Best Project Management Tools for Consultants & Client Projects

All-in-one CRM, project management, and invoicing platform built for consulting and agency teams.

Editor's takeFlowlu earns its rank by folding CRM, project management, and invoicing into one flat-rate plan, avoiding the per-user pricing that adds up fast on competing tools. The client portal and knowledge base come standard rather than as paid add-ons elsewhere. The mobile app is the clear weak point for teams needing to manage projects entirely from a phone.

Visual Work OS combining CRM, project boards, and client collaboration for consulting firms.

Editor's takeMonday.com blends CRM and project boards into one no-code Work OS, popular with consulting firms. Its Standard plan tracking looks generous until automation hits a 250-action monthly cap. Billable time tracking, a consultant staple, needs the pricier Pro tier.

Cloud project and portfolio platform with built-in resource management, Gantt, Kanban, and SOC 2 security.

Editor's takeProjectManager bundles resource management and workload planning into its core plans, features many competitors sell as separate add-ons. It runs Gantt, Kanban, and List views side by side, with SOC 2 Type 2 compliance monitored continuously through Drata. The Team plan starts at $14 per user monthly, but single sign-on stays locked to Enterprise.

A project management platform for agencies with built-in time tracking, invoicing, and unlimited client users.

Editor's takeTeamwork folds billing directly into project management, giving agencies retainer tracking, billable rates, and branded client portals most competitors handle in a separate tool. Unlimited free client users on every paid plan lowers the cost of client collaboration at scale. The feature density creates a real learning curve, and admins currently cannot force two-factor authentication across a whole account.

Consulting project management with native time tracking, client portals and Zoho Books billing sync.

Editor's takeZoho Projects prices its paid plans from $4 to $9 per user monthly, well under rivals like Asana. Timesheets flow directly into Zoho Books, turning tracked hours into client invoices without a separate tool. G2 reviewers report a steep learning curve and call the interface cluttered once a project grows complex.

Project-based ERP combining accounting, CRM, and project management for architecture and engineering firms.

Editor's takeVantagepoint consolidates project accounting, CRM, and resource planning into one system built specifically for architecture and engineering firms, replacing tools that would otherwise run separately. Deltek's government-contracting roots show up in its security posture, with SOC 2 Type II and NIST 800-171 attestation rare at this scale. The tradeoff is speed and complexity: reviewers describe slow timesheet load times and a learning curve steep enough that many firms lean on paid consultants for custom reporting.

Project management suite with unlimited free users, storage, and usage-based Active User Billing.

Editor's takeFreedcamp's free plan is unusually generous. Unlimited projects, tasks, storage, and users cost nothing, and Active User Billing on paid tiers automatically credits seats that go unused. That is rare pricing discipline for a SaaS company. The catch shows up in feature gating rather than user limits. Gantt charts, wikis, and issue tracking sit behind paid plans, and the mobile app trails the desktop version in polish.

Enterprise Professional Services Automation combining resource management, financial forecasting, and native Salesforce integration.

Editor's takeKantata, formed from the 2022 merger of Mavenlink and Kimble, leads on resource management with a 93% coverage score in independent reviews and offers a native Salesforce application (Kantata SX) that few competitors match. It backs enterprise deployments with annual third-party SOC 2 Type 2 audits and granular, project-specific access controls. The entry barrier is steep: a reported 50-seat minimum puts annual costs at $35,000-$66,000, and reports cap at 2,000 rows without exporting to external BI tools.

All-in-one project management, time tracking and invoicing platform built for agencies and freelancers.

Editor's takePaymo merges project tracking with billing, cutting out the need for separate invoicing software. Pricing undercuts many rivals at under $6 a user to start. The mobile app is the weak point, missing offline expense entry that field workers need.

Professional services platform unifying project management, CRM and billing with real-time profitability tracking.

Editor's takeScoro merges project management with financial tracking, letting consultancies watch budget burn and margin at the role, service, and project level in real time. It holds ISO 27001 certification and made the Inc. 5000 list with three-year revenue growth of 318.66 percent. The catch is access, since every plan requires a minimum of 5 users, so the real starting cost is about $130 a month even for a 2-person team.