Best Project Portfolio Management Software (2024)

This cloud-based platform is a comprehensive project management tool. The many templates allow you to instantly plug in and plan project management. Choose from a work calendar, single project and advanced single project templates. Team members will appreciate the multiple views available that allow them to manage their workflows individually—there are Kanban, Gantt, timeline and calendar views.

Managers can see individual projects at a glance or get a sense of the entire slate of projects the company is working on. All views are customisable, catering to the specific detailed needs of any individual or team.

The system has built-in time tracking, allowing managers to fully understand the cost of a project with the resources allocated. This feature is even available in the mobile app, which is as comprehensive as they come for leadership on the go.

For efficiency, monday.com allows many automations and repeat notifications can be turned off, lessening the inbox of each team member. It integrates with Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, Shopify, Google Calendar, Gmail and a slew of other tools.

Who should use it:
Australian Businesses of any size looking for a robust solution that is cost-effective and allows for flexibility and customisation.

Growing teams need to be able to easily see what tasks are coming and communicate about them, which is why Teamwork earns the spot for best for growing teams. Not only does it make it easy for teams to communicate, but it also opens transparency on projects to an unlimited number of free client users. A collaborative document editor gets everyone on the same page, working toward the same goal.

With the Grow plan, organisations can customise fields, do resource scheduling and run utilisation reports. The editable Gantt chart view is intuitive and comprehensive, giving an overview of project tasks and allowing managers to make appropriate changes to projects.

For teams that work with external clients, the ability to invoice and bill helps take project management into revenue management. The tool allows for expenses to be tracked or to generate a flat-fee invoice.

The system supports webhooks to allow automation to email and Slack. The platform also supports Zapier and integrates with HubSpot. Overall, this platform makes collaboration easy.

Who should use it:
Those in Agile work environments where projects may change in scope regularly.

While Wrike is a solution that can help any organisation with PPM needs, it has a solution specifically designed for professional services teams, making it a no-brainer to simplify the project creation and editing process.

Wrike offers a cloud-based, desktop and mobile app solution to organisations needing unlimited users for task and subtask management. The platform allows both internal and external collaborators in the free version, making it a great resource for companies needing to keep clients abreast of project development.

There is an interactive board and spreadsheet views and those who upgrade to the Professional plan can get shareable dashboards and interactive Gantt charts. Customisation is easy and team members can use several productivity integrations to stream workflows that include MS Project, Excel and RSS.

When it comes to managing a professional services organisation, the plan focuses on team resource management, capacity planning so you don’t spread yourself too thin and role-based management to extend leadership positions. Billing and invoicing are integrated, making this a simple yet comprehensive solution.

Who should use it:
Professional service teams that have client-based projects needing organisation and the ability to invoice all in one simple program.

Smartsheet focuses its design and workflow using a spreadsheet-style dashboard that may already be familiar to project managers. Like any good PPM solution, it offers grid, Gantt, card and calendar views. As with standard spreadsheets, you can create formulas in cells and columns to help with tracking and reporting.

Teams can work together to share work via presentations, images and PDFs with real-time updating and collaboration. Start a project using one of the many templates and then customise it by adding or removing certain features. As with any type of spreadsheet system, analytics and reporting are as powerful as you need them to be.

Numerous automation tools use a simple drag-and-drop system, making it easy to set up and customise. Get as detailed as you want with workflow automation, thanks to Smartsheet’s advanced features. The system supports work with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Apple ID.

Who should use it:
Companies already working with spreadsheets for PPM purposes will appreciate the solution offered by Smartsheet.

Trello gets the nod for best value because even its free version comes with most of the bells and whistles you could want. It remains one of the easiest-to-use programs and a very popular option among individuals and enterprises alike.

The free version allows you to have unlimited cards with up to ten boards per workspace. This is more than enough for a small company to manage projects from start to finish. Users can assign other team members to tasks and prioritise due dates. When you upgrade to the Standard version, you get advanced checklists with customisable fields. The Premium version allows for multiple views including dashboard, timeline, workspace table, calendar and map view.

Trello integrates with numerous other tools including Slack, Google Drive, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Most functions are available in the mobile app so that you can have project management capabilities while away from the office. Automation features enable you to set up rules for your cards and boards so that one action triggers another and reduces the number of manual clicks required.

Who should use it:
Anyone unfamiliar with PPM tools will find Trello one of the most intuitive platforms available.