Product Management Software

BQE CORE Software

153 Reviews

What is BQE CORE? Overview BQE CORE is an all-in-one accounting and invoicing software designed to help businesses make better decisions, increase project revenue, and improve project outcomes. It offers features such as tim...Read more

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Aha! Software

83 Reviews

What is Aha! Software? Overview Aha project management software - also known as 'Aha product development software' - is a cutting-edge, cloud-based, load mapping and project management solution that can be easily utilized by...Read more

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monday.com Software

82 Reviews

What is Monday Software? Overview Monday.com is a comprehensive project management software designed to help teams plan, manage, and collaborate on any project or portfolio in just a few clicks. It offers a wide range of fea...Read more

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Airtable Software

79 Reviews

What is Airtable Software? Overview Airtable is the ideal, cloud-based, project management solution for teams of all sizes looking to collaborate, organize, and accomplish their goals. Its low-code platform allows users to c...Read more

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BigTime Software

73 Reviews

What is BigTime Software? Overview BigTime software is a cloud-based project management platform that caters to the unique needs of professional services companies. It streamlines businesses by making various operations more...Read more

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Wrike Software

68 Reviews

What Is Wrike Software?  Overview  Wrike is an all-in-one project and work management software that streamlines collaboration and improves employees’ efficiency. It empowers teams to stay organized, prioritize tasks, and ach...Read more

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Replicon Software

61 Reviews

What is Replicon Software? Overview Replicon software is a cloud-based solution for businesses to streamline their time, attendance, and expense tracking. It takes care of mundane tasks like logging employee hours and payrol...Read more

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FunctionFox Software

56 Reviews

What Is FunctionFox? Overview FunctionFox is a cloud-based project management and time-tracking software. It is designed for creative professionals and teams to efficiently manage their projects, tasks, and resources. It off...Read more

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Project Insight

55 Reviews

What is Project Insight? Overview Project Insight (PI) is a feature-rich project management software that assists companies in organizing and streamlining their workflows. The software’s advanced visualization capabilities e...Read more

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Trello Software

53 Reviews

What is Trello Software? Overview Trello is a widely recognized project management and collaboration tool that enables teams to stay organized, communicate effectively, and keep their projects on track. The platform operates...Read more

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Quickbase Software

50 Reviews

What is Quickbase Software? Overview Quickbase is the ultimate no-code/low-code application development platform, designed to make life easier for teams by providing a friendly user interface along with a wealth of other fea...Read more

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Jira Software

48 Reviews

What is Jira Software? Overview Jira, built by Atlassian, is a comprehensive project management tool for software development teams. By unifying product creation, team cooperation, and issue-tracking into one platform, the u...Read more

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Miro Software

46 Reviews

What is Miro Software? Overview Miro software is a cloud-based project management tool that can be effectively utilized as a project management asset for small and midsize businesses. It is a leading visual collaboration too...Read more

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Workzone Software

45 Reviews

What is Workzone Software? Overview Workzone is a cloud-based project management and team collaboration software that helps teams stay organized and on task. With its intuitive design, easy-to-use interface, and comprehensiv...Read more

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Bitrix24 Software

42 Reviews

What is Bitrix24? Overview Bitrix24 is an all-in-one business management software that helps organizations of all sizes streamline their operations and increase productivity. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools, includi...Read more

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Product Management Software Buyers Guide

Last updated: June 07, 2023

Product management tools, in a nutshell, are software applications that organize, streamline, and expedite the development of software programs. They can be likened to project management tools in their conceptual orientation – but their function is specifically tailored to the entire lifecycle of the software development and feedback process.

Many software development tools come incorporated in several industry-leading examples of product management software – making for end-to-end workflow strategy and execution solutions.

At present, there is an overwhelming deluge of popular project management tools for software development in the online marketplace. Sifting through these options can be a major challenge for even the most field-experienced product development teams.

Through this buyer’s guide, we aim to dispel a major chunk of this confusion by providing our actionable take/criteria on choosing the best product management software for your organizational needs and budget; covering such concerns as:

What is Product Management Software?

We’ve already covered the basics of ‘Product Management Software 101’ above. In further understanding the said task management tool category, it is helpful to take stock of such project management frameworks as the Agile Methodology (among others) that inform the important design elements of these tools.

These orientations, simply put, allow developers to both envision and concretely ‘construct’ their charged software applications in record time, incorporating management and customer feedback into the mix (in an attempt to render the required product specifications). They facilitate this end through the provision of powerful product roadmap functions, where multiple teams can work simultaneously toward fulfilling a common product vision goal.

Why would a development team need a dedicated product management tool?

Software development in the growing years of the 21st century is a ruthless and heavily contested endeavor. The product teams engaged in this necessary function can hardly bode well by working on programming language interfaces alone. What they need is a powerful management apparatus that organizes the best, creative ideas of developers concretized through systematic processes that deliver.

Other than this broad concern, there’s a granular need for product managers tasked with the success of development ventures to:

  • Devise product strategy (entailing the workings of the entire product life-cycle)
  • Incorporate user feedback/user behavior understandings at every developmental turn (a vital harbinger of customer satisfaction; often mediated through customer survey tools integrated into the best product management tools)
  • Ensure team unification/same-page working (by way of collaboration tool/file-sharing features linked to PM suites)
  • Monitor diagnostics/actionable insights (to facilitate success reporting against set benchmarks)
  • Remain within their allocated budget frames (an expense-tracking function)

Product management tools are narrowly suited for these tasks, so it doesn’t make much practical sense for development teams to proceed with their regular workflows without them.

Common Features of Product Management Tools

In general, no two product management tools are singularly alike. In the least instance, they all come with their visual differences; which can have a consequential impact on users’ learning curve concerns.

Some common, essential features that come included in most product management platform systems are:

Key Product Management Tool Functions

Task Management Features

  • Track Progress/Project Status
  • Product Strategy Development/Idea Management/Product Roadmap
  • Knowledge Management
  • Customer Research Portals 
  • Manage Tasks/Task Dependencies/Workload Management
  • Document Management Protocols
  • Time-Tracking Capabilities
  • Product Planning Tool Integration
  • Quick Project Snapshot Dashboard Visualizations (Gantt Charts, Kanban Boards, etc.)/Flexible Project Views for development process oversight*
  • Project Demands/To-do Lists
  • Task Templates/Checklists (Custom/Default); Customizable Workflows
  • Desktop and Mobile Apps Functionality*
  • Complicated Projects Breakdown (Agile Workflows)*
  • Product User Feedback/Customer Feedback Management
  • Create Projects (for New Product Assignments)
  • File Management* 
  • Custom Workflows*
  • Product Management Stack Integrations*
  • Create Surveys
  • Track Product Backlog

Resource Management Functions

  • Resource Planning (Assign Tasks to Individual Members of Product Teams/other team members)
  • Resource Allocation (Geared toward Product Team Alignment)
  • Team Collaboration Tools (for Real-Time Worker Management/Project Planning)
  • Team Management (Rewards/Concerns Communications)
  • Calendar Management
  • Onsite Work Management
  • Remote/Multiple-Site Resource Coordination
  • Approval Process Systematization*
  • Tool User-Onboarding Assistance*

Financial Management Tools

  • Project Budget/Financial Planning
  • Money Management Features (inc. not-stepping-out-of-line ‘Budget Guards’)
  • Project Costs Appraisals
  • Funds Disbursements (for individual/separate projects)
  • VC (Venture Capitalist) Software Integrations*
  • Future Projects Budgeting
  • Native/Third-Party Accounting Software/Business Apps Integrations

* May be unavailable in some basic-subscription product management software suites; several tools offer turnkey product management features available upon request.

The same product management tools can also vary in use on different operating systems.

Some notable user-tracking and product development process monitoring applications that often come tethered to the best product management tools include:

  • Google Analytics (for staple web analytics appraisals post-product-deployment)
  • Clicky
  • Hotjar
  • Mixpanel

Picking the Best Product Management Software for your Workflow

To pick the right product management software for your development workflow, we’ve devised a simple, five-point, criteria framework that lets you – numerically – weigh each chosen tool on its merits.

Simply put, the product management platform with the most ‘ticks’ wins the contest: our recommendation for you to proceed further toward a formal subscription.

The analysis rubric goes like this:

Product Management Tool/Software Evaluation List

  • Does the software work with your business size/user headcount?
  • What is its required level of tech expertise (only built for technical professionals)?
  • Is it easy to integrate/connect with other tools?
  • Does it fit your budget (expensive or cost-effective)?
  • Is it accessible (easy or difficult for non-techies to get started with)?

If you come up with a tie between your shortlisted product management tool options, don’t worry.

Just go to these platform’s dedicated Software Finder profile pages by entering and firing up their names – individually – in our website search field (also on top of this page: product managers should note).

Once on a given software page, you want to read through the entire, always up-to-date, intel given for the tool. Also, you’re strongly pushed to watch the free demo screening and obtain the platform’s updated pricing info.

In case you need quick, 5-min, and cost-free help in selecting the best product management tool for your business, don’t hesitate to give us a call (see the phone number on page-top).

And that’s it.

Typical Pricing Range for Product Management Software

Product managers need to understandably weigh the pricing figures of considered software tools against their company budget allocations before signing up.

As a prospective project management tool user, you can expect to pay in the following range for any of your software options (with the first/lower scale figure corresponding to tools with the least feature offerings, and so on):

$5/month per member to upward of $300/month (for unlimited users)

You can always check out the free tool options (some with free trial runs) available if spending currency is not an option.

To get accurate, custom, plan pricing details and recommendations based on your exact company size and requirements, check out our Project Management Software Pricing Guide for 2023.

Product Project Management Tools: Our Top 5 Picks!

Here, we’ve listed our top product management team software picks that should be on the radar of every product manager. These choices come backed by the reviews of both our internal software appraisers as well users actively engaged in software (and other) development pursuits.

Detailing in no order of preference:

  • Asana
  • Jira
  • Monday
  • ClickUp
  • Aha!

Let’s explore each of these briefly.

Asana Software

Asana is a powerful project management interface designed to help product managers stay organized and on track. With the subscription, users can easily streamline tasks, projects, and coworkers with one-touch simplicity. Asana also offers features such as AI-based prediction tools to help make better decisions, collaborative intelligence for enterprise customers, and work intelligence tools to improve productivity.

Pricing

  • Basic: Free Plan
  • Premium: $10.99*/user/mo.
  • Business: $24.99*/user/mo.
  • Enterprise: Contact Our Helpline to Confirm Pricing (number above)

Ballpark figures; go to our Asana Software Profile Page and click ‘Get Pricing’ to obtain updated, custom pricing figures narrowly suited to your product development effort.

Key Features

Asana's powerful project management features for product managers include:

  • Work Tracking & Project Management: Asana has features built for your projects, workflows, goals, and team. You can get a real-time overview of how busy product teams really are across projects, allowing you to adjust assignments and tasks as needed.
  • Communication: With the tool, you can easily communicate with your team by creating conversations around tasks or projects. This helps keep everyone executively consistent and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.
  • Views: Asana offers several different views so you can quickly find what you need without having to search through multiple menus or tabs. You can also customize your view to show only the most important information for each task or project; without having to deal with loops of complex processes to get the required scoop.

Pros/Cons

Pros Cons
Easy-to-use interface Limited reporting features
Automation capabilities
Integrations with other apps 

Dashboard View

Jira Software

Atlassian, an Australian software company, has developed Jira, a robust project management software. Jira enables product teams to manage projects, track issues, and automate workflows to optimize business operations. The platform, further, fosters improved collaboration from the initial concept to the end customer. With a suite of agile work management solutions, Jira assists managers in achieving their best performance.

Pricing

  • Free
  • Standard: $7.75*/user/mo.
  • Premium: $15.25*/user/mo.
  • Enterprise: Contact Our Helpline to Confirm Pricing (number above)

Ballpark figures; go to our Jira Software Profile Page and click ‘Get Pricing’ to obtain updated, custom pricing figures narrowly suited to your product workflows.

Key Features

The product management tool’s top three development-oriented features include:

  • Agile Project Management: Jira provides an intuitive platform for agile project management. It includes customizable Scrum and Kanban boards, which allow teams to easily visualize their progress and prioritize tasks. Additionally, it has built-in reports and dashboards to help teams track progress and make informed decisions quickly.
  • Visual Planning, Tracking, & Releasing: The platform's visual planning tools make it easy to plan out projects in detail and clear product backlog. Teams can use its timeline view to create Gantt charts that show the progress of each task in real-time. This makes it easier to identify potential issues early on so they can be addressed quickly. Additionally, its tracking capabilities allow teams to monitor progress throughout the entire project lifecycle – a great help for product managers.
  • Business Project & Work Management: Jira Software provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing business projects and workflows. It includes customizable templates that can be tailored to fit any organization's needs, as well as rich APIs for integrating with other applications or services. Additionally, it offers anonymous access so users can collaborate securely without compromising data security or privacy.

Pros/Cons

Pros Cons
Highly Customizable/Flexible Interface Steep Learning Curve
Agile Support for Project Managers
Turnkey Product

Dashboard View

Monday Software

Monday project management software pretty much checks all – or, at least, most – the workflow planning/execution boxes for practically every industry vertical, including product development. The platform’s user interface, for one, coupled with extreme ‘performing power’, makes it a force to reckon with in just about any workspace.

Pricing

  • Free (starter-friendly)
  • Basic: $8*/seat/mo.
  • Standard: $10*/seat/mo.
  • Pro: $16*/seat/mo.
  • Enterprise: Contact Our Helpline to Confirm Pricing (number above)

Ballpark figures; go to our Monday.com Software Profile Page and click ‘Get Pricing’ to obtain updated, custom pricing figures narrowly suited to your development firm.

Features

Monday.com product management software comes with an enviable range of workflow streamlining perks including – 

  • Uniform Projects/Tasks Management (enables product managers to oversee workflows/resource management from one dashboard view; complete with file-sharing, time-tracking, and product roadmap tracking) 
  • Client Collaborations (ensure that team workers and project workflows are all aligned with changing client expectations – a vital service function designed to empower product teams)  
  • Worker/Client Requests Management (allows a product manager to receive and resolve team/client requisitions in record time!)

Pros/Cons

Pros Cons
Easy, crisp, interface; excellent for non-techies/busy product teams to hit the ground running; stellar time-tracking Customer Service Lags
Calendar integrations – ensure timely workflow processing
Cost-Competitive; Affordable

Dashboard View

ClickUp Software

For a project manager engaged in product development, ClickUp is probably one of the best options for organizing a firm’s document management, time-tracking, resource, and workflow-related concerns in one place.

Pricing

  • Free Plan (for beginners)
  • Unlimited: $5*/mo.
  • Business: $12*/mo.
  • Business Plus: $19*/mo.
  • Enterprise: Contact Our Helpline to Confirm Pricing (number above)

Ballpark figures; go to our ClickUp Software profile page and click ‘Get Pricing’ to obtain updated, custom pricing figures narrowly suited to your product workflows.

Features

This web-/cloud-based SaaS powerhouse provides –

  • Customizable templates for digital products development (with editable fields/project templates for budget, dollars spent, remaining budget, and more)
  • State-of-the-art Gantt Charts (allow product teams to track time and monitor their project progress with a bird’s eye view of each process; ensure executions against product roadmaps)
  • Task management functions (equipped with automatic data population and real-time updates; enable product management departments to create quick to-do lists)

Pros/Cons

Pros Cons
Highly customizable product management templates  Limited integration options with third-party services; user-onboarding can be a little challenging
Intuitive, user-friendly interface (suited for multiple product development projects/project collaboration via video calls)
One-page, centralized document storage & sharing (for uniform, concurrent firm workflows; makes for a unified project management platform)

Dashboard View

Aha Software

Aha! makes for a lightweight, cloud-based, project management software offer for product development enterprises. It continues to rank well in ‘best in class’ PM tool lists on various review platforms – including this one.

Pricing

  • Premium: $59*/user/mo.
  • Enterprise: $99*/user/mo.
  • Enterprise+: $149*/user/mo.

Ballpark figures; go to our Aha Software Profile Page and click ‘Get Pricing’ to obtain updated, custom pricing figures narrowly suited to your product setting.

Features

Aha! Project management software features suited for product managers include –

  • Start-to-Finish Project Tracking (allows senior PMs to monitor their complete firm workflows and budget spending; for addressing any weak links)
  • Real-Time Team/Stakeholder Collaboration (to address team and client feedback/reviews instantly – with integration support for different tools)
  • Powerful Reporting (for constant product KPIs/metrics monitoring)

Pros/Cons

Pros Cons
Engaging/Interactive Product Roadmap Views May be expensive for smaller firms
Stellar Customizations (‘rich customer experience’)
Easy Onboarding; Decent Time-Tracking

Dashboard View

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. What does product management software do?

Product management software helps businesses manage the process of creating a product (which can be software) from concept to execution. It provides tools for teams to track ideas, develop strategies, and collaborate on projects.

These PM suites can also be used to analyze customer feedback and prioritize features. With the right product management software, businesses can streamline their product development process and create better products faster.

Q. What tools are usually used by a product manager?

Product managers use various tools to help them manage their developmental workflows. Some of the most popular tools used include Aha! Roadmaps, Google Analytics, Zoom, Hotjar, Slack, Miro, Balsamiq, ClickUp, Figma, Amplitude, Google Form, and Trello. These tools provide product managers with the ability to track customer feedback and surveys, design, and wireframing for user experience testing as well as analytics and road-mapping software.

Q. Is Jira a product management tool?

Jira is a popular project management tool used by many organizations, but it can also be used for product management. It offers features that allow product managers to track progress and manage resources, as well as collaborate with other teams.

Further, the platform provides templates for product requirements and lifecycle management and even has an add-on specifically designed for product discovery. Additionally, there are several third-party software solutions available that integrate with Jira to provide additional product management capabilities.

Q. Does Microsoft have a product management tool?

Microsoft provides various product management tools such as Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft Project.

Microsoft Planner is a powerful tool for project and product management. Its purpose is to aid project managers in creating plans, distributing resources to tasks, and keeping track of progress (get important subscription info at our Microsoft Planner profile page).

Q. What are the 5 Ps of product management?

Product management is an important part of any business. It involves the process of planning, developing, and launching products to meet the needs of customers.

The 5 Ps of product management, namely, are:

  • Perspective
  • Prioritization 
  • Persistence 
  • Presentation 
  • Passion

Final Takeaway

As a busy product managers, we know that sifting through all the software options available in the online marketplace can be endlessly challenging and confusing.

That’s ok (normal) – and we’re here to help.

Just get in touch with our friendly helpline executives for quick, free, and painless product management software recommendations for your practice at (661) 384-7070.

We’ll take care of everything – get you subscribed to your perfect software fit in no time