It’s not easy to find the right one out of 200+ Zoho Projects alternatives on the market, right?

We guess you and Zoho Projects have been going through a rough patch for a while, and now you decide to call it quits. It’s fine!

This post will help you narrow down the long list, give you an unbiased review, and figure out which of our 12 picks works best for your team size and satisfies the features you’re looking for.

Okay, shall we start now?

Why Look For Zoho Projects Alternatives?

Clunky UI

Zoho Projects has many inefficiencies.

One of the worst traits we found with this software is its clunky UI – there are plenty of features cluttered on the interface, which makes it difficult to organize and clarify tasks’ priorities.

“Due to so many features available in a single dashboard, we often miss crucial points attached to the task.”, says Achir s, who is a growth manager.

The tool is also hard to use.

“The only thing that I found difficult with Zoho People is that it takes time for a user to get used to it. The user interface should be improved, there are so many features that are not known by many users.” – says Ganeev S, who is a software developer.

Those project management teams who are seeking a way to optimize productivity will find the user experience design of Zoho Projects unnecessarily complex.

“Sometimes it becomes challenging to write the activities, we have to select project names and milestones every single time. Would be easier if we could have a better UI for it.”

Steep learning curve

“The bad thing about the Zoho Projects is that it is difficult to learn. We need special training for managing Zoho projects.” – says Qasim K, who is a software engineer.

But he isn’t alone to honestly admit that after having used the software.

A lot of other users feel it, too. Some people testify that using Zoho Projects on a daily basis is somewhat annoying, especially if you want to quickly create multiple tasks.

Zoho Projects is a heavy software

Zoho Projects is hyped to be one of the best project management tools that follow Agile method. And guess what? The software itself cannot even be agile.

“It is a heavy software, which requires a large bandwidth and internet. So if your internet isn’t stable, it may sometimes lag and take extra time to load.”

70% of the complaints about Zoho Projects that we found on G2 relate to this issue – loading time.

Whether you want to load a particular task, switch options in the software web portal, or load the homepage, you’ll usually have to wait.

No built-in notepad

Zoho Projects provides Zoho Notebook, which allows you to take notes. However, this is not an inbuilt app.

You must download it for use.

Isn’t that too complex and time-wasting for such a basic function?

Top 12 Zoho Projects Alternatives

Here are the 12 best Zoho Projects alternatives that we’ve picked for you:

1. Upbase

While Zoho Projects give users a number of important functionalities, it falls short of offering the built-in features that growing businesses or large-scope teams need to get their work done.

Simply put, those hoping for a powerful, comprehensive tool that can truly scale with them should look elsewhere.

Upbase is, fortunately, available.

Key Features

Upbase is an all-in-one platform for team collaboration that’s both intuitive and easy to use.

To compare, Upbase and Zoho Projects share some key benefits in common. The very first one is its project planning functionality.

Whether that is a complex or simple project, once you throw it at these tools, they will excellently help you make a great plan.

Upbase gives you useful features like:

• Assignee management
• Multiple choices of task priorities
• Due dates
• Activity tracking
• Subtasks

…and, so much more, just like Zoho Projects.

Secondly, it supports efficient team communication collaboration by giving you multiple Slack-level features, such as:

Global Chat:

Like Zoho Projects, Upbase provides a collaborative tool where you can create either group or individual chats when in need.

You can @mention a member in the group chat, attach files, copy/paste links, delete messages, and put emoji stickers.

Unlike Zoho Projects, Upbase’s Chat tool has options to mute notifications.

It also lets you quickly view the sent links and files so that you do not have to hopelessly scroll up, and read every single message to find them.

Simply put, use this innovative feature, you don’t need Slack or Facebook Messenger anymore.

Notifications:

This is where you can quickly update all project activities. This feature is like Zoho Projects’ Feed.

Messages:

This tool keeps your team discussions on-topic and well-organized for ease of finding when in need.

It’s more formal than Upbase’s Chat and each Message has a specific subject.

You can choose a category, the member(s) whom you want to notify, and set the privacy to the receiver(s).

Above all, it virtually replaces email.

Upbase also lets users comment or @mention the desired member in every task, subtask, file, and collaborative document.

The third benefit of both tools is they help you save time by automating or eliminating manual work. Simply put, you can create recurring tasks.

Why is Upbase the best alternative to Zoho Projects?

Now, let’s talk about the difference between the two platforms.

While Upbase outperforms Zoho Projects in many aspects, here are the most notable ones:

Simple and intuitive UI

Many teams choose to leave Zoho Projects because of its clunky UI. And, Upbase is one of the most popular alternatives.

When comparing side-by-side the interface of both tools, it’s easy to recognize that Upbase’s is a lot more intuitive and user-friendly.

Even when you haven’t used any project management platform before, you can quickly know how to use it after a few minutes.

Little to no learning curve

Though Upbase is a feature-rich app, new users spend little to no time learning how to use it.

Little setup time

Another big strength of Upbase to beat Zoho Projects is the simple setup, which helps save you time and effort.

Docs tool

We’ve mentioned that you can comment and @mention the desired member in any collaborative document. And, this is it:

While Zoho Projects allows teams to take notes, in fact, you have to download a separate app called Zoho Notebook extension for use.

To be honest, isn’t that too complicated for something very basic?

Try Upbase’s Docs instead.

With two simple clicks, you can create a new collaborative document to either copy/paste texts or directly jot down your ideas.

Besides, if you want to edit your notes like numbering, aligning, headers, adding links, and more, just select the text.

You also can:

• Organize multiple collaborative documents in folders

• Copy and share public links to the desired document

• Add watchers so that other members will get notified about the document and read it

Limitations

• No reports
• No time tracking
• No Gantt charts

Pricing 

2. Smartsheet

If you find spreadsheet-style documents easy to digest, then Smartsheet is one of the best Zoho Projects alternatives.

This project management software allows you to manage, track, and plan different projects in real time. It outperforms Zoho Projects in terms of project performance and management.

It is a good choice for people who are 1) spreadsheet-obsessed, 2) inexperienced in project management software, and 3) simply looking for an intuitive way to organize data.

Key Features

• Conversation tools
• Recurring tasks
• Attaching files
• Permissions levels
• Reports

Pros

• Simple to input information
• Quick and efficient to make updates
• Save you time and effort on automating repetitive tasks

Cons

• Very few team reporting features
• Not suitable for modern project management
• Steeper pricing plans

Pricing

3. Proofhub

Proofhub is a collaborative task management tool and a comprehensive project management app that can help teams stay in ultimate control of their communications, projects, and tasks.

It gives you the flexibility in task management with visual Kanban boards, agile workflows, and to-do lists. Also, it provides a collaborative chat tool to help all of your offices to smoothly interact with each other and allows you to easily share company-wide announcements.

But take note that Proofhub still lacks some certain features to make it suit the needs of larger teams.

Key Features

• Online discussions for teams and clients
• Time tracking
• File management
• Gantt charts
• Kanban boards
• To-do lists

Pros

• Reduce the boredom of repetitive tasks
• Keep your team well-communicated with each other
• Visualize your information
• Easy to share and manage files

Cons

• Outdated interface
• Steep learning curve
• Expensive pricing plans

Pricing

4. Celoxis

Celoxis is the comprehensive project management software known for its highly customizable dashboards and portfolio management features.

Making Celoxis one of the best Zoho Projects alternatives is its budgeting tool.

With it as your project manager, you can manage project files, set up custom workflows, identify risks, and track project financials.

Key Features

• Powerful reports and dashboards
• Issue tracker
• Project portfolio management
• Resource management
• Budgeting tools

Pros

• Easy to start discussions and conversations
• Track project statuses
• Highly customizable
• Optimize your workflows

Cons

• One of the priciest providers in this post
• No customizable permissions
• No automations

Pricing

5. Wrike

This collaboration tool and project management software has been around for a long time now.

And, we have to admit that it’s a versatile platform which can be really useful for large marketing and professional services teams who want to run their projects with well-predefined hierarchies.

Compared to Zoho Projects, Wrike might represent the better choice in terms of data visualization. It provides you with a variety of widgets, preset charts, widget builders, dashboards, and more.

Let’s take a peek at its key features:

Key Features

• Time tracker
• Kanban boards
• Dashboard with a three-pane view
• Team collaboration features (comments, @mention, inbox, etc.)

Pros

• Simple to set up
• Offer multiple views for data visualization
• Easy to assign responsibility

Cons

• Not good at building automation
• No built-in chat
• Steep learning curve

Pricing

6. Jira

Another popular project management tool, Jira.

But just in case you have no idea about it, have you ever heard of Atlassian? The software giants birthed Jira in 2002.

This is a project management and bug-tracking software that is specifically built for software developers, Agile teams, and technical-minded people. That said, it is also friendly enough for businesses in other industries – such as HR and Marketing – to use.

Key Features

• Kanban boards and Scrum boards
• Customizable workflows
• Reports and insights
• Drag-and-drop automation

Pros

• Help you to manage your projects the Agile way
• Allow you to set permissions
• Easy to get an overview of team activity

Cons

• Long query load times
• No built-in chat tool
• Complicated UI

Pricing

7. Monday

Monday is a hyped one these days.

It advertises to help teams manage their projects and optimize productivity with basic functions. Unlike other competitors, the software is big on customizability and doesn’t force you to take a whole tour of it just for setup.

If there is a downside to Monday, it is primarily the paid plans, which are too steep for small teams on a tight budget. However, if you’re a big team who frequently permits guests to access your projects, then Monday may be the better option than Zoho.

Key Features

• Automation (recurring tasks, status change, and notifications)
• Checklists
• Gantt charts
• Built-in time tracker
• Boards and columns

Pros

• Easy to use
• Able to set deadlines for different tasks
• Save you time on repetitive work
• Allow you to edit documents

Cons

• Steep pricing plans for small teams
• Unable to assign comments to team members
• Limited activity logs

Pricing

8. Trello

Trello is like the coolest kid in school. We guess every project management team may have experienced or heard of it at least once in life.

No doubt, its popularity has a reason.

The collaboration tool and project management software stands out for its exceptionally visual drag-and-drop Kanban board style.

All-in-all, for small teams or simple projects, Trello is the top choice.

Key Features

• Kanban boards
• Built-in automations (rules, card buttons, etc.)
• Customizable cards (due dates, checklists, attachments, and comments)

Pros

• Quick to set up
• Easy to use (for simple projects)
• Well-suited for agile methods

Cons

• Too simple interface
• Not suitable for managing complex projects

Pricing

9. Nifty

One of the best Zoho Projects alternatives for agile teams – Nifty.

It provides a collaborative workspace to help your team work smoothly together, especially on large-scope projects.

Like most other project management tools, Nifty packs with features like calendar, docs, tasks, and chat. So, it gives you functionalities like document management, time-tracking, task organizing.

Key Features

• Various user roles and permissions
• Reports and time tracker
• Portfolio management
• Milestones

Pros

• Allow you to set the level of access when adding new members to the project
• Easy to track task duration and check team productivity
• Easy to assign tasks and track the progress of each project
• Quickly view members and statuses

Cons

• Clunky and confusing UI
• The chat tool needs improvement

Pricing

10. Paymo

Paymo is a project management software that excels in resource management.

To compare side-by-side with Zoho Projects, Paymo is better in terms of UI design. Right at its home screen, users can easily figure out the urgent tasks that need to be completed during the day, so you never miss out any deadline.

But take note that Paymo’s free plan is only available for a single user, which means if you’re a large teams or your business grows, you’ll have got two options:

• Pay more per user
• Switch to another tool

Key Features

• Recurring tasks
• Time-tracking
• Setting task dependencies
• List, Table, and Board views
• Customizable timesheets

Pros

• Effective to manage the workflow of your team
• Precisely calculate time for a project
• Visually view your information

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Expensive when your teams grow

Pricing

11. ClickUp

The thing that people like the most about ClickUp is it provides a wide range of project management features for free.

This all-in-one tool has currently been one of the most versatile options on the market as it gives you multiple views, time tracker, dashboard, CRM features, and so much more.

However, that is a double-edged sword. ClickUp’s interface is overwhelming with too many features and options. Besides, the learning curve is steep.

Key Features

• Docs
• To-do lists
• Custom task status
• Task dependencies

Pros

• Collaborate and edit documents without having to switch to Google Docs
• Quickly transform lists into actionable workflows
• Help team leaders to track what everyone is working on
• Easy to determine important tasks

Cons

• Overwhelming interface
• Steep learning curve
• Superficial

Pricing

12. Basecamp

Last but not least, Basecamp.

This team communication and project management software is one of the best Zoho Projects alternatives for small teams or small businesses. That’s because the tool helps enhance team communication, document organization, project tracking, and more.

The only thing we don’t like about this tool is its unfair free and paid plans. The free plan is so stingy in terms of features while the paid plans are a lot steeper than Zoho.

Key Features

• A universal search feature
• Message boards
• Hill charts
• File-sharing
• To-do lists

Pros

• Great for small team to-do lists
• Organize files and documents in one place
• Promote quality teamwork

Cons

• Expensive pricing plans
• No advanced customization options
• No task priorities

Pricing

Which Zoho Project Alternative is right for your team?

When you’re in the market for a Zoho Project alternative, there’s hundreds of options to consider. Each of them stands out for a certain number of unique features that could assist your team work smarter, not harder.

If you want a powerful, comprehensive tool that’s quick to set up, easy to learn in minutes, and scalable with your business, look no further than Upbase.

Thanks to its modern interface design, simple user experience, and many practical collaborative tools, the platform gets more and more competitive.

In addition, Upbase’s pricing plans are flexible and wallet-friendly enough for big teams while its forever-free option is ideal for small teams and solo high-fliers.

Get Upbase for free today because you deserve straightforward and effective project management that doesn’t break the bank.