not included)

• Starter: From $10.99/user/month for up to 500 users

• Advanced: From $24.99/user/month, also up to 500 users

You can also pick one of the two Enterprise plans, each with custom pricing available upon request.

Wrike

Wrike is a project management platform that caters to teams of all sizes. What sets it apart is its Work Intelligence feature, which uses AI and Machine Learning technology to generate tasks and subtasks automatically, evaluate potential risk factors associated with a project, and offer automated response suggestions.

This team collaboration software is best for midsize companies, particularly creative agencies and marketing teams.

Source: Capterra

See also: Wrike alternatives

Features

• Collaboration tools: Wrike allows cross-tagging, approval chains, live document editing, proofing, version comparisons, and file storing

• Project organization: As a project manager, you can create workflows and configure your team's workspaces with pre-built templates, granular permissions setup, custom item types, dynamic request forms, and an unlimited number of assigned items

• Multiple workspace views: Switch between calendar, board, table, and Gantt charts

• Effort management: Assign job roles, create resource bookings, spot uneven workloads in charts, monitor costs with budgeting features, and track the time spent on tasks

• Automation: Automate repetitive tasks, synchronize related activities, and minimize manual errors

• Work Intelligence: Wrike's AI feature generates briefs, plans, and brainstorms ideas, edits text to make it consistent, summarizes discussions, and identifies risks

• Integrations: This project management software includes an Adobe Creative Cloud extension and many integrations, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Bynder, Zoom, and Slack

Pricing

Each Wrike tier lets you add more users and gives you access to more features. Their prices are:

• Free: For up to three users

• Team: $9.80/user/month for up to 25 seats

• Business: $24.80/user/month for up to 200 seats

• Enterprise and Pinnacle: Custom pricing and unlimited seats

Basecamp

Basecamp is an online collaboration platform with solid features that allow you to organize and track progress. The tool offers one-on-one direct messaging, group chats, and a shared area for saving, distributing, and discussing files with your project team.

A unique Basecamp feature is creating automatic polls. This enables you to collect feedback from your team members by sending the surveys to groups or selected members. Unfortunately, there are no native time tracking or prioritization options.

This project management tool is best for large companies handling many departments – the fixed-price Pro plan can help you save money while facilitating the organized cooperation of multiple team members.

Source: Capterra

See also: Basecamp alternatives

Features

• In-built messaging: Basecamp has a real-time group chat, direct messages, and an email replacement for bigger discussions

• Reports: View overdue tasks, teammates' activities, added and completed to-dos, and upcoming deadlines with Hill Charts that illustrate what still needs tweaking and what's already in production

• Automatic check-ins: Set up daily, weekly, or monthly questions, with a log of all the replies you can review after time

• Native calendar: Schedule events, deadlines, and milestones and sync them with your Google Calendar, iCal, or Outlook

• Various dashboards: The general view lets you pin the most important projects at the top and shows the recently visited ones below; there are also to-do lists, a lineup of tasks, and a unique take on Kanban boards

• Integrations: These are called Doors in Basecamp, and there are several you can add, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Airtable, Dropbox, Google Workspace, MS Teams, Jira, Notion, Slack, Salesforce, and Zendesk

Pricing

Basecamp is the only project management collaboration tool from our list that doesn't offer a free forever option. You can try it out for free for 30 days or pick one of these tiers:

• Basecamp: $15/user/month, includes access to all key features

• Basecamp Pro Unlimited: From $299/month for unlimited users, more storage space, and priority support

Monday.com

Monday.com is yet another platform that combines the functionalities of project management and collaboration tools.

It offers a high degree of customization and enables project managers to efficiently handle resource and portfolio management, proofing, and other tasks. Marketing teams can use this platform for managing events, tracking campaigns, and handling creative assets.

This tool for managing projects and people is best for companies looking for ways to help their teams collaborate while automating mundane tasks.

Source: Capterra

See also: Monday.com alternatives

Features

• Codeless automation: Set automatic emails and updates before due dates or after task completion

• File sharing: Have all your documents in one place and manage access permissions for teams and project stakeholders

• Custom dashboards: Sort and view data however you like, from general overviews to granular details

• Different workflow views: Organize your team projects in calendars, timelines, workflow maps, Kanban boards, or Gantt charts (you can even import Excel data)

• Collaborative Whiteboards: This feature facilitates real-time collaboration where you can edit, brainstorm, and create together

• Integrations: You can connect Monday.com with over 200 communication, collaboration, marketing, development, CRM, and finance tools

Pricing

Each consecutive Monday.com pricing tier includes more robust features and storage space (all above the Free plan allow unlimited users):

• Free: For up to two seats

• Basic: From €9/user/month

• Standard: From €12/user/month

• Pro: From €19/user/month

• Enterprise: Custom pricing

The best project management collaboration tools: Comparison table

Project management collaboration tools: Selection criteria

Features

These are the main aspects we considered for each project collaboration tool on our list:

• Collaboration features: These include all functionalities that facilitate team communication and teamwork, such as instant messaging, file sharing, and document collaboration tools.

• Project management features: These allow for handling complex projects with ease. They're centered around planning, organizing, and tracking the progress of tasks and projects.

• AI capabilities: As the popularity of this technology is spreading, you should start implementing it in your processes to help you save time on anything that can be automated.

• UI/UX: We provided dashboard screenshots for each tool to help you judge if the interface looks pleasant and transparent at first glance.

• Integrations: Look for seamless connections with the tools your project team is using, like communication channels, calendars, etc.

Pricing

Most collaborative project management software options we included in our list have free options for basic needs. Some have limited features or don't allow more than a handful of team members. This could be enough for small businesses but won't do for larger companies.

However, we wouldn't worry too much about paying for a project management collaboration tool. More than 66% of leaders say they have achieved a return from their digital investments. With task management software being usually on the cheaper side, we suggest focusing more on choosing the feature set that's most valuable for how your project teams operate.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide helped you pick the right project collaboration tool for your team, whatever your unique needs are. This collection of the best online collaboration tools includes a solution for everyone.

workstreams.ai is a notable pick, as it's the only option that gives you access to all of its features for free. Other project collaboration tools only allow limited functionalities for free or offer demos. On top of that, workstreams.ai includes AI functionality, collaboration tools, and award-winning integrations that help you always stay on the same page with project team members.

Sign up to start effectively increasing your productivity today.

FAQs

What are collaboration tools in project management?

Team collaboration software facilitates communication, coordination, and teamwork. These tools typically include file sharing, real-time messaging, task assignment, scheduling, tracking project progress, and document collaboration features. Such tools are precious for remote teams, helping them stay organized regardless of location or time zone.

Is Jira a collaboration tool?

Yes, Jira allows you to capture and organize issues, assign tasks to teammates, follow your staff's activity, and manage projects. See also: Jira alternatives

What is an example of a collaboration management tool?

workstreams.ai is a great example, as it's one of the best online collaboration tools. Other examples of project management software include ClickUp, Asana, Wrike, Basecamp, and Monday.com.