Project Management is a complex maze that can only be understood if you are vigilant from day one and keep an eye on everything that happens within your project.
The software world is quite diverse nowadays. There are a lot of different project tracking tools that are excellent trackers of every element connected to your project and ensure that everything is looked after and you achieve success.
But what do these project trackers track?
As we know that a project consists of the following basic elements:
- Resources: Every project requires an arsenal of different resources for the development team to utilize and make the project a definite success. These resources can be many different things like equipment, people, or any other items related to project development.
- Project Scope: Project Scope is essentially the script or the nature of the project on which it is going to be developed. This will include things like What is required for the project to be completed? What should be the size of the project? Which elements can potentially stall the development process?
- Time: Based on the calculations done with the project scope in mind, the time to complete the project development process is measured. This depends on a lot of different factors related to the project like resources, and interference from the stakeholders, among many others.
- Budget: Nothing in this life is free and you have to pay for everything if you want the best of it. Just like that, all of the projects that you are trying to develop are going to cost you, and depending on the size and the elements included in them, they are going to cost you a lot. So, to make sure that your project is not stalled in the middle of development, you need to find out how much money is required to finish the development process of the project and pass that information on to the stakeholders.
These are the four basic elements of a project that are also the tracker templates for a project tracking software, that can help the development team to design a project development process in which the project is an instant success and brings more value to the company.
This is where project tracking software comes into play. They are tried and tested project management tools that specialize in tracking all of the different components of a project and making sure that the upper 4 basic project elements are properly tracked and managed.
Why Track Your Project’s Progress?
Many people in the project management paradigm always ask about the purpose of tracking every element connected to a project. Because all of this surveillance over the project can just seem like the over-protected watch of the upper management.
But obviously, it is so much more than that.
For smaller projects, project tracking can be a bit easy than for bigger projects and might take a lot less time. But, for larger projects, the project tracking process can take up a lot of time and resources and might involve many numbers people to successfully perform.
Here are some of the practices which you can perform to make sure that the project is a definite success and brings more value to the company. They are:
- An improved level of communication among all of the team members, the project manager, and all of the stakeholders connected to the project.
- An effective resource management process that will help you manage all of your different resources, and makes sure that your staff is not overwhelmed by the flow of the work activities, and that the work burden doesn’t affect project timelines and delays priorities.
- A better scheduling system for all of the resources, processes, and tasks related to the project, to make sure that the project is not delayed in the slightest and every goal and milestone is performed and shipped to the client in the agreed-upon timeframe.
- You as a manager, are supposed to come up with the most effective budget management process to make sure that the project doesn’t go overboard, and that all of the tasks and activities are performed within the agreed-upon budget on time.
The 18 Best Project Tracker Tools to Use in 2023
Project Management is an incredible field of work because the software industry has created some of the most incredible applications to facilitate you in all of your PM activities.
The following applications are some of the project management tools that are the best Project tracking tools you can use in 2023. They are:
Let’s take a detailed look at all of them.
1. nTask
nTask is one of the best project tracker /management software you can find in the market right now.
It is specifically designed to make sure that all of the activities that you and your team are performing, be tracked and properly filed to make sure that you are informed of all of the changes regarding the project, keep everything in check, and make sure that you succeed.
Key Features
- Project Management
- Brainstorming
- Project Management
- Backlog Management
- Timesheets
- Workflow Management
- Board Meetings
- Meeting Minutes Management
- Gantt Charts
Pricing
- Basic free plan
- Premium plan starts at $3/month/user
- Business plan starts at $8/month/user
Easy To Use
Project Tracking!
2. Monday.com
Monday.com is yet another example of a project tracking tool that can help you keep an eye on everything related to your project like budget and resources etc. so that you can achieve success and gain value for the company.
Key Features
- Planning Tools
- Process Control
- Progress Tracking
- Project Management
- Project Templates
- Project Tracking
- Pulse Surveys
- Real-Time Notifications
- Reminders
- Reporting & Statistics
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $39/month
3. Podio
Podio is an excellent project tracking tool that has all of the features that can make sure that your project is well looked after like budget tracking and detailed time tracking tools to keep all of your processes and tasks in check. Some other features that this application provides are given below.
Key Features
- Activity Dashboard
- Activity Tracking
- Automatic Notifications
- Calendar Management
- Chat
- Collaborative Review
- Collections Management
- Communication Management
- Two-Way Audio & Video
- User Management
- Workflow Management
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $9/month
4. Wrike
The next project tracking tool is Wrike. Another amazing project management software that can act as an incredible project tracking tool for you with the help of its excellent features like Kanban boards, traditional task lists, and many other tracking methods that can help you keep an eye on everything related to your project and achieve success.
Key Features
- Projections
- Real-Time Notifications
- Real-Time Updates
- Reporting & Statistics
- Resource Management
- Rules-Based Workflow
- Secure Data Storage
- Status Reporting
- Tagging
- Task Planning
- Task Tracking
- Third-Party Integration
- Timer
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $24.80/month
5. Jira
Jira is an amazing project management software that has different features like creating a work breakdown structure and other agile features, that allow you to keep everything in check in your project development process, making your project a success and bringing in more value for the company.
Key Features
- Unlimited custom fields
- Seamless source and issue integration
- Advanced Reporting
- Advanced security and administration
- Easily import data from other systems
- On-Demand and On-premise deployment
- Polished user experience
- Customizable workflows
- Bugs and defect management
- Search and filtering
- Customizable dashboards and wallboards
- Integration with flexible REST APIs
- Mobile interface
- Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban boards
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $7/user/month
6. Airtable
One of the more beautifully designed applications on this list, Airtable is an amazing project management software that allows you to track all of the different processes and projects in your company’s roster easily, without straining your eyes due to its beautiful UI.
Key Features
- Link Records Between Tables
- Customized Views
- Customized Fields
- Email integration
- Social media integration
- Forms Management
- Collaborative Workspace
- Records Management
- Application Integration
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $10/user/month
7. Microsoft Project
Probably one of the oldest to-date software on this list, MS Project is an amazing project tracking application that can help you generate project tracking spreadsheets that can help you keep track of all of the entities connected to your project.
These project tracking spreadsheets are an old way of keeping track of everything but it is still valid to use in many different projects all around the project management world.
Key Features
- Simplify IT management
- Anticipate change
- Communicate in real-time
- Deliver projects successfully
- Access from virtually anywhere
- Deliver projects successfully
- Project Portfolio Management
- Discover and share information
Pricing
- Paid subscription at $7/user/month
8. Scoro
Probably one of the most featureful applications on this list, Scoro is one of the best project tracker tools that you can use to take care of all of your projects. Just take a look at all of the features that this application has to offer.
Key Features
- Access Control
- Action Item Tracking
- Activity Management
- Ad hoc Reporting
- Asset Management
- Attendance Tracking
- Automated Scheduling
- Automatic Notifications
- Availability Management
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $26/month
9. TeamGantt
Next up in the project tracker tools list is TeamGantt. This software uses Kanban boards to keep track of all of the activities being performed in your project.
Key Features
- Employee monitoring and management
- Task Management
- Reports
- Access on The Go
- Project Visualization
- Project Management
- Conversations
- Print PDF’s
- Sub-Groups
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $7.90/month
10. Toggl Plan
One of the most effective software choices for all your project tracker activities, Toggl Plan is an incredible application that is full of features that can help you schedule, plan, and communicate all of the information among your team members and be successful.
Key Features
- Multiple Projects
- Progress Tracking
- Project Planning
- Project Tracking
- Milestone Tracking
- Planning Tools
- Project Management
- Project Time Tracking
- Projections
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $8/month
11. Todoist
Todoist is incredibly affordable, yet, premium software that can help you take care of all of your project tracking activities. It has a lot of third-party integrations so; you won’t have to part with any of your work applications and can start working from day one.
Key Features
- Subprojects
- Sub Tasks
- Notifications
- Powerful Recurring Dates
- Productivity Visualization
- Labels
- Filters
- Archive Search
- Project templates
Pricing
- Paid subscription starts at $28.99/per year
12. Apploye
Apploye is a time-tracking solution that offers you to create multiple tasks under various projects and track time against those tasks and projects.
Projects & Budgeting is a wonderful feature offered by Apploye that you can leverage to gain significant edges for your business as declaring budgets and assigning roles are straightforward through Apploye. Besides, you may be able to add client profiles to projects and see the project summary at a glance.
Key Features
- Archived & Budgeted view of projects.
- Project billing
- Project Budget
- Budget alerts
- Start date and deadline
- Project manager role
- Set project status
Pricing
- Solo: $4/user/month
- Standard: $5/user/month
- Premium: $6/user/month
- Elite: $7/user/month
- Save up to 50% by choosing annual pricing.
13. Indy
Indy is a simple task management tool for freelancers and independent contractors. What makes Indy unique is its focus on your entire workflow as a solopreneur.
You can use Indy to create tasks just like every other task manager on our list. Indy goes a step further, though. With Indy, your tasks can be connected to projects, tracked using the built-in time tracker, added to an invoice with just a few clicks, and you can get paid with the payment gateway. The integration with all the other tools is what makes Indy so helpful for freelancers.
Back to the task manager. Indy can do everything you need from a task and project management app as an independent contractor. You can create projects, add tasks to them, link tasks to deadlines, write task descriptions, and tag tasks to create categories like “Completed” or “Waiting on Client.” Setting up recurring tasks is quick and painless.
Key Features
- Simple and easy to use for freelancers
- Integrated with more tools for a smoother workflow
- The fast task-creation process
- Link tasks to projects
- Connect to the built-in time tracker
- Invoicing from the time tracker and task list is quick and easy
- Tags for tasks help keep you organized
Pricing
- Free: Built for 1 user
- Pro Bundle: $12 per month
14. Hubstaff
Hubstaff is an all-in-one project tracking tool designed to help businesses and teams stay on top of their projects in 2023.
This cloud-based software offers organizations a comprehensive suite of features for team collaboration, project management, and time tracking. By utilizing Hubstaff’s robust feature set, companies can rest assured that their projects are being managed and tracked effectively.
At the core of Hubstaff’s capabilities is its intuitive user interface which allows users to quickly and easily access the tools they need to complete their tasks. It also gives users the ability to assign tasks, deadlines, priority levels, and more. Additionally, Hubstaff’s powerful reporting tools provide comprehensive insights into how a project is progressing and what areas may require attention or improvement.
The program also includes several standalone features that make it stand out from other project tracking tools. These include a built-in chat function for team members to communicate with each other in real-time, an automated job scheduling feature for creating recurring tasks, and a mobile app that allows users to keep track of their work when they are away from the office.
Key Features:
- Time tracking for multiple project monitoring purposes, and billing
- Optional screenshots for employee activity monitoring and accountability
- Activity rates for optimal project scheduling
- Set up achievements to incentivize employees and employers
- Budgets and job costing module to manage billing activities
- Dedicated invoicing system
Pricing:
- Free 14-day trial is offered for evaluation purposes
- Paid plans are split into 3 categories – Hubstaff Time, Hustaff Desk, and Hubstaff Field
- For details, check the pricing page to see accurate information regarding any package
15. Adobe Workfront
Adobe Workfront is a cloud-based project tracker tool designed for teams of variable sizes.
It’s a comprehensive, integrated platform that helps teams stay on track, manage projects and tasks efficiently, and collaborate effectively. It offers a wide range of capabilities to help you plan, execute and monitor your projects more effectively.
When it comes to project tracking, Adobe Workfront is one of the best tools available in 2023. Its key features include detailed workflow planning, task management with automated reminders and notifications, real-time collaboration across teams, resource utilization tracking and reporting, customized dashboards for easy project monitoring, integrated calendar management with multiple views for better scheduling, and agile project planning capabilities.
With Adobe Workfront’s workflow planning feature, you can easily define tasks related to each phase of the project. This includes assigning resources to each task along with due dates and clear guidelines for execution. You also have access to comprehensive reporting options that allow you to track progress easily while staying on top of overall objectives.
Adobe Workfront’s task management feature provides an efficient way to keep your team on track when it comes to completing tasks within a given timeframe. Automated reminders ensure that deadlines are met while detailed notifications keep everyone informed about any changes or updates.
Key Features:
- Multiple goals alignment with active project tracking
- Work automation ability to reduce manual redundancies
- Plan different project scenarios according to project requirements
- Active workflow management across multiple projects, teams, and dashboards
- Enterprise security
- Multiple in-depth reporting dashboards with exportable reports and analytics
- Set up project proofing and approvals across different user roles
- Overall agile work management
Pricing:
- Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans are available, but price details are not disclosed until contact.
16. Kissflow Projects
Kissflow Projects is a cloud-based project management software designed to help teams collaborate, manage tasks, and track project progress.
As a project tracker tool, the program provides users with a simple and intuitive interface that allows them to manage projects of any size, from start to finish.
Key Features
- Set deadlines, milestones, and dependencies to ensure that projects stay on track.
- Share files, comments, and feedback, and can easily communicate with each other in real-time
- Users can manage tasks and track their progress in real-time
- A range of task management tools, including task lists, kanban boards, and Gantt charts are included as a feature set in this best project tracker
- Advanced reporting and analytics capabilities
- Create custom reports and dashboards, track project budgets, and monitor project progress in real-time
- Track their time spent on tasks, which can help with project budgeting and resource allocation with this project-tracking software
Pricing
- Paid plans start at $15/user/month for the Small Business package
17. ProjectManager.com
ProjectManager.com is a cloud-based project management and more of project tracker software designed to help teams plan, track, and collaborate on projects.
Dubbed one of the best project trackers to date, the platform offers users a range of features and tools that enable them to manage projects of any size, from start to finish. Here’s a detailed description of ProjectManager.com, including its features and pricing information:
Key Features
- Allows users to create project plans and assign tasks to team members
- Set deadlines, milestones, and dependencies to ensure that projects stay on track
- Dedicated tools to track project progress through robust collaboration and communication features across site-wide teams
- Share files, comments, and feedback, and can easily communicate with each other in real-time
- Manage project resources, including people, equipment, and materials
- Track resource availability, allocate resources to tasks, and manage resource costs
Pricing
- Paid plans start at $13/user/month for the ‘Team’ package
18. Trello
Up next on the best project tracker list, we’ve got Trello.
It is a cloud-based project tracking and management software that enables teams to manage projects and tasks collaboratively.
The cloud-based project tracking software employs a minimalistic interface and UX that uses a simple, visual approach to project management that allows users to organize tasks, projects, and ideas in a flexible and customizable way.
Key Features
- Trello’s board system allows users to organize and categorize their tasks and projects
- Assign tasks to team members, set due dates and deadlines, and add checklists and attachments
- Commenting and notification features allow team members to communicate with each other
- Share boards with external collaborators and clients to facilitate collaboration and communication
- Comes with a long range of automation features, including the ability to automate repetitive tasks, such as moving cards between lists or assigning due dates based on task completion
Pricing
- Paid plans start at $5 /user/month for the standard package
How to Use a Project Tracker?
By this point, you may have seen different software that can help you to take care of all of your project tracking needs and requirements. Using these programs is going to be different. But if you want to know some basic tips to make the user experience rewarding, here’s what can be done:
1. Software Features Vs. Requirements
Any software belonging to any genre has to, first and foremost, be beneficial for you and capable of meeting all your needs and requirements from the moment you set it up according to your criteria.
For a project tracker, the capabilities are supposed to be things like budget tracking that helps to keep track of all of the different processes and tasks related to the project, and all of the money being spent to perform those tasks.
2. Ease of Use Is Proportional to Overall User Experience
Projects and Services change every day and the company needs to have resources and tools that can help them customize those projects and services according to the times.
To do that, the project tracking tool that you use needs to be intuitive and capable of making rapid changes so that the company can compete with the changing times head-on.
How I Picked The Best Project Tracking Software?
As a project manager, it is important to be able to trust the tools you use for tracking projects. In my search for the best project-tracking software for 2023, I had a few criteria in mind.
First, I wanted a tool that provided comprehensive tracking capabilities. This meant that I looked for software that could track multiple tasks at once and provide real-time updates on the progress of those tasks. Additionally, I was looking for software that would allow me to customize the levels of detail in my reports and analysis.
Second, I wanted a tool with an intuitive interface. This meant that the software should be easy to use and understand, even for beginner users. The interface should also provide clear guidance on how to set up projects and manage tasks.
Finally, I was looking for something affordable yet reliable. To ensure this, I compared multiple options based on their features and price points before selecting one that met all my criteria.
By carefully considering these three criteria and comparing different options side by side, I was able to find the best project tracker tool for beginner-level project managers – one that is both reliable and affordable!
How to Select the Right Project Scheduling Software?
The key to selecting the right project scheduling software is to look at its features and determine which ones fit best with your current project management needs.
This means looking at things like user-friendliness, task-tracking capabilities, reporting and analytics capabilities, collaboration abilities, and more. Additionally, you should consider the cost of the tool and whether or not it integrates with other systems you may already be using.
When selecting a project scheduling software, it’s important to evaluate how it will fit into your current workflow. Consider how much time it will save you in managing tasks or tracking progress on projects and ask yourself if that time saving outweighs any potential cost savings from using an alternative tool. It’s also important to think about how easy or difficult it may be to learn new features within the software as well as its scalability for future projects.
Lastly, make sure that the tool is compatible with other technologies being used within your organization so that data can be seamlessly shared across teams. Feel free to improvise along the way, as per project requirements. Doing so is considered best for ensuring optimal results.
FAQ’s
What does project tracking software do?
Likewise, the tool also offers team management and team activity tracking, but that depends on the business requirements vs actual features offered in the program.
What’s The Difference Between Project And Issue Tracking?
Issue tracking, on the other hand, is more of a specific genre of track that pertains to roadblocks, risks, performance blockers, bugs, and vice versa within a project.
Which features should I look for when selecting project tracking software?
Is there any free project-tracking software?
What are the types of tracking software?
The whole idea of project tracking is more of a reliability criterion where project managers can depend on one tool to get by with multiple tracking capabilities.
Conclusion
Despite summing up these programs, we are sure that you may be using a completely different tool. If that’s the case, we would love to know all about it. Fill your fellow readers in on your favorite project tracker tool of 2023 through the comments section below.
Alternatively, you can also write to us at fwilson@ntaskmanager.com with your valuable insight. Good luck and don’t forget to have fun with project-tracking apps.
