Category
Project management software: what they are and who makes them
general work management suites, engineering-first trackers, light boards and flat-fee tools, spreadsheet-style and workspace tools: Asana, monday.com, ClickUp through Zoho Projects.
Types of project management software
General work management suites
Asana, monday.com, ClickUp and Wrike sell configurable workspaces for cross-team work, with boards, timelines, forms and automations. They suit marketing, operations and agencies with several projects at once. Expect seat pricing, with the useful features such as dependencies, workload views and permissions arriving in the middle tiers.
Engineering-first trackers
Jira is built around issues, sprints and backlogs, and it pairs with other Atlassian products. It fits software teams that already run agile ceremonies. Business teams can use it, but its vocabulary and configuration options reward people who like workflows, and non-technical staff usually need onboarding.
Light boards and flat-fee tools
Trello keeps to simple boards and cards, and Basecamp charges a flat monthly fee per package rather than per seat. Both suit small groups that value calm over configuration. They offer fewer reporting and portfolio options, so growing teams eventually add something else or move up.
Spreadsheet-style and workspace tools
Smartsheet looks and behaves like a grid, which suits finance, PMO and operations staff who think in rows and formulas. Notion combines documents with databases, so project tracking sits beside wikis and notes. Teamwork targets client services, with time and billing features built in.
Facts at a glance
| Tool | Publisher | Based in | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asana | Asana, Inc. | United States | Free tier + API |
| monday.com | monday.com Ltd. | Israel | Free tier + API |
| ClickUp | ClickUp (Mango Technologies, Inc.) | United States | Free tier + API |
| Jira | Atlassian | United States | Free tier + API |
| Smartsheet | Smartsheet Inc. | United States | Trial + API |
| Wrike | Wrike, Inc. | United States | Free tier + API |
| Teamwork | Teamwork.com | Ireland | Free tier + API |
| Trello | Atlassian | United States | Free tier + API |
| Notion | Notion Labs, Inc. | United States | Free tier + API |
| Basecamp | 37signals LLC | United States | Free tier + API |
| Linear | Linear | United States | Free tier + API |
| Zoho Projects | Zoho Corporation | Not stated on the pages read | Free tier + API |
