15 Project Management Systems For SOHO’s

Getting organized, time management, team management seem to be one of those things that are on the small businesses’ minds a lot. I know it is for me. The trouble is, I’m constantly distracted by different systems and wanting to try them all. Here are 15 I’ve found – but not necessarily tried – that you might want to look into.

Basecamp – this is like the holy grail for some. Not my personal choice. Not saying that it’s bad. The system is good and it works, just doesn’t work for me, but it might for you. Manage your own business, your team or add clients to it so everyone can communicate in a safe environment. A little pricey.
5pm – I’ve found this pretty interesting. Feature wise it is comparable with Basecamp. Also pricey although the starting package is lower than Basecamp.
Goplan – Can’t find a detailed feature listing on their site. Seems simple/straight forward. I just wish so many project management systems didn’t mimic the Basecamp screen which is one thing I don’t like about it. It’s more affordable and has a free basic account. I don’t know if it can track time though with for me is a biggie. Don’t want to use another time tracker to manage time and billing.

Lighthouse – Presents themselves as an issue tracker more than project management. In one sense, I do like issue trackers that way I can integrate my help desk right into my workspace but am not convinced… yet? They have a free basic account and several paid premium accounts. Again with the Basecamp user interface, what’s up with that?

activeCollab – This was originally an opensource project. Unfortunately it no longer is. You can still get the opensource version but it’s quite different from the premium version. Touted to be the Basecamp rival without monthly fees because you host it yourself. There’s good and bad to that. First is, you got to maintain any software on your own and if you want secure connection you have to get your own SSL certificate and do a whole bunch of technical setup. Good if you have a tech manager to handle things like that for you, pain in the butt in the long term if you don’t. Still the system itself is supposed to be pretty good, be prepared to pay good money for it. Small Biz version starts at $199 and Corporate version is $399, support is $199 yearly.

Wrike – I’m so intrigued by this system because it centers around emails which is where I practically live in – my inbox. The added time tracker helps of course. It can also get pricey because they charge per user account so if you have two people and you’re both using the basic account that’s $9.98 a month. Not bad I suppose, but the basic account really is basic, without time tracker. Still, I find this may probably suit my work style best and if I do try anything next it’ll probably be this.

Gmail or Google Apps- Surprised? Don’t be. This is exactly what I use to track my projects – well sort of I also use it conjunction with Google Calendar and Docs. Labels and Filters are used to help me keep projects together. I use labels like tags to group the emails and filters to help me automate things. I also use Gmail Labs features a lot like Super Stars to help me prioritize each email which I consider as tasks. The ability to chat is great as well. Just to be clear though, I use Google Apps for my day to day business management and not the normal Gmail.
OnStage – Looks pretty vanilla although I’m sure there’s something to love. They have a basic free account which is pretty generous as far as project management sytems go.

AirSet – I’ve been using this for close to 2 years, maybe even more. They recently updated and did total revamp that honestly makes me close to giving up on it. I really liked the old system but I guess that’s not so much about the system being good or bad rather my inability to change with them. They approach things from a virtual desktop view. You can create multiple virtual desktops. I like the fact that I can keep those desktops totally independent of each other and you can have multiple users on each desktop with pretty good access controls for each user. That way you can have both your personal and business agendas and projects on there and yet are separated. They were 100% free until a few short weeks ago, they began to charge for a premium version for $9.95 per web computer. You can still get it free but with ads and no secure connection.

ActionThis – If you’re a big Outlook user this might be just the thing for you. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more than that since I don’t use Outlook. They have free basic accounts and an affordable monthly plan starting at $10/month

DeskAway – Yet another Basecamp like system but more affordable, starting at $10/month and a free 3 project, 5 user basic account. I like the project templates and Export so you can always keep a copy of your own data.

MyIntervals – I so love the idea of integrated invoicing. Most systems have the time tracking but not invoicing which is a drag but this has both. Plans start at $20/month but they do have one for individuals and freelancers for free – limited to one project and no secure connection on free accounts.

Project Pier – Remember activeCollab opensource? Well this is a fork of activeCollab’s older version. Self hosted. I think it works OK but you’ll have to be prepared to manage this software yourself and also put up with incomplete features which is to be expected. The good news is, if you have a technical team to help you, they could tweak/modify the coding to do what you want so it can behave exactly how you want it to.

ClockingIt – Completely free. Seems pretty feature rich. They have the hosted version or, you can also get your own copy and install in on your servers. It is open source.

Project2Manage – Another Basecamp like system, and it is free.