14 IT project management software for streamlining complex projects

Too many project management software solutions fail IT teams in one of two ways. Either they’re so streamlined they can’t handle the complex projects common in IT, or they’re prohibitively difficult to learn and use.

But many IT teams and service providers need solutions that can go deeper — without requiring an army of technical project managers just to scrape by.

We’ve collected 14 of the best project management software solutions for IT project management, and we’re sharing our thoughts on each in this review round-up.

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1. Teamwork.com

Teamwork.com is a project management software solution that threads the needle we described above. It can handle more complexity than other tools, but the interface is streamlined and user-friendly, so users can pick it up with a minimal learning curve.

Native time-tracking, budgeting tools, work management, customer support, resource planning, and task automation are all here. Templates get users into project planning faster, with less time spent on building out basic parameters and structures.

Teamwork.com makes it easy to focus on clearing out that backlog and completing project deliverables, not on learning the intricacies of the software. IT teams are particularly fond of Teamwork.com's resource planning and customer support capabilities - enabling them to forecast long-term resources with confidence and manage all client emails and tickets in one location.

Don’t just take our word for it — many tech reviewers agree. Jill Duffy and Khamosh Pathak at PC Magazine summarized their findings:

“With an extensive set of features and an intuitive interface, Teamwork.com is one of the best services for managing projects. Billing and invoicing are included, so it's especially suited to teams that handle client work.”

Key features

• Resource scheduler to map out future work and optimize business capacity

• Project planning tools turn to-do lists into cohesive plans and schedules

• An integrated ticketing system to efficiently manage client requests in one central location

• Multiple dashboard views, including Kanban boards, tables, lists, and Gantt charts

• Hundreds of project templates save time and add focus

• A workload planner offers full visibility into resource capacity 

• Advanced built-in time-tracking measures time spent on projects and tasks

• Budgeting and profitability tools automatically keep track of profitability across users, projects, and clients

"There's no doubt that Teamwork Desk has made us more efficient, which saves money and makes us money."

~ Grant O'Neill, Director at GO Creative

Pricing

Teamwork.com includes a free plan for up to five users. Paid plans range from $5.99 to $19.99/user/month.

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2. Jira

Loved by software developers and others in the tech and IT orbit, Jira feels designed with the tech industry in mind. Built as an agile-first platform, Jira includes features and views for planning, tracking, releasing, reporting, and automating project work.

IT agencies that do any custom coding will appreciate the Release feature, which keeps track of various builds and ensures everyone’s working from the right version. Sprint tracking is also valuable for many IT teams, and Jira does it well.

If your agency focuses more on the service side of things and doesn’t need software-centric tools, then the lighter option, Jira Work Management, may be worth a look. It caters more to teams that need to organize and track tasks and projects.

Key features

• Agile-friendly project management platform that allows for customizable workflows, including Kanban and Scrum

• Real-time agile project reporting shows project progression 

• Bug-tracking and issue-monitoring features help IT teams flag issues and prevent bottlenecks

Pricing 

Jira has a free plan for up to 10 users, and the paid plans start at $8.15/month.

3. Asana

If you took a look at the Jira interface and didn’t appreciate its complexity, then Asana will be a breath of fresh air. 

Asana is clean, beautifully designed, and easy to pick up and learn at a glance. IT teams can track tasks in list, board, calendar, and timeline views, assign tasks to users, and communicate — all from a clean interface.

Asana isn’t as strong for tracking longer, more complex projects, and the platform doesn’t offer as many automations as other, more robust tools. But if you need a project management solution that won’t scare off non-technical staff or clients, Asana’s worth a look.

Key features

• Track projects using customizable checklist, timeline, and board views.

• Use guest mode to bring clients and vendors in safely.

• Save time and resources with automations that handle repetitive tasks.

Pricing

Asana offers a free tier for up to ten users. Paid plans start at $10.99/user/month and unlock progressively more features.

4. ClickUp

ClickUp is a modern cloud-based project management platform that’s highly customizable. It gives IT teams the flexibility to design a system that fits their unique needs and workflows. With custom fields, automations, customizable dashboards, and more, ClickUp offers a lot for the price.

In many ways, ClickUp is as good as you make it, but that can also be the product’s drawback. It takes time and knowledge to get your ClickUp environment just right, which can lead to some frustration.

Key features

• Advanced, intuitive task management simplifies task assignment, tracking, and collaboration 

• Automated workflows save time and energy

• Collaboration tools streamline communication through in-app messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing

• Real-time analytics and reporting on projects, tasks, and resources.

Pricing

There’s a limited free tier with a small storage allotment (100MB) but no user cap. Unlimited is $7/user/month, and Business is $12/user/month.

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5. Trello

Owned by Atlassian (the same company in charge of Jira), Trello offers the most lightweight project management experience of the products we’ve reviewed here. Users can pick up and start using Trello with almost zero learning curve. 

It offers a simple Kanban board interface to track project progress, and you can assign tasks to team members and share documents and files using intuitive cards.

Trello is also highly configurable, so you can adapt it to the needs of your team, your projects, or even your own personal preference.

Key features

• Clean drag-and-drop Kanban board interface

• Card-based interface that’s easy to understand and use

• Ample template library saves time and shows what’s possible in Trello

Pricing

Trello is free for up to ten boards and 250 workspace commands per month. Paid plans range from $5 to $17.50/user/month.

6. Basecamp

Basecamp looks and feels different than most project management solutions. It’s easy to understand and navigate the UI, but be aware that Basecamp lacks some traditional project management elements. Kanban boards are here, but you won’t find many other views beyond to-dos. Project planning and automations are minimal here as well.

Basecamp grew from its founders’ need for a tool that fit the way they did work. If your team resonates with the approach, then Basecamp is a winner. But if not, you might have team members confused or frustrated by the somewhat opaque feature set.

Key features

• Superior file-sharing 

• Message boards 

• Automatic check-ins for team members

Pricing

Basecamp is $15 per employee user per month (guests are free). The Pro Unlimited plan is $299 per month for unlimited users.

7. Wrike

Wrike takes a “one platform to rule them all” approach, which makes the platform hard to describe succinctly. It’s true that Wrike can do just about everything, including project resource planning, proofing, custom item types, cross-tagging, Gantt charts, and automations of every kind.

But it’s also true that Wrike is just too much app for some agencies. It’s angled slightly toward enterprise users, so the resource load can be uncomfortably heavy for smaller IT teams.

Wrike is popular with IT professionals thanks to its numerous advanced features. Teams can build custom item types, set up quite complex automations, and even create custom dynamic request forms that change based on conditional logic.

Key features

• Visually rich dashboards help teams monitor progress, track task assignments, and much more

• Extremely robust automation capabilities, including powerful triggers and rules that respond to user actions and data

• Dynamic request forms use conditional logic to streamline work intake

Pricing

In addition to Wrike’s free plan, the company offers a Team plan (limited to 25 users) that costs $9.80/user/month. The Business plan is $24.80/user/month, and several custom plans are available for enterprises.

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8. Nifty

Nifty markets itself as a “project management OS.” It wants to be an ecosystem, not just a software tool. 

You’ll find features and modules that extend project management, like Discussions, Goals, and Reporting. But the core PM capabilities matter most, and they work well. The Roadmap view is a standout — a modern take on Gantt charts that’s perfect for tracking projects with multiple subtasks, dependencies, and longer timeframes.

You can use the Forms module to gather tickets and prioritize resolutions, and you can assign and automate tickets, too.

Key features

• Powerful Roadmaps tool for detailed project planning

• Forms module can collect, assign, and automate tickets

• Agile templates allow for quick and easy sprint planning

Pricing

Nifty’s unlimited plan costs $16/member/month. They also offer limited plans ranging from $0 to $10/member/month.

9. Airtable

Airtable project management software has its roots in the world of spreadsheets — but don’t make the mistake of thinking Airtable is just “Excel with extra features.”

That may have been true years ago, and the spreadsheet architecture is still evident in today’s Airtable, but the platform has evolved significantly. It marries spreadsheet flexibility with the power of database queries to deliver something unique. 

Airtable continues to evolve too, providing users with a platform for building no-code custom business apps. AI assistance helps ensure those apps do what they should, and connections and integrations keep the data flowing.

Key features

• Interface designer lets teams customize dashboards, fields, and views to match their unique needs

• No-code app-building platform extends Airtable’s functionality in dramatic ways

• Data visualization tools transform data into interactive charts and graphs

Pricing

Airtable Team costs $20/seat/month, while Airtable Business runs $45/seat/month.

10. Monday.com

Like several others, Monday.com bills itself as a new approach to project management. And, also like others, the brand has branched out into multiple products with work management, sales CRM, and developer modules. 

It’s a very shiny platform with plenty to offer, including the ability to customize your experience with no-code building blocks. But the platform limits you to day-to-day work management — long-range project planning isn’t a strong suit here.

While Monday.com is attractive, it’s not perfect. PC Magazine notes its “unnecessarily confusing pricing and plans” and complicated navigation. It’s also worth mentioning that basic features like calendar view, automations, integrations, and even time tracking are limited to higher-end plans.

Key features

• No-code building blocks for custom workflows

• More than 200 prebuilt automation recipes

• Custom dashboards with 30+ widgets

Pricing

Monday.com’s work management software costs $8–16/month/user, depending on the features you want. (This price does not include the Dev and CMS modules.)

11. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a collaborative project and work management platform that’s similar to ClickUp and Airtable in that it can be incredible — but you’ll have to do some upfront work to get it there.

Smartsheet is so endlessly customizable that it’s hard to review it. Your Smartsheet environment might be so different from the next agency’s that they hardly look like the same platform.

Many IT agencies are up for this challenge, and if your team can stick with and learn Smartsheet, you may come to love it. Smartsheet can collect information from the web, automate tasks and workflows, and allow users to proof and approve work. 

If you use Gantt charts and other, more advanced resource management tools, you can set them up in Smartsheet. Or, if you’d rather stick to simple Kanban boards, you can do that too.

Key features

• Extremely customizable platform that’s more powerful than most

• Library of videos helps new users get up to speed

• Spreadsheet-based architecture feels familiar to most users

Pricing

Smartsheet Pro is $7/user/month, and the Business plan jumps to $25/user/month.

12. Zoho

Zoho Projects is another project management platform that works well for IT teams. Bug tracking, task tracking, and strong integrations (including with the rest of the Zoho CRM suite) make it ideal for fast-moving IT agencies. 

It centers on a Gantt chart view that’s both beautiful and functional, and the milestone orientation is helpful for some workflows.

Key features

• Time management tools, including timesheets, invoice creation, and performance monitoring

• Advanced reporting and charts deliver a 360-degree view of your projects

• Automations save time and keep team members focused on what matters

Pricing

Zoho Projects is just $5/user/month. The enterprise plan, which adds critical path, baselining, a dashboard, and global resource utilization, costs $10/user/month.

13. Proofhub

ProofHub is both project management software and team collaboration software — emphasizing discussing and proofing files directly within the platform. That might sound like a creative-focused solution, but Proofhub serves IT teams well, too. 

Major customizability and a unique pricing structure (no “per user” limits) make Proofhub attractive for startups and rapidly growing teams. 

Proofhub also supports Gantt charts, time tracking, and custom reporting, so it’s better suited for more complex projects than products with fewer features.

Key features

• Proofing tool allows for instant feedback on tasks

• Detailed user permissions help you set up better access control

• Multiple project views, including both Kanban and Gantt charts

Pricing

Proofhub’s Essential plan is $45 per month (total, not per user). The Ultimate Control plan adds custom roles, white labeling, workflows, and more at $89 per month.

14. Adobe Workfront

Yes, the company that makes Photoshop is also making workflow management software — and it’s actually pretty good, depending on your size and needs.

It’s clear that the company designed Workfront with big, design-focused companies in mind. (Your agency may or may not need to approve tons of graphics, but we’re guessing that isn’t your biggest concern). But IT teams also appreciate Workfront for its high level of security, including ISO 27000 and AICPA Trust Services.

If you’re a large IT agency or you need enterprise-level or design-centric features, Workfront is worth a look. However, it may not be the best solution for smaller teams.

Key features

• Accelerated audit approvals ensure work is up to standard

• Tools for vetting requests against priorities and comparing alternatives

• Goal-oriented approach helps project management evolve with project goals

Pricing

Adobe’s never been big on pricing transparency, and Workfront is true to form — all four plans use custom pricing.

Facilitate smoother IT project management with Teamwork.com

With its unique set of challenges, IT project management needs software designed to fit its specific needs. That’s where Teamwork.com comes in — it’s the best project management software for IT teams. 

Teamwork.com offers advanced capabilities for IT services teams - including resource scheduling, ticketing, project scheduling and project tracking (including task dependencies), and it delivers a superior experience for anyone doing client work. Small teams and large teams alike love using Teamwork.com to track progress as they’re managing projects and hit their goals.