The Top Task Management Software for Developers

Solid task management software can help your software development team’s members simplify their daily workflow. This article will list some of the top task management software for developers and programmers that can provide you with much more functionality than simple to-do lists and note-taking apps.

Interested in becoming a project manager? We have a great list of the Top Certifications for Project Managers to help get you started.

What Is Task Management Software?

Any digital tool that can help you plan, track, and complete a task or unit of work could be considered task management software. Some of the basic features of task management software include the ability to list, expense, and test tasks or subtasks. And to keep you organized, many task management software solutions can help you view dependencies between tasks so you know what must be completed first to ensure you meet your deadlines and achieve maximum efficiency.

What To Look For When Choosing Task Management Software

Although you could take the simplified approach of making a to-do list or taking notes with something like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Microsoft Excel, or Google Sheets, you may want a solution that packs more punch that only task management software can provide. But, with so many solutions on the market, how can you pick one that fits your needs? You can start by filtering out the losers and winners via this checklist of questions that many use when searching for task management software for developers:

  • Does the software fit your team’s project management methodology, such as Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, hybrid, etc.?
  • Is the task management software user-friendly, and is it an appropriate fit for your level of technical knowledge?
  • Is the user interface clean and easy on the eyes, so you will not get tired of using it on a daily basis to keep on top of your tasks?
  • Does the task management software offer templates so you can hit the ground running without much work? And are those templates customizable to your unique needs should you want to tweak them?
  • Can you group subtasks with related tasks?
  • Is there a feature to mark or color-code tasks to avoid confusion?
  • Are there multiple task views that let you absorb data according to the project, due date, client, or urgency? Is there a calendar view available?
  • Can you integrate the task management software with other tools that you already use so you can access everything you need in one place?
  • Does the task management software sync across devices so you can access info on the go on your smartphone?
  • Does the software fit your budget? Is there a free version that can give you all the functionality you need? If not, is there at least a free trial to test drive the features before paying a premium?

The Best Task Management Software For Developers

While this list does not represent every task management software offering on the market, it does give you a brief glimpse into some of the best solutions you will find for developers.

ProWorkflow

ProWorkflow Project Management Software

One of the most flexible task management software solutions is ProWorkflow. With it, you can easily assign or reschedule tasks to specific team members, track time, and more.

Highlights:

    • An easy-to-understand layout.
    • Drag-and-drop functionality for assigning tasks and using Gantt charts or Kanban boards.
    • Specify task assignees, start and finish dates, rates, hours allocated, and more.
    • View staff availability for tasks to prevent work overload.
    • Team collaboration via messaging and file sharing.
    • Easily editable assignments, dates, categories, etc., that adapt to your ever-changing needs.
    • A free trial is available. The Professional plan starts at $20 per month.

Monday.com

Monday.com Project Management Software

If you seek simplicity from your task management tool, Monday.com may be right up your alley. Software development teams who prefer spreadsheets may enjoy Monday.com’s customizable and highly interactive interface that offers many extra perks that Sheets or Excel can provide.

Highlights:

      • Task management boards for viewing progress, dependencies, recurring tasks, etc.
      • Team collaboration via message boards, file uploads, deadline assignments, @mentions, and member tagging.
      • The ability to easily display and visualize project data to determine progress almost instantly.
      • Integrations with popular tools like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Trello, Slack, Dropbox, GitHub, and Jira.
      • Free trial available. The Basic plan starts at $8 per seat per month.

Smartsheet

Smartsheet Project Management Software

Smartsheet is considered by many to be the top task management software based in the cloud. As you can tell by its name, Smartsheet adheres to a spreadsheet format that may attract software developers who are used to working with Excel or Google Sheets and seek something similar yet more advanced for managing tasks.

Highlights:

      • Eliminates the need to work with complicated Excel formulas, as it performs calculations on the fly across multiple sheets.
      • Supplies all the essential task management functions, such as scheduling, subtasks, assigning resources, activities, etc.
      • Real-time notifications, plus status reports, activity logs, shared views, detailed history, and more to keep all team members on the same page.
      • Editable reports that can be exported to Excel with ease.
      • A Critical Path feature that highlights tasks essential to meeting your deadlines.
      • Integrations with Slack, Jira, Google, and Microsoft apps, and more.
      • Free trial available. The Pro plan starts at $7 per user, per month.

Todoist

ToDoist Task Management Software

One of the simpler solutions on this list for managing tasks is Todoist. Many use Todoist to manage their everyday personal tasks, but it has sufficient functionality and features to help your software development team stay organized as well.

Highlights:

      • The simple interface lets you jump right in to start creating, prioritizing, and sharing tasks with virtually zero learning curve.
      • Organize task lists via priority tags and labels.
      • Smart rescheduling feature senses when you have too much on your plate and pushes out tasks to future dates so you can meet realistic deadlines.
      • Integrations with Slack, Dropbox, Zapier, Google Drive, and more.
      • Developer API is available.
      • A Free forever plan is available for starters. Pro plan starts at $4 per user per month.

Wrike

Wrike Project Management Software

Over 20,000 organizations across the globe use Wrike to help manage their tasks. Whether you have a small development team of fewer than five members or seek a task solution for unlimited members, Wrike can fulfill your needs.

Highlights:

      • User-friendly and intuitive interface lets you easily switch between standard workflow views, Gantt charts, Kanban boards, etc.
      • Highly customizable dashboards, workflows, reports, etc.
      • Real-time team collaboration, file sharing, and shared workflows.
      • Schedules, subtasks, and task lists.
      • Over 400 integrations that include Dropbox, Microsoft, and Google apps, and much more.
      • A free trial is available, plus there is a Free version for teams that are getting started. The Professional plan starts at $9.80 per user per month.

Sendtask

Sendtask Task Management Software

An essential part of software development is collaborating with clients. Sendtask keeps this in mind and provides plenty of collaborative features to help you manage tasks while keeping your clients in the loop.

Highlights:

      • Seamless onboarding with unlimited users and tasks.
      • Lets you start collaborating with clients within seconds.
      • Eliminates the need to register partners or clients with whom you want to distribute tasks or share data.
      • Allows you to manage tasks from your inbox.
      • Integrations with Slack and email services.
      • Currently in Beta and free to use. Sendtask promises its current features will remain free forever, making it a great task management solution for growing dev teams on a strict budget.

Read more software development tool reviews and project management software highlights.

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