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According to Gartner, the use of collaboration tools increased from 50% in 2019 to 80% in 2021.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic was the main cause of it, its aftermath has left us with remote work and hybrid working models in almost every company. Therefore, we continue to rely on remote collaboration tools as we look for ways to improve productivity in geographically scattered teams.

The tools on this list provide you with different options for you and your team to communicate, share ideas, and interact with project stakeholders.

How I Picked The Best Collaboration Tools

I evaluated and compared the most popular team collaboration software on the market, both for its reviews and user interface. Then I weighed factors that make collaboration tools a good option for project management, such as the ones that follow.

  1. User Interface – Project collaboration tools should be clean and intuitive to navigate. They should have easy access to different communication channels, search functions, private notes, private messaging, and history logs.
  2. Usability – Everyone on your team needs to be on board or else collaboration tools will always fail. Therefore, I look for something that is easy to learn, with plenty of training resources and robust customer support.
  3. Integration – Collaboration in today’s work environment requires communication and sharing across multiple platforms. Your integration needs are specific, but a good collaboration tool should include a few basic integrations with other team software: resource scheduling apps, documentation apps from Google and Microsoft, time-tracking tools, and any project management or task management tools you’re using.
  4. Price – Pricing will be the first yay or nay criteria for your adoption of a new tool. Keep in mind that the average price for collaboration tools hovers around $8/user/month.

Overviews Of The Best Collaboration Tools

Here’s a list of project collaboration tools to get you started. We cover key differential of the software, followed by a look at its features and functions, and finally its integrations and pricing.

Best for remote team collaboration

  • 90-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $8.75/user/month
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Rating: 4.5/5

Slack is a communication platform designed to facilitate team interaction and collaboration. It provides a centralized space for conversations and provides easy access to information for in-person, hybrid, or remote team members.

Why I picked Slack: Slack is a collaboration tool that not only promotes real-time exchange of ideas but also allows for communication through asynchronous means. I like that teams have the ability to create different channels for specific projects to make collaboration more organized.

Overall, Slack's adaptability aligns with organizations operating remotely in different time zones. The platform caters to a wide range of team sizes and industries. Small teams appreciate the simplicity and flexibility of the platform, while large businesses benefit from its scalable features. Additionally, integrations with other software tools allow teams to streamline their workflows by receiving notifications and updates directly within the platform. 

Slack Standout Features & Integrations

Standout features include huddles for live audio or video collaboration, clips for asynchronous messaging, channels that can organize teams and projects, workflow builder to automate routine tasks and communications, and canvas which allows you to create documents that can be shared and collaborated on within the platform.

Integrations include Google Drive, Trello, Asana, Zoom, Salesforce, Jira, GitHub, Dropbox, Microsoft Teams, and over 2,600 other tools. 

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Synchronous and asynchronous communication options
  • Canvases for collaboration
  • Thousands of integrations available

Cons:

  • Limited users in huddles
  • Message history can get buried

Best for application development

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $35/user/month (billed annually)
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Rating: 4.4/5

QuickBase is a platform that enables the development of custom applications without requiring deep coding skills. It stands out for its no-code approach, allowing users to build industry-specific solutions with features like integrations, automations, and mobile capabilities.

Why I picked QuickBase: I selected QuickBase as a collaboration tool after judging its capabilities to enable teams to create and customize applications without the need for extensive coding skills. What differentiates QuickBase is its user-friendly interface and the empowerment it offers to citizen developers, allowing them to automate workflows and connect data effortlessly. I believe QuickBase is best for no-code app development because of its flexibility and the comprehensive solutions it provides, which cater to a wide range of business needs without requiring deep technical expertise.

QuickBase stands out as an excellent tool for collaboration due to its user-friendly interface and customizable features that cater to a wide range of business needs. It enables teams to create and share interactive, data-driven applications without requiring extensive technical knowledge. This flexibility allows for seamless integration of data from various sources, fostering efficient teamwork and decision-making.

QuickBase Standout Features & Integrations

Standout features include a no-code platform that enables users to build custom applications tailored to their business needs without requiring coding expertise. It offers a visual Builder for application development, Integrations to connect with various other software tools, and Automations to help manage workflows efficiently. 

Integrations include Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Tableau, QuickBase Pipelines, Slack and Zapier.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Robust notifications and reminders
  • Workflows are easy to set up and customize
  • Simple no-code platform is easy for non-tech people to learn

Cons:

  • May be cost prohibitive for small businesses
  • Team plan requires a minimum of 20 users

Best for internal communication

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $1,300/year for 50 users

MyHub Intranet Solutions is an internal intranet platform for businesses. It can be used for various use cases and contexts, and helps improve and streamline knowledge sharing among a workforce.

Why I picked MyHub Intranet Solutions: I added this tool to my list because it helps users keep documents, policies, processes, and more organized. It's a flexible intranet that can be used to create different types of content and communications channels, including blogs, forums, calendars, newsfeeds, and more.

In addition to content and information management, the software offers task automation and collaboration tools for teams. You'll be able to set up automated workflows to facilitate repeated processes and tasks, and discuss things in real-time with live chat. Surveys and feedback forms help tap into ideas and sentiments of your workforce.

MyHub Intranet Solutions Standout Features & Integrations

Standout features include the platform's template library, which boasts over 60 ready-made templates you can use to quickly set up a page or wiki. Another cool feature is the ability to create quizzes. This helps make training and learning more engaging, and ensures staff have the information they need.

Integrations include Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Gmail, Google Cloud Platform, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Azure.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Intuitive, friendly, and easy to learn
  • Remote access via mobile devices
  • Step-by-step guides and videos available

Cons:

  • Limited customization options
  • Limitations in analytics capabilities

Best for knowledge management

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $2,000/month for up to 200 users
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Rating: 4.2/5

Axero is a knowledge sharing platform that can be used to build out content hubs for internal and external collaboration. It's a flexible solution that's adaptable to the needs of various types and sizes of businesses.

Why I picked Axero: I decided to give this platform a spot on my list for its capacity to build a knowledge base for either internal or external collaborators (or both). It's flexible enough to suit various contexts, yet provides the necessary structure to keep information organized, accessible, and accounted for.

You can create both public and private spaces in your company wiki, and build out content in various formats. Blog posts, forums, surveys, and broadcasts are among the supported content types. Meanwhile, commenting and like buttons allow for engagement and interaction, and live chat lets you keep all communications centralized in one space.

Axero Standout Features and Integrations

Standout features of this tool include its best-in-class mobile apps. Your knowledge base will be fully accessible from iOS and Android devices, helping to enable a distributed or mobile workforce. Higher-tier plans also allow for white labeling of the mobile apps, so you can customize it to reflect your company branding and provide a familiar environment to your collaborators.

Integrations include Outlook 365, Sharepoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, Dropbox, Box, Unsplash, and Twilio, among others.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Suitable to the needs of larger organizations
  • Can be used for internal and external knowledge sharing
  • Highly flexible and customizable to various contexts

Cons:

  • Takes time to get familiar with all features
  • Integrations not included in starter plan

Best for online whiteboarding

  • Free plan available
  • From $10/user/month
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Rating: 4.8/5

Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard built to facilitate brainstorming, ideation, team meetings, project planning, and other team activities.

Why I picked Miro: I decided to include this platform because of how versatile and flexible it is. Your team can start with a blank canvas or choose from the 1,000+ pre-built templates included. Miro supports a diverse expression of ideas, including numerical data and brand elements, alongside traditional visuals like sticky notes and videos.

Unique features such as Stickies Capture and TalkTrack can also help users convert physical notes to digital and recording explanatory videos for asynchronous collaboration, respectively. With integrations like Jira and Asana, plus Confluence and Notion, Miro bridges idea generation with project execution, facilitating a cohesive team collaboration environment.

Miro Standout Features & Integrations

Some of the standout features of Miro include its robust resources for continuous learning. Miro Academy, online events, and a community forum help you uncover new uses and features of the product and improve your teamwork skills. Some other nice features are Miro's planner tool, privacy mode, the Miro Assist AI, as well as timers, music, and voting, which are useful for meetings and brainstorming sessions. 

Integrations include Zoom, Figma, Asana, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, monday.com, Confluence Box, Airtable, Notion, Azure, and Webex. Some integrations are limited to paid plans only.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Highly versatile and flexible solution
  • Thousands of customizable templates
  • Intuitive and easy setup

Cons:

  • Zooming can be jumpy on larger projects
  • No high-quality PDF export with free plan

Best for design collaboration

  • Free plan available
  • From $3/user/month
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Rating: 4.7/5

FigJam is an online whiteboard that supports team collaboration, and connects easily with Figma's design platform. Its functionalities cater to various group activities, like stand-up meetings and brainstorming sessions.

Why I chose FigJam by Figma: This platform is highly flexible and well-suited to the needs of various types of teams. But I chose it because its integration with Figma's design platform makes it a good choice for teams looking for a collaboration tool that complements their existing design processes. In a world where disjointed tech stacks continually make teamwork more challenging, I love that FigJam allows design teams to work together within the same environment they use to do their work.

The whiteboard tool is highly flexible and can be used for all kinds of purposes. You can use its stickers, comments, shapes, lines, arrows, images, and more to map out concepts, ideas, and plans. There are also tons of pre-built templates to help you get started, from brainstorming outlines to retrospective structures to project management and roadmapping tools.

FigJam by Figma Standout Features & Integrations

Some standout features I really appreciate about FigJam are the precise ways it connects with the Figma design platform. You can share assets between the two systems, turning your rough concepts into more structured prototypes. It also has some super useful automations, which can do things like auto-sort your sticky notes or consolidate notes into clear action items.

Integrations include Figma, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Jira, Mixpanel, and Github.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Freemium plan for up to 3 files
  • User-friendly and intuitive
  • Super helpful integration with Figma

Cons:

  • Non-Figma users may not get all the benefits
  • Onboarding and account support locked to enterprise plan

Best for secure messaging

  • 7-day free trial
  • From $2.50/user/month
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Rating: 4.8/5

Troop Messenger is a team communication platform that helps remote and hybrid teams keep in touch and stay aligned on their work.

Why I picked Troop Messenger: This platform's major features caught my attention, include instant messaging, voice and video calling, video conferencing, file sharing, and screen sharing and remote screen control. The main reason Troop Messenger made it onto my list, however, is because of its extensive capabilities for connecting team members working together but apart. It keeps all of your communications in a single platform, making it easier to find information and keep conversations centralized. I also want to note that, although it’s a SaaS tool, self-hosting, API, and custom application options are available, too.

Troop Messenger Standout Features & Integrations

Standout features I find especially useful in this tool are its more advanced capabilities. It has a 'respond later' option and a 'burnout' option that lets you set a message to send at a later time. The self-messaging feature is also unique—a simple but useful feature that lets you send reminders and notes to yourself. Finally, the 'forkout' feature lets you send bulk text messages and files to multiple users at once, and when viewing files you see a preview so you don't have to download to see them.

Integrations include Google Drive, Dropbox, and LDAP. You can also connect it to a paid Zapier account for additional integrations. The app is available across Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and iOS.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • High level of security (end-to-end encryption, MFA)
  • Extensive filters for search function
  • Ability to invite guest collaborators

Cons:

  • Group calling not included in basic plan
  • No free-forever plan available

Best for AI project planning

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
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Rating: 4.7/5

Forecast is a project and resource management software that's well-suited to the needs of professional services teams and agencies.

Why I picked Forecast: I selected Forecast for this list primarily due to its extremely organized approach to team collaboration. Teams can manage their projects and tasks easily with the software's Kanban boards, task cards with subtasks and dependencies, and velocity tracking tools, which I think makes this tool excellent for teams that have intersecting project management and team collaboration needs. Team members can also collaborate by commenting, sharing files, and logging hours in task cards.

But what stood out most to me about this tool is its client-facing capabilities. You can set up access permissions for your projects and tasks so that external collaborators can stay up to date and contribute to the work.

Forecast Standout Features & Integrations

Some standout features this product offers are its AI capabilities and financial management tools. The software's AI can provide timesheet suggestions, calculate time estimates for tasks, and assign resources to specific projects or tasks. You can also run your billing and invoicing through the software, keeping it in the same place you're sharing project information with clients.

Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, iCloud Calendar, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Outlook, Harvest, Trello, Asana, GitLab, Github, and dozens more using a paid plan through Zapier. Higher-tier subscriptions include native integrations with Timelog, Xero, QuickBooks Online, JIRA, Azure DevOps, Salesforce, Okta, OneLogin, and Azure Active Directory.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Designed for agencies and service providers
  • Smart AI tools streamline and automate your workflows
  • Manage projects, financials, and resources in one place

Cons:

  • 20 user minimum for all plans
  • No free plan available

Best for mobile collaboration

  • 14-day free trial + free demo
  • From $6.18/user/month
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Rating: 4.6/5

Blink is an online communication tool designed to fit the needs of a deskless workforce.

Why I picked Blink: If you ask me, workplace communication is at the heart of this software. I love that Blink offers direct messaging, group chats, and top-down communications via a company news feed. Moreover, I decided to include it in my list because of how friendly it is to non-office workers. The mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices, so your team members can have access from their personal or company-provided mobile devices.

In addition to the communication features, the platform also offers an employee recognition tool and engagement tracking tools. You can facilitate peer-to-peer recognition messages and automated messages for things like anniversaries and birthdays. Employee surveys are also included to help you keep a pulse on morale and engagement levels.

Blink Standout Features & Integrations

Some standout features include the platform's analytics capabilities for admins features. You can track post-by-post analytics, and track hub analytics to measure interactions and adoption. You can also track metrics at a company and team level to dig deeper. Another cool feature is the mandatory reads option, which can be added to communications to ensure employees read through important announcements.

Integrations include Jira, Trello, ADP, Workday, Typeform, Dropbox, GitHub, Box, Office 365, and Google Workplace, among others. You can also build new integrations with the software's public APIs.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 24/7 support with all plans
  • User-friendly and intuitive to navigate
  • Custom branding can be implemented

Cons:

  • API access restricted to Enterprise plan
  • No free forever plan available

Best for creative review

  • 14 days free trial for Lite/Pro packages and 30 days for Enterprise package. No credit card required.
  • From $35/5 user/month
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Rating: 4.9/5

Approval Studio is a design approval software that allows for design feedback and annotation throughout the creation process.

Why I picked Approval Studio: This software made it onto my list because of how useful it is for creative teams, especially creative agencies. You can manage your creative projects and set up approval flows to ensure feedback and proofing rounds are done in an efficient and consistent way. I am especially impressed by the level of detailed feedback that the platform encourages people to provide. For example, there are 4 different annotation types, which allows for more granular version control and supports collaborative iteration on creative assets. You can also have real-time review sessions using the software's live updates.

Approval Studio Standout Featuress & Integrations

Standout features include the free online demo and training sessions available from the company. I found these super helpful for getting teams up to speed on all the features and functionalities of the platform. They can also help you discover new ways of using the product to better suit your workflows.

Integrations include Shopify and Slack. You can also set up tons of other integrations with a paid Zapier account.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Unlimited projects and external reviews with all plans
  • Custom branding options with all plans
  • Supports over 20 different file types

Cons:

  • No free plan available
  • Several feature restrictions with the Lite plan

Best for organizing ideas

  • Free plan available
  • From $17.99/month
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Rating: 4.4/5

Evernote is a note-taking app where teams can store records and documents, plan projects, and communicate.

Why I picked Evernote: I picked this platform because it's a great way to keep track of multimedia notes and information in one place. You can collect web clippings, meeting notes, images, to-do lists and more, and share them with other team members as needed. I also like how customizable the dashboard is, with lots of widgets to choose from so you can set it up however you like. There's also a virtual bulletin board, which makes it easy to share info and announcements with your whole team.

Evernote Standout Features & Integrations

Some of the software's standout features include the ability to search through handwritten notes, and digitize paper documents. You can also create your own custom templates, speeding up your future note-taking and records-keeping activities. The ability to annotate PDFs also stands out to me as a small feature that can be incredibly useful.

Integrations include Google Drive, Outlook, Salesforce, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Free plan available for individual users
  • Excellent web clipping capabilities
  • Fast, accurate search functionality

Cons:

  • Limited offline capabilities
  • Admin tools not included in basic team plan

Best for feedback management

  • 7-day free trial
  • From $24/user/month
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Rating: 4.7/5

Filestage is a review and approval platform used by agencies and in-house creative teams around the world. From sharing files to collecting feedback, I believe it can help speed up every step of your creative review process.

Why I picked Filestage: Though it is an overall collaboration tool, I have noticed that feedback management is where Filestage really shines. You can invite reviewers to add comments and discuss ideas right alongside your content and create review steps to group feedback from different types of stakeholders, like Creative, Account management, and Client. Add in automated timecodes, version comparisons, annotations, and attachments, and I think that Filestage is a great feedback platform.

Additionally, I am very impressed that Filestage allows users to see every review step, file format, version, and reviewer in your project, with status indicators to show who’s approved what in a centralized dashboard. At any stage in your creative review process, you can see exactly where things are at a glance.

Filestage Standout Features & Integrations

Features include unlimited reviewers, one-click approvals, annotations, project dashboards, file attachments, version comparisons, centralized approvals, threaded comments, mentions, and custom branding.

Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Asana. Additionally, you can access thousands more apps through their integration partners, like Pabbly.

You can also invite an unlimited number of reviewers and external uploaders to your account for free.

Best for development teams

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $35/month
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Rating: 4.5/5

Backlog's unique feature set caught my attention, as it offers project management, bug tracking, and version control management in a single app. I would therefore definitely recommend this app if you're looking for a tool to help manage development projects or working closely with a team of developers.

I should note that, because it offers more features than most project management apps, this app is visually more complex than some of the other apps on this list. Backlog provides a hands-on tool your developers can use to take projects from start to release to maintenance while ensuring transparency and accountability across teams.

Backlog works for a range of team sizes, and they offer a self-hosted Enterprise option for larger companies. Its collaboration features include task management (including subtasks, checklists, and custom fields), milestones, file management, wikis, and more. For collaborating on code, you get SVN and Git repositories, a differences viewer and inline comments, plus pull requests, merge requests, and branches. Visually, the app provides burndown charts, Git graphs, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts, so users can quickly assess projects at a glance.

They also provide a mobile app on both iOS and Android for collaborating on-the-go. It integrates with Nulab's other apps and provides both Redmine and Jira importers.

Backlog is free for up to 10 users with some feature limitations or $35/month for up to 30 users. For $100/month, your team gets unlimited users, i.e. their Standard Plan.

Best collaboration mobile app

  • Freemium version
  • From $7/user/month
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Rating: 4.5/5

Unlike collaborative tools that cover a broader range of project management functions, Samepage is designed with collaboration as the main focus. Samepage provides a variety of team communication tools, including voice and video conferencing, which I believe qualifies it as being above and beyond a simple messaging feature.

Samepage also stands out to me because it facilitates the creation of co-authored content with real-time collaboration and makes it easy to share content with a “presenter mode” for quickly turning pages into slideshows. I'm also very impressed by how the app’s emphasis on collaboration extends to its client-facing features; the tool provides a range of permissions for involving collaborators on documentation, both inside and outside of your organization.

True to the collaborative nature of this tool, Samepage integrates with 1000+ apps, making it easy to sync content from Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, external calendars, YouTube, and hundreds of other apps through Zapier.

A note on Samepage pricing: if you are looking for free online collaboration tools, Samepage should be at the top of your list. The free version of this software includes a generous number of features—it’s not your typical scantily-featured freemium.

Samepage costs from $7/user/month.

Best collaborative task management

  • Free trial available
  • From $4/user/month (billed annually).
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Rating: 4.4/5

In my opinion, Todoist offers ones of the cleanest, most clutter-free interfaces for managing tasks among the collaboration tools that are currently on the market. The UI feels truly effortless (and dare I say, refreshing?) and offers basic planning functions for task management, file sharing, and tracking projects. I think it’s a good choice for individuals and small- to mid-sized teams who simply need all of their tasks, updates, and files in one place.

Todoist is a bit of a minimalist among collaboration tools, but don’t let that scare you away. It’s user experience is excellent, and the visualizations are better than many of the other collaboration tools out there. Todoist’s visualizations have a special focus on personal productivity: individual users can set their own productivity goals and visualize their progress in multiple easy-to-read graphs. All over, I'm very impressed by Todoist's thoughtful features that are truly useful for the modern user. It also works on mobile devices, works offline, and syncs across devices and offers a very practical email feature for quickly turning emails from your inbox into tasks.

Although it lacks video conferencing and synchronous editing, Todoist does offer out-of-the-box integrations with 10+ useful apps and plugins, including IFTTT (providing simple automation) and Zapier (for connecting with hundreds of other apps). Todoist also has a mobile app for iOS and Android.

Todoist costs from $29/year per user ($2.40/user/month).

Collaboration Tools Summary Chart

Tools Price
Slack From $8.75/user/month
QuickBase From $35/user/month (billed annually)
MyHub From $1,300/year for 50 users
Axero From $2,000/month for up to 200 users
Miro From $10/user/month
FigJam by Figma From $3/user/month
Troop Messenger From $2.50/user/month
Forecast Pricing upon request
Blink From $6.18/user/month
Approval Studio From $35/5 user/month
Evernote From $17.99/month
Filestage From $24/user/month
Backlog From $35/month
Samepage From $7/user/month
Todoist From $4/user/month (billed annually).
Preview Image - <h2 class="c-block__title b-summary-table__title c-listicle__title h3" > Compare Software Specs Side by Side</h2>

Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.

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Other Online Collaboration Tools

Although we haven’t included these in the review, there are some other collaboration tools that we haven’t had the chance to dive into fully yet. Below is a list of a few additional collaboration tool options for your agency or studio:

  1. Creately

    Canvas in-app video conferencing

  2. Ziflow

    Best for creative asset collaboration

  3. Teamwork.com

    Company-wide chat feature with video call capability to improve communication

  4. Redbooth

    Best for creating team dashboards

  5. Gmelius

    Best collaboration tool for Gmail

  6. Asana

    Best for individual project views

  7. ProjectManager.com

    Best with built-in employee onboarding

  8. GatherContent

    Best for collaborative content management

  9. Podio

    Best for low-code automated workflows

  10. Hibox

    Best with meeting management tools

  11. Confluence

    Best flexibility & customization capabilities to adapt to your unique workflows

  12. Basecamp

    Best collaboration tool for scaling teams

  13. Ideagen Huddle

    Best document collaboration tool

  14. nutcache

    Best with invoicing and expense management

  15. Next Matter

    Best for handling complex, cross-functional workflows

  16. Workmates

    Best for employee communications and intranet

  17. Punchlist

    Best for feedback and approvals

  18. OppolisCloud

    Best for creative collaboration on the go

  19. CROOW

    Best free collaboration tool with time tracking

  20. Pastel

    Focused collaboration on digital assets to fast track approvals

Online Collaboration Tools FAQs

Find answers to common questions about this topic.

Online Collaboration Tools Buyer's Guide

How to pick the best collaboration tool for your team.

What's Next?

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