Top 7 Free PM Tools for Freelancers
Almost every constant juggling tasks in various phases of completion. Needless to say that you can't afford to drop the ball as your reputation as a freelancer is fully dependent on meeting your deadlines whilst your livelihood is dependent on your income. Fortunately, there are numerous online tools that can help you quickly find the right project or carefully track your tasks.
The vast majority of project management tools have been originally designed for individuals running teams of 3+ employees. For this reason, some of these tools may be too clunky or overwhelming for solo freelancers who want to manage their projects on their own. However, there are several that might be useful for you particularly if you are looking for free freelance business management software. In this post, we will discuss the best online tools available that can help you run your projects and business as a solo entrepreneur.
What is Project Management?
This term typically refers to the application of skills, knowledge, and tools to task activities in order to better meet the project requirements, and to achieve all of its goals. When it comes to freelancing, it is crucial that you provide professional service to your clients rather than getting sucked into a swamp of managing/tracking your workload. So, we have outlined some of the top free solo project management tools to help you find the one that works best for you.
Best Free Project Management Software for Freelance Workers in 2020
- Taskboard
Taskboard is an open-source tool and a great piece of project management software for freelancers. With Taskboard, you can keep track of all your processes with ease. When a specific criterion is met, items will automatically update to keep your board clean. You do not even have to create an account to use it. All you need to do is to download it.
Price: Free of charge
- Quire
Quire is a pretty traditional PM tool that allows you to track your progress, drill down tasks into sub-tasks, add tags, etc. The one thing that makes it special is that it has a bunch of keyboard shortcuts that significantly simplify the navigation. Also, individual tasks can be made viewable by URL to be seen by clients or formatted for printing.
Price: Free of charge
- Podio
Podio gives you a complete customization power by providing the ability to fully control the design of each project outline. You are free to adjust color-code and names, make project templates, add endless text boxes, fields, etc. Try Podio if your tasks are pretty complex and detailed.
Price: Free standard version, $9 per month for 5+ employees
- Wunderlist
Wunderlist offers an easy and quick way to keep all your projects organized. You can create folders and assign each client their own folder. Wunderlist comes with a useful reminder feature and to-do feature that can be pulled directly from your emails. In this case, your “Revision request” email from your client will automatically become a Wunderlist task with the same name.
Price: Free of charge
Taskboard is an open-source tool and a great piece of project management software for freelancers. With Taskboard, you can keep track of all your processes with ease. When a specific criterion is met, items will automatically update to keep your board clean. You do not even have to create an account to use it. All you need to do is to download it.
Price: Free of charge
Quire is a pretty traditional PM tool that allows you to track your progress, drill down tasks into sub-tasks, add tags, etc. The one thing that makes it special is that it has a bunch of keyboard shortcuts that significantly simplify the navigation. Also, individual tasks can be made viewable by URL to be seen by clients or formatted for printing.
Price: Free of charge
Podio gives you a complete customization power by providing the ability to fully control the design of each project outline. You are free to adjust color-code and names, make project templates, add endless text boxes, fields, etc. Try Podio if your tasks are pretty complex and detailed.
Price: Free standard version, $9 per month for 5+ employees
Wunderlist offers an easy and quick way to keep all your projects organized. You can create folders and assign each client their own folder. Wunderlist comes with a useful reminder feature and to-do feature that can be pulled directly from your emails. In this case, your “Revision request” email from your client will automatically become a Wunderlist task with the same name.
Price: Free of charge
- Wrike
Wrike allows you to create/share your project schedule, automatically tracking how much time is spent on each task (might be useful if you work on per hour basis). As a bonus, Wrike supports integration with iCal, cloud storage, email, Chrome, and other third-party applications.
Price: Free of charge for up to 5 employees - Trello
If you are a visual thinker, Trello is for you. Similarly to Wunderlist, the program provides the ability to manage lots of complex projects for different clients. With Trello, you can create cards for your tasks, write notes, make checklists, choose labels, add attachments, and share it with other Trello users.
Price: Free of charge, $12.50 per month for business version - Asana
Asana is one of the best solo project management tools out there. It is incredibly clean, easy on the eyes, allows sharing projects with other people, upload attachments, and monitor exactly what you have done and what still needs to be managed.
Price: Free for standard version
Key Takeaways
All of the tools mentioned above don't guarantee your success. However, this will show you how beneficial it is for solopreneurs to use a project management tool. So why not give at least some of them a try to find the best one that suits you as a freelancer?