Being a Project Manager isn’t the easiest job in the world and it poses several interesting challenges for individuals and organizations alike. These challenges vary across a wide range of aspects including resource management, task management, estimation and other project management areas, and need to be tackled with the right combination of human skill ably supported by the right set of project management tools.
In this post, we evaluate and compare the top 5 web-based project management tools while highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.

LiquidPlanner

Dubbed as the “Complete Planning Solution” for Project Managers, LiquidPlanner provides an online environment to securely manage unlimited products. Here’s a quick assessment of LiquidPlanner’s strengths and weaknesses.

Pros

• Advanced scheduling capabilities facilitate accurate PERT estimation
• Enterprise Workspace chatter facilitates collaboration with clients and stakeholders
• Complimentary Mobile Dashboard for iPhone

Cons

• Available only as a hosted solution, no on-premise variant available
• More of a task management tool rather than a full-fledged project management tool.

PivotalTracker

An agile-centric web-based Project Management tool which works on the principle of “Build better software, faster”, PivotalTracker provides a “virtual room” for distributed teams and stakeholders to interact with each other. Here’s a quick assessment of PivotalTracker’s strengths and weaknesses.

Pros

• Best in class real time collaboration
• Easy to use with drag and drop user interface
• Powerful API that facilitates integration with 3rd party applications
• Innovative velocity-based planning approach

Cons

• Complex Tool with significant learning curve
• Well-suited only for Agile & Scrum projects
• Natural ally for SaaS model, doesn’t gel well with traditional model
• Bug tracking isn’t robust

Basecamp

A popular online project collaboration system with 5 million plus user base, Basecamp is a widely regarded as the Big Daddy of the web-based project management arena. Built on the fundamental principle of promoting open communication, Basecamp is available in several languages and integrates well with a large number of third-party offerings. Here’s a quick assessment of Basecamp’s strengths and weaknesses.

Pros

• Plug-in concept implies you can only add features that you need
• Seamless integration with Campfire (real time chat), Backpack (business management) and Highrise (contact management)
• Ability to private label your workspace
• Powerful API that facilitates integration with 3rd party applications
• Simple, Easy to Use dashboard with one-click access to most features

Cons

• More of a Collaboration-only tool with little emphasis on planning
• Priced on the higher side
• Ordinary CRM & Business Management capabilities
• Bug tracking isn’t robust
• No self-hosted version

VersionOne

Originally a pioneer in agile management, VersionOne has evolved over the years to support a number of other leading methodologies including Scrum, XP, Kanban, AgileUp and DSDM. The VersionOne suite offers a number of tools to help organizations work on faster, easier and smarter projects. Here’s a quick assessment of VersionOne’s strengths and weaknesses.

Pros

• Enterprise-grade Agile tool with support for multiple projects, programs and teams
• Robust and powerful reporting capabilities
• Compliant with Scrum
• Built-in Requirements & Test management capabilities
• Easy to use Drag and Drop User Interface

Cons

• Overkill for single project environment
• Heavy use of complex jargon & non-standard terminologies
• No Wiki, collaborative features leave a lot to be desired

2-Plan Team

Available in installable as well as hosted variants, 2-Plan Team combines the best of project management, project tracking, time tracking and team collaboration in a single powerful yet easy to use web-based project management tool. Here’s a quick assessment of 2-Plan Team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Pros

• Seamless Integration with 2-Plan Desktop
• Secure shared online workspace that supports tagging
• Open source tool with active community support
• Installable on local server
• Powerful yet easy to use public API for third-party integration
• Anywhere Anytime access through a standard smartphone interface

Cons

• Hosted version isn’t available yet, expected to be launched later this year

Conclusion

Choosing a web-based project management tool best-suited to your organization’s needs can often be a daunting task. A tool that works perfectly for Project A may be overkill for Project B and there’s no one size fits all rule that works just as well for all projects. Unless you are an enterprise user, VersionOne would probably be an overkill. If you are looking for a self-hosting version, LiquidPlanner, PivotalTracker and LiquidPlanner are non-starters. Further, apart from 2Plan Team, each of the other tools reviewed has significant budgetary implications as well. If you are looking for an open-source web-based project management tool with powerful third-party integration capabilities, we recommend that you explore 2Plan Team. Coming at the best possible price – FREE, it’s surely worth a try.

Add Comment

Name

Email (will not be published)

Personal Web site/Blog URL

Subject

Comment

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Enter the letters you see in the image.

Click to get a new image.