5 Best Project Management Tools For Software Development

So, you are in the market for a Project management tool that suits software development.

Ideal, because in this article we have our compilation list for our top picks, and we compare the features and pricing for you. 

If you just want the best choice, we’ve added that right at the top of the article as this was what is most requested by our customers and what we see the best feedback with. So, that’ll be the “can’t go wrong” option. 

Otherwise, feel free to explore all the options we’ve reviewed on the market to find something that might fit you a little better.

Enjoy the list!

The Best Project Management Tool Specifically for Software Development

In the intricate and fast-paced world of software development, the role of effective project management cannot be overstated.

As projects grow in complexity, the need for tools that can streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and offer predictive insights becomes paramount.

AI-driven project management software, with its advanced capabilities, is emerging as the gold standard in this domain. These tools provide teams with a blend of automation, precision, and adaptability that traditional tools simply can’t match.

1. Monday

Monday integrates client emails, collects leads with forms, and refines marketing campaigns through scrupulous analysis that greatly enhances your relationship with clients and creates more business opportunities. It’s an easy-to-use platform that simplifies organizational tasks for sales and marketing teams.

Monday Features

Here are some features that make Monday a unique CRM:

• Software development: Monday provides templates to help your technical team quickly organize tasks, find bugs and improve iterations. You can add indicators to let the team know what you are working on and analyze the resource allocation. Every project has a specific ID that can be used; to track it among other tasks. Clients will automatically be alerted once the error is solved to reduce downtime and keep customers updated.
• HR structuring: Monday lets users manage recruiting process and track employee progression through its HR tools such as Applicant Tracker, Employee Engagement, Attendance Tracker, Recruitment Tracker, and Vacation Tracker. You can boost the team spirit of your employees by creating specific goals and giving constructive feedback on their work.
• Inventory Management: Businesses can record product and asset details while setting automation to get regular updates about sales and inquiries. You can create new templates to match the company’s requirements and integrate Monday with other applications to make the tasks easier. Moreover, Monday generates a unique QR code for each product so your clients can coherently buy the inventory.
• Marketing and Creative attributes: Monday can bridge the gap between creative thinking and marketing strategies by merging them into a single platform. You can create visualizations on campaign effects, share ideas and create personalized operations to make information accessible for employees.
• Sales operations: Monday offers CRM customization to make the leads attainable and manage all opportunity stages at a single interface. You can see the combined effect of marketing and sales campaigns to make adjustments accordingly. Moreover, businesses can centralize the available data for ease of use and synchronization of operations.
• IT workspace: You can add educational content for new recruitments to learn skills faster and ensure quality work. Monday lets you set access permissions for tasks and strictly follows security protocols to prevent cyber attacks on your CRM database. You can integrate IT tools and put technical work in order on Monday.

Monday Pricing

Monday CRM offers 4 pricing options depending upon your business size and requirements.

“Individual” plan is free of cost and lets users record work-related activities. 

“Basic” plan is priced at $10/month for a single user and offers 5GB storage along with customer support.

“Standard” plan is worth $14/month for a single user and offers additional collaboration tools. 

“Pro” subscription costs $27/month for an individual and offers chart view along with time tracking.

“Enterprise” plan is made specifically for large businesses and includes quality security features. You can contact support to get a quote on the “Enterprise” package.

2. Jira

Jira allows you to manage agile in scrum teams, organize your project tasks, capture and record software bugs and simplify your overall business operations. It’s primarily used: to amplify the employee’s productivity and efficiency by providing them with all relevant tools within a single platform.

Jira Features

Here are some exclusive features of Jira:

Scrum Boards: Jira offers a scrum framework that enables your project teams to breakdown complex projects into simple tasks and creates a collaborative environment. It unifies your software teams and allows the project managers to stay on top of every delivery. Scrum boards offer an iterative and visual representation of your projects during the developmental stage and are accessible by everyone within your team.

Roadmaps: Jira Roadmaps help your business teams to efficiently plan the next step in a project by outlining a complete structure. You can get a clear projection of all initiatives within a single section and plan work according to your team’s capacity. Moreover, you can predict outcomes based on your actions and create several versions of a roadmap to select the best possible route.

Agile Reporting: Jira provides real-time reporting tools and insights into your ongoing operations, enabling your software teams to make better decisions. You can get a sprint report, burndown chart and velocity chart to help your scrum teams in delivering projects faster. Jira’s Agile Reporting optimizes your business flow for better performance and continuous delivery.

Open DevOps: Jira provides your developers with the freedom to choose the best tool for a job with its Open DevOps. It’s a toolchain for the whole development cycle where you can mix and match tools according to your requirements. Moreover, DevOps offers a development panel and deployments tab along with a drag and drop automation tool that truly transforms your developer’s capabilities to work on new ventures.

Automation: Jira allows you to create exciting automation that handles repetitive tasks and allows your employees to focus on urgent assignments. It ensures your teams can use automation and workflows to boost productivity and detect issues swiftly.

Jira Pricing

Jira offers 4 Pricing options for its cloud-based solution and a unique subscription for businesses looking for a dedicated data centre.

The “free” plan is priced at $0 and allows you to add up to 10 Users. “Free” subscription offers scrum and kanban boards, agile reporting and single project automation, making it perfect for small teams.

The “Standard” plan is priced at $7.75/user/month and allows you to create project roles along with the basic features available in the free plan.

The “Premium” plan is priced at $15.25/user/month and allows users to create multi-project automation along with advanced Roadmaps.

The “Enterprise” plan is only available for businesses with at least 801 Users. It is billed annually based on the number of users and unlocks all features of Jira.

The “Data centre” solution provides you with complete control of your Jira environment. It is priced: at $42000/year for 500 users.

3. Wrike

Wrike provides an optimized solution to businesses for project management requirements. Its greatest strength is its scalable platform that grows with your business requirements. With Wrike, you can enable a collaboration platform and maintain 360⁰ visibility into all operations.

Wrike Features

Here are some exclusive features of Wrike:

Reports: Wrike offers quality reporting tools that allow you to analyze your work and stay on top of everything. It provides a high-level overview of all your current projects and enables you to identify bottlenecks and drill down to deeper task levels in order to take timely action. Wrike also provides retrospective information on your completed projects and tasks.

Wrike Calendars: Wrike Calendars helps you; keep track of what you need to work on and when. With Wrike, you can create smart calendars based on your folders or projects and filter them through several criteria. You can also create; a classic calendar and be in full control of its content.

Custom Workflows: Wrike allows you; to create unique workflows and enables your team to work in a way they find most comfortable. You can create custom statuses within each workflow to; get a reflection of what stage your tasks are in. With Wrike, it’s much simpler to report on assignments and specify; who should be an assignee once a project has reached a particular status.

Custom Field creation: For a scaling business, you have to; track all sorts of data. With Wrike, you can create custom fields in your projects and tasks and populate them with the required information. You can design specific fields for the project’s budget, marketing campaigns and sales operations, making financial management a lot easier. Moreover, Wrike automatically runs calculations for the numeric data.

Request Forms: Wrike allows Request form creation for businesses dealing with tickets or requests. It enables you; to effortlessly capture all information from a client. Once done, Wrike automatically triggers a task or project based on the available information. You can predefine this information, like assignees or locations and share it with your colleagues while also making them available externally.

User Groups: You can create user groups within Wrike based on company departments, subteams, office locations or cross-departmental teams. This way, it’s extremely simple to share something with a specific group, and you can remain in touch with every project team.

Wrike Pricing

Wrike offers 5 Pricing options plus 2 Additional subscriptions for marketing and services delivery teams.

The “Free” plan comes at zero cost and offers basic task management capabilities along with a live activity stream. It is best for new users looking to get acquainted with Wrike.

The “Professional” plan is priced at $9.8/user/month and offers interactive Gantt charts plus shareable dashboards.

The “Business” plan is priced at $24.8/user/month and allows users to create custom fields or workflows according to their requirements.

The “Enterprise” and “Pinnacle plans are only available for businesses with 5+ users and offers all features of Wrike.They are suitable for established organizations. You can contact the sales team to get a price quotation.

The additional plans for; marketing and service delivery teams can also be availed: within Wrike. You can customize the subscription and get a price quotation by contacting the sales team.

4. Asana

All important projects involve groups of people coming together to achieve a shared goal. Asana is a tracking and project management software that allows teams to collaborate on tasks and track progress. It simplifies communication and data sharing, allowing you; to stay up-to-date with the latest project requirements.

Asana features

Here are some exclusive features of Asana:

• Workflow builder: Asana provides visual tools to efficiently create workflows that simplify your execution and management tasks, helping your teams stay connected from initiation to completion. With the workflow builder, you can systemize; the information intake and capture ideas more easily.
• Workload management: With Asana’s coherent workload management, you can ensure your teams are not overwhelmed by the tasks and can easily schedule their work. Project managers can get a clear overview of what’s happening inside the workspace to promote balance.
• Resource Allocation: It allows you to reassign high-priority tasks to more suited employees with just a few clicks. You can easily analyze the current progression and send the relevant details to the assigned personnel for a seamless transition.
• Views and Reporting: Asana provided real-time analytics and insights through AI-powered reporting tools that assist you in setting realistic objectives for your teams. You can specify the criteria and generate reports to see progress across projects.
• Project Synchronization: It enables users to see contextual information regarding the same task across different project teams without duplications. So project managers can assess the employee’s work performance.
• Data security enhancement: Asana allows you to export data to a dedicated server for your business, boosting network security. Users can easily delete or reset their current workspaces to start anew effortlessly.
• Mobile accessibility: Asana is accessible from iOS and Android devices to help you stay on top of project management anytime, anywhere. You can update task status, check schedules and have conversations with your teams.
• Robust rest API: Asana supports seamless integration with several reporting tools and allows automation; to quickly execute tasks across other platforms. You can connect GitHub, Harvest and Slack to track project status or view any recent code edits.

Asana Pricing

Asana offers 3 Pricing options for users to serve their unique project management requirements.

The “Basic” plan is for individuals or businesses looking to get started with Asana and understand its core function. It’s a free subscription plan that provides rudimentary features of Asana.

The “Premium” plan provides access to Asana’s “Workflow Builder” and lets users create multiple timelines within the interface to manage and reassign overlapping tasks. It is priced; at $10.99/user/month upon annual billing.

The “Business” plan is for enterprises looking to maintain scalability and handle the huge workload. It provides access to all exclusive features of Asana. “Business” plan is priced; at $24.99/user/month upon annual billing.

5. Trello

Trello allows your project teams to work together and maintain coordination between all departments within your business organization. It empowers project management by providing; the necessary tools and workflows to keep up with the scaling demands.

Trello centralizes your project details in one collaborative location, making it easier to track, manage and complete multiple tasks.

Trello Features

Here are some exclusive features of Trello:

Multiple Views: Trello offers users the ability to switch between their preferred; views and brings a unique perspective to project management. It enables you swiftly execute your ideas into actions by providing clear visibility into every ongoing task. Trello Board view breakdown the project into multiple steps and updates the Workspace every time a task is near completion.

Dashboard: With the dashboard, you can gain actionable insights into your business processes so you can prevent bottlenecks and maintain efficiency. It allows users to customize key metrics and anticipate a team’s requirements.

Trello Maps: Trello provides inbuilt interactive maps tl track field services and views the locational information pertinent to every project. It’s a valuable feature for businesses that have agents in the field and allows managers to track the latest updates regarding what’s happening in different project sites.

Butler: Trello offers an automation feature named “Butler” that allows you to create no-code integrations, workflows and bots to automate repetitive procedures. You can set pre-defined instructions for every automation and ensure the system quickly updates the relevant members every time a task is completed. You can turn on the suggestion feature, and Trello will identify your repetitive actions to suggest single-click automation that simplify your workload.

Power-ups: With Trello’s featured Power-ups, users can add third-party plugins to enhance the functioning within their Workspace. You can integrate valuable tools like; Jira, Google Drive, Slack and any other relevant sources to access your files and documents within Trello’s unified database.

Template creation and customization: Users can switch between templates to provide their teams with a blueprint for efficient project management. You can access the templates made by other users and create new ones to share with the Trello community. It helps you go digital with your work management and allows customization to the existing templates so they can meet your specific project requirements.

Trello Pricing

Trello offers 4 Pricing options for businesses to use the platform for project management.

The “Free” plan offers unlimited storage along with intrinsic project management tools and is best for teams looking to get acquainted with Trello.

The “Standard” plan offers advanced checklists, along with the basic features included in the “Free” pricing option. It is priced; at $5/user/month upon annual billing.

The “Premium” plan offers a dashboard view to get analytical insights along with the features included in the “Standard” pricing option. It is priced; at $10/user/month upon annual billing.

The “Enterprise” plan allows users to maximize Trello’s functionality and create unlimited workspaces. It is priced; at $17.5/user/month upon annual billing. 

Why use a project management tool at all?

Project management tools have become indispensable in the realm of software development. They offer a centralized platform for planning, tracking, and executing projects, ensuring that teams can remain coordinated and aligned.

With the increasing complexity of software projects, these tools provide a bird’s-eye view of progress, helping identify bottlenecks, allocate resources efficiently, and ensure timely delivery.

The integration of AI into these tools has further elevated their capabilities. AI-driven project management software can analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, offering predictive insights and automating routine tasks.

This not only streamlines processes but also reduces the margin for human error, ensuring projects are executed seamlessly.

Why should a Software Development Company use a project management tool?

Software development is inherently complex. It involves a myriad of stages, from initial brainstorming and design to rigorous testing and final deployment. Each stage requires meticulous planning, coordination, and tracking.

A robust project management tool becomes the backbone of such endeavors, ensuring that every phase is executed systematically and efficiently.

One of the primary advantages of using a project management tool in software development is the enhanced collaboration it fosters. Development teams often comprise designers, developers, testers, and other stakeholders.

A centralized platform ensures that everyone stays on the same page, with real-time updates, task assignments, and progress tracking. This eliminates silos and ensures that any potential issues are flagged and addressed promptly.

Furthermore, modern project management tools come equipped with advanced features like Gantt charts, time tracking, and resource allocation.

These features allow managers to get a granular view of the project, ensuring that resources are utilized optimally and deadlines are met. The ability to visualize the project timeline and milestones also aids in setting realistic expectations and keeping stakeholders informed.

Incorporating AI into project management tools has been a game-changer. AI algorithms can predict potential roadblocks, optimize task assignments based on team members’ strengths and availability, and even automate routine administrative tasks.

This predictive capability ensures that teams are always a step ahead, preemptively addressing challenges before they escalate.

In the competitive landscape of software development, where timely delivery and efficiency are paramount, a top-tier project management tool is not just an asset; it’s a necessity. It provides the structure, clarity, and automation that teams need to deliver their best work consistently.

Project Management Tool for Software Development, A Summary

In today’s software development landscape, where projects are multifaceted and timelines are tight, the importance of a robust project management tool cannot be emphasized enough.

These tools offer a structured approach to planning, executing, and monitoring projects, ensuring that teams remain aligned, resources are utilized efficiently, and deliverables are met on time.

Among the plethora of options available, Monday stands out as a top choice. Its intuitive interface, coupled with powerful AI-driven features, makes it tailor-made for the demands of software development.

For teams looking to elevate their project management game, diving into Monday’s capabilities can be a transformative experience.

What Project Management Software would you recommend?

In short, It’s Monday.com.

It’s a platform that simplifies communication across teams and helps hit goals faster, with team management software that maximizes productivity and empowers everyone to work smarter together. You can’t go wrong with Monday.com.

“🚀Try Monday.com For Free, It’s my favorite Project Management Software to use and recommend.” -Scott Max

Monday.com is a user-friendly project management platform that offers powerful tools to streamline complex workflows for larger companies, ensuring efficient operations and delivering impressive project outcomes. Monday.com has you covered for your: Team Projects, Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing needs.

For more details, read our Monday.com Review.