With a growing number of workplace productivity apps to choose from, how do you know which is the best software for managing tasks at your business?

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If you’re reading this blog then it’s probably because you’ve encountered some common workplace challenges that are preventing you and your team from completing tasks as well as you’d like. Perhaps it’s one of the following:

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• Tasks are getting delayed, missed and lost
• Your team are finding it difficult to prioritise work
• Your team is losing time in repetitive admin tasks, and in chasing people up
• Your team aren't collaborating to the standard you expect
• You don't have clear visibility on projects, teams and tasks

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Deciding which task management app is best for you, however, isn’t easy. A growing range of options is available, and the software is hugely variable in what it does and what it can achieve through its features and integrations – from workflow charts, daily ‘to-do’ lists and team chat, to channels and boards, file-sharing tools, calendar commands, integrations with email and more.

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There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to task management apps. So, before you make your choice, take time to review what the most popular apps on the market offer, and assess how they could help you. 

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Here are 13 of the best task management apps available in 2021.

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1. Workiro

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Workiro’s beauty is in its simplicity. It lets you send anyone a request or task, and makes sure that the recipient has no way of missing it. So whenever a job needs to be done, it gets done. Workiro’s task management software integrates seamlessly with other popular workplace apps with native and Zapier integrations, creating clearly defined tasks that are chased up automatically – so you don’t have to.

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Much more than a to-do list, it lets you plan, transfer data, message people, delegate and set deadlines, all within a secure framework that ensures safe and efficient collaboration with clients, partners, vendors, or your own team. Its ever growing number of features and integrations save you time and keep everything on track, making your task management clear and fuss-free.

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Workiro features

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• Simple interface that focuses on creating unmissable tasks
• Automatic task reminders
• 1000s of Integrations with existing popular apps
• Secure file sharing

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Cost

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See Pricing for up to date information.

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Verdict 

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A pure task-management app perfect for small to enterprise level teams, and for collaborating securely with colleagues and clients outside your business.

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Want to manage your tasks more effectively? Read our blog on how to break down tasks into manageable pieces.

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2. Slack

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Slack is one of the most widely used team collaboration tools available today. The software is built around creating individual channels for teams and projects, so everyone knows where to go to share updates and keep work on track. Channels are used to share files and messages, connect on a call via voice or video, and to collaborate with teams, external clients and vendors on almost anything, big or small, but especially for staying on top of tasks and workflow. 

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Slack features

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• Messaging
• Channel-based
• Video call
• Customisable

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Cost

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From free for a limited version for small teams, £9.75 user/per month for Plus level, and more at enterprise level.

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Verdict 

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Simple and with a huge array of tools and functions – it boasts 2,200 ready-to-use Slack apps – but some users say it lacks top-end functionality.

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3. Microsoft Office 365

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Microsoft Office 365 is perhaps the daddy of all workplace productivity apps. Its 365 suite will help organise teamwork with Kanban boards, task cards with files, checklists, labels and more. Its Planner helps you collaborate, while Microsoft Teams is perhaps second only to Zoom for virtual meetings. 365 connects Planner with Microsoft To-Do, SharePoint, Power Automate and more, for efficient teamwork. With full-circle functionality, it’s your all-round, cloud-based corporate office.

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Microsoft 365 Features

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• Includes MS Office apps, email and calendar with Outlook and Exchange, Teams, and more.

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Cost

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From £3.80 user/per month for a Business Basic package, to £15.10 per month for Premium.

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Verdict

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Brings everything you’d expect from a Microsoft Office set-up – so much so that it will feel like the office you already know. Is that what you’re looking for?

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4. Monday.com

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A slick and popular all-round project management tool, Monday.com integrates with your existing workplace productivity tools and lets you choose from hundreds of customisable templates – or create your own. Automation functions for repetitive tasks help you save time, while Views lets you organise data as a map, calendar, timeline or Kanban chart. ‘Building blocks’, including dashboards, notifications and time-tracking, allow you to create a customisable experience to track and complete tasks and projects.

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Monday.com features

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• Large choice of template designs and features
• Reporting and analytics.

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Cost

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Basic starts at £7 user/per month, but is likely to be much higher if you use its more useful capabilities.

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Verdict

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Monday.com can help you complete tasks effectively, but it performs much better as a 360-degree project management tool.

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5. Asana

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Another piece of top-ranking project-management software, Asana can organise tasks and project workflow clearly so everyone in a team knows what is needed, and how and when it needs to be completed. Its List view allows teams to see which tasks are a priority, and when the deadlines are, while its Timeline shows how the project maps out over time, so you can plan in the short and long term.

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Asana features

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• Planning tools
• Different views – lists, boards, timeline and real-time
• Clear interface

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Cost

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Zero for the basics, £20.99 user/per month for a Business package, and then more for Enterprise level.

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Verdict

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Handles all your team’s workflow from the small details to the big picture.

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6. G Suite

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Everyone knows Google, of course, but not everyone makes full use of the task management potential of its G Suite native integrations. Messaging, file storage, cloud-based content creation apps that rival Microsoft’s, video conferencing, and real-time collaboration across devices all feature, while security options, including 2-Step Verification and Single sign-on, keep your company data safe.

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G Suite features

• Gmail
• Chat
• Drive storage
• Office and content creation tools

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Cost

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£4.14 user/per month for Basic, £8.28 for Business, and more for Enterprise level.

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Verdict

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Like Microsoft’s 365 set-up, this is a full office suite rather than streamlined task management software that focuses on cutting through the noise.

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7. Trello

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If you need to keep track of a project, Trello is great for keeping your team updated about the work in progress. Its boards, lists, and cards help to organise projects and prioritise tasks with visually clear and uncomplicated planning tools. You can add comments and attachments, and set due dates, while its Butler function provides built-in workflow automation through rule-based triggers and calendar commands.

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Trello features

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• Task cards
• Set due dates, alerts and notifications
• Add attachments.

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Cost

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From free to $17.50 user/per month at Enterprise level.

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Verdict

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Great for work in progress, but limited functionality makes it best for small teams.

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8. HubSpot

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Here’s something a little bit more specialist. HubSpot empowers teams via a full-service sales, marketing and enterprise content management workflow app. Its Marketing Hub will help teams grow traffic and convert leads. Its Sales Hub features task tools to close deals faster. A Service Hub helps your teams connect with customers, and the CMS Hub is an easy-to-use collaborative setting for updating your website.

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HubSpot features

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• Range of sales, marketing and service tools
• 300 app integrations

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Cost

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Bundles are expensive and vary, but free versions are available that include task-management tools.

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Verdict

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If you’re looking for a full-scale CRM set-up to help with your task management, then HubSpot is perfect for small businesses.

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9. Jira

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Jira is a task management app designed for software teams. It helps teams plan projects, track their development, prioritise tasks and next steps, aid collaboration and ensure the project is completed and delivered on time. Real-time visual data helps teams see progress and gain insights that can be put to practical use, and the software can be used out of the box or customised to create a workflow model that matches the way your team works.

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Jira features

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• Choice of templates and project set-ups
• integrates with 3,000 apps to expand its functionality

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Cost

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From free to $14 user/per month for Premium.

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Verdict

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A simple-to-use task management app for agile software teams

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10. Basecamp

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Basecamp is a long-standing player in the team collaboration software market. Its formula is tried and tested, and allows you to break up work into separate projects. Each Basecamp project contains everything related to the work at hand. Its message boards are designed to be clear, so you can always find what you want when you need it. To-do lists, file sharing, scheduling and ‘Campfire’ chat features make it an all-rounder.

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Basecamp features

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• Simple interface
• Activity view
• To-do lists and due dates
• Drag-and-drop file-sharing

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Cost

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$99 per month flat rate.

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Verdict

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A good online hub for team collaboration, but misses some features such as Gantt charts and assigning task priority levels.

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11. Nifty

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Nifty styles itself as a collaboration hub that helps you manage your projects, tasks and communications in one place, with timelines and workload tools that align your team and clients around what needs to happen next. Nifty’s Milestones functionality is a timeline for project sprints and goals, and progress is automated as associated tasks are completed. Discussion boards and customisable project screens help create a personalised feel, suited to your own team’s workflow. 

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Nifty features

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• Templates
• Projects Milestones functionality
• Automated task updates

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Cost

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From $39 per month for up to 10 users.

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Verdict

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A solid all-rounder for task and project management, and team collaboration.

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12. Infinity

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Infinity provides a set of tools designed to help teams work more efficiently across multiple projects. You can sort workloads into different folders, view them in boards and calendars and organise tasks using custom attributes. By connecting Infinity to Workiro via a Zapier integration new folders, boards, tasks and any updates will be automatically synced.

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Infinity features

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• Assign custom attributes to sort and filter
• Gantt, calendar, list, timeline, column views
• Project planning templates
• Structured workspace with boards, folders, and tabs

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Cost

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$149 - $1,499 (one off payment lifetime deal)

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Verdict

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Customisable project planning tool although some users have commented that it is not as intuitive as other tools.

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13. TimeHero

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TimeHero is a project management tool that's designed to schedule, manage and automate workloads. It allows you to add tasks, events, or whole projects and then fits them into your calendar so that you can meet all your deadlines. It also updates your schedules as new deadlines or meetings come up. It's simple to integrate TimeHero with Workiro to automatically sync up new and completed tasks.

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TimeHero's features

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• Set up tasks, events, and deadlines
• Track workloads and teams
• Automated workflow templates
• Reporting and analytics 

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Cost

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 $4 - $22 per user, per month

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Verdict

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Simple to use task management tool that can be used for personal or business use.

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Which is best task management software for your business?

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From the examples above it’s clear that with some tech options task management is the specific purpose of the app in question. For other options designed as project management software, office suites, CRM or team collaboration tools, task management is simply part of the overall package.

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Let’s take another look at the reasons a pure task management app can help:

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• Stop tasks getting delayed, missed and lost
• Help to prioritise work
• Spend less time on repetitive admin tasks, and in chasing people up
• Improve collaboration
• Gain a clear view of projects, teams and tasks

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If this is your focus, then rather than a software platform that re-engineers your team’s whole way of working, the best task management app for you will be one that helps you complete tasks by cutting through the noise, bringing the work in hand into focus accurately, clearly and without fuss. It will help everyone in your team gain a clear picture of how and when a job will be completed and make collaboration simpler, more efficient and effective, ensuring everyone can play their part in achieving team goals.

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Find out how Workiro will benefit your team and increase your business’s productivity by signing up for a short demo.