You already use WordPress to run your website. Why not use it for project management? With the best WordPress project management plugin, you can organize your tasks and projects in no time.
Keep reading to discover our top picks for the best WordPress project management plugin, as well as our tips for how to optimize your project management plugin for speed, so it doesn’t slow down your site.
Why Do You Need a WordPress Project Management Plugin?
WordPress project management plugins are an excellent alternative to purchasing project management software. You’ll maintain control of your data and often pay less than subscribing to a proprietary project management software.
Features to look for in a WordPress project management plugin include:
- Project Tracking and Organization. How do you need to track progress on projects? How do you organize projects? Do you need to organize by type of project or client?
- Communication Tools. Do you need task and project comments, email notifications, or other ways to communicate in the system?
- Permissions. Do you need to set different permission levels by role or project?
- Time Tracking. Do you need a way for team members to log how much time they spend on a task?
- Frontend Access. Do you want to publish a public view of projects so clients can see what is going on without logging into your WordPress admin?
- Integrations. What other systems or plugins do you need the project management system to work with?
6 of the Best WordPress Project Management Plugins
Project management plugins vary in price and features. But no matter your needs, you’ll find one that will work on this list.
1. UpStream
UpStream’s free WordPress program management plugin allows you to manage multiple types of projects from your WordPress admin dashboard. You also can set up a frontend view for clients to see the details of their project without giving external parties access to your WordPress site.
| Active Installations: | WordPress Repository Rating: | Developer: |
| 1,000+ | 4.5 out of 5 stars | UpStream |
Pricing:
The plugin is free. A paid premium version unlocks additional features. Extensions that require an upgrade include:
- Calendar view
- Copy project
- Customizer
- Custom fields
- Email notifications
- Frontend edit
- Project timeline
- Naming
- Time and budget tracking
- Reporting
Prices for a single site license range from $79 to $179 per year depending on which premium features you need.
Features
UpStream includes many necessary project management features such as:
- Milestone and tasks with linking and dependencies
- Project discussion thread to move the conversation out of your email inbox
- Custom fields and status
- File and document uploads
- Custom role and permission settings
2. WP Project Manager
This project management plugin includes all the features and reporting you’ll need to keep your projects and team organized.
| Active Installations: | WordPress Repository Rating: | Developer: |
| 10,000+ | 3.5 out of 5 stars | weDevs |
Pricing:
The plugin is free. You only need to purchase a subscription if you need more advanced features.
Plans and features for WP Project Manager are:
- Personal $79 per year
- Uploading files on comments
- To-do and deadline management
- Milestones
- Subtasks
- Private messenger
- Folder and file management
- Manage from the frontend
- Professional $149 per year
- All the features from the Personal plan
- Gantt charts
- Invoicing
- Time tracker
- Four additional domains
- Business $249 per year
- All the features from the Professional plan
- Kanban boards
- BuddyPress
- Woo Order and Stripe
- Recurring tasks
- 10 total domains
Features
WP Project Manager includes a robust set of features, including:
- To-do lists and milestones
- Messages and comments to keep communication inside the project management system
- File upload and sharing
- Personal dashboard for users so team members can keep track of their own tasks lists
- Privacy and permission settings by role and project
3. Zephyr Project Manager
Zephyr Project Manager is an innovative WordPress project management plugin that even includes an Android app that syncs with your website data.
| Active Installations: | WordPress Repository Rating: | Developer: |
| 1,000+ | 5 out of 5 stars | Dylan James |
Pricing
The plugin is free. For a one-time fee of $99, you can upgrade to the Pro version, which includes:
- Custom task and project templates
- Custom project templates
- Custom fields
- Customizable front-end project manager page
- Kanban board style projects
- Asana integration
- Reporting and statistics
Features
Zephyr Project Manager stands out for its modern and clean user interface. Project management features include:
- Project and tasks deadlines
- Communication tools, including comments and email notifications
- File and document uploads
- Copy tasks and projects
- Personal dashboards
- Calendar view
- Team and user management
Download Zephyr Project Manager
4. Project Panorama
Panorama is a project management and client dashboard plugin. The plugin’s main goal is to make it easier for team members and clients to see the status of their projects.
| Active Installations: | WordPress Repository Rating: | Developer: |
| 1,000+ | 4 out of 5 stars | 37 Media |
Pricing
Project Panorama offers a lite version for free on the WordPress repository or paid version with three subscription tiers:
- Personal $99 per year
- Projects
- Team
- Task management
- Deadlines
- Notifications
- Communication
- Agency $129 per year
- Everything from Personal plan
- Sub-tasks
- Sequential tasks
- Front-end editing
- Use on up to five sites
- Enterprise $169 per year
- Everything from Personal and Agency plans
- Kanban board
- Delay tracking
- Image gallery
- Use on an unlimited number of sites
Project Panorama also sells a Lifetime plan offering all features for a one-time fee of $399.
Features
Project Panorama really shines with its dashboard views to get a high-level view of all your projects. Plugin features include:
- Public or private view of projects
- User and project access management
- Project phases and calendars
- Due date and progress tracking
- Project and task discussions
5. Projectopia
Projectopia is a great choice for freelancers or agencies looking for a WordPress project management plugin.
| Active Installations: | WordPress Repository Rating: | Developer: |
| 20+ | 5 out of 5 stars | Projectopia |
Pricing
The Projectopia plugin is free. You can purchase additional add-ons to unlock additional features.
Add-ons that require a paid upgrade include:
- Kanban board
- Roles and permissions
- Support tickets
- Time entries
- 2Checkout
- Subscriptions
- Bug tracker
- WooCommerce integration
- Custom field
- Expenses
- Twilio integration
- Reporting
Add-ons range in price from $15 to $49. Depending on how many add-ons you need, you might save money by buying the Regular or Ultimate version from CodeCanyon. Projectopia also sells a yearly subscription for $129 that includes premium support and up to eight add-ons.
Features
Projectopia is an excellent project management tool if you need to bill clients. The built-in invoicing and payment functions make it an obvious choice for creative agencies and other service-based businesses. Other features include:
- Adding and managing team members
- Client management and billing
- Time-tracking
- Project and task tracking and communication
- Support tickets
6. Kanban Boards for WordPress
If you love Kanban boards and agile project management, this is the tool for you. Kanban Boards for WordPress claims to be “Trello for WordPress.”
| Active Installations: | WordPress Repository Rating: | Developer: |
| 1,000+ | 4.5 out of 5 stars | Kanban for WordPress |
Pricing
The version on the WordPress repository is free and offers most of the basic features. Advanced users might want to consider upgrading to the Pro version with an annual subscription of $149 or a lifetime license for $499.
Pro version features include:
- Task comments
- Advanced user manager
- Task detail and attachments
- Notifications
- Task colors
- Multiple boards
Features
The free version likely works great for people looking for a simple project management system. You’ll probably want the task details, comments, and attachments available in the Pro version for more complex projects. Features of the free version include:
- Custom boards and swim lanes
- Edits tasks in place
- Task due dates and time estimates
- Custom views
- Task assignments
Download Kanban Boards for WordPress
Which is the Best WordPress Project Management Plugin?
Every company uses different workflows. Time tracking might be the most critical part of a project management system for some companies, while others couldn't care less. “Best” is relative to your needs.
Start by mapping out your workflow and make a list of features you’ll need in a project management system to determine which one is best for your business.
How Nexcess Helps with Project Management Plugins
Before you get started with a WordPress project management plugin, you’ll want to consider if your website can support it. For starters, check to see which WordPress version you’re using, as well as make sure whether you’re using WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com.
Too many plugins or overloaded databases can slow down your site. If you have a high-traffic website, you’ll want to consider adding a bunch of behind-the-scenes project management data and requests to the same site. Consider installing your project management plugin on a separate installation of WordPress.
With managed hosting from Nexcess, setting up a new version of WordPress is just a click away. You can easily add your project management system to a subdomain like projects.yourwebsite.com.
Sign up today to get started with Nexcess’ state-of-the-art WordPress hosting.
For more WordPress help, check out our tips for WordPress for beginners and our guide to WordPress.
