HR & Engagement Writer
1
The Top 9 Tools for Product Teams in 2024
7 min read
Published: Mar 14, 2023
Revised on: Mar 1, 2024
Here’s our curated shortlist and our reasons for liking each company; please click into each company to get more details:
- Monday.com
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviewers mentioned how user-friendly Monday.com is.
- Visual project management. Reviewers liked the ability to visualize workflows and track progress through boards and timelines.
- Enhanced team collaboration. Monday.com facilitates task assignment, communication, and real-time updates to improve collaboration.
- Customizable boards and workflows. Users appreciated the ability to fully customize boards and automations to match their needs.
- Centralized hub. Storing all project information and files in one centralized place made managing projects easier.
- Assembly
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
- Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
- Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
- Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
- Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.
- Trello
- Intuitive and easy to use interface. Many reviews praised how simple Trello is to get started with and how the drag-and-drop functionality makes managing tasks incredibly convenient.
- Flexibility and customization. Users like that they can customize workflows, boards, lists, cards, labels, etc. to suit their specific needs. Trello can be adapted for personal or business use.
- Collaboration features. Reviews highlighted the ability to assign tasks, share boards, leave comments, and get notifications as key features that enable teams to work together seamlessly.
- Integration with other apps. The ability to connect Trello with tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. enhances workflows and productivity.
- Free plan with robust features. Even the free version provides enough functionality for many users' needs, especially smaller teams and personal use.
- Asana
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
- Powerful features for task management and project tracking
- Enables easy collaboration through task assignment, file sharing, and real-time communication
- Customizable workflows and views like Kanban boards and Gantt charts
- Integrations with other tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox etc.
- Jira
- Highly customizable and adaptable to different teams and workflows. Jira can be tailored to match specific processes and requirements.
- Powerful agile project management features like kanban boards, backlogs, sprints, etc. Help visualize work and be more agile.
- Robust issue tracking capabilities. Jira makes it easy to capture, assign, and track issues throughout the development lifecycle.
- Seamless integration with other tools like GitHub, Slack, Confluence etc. Improves collaboration, visibility and streamlines workflows.
- Great reporting and analytics features provide valuable insights into project health, progress, team performance etc. Help make data-driven decisions.
The tools available for product teams these days have advanced beyond imagination, ushering in a new wave of creativity and collaboration. It is a world of endless possibilities, and the best tools for product teams empower their users to create and refine ideas like never before. In this world, the tools for product teams have become the backbone of product development, allowing teams to push boundaries and bring their visions to life with ease.
However, all tools are not created equally, and choosing the best tool for your team’s needs is still overwhelming. Luckily, there’s a new way to survey the top tools, focusing on their features, benefits, and how they can specifically help your team succeed.
What Is Product Management Software?
Product management software is a tool or set of tools designed to help product managers oversee the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation to development, launch, and ongoing management. These software solutions facilitate collaboration among cross-functional teams, streamline communication, and aid in decision-making processes.
What Are Product Management Software Features?
Product Management Software typically offers features such as:
- Idea Management: Capturing and organizing ideas for new features or products
- Roadmapping: Creating and visualizing product roadmaps to outline the strategy and timeline for product development
- Task and Project Management: Assigning tasks, setting deadlines, and tracking progress across teams
- User Feedback and Testing: Collecting user feedback, conducting surveys, and integrating user testing to improve product features
- Analytics and Reporting: Providing insights into product performance through data analysis and generating reports
- Collaboration Tools: Facilitating communication and collaboration among team members, stakeholders, and departments
What Is an Example of Product Management Software?
An example of product management software is facilitating collaboration among teams by centralizing tasks, allowing teams to track progress, assign tasks, and communicate within the platform. This helps streamline workflows, improves transparency, and ensures everyone involved in the product development process stays aligned on goals and timelines. Additionally, product management software often provides customizable dashboards and analytics, allowing teams to gain insights into their processes and make data-driven decisions to enhance product development.
Who Uses Product Management Software?
Product management software is used by various professionals involved in the development, launch, and management of products. This includes:
- Product Managers: They're the primary users, overseeing the entire product lifecycle, setting strategies, and ensuring the product aligns with market needs
- Development Teams: Engineers, developers, and designers collaborate through these platforms to track progress, tasks, and deadlines
- Marketing Teams: They utilize the software to understand the product's features, target audience, and messaging for effective marketing campaigns
- Sales Teams: They can benefit from insights about the product's features, updates, and customer feedback to enhance their sales strategies
- Customer Support: It aids in understanding the product's functionalities and issues, ensuring better support and quicker issue resolution
- Executives and Stakeholders: They use the software for high-level oversight, understanding progress, and making strategic decisions
Top Product Management Software for Your Team
Product management software can help you stay on top of your product team's tasks and deadlines, making them less overwhelming. Read on to see which tools have ranked the best and why.
Pricing
$8.00 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- No Seat Minimum
The best product management software is, ideally, one that has all the features your team needs under one roof. Sadly, this is impossible. Nevertheless, Monday.com comes close. It is a one-stop shop for your productivity needs with enough robust features to stand alone. This means that Monday.com has tools for everyday team collaboration, product planning, check-ins, and more, but it also integrates with helpful productivity apps that complement its functions.
Why Monday.com:
- Monday.com can help product managers automate repetitive tasks, thus increasing their productivity
- There is a mobile app that ensures that your team is always productive on-the-go
- Monday.com’s task and project management feature is an invaluable tool for product teams working with strict deadlines
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviewers mentioned how user-friendly Monday.com is.
- Visual project management. Reviewers liked the ability to visualize workflows and track progress through boards and timelines.
- Enhanced team collaboration. Monday.com facilitates task assignment, communication, and real-time updates to improve collaboration.
- Customizable boards and workflows. Users appreciated the ability to fully customize boards and automations to match their needs.
- Centralized hub. Storing all project information and files in one centralized place made managing projects easier.
Cons
- Steep learning curve. Some reviewers found the initial setup and learning process time-consuming and complex.
- Limitations of free plan. Key features like automations are only available on paid plans.
- Integration issues. Some users faced challenges integrating Monday.com with other tools they use.
- Slow performance. A few reviewers complained about occasional lagging or platform slowness with heavy usage.
- Price. Monday.com's pricing model makes it cost prohibitive for larger teams to use all features.
2
Assembly
Pricing
$2.80 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
Assembly’s software is a flexible tool with numerous use cases. It can help users plan, structure, and streamline their team’s processes. As a product management software, it improves productivity by breaking tasks into workflows. A perfect example is the product feedback template that simplifies how product teams capture external opinions and feedback about their product. Beyond this, Assembly also has numerous features for effective communication and collaboration among product teams.
Why Assembly:
- As a product manager, Assembly gives you access to over 200+ workflow templates that will simplify your day-to-day workflows, increase productivity and add much-needed simplicity to your work
- It has an engagement suite that includes recognition, 1:1’s, contests, icebreakers, employee nominations, announcements, and many more
- Assembly has a team feed and searchable knowledge base that helps team members keep up with tasks, daily standup reminders, and project management boards
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
- Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
- Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
- Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
- Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.
Cons
- Limitations in analytics and reporting features. Some reviews wanted more detailed analytics and user statistics.
- Creating flows and automations can be tricky. Reviews noted workflows and automations are sometimes hard to setup.
- Limited customization options for recognitions. Users wanted more ways to customize recognitions with images/GIFs.
- Lack of mobile apps earlier on. Reviews mentioned lack of mobile apps made it hard to use when not by a computer.
- Confusion due to branding changes. Reviews noted frequent name changes of the reward units was confusing initially.
3
Trello
Pricing
$5.00 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- No Seat Minimum
Imagine a project management software that helps you organize all your tasks, teammates, and tools together — all in one place. Okay, stop imagining because it already exists. Meet Trello, the project management platform that promises to convert your workplace into a “productivity powerhouse.” Armed with lists, boards, and cards, Trello wants to help product managers understand — in one glance — “who’s doing what, what needs to be done,” and when tasks are due. If the 2,000,000 people using Trello’s project management tool are anything to go by, it seems that Trello is doing a great job of simplifying complex tasks.
Why Trello:
- Trello’s project management tool helps to keep tasks in order, deadlines on track, and team members aligned
- Trello’s resource hub serves as a knowledge repository to help teams find information easily and quickly
- Trello’s templates allow your team to copy and customize and not have to build from scratch
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Intuitive and easy to use interface. Many reviews praised how simple Trello is to get started with and how the drag-and-drop functionality makes managing tasks incredibly convenient.
- Flexibility and customization. Users like that they can customize workflows, boards, lists, cards, labels, etc. to suit their specific needs. Trello can be adapted for personal or business use.
- Collaboration features. Reviews highlighted the ability to assign tasks, share boards, leave comments, and get notifications as key features that enable teams to work together seamlessly.
- Integration with other apps. The ability to connect Trello with tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. enhances workflows and productivity.
- Free plan with robust features. Even the free version provides enough functionality for many users' needs, especially smaller teams and personal use.
Cons
- Limitations of free plan. The free plan has restrictions like a cap on the number of boards, attachments size, etc. which can be limiting for larger teams.
- Steep learning curve initially. Some users found Trello confusing at first and it took time to learn how to best organize boards and workflows.
- Can get visually overwhelming. As the number of boards/cards increases, the visual interface can become cluttered and hard to navigate.
- Lack of advanced features. Users noted a lack of time tracking, resource management, reporting, etc. for handling complex projects.
- Performance issues. Some reviews mentioned occasional slowness in loading or syncing, especially with larger volumes of data.
4
Asana
Pricing
$10.99 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- No Seat Minimum
Why do millions of people across 200 countries use Asana’s project management software? For starters, Asana’s software lives up to the hype. Second, it's a powerful project management tool for teams to stay organized, focused, and productive. Self-styled as the best platform for cross-functional work, Asana helps product managers easily create, manage, and assign tasks in real-time. But that’s not all. You see, Asana’s easy-on-the-eyes and customizable features make it perfect for businesses of all sizes, from budding startups to established enterprises. Asana’s project management platform allows teams to streamline workflows, communicate more effectively, and achieve their targets faster. With Asana, everyone gets to experience the power of effective project management.
Why Asana:
- Asana’s project management software can help product managers plan, organize, and manage their team’s work from start to finish
- The free version has unlimited resources for boosting employee collaboration, communication, and productivity
- This project management platform plays nicely with over 100 other work tools
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
- Powerful features for task management and project tracking
- Enables easy collaboration through task assignment, file sharing, and real-time communication
- Customizable workflows and views like Kanban boards and Gantt charts
- Integrations with other tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox etc.
Cons
- Steep learning curve, especially for beginners
- Can be overwhelming with extensive notifications
- Limitations in advanced reporting capabilities
- Expensive pricing plans for larger teams
- Lack of robust time tracking and resource management features
5
Jira
Pricing
$7.75 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 10 Users
Jira states on its website that a “growing team doesn’t need to mean growing pains.” That’s why Jira created a project management software to help teams scale without friction. With features like agile boards, customizable workflows, and real-time reporting, Jira empowers teams to collaborate effectively and deliver projects promptly. Jira integrates seamlessly with hundreds of tools, making it versatile for teams of all sizes and industries. Whether you’re in the product development team or business division, Jira has a solution to help you stay on top of your projects and drive results. Jira’s project management platform is a non-negotiable option for teams looking to increase their efficiency and output.
Why Jira:
- Jira’s project management tool is customizable to fit your diverse needs. It also provides granular control over security, privacy, and workflows
- The free plan has Gantt charts to help you plan your work effectively and map out project dependencies
- Jira has different views — list, calendar, and board view — to help you manage your tasks from start to finish
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Highly customizable and adaptable to different teams and workflows. Jira can be tailored to match specific processes and requirements.
- Powerful agile project management features like kanban boards, backlogs, sprints, etc. Help visualize work and be more agile.
- Robust issue tracking capabilities. Jira makes it easy to capture, assign, and track issues throughout the development lifecycle.
- Seamless integration with other tools like GitHub, Slack, Confluence etc. Improves collaboration, visibility and streamlines workflows.
- Great reporting and analytics features provide valuable insights into project health, progress, team performance etc. Help make data-driven decisions.
Cons
- Steep learning curve, especially for new users. The extensive features and configuration options can be overwhelming initially.
- Pricing can be expensive for smaller teams and budgets. Costs scale up with more users and features.
- Customizing workflows and permissions is complex. Improper setups can cause problems.
- The user interface lacks intuitiveness and user-friendliness. Can be confusing for non-technical users.
- Performance issues like slow speeds, loading times etc. Can be frustrating for users.
Pricing
$16.25 per user/month
- Free version
- No Seat Minimum
One of the most important tasks of a product manager is understanding their users because it helps with building better products for them. That’s why product teams are constantly improving the user experience pre- and post-launch.
Why SurveyMonkey:
- Can conduct multilingual surveys
- Integrates easily with all the popular collaboration apps
- Create a quick survey for gathering feedback from users
- Analyze these results
- Identify and unlock growth insights that allow the product management team to shine
- Monitor the pulse of their users
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- User-friendly and intuitive interface makes it easy to create and distribute surveys even for beginners.
- Extensive customization options allow users to personalize survey design, branding, questions types etc. as per their needs.
- Powerful data analysis tools provide impactful insights from survey responses through graphs, charts, filtering etc.
- Integration with other platforms like Salesforce, MailChimp, Excel etc. allows seamless data sharing and workflow automation.
- Availability of numerous pre-made templates helps in quick set up of surveys tailored for specific purposes.
Cons
- Limitations in free version like capped number of questions, responses, lack of advanced features.
- Expensive pricing of paid plans can be prohibitive for individuals or small businesses on a budget.
- Restricted survey design and formatting options compared to some specialized survey tools.
- Technical issues like slow loading times, freezing pages especially for longer or complex surveys.
- Customer support response time can be slow or inadequate for resolving complex technical queries.
7
Miro
Pricing
$8.00 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- No Seat Minimum
Product management often involves a lot of strategizing, analysis, and problem-solving. That’s why experienced product managers employ flow charts, mind maps, and other visual aids to assist them. As a visual platform, Miro allows product teams to connect, collaborate, and create — together. It is a powerful product management software for making ideas actionable.
Why Miro:
- Miro is a product management tool through and through because it has numerous ready-to-use templates and workflows that simplify tasks
- It is also available on both mobile and desktop, so your product team never misses a beat
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned how user-friendly Miro's interface is, even for non-technical users.
- Real-time collaboration features. Allows multiple users to work on the same board simultaneously, facilitating teamwork and brainstorming sessions.
- Extensive template library. Miro provides many pre-built templates for workflows, diagrams, project management etc. This saves time compared to creating everything from scratch.
- Flexible and customizable. Users highlighted Miro's versatility to support various use cases from ideation to project management. It's also highly customizable.
- Integrations with other tools. Miro integrates smoothly with platforms like Trello, Jira, Slack etc. helping to streamline workflows.
Cons
- Steep learning curve. The extensive feature set can be overwhelming for new users. Takes time to learn how to best utilize all of Miro's capabilities.
- Performance issues. Some users faced lag and slow loading times when working with large, complex boards.
- Limited customization of templates. While templates are helpful, some users wanted more ability to customize them to their needs.
- Confusing pricing model. Especially for larger teams, Miro's pricing structure was seen as expensive and confusing by some reviewers.
- No offline access. Miro relies on internet connectivity, which makes it difficult to use in areas with poor connection.
8
Figma
Pricing
$12.00 per user/month
- Free version
- No Seat Minimum
Figma’s primary goal is to connect everyone in the design process so that “teams can deliver better products faster.” As a product management software, Figma helps product teams brainstorm, test designs and prototypes, collaborate on custom projects and save progress. It also has neat features like the ability to embed live links into Notion or Jira and an active community to help you troubleshoot problems.
Why Figma:
- Access to unlimited personal files and number of collaborators
- Figma supports numerous third-party integration apps
- Product teams love Figma’s cool version control feature
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Real-time collaboration - Allows multiple users to work on the same files simultaneously and see edits in real-time. Great for remote teams.
- Intuitive interface - Easy to learn and use, even for beginners. Much simpler than other design tools.
- Powerful design tools - Has robust features for vector editing, prototyping, design systems, etc. Makes it easy to create high-fidelity designs.
- Cloud-based - Accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. No need to download software.
- Affordable pricing - Free version has a generous offering. Paid plans are reasonably priced.
Cons
- Performance issues - Can be slow and laggy when working with large/complex files.
- Steep learning curve - More advanced features have a steep learning curve.
- Reliance on internet - Being cloud-based, it requires an internet connection to use.
- Limitations for animations - Lacks some advanced animation capabilities.
- File organization needs improvement - Navigating large projects and files can be confusing.
Pricing
Free- Free version
- No Seat Minimum
Google Analytics is one of the best tools product managers use to measure how users interact with their product. As a product management software, Google Analytics provides product teams with extensive user reports, helps with data collection and management, etc. These, in turn, help the product team identify areas of user experience that need improvement, create a feature prioritization list, track conversions, and complement quantitative user data.
Why Google Analytics:
- It’s the perfect product management tool for unlocking user-centric insights
- The free plan has robust features to satisfy your data needs
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Provides detailed insights into website traffic and user behavior like bounce rates, time on site etc. This allows for data-driven decisions to improve site.
- Easy to integrate with websites and other platforms like Google Ads. Allows for tracking users across platforms.
- Customizable reporting to focus on key metrics for business goals. Can create custom dashboards.
- Free version provides robust features and capabilities for most small businesses. Great value.
- Large amount of online resources and guides available for learning how to use Google Analytics.
Cons
- Can have a steep learning curve, especially for more advanced features. Takes time to learn.
- Limited customization options in free version. Paid versions can get expensive.
- Lack of dedicated customer support. Relies on self-help and forums.
- Data sampling occurs on free version for heavy traffic sites, impacting data accuracy.
- Privacy changes limits some tracking like cross-device tracking. Provides less user details.
Conclusion
It is now clear that no one product tool does everything. However, with the right combination of tools, you can improve your workflow, simplify product management collaboration, and take a data-driven approach to build the best products for your users. Remember, picking the best product management tool often involves trial and error, so don’t be afraid to try different ones until something sticks. With our list of product management tools above you are bound to find the perfect one or ones that are right for your team.
