Best Project Management Software for Engineering Firms: Buying Guide & Reviews
Project management can be easy when you have the right software to help you manage your jobs. When you are engaged in technical work that needs to be done correctly the first time, a good project management tool is essential to project success.
Engineering jobs necessitate a lot of hard work to check and double-check stages of the process. You also need to be sure that your entire team can see clearly what is being done at each stage of the job. Keeping everyone in the loop and helping to track production and tasks is critical to the success of any project, big or small.
When you have the right software for your project management needs, there is no guesswork related to the stage that your project is in or what has or has not been done. This helps make work efficient and keeps everyone on track to meet deadlines and goals with ease. Being able to store information and provide access to necessary sheets, links, and more is also a critical function of a really well-crafted project management tool.
If you are tired of trying to keep track of work that is being done the old-fashioned way or you are tired of information silos that lead to slowdowns in your project processes, you need a software tool to help alleviate this trouble.
Looking for specific features? Explore our comparison tooling.
At a glance:
- Smart Sheet: Best overall Project Management software
- Monday Project Management: Most user-friendly
- Wrike: Best invoicing
- ClickUp: Most comprehensive
- Teamwork: Most affordable
Best Overall
✅ Endlessly customizable and quite powerful
✅ Supports automations, input from web forms, proofing and approvals.
User-friendly
✅ Planning and setting objectives with the team.
✅ Flexible and customizable in terms of setting up a workflow.
Best invoicing
✅ Can manage both projects and ongoing work.
✅ New intelligent features flag projects at risk of slipping.
Comprehensive
✅ Keep an overview.
✅ Extensive customization of virtual workplace.
Affordable
✅ Great customization options.
✅ Billing and invoicing included.
✅ Free account available.
How to choose the best project management software for engineering firms?
We are going to discuss the best project management software for your engineering products. We will compare all the right features and factors that can help you to determine which of these excellent tools is the right one for your business needs. You will be able to pick and choose with authority from the various excellent options on the market to find the perfect project management tool for your business’ unique needs.
- Price. Project management tools can vary in price and some companies offer very simple monthly pricing while others are priced per user or per project. Price can make a big difference in your choice for this kind of tool and you will want to think about the ways in which you need to use this kind of management software before you start budgeting for the cost of this investment. If you cannot justify the necessary upfront cost for a certain pricing structure, there are other management tools that will offer you great features without the complex or very steep pricing.
- Collaboration and Sharing features. This is the primary function of any project management software tool, but each product will offer you a different means of engaging with other users on daily tasks. The ebb and flow of the way that your projects are worked on can impact the project management tool that you select. You need to look at the sharing features and the way that collaboration is set up in each of these products to make sure the tool will fit your needs.
- Integrations. Not every project management tool allows integrations from external sites or applications but you might not need this functionality for your unique workflow. This is one of the areas that can lead to disappointment down the road if you do not think about it at the time that you are selecting your project management solution.
- User-friendly interface. The best project management tools are easy to use. The whole point of this kind of tool is that it improves your workflows and saves you time. If you are feeling like the interface of a product is just adding confusion and time to your workload, this is not the right product for your needs.
- Number of users. This is a key factor that might impact your selection of this kind of tool and this also leads back to pricing. Not every project management tool allows unlimited users and you need to think about how many people you are currently going to need to include in projects as well as future expectations for your workload. If you are being charged per user, this might get really expensive down the road for larger projects or in the case that your business expands rapidly.
At the end of the day, your workflows and project steps determine which kind of product is the right choice for your needs. Make sure that you are not trying to make your workflow fit poorly into the established functionality of a tool that will never suit your needs. This is why comparison shopping for project management tools is so critical.
Best Project Management Software for Engineering Firms
- Smart Sheet: Best overall Project Management software
- Monday Project Management: Most user-friendly
- Wrike: Best invoicing
- ClickUp: Most comprehensive
- Teamwork: Most affordable
Smart Sheet Review: Best overall Project Management software
Smartsheet offers a really nice spreadsheet-style design that has been award-winning for the product. It is a great choice for those who love Excel but hate the sharing limitations of this traditional organization product. You can add all kinds of custom options to this tool like branding logos and unique themes for unique projects.
Key Benefits
- Endlessly customizable and quite powerful
- Supports automations, input from web forms, proofing and approvals.
This is a great tool to select if you want workflow automation that you can trust and visualization of calendar features and events. You will also get shared view options that are really useful and great history tracking for changes and information sharing within project fields. There is also a really excellent status report option that can be shared with the team and automated alert functions to make sure that things don’t slip through the cracks.
This tool also offers completion date reminders and reporting functions that can be set to any custom need. You will get most of the best parts of Excel in this tool without the limitations of its narrow use and limited design options. This tool will integrate with Microsoft and Google apps with ease as well as Slack, Box, and Tableau. As a final benefit, the cost is very reasonable per user so this tool will not break the bank.
Monday Project Management Review: Most user-friendly
This product enjoys two very useful and related benefits. It is very user-friendly and it also makes collaboration a snap. You will get access to an award-winning platform when you pick this project management tool and you can trust that you will be able to see all of the right collaboration details with each job without any struggle. You can utilize mentions and tagging functions to bring people into conversations within widgets and you will be able to use excellent reporting tools to track results and steps that have been met for each project.
Key Benefits
- Planning and setting objectives with the team.
- Flexible and customizable in terms of setting up a workflow.
Project accounting is not really covered in this tool but you can choose to integrate their unique tracking tools to keep tabs on hours worked, timelines, and invoices. This is a small additional integration that is easy to make if you need this kind of tool in your project management workflow.
This tool integrates well with Google, Slack, Drive, Jira, GitHub, and more and it is very easy to share files and other data with your teams. Each unique widget inside the project screen offers tracking tools that can be used for various custom needs and you can readily drop links and other data into these fields to make sure that anyone who needs them can find them. The price for this tool is very affordable and is paid per every 2 users with a 14-day free trial.
Wrike Review: Best invoicing
Another award-winning product, Wrike is really good for numerous kinds of organizations, but most of all for businesses that are scaling or projects that require lots of invoice management. The interface is very simple with this tool and you get access to great custom reporting functions are well as forms that can be used to request information and other details from team members.
Key Benefits
- Special account types for marketing/creative teams and professional services.
- Can manage both projects and ongoing work.
- New intelligent features flag projects at risk of slipping.
You will be able to break tasks into subtasks as needed and you will enjoy great workflow visibility as well as schedule sharing and reminder functions. The integrations for this tool include Google, Microsoft products, and marketing integration with apps like Marketo. You can track all kinds of work functions with ease inside the widgets of this application which makes hourly tracking and work products easy to invoice for.
This is a more expensive choice for your needs at $9.80 per user per month but the invoicing features are really excellent and might be the deciding factor to pick this software over other cheaper ones.
ClickUp Review: Most comprehensive
This is a well-rounded choice for you to make if you need to have access to lots of great planning tools and schedule tasks as well as sharing functionality and more. You will be able to work with very effective communication as a group using this tool and you can divide any project into tasks and subtasks with ease. This is a product that allows easy search and filter functionality too which can be beneficial when working with a large group on unique projects.
- Keep an overview.
- Extensive customization of virtual workplace.
You can create shared calendars with ease in this product and you also can add timelines to make sure that everyone is on track with the workflow that is needed for each project that you have in the pipeline. This is a unique application because it allows for the creation and storage of collaborative knowledge documents like Wikis as well.
This tool integrates well with Slack, G Suite, Dropbox, and other useful tools and you will find that there are not many other options with such good pricing. The free plan actually offers all of their features that you might want to use and the paid plan is $5 a month per user to give you access to the additional calendar tools and other useful items like the Wikis. This is a really effective tool for all the possible project management features you could want and more.
Teamwork Review: Most affordable
Teamwork is an aptly named product that offers project management as well as freelancer management in one place. This is a very flexible and very affordable option that will deliver big results for your needs without breaking the bank. You will be able to track billable minutes and timelines in this project management application and you can see all of the information that you need access to in easy-to-read widgets and the useful and friendly interface.
- Simple and intuitive design.
- Great customization options.
- Billing and invoicing included.
- Free account available.
Shared calendars are simple to create inside this tool and you will be able to see what everyone else on your team is up to with ease. This can prevent wasted time and circling back over and over to other people to check in. Team members can work with each other without management direction and be sure that they are on track within the functions of the project tools for each unique job.
This tool comes with a free trial that lets you see if it will suit your needs and you do not have to commit to offering payment information until you are ready to upgrade. There are also various versions of project management tool that is made by this company so you might even want to use their additional tools for other business needs.
Zoho Review - Honourable Mention
Zoho is a really great choice if you need access to quality integrations that can be used for a variety of different needs. You might not want to manage all of your processes within this project management tool and integrations that work reliably are really important to this goal. The chart generation with this tool is really excellent and you can automate many features which are very helpful for time-saving.
Key Benefits
- Excellent value.
- Generally easy to set up and navigate.
- Multiple ways to communicate in app.
- Deep configuration options.
- Strong time-tracking tools.
This is a tool that offers great charting features as well as critical path tracking and team sharing. You can change out the themes and other information that is displayed for each unique job and create your own user templates that are specific to your common tasks. Users can readily assign projects and items to one another and there is free onboarding that is included when you pick this tool to help you get used to the many features that you can use within the software.
Zoho offers all of its own services like books, CRM, finance, and more, but you can integrate with Google, Slack, Drive, Microsoft, Jira, Dropbox, GitHub, and more. You will have almost unlimited means to make sure that you can track and access all kinds of features and functions within this tool and this means that everything from invoicing to project tasks and spreadsheets is readily shared within this tool through effective integrations. As an added benefit, the pricing is $4 per user per month and you can choose to be billed annually to save some money.
Summary - The best project management software for engineering firms
For a really excellent and well-balanced tool that will offer you all of the functionality that you could ever want for projects and team efforts, you need to choose Smart Sheet. This is the right choice for easy visualization of tasks and timelines as well as information sharing and customization options. The pricing is really affordable and the user interface is easy to understand and work with.
If this is not the right tool for your needs, these other options might be the perfect fit for your organization and project management style:
- Monday Project Management: This is a great choice for a user-friendly interface that is paired with great collaboration tools. You will be able to see everything that is going on with jobs and tasks inside their unique widgets and the workflow tools are second-to-none. This is a great choice for integration with Google and Slack as well as Jira and you will find that the pricing is not going to break the bank.
- Wrike: If you are scaling your business or you are working with lots of invoice management demands, this is a great choice for your project management needs. You can divide and subdivide tasks in this application and you will be able to track hourly work readily without having to struggle to see what people have been up to. The invoicing functionality in this tool is well worth the added cost per month when compared to other items on this list.
- ClickUp: This project management tool is great for planning tools and scheduled tasks as well as awesome sharing functionality. You can involve a large group in work that is done with this tool with ease and everyone will know what stage the project is on without any guesswork. This tool offers the creation of Wikis for information sharing and you will get lots of nice integration features that you would not enjoy with some other products in this category.
- Teamwork: For project management and freelancer management in one handy location, this is the right choice for your needs. You can track hours that need to be invoiced within this application and you will be able to craft shared calendars that everyone can see. This is a great choice for tracking steps and stages of projects and for making sure that people can assign tasks and jobs to one another with ease. You will get access to other management tools that are made by this company as well if you want to track other kinds of jobs with the same style interface.
- Zoho: Zoho is perfect for companies that need a lot of integration accessibility that you cannot get with some other tools on this list. Users can use external tools within the widgets for each project and they can interact with one another and assign and reassign tasks as needed. The charting function is really nice in this application and you will be able to see the information for each job with unique themes that you can craft yourself.
Imagine being able to track all of the functions of the projects that you are working on in one easy place all day long. It will save you so much time, that you will wonder why you have been struggling with old-fashioned project management styles for so long! These project management software tools are the best on the market and you will be able to immediately improve your work processes through using them.
Most of these software products will allow you the chance to use a free trial so you can give a bunch of different platforms a try to find the perfect one for your needs.
Project management software for engineering firms FAQs
Why is project management software important?
Project management software is very helpful to track all of the steps of the projects that you are managing. You will be able to see all of the stages and steps of your project as well as the tasks that have to be completed within each stage when you use this kind of software. This is an important product for project management because everyone working on the project will be able to see everything they need to know about it at a glance. Being able to create shared timelines, calendars and tasks can be very helpful for any kind of project.
What are the uses of project management software?
This kind of software tool is made to help businesses and groups track tasks, timelines, calendar activities, and more in one location. Project management tools help large groups to collaborate more effectively and to maintain communication during all of the stages of the tasks that need to be done for a job. These kinds of tools can also help with invoicing and billing and they can help with communication with vendors and freelancers.
What are the types of software management for projects?
Most project management software tools are designed to track deadlines and work that a group is sharing. This can mean that freelancers, vendors, and other external workers can use the tool as well as internal team members. The other kind of software tool for this need is one that allows for invoicing along with project timeline management and team collaboration. Most of these tools will be made to offer all of the same features but invoicing and time management tools are typically only included in some of these softwares.
What are the main characteristics of software for project management?
These softwares are made to offer timeline management tools, task creation, and management tools, project widgets that allow for document links and uploads to be shared, and they offer shared calendars. The best of these tools will also allow invoicing and billing management. You will be able to track every kind of action that is needed for your project to be a success.
What are the types of activities in project management?
Project management requires sharing information with other team members and as a project manager, you must be sure that every aspect of your project is completed correctly and on time. Project management also requires invoicing and billing and work with freelancers and external workers of all kinds. The right project management software will make it possible to track all of these activities with ease in one location. Being able to share all the relevant information and timelines for a project in one location is critical to its success.
What are the Key Features of Project Management Software?
Project management software offers all the tools and features that are needed to manage a project with ease. You will get access to shared calendars, timelines that help track deadlines, sharing locations that allow for link sharing, access sharing, and document downloads. You will also get chat and discussion functionality that allows for everyone to talk about who needs to do what within each task. Task creation and management is also a part of these tools and with some of these softwares you can even track invoicing and billing.
