Written by Dan Barraclough Reviewed by James Macey Updated on March 20, 2023 On this page 1. monday.com 2. ClickUp 3. Zoho Projects 4. Teamwork 5. Wrike How did we find the top agile project management software? The benefits of the agile methodology Why use a project management software with the agile method? How We Ranked the Best Agile Project Management Software Verdict FAQs Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. The best project management system for the agile method is provided by monday.com where setting up Kanban boards is easy. You can give regular feedback, re-allocate resources, and view budgets and timeframes in real time – all with a few clicks.It also offers intuitive drag-and-drop functionality, and color-coded alerts to help you spot roadblocks more easily.While monday.com is the best, we also have four impressive alternatives. So, to find the perfect agile project management system for your specific business, you’ll need to keep reading.How did we pick today’s list? First off, our researchers tested 14 software in specific areas related to the agile method, focusing on their collaborative features and project creation & workflow tools. Using that focus, they then picked the five best platforms for the agile method. 1. monday.com – Best Agile Project Management Software for Kanban BoardsTo nail the agile method, you need intuitive Kanban boards. And monday.com is the Kanban master, offering a sleek Kanban interface with color-coded buttons. These colorful alerts help you quickly identify what has or hasn’t been done, which is vital for the agile’s focus on making responsive decisions.monday.com has some of the best Kanban templates on the market. On monday.com’s Kanban interface, you can see who’s in charge of tasks, when the milestones are, and the status of each objective. If you want to change the priority of tasks, you can simply drag and drop each column further up or down the board, or update the urgency. Check out the image below to see monday.com’s Kanban board in action.You can use monday.com’s Kanban board on its 14-day free trial. After that period, if you like monday.com you’ll need to upgrade to one of its paid plans that start from $9 per user, per month when billed annually.monday.com’s Kanban board view makes it easy to view milestones, update priorities, and delegate tasks 2. ClickUp – Best Agile Project Management Software for Gantt ChartsClickUp has the best Gantt charts on the market, which are crucial features for the agile method. They provide an overview of a project’s progress, showing you how much work is done – or left to do. Even on ClickUp’s free plan, you can use up to 100 charts.When using Gantt charts on ClickUp, you can choose between a fully-featured chart or a more simple version. Naturally, the more watered-down version is ideal for newbies. But don’t worry, ClickUp is one of the most user-friendly platforms we tested, scoring 4/5 for Usability in our research, so you‘ll likely find its Gantt charts simple to navigate. That’s what makes ClickUp one of the top project management software available.ClickUp’s Gantt charts are sleek and intuitive, allowing you to see how much work’s been done quickly and easily 3. Zoho Projects – Best Agile Project Management Software for Tracking ResourcesReallocating resources based on who’s available is one of the most important parts of the agile method. Zoho Projects enables you to make quick decisions like these.When testing Zoho Projects, our researchers loved its ‘Resource Utilization’ chart, which enables you to view your entire team’s schedule, and see who’s available. This chart also calculates how many hours have been allocated or overallocated for specific tasks, and how many hours of free time someone has.In order to make agile, incremental decisions during your project, you need to know that you’ll have enough resources to make these changes. With its Resource Utilization chart, Zoho Projects makes this particularly easy.This chart is available on its paid plans, starting from just $4 per user, per month, when billed annually.Zoho Projects' ‘Resource Utilization’ makes collaboration a breeze, allowing you to stay on top of your entire team's schedules. 4. Teamwork – Best Agile Project Management Software for Measuring ProgressTo make agile decisions, you need to know where you are in the grand scheme of things. In other words, you need to see your progress in realtime, at all times. Teamwork is the best agile project management software for this specific approach.During testing, our researchers highlighted Teamwork’s impressive ability to create burndown charts that show your progress vs time depicted on a graph. This tool is really simple to use – you simply select which tasks you want plotted and then it automatically generates the chart.This tool is useful for the agile method because it allows you to see whether your team can deliver tasks on time. You can also quickly re-evaluate what needs doing, and see which tasks can be sacrificed in order to deliver the overall project on time.Teamwork's burndown view allows you to get a clear idea of your progress within an allotted time frame. 5. Wrike – Best Agile Project Management Software for Tracking BudgetJust like the deadline date, you can’t change your budget using the agile method. You can only track it. Thankfully, Wrike is the best platform for tracking expenditure.With Wrike, you can create a spreadsheet view of your project and add two numerical rows for budget and expenses. Then, you can set up a formula column to automatically subtract expenses from the budget, which will automatically track the remaining budget. You can use this feature on Wrike’s free plan, which is what makes Wrike one of the best free project management software out there.Scared of spreadsheets? Don’t be. In our testing, Wrike scored an impressive Usability score (4/5), which means it has user-friendly tools. So, creating the budget-tracking spreadsheet shouldn’t prove too difficult, especially if you’re familiar with Excel or Google Sheets.Wrike offers a handy spreadsheet view which creates clarity around your budget and expenses. How Did We Find the Top Agile Project Management Software?Our impartial software researchers compared 14 different project management software platforms against each other to ensure that we share only accurate, current and research-backed information. After a process of thorough examination and analysis, they tested each software in real-life to determine their success rate in a number of categories.Usability: how easy and intuitive the software is to use.Pricing: how cost-effective the software is.Customer support: the availability and quality of customer support provided.Customer satisfaction: how users really feel about the software.Features: the range and quality of functions included in the software.Armed with this research, we are well-equipped to share the suitability of each software for agile-style project management. The Benefits of the Agile PhilosophyAgile was developed to streamline the sometimes turbulent process of project management and product development. Its original manifesto includes guiding principles to keep teams on track to success. A well-known framework under the agile umbrella is “scrum”, which refers to a set of responsibilities, meetings and roles.Want to hear more? Read about perfecting the agile methodology. For now, let’s dive into it’s key benefits.Optimized timeThanks to its fixed-length cycles, often called sprints, agile frameworks allow for greater visibility over progress, increasing efficiency and minimising redundant tasks. Another visual feature of agile is the ‘burndown’ chart, which clearly measures progress alongside a time frame, allowing you to stay on track and take action when things go awry.More flexibility and adaptabilityThe biggest benefit of agile methods is the flexibility to change priorities. Have you run out of budget? Has John spent too long on his task? With agile methods, you can make quick decisions based on current data. This is because agile’s iterative approach shows you the project’s resources, progress, and task ownerships in real time.Reduced riskWithout agile methods, you risk making decisions when it’s too late. For example, you may decide to change priorities without realizing you’ve spent your budget. Or, you try to delegate task ownership, but you can’t see who in your team has available hours. Late or miscalculated decisions can prove costly to your end goal. With agile methods, you remove these risks.Satisfied customersAgile projects involve incremental testing and customer feedback, meaning you can tweak your project based on those regular responses. With each iteration of your product or service, you can gain customer insight and therefore create something that you know your customers want.Improved team spiritAgile teams are made up of autonomous members. Each person has freedom to suggest ideas or solve problems, resulting in happier team members and stronger team spirit. This level of autonomy can’t be found in most traditional project management methods. Meanwhile, agile’s focus on collaboration should help boost team spirit – and, ultimately, your bottom line. Did You Know? In a recent study, 69% of respondents found that adopting agile methodologies resulted in better team collaboration. Why use a Project Management Software with the Agile Method?With the turbulence of recent years, business agility has never been more necessary. In the midst and fallout of a global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, economic recession, governmental and environmental crises, perfecting an agile methodology gives your team the best chance to thrive.For following agile methods, using a project management software is essential. Here’s why…Track Your Fixed Budget in Real TimeAgile means fixed budgets. However, agile project management software helps you track budget in real-time, giving you full scope of your spending in one place. If requirements change, you can reallocate resources quickly and easily.Increased VisibilityWith one glance, you can see who’s responsible, who needs help, and who has spare working hours to help on other tasks. You can get all this information from your project management system’s data visualization features, such as Kanban boards or Gantt charts.Track Time to hit Fixed Deadline DateLike budget, time is fixed in agile methodology. But to make your life easier, you can use your project management system to track timelines in realtime to ensure you deliver the whole project on time. How We Ranked the Best Agile Project Management SoftwareWe've tested and researched 10 market-leading project management software platforms, evaluating their functionality, usability, integrations and customer support so we can make the most useful recommendations to US businessesOur rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in five main categories of investigation and nine subcategories. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers.Our main testing categories for project management software are:Pricing: The financial considerations associated with using a project management solution, e.g. licensing fees, subscription plans, or additional charges for advanced features or add-ons.Ease of use: This is where we get people just like you to test out the products to focus on evaluating the ease of use and user experience of the project management solution. We assess factors such as the user interface, navigation, and task organization.Features: The functionalities and capabilities offered by the project management solution, including features such as task management, team collaboration, and project planning and scheduling.Integrations: The number of third-party software platforms the system integrates with, and whether it easily connects with market-leading providers.Security: The number of security measures offered by the providers, as well as accreditations for data security.Customer Support: The assistance and resources provided by the project management solution provider to users, including phone support, email or chat support, and online forums. Verdict Our favorite agile project management tool is monday.com. But why should you use one at all? Let’s recap.Project management software gives you real time data of your milestones, budget, and task responsibilities. This level of visibility is essential to the agile method. With project management systems, you can make incremental adjustments to suit the shifting requirements of your project – all with a few clicks.Features like Kanban boards and Gantt charts turn agile project management into a seamless task. You can see who’s in charge, who needs help, and what’s been completed. monday.com has the best Kanban interface on the market, enabling you to chop and change your requirements quickly and easily.With systems like monday.com or ClickUp, you’re more likely to deliver work on time – and within budget – collaborating and making agile improvements along the way. FAQs What is agile project management? Agile project management is an iterative approach to project management. It involves regular feedback and responsive changes, usually at incremental stages – known as sprints – of a product cycle. This approach allows quick and collaborative project management, with full visibility on the budget and timeframe. Which software is best for project management? The best software for agile project management is provided by monday.com. This platform has the best Kanban interface on the market, which is an essential feature for agile methods. monday.com’s Kanban boards provide full visibility on who’s responsible, who needs help (it uses color-coded alerts), and which tasks have been completed. What’s the difference between agile and waterfall? Waterfall is a linear approach. It requires each phase of a project to be completed before moving onto the next one. On the other hand, agile methodology encourages team members to work simultaneously on different phases of the project, providing regular feedback and making responsive changes. What’s the difference between agile and scrum? Think of agile as one philosophy behind successful delivery of a product, whereas scrum refers to one type of methodology that follows agile principles. While agile describes the values, thoughts and ideas that a successful team may adopt, scrum takes these ideas further by providing instructions on implementation. Written by: Dan Barraclough Dan’s a Senior Writer at Expert Market, specialising in digital marketing, web design, and photocopiers, amongst other topics. Reviewed by: James Macey Senior Business Software Researcher James draws on his 4+ years experience as a researcher to offer specialized advice on a wide range of categories from CRM to Fleet Management. He believes all businesses can grow if they use the right tools and services.