Many use Zoho Projects for their project management needs. Should your team? That depends on your project’s specific needs; but, if you have already tried Zoho Projects and are looking for something different, these alternatives may be a better PM solution.
Reasons To Choose Zoho Projects
There are many reasons to pick Zoho Projects as a PM software solution. Here are some of the cloud-based project management software’s highlights:
- Clean, easy-to-use interface that is ideal for beginners new to project management software.
- Customizable dashboard that lets you keep only what you need.
- Superb collaboration via built-in chat, activity feed, forums, and audio/video chat capability.
- Adding tasks and milestones is quite simple, which allows you to get started without much training.
- Built-in timer to track how much time is spent on tasks.
- Drag and drop Gantt charts with undo in case you make a mistake.
- Kanban and task list views.
- Resource management reports to help team members achieve ideal workloads.
- Plenty of Zoho apps to extend functionality (like Zoho Meeting, Zoho Invoice, and Zoho Books for accounting), plus app integrations with Dropbox, Slack, GitHub, and more.
- Bug tracking for software development teams.
- Affordable pricing via Free, Premium ($5 per user, per month), and Enterprise ($10 per user, per month) plans.
Reasons To Choose An Alternative To Zoho Projects
As you can see, Zoho Projects has many pros in its favor. So why would someone want to choose a Zoho Projects alternative? That depends on who you ask, but some have complained that its Kanban boards and Gantt charts are a chore to use, while others say that its reporting features are not ideal for large software development teams. If those do not seem like significant downsides, keep reading to see how different PM software solutions may have a leg up on Zoho Projects and could be a better fit for your needs.
You can also read our review for more information: Zoho Projects Review.
Zoho Projects Alternatives
If it seems like Zoho Projects does not have what it takes to fit your team’s project management needs, maybe one of these alternatives will.
smartsheet
smartsheet primarily attracts three types of customers: 1. Those who prefer using spreadsheets when working, such as Google Sheets or Excel. 2. Those new to project management software. 3. Those who prefer simplicity when organizing essential information.
Highlights of Smartsheet Project Management for developers:
- Easy setup via a pre-populated spreadsheet that will look quite familiar to Google Sheets or Excel users.
- Enhanced collaboration via the conversation tool.
- Milestone function to show a project’s deadline.
- Drag and drop task dependencies.
- Flexible budgeting that lets you input data where you want it.
- Custom automations.
- The ability to attach files and documentation to entire projects versus specific tasks.
- A form builder that comes in handy when seeking feedback once projects are completed.
- Interactive feedback sessions via customizable Kanban boards.
- Customizable project templates that make it easier to get started than Zoho Projects.
Smartsheet beats Zoho Projects in terms of simplicity and familiarity for spreadsheet users. It is also a better option if you need to gather feedback once projects are finished. Conversely, Zoho Projects has more collaborative features, although you may find Smartsheet’s conversation tool sufficient for your needs.
You can read our Review of Smartsheet Project Management for more information.
asana
Do you have a small development team seeking a project management solution that is easy to use and navigate? Then asana may be your ideal Zoho Projects alternative, as it could not be easier to use right out of the gate.
Highlights of Asana project management for software development teams:
- A clean, intuitive interface makes Asana one of the easiest PM software solutions to use.
- Makes it easy to assign tasks to team members.
- Drag and drop task dependencies.
- The numbers column allows for budgeting.
- List view should attract fans of spreadsheets.
- Drag-and-drop form builder helps with post-project feedback.
- Pre-built and custom automations.
- The Upcoming Tasks tool for resource management helps you see what different team members and developers have on their plates.
- The dashboard function helps with visualizing data.
How does Asana stack up to Zoho Projects? Favorably, especially if you need a way to compile post-project feedback. And besides being easy to use, Asana is an attractive Zoho Projects alternative since it does not place a limit on projects and users like many other PM software solutions do. One area where Zoho Projects beats Asana, though, is price. Zoho Projects has a more robust free plan, and it is a cheaper option since it does not charge for guest access.
You can learn more by reading: Asana Project Management Software Review.
Monday.com
If you seek customization from your project management software, Monday.com may be your best bet as a Zoho Projects alternative. The easy-to-use PM software lets project managers get up and running with little fuss, and you can customize it to fit your needs via “items” that are adjustable rows and columns. Within each item, you can put essential information about tasks, such as team members, bugs, software updates, deadlines, and more.
Highlights of Monday.com for developers:
- Custom project templates, fields, charts, and widgets.
- Pre-built and custom automations to save time and boost efficiency.
- Seamless budgeting.
- Editable documents, perfect for software documentation.
- Online whiteboards for brainstorming and collaborating with team members and planning our pseudocode.
- A wider variety of pricing plans than Zoho Projects to fit varying budgets.
- No user limits on paid plans.
Is Monday.com better than Zoho Projects? Its highlights may suggest yes, but Zoho beats it in terms of price, collaboration (instant messaging and message boards), and integrations.
Read our Monday.com Project Management Tool Review for more.
Celoxis
Celoxis is a project management tool alternative to Zoho Projects that is easy to set up and use. However, it lacks customization and can be considered price at $22.50 per user for its cheapest plan.
Highlights of Celoxis for programming teams:
- Preset project templates to help project managers get started quickly.
- Dedicated task creation tool that lets you assign resources.
- Drag and drop task dependencies.
- Simplified collaboration through the Discussions tool that gathers all conversations linked to a project in one place.
- Workload chart helps you prevent overload by letting you reallocate tasks to different team members with ease.
- Widgets to track project progress.
- Dedicated budget management feature that greatly exceeds Zoho Projects’ budgeting capabilities.
Zoho Projects beats Celoxis in terms of automation and customization, plus it’s easier to navigate and cheaper. It is also more secure thanks to two-factor authentication, which could come in handy if you have a lot of employees to account for. On the other hand, you may find that Celoxis’ dedicated features for budgeting, plus preset project templates and resource management put it over the top as a Zoho Projects alternative.
wrike
Choose one of its paid plans (which start at $9.80 per user, per month), and you will find it tough to beat wrike in terms of features. It is great for task management for software development teams and highly customizable, although some say Wrike takes a bit of practice to get comfortable with.
Highlights of Wrike for developers:
- Easy to assign tasks to specific team members, such as different modules to work on, bugs to tackle, or functions to create.
- Project views that include spreadsheets, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards.
- Budgeting via the table view.
- Stream feature displays a feed of project updates that team members can leave comments on.
- Workload feature tells if a team member has too much work or can take on more.
- Great for tracking project progress thanks to a dedicated milestone feature.
- Custom chart and widget builders.
- Custom fields.
- Form builder that comes in handy for post-project feedback.
- Plenty of dashboards to choose from.
While those highlights may catch your eye and lead you to pick Wrike over Zoho Projects, the latter comes out on top in terms of building automations (which are unlimited) and affordability.
You can learn more about Wrike by reading our Wrike Project Management Software Review.
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