How much does work management software cost?

The price of project management software, or work management software as its sometimes called, will vary depending on many factors, including:

·         The software vendor. Vendors set their own prices, so costs can vary widely across companies.

·         Software functionality. Not all software solutions come with the same functionality. For example, a vendor may offer a basic model package as well as a more advanced solution.

·         Size of your business. Project management software costs typically vary depending on the number of users and/or volume of storage space that’s required.

Most project management software vendors offer several different packaging options, either separated by business size or add-on features. Therefore, the easiest way to understand how much work management software will cost for your business is to check out the top software providers and then review their individual pricing for whichever package meets your needs. 

There are plenty of free project management software options on the market, but these come with their own hidden costs. For instance, many free software options lack training and support. This lack of support means that you’ll need to spend more on implementation, ongoing maintenance, and upkeep of the system than you would with another solution.

There are also costs of not having project management software. As we talked about in the last section, without project management software, you’ll spend more time completing tasks and increase the chance of errors, both of which cost you money.

Project management software also makes communication and collaboration much easier. And when you consider that poor collaboration and communication can cost your team $130,000 per year, even the most expensive project management software starts to look very affordable.

What are the top project management features?

We’ve compiled a detailed list of 50 key project management software features that will benefit any company or team. You can scroll down for the full list, but here is a brief synopsis of the top 10:

  1. Request forms. Project ideas could come from anywhere at any time. Request forms help you capture, track, and evaluate them in a controlled and formalized manner. Dynamic request forms also ensure your team captures all vital task information without asking any unnecessary questions. The form questions change based on the information the requester provides as they’re filling it out.
  2. Resource management. It’s important to understand who is working on what throughout the life of your project. This feature ensures no one gets overloaded, nothing gets missed, and everyone can see what they’re expected to complete at what time. Resource management helps you assign resources to project tasks, understand availability, and ensure overall resource smoothing throughout the project.
  3. Mobile app. More and more people are using cell phones as part of their daily work life, whether it’s due to working remotely, traveling for business, or the growing expectation of being available 24/7. This is why it’s imperative that your project management software has a native mobile application — not just a mobile web version. Native mobile apps are optimized for on-the-go usage so that you can get the most out of your software, wherever you are.
  4. Dashboards. Dashboards allow you to review the state of your project at a glance. They provide a real-time visual overview of progress and task statuses. Customizable dashboard views can be shared with the team and executives so that everyone can understand the status of the project at any time.
  5. Custom workflow statuses. Workflows typically contain a set of default statuses for indicating task progress, such as “active,” “completed,” “deferred,” and “canceled.” Custom workflow statuses allow you to create your own customized status for tasks. You can also use them to specify who should be assigned to a task based on its status. For instance, you can create a “review” status and tie it to your designated reviewer.  
  6. Reports. A reports feature allows you to easily generate accurate reports and evaluate the progress of your project. Flexible, customizable reports showcase who is working on what, how often deadlines are met, and other key data points that help to highlight both project progress and your team’s hard work and value delivered.
  7. Customizable templates. Project management templates save you time and reduce the possibility of oversights by enabling you to create new projects and tasks from a baseline, instead of from scratch. The best software for project management will allow you to save common tasks, initiatives, and structures, so you can simply clone them each time you start a new task, log a new risk, or propose a new change.
  8. Automated notifications. Communication is key for keeping team members on track and for keeping stakeholders up to date. An automated notification feature can easily send notifications out based on trigger events to ensure everyone receives important updates instantly. For instance, your project management software can notify people when a task is assigned to them or when something is due.
  9. Integrations. Integrations help ensure projects are not managed in isolation and that your data does not end up in a silo. You don’t want to have a stand-alone system that doesn’t speak with your other tools, or it will create more work for everyone. Plus, when implementing a new project management software, integrating it with tools that your team already use increases adoption.
  10. Collaborative editing. If your project management software doesn’t provide a highly interactive, collaborative space for real-time in-project edits and comments, your team will be stuck with the time-consuming task of wading through and consolidating feedback. Collaborative editing allows everyone to see each other’s comments and work through conflicting feedback in real time.