Looking for the best project management software for small teams?
Are you working in a small team and looking for a project management software to collaborate more efficiently? Whether it is a team within your own organization, a team of freelancers, yourself with suppliers and customers - OpenProject is a great option to facilitate your project management.
By means of criteria for project management software for small teams, we show you why OpenProject could be the best project management software for small teams.
Flexible team size
A small team can consist of 2 team members or more. Hence, you would not want to subscribe to a project management software that has a high minimum number of users. In addition, you want to be flexible to adjust the team size. The OpenProject community version is free and you can sign up from 1 to unlimited users. The paid versions Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise on-premises each start at a team size of 5 users and can be upgraded when needed.
Varying team composition
A small team can consist of different parties - whether it is a small team within an organization, or whether you are working together with freelancers or external members like suppliers and customers. OpenProject allows you to work with any partner, the team members are invited via email and receive a link to create their account.
Changing team members
In a small team, team members can change during the project. Team members join, finish their task, leave the project, others join and leave as well. This is easily possible to also reflect in OpenProject. You can delete (block) a user and replace that person with someone else without upgrading your plan.
Working across different locations
A project management software should, especially for small teams, enable remote working. To gather the best talents for your project, the team could be scattered across different locations. Thanks to OpenProject being a web-based project management software, it serves as a single source of information and creates clear responsibilities. Project members have access to tasks, responsibilities and timings at any time and from anywhere. Ideal for teams that work remotely.
Comprehensive feature set
Even as a small team, you require the full project management feature set and do not want to pay for individual modules. In OpenProject, all feature modules are included in your plan. OpenProject covers classic and agile project management features and you can combine it to a hybrid project management approach. Besides work package tables, Gantt charts, agile boards, backlogs, OpenProject offers time tracking, budgeting, cost reports, project dashboard, Wiki, meetings and much more. The detailed overview can be found here. With all these features OpenProject enables you to manage your project through the whole lifecycle, from start to closing and even including documentation.
Options of on-premises and cloud
Ideally, the project management software is available as both on-premises and cloud version so that the team can choose. This is not specific to a small team but can make a difference if your team has a preference for one. Read up on the advantages of on-premises software here.
OpenProject is available as both cloud and on-premises version. However, for a small team it is most often the easiest in terms of administration and maintenance and thus cheaper to go with the cloud version. OpenProject takes care of updates, back ups and support and you have more time to work on your projects.
A quick overview for you: OpenProject comes in 3 different versions. The Community edition is an on-premises installation that provides a comprehensive feature set and is for free (irrespective of number of users and projects). The Enterprise on-premises and cloud edition offer additional Enterprise add-ons and security features as well as professional support. As the name suggests, with the Enterprise cloud edition OpenProject provides secure hosting for you. The Enterprise on-premises edition is installed in your infrastructure and gives you full data control and the option to customize.
Need for information security
Especially as a small team you want to choose a project management software provider that you trust provides you with adequate data privacy and information security. You don’t have resources to double check and cater for information security yourself.
OpenProject is based in Berlin, in the European Union, and the awareness and importance for data security and privacy actions have always been a major topic for us. Naturally, OpenProject complies with European and national data protection regulations. Secure data – secure processes: the protection of personal data is for OpenProject more than just a legal requirement. As a firm believer in open source, OpenProject is invested heavily in the freedom of users. This encompasses the software freedoms granted by the GPLv3 and employed by OpenProject and naturally extends to the rights and freedoms granted by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the same transparent fashion that we develop our software, we are committed to transparency regarding data privacy protection of our users. Please find more detailed information here.
Leverage of an open source software
The best project management software for small teams is an open source solution. Besides all other advantages, open source offers you the opportunity to do custom development if you need something that does not exist yet. Develop your own addition to the software or contact the community and collaborate on a new development. In contrast, with proprietary software you would hardly have the chance to get a custom development and if so, it could be very expensive. OpenProject provides a powerful API to facilitate customization in every way possible. OpenProject is free and open source software. The source code is published on GitHub and is being continuously developed and improved by the OpenProject team together with an active open source community. The exchange with the community and the flexibility to integrate other tools is is especially helpful for smaller teams with a limited budget.
No training requirements
As a small team, you want to start using your project management software straight away, without a dedicated training or long hours of induction. Our customers describe OpenProject as a simple and intuitive software. Create a test account and get started!
Support solution
When a small team is looking for a software, it doesn’t have the capacity of its own support team to solve technical issues. Thanks to its nature of free and open source software, OpenProject has a global and active community. Best practices get shared and support is provided by the community. OpenProject also offers an extensive documentation including user guides as well as supporting videos for demonstration purposes. In case you opt for the free OpenProject Community edition, you can count on the community to assist. The OpenProject Enterprise cloud and on-premises editions are paid for and include professional support by the OpenProject team.
Competitive pricing
With your small team you probably want a lot of flexibility. OpenProject offers you flexible subscription options from monthly to multi-annual plans. Also regarding your team size you have the flexibility to add additional team members at any point in time at the given cost per user.
Please use this link to calculate your rates or request a quote. You can also use our calculator to compare our pricing with competitors, we are very competitive and thus a suitable project management software for price sensitive small teams.
Do you see your requirements for a project management software for a small team fulfilled? Try OpenProject 14 days for free.
