We’re always looking for new and inventive ways to make the working day a bit more bearable, whether it’s tactically timed lunch breaks, client meetings that conveniently fill an entire Friday afternoon or getting the brew round in first thing before the office has filled up. 

We all have our own little coping mechanisms, but beyond these personal tips and tricks, it’s only natural that business leaders should want things to be as straightforward and stress-free as possible for their teams. 

From boosting overall morale to improving operational efficiency and minimising loss, the best business leaders are always looking for ways to optimise and ensure their teams have all the resources and tools they need to perform to the best of their ability, with minimal pressure involved in doing so. 

To help with all of this, more and more businesses are turning to various project management solutions, with an ever-growing list of platforms claiming to cater to each and every work-based need. 

So how do you know which of these project management solutions is actually any good? There’s a tonne of superlative jargon to sieve through, making it difficult to know where to start. To help you on your way, we’ve picked out an array of options currently available on the market, with a few pros and cons of each for good measure. 

One popular name on offer is Scoro. The platform’s ability to directly translate time spent on a project into costs has made it a favourite for those who demand clarity over the financial side of things. 

However, as far as project management solutions go, Scoro does veer on the higher side in terms of price, and for anyone who needs more than basic features, you’ll almost certainly need to be prepared to splash out. The platform’s complexity can also mean a steep learning curve is involved for first-time users. 

Fluid

Fluid comes equipped with a wide variety of enterprise-level project management features, but packs them into an intuitive, consumer-facing dashboard that allows even novice users to get the most from them each day. 

Project Managers can access a loaded suite of effective PPM tools they need to deliver quality projects on time, with clear and instant real-time views of exactly where things are up to. Seamless integrations with the entire project ecosystem, including platforms like Outlook, Slack and Microsoft Suite, also ensure maximum clarity over the entire workflow. 

Wrike

Wrike’s integration capabilities are one of its biggest selling points, with connections to more than 400 various SaaS apps available to its users. There’s also a good variety of enterprise-level task management features that can be adapted to suit your business needs as your team grows. 

As is so often the case, the best of those features are only available on the premium plans, so anyone who wants to get the best out of the service will almost certainly need to shell out. The platform can be fairly complex, too, so there may be a pretty steep learning curve involved for first-time users. 

ClickUp

ClickUp is another powerful project management solution that’s capable of handling multiple complex workflows across a range of popular formats including Gantt Charts, Kanban Boards or Spreadsheets. The free version is also fairly impressive. 

While ClickUp does manage to pack in a wide variety of helpful features, the overwhelming interface that users are presented with can make it difficult to know where to actually find them, never mind get the most from them. 

Nifty

Collaboration is central to Nifty’s design with customisable roles and permissions ensuring everyone who needs to have eyes on a project is easily able to do so. Its integration with Airtable can also be extremely beneficial when it comes to things like invoicing. 

Again, Nifty’s best features are hidden behind the more premium packages, so for anyone looking for anything more than basic features, don’t be surprised when you have to dip into the company credit card.  

Notion

Notion’s all-in-one workspace is highly effective at turning messy notes and checklists into clear, actionable workflows, taking these wild scribblings and working them into a more legible Kanban interface. 

The dashboard can sometimes be a little difficult to get to grips with, and with no dedicated in-built reporting tool, you’ll have to look into a third party, which can quickly become tiresome. 

Monday

One of the most recognisable names when it comes to project management, Monday.com has proved popular for years now thanks to its consumer-facing approach, often making it the first foray into these kinds of platforms for many.

While Monday’s intuitive dashboard is great at managing small to medium sized projects, those in need of a heavier-hitting platform might find it comes up a little short in terms of advanced features.

Oracle Primavera

Oracle’s Primavera is another widely trusted name having been around for more than three decades now, and is up there with the most powerful solutions currently available on the market. Its ability to detect the risk of project overruns has earned it plenty of plaudits during its time.

While the features are still capable of managing advanced workflows, the Oracle Primavera interface risks feeling a bit outdated these days, meaning it can take a long time to fully work out. It also leans towards the higher side in terms of pricing. 

Teamwork

A solid choice for teams working on a tight budget, Teamwork’s generous price points make it a good entry point when it comes to project management solutions. Despite this, it does grant access to a good amount of features that you’d generally expect to spend a bit more on. 

If you’re in need of software that can handle simultaneous tasks and workflows, though, Teamwork can begin to struggle when larger teams try to use it. The reporting features will also seem a little lightweight to many who are heavy on analytics. 

Workfront

Workfront is another that boasts a generous price point, again, offering users a surprisingly good amount of useful task management tools for their money. 

However, the platform is held back by the steep learning curve that’s involved with getting the most from these tools, and the overall UX isn’t the most intuitive or user-friendly. 

Jira

Jira was launched by Atlassian back in 2002, and was first intended as solely an issue-tracking solution for software developers. Fast forward a couple of decades and its effectiveness in managing Agile workflows has seen it adopted for a wider variety of task and project tracking. 

Since Jira’s roots lie in issue-tracking, the software isn’t fully optimised when it comes to project management features, meaning it misses a number of relatively standard capabilities that most project managers will need on the day-to-day grind. 

What is the best alternative to Scoro for project management? 

Fluid’s all-in-one dashboard makes it radically easy to create, monitor and optimise as many projects and programs as you can fit into your portfolio.

Whether it’s ensuring meetings deliver actionable next steps, accurate budget forecasting or in-depth reporting, Fluid covers all elements of the project management spectrum with maximum efficiency and ease. To find out more about how Fluid can streamline your day, book a demo or start your free trial today.