You possibly can solely ship on a undertaking once you work collectively along with your crew members. Sharing common updates and collaborating throughout completely different tasks make tasks succeed.
Nonetheless, engaged on a number of initiatives with none technique of on-line collaboration wears out particular person members and the crew as a complete. It generally results in isolation, burnout, and single-minded selections. These deadly errors can tank all of your laborious work.
To forestall a undertaking from crashing, you possibly can swap to free undertaking collaboration software program as a substitute of conventional undertaking platforms. These collab instruments enable teams to work together, get updates, ask for assist, and spotlight duties on precedence to enhance motivation, operational effectivity, and productiveness.
At G2, we’ve got compiled an inventory of the eight finest free on-line collaboration instruments to get rid of mismanagement and hesitation so you possibly can work extra confidently.
Finest free on-line collaboration instruments in 2024
- Smartsheet
- monday Work Administration
- Trello
- Asana
- ClickUp
- Wrike
- Basecamp
- Runrun.it
These free on-line collaboration instruments create an open work surroundings that’s conducive to staying on deadline to scale back delays.
How did we choose and consider the very best free on-line collaboration instruments?
At G2, we rank software program options utilizing a proprietary algorithm that considers buyer satisfaction and market presence based mostly on genuine consumer critiques. Our market analysis analysts and writers spend weeks testing options in opposition to a number of standards set for a software program class. We offer you unbiased software program evaluations – that is the G2 distinction! We do not settle for fee or alternate hyperlinks for product placements on this record. Please learn our G2 Analysis Scoring Methodology for extra particulars.
8 finest free on-line collaboration instruments in 2024
The record beneath comprises real consumer critiques from our free undertaking collaboration class web page. Please observe that within the context of this record, software program that requires fee after a free trial is taken into account free.
To be included on this class, software program should:
- Present options for chat, discussions, and inside or exterior communications
- Enable customers to share paperwork and content material, together with model management
- Handle personal and crew calendars by division or on the firm stage
- Assist customers collaborate, remark, or share duties and undertaking particulars
- Outline customized workspaces and undertaking views for inside and exterior sharing
- Handle entry rights to paperwork, chat, calendars, and undertaking views
This information has been pulled from G2 in 2024. Some critiques have been edited for readability.
1. Smartsheet
Smartsheet tracks undertaking milestones, automates kinds, updates undertaking achievements, and creates dynamic spreadsheets for various undertaking briefs. It additionally contains undertaking administration strategies just like the waterfall mannequin or Gantt charts to prioritize duties, assign devoted motion objects, and promote collaboration and sync-ups.
Smarsheet follows a work breakdown construction (WBS) that takes the type of a pyramid to signify completely different levels inside a undertaking cycle; it may be custom-made and re-arranged by undertaking house owners.
Execs of Smartsheet |
Cons of Smartsheet |
Consumer-friendly and correct undertaking audit administration |
Not an effective way to enter and retailer long-form writing |
Straightforward integration of activity filters |
Subpar print, save, and PDF features |
Function-based entry for undertaking members |
Lack of ability to kind information by row or column |
What customers like finest:
“I have been utilizing Smartsheet for fairly a while now, and general, it has been an amazing software for managing large-scale tasks and preserving issues organized. One of many issues I actually like is how customizable it’s. I can create dashboards, automate workflows, and observe progress in real-time, which makes it a lot simpler to remain on high of duties and deadlines. It’s like a robust spreadsheet however with a lot extra performance, which has been a giant plus for our crew’s collaboration.”
– Smartsheet Evaluate, Valeria Mazo T.
What customers dislike:
“What’s difficult about Smartsheet is that whereas there’s a ton of functionality with the software program, studying the way to use it may be overwhelming. The sheer variety of coaching movies out there is a deterrent as you attempt to discover what you might be on the lookout for and making an attempt to be taught.”
– Smartsheet Evaluate, Scott H.
2. monday Work Administration
monday Work Administration presents a complete work administration and worker operations system that lets workers handle their day by day work agendas. With instantaneous chat, electronic mail escalation, kind builders, rewards, and suggestions for appreciation straight on the platform, monday.com’s built-in platform provides you the ability to higher handle department-wise tasks together with HR and payroll operations.
Execs of monday Work Administration |
Cons of monday Work Administration |
Adaptive information visualization options and personalised studies. |
Weak integration with reporting dashboards |
Mission monitoring and activity deadline setup |
Lack of ability to switch current subtasks |
Responsive and pleasant customer support |
Advanced dashboard automation |
What customers like finest:
“We have now flexibility in tailoring dashboards to show tasks categorized by components like campaigns, upcoming occasions, and so on. Every undertaking comes with sections for milestones, dates, and managers. Moreover, each undertaking has its distinctive electronic mail hyperlink, permitting us to maintain all communications seen in a single place on the respective dashboard. This eliminates the trouble of switching between Outlook or different electronic mail companies.”
– monday Work Administration Evaluate, Rubi R.
What customers dislike:
“Since including a number of dashboards to a specific folder can’t be automated, we should decide so as to add them to the final part, which makes setup a trouble when managing a number of tasks without delay.”
– monday Work Administration Evaluate, Irfan Okay.
3. Trello
Trello customizes undertaking levels, units undertaking progress charts, and automates repetitive written duties for inside and exterior groups. With Trello, undertaking groups can align and work collectively in an built-in software. Trello additionally presents customized Gantt chart integration to set priorities, schedule critiques, and assign leads on explicit workflows.
Trello would not require any coding help and its tutorials for rookies give nice directions.
Execs of Trello |
Cons of Trello |
Shared communication and information visualization |
Lack of ability to create superior flowcharts |
Gantt chart and WBS integration |
Weak card creation |
Customized undertaking profiles |
Unauthorized and undefined updates |
What customers like finest:
“Trello is right for job administration and monitoring undertaking progress. I take advantage of it to maintain observe of to-do lists, passwords and usernames, and different essential personal data equivalent to entry codes. It incorporates a free model, normally enough for the preliminary levels. It’s simple to make use of and integrates with different third-party functions. It’s ultimate for undertaking administration and progress monitoring, notably with distant groups.”
– Trello Evaluate, Promod B.
What customers dislike:
“Looking for playing cards or particular duties has all the time been an issue, and the price of the Trello service varies vastly relying on the variety of folks on the crew. Technical assist solves issues, however I’ve needed to wait a very long time for his or her solutions on a number of events.”
– Trello Evaluate, Hilary C.
4. Asana
Asana comes with activity creation, undertaking filtering, milestone settings, assessment and commenting for duties, and calendar assist so groups can keep transparency and suppleness for his or her tasks. Its varied filters and customizations allow you to set customized activity standards and predict undertaking closeouts. Additional, the quite a few graphic design choices can creatively elucidate and signify your lively duties and subtasks.
Asana additionally supplies strong safety and authentication options. It indicators you out after seven days to verify your consumer identification.
Execs of Asana |
Cons of Asana |
Easy activity monitoring and delegation |
Weak customer support and implementation assist |
Centralized undertaking administration options and automatic task-shifting |
Fewer options and companies with free plan |
Mission funds monitoring and spending allocation |
Overwhelming information organizing and sorting |
What customers like finest:
“Asana is great for managing a undertaking involving a number of staff. It will increase the crew’s visibility by displaying updates and dealing on a single thread. Asana is great for simple undertaking administration. Some superior undertaking administration functions, like Gantt charts, want paid subscriptions. Nonetheless, Asana excels at establishing and preserving labeled activity lists and allocating duties to particular people.”
– Asana Evaluate, Singhal S.
What customers dislike:
“I would love private help in organising – and if not, possibly some questions in regards to the consumer after they start asking about what sorts of tasks they’re doing and what their targets are after which make some solutions about the place to start within the video and tutorial coaching.”
– Asana Evaluate, Elizabeth T.
5. ClickUp
ClickUp permits ticket creation, undertaking scheduling, agenda sorting, and activity administration to your groups on a day-to-day foundation. It dynamically lists undertaking govt availability for managers and skip-level managers in order that they will plan the following steps based mostly on the power and bandwidth of workers. You possibly can depend on it to prepare, kind, and schedule undertaking submissions based mostly on problem stage and crew measurement.
Its unified platform provides a 360° view of your current, accredited, and pipeline tasks and encourages you to take productive motion. It additionally presents safety and cloud storage options for elevated compatibility.
Execs of ClickUp |
Cons of ClickUp |
Customizable undertaking dashboards |
Slower loading on net browser |
Complete human useful resource administration and buyer relationship administration (CRM) integrations |
No notification configuration templates |
Intuitive, color-based consumer interface |
Weak integration with Microsoft Suite merchandise |
What customers like finest:
“I liked the completely different customization choices you will have. I preferred that they’d every part arrange once I began working at my firm so I may begin working instantly. I had no expertise with CRM or undertaking administration software program, however I received the dangle of it shortly.”
– ClickUp Evaluate, Gabriel R.
What customers dislike:
“The draw back to Clickup is the dearth of advanced customized calculations. Clickup may stage up if it may construct Excel performance into their customized columns. The dashboards could be significantly better, and the way a lot might be finished to create an inventory would enhance considerably.”
– ClickUp Evaluate, Aaron F.
6. Wrike
Wrike’s presents options like crew collaboration, undertaking monitoring, and undertaking automation to gauge progress and timeline of your tasks. It additionally updates you with real-time push notifications and emails about delays and adjustments. This retains everybody within the loop so that you end as near on time as attainable.
You should utilize Wrike to construct customizable dashboards for choose undertaking groups and keep clear communication at each new stage of the undertaking doc.
Execs of Wrike |
Cons of Wrike |
Straightforward crew setup and navigation |
Wants higher electronic mail notifications |
Management over incoming tasks |
Greater coaching curve for undertaking groups |
Sturdy workflow automation |
Weak reporting analytics |
What customers like finest:
“Wrike is a software that permits you to fulfill most enterprise wants in a single place. This program retains your area organized, let’s you create workflows, request kinds, and bridge the communication hole. It reduces the e-mail load, assigns associated duties and deadlines, and helps create a pathway to assembly the companies wants. Wrike has turn out to be important in my day and retains me organized and on high of my duties. I talk with my crew, get approvals, suggestions, and work on tasks. It was straightforward to implement into the enterprise, I can seek for assist and anwers on their web site, and it built-in effectively with my electronic mail. It has been a life changer!”
– Wrike Evaluate, Paige T.
What customers dislike:
“I’d say that it will be good if it had a decrease threshold for customers to get to understand it, because it appears persons are a bit frightened of approaching prospects. The filter features additionally may use a rework.”
– Wrike Evaluate, Thomas Gained N.
7. Basecamp
Basecamp supplies multimedia messaging, tracks undertaking workflows, and informs groups about new modifications. Customers can construct their day by day agendas and to-do lists on this platform. It additionally unifies undertaking activity submissions, peer communication, and undertaking cycle synchronization for a number of departmental workflows.
Basecamp’s suite of productiveness instruments, together with chat, electronic mail, and messaging, provide help to maintain tabs on updates made to the undertaking. It additionally permits crew members to work together peacefully.
Execs of Basecamp |
Cons of Basecamp |
Mission simplifications with to-do lists |
Restricted options with paid model |
Capability to retailer belongings like photos and movies |
Delayed response from buyer assist |
Customizable undertaking templates |
Weak setup for giant, advanced tasks |
What customers like finest:
“Basecamp has been nice for me. The perfect half is that it is an all-in-one. I’ve every part from assigned duties to messages and calendars at my fingertips. Due to its undertaking administration instruments, I really like how organized I will be. The benefit of file sharing and contextualized discussions has vastly improved crew collaboration.”
– Basecamp Evaluate, Gustavo C.
What customers dislike:
“Whereas I discover this system intuitive general, I believe new customers might discover it obscure at first. I would additionally prefer to see the cell app’s restrictions up to date to match these of the desktop model.”
– Basecamp Evaluate, Virginia M.
8. Runrun.it
Runrun.it presents a collection of undertaking integration and monitoring instruments to forecast budgets, useful resource prices, undertaking progress, undertaking supply, and crew bandwidth. It additionally empowers groups to automate activity administration and construct dependable undertaking workflows.
It additionally integrates with instantaneous messaging apps like Gmail, Microsoft Groups, and Slack for improved teamwork.
Execs of Runrun.it |
Cons of Runrun.it |
Agile undertaking collaboration and monitoring |
No direct electronic mail integration on undertaking updates |
Auto-allocation of funds to shoppers, clients, and tasks |
Extra personalization for automations is required |
Straightforward to combine kinds |
Inconsistent software program upkeep |
What customers like finest:
“We’re a part of the innovation crew, and our supervisor suggested us to make use of RunRun.it continuously for inside processes. This helped and considerably improved the demand for assist and satisfaction in undertaking supply and its levels. I like to recommend RunRun to anybody who needs it, not just for its simplicity but in addition for its interface and value. Moreover, it was additionally straightforward to implement in our day by day procedures. RunRun is straightforward to combine, and we’ve got used it in varied tasks, together with kinds.”
– Runrun.it Evaluate, Khristtony R.
What customers dislike:
“There is no such thing as a regional pricing. Some usability might be extra seen or accessible, and checklists might be extra useful.”
– Runrun.it Evaluate, Jean Adriel S.
Finest free on-line collaboration instruments comparability
Earlier than rolling out your subsequent undertaking to your groups, introduce an ideal undertaking collaboration answer for a neater different to undertaking administration.
Here’s a abstract of all of the parameters for software program suppliers that we mentioned on this listicle.
Software program |
G2 Ranking |
Free plan |
Paid plan |
Smartsheet |
4.4/5 |
Free trial |
Begins at $9 per 30 days |
monday Work Administration |
4.7/5 |
Free plan |
Begins at $9 per seat per 30 days |
Trello |
4.4/5 |
Free plan |
Begins at $5 per 30 days |
Asana |
4.4/5 |
Free plan |
Begins at $10.99 per 30 days |
ClickUp |
4.4/5 |
Free plan |
Begins at $7 per 30 days |
Wrike |
4.2/5 |
Free plan |
Begins at $9.80 per 30 days |
Basecamp |
4.1/5 |
Free trial |
Begins at $15 per consumer per 30 days |
Runrun.it |
4.7/5 |
Free plan |
Begins at $8 per consumer per 30 days |
Free on-line collaboration software program: continuously requested questions (FAQs)
What are the highest on-line collaboration instruments on G2?
The highest on-line collaboration platforms on G2 are monday Work Administration, Smartsheet, Asana, ClickUp, and Trello.
Does a free on-line collaboration software combine with doc creation software program?
Sure, with instruments like Google Drive and Dropbox. Customers can allow doc permissions and hyperlink them on to the undertaking administration platform to simplify accessibility and approvals.
Can I combine a free on-line collaboration software with current CRM or ERP programs?
Sure, you possibly can. Free on-line collaboration instruments will be built-in with business-specific CRM or enterprise useful resource planning (ERP) software program to optimize departmental productiveness and enhance crew visibility. By having centralized collaboration options like Kanban boards or Gantt charts on the primary platform, every crew understands everybody’s work agendas and may contribute extra. Groups may also video name and focus on new concepts.
Are free on-line collaboration instruments secure to make use of?
Sure. Most on-line collaboration platforms are safe as they comply with regulatory compliance pointers to guard consumer safety and information. These instruments have a number of authorized certifications and won’t contradict firm coverage.
You+me = undertaking BFFs
Introducing new software program to revamp undertaking workflows can enhance your work surroundings and enhance crew acceptance. It empowers everybody to construct on their information whereas incorporating everybody else’s abilities and expertise. Collab instruments are enjoyable, well-defined, and versatile, which makes them an ideal match for any form of enterprise. We hope that this record of free on-line collaboration instruments helps you make an knowledgeable choice!
Find out about finest undertaking administration methodologies to expedite your undertaking planning and turn out to be extra organized with work.