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It’s easier than ever to work from home and use software to collaborate online and keep your team focused, organized and on task.
We bring you the best online tools your team can use to communicate and collaborate efficiently on projects.
Article Overview
- How Many People Work Virtually?
- Best Tools By Category
- All Tools Reviewed
- Should I Use More Than One Tool?
- What About Security?
- Why Use Online Collaboration Tools (Video)
- Which Tools Do We Use?
A virtual team – whether across the street or across the world – is a team whose members simultaneously work together to a common purpose, while physically apart. -Yael Zofi
How Many People Work Virtually?
Working from anywhere has never been easier thanks to WiFi, cloud computing, smartphones and online collaboration tools. Building relationships is also easier and faster due to social media.
Did you know that approximately 20-25% of the workforce teleworks1 at some frequency. In fact, 4.3 million employees now work from home at least half the time.
These numbers continue to grow as large companies become more comfortable allowing employees to work from home regularly — thanks to effective online collaboration and project management tools.
We Rock Your Web has been testing and using various tools throughout the years to keep our virtual team connected and productive from locations around the world.
What Are The Best Online Productivity Tools?
You have tons of options for your online collaboration needs. Some have overlapping features; however, each offers a different type of service. Some specialize in task management, while others are better for instant messaging.
You may find it best to use multiple collaboration tools (like we do at We Rock Your Web). For that reason, we’ve chosen a winner for each category rather than our typical top 3 picks. Read the reviews below to see what each company specializes in and how they can help your team.
Best Productivity Tool By Category
- Project and Task Management
- Virtual Team Communication
- Team Collaboration
- Document Collaboration
- Complex (Large-Scale) Project And Task Management
- Cross-Platform Collaboration
- Collaborative Brainstorming
- Other Project Management Tools
All Tools Reviewed
Asana | Basecamp | Google Drive | Liquidplanner | Nutcache | ProofHub | SharePoint | Slack | Teamwork Projects | Trello
Additionally, to prevent this review from becoming unwieldy, these tools are reviewed on our overflow page:
Kanban Tool | Glip | Microsoft Teams | Sococo | Wrike
Best For Project And Task Management
Teams of any type (virtual or not) require you to use tools to manage tasks and projects of all sizes. The challenge is getting everyone on board with the same system. You want something that’s complex enough to give you options and flexibility yet not so complicated and overwhelming that you spend more time learning the system than getting work done.
At We Rock Your Web, we’re suckers for Basecamp (and many others are too), but from the recent research we’ve done, it seems more teams are migrating toward Teamwork Projects because it has more features than Basecamp.
Basecamp is straightforward without being too simple, but if you crave something with more bells and whistles, try out Teamwork Projects. Below are more details about both systems.
Teamwork Projects Review (Winner)
Best For: Project and task management for more experienced users
Ideal Team Size: All company sizes
Teamwork Projects is super easy to use and intuitive. It’s similar to Basecamp except that it has a few more features, including the ability to give tasks priorities, create milestones and invoices, and track time. It also has a desktop timer you can download to your PC or Mac to track hours by project and task.
You can view what’s on your plate by checking out the calendar or see a list in an activity log format. It also shows workloads and a snapshot of tasks and milestones that are past due. You can customize Teamwork Projects to fit your team’s specific needs.
Teamwork Projects continually makes updates and improvements to their service. In 2018 they introduced advanced features like bulk-editing, historical information on changes for each task and the ability to exclude tags from searches. In 2019 they added CRM to their growing list of capabilities.
If you like Teamwork for project management, it even has its own chat and help desk products so you can keep everything under one roof. This is an affordable option for those of you looking for a collaboration tool with basic yet functional project management.
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Pricing
- 30-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Free Forever: $0/month for 100MB file space, 5 users and 2 active projects
- Pro: $11.25/month per user (minimum 5 users), 100 GB space, up to 50 users, 300 projects and more (save 20% if billed annually)
- Premium: $18.75/month per user (minimum 5 users), 250 GB space, up to 100 users, 600 projects and more (save 20% if billed annually)
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing, 500+ GB space, unlimited users & projects and more
Coupon
Use this link to get the best deal we can offer from Teamwork.
Read Our In-Depth Teamwork Projects Review
Basecamp Review (Honorable Mention)
Best For: Task management for everyday users
Ideal Team Size: Small to mid-sized companies
Are you looking for a basic, easy-to-use and straightforward project management tool? Look no further than Basecamp. You can track projects and tasks via to-do lists, host written discussions, embed media files (images, videos) and more. Basecamp 3 is our primary project management tool at We Rock Your Web.
What’s great about Basecamp is its simplicity. There are few distractions to take you off task. Basecamp cuts down on email when you set up your notifications so you only receive alerts or email when a specific task or discussion is relevant to you.
It also keeps you organized by stringing discussions together in one organized task. You can tag people and assign the task to whoever’s court it’s in (or multiple people). Basecamp 3, the newest version, gives you added control over these notifications.
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Pricing
- 30-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Free for teachers and students
- $99/month for 500GB storage and unlimited projects
Coupon
Get $50 off of Basecamp via this link!
Read Our In-Depth Basecamp Review
Nutcache Review
Best For: Teams looking for a business-oriented, Agile solution for managing projects
Ideal Team Size: Small to large companies
Nutcache focuses on helping teams be more efficient by managing the entire project delivery lifecycle. This includes the initial estimate, project budgeting, time tracking, expense management and final billing. All projects are located in one place to help you with time management as well as project progress.
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Pricing
Below are some sample prices for Nutcache, but if you visit its website, you can specify your team size and get customized pricing.
- 14-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Freelancer: $11.95/month per user ($8.95/month if billed annually), 1 user, up to 50 clients
- Pro: $8/month per user ($6/month if billed annually), minimum 5 users, unlimited clients and users, 25 GB document storage
- Enterprise: $16/month per user ($12/month if billed annually), minimum 5 users, unlimited clients and users, 100 GB document storage
ProofHub Review
Best For: Task management for everyday users
Ideal Team Size: Small to mid-sized teams
ProofHub has a simple interface and is well-organized to help keep your team on top of projects. ProofHub has all the basics to make your team more efficient, but some companies do it better.
They claim to do everything the other project management tools can do too, and there is one set monthly price regardless of the number of users (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on how many team members you have). Learn more about ProofHub in our interview with CEO And Founder Sandeep Kashyap.
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Pricing
- Free trial
- Essential: $50/month for 40 projects, unlimited users, 15GB storage
- Ultimate Control: $99/month for unlimited projects and users, 100GB storage
Best Collaboration Tool For Virtual Team Communications
When you have a virtual team, good team communication is critical to collaboration, but sometimes an important text can be disruptive and scheduling a phone call can be impossible. Luckily, there are more options than ever before.
Virtual team communication tools give you a dedicated platform to make up for the lack of a shared physical environment.
Slack is our overall winner for this category for many reasons. Its desktop (and web-browser) app is intuitive and straightforward yet useful. Drag and drop a file into a chat window. Host an impromptu virtual meeting with one of its many integrations. Search conversations. It has all the same features as other chat platforms that you know and love but creates a virtual hub to put all your communications in one place.
Slack Review
Best For: Virtual team online chat communications
Ideal Team Size: Small to mid-sized companies
Slack is a souped-up chat platform created by one of the Flickr founders. Our team started using Slack in early 2015 for WeRockYourWeb.com, and we’re big fans. You can @mention people (similar to Twitter) to call things to their attention in a private message or on one of the “channels.”
You can also search chat history and star important messages. It has a user-friendly interface, and you barely need any training to start communicating and collaborating with your team.
We use Slack for quick questions to help eliminate unnecessary emails and texts. It’s also a good tool to use to chat about non-work-related things and have some fun with your team (including custom emojis).
Lastly, it has a strict privacy policy that makes us a lot more comfortable sharing sensitive information than on some competing platforms.
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Pricing
- Free: 10,000 searchable messages/month and 10 apps or service integrations
- Standard: $6.67/user/month for unlimited searchable message archive and unlimited apps and service integrations (sign up using link above for $100 in free credits)
- Plus: $12.50/user/month for SAML-based single sign-on and 99.99% guaranteed uptime SLA
Coupon
Our readers get an exclusive $100 off of Slack, just use this link to get started. Discuss this promotion and others on our dedicated Slack discount code page.
Best Collaboration Tool For Team Collaboration
Team collaboration platforms combine communications, task management, project tools and more all under one roof. Instead of doing one specific task exceptionally well, team collaboration tools do a lot of things pretty well.
You might sacrifice certain features, but you get the benefit of having an all-in-one product that consolidates everything into one place versus logging in and out of multiple platforms. We chose Asana as the clear winner for the best team collaboration category.
Asana Review
Best For: Team collaboration
Ideal Team Size: Small to mid-sized companies
Asana claims to be “teamwork without email,” and it is just that. It looks and acts like an email inbox but groups projects with the ability to add due dates and “likes” and stars for essential items in one place. It integrates with several third-party sites, including Google Drive and Slack. Many well-known organizations like Uber and The New Yorker use Asana.
However, it does take some getting used to if you’re not very tech savvy. There are several bells and whistles users can take advantage of, including the ability to create custom themes and shortcuts.
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Pricing
- Free forever for up to 5 members
- Premium: $9.99/user/month
- Business: $19.99/user/month
- Enterprise: contact Asana for pricing
Best Tool For Document Collaboration
When you have a document that needs editing and feedback, it can be a challenge to go back and forth between versions and confusing to know which is the latest copy. Also, files attached to emails can go unnoticed in email chains and weigh down your email server space. Enter: Google Drive.
Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) is widely used by many virtual teams, government agencies, non-profits and businesses of all sizes. When you have your document hosted on a cloud-based editing platform like Google Drive, you have only one copy of a document, yet you can go back to restore previous versions if needed.
Google Drive Review
Best For: Document collaboration
Ideal Team Size: All sizes
Google Drive’s functionality is similar to Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. What’s different is that you and your team can collaborate on a project together in real-time via the cloud. Team members can edit, view and comment simultaneously without worrying about version control. You can also share folders and restrict user access through Google Drive and access your documents on the go using its laptop and mobile apps.
There is 2-step authentication to ensure your documents’ security. It’s important to know that Google offers its tools at no cost, but you’re giving them the ability to see and use your data for their R&D purposes. So in a way, you’re paying with your privacy.
Be sure to check your documents’ access levels and be especially careful with sensitive data. We use Google Drive for more active documents and archive older documents to a safer, more private location.
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Pricing
- Free: first 15GB
- Basic: $6/month/user (up to 30 GB cloud storage)
- Business: $12/month/user (up to 1TB storage per user)
- Enterprise: $25/month/user (unlimited storage)
Best Collaboration Tool For Large/Complex Project And Task Management
Sometimes a project requires more than just a glorified checklist. There can be lots of parts and complex pieces to the puzzle that all work together. You want to keep a bird’s-eye view of the bigger picture, without getting too lost in the weeds.
That’s when you need a more complex online collaboration tool like LiquidPlanner that gives your team more than enough tools to get to the finish line of a project together, on schedule and on-budget without letting any details slip through the cracks. This tool is ideal for larger corporations with complex project and task structures.
LiquidPlanner Review
Best For: Complex project and task management
Ideal Team Size: Mid to large-sized companies
If you have a larger company or team with multiple layers and moving pieces, LiquidPlanner is a good tool for you. It specializes in “priority-based schedules,” which means your to-do list updates automatically based on the most time-sensitive priorities.
LiquidPlanner has a time tracker which records how long a task takes you to complete and logs your hours by project. You can also use reports and tracking tools to see how your team can improve its efficiency.
They also have an open API (application program interface) for developers, so if you’re a little more tech savvy, you can integrate with other tools. Note that LiquidPlanner is more expensive due to the number of features offered, but it’s worth signing up for a free trial to check out this cool product.
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Pricing
- 14-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Professional: $45/user/month based on annual plan with 100GB storage (5 user minimum)
- Enterprise: $69/user/month based on annual plan with 500GB storage (5 user minimum)
Best Tool For Cross-Platform Project Collaboration
Change can be difficult, and it can be a challenge to get everyone on board with a new way of doing things, so the last thing you want to do is cause tension in your team.
So why not take your existing software and systems and integrate them to work together? Thanks to SharePoint‘s cross-platform project collaboration you can do just that.
Microsoft 365 SharePoint Review
Best For: Cross-platform project collaboration
Ideal Team Size: Mid to large-sized companies
SharePoint is great for companies that use Windows since it’s part of the Microsoft Office suite. You can connect with other employees using Microsoft’s technologies like Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Large companies commonly use Sharepoint to integrate with existing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and applications like DocuSign.
Another option is SharePoint Server OneDrive for Business, which syncs files and folders (similar to Dropbox).
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Pricing
- SharePoint Online Plan 1: $5/user/month
- SharePoint Online Plan 2: $10/user/month
- Office 365 Enterprise E3: $20/user/month (annual commitment)
- View all options
Coupon
Use this link to get the best deal we can offer from Microsoft Sharepoint.
Read Our In-Depth Microsoft Sharepoint Review
Best Tools For Collaborative Brainstorming
Brainstorming can be a challenge when you’re not all sitting in a conference room together or chatting over coffee. That’s where collaborative brainstorming tools like Trello and Kanban come in. They allow you to share ideas, manage to-do tasks and more, visually. It’s like using a giant virtual whiteboard to post sticky notes, tape ideas and assign tasks.
Trello Review
Best For: Collaborative brainstorming
Ideal Team Size: Small to mid-sized companies
Trello is a very basic to-do list service you can use to collaborate with team members. There are minimal options to assign tasks, but you can tag “cards,” create alerts and add photos to “boards.” Think of Trello as an online whiteboard with a bunch of high-tech sticky notes.
The free version provides most of the features as the gold/upgraded version, and the functionality is more or less the same. Trello is great for anyone looking for a visual way to virtually brainstorm ideas and display your thoughts in a stream.
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Pricing
- Free for (up to 10MB card attachments and 10 boards)
- Business Class: $9.99/user/month when paid annually (up to 250 MB and unlimited boards)
- Enterprise: $20.83/user/month (or less) when paid annually (up to 250 MB and unlimited boards, additional features)
Should I Use More Than One Collaboration Tool?
Probably yes. Think about how you’ll be using your online collaboration tool. All these products offer various benefits, and you may find that using a combination of these services will work best for you. For example, we use Google Drive, Slack and Basecamp on a regular basis.
Finding the optimal combination of these products to meet your teams’ needs is key. Below are some additional online collaboration tools that you may want to consider for your team:
- Time Doctor – employee time tracking
- Google Hangouts – video auto-switching/effects
- FreshBooks – cloud accounting, send invoices, track time, capture expenses
- Skype – video conferencing/chat/get your own # (good for travel)
- Join.me – super simple screen sharing
- Fetch – mobile expense reports and tracking
- Shoeboxed – mobile receipt organization
- Jing – screen capture anything (presentations/podcasts) & sharing
- Voxer App – voice texting/walkie-talkie
Security And Privacy For Your Virtual Team
Whether you’re a company or individual, your data is at risk of being hacked or lost. It’s important to take advantage of the security and back-up features these online collaboration tools offer.
Some have built-in security features while others require configurations (read their privacy policies carefully to learn who has access to your data and what’s being done with it).
No matter what, make sure you aren’t at risk for hacks or server crashes (read our article on website security and optimization on ways to protect yourself). Make sure the data you’re passing between platforms is secure and that your data is being backed up.
For example, it’s a good idea to use a secure service for signing important documents. If you’ve been compromised, we recommend a service like Sucuri to clean up the mess. Lastly, check and make sure your email server wasn’t blacklisted as a result of the incident.
Video: Why Use Online Collaboration Tools?
We made this fun, one-minute video to show you how these tools can help supercharge your team’s productivity.
Which Collaboration Tools Do We Use?
Find out exactly which tools we use at We Rock Your Web in our companion article, tips for managing your virtual team.
What tips do you have for collaborating online? Do you have a favorite software or tool?
Sources: [1] Global Workplace Analytics
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Just wanted to inform you that Teamwork Projects now offers two-factor authentication, so you may need to update the piece.
Therese
We just updated the article with details on the Basecamp migration process. Essentially, there is now an upgrade option available that will migrate your data from Basecamp 2 to Basecamp 3. Our team accomplished this successfully just the other month. It’s also true that version 3 is slightly more expensive, but given the new features and the fact that the 37signals team is now exclusively focusing on Basecamp 3 development, we felt it was the right time to upgrade. Good luck and let us know what you decide!
Would love the opportunity to chat with you a bit more about it and see how we might make it into this blog or a future one 🙂 We’ve had so many teams come to us from Trello, Slack, Basecamp, etc. saying they’d wished they had known about Taskworld sooner, and that there was an all in one platform without having to deal with integrations and paying for multiple subscriptions. Thank you again for your time and hard work! 🙂 Feel free to get in touch with me via email.
It has the functionality equivalent of Trello + Asana + Harvest + Freshbooks, integrated in one product, at a price less than any one of them.