Five cloud-based PM solutions for all kinds of projects

Zoho Projects

The Zoho Projects toolset is about as comprehensive as you are likely to find in a cloud-based PM tool and is ideal if you are orchestrating a project (or projects) across a virtual team of internal and external resources.

Zoho Projects

Users are unlimited on all Zoho Projects plans, which are fairly a la carte in their options. Pricing runs from $20 a month for 20 projects for the extremely limited Express plan -- no task reminders to team members, for example. For about $95 a month, you get more punch across all categories, including an integrated bug-tracking platform and the ability to edit tasks in Gantt view. The monthly subscription prices are higher.

Planbox

Planbox is a business-centric tool that's a good fit for anyone (say, a consultant) who wants to track the cost benefit of an effort. You can assign dollar values and weighting points, in addition to standard importance rating for tasks. File attachments (another must for almost any PM software) are a tad hidden, but they are there.

Planbox

An iteration model allows you to replicate work frameworks and tasks over multiple time periods. Reports include planned vs. unplanned work and iteration burndown -- again, very business-centric.

Pricing for Planbox is on a per-user model, at about $4 a seat monthly.

ProWorkflow

If you are into reporting, ProWorkflow is well worth a look. The basic task-based metaphor feeds a text-heavy UI that is reminiscent of a home-grown DB query dashboard; admin tools let you simplify the look a bit by dropping columns and such. A ton of reporting options come built-in, along with invoicing and time-tracking features in most subscription models.

ProWorkflow

Pricing is based on a per-seat model, starting at $10 per user per month for the standard version. This package does not allow clients to access your projects, so it will be of limited use unless you want to dig in on your internal metrics. It's $20 a seat per month for a package that includes client access, file storage, and a mobile app. Invoicing and quote management are an additional $10 per seat per month.

Basecamp

I first used Basecamp while working with a remote design shop and have since used it to help manage an editorial team and work on a nonprofit board of directors. A hardcore project manager might say Basecamp is not truly a PM tool -- it certainly does not have granular resource tracking, and you sure won't find a Gantt chart in there. But that seeming weakness is also its greatest strength -- it is an absolutely great tool for tracking communication and assets, like specs and mock-ups, for nontechnical stakeholders.

Basecamp

Basecamp's Central UI is based around discussions, which most closely resemble blog posts with attachments in the comments section. You add events to what can best be described as a calendar view, not unlike Outlook or other common messaging applications. There are to-do lists, an activity log, and other basic reporting.

Pricing is based on number of projects and storage, with 10 projects and 3 GB of file storage running $20 a month, up to $150 a month for unlimited use.

Milestone Planner

Milestone Planner is a fairly simple tool that does what it says: It focuses on setting and tracking milestones in a visual, Gantt-like interface. Sure, you can download a spreadsheet to do the same. But the advantage of managing your timeline in the cloud is that you can maintain a "single version of the truth." Spreadsheets and email fork about 15 seconds after you press Send -- there's no way to avoid it.

Milestone Planner

The visual interface in Milestone Planner is completely intuitive, right down to a nifty mouse-over spinner for setting task status. You can add multiple workstreams for projects, so the net result is not as daunting as an overarching Gantt chart can become. And of course you can export a plan to CSV format.

The Professional version, which runs about $8.50 per user a month, offers RSS feeds and calendar program export, as well as full SSL encryption and PDF export. Read about all of Milestone Planner's pricing plans.