Managing a project and taking it to fruition is one of the toughest challenges for project managers (PMs), regardless of business size. But the current digital arena is powerful enough to help PMs cover all sort of necessary project management paraphernalia. A good tool for project management helps PMs keep project aspects in sync and meet project goals. Some standard functions of a project management tool are task management, collaboration, overview dashboards, tools to communicate with team members, scheduler, and administrative controls.

However, it often becomes perplexing for PMs to choose a highly efficient tool as the tech market is flooded with them. That said, I am offering an insight into 5 such tools along with feature comparison so that you can make the right choice for your project.

5 Project Task Management Tools List - Free Online Feature Comparison

#1 Wrike

Wrike, a winner of FinancesOnline Best Project Management Software Award for 2016, is known for both high speed and efficiency of work. Multi functional group collaboration and effective management from a single location make Wrike a top choice for online project management. A Wrike user can also view tasks, activities, and updates across projects or down the subtasks in real time using the mobile app. Wrike analytics offers insights from real-time data to help you anticipate and find swift fixes for future delays and problems. It is best suited to small and large organizations, and it’s free up to five users.

Some Excellent Features of Wrike are as follows:

• 3-pane layout provides important data on one screen

• Allows to share view and share project data with Tags and Folders

• Task management tools to monitor individual and overall progress

• Activity Stream pane to track team activities and use of @mention to engage team

• Drag and drop to share task priorities with your team

• Time-tracking to know the exact number of hours spent on a particular task

• Real time updates

• Easy reporting via excellent analytics

• Document collaboration

• Workload management

• Email integration

#2 Active Collab

Active Collab is one of the most popular tool used for project management for users who have to juggle between multiple projects. It provides a dashboard to track updates and figure out what tasks you need to take up next. Active Collab’s all-in-one calendar allows you to set your own custom dates and events. Be it team collaboration or meeting deadlines, Active Colloab has all you need to flawlessly and effectively manage a project. The tool comes free for the first month and then charges $25 per month for 5 members with 5GB space. You can upgrade for more members and storage as well.

Check out Active Collab’s Top Features

• Generates reports on open tasks, the team's workload, or the estimated time for completion.

• Allows to organize tasks into lists and sort them using filters for people, labels, or due dates.

• Project collaboration.

• Provides each user a dashboard to see their tasks and deadlines.

• Dropbox integration allows to share Dropbox files on projects and with your team.

• Multiple language option breaks regional language barriers and gives rise to ease of use.

• Invoice management.

• Time tracking and desktop timer app.

• Email notification and advanced time report.

• Trello importer allows to copy Trello projects into Active Collab.

#3 FindNerd

FindNerd is a product of Evon Technologies, one of the top software development companies in India. It is a free-to-use and awesome tool for efficient project management, collaboration, task tracking and resource management. The stand alone PM tool features minute-by-minute resource tracking and automatic status alerts. The PM tool is mobile friendly and allows to plan and monitor project tasks and milestones from any place. You can use FindNerd for free, and get access to all the excellent features that make the backbone of a high-efficacy project management tool.

Exciting and In-demand Project Management Features of FindNerd

• Resource management allows to plan and allocate resources based on availability and load.

• Time tracking.

• FindNerd emphasizes collaboration by allowing to share queries, documents, information, etc.

• Analytics allows to generate reports on hours logged, activities performed and resource utilization.

• Enables efficient workflow by paving the way for setting and agreeing on terms, billings and approval hierarchies.

• Task and bug management allows to prioritize, monitor, filter and move with easy drag and drop feature.

• Keeps you updated with status alerts.

• Add quick sprints, timelines, members in no-time.

• Easy setup allows to set up a project in seconds with minimum details and scale as you go.

• Invoicing feature enables to prepare and keep track of invoices and transactions with in-built workflows.

#4 Jira

Jira is another popular tool, especially among agile teams for project planning, tracking, releasing, and reporting. Jira allows PMs to gather insight into important matters by collating user stories and case studies. It enhances team performance by providing access to real-time, visual data. Jira comes at $10 per month for up to 10 users. For on-premise solution, Linux and Windows installers are available, though you can also opt for the hassle-free JIRA OnDemand.

Have a Look at Important Features of Jira

• Agile development.

• Project time tracking.

• Jira also offers cloud-hosted version, which is painless to set up.

• Jira’s flexible dashboard helps create a personalized view. Besides, you can share the dashboards to keep a track on team wallboards and generate custom reports, and track project status.

• GitHub integration.

• JIRA’s Query Language (JQL) allows to develop advanced queries.

• Sprint planning.

• More than 800 add-ons and plugins.

• Customizable workflows help you easily create the process that fits your team.

• Planning tools.

• Portfolio management and automatic notifications.

#5 Asana

Asana is popular among PMs for communication and collaboration, though it’s not as fast as Wrike is. Fast-growing local businesses mostly use Asana, but some big players, like TED, Uber, The New Yorker, and Salesforce, have also tried their hands on it. Asana allows clear communication where there is a need to deal with remote teams. Asana is compatible with multiple devices and free to use for up to 15 people. Whereas, Asana Premium comes for $ 9.99 per member per month.

Exciting Features of Asana are as Follows:

• Task tools allow to break work into manageable pieces and plan a day with a prioritized to-do list.

• With Subtask feature, you can also break up a task into smaller parts.

• For communication, Asana enables team members to comment directly on a task and mention team mates.

• Automatic status updates.

• Team pages feature helps PMs to see team’s projects in one place.

• Calendar feature allows to have the correct idea of when work is due.

• The hearts feature allows team members to give their approval to new ideas about what to work on next.

• Time tracking.

• Enhances team collaboration, even for geographically separated teams.

• Bug tracking.

Having a right tool for project management has become the need of the hour for many businesses, especially when the competition is so high. I hope the free feature comparison of the five tools above will help you decide on a tool that suits your goals and project requirements the best.

Have you ever used a project management tool before? If yes, how was your experience and what extra feature/features would you like to have in your favorite tool? Please share in the comment box below.