Top 13 WordPress Project Management Plugins and Tools to Use

Project management involves planning, organization, and discipline to follow procedures and policies to ensure teams meet their project deadlines and stay within budget.

This usually involves working with multiple members on a team to achieve pre-determined goals and objectives. That’s why WordPress project management plugins are so essential for teams in web development, social media, marketing, real estate, and many other small business categories.

Project and task management are even needed for individual workers like freelancers and contractors.

Quality control checks by a project manager might also be involved to make sure things are up to a certain standard. The market for these plugins isn’t that expansive, but WordPress does have some creative solutions for managing your projects right on your dashboard.

We have gathered up the top WordPress project management plugins and tools with WordPress integration which can help you stay organized and on tasks.

Ready to check them out? Let’s go!

Top WordPress Project Management Plugins and Tools

Plugins and tools are listed in no particular order.

1. WordPress Project Management by UpStream

The UpStream project management plugin is a free WordPress tool that allows you to easily manage any type of project, right from within your WordPress website. Your clients can track the progress of their projects via the frontend project view. You can also set milestones, mark bugs, and start a project discussion thread where everyone on the project is able to chat with each other.

This is a completely free core plugin, but it also has premium extensions which allow you to add frontend editing capabilities as well as project timelines. You can find the premium extension list here, with a few favorites including Calendar View, Customizer, Custom Fields, and Email Notifications.

The pricing begins at $39.50 per year for updates, support, and a few extensions. The real extension bundles come into play when you choose bigger packages. It appears that you can’t purchase the extensions individually.

Overall, UpStream looks like a viable project management solution for anyone looking to keep costs low without sacrificing value. You can customize fields and colors for your own organization and generate an unlimited number of projects and users. We also like the calendars and Gantt charts for visualizations of the projects.

Features That Make WordPress Project Management by UpStream a Great Choice:

• The vast majority of the features are free for you to install and utilize as your primary WordPress project management tool.
• Create milestones and tasks and link them together for all users included in those projects.
• The plugin allows you to upload files and documents.
• The bug tracking has customizable fields so that your workers jot down descriptions, bug statuses, and the severity of each bug.
• Automatic progress tracking tells you when a project needs people working on it and when you’re getting close to completing a project.
• Discussion threads eliminate the need for messy emails. You get to set the user permissions for all conversations.
• Set client users with contact details and custom fields.
• The plugin has customizable frontend templates so that you can match your own branding and change everything from colors to fields.
• This is a developer-friendly WordPress project management plugin, with options for customizing the CSS and adjusting elements like the frontend layout and forms. Some of the premium extensions include a calendar view and custom fields.
• It’s a translation-ready plugin so that people from all parts of the world can use it.
• Labels are available for you to mark anything, such as projects, milestones, and files.

2. Monday.com with the WooCommerce Integration

Monday.com is a workhorse of a project management software that runs separate from WordPress and can be utilized by any organization. We still like it for WordPress since it has a WooCommerce integration. With a link like this, you’re able to take advantage of the clean Monday.com interface to manage your team’s projects and send things like online orders and inventory levels to the project management software.

The basic software offers stylish organization for small teams and large businesses, combining elements for project management with sales, marketing, and development tools. You can create detailed plans for jobs and track your progress while linking the progress to certain people in your organization.

We like that collaboration is a big part of Monday.com, and it’s also possible to generate powerful reports.

Establishing a brand in the busy project management software market is a tough task, but Monday.com has managed to build a followership and prove that it’s just as capable of the big dogs (it’s also one of the strongest Trello alternatives out there).

Monday.com is a highly visual project manager, and the WooCommerce extension supports syncing for orders, products, and other fields. This establishes a high-level picture of your store and tells employees which projects must be handled first.

When thinking about pricing, you don’t have to pay for the WooCommerce integration. However, Monday.com does get a little pricey when you add more users. Having said that, it’s designed to grow with your business and should pay for itself rather easily. The starting price is $8 per user per month, with a minimum requirement of five users, but if you pay annually you could get it for $39 per month.

Features That Make Monday.com a Great Choice:

• The plugin allows for linking to your WooCommerce store, to pull in products and orders, and manage your projects around what’s selling and what you’d like your sales to look like.
• Collaborate with team members based on their user levels.
• Combine the project management suite with modules for marketing, remote work, software development, media and production, and HR. They’re all options for you to choose from.
• Get an overview of your project list with a calendar function.
• You control user roles, assigning managers, co-workers, and clients.
• Assign creators and limit project visibility so that only people in your organization see what’s going on.
• See current project statuses to check if a project has slipped through the cracks or requires a boost.
• Track milestones so that you and your teammates can celebrate when something is achieved.
• The software automates your workflows. For instance, you may do something like assigning a user to a project when a status is changed to something new.
• All parts of Monday.com are visual. This includes charts for making smart future decisions and the calendar view for projects.
• Along with the WooCommerce integration, Monday.com combines with software like MailChimp, Gmail, and dozens of others.
• There’s no user limitation. You can create an unlimited number of tasks, projects, and teams. However, pricing does go up with more users.
• Several building blocks are available for customizing your interface and seeing information like a Kanban view, notifications, and a calendar view.
• The time tracking module is available for all users, where they can either run the time tracking and logging for their own work, or you could establish a time tracker for the organization. Break up your team into workspaces, where they get their own dashboards and only see projects assigned to them.
• The file-sharing element is great for uploading larger files that relate to projects.
• A significant portion of the Monday.com features is available in the mobile app, providing access to all projects even when your team is on the go.

3. WP-Client with Project Management Extension

WP-Client is marketed as an all-in-one business plugin. But what does that mean? As a summary, the WP-Client plugin is a client manager, with tools for sending invoices, sharing files, sending messages, and logging conversations with those clients. So, it’s a solid plugin that you may find useful if you have a long client list and required elements like invoicing and file sharing.

However, we’re talking about project management plugins, so how does the WP-Client plugin fit into that category?

WP-Client has several extensions, but one of them is called Project Management. It does exactly what we need it to do by helping you coordinate projects with teams and loop in your clients. Again, if you don’t require a client manager, you might as well look elsewhere. But this is a nice opportunity for those who wouldn’t mind receiving two small business plugin options in one.

The actual WP-Client plugin sells for $59. That’s a one-time licensing fee, but you can upgrade every year to receive plugin updates.

There are three other packages for the plugin, going all the way up to $349. Each plan contributes a few extra addons or features, so it depends on what you’re looking for.

Features That Make WP-Client a Great Choice:

• Although there are limited free elements, the WP-Client plugin is the real deal when it comes to client management. After you add the Project Management extension, it becomes a powerful client and project manager that’s quite the value when you look at the pricing.
• The core WP-Client plugin includes features for privacy, security, file sharing, client management, private messaging, invoicing, and more.
• The Project Management extension delivers a beautiful interface for creating and assigning projects to the right people.
• Group together employees and assign roles when those groups start collaborating on a project.
• You have total control over your data since everything is stored on your WordPress database.
• Make smaller tasks and restrict labels to only one person per task. This essentially makes it so that there aren’t “too many cooks in the kitchen.”
• Generate subtasks or smaller tasks that go underneath the regular tasks.
• Post project milestones that give you an overhead view of how a project is moving along. You can view the project in segments or look at the entire timeline.
• Remove older projects from view with the Archive function.
• The plugin includes a file-sharing system for uploading a multitude of file types. You set permissions for those files so only the necessary people see them and have access to downloading or editing them (similar to Google Docs).
• Give limited access to your clients to communicate with your team and see how far along the project has come. You can block specifics like internal communications, but this is a great way to keep clients in the loop.
• Unique roles are already designated, like for freelancers and teammates. You can adjust the permissions for each group, but the default restrictions are often enough to get the job done.
• Team and client communications are all stored in the dashboard, but they’re separated, so as not to muddle the conversation from clients with what your team is talking about.

4. Avaza with Third-Party Integrations

Avaza doesn’t offer a direct WordPress plugin, but there’s a long list of integrations through Zapier, some of which are designed for WooCommerce, while others stick with standard WordPress functions.

Some of the features involved with the integration include the ability to send invoices between WordPress and Avaza, and options to create new tasks, projects, customers, and products without any need to copy these details over from one program to the other.

The integration doesn’t cost a dime, but most companies using Avaza pay a premium. However, there is a free plan that supports unlimited collaborators, one user, and five active projects. So, a very small company could take advantage of that.

Otherwise, the pricing begins at $9.95 per month for 20 active projects and two users, all the way up to $39.95 per month for unlimited active projects.

All plans include regular free updates, secure data, and mobile-friendly versions to access your projects and users from mobile devices. We like that the Avaza software integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero, streamlining the accounting process.

Some other parts of the Avaza suite include resource scheduling, online invoicing, and expense management. That’s all in addition to project management, making the pricing look even more interesting.

Automating communication between Avaza and WordPress is key to making this integration work well when it comes to project management. We enjoy that you can add new users and write comments about projects from either system and sync with the other.

There’s a long list of other actions that trigger new resulting actions for WordPress or Avaza. The Avaza project manager interface is similar to Trello, showing multiple boards for dragging and dropping tasks from left to right.

Multiple views are provided, and you can track the percentage of the project done with no problem. Combine that with task tagging, collaboration, and a smart email integration and it’s clear that Avaza stands out.

Features That Make Avaza a Great Choice:

• The software is not stored in your WordPress dashboard, making for a less cluttered content management system.
• The pricing is monthly, but we’ve found it rather inexpensive compared to other full software management suites.
• It’s clear that the interface was of great importance during the development process. The board-style project movement system is great for visuals and for adding users to tasks.
• Avaza is far more than a project management tool. You also receive modules for invoicing, resource scheduling, quotes, and much more.
• The team collaboration is done with the help of smart email integrations, discussion tools, and options for attaching projects from third-party storage like Google Drive.
• All versions of the plugin are responsive for use on smaller devices.
• Locating project information is done with the help of quick keys, filters, and search bars.
• You’re able to categorize projects and tasks and link the items to user groups.
• You have the opportunity to configure member and project dashboards to track performance and give your workers an area to view the information most relevant to them.
• You can create custom reports and use the system-wide dashboard for seeing everything that’s going on with projects in real-time.
• The simplified time-based billing is excellent for logging costs for your projects and understanding how much time is being spent on those projects.
• You have the option to invite collaborators to approve timesheets and give their input on projects.
• Several automated processes are available to use. Some of these are great for syncing tasks with your calendar, creating project templates, and using recurring tasks and invoices.
• The reporting area is impressive, offering project summaries for quick information. Detailed data is shown, along with task list reports and budgeting details.
• There’s an interesting feature that links your estimates to projects. Therefore, you send out an estimate to a potential client. Once accepted, you can convert that estimate into an Avaza project, with all of the information carried over from the previous document.

5. SP Project & Document Manager

SP Project & Document Manager (formerly called Smarty Pants) is a robust WordPress project management plugin with many great features. Developers divide the features into administrator features and client features then incorporate premium features for those who need them.

As an administrator, you have complete control over user access. You can upload files to each client and project page and get an overview of the past client uploads.

You can also add staff, suppliers, vendors, subcontractors, and partners. Users at all levels can create projects according to your permission parameters. Clients can upload multiple files, delete files, and search for files by name. They also have the ability to rename files.

Features That Make SP Project & Document Manager a Great Choice:

• The Community Version is filled with basic features, all for free.
• You can upload and manage your files without having to worry about any limits.
• Several media file types are supported, including links from places like YouTube.
• You can import local files and store them on specific projects.
• The SSL support is ideal to ensure that security is a priority.
• The localization of the plugin means that everyone around the world has the opportunity to utilize the plugin.
• The plugin lets you add an unlimited number of projects and users, with support for user role assignments.
• Several security features are offered for protecting your files, such as an option to require a password to download any files from your site (check out this selection of the best WordPress download manager plugins).
• Client sharing is possible with some extra tools to assign certain clients to projects and keep them out of the rest of your system.
• Each user is able to make their own folders, collaborate with other users from their dashboard, and assign project folders to other people in the network.
• The admin has full control over all files, projects, and users. Admins can turn off client access, view user activity, and download every single project folder into one zip file.
• All clients and customers get their own personal page area for uploading their own files and creating projects, if you allow this from the admin section.
• Exporting and importing is a powerful feature from the plugin, with options for exporting all data into a CSV or importing full project details from other software.
• Build a wide array of custom forms with custom fields.
• Alongside the field manager, users are able to sign documents directly through the plugin dashboard.
• Even though this is primarily a document storage and sharing plugin with project management elements, it’s nice to see that it has options to link and upload from third-party services like Google Drive, One Drive, and Dropbox.
• Several integrations are provided in the premium addons. For instance, you may consider integrating with a tool like Amazon S3. The WooCommerce integration is great for selling on your website and potentially taking the files on the plugin and selling them through your website afterward.
• File and project organization seems to be paramount in the SP Project and Document Manager. You can post your files and projects on your website with the help of shortcodes, while also offering search bars, filters, and thumbnail previews for when people are trying to sift through the clutter of files.

6. Airtable with Third-Party WordPress Integration

Airtable offers a few ways to integrate its software with the WordPress content management system. The first is through the API, which means you’ll need a developer to integrate (many project management software provides API access, so this isn’t that groundbreaking). The other is with Airtable’s WordPress integration (powered by Zapier).

Airtable is often considered a top project management tool for businesses of all sizes. The pricing is desirable as well, starting at $0 per month for up to 1,200 records in your databases. The $10 per user per month plan is more realistic for small businesses. There’s also an Enterprise version that requires a custom quote. The WordPress integration is free and doesn’t take long to install.

Airtable is completely different from the trendy Trello-style project management design, or the Kanban setup that we see in so many project managers.

Instead, Airtable issues databases, like spreadsheets, with flexible online tools to organize projects and maintain control over those spreadsheets. It’s seen as a mix between Excel and Trello.

You’re able to set multiple views, including grid view, calendar view, and gallery view. A Kanban solution is provided as well, with filters, tags, and categories possible for all tasks. The integrations are useful for linking to apps like MailChimp, Gmail, and Dropbox. The WordPress integration is great for making new records in Airtable when certain triggers happen in WordPress. There are also options to archive old WordPress content into an Airtable database.

Features That Make Airtable a Great Choice:

• The WordPress integration is free, and the core Airtable software appears to be one of the less expensive project management suites.
• Generating a database on Airtable is done automatically by activating a trigger in WordPress. This way, you may never have to open Airtable in order to create new projects.
• The design is unique when compared to the other project management software on this list. It’s like a spreadsheet, but with more interactive tools and organization modules. We’d argue that Airtable makes databases and spreadsheets fun to use because of the design.
• Airtable has mobile apps to gain access to all projects and databases from the convenience of your phone or tablet.
• You can develop unique field types for your content, with attachments, text notes, and checkboxes.
• There are some templates to make the project-creation process easier. For example, you may need special fields to manage projects for a restaurant.
• Four views are provided for storing projects. One is Kanban, and the other three are grid, calendar, and gallery views.
• Interlinking is done between tables. This cuts down on duplicate content and ensures that workers know where to find other content for complicated projects.
• Along with the WordPress integration, Airtable runs well with LinkedIn, MailChimp, Google products, and much more.
• Drag and drop “blocks” come with the Airtable software for you to establish the perfect interface and workflow environment for your workers. As an example, you may want to add bar charts or maps to your projects. There are blocks for both.
• Restrict who sees content in your project blocks by limiting user access to some people. There’s also the option to activate personal or locked views for tasks or projects.
• Color and styling options help out with making your dashboard look nice for your business. You can even custom brand all forms so that new customers and clients see your logo.

7. Freedcamp with Third-Party Integrations

Freedcamp provides project management elements for task lists, Kanban boards, subtasks, and other essentials, all organized into a neat package. It has support for developers to integrate with WordPress using its API.

As an easier solution, you can link WordPress or WooCommerce to Freedcamp with the help of Zapier. Triggers and actions are automated through this process. You could add a comment or coupon to Freedcamp then see it appear as a new item on your WordPress site. Everything from subscription to project creation is allowed, making for an ideal combination.

The pricing for Freedcamp begins as a free offering, with unlimited tasks, storage, and users. The features are severely limited in the free version, but it appears to be a decent plan for small businesses. The next step up is only $1.49 per month per user. Obviously, this is wildly low for a premium project management tool.

Again, features are limited, but we expect many freelancers and small development teams to enjoy this pricing. Even the Enterprise plan is cheap, at $16.99 per user per month.

The core apps that come with Freedcamp include discussions, time tracking, milestones, and several others. Uploading files is done with the click of a button, and making milestones for your projects is great for meeting deadlines. Password protection is a prevalent part of the system, making for a more secure environment to let your creativity spread.

The collaboration looks like a strong point as well, since Freedcamp gives you a forum-like discussion section to spread ideas and talk about all current projects.

Several premium addons are available for you to consider. The reason we mention the addons is because you may find that you can get rid of other software that’s more expensive, consolidating everything into your project manager. Addons for invoicing, reports, CRMs, and issue trackers are excellent for bringing together all small business tasks.

It’s also worth mentioning that Freedcamp links to Dropbox and OneDrive and Google Drive, all of which are great for sharing documents.

Features That Make Freedcamp a Great Choice:

• The Freedcamp project management software is a strong solution on its own. The WordPress integration simply speeds up your workflow and makes things clearer for everyone to see.
• The pricing is affordable for all pricing plans, and a free package is available.
• You can make tasks and add subtasks. Recurring tasks are possible, along with custom fields and Gantt charts.
• The calendar sharing is ideal for keeping your projects on your calendar of things to do. The plugin has an integration with Google Calendar to eliminate copying and pasting.
• Several premium addons and apps are offered through some of the plans. For instance, you could add invoicing, issue tracking, and a wiki to your website.
• Upload files to all projects, and pull files from third-party storage solutions like Google Drive and OneDrive.
• Project templates come with the software. You can also build and save your own template to use later.
• Data snapshots are saved on a regular basis. This means that you won’t accidentally lose any data from your projects, even if you delete an item.
• Create projects with Gantt charts and custom fields.
• Generate recurring events and link to Google Calendar to see your events in projects.
• Starting a discussion about a task with your team is done through a forum-based communication center.
• All workers can track their own time and log it into specific projects or tasks.
• You’re able to set milestones to keep your employees on-task and build momentum.
• Security is handled with multiple features, like two-factor authentication and password management.

8. Panorama

Panorama is a WordPress project management plugin designed to keep your clients and the team in the loop. We should highlight that its free version hasn’t been updated recently, hence you’re strongly advised to test it on a staging environment first.

Still, it’s a tool we think it’s worth checking out because of one of its most outstanding features: visualization. The overall look of the projects makes your tasks easily trackable and evident. It’s also nice to see how the beautiful and simple charts will help you follow up on your deadlines and recognize progress.

As a project management plugin, Panorama incorporates simple modules and modernized features to improve clarity more than anything. In short, it’s designed to be easy to understand instead of cluttered like many other project management tools.

Features That Make Panorama a Great Choice:

• The Panorama plugin offers expandability with the help of free and premium addons. Some of these include addons like Frontend Uploader, Frontend Editor, Easy Digital Downloads, Gantt Charts, and New User Projects.
• You can assign start and finish dates and receive notifications as deadlines approach.
• Embed projects into your WordPress theme so that your users and clients have access to the timelines wherever they want to look at them.
• You can add milestones to all of your projects and set milestone frequency, as well as assign a title and description to each milestone. These data points will be displayed in a simple but beautiful chart so you can easily keep on track of your business.
• To fine-tune the categorization of your projects, you can define custom project types yourself, so you’ll be able to filter out your closed projects or only view projects from one team.
• When you already have a huge list of projects and want to create a new one, Project Panorama will lend you a helping hand in making the steps easier. With its cloning tool, you can easily copy an existing project. Just go to “All Projects” and hover over the one you’d like to copy. Click on “Clone”, and a new draft project will appear. It’s a lot faster to only change some details than starting the whole project-creating process from zero.
• Although there is no free trial, a full online demo is provided to test out the interface and see if the features are right for your organization.
• User access is set by the admin, with options to create customized landing and login pages, with your own colors, fields, and logos.
• The project dashboard is easy to understand for all users, with project listings and a breakdown that uses visuals like charts.
• Each project has calendars, task lists, and tracking tools.
• All project details, documents, and uploads are stored in one place for each project. This way, you don’t have to sift through a big folder from all of your projects just to find an image or document.
• An automated progress calculator tells you how much of each project is done compared to what the expectations are. It’ll also notify you if a project is behind schedule.
• You’re able to split projects into smaller phases, where each of those phases has its own new set of documents, discussions, and tasks.
• All discussions are organized under projects or phases, removing the need to utilize the messy world of email. This is also a nice way to communicate in a real-time manner with someone who is working on the same project at the same time.

9. Zephyr Project Manager

Zephyr Project Manager is packaged as a free project manage plugin, with the option to upgrade to a Pro (paid) version (significantly better than the free version, with superior support as well). The free plugin handles projects and tasks, with the help of a mobile app.

Create a personal dashboard and run discussions with attachments for all projects. The premium version sells for a one-time fee of $49 and expands the overall functionality with custom fields, task templates, and an Asana integration, not to mention, several other reports and Kanban-style projects.

From a user’s perspective, the Zephyr Project Manager plugin presents a clean and modern design without the unneeded junk. You can create an unlimited number of projects and customize your interface with logos and colors from your company. Creating projects is done in the WordPress dashboard, where you can then include the details of each project, assign users, and mark tasks and deadlines.

The price is appealing for all organizations, while the cleanliness of the interface will convince many users to stick around. The standard view for managing a project has tabs for the Overview, Tasks, Discussion, and Progress, all of which are accessible with the click of a button. When a user lands on an individual project management page, they’re able to upload files to the project and comment. It’s all rather intuitive and easy to grasp.

Features That Make Zephyr Project Manager a Great Choice:

• The core plugin is free, and the premium edition only requires a small, one-time fee.
• You can quickly upgrade to the premium version to obtain versatile features like the Asana integration, custom task templates, reporting, custom fields, Kanban boards, and a customizable frontend project management module.
• You can translate the plugin into any language.
• Admins and users get their own profile pages, with options for profile pictures, descriptions, and settings for email notifications.
• Set user capabilities to improve how people in your organization view their own projects.
• Team and project management elements are organized in one place. You can check user progress on projects and create your own teams with specific users on each of those teams.
• Progress reports are sent out to the users attached to each project. View progress charts, get automated emails, and check the Overview tab to understand how much longer a project will take.
• The plugin comes with a calendar view for setting and viewing upcoming tasks and projects. There’s a module that estimates how much time is left for each project.
• Utilize categories to organize your projects and place these projects under multiple tags.
• There’s a file manager for downloading, uploading, and deleting files from your users and the admins. Each file is viewed under the project assigned, decreasing confusion as to why a file is on the website in the first place.
• The plugin includes an impressive set of tools for email notifications, such as email updates, weekly messaging, and options to change your updates for deleted, completed, and in-progress tasks.
• All discussions are shown in the project modules, with attachments for that project as well.
• The plugin comes with an Android app for organizing and managing your projects while on smaller devices. The app syncs with your dashboard to keep project details updated in realtime.
• The plugin supports an unlimited number of projects and tasks, and it has options for setting names, changing start and end dates, and making each project or task with labels.
• You can copy these tasks and projects to use elsewhere or duplicate them as recurring objects.
• All exports and imports are done with JSON and CSV files.
• You have access to a visual collection of charts and graphs, all designed to present the progress of each project you have in the works.

10. Task Manager Pro

Task Manager Pro is one of the few respectable project manager plugins on CodeCanyon. As with many plugins on the marketplace, the pricing is a one-time fee, then you have the option to pay for additional customer support. Task Manager Pro sells for $36 at the moment, with other plans to extend your customer support and to get an advanced license (used by developers with clients).

The value is there, considering the Task Manager plugin is cheaper than most premium plugins on this list. Not to mention, you gain support for an unlimited number of projects and tasks.

The all-in-one plugin does the job for managing your users as well since you can generate users, assign roles, and place them into groups and projects. The groups are unique to this plugin, where it’s separate from projects. This means you may have a group, like the marketing team, then assign people in that group to different projects.

The plugin provides improvements across the board when it comes to task updating and progress checkers. In short, users are able to comment when an update is required, or you can receive automated task updates and alarms.

Although this WordPress project management plugin isn’t the most popular in the market, it does offer the low price and feature base that every company deserves from a project or task manager. It’s also noteworthy that the developers have a website for documentation, customer support, and a full product demo. There are plenty of CodeCanyon sellers who don’t offer any of that.

Along with a ticket management module for handling your own customer support messages, the Task Manager Pro plugin is a sleek, lightweight solution for handling your clients, employees, and customers in one dashboard.

Features That Make Task Manager Pro a Great Choice:

• Task Manager Pro is a premium plugin sold for a low, one-time fee.
• The plugin offers an unlimited number of users, groups, projects, and tasks.
• Although a free trial is not provided, a complete demo is available for you to test out the backend of the plugin and see the frontend features as well.
• It relies heavily on the current WordPress interface, making it easy to understand for previous WordPress users.
• The user management module outlines an entire list of users and gives you options to add users, assign them to groups, and link them to specific projects.
• Each task has its own Details page, with task priority, progress charts, start and end dates, and an area to assign users to that task.
• Use the task list to see how many tasks are open and if there is any reason to check in on a task that is a high priority but not taken care of yet.
• A responsive form is provided for creating tasks. In the form, you generate a task by filing in information like the task name, project assignment, label, estimated time, and progress.
• Update notifications are sent out to people attached to projects and tasks.
• The plugin supports multiple languages for use elsewhere in the world.
• You have the option to reveal a task or project counter in the frontend sidebar or your footer. This comes in handy for internal websites used by clients and employees.
• Add task and project lists to any WordPress page or post with the help of a shortcode.
• Not all WordPress project management plugins have settings to make groups. This is a unique feature that enables the further segmentation of your workforce.
• A customer support ticketing system is included with the plugin for handling messaging from your clients.
• You can assign specific tasks, projects, and support tickets to groups.
• User access is all handled by the admin. So, you may restrict some projects or tasks based on user roles or groups.
• All task management, project creation, and ticket management are done in the same dashboard, making for a nicely consolidated work area.

11. Business Manager – HR, ERP & Projects

The Business Manager plugin compiles a collection of software requirements for running an organization. From human resources management to project management and enterprise resource planning, the Business Manager plugin offers a suite of tools that goes beyond a project management plugin as it handles several departments.

Visit the Business Manager website to view documentation, screenshots, demos, and more. The developers have a list of upcoming features to look forward to, along with extensions to purchase. With a completely free core plugin, the Business Manager plugin stands out as a high-value and intuitive option for running various parts of your organization.

The only time you need to spend money is if you’d like to use one of the extensions. Even then, most of the features are packaged into the regular plugin, with only two extensions being sold on the website: an Asset Manager and Custom Fields extension. The extensions sell for $29 on a single site and up to $79 for unlimited use.

For some businesses, it makes no sense to download a project manager plugin like this if you don’t need an HR manager, or if you’re already satisfied with your document storage or custom field plugin. There’s no reason to clutter up your dashboard with these extra features. However, we see this is a way for many companies to remove the need for several plugins for HR, documents, custom fields, and project management. If you’re in that mindset, consider the Business Manager plugin to fill all of those needs.

Features That Make Business Manager a Great Choice:

• The entire plugin is free, with the exception of two extensions, both of which are affordable and easy to install.
• Unlike many free WordPress plugins, the developers for Business Manager have a regularly updated website with upcoming features, documentation, customer support channels, and extensions.
• The plugin provides more than a standard project management tool, with additional elements like HR management, Kanban boards, client solutions, employee tracking, and document storage/sharing.
• There’s an advanced Kanban and project management area that includes drag and drop features so even beginners can understand it.
• Several tracking elements are provided, such as project percentage tracking, deadlines, hours spent on a job, and more.
• You can create users for your employees and assign those people to specific projects.
• Project types are available, with options to always send a particular project type to an employee.
• Assign a project status to each of your projects and watch as the progress report changes throughout the week/month.
• Project notes are offered in the project management module. You also get an Upload button for users to share and send files like images and contracts to each other.
• The client management area has client profiles with phone numbers, working hours, and logos.
• Clients can see their profiles, but this is mainly for internal use. For instance, you can mark down notes for each client and upload files relevant to the client project.
• The document management system is linked to your site storage. The main difference is that the documents get assigned to projects and you can mark down notes and add employees.
• You actually have the ability to disable modules in the Business Manager plugin. So, if you don’t want to see the client area, or if you already have a document storage software, simply hide it from view on your dashboard.

12. Kanban Boards for WordPress

Kanban boards are best known for agile project management and have a very similar feel to Trello (suggested reading: Trello vs Asana). You can use Kanban boards to track sales, editorial calendars, and more. This plugin has a lot of integrations with popular WordPress plugins such as Gravity Forms and Ninja Forms.

The benefits of this plugin include the ability to customize the board for your team and create tasks and projects with the click of a button. You typically estimate how long you think a task will take then track the hours throughout the month.

Features That Make Kanban Boards for WordPress a Great Choice:

• The core plugin is offered as a free download. Most of the best features are included in the free version, with an affordable yearly fee to get a handful of addons.
• The Kanban Boards for WordPress plugin includes WordPress multisite support to utilize the one plugin on several WordPress sites in your network.
• Tasks can be assigned to team members, with options to include instructions and deadlines.
• You have the ability to group tasks by projects, making for a more organized system.
• The project management area is ready for use on mobile phones, expanding the functionality of your project management to mobile devices.
• The user permission management area is great for setting user types and ensuring that outsiders don’t see your project information. This is also nice for contractors who don’t need to view everything about your organization.
• The installation takes no more than a few minutes, with all project management tools being housed in one area of your WordPress dashboard.
• All updates are seen in real-time, making collaboration much easier.
• The plugin has a filter and search function for locating the most important projects within a matter of seconds.
• The plugin has been known to remain fast and efficient, even when thousands of projects are running.
• The project management workflow is similar to Trello, where you “edit in place,” and adjust elements of each project within a few seconds.
• The project time tracking tool is great for adding an estimated time range.
• You have the opportunity to generate your own custom views of projects. This is done with the help of search and filter tools. To save them for later, all you have to do is bookmark them.
• A few of the premium addons offer features for things like notifications, multiple boards, colors, attachments, and advanced user management.

13. Projectopia 

Projectopia is a premium, full-featured WordPress project management plugin available only on CodeCanyon for $59. It was originally designed by an in-house web agency to fulfill their client’s needs and eventually decided to launch it full-time based on feedback and lack of WordPress project management plugins on the market.

You can also check out the official Projectopia website for additional screenshots, demos, and documentation.

This plugin was designed for everyone from small freelancers to big agencies, to help organize their work and tasks without having to leave WordPress. It has an extensive feature set offering separate client dashboards, powerful settings, and necessary elements like timelines and milestones.

Although a wide range of features is already included in the core plugin, Projectopia sells premium addons for those who want to expand upon the functionality. It’s also worth mentioning that the developers are known to release new addons as user requests come in. Expect to pay around $20 for each addon.

A few of the addons include:

• WooCommerce integration
• Subscriptions
• Envato integration
• Bug tracker
• Suppliers and expenses
• 2Checkout
• Twilio
• Reporting

Features That Make Projectopia a Great Choice:

• Projectopia includes a nice workflow control area for moving around tasks and assigning roles to certain people.
• The role-based team member feature is there to tell which workers to work on specific projects.
• There’s a client dashboard for your paying customers to view which parts of their project is already done.
• The plugin comes with a quotes and estimates feature, which is great for selling potential clients on your services.
• Set projects and milestones so that you can identify when achievements are completed.
• The form builder is useful for collecting information from clients or even using it as an internal form.
• Send out automated invoices to your clients when you hit milestones.
• The plugin offers a ticketing module for handling customer support.
• Several addons are sold to integrate with the core plugin. Some of them include a bug tracker, supplier and expense tool, and reporting module.
• Each project has progress bars, subtasks, and bulk task-changing settings.
• A financial table is included to see how much money has been spent and received for each project.
• Each client can sign into their dashboard and digitally sign a contract.
• Use the task messaging feature to coordinate with your workers on specific requirements in a project.
• You can integrate with payment tools like Stripe and PayPal to get paid for your work.

Bonus Tips for Researching WordPress Project Management Plugins

There are a lot of great project management and task management tools outside of the WordPress ecosystem. Drag is a cool example of one that organizes your Gmail into task lists, just like Trello. People spend a lot of time per day in their email inbox, so it makes sense to have your task management in the same spot.

Or check out this list of the best Trello alternatives used by top technical teams.

There’s no requirement to utilize one of these WordPress project management plugins, but it does place your workload in one dashboard with all the features you need to keep your team on-task. However, others prefer separating project management from their WordPress sites. Much of it is a personal preference, so we suggest trying out a few of these plugins to see if they work for you.

How to Choose the Right WordPress Project Management Plugins

If one thing’s for sure, WordPress project management plugins aren’t that plentiful. Unfortunately, this means that there’s a lesser need for project management or there may be more reputable solutions that don’t have direct WordPress integrations.

However, plenty of organizations need that link to WordPress to maintain cleanliness and to view immediate progress. Luckily, a smaller batch of plugins means that you don’t have to test out as many. We’ve only covered the project management plugins worth considering, so feel free to test them out and see which ones you like the most.

Finally, we’ve covered a few apps and software that aren’t necessarily WordPress project management plugins. Rather, they integrate with premium extensions or triggers. Those are typically more powerful managers, but you don’t get control inside of WordPress.

Here are a few final suggestions based on what each plugin/software does best, or how we view it compared to the others:

1. WordPress Project Management by UpStream – Think about the UpStream plugin if you’d like a free project manager with the option to upgrade with addons. It’s flexible, modern, and all in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Monday.com with the WooCommerce Integration – This is our favorite design from a project management software. The integration doesn’t put your manager in WordPress, but it syncs nicely for regular websites and WooCommerce. Not to mention, it’s relatively inexpensive.
3. WP-Client with Project Management Extension – Only go for the WP-Client/Project Management combo if you’re also in need of a client management tool. Sometimes client and project management go hand-in-hand, so if that’s the case for your business, WP-Client is the right plugin for you! Just make sure you get the Project Management extension as well.
4. Avaza with Third-party Integrations – Avaza serves you well if you run a WooCommerce site. It offers a stunning interface and several automation tools and integrations with accounting software.
5. SP Project & Document Manager – Here’s a plugin that works as a lightweight project manager and a powerhouse file sharing tool. File sharing and storage is its main purpose.
6. Airtable with Its Third-party WordPress Integration – The Airtable manager works if you want a free plan and if you’d like multiple view options, such as Kanban, calendar, and grid views.
7. Freedcamp with Third-party Integrations – Freedcamp is extremely inexpensive, but it doesn’t cut corners. Enjoy project management with time tracking and a beautiful interface.
8. Panorama – This is a viable project manager with a quality all-around feature set, but we particularly like it for embedding project lists on your website.
9. Zephyr Project Manager – Reasons to consider the Zephyr plugin include the simple interface, superior mobile version, and solid progress reports.
10. Task Manager Pro – In terms of project management, there’s nothing particularly unique about this plugin. However, the support ticketing system is something that some people may want.
11. Business Manager – HR, ERP & Projects – The name pretty much says it all here. We would only encourage you to go with this project manager if you also want HR and ERP features in addition to the project tools.
12. Kanban Boards for WordPress – Many of the project managers have Kanban Boards for a fee, but this plugin provides it for free. Use this to compliment a more comprehensive project manager if needed.
13. Projectopia – Consider this plugin if you want a beautiful workflow interface. It’s also a great option if you’re leaning towards premium plugins but don’t want to spend too much.

From basic free plugins to frameworks extendable by premium addons, you can use WordPress to manage all of your projects, clients, vendors, and suppliers. The best project management plugins are easily integrated into any business environment!

As mentioned briefly, we encourage you to look at both WordPress project management plugins and project management software that does or doesn’t link WordPress.

The thing with project management is that the best choice often has to do with your personal interface preference and workflows. So, test out a few of our suggestions (preferably on a staging site) and ask yourself if the features and pricing are right.

Now we’d like to hear from you: What are your preferences when it comes to project management? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.