The 10 Best Project Management Tools for Small Business Owners
Small businesses' best project management tools provide a centralised hub for tasks, communication, and files, replacing chaotic spreadsheets and emails with structured clarity.
Leading options range from the visual Kanban boards of Trello to the task-focused lists in Asana and the highly customizable workflows of Monday.com.
Each tool aims to improve team collaboration and project tracking, with crucial integrations into platforms like Slack and Google Workspace to create a unified workflow.
- Project management tools centralise tasks, communication, and files, enhancing clarity for small businesses.
- Trello, Asana, and Monday.com offer various methodologies to improve team collaboration and project tracking.
- Identify your process before selecting a tool to ensure it complements your workflow effectively.
- Many tools provide generous free plans and should focus on ease of use for small teams.
- Choosing the right tool is crucial, but strategic organisation of projects is equally important for success.
Before You Read This List: The One Rule That Matters
If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: Process first, tool second.
Grab a pen and paper before considering signing up for a free trial. Map out the steps one of your typical projects takes from start to finish. Who does what? Where are the handoffs? Where do things always seem to go wrong?
Be brutally honest and simplify it as much as you can.
Only once you have a straightforward, simple process on paper should you look for a tool that mirrors it. The goal is to find software that supports your workflow, not to contort it to fit inside a piece of software—got it? Good. Let's get to the tools.
The Visualists: For Teams That Think in Boards
If your team communicates with sketches on whiteboards and organises thoughts with sticky notes, a visual-first tool will feel natural.
1. Trello: The Undisputed King of Kanban
What it is: A digital whiteboard with digital sticky notes (called “cards”) that you move through columns representing process stages. It’s the essence of the Kanban method.
Who it's for: Individuals, small teams, and anyone managing a linear, stage-based process. It's perfect for content calendars, simple sales pipelines, or tracking a design project from “To Do” to “In Progress” to “Done.
The good bit: It’s dead simple. You can teach a new team member how to use Trello in about five minutes. The free tier is incredibly generous and genuinely helpful for small-scale operations. It’s clean, fast, and does one thing exceptionally well.
The catch: Trello's simplicity is also its weakness. For projects with complex dependencies or the need for detailed reporting, it quickly becomes a cluttered mess of cards. It’s not built for the big picture.
Pricing snapshot: The Free plan is excellent. Paid plans start at around $5 per user/month, adding features like advanced checklists and unlimited “Power-Ups” (integrations).
2. Monday.com: The Colourful Command Centre
It is A highly visual, flexible tool that feels like a spreadsheet on steroids. You build “boards” with columns that can be anything from a status label to a person to a timeline.
Who it's for: Client-facing teams and managers who live for dashboards, reports, and a high-level view of who is doing what. It excels at visualising workloads and project progress for people who aren't in the weeds daily.
The good bit: The interface is beautiful and endlessly customisable. You can create stunning, easy-to-understand dashboards. Its automation capabilities are also powerful, helping to eliminate repetitive administrative tasks.
The catch: It can get costly, very quickly. The sheer number of customisation options can also lead to decision fatigue, and it’s easy to build a board so complex that nobody wants to use it.
Pricing snapshot: There’s a limited free plan for individuals. Team plans start at $9 per user/month with a three-seat minimum.
The List-Makers: For Planners Who Love Structure
A list-based tool provides the necessary structure and order for teams that thrive on checklists, detailed tasks, and clear hierarchies.
3. Asana: The Process Powerhouse
What it is: A powerful, task-oriented tool built around projects, sections, and tasks. It's designed to manage complex work with multiple moving parts and dependencies.
Who it's really for: Established teams with defined, repeatable processes. Marketing, operations, and product teams thrive in Asana because it allows for standardisation and clarity. This is your tool if your projects have many steps and require clear handoffs.
The good bit: It’s incredibly robust. Features like custom fields, automation rules, timelines (their version of Gantt charts), and workload management are top-notch. You can build airtight processes in Asana.
The catch: It can feel rigid and “corporate” for highly creative, fluid teams. The learning curve is steeper than Trello's, requiring discipline from the whole team to keep it organised.
Pricing snapshot: The free plan is solid for up to 15 people. Paid plans start at $10.99 per user/month and unlock the more powerful timeline and automation features.
4. Todoist: The Minimalist's Taskmaster
What it is: At its heart, it's the best to-do list app on the planet. Over time, it's evolved to handle small team projects with shared lists and task assignments.
Who it's for: Solopreneurs, freelancers, and tiny teams that value simplicity and speed above all else. It's for organising your own work first and collaborating second.
The good bit: It's swift and clean. The natural language processing for task creation is brilliant (just type “Write blog post every Friday at 2 pm” and it sets it up perfectly). It syncs flawlessly across every device imaginable.
The catch: It is not a full-blown project manager. It lacks advanced views like timelines or Kanban boards (though it now has a simple board view) and has no meaningful reporting. Don't try to run a 10-person agency on it.
Pricing snapshot: The free plan is great for personal use. The Pro and Business plans are affordable, starting at around $4 per user/month.
The “All-in-Ones”: Proceed with Caution
Here we encounter one of my biggest pet peeves: the “all-in-one” illusion. The promise of a single tool for tasks, documents, communication, and CRM is tempting, but they are often masters of none. They risk becoming bloated, slow, and confusing.
5. ClickUp: The “One App to Rule Them All”
What it is: A tool that genuinely attempts to do everything. Tasks, subtasks, docs, chat, goals, whiteboards, forms—if you can think of a feature, ClickUp probably has it.
Who it's for: Tech-savvy teams who love tinkering and customising every detail. It’s for people who enjoy building their perfect system and aren't intimidated by many toggles and options.
The good bit: The feature list is absolutely staggering for the price. The free tier is incredibly generous. If you have a particular, quirky workflow, you can build it in ClickUp.
The catch: It is completely and utterly overwhelming for most people. The interface can feel cluttered and slow because it tries simultaneously to be so many things. It’s the poster child for feature overload. Be prepared to invest significant time in setup.
Pricing snapshot: The “Free Forever” plan is compelling. Paid plans start at a very competitive $7 per user/month.
6. Notion: The Digital LEGO Set
What it is: A connected workspace built on a foundation of pages and databases. Consider it a set of digital LEGO bricks that you can use to make almost anything, including a project management system.
Who it's for: Teams who want to build their own custom PM system from scratch. It's for those who see the limitations of off-the-shelf tools and want total control.
The good bit: The flexibility is unmatched. You can create a system that perfectly combines your company wiki, project tasks, and documentation in one place. The database functionality is compelling once you learn it.
The catch: It is not a project manager out of the box. It requires a significant upfront investment of time and thought to design and build a workable system. You will spend as much time managing the system as you do working on the projects within it.
Pricing snapshot: Generous free plan for individuals. Team plans start at $8 per user/month.
The Opinionated Systems: For Adopting a Philosophy
These tools don't just give you features; they offer a specific way of working. You either buy into their philosophy or you don't.
7. Basecamp: The Veteran of “Calm Tech”
What it is: A single, organised place for your projects, team communication, and files. It's built on a strong philosophy of asynchronous, “calm” work.
Who it's really for: Remote teams and agencies who want to escape the constant interruptions of Slack and overflowing inboxes. It’s for leaders who want to foster deep work and reduce real-time anxiety.
The good bit is simple, predictable, flat-rate pricing with no per-user fees. It bundles everything you need (to-do lists, message boards, file storage, calendars) into one straightforward package. It forces a more thoughtful, organised communication style.
The catch: It’s their way or the highway. The tool is intentionally rigid. Basecamp is too simplistic if you need granular task tracking, time tracking, or complex reporting.
Pricing snapshot: A flat $299/month for unlimited users and projects. There is a limited free plan available.
8. Linear: Engineered for Speed and Focus
What it is: An issue and project tracker built with an obsessive focus on speed, elegant design, and developer workflows. It's less of a tool and more of a methodology for building software.
Who it's really for: Software engineers, product managers, and design teams building digital products. It’s for high-performance teams who believe that their project management tool should be as fast and well-crafted as the product they are building.
The good bit: It is unbelievably fast. The user experience is flawless, and it's designed to be operated almost entirely by keyboard shortcuts. Its structured approach (Cycles, projects, triage) imposes a sense of calm order and forces good habits, eliminating the usual chaos of bug tracking.
The catch: It is highly opinionated and unapologetically built for product development teams. Trying to manage a client marketing campaign or a branding project in Linear would be as misguided as using Jira. The language and workflow are specific, and it is not a general-purpose tool.
Pricing snapshot: There is a free plan for small teams. The Standard plan starts at $10 per user/month.
The Niche Specialists: For Specific Jobs
Sometimes, you don't need a generalist tool. You need a specialist designed for a specific type of work.
9. Teamwork: The Agency All-Rounder
What it is: A balanced and comprehensive project management platform with strong features built specifically for client work, such as time tracking, billing, and resource management.
Who it's for: Marketing agencies, design studios, and any service business that manages client projects and bills by the hour.
The good bit: It strikes an outstanding balance, offering powerful features without being as overwhelming as ClickUp. The client's permission controls are excellent, allowing you to collaborate with clients without showing them the messy parts.
The catch: The user interface, while functional, can feel a bit dated compared to the sleek designs of Monday.com or Height.
Pricing snapshot: Has a free tier. Paid plans start at $5.99 per user/month, with the more agency-focused features in the higher tiers.
10. Jira: The Developer's Den (And What to Learn From It)
What it is: The undisputed industry standard for software development teams using Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban.
Who it's really for: Software developers. That's it. This is a cautionary tale.
The good bit: For its intended purpose—tracking bugs, managing development sprints, and creating software release roadmaps—it is incredibly powerful and without equal.
The catch: I've seen countless marketing and creative teams forced to use Jira, and it's always a disaster. Using Jira to manage a branding project is like using a scientific calculator to write a novel. The language (epics, stories, sprints) and structure are fundamentally wrong for non-technical workflows.
Pricing snapshot: Free for up to 10 users. Standard plans start at $7.75 per user/month.
How to Choose: A 3-Step Sanity Check
Feeling overwhelmed? That's normal. Ignore the noise and follow this simple process.
- Map Your Process: I'm repeating it because it's that important. Sketch out your workflow on a whiteboard. Identify the 5-7 key stages your projects go through. This is your blueprint.
- Pick Two Contenders: Based on your blueprint and the descriptions above, choose a maximum of two tools to trial. Not five. Two. This prevents analysis paralysis.
- Run a Real Project: Sign up for the complimentary trials. Take a small, real-life project and run it within each tool for one week—mandate team usage. At the end of the week, the choice will be obvious, not based on features, but on how it felt to use it.
Your Tool is Only Half the Battle
Choosing the right project management tool is a critical step towards getting organised. It brings clarity, accountability, and a single source of truth to your team's work.
But a tool only manages the work. It doesn't define the strategy or guarantee the results. Getting your projects organised is the foundation. The next challenge is ensuring those projects—a new website, a rebrand, or a marketing campaign—move the needle for your business.
Organising your projects is an internal win. We focus on making sure those projects deliver outstanding results for your customers. If you've sorted out your internal processes and are now looking to apply that same clarity to your digital marketing services, that's a conversation worth having.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the absolute easiest project management tool to learn?
For pure simplicity, Trello is the winner. Its drag-and-drop Kanban board interface is intuitive for almost anyone within minutes.
Can I use a spreadsheet instead of a project management tool?
You can, but you'll quickly run into limitations. Spreadsheets lack automated notifications, easy collaboration features (like comments), file integration, and visual timelines. They are a good place to start defining your process, but not a great place to manage it long-term.
What's the difference between Kanban and Scrum?
Kanban is a continuous workflow method focused on visualising work and limiting work-in-progress (e.g., Trello). Scrum is an Agile framework for completing complex projects in short, structured cycles called “sprints” (e.g., Jira). Most small businesses benefit more from the flexibility of Kanban.
Are there any good free project management tools?
Yes. Asana, Trello, and ClickUp all offer excellent “free forever” plans sufficient for many small teams and freelancers.
What is a Gantt chart, and do I need one?
A Gantt chart is a timeline bar chart that illustrates a project schedule, showing task dependencies. Honestly, for most small businesses, they are overkill and create a false sense of rigid control. Tools like Asana and Monday.com offer simpler, more flexible, more useful timeline views.
How important are integrations?
Very. A good PM tool should connect seamlessly with the tools you already use, like Slack for communication, Google Drive or Dropbox for file storage, and Harvest for time tracking. Always check a tool's integration list before committing.
Is Notion a fundamental project management tool?
Not out of the box. Notion is a flexible workspace where you can build a project management system. This offers ultimate customisation but requires significant setup effort compared to a dedicated tool like Asana.
What's better: Asana or Trello?
It depends on your workflow. If your process is linear and visual, choose Trello. Choose Asana if your projects are complex, have many interdependent tasks, and need structure.
Why do so many people dislike Jira?
Jira is disliked when it's used for the wrong purpose. It's a fantastic tool for software development, but it is often forced upon non-technical teams (like marketing or HR), where its rigid structure and technical jargon create immense frustration.
How much should I expect to pay for a project management tool?
For a small team, a reasonable starting budget is between $5 and $15 per monthly user. Many tools offer significant discounts for annual billing.
What is “asynchronous work” and how does Basecamp support it?
Asynchronous work means communication doesn't need to happen in real-time. Team members contribute when they can, without the pressure of an immediate response. Basecamp's message boards and structured updates support this, reducing the need for constant meetings and instant messages.
Can Monday.com be used as a CRM?
Yes, Monday.com is flexible enough that you can configure it to work as a simple Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, tracking leads and client communications. However, a dedicated CRM will have more specialised features.
