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11 Min. Read

10 Best Collaboration Software for 2024

Collaboration Software

For in-person, hybrid, and remote teams alike, collaboration software can be essential in keeping team members’ goals aligned and projects on track. There are a wide variety of collaboration software tools available to help boost productivity, efficiency, organization, and communication, but the right one depends on the needs of your business.

Below, find the top collaboration software picks of 2024 as well as their advantages, drawbacks, and pricing information.

Table of Contents

Top 10 Best Collaboration Software

See the top 10 picks for collaboration software below, and start optimizing your team’s communication, project management, and productivity with the best collaboration tools.

1. FreshBooks

Designed to boost team productivity, FreshBooks’ collaboration software helps you juggle clients, invoices, tasks, deadlines, and more. You can invite contractors, employees, and clients to your FreshBooks account and give them access to projects, files, feedback, conversations, and other relevant parts of your business.

With the ability to chat and collaborate directly on project tasks and share files from within FreshBooks, you can run projects and your business smoothly. Easily convert estimates and quotes into projects, manage team labor, and control access with team permission settings. Even if as a bookkeeper you work with a small team or operate solo, FreshBooks allows you to easily coordinate with your clients and other contractors.

Features

  • Time tracking: Track time from anywhere with one-click software, and easily generate and customize invoices
  • Expense tracking: Connect your bank account to automate expense entries, and keep your business’s finances organized

Pricing

FreshBooks pricing starts at $19 per month when billed annually, and additional users are $11 per month each. You can try it for free before upgrading to a paid plan.

2. Slack

Slack is a well-known collaboration app with millions of users. Starting out as a real-time chat app in 2013, it’s since developed practical and intuitive features that enhance team, contractor, and client communication, especially for hybrid and remote workplaces.

You and your team can use both direct messages and group channels to communicate updates and feedback or simply catch up over a coffee break. Designated administrators on your account can set up group channels for different projects and teams, manage other team members, and set up automation for meetings and workflows.

Advantages

  • Integrates with Google Drive, Office 365, and over 2,200 more apps
  • Drag and drop files and media in chats
  • Stay up to date with dedicated mobile and desktop apps
  • Customized group chats
  • Video and audio calls and screen sharing

Drawbacks

  • Audio and video call quality sometimes lacking
  • Paid plans are above-average pricing
  • Some users may find constant updates distracting

Pricing

Pricing for paid Slack plans start at $7.25 per active user per month. You can also try it out for free.

3. Asana

Designed with versatility in mind, Asana is a flexible and feature-heavy project management tool that supports efficient workflows and multifaceted projects. A cloud-based platform, Asana comes with unlimited storage and real-time messaging. Collaborate on projects in an array of overviews, including Kanban-style cards, deadlines, calendars, and more.

Asana’s task management tools also help streamline your workflows and projects. Assign tasks to team members, create sub-tasks so that you don’t miss a single detail, and set unique deadlines for every step of the project. Team members can chat directly on tasks, making it easy to maintain clear communication with the whole team.

Advantages

  • Modern, responsive, and intuitive interface
  • Integration with a variety of third-party apps
  • Wide variety of project and workload views
  • Mobile app

Drawbacks

  • Tasks can’t be assigned to multiple users
  • Doesn’t include budgeting or expense tools

Pricing

You can try Asana for free. Asana pricing for the Premium subscription starts at $10.99 per user per month. Custom pricing options are available for large organizations.

4. Miro

A modern all-in-one collaboration and project management tool, Miro is an innovative app that enhances hybrid and remote workflows. Inspired by whiteboards, Miro’s design allows you and your team to visualize and collaborate over a virtual whiteboard complete with important notes, daily priorities and schedules, diagrams, flowcharts, and more, all in one central place. You can start from a blank canvas or take advantage of over a thousand practical templates.

Advantages

  • Built-in templates
  • Intuitive, flexible, and creative collaboration
  • Integration with a variety of third-party apps
  • Advanced security integrations

Drawbacks

  • Limited offline functionality

Pricing

Miro’s starter plan is offered at $8 per month per user. You can try it out for free and custom pricing options are available for large organizations.

5. Airtable

Airtable is a web-based team collaboration software that delivers a hybrid of versatile database and spreadsheet functions. Users can use various spreadsheet and database features to organize, manage, share, and edit information in a central location and in collaboration with their team members.

With customizable yet intuitive functions as well as dynamic and automated AI workflows, teams can streamline projects and boost productivity. With your business’s data stored on Airtable, you and your team can visualize projects and tasks with grids, Gantt, Kanban boards, and more.

Advantages

  • Integrates with third-party apps
  • User-friendly interface
  • Highly customizable
  • Real-time communication
  • Built-in templates

Drawbacks

  • Some features are only available with higher-end plans
  • More expensive than average

Pricing

Paid plans for Airtable start at $20 per user per month.

6. Trello

As a straightforward, simplistic, and user-friendly project management and collaboration tool, Trello is a favorite of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and freelancers. Known for its drag-and-drop Kanban card interface, Trello does a great job of tracking and outlining tasks in an intuitive fashion. Within each of these cards, you can create to-do lists, delegate tasks, and add comments and feedback to tasks. Trello can also integrate with popular apps such as Google Drive, Slack, and GitHub.

Advantages

  • Mobile app
  • Intuitive Kanban card interface
  • Automated workflows

Drawbacks

  • May not suit large or complex projects
  • Limited reporting tools

Pricing

Trello’s paid plans start at $5 per month per user.

7. Podio

An award-winning platform, Podio is a collaboration and project management software praised for its exceptional flexibility and customization. When you create your account, you can choose from a variety of pre-made apps or build your own to manage any aspect of your business such as client projects, to customer relationship management, and to human resources.

When working on projects together, users can assign tasks and responsibilities to others as needed, view and manage calendars, and add widgets to help with information sharing and workflow. Automated workflow features also help delegate tasks as needed so there are fewer delays or miscommunications between team members.

Advantages

  • Exceptionally flexible and customizable
  • Mobile apps
  • User-friendly
  • Selection of practical pre-made apps
  • Integrated chat
  • Integration with third-party apps

Drawbacks

  • Limited customer support
  • Website occasionally goes down

Pricing

Paid plans for Podio start at $11.20 per month.

8. Basecamp

Basecamp is an all-around communication platform featuring a wide range of online collaboration tools to improve your team’s workflow and organization. Catering to businesses of all sizes, Basecamp offers features such as real-time group chats, message boards, and pings. It also includes Check-ins, which are automated daily or weekly questions for your team, as well as Campfire, a casual chat channel.

Once you sign up for an account, you can immediately set up a new project. All communication is kept exclusive to each project to promote focus and avoid communication channel clogs.

Advantages

  • User-friendly interface
  • Hill Charts to track projects
  • Multiple communication channels

Drawbacks

  • Limited customization
  • Limited third-party app integrations

Pricing

Basecamp’s starter paid plan is $15 per user per month and includes all features. Basecamp Pro Unlimited is $299 per month with unlimited users and 5 terabytes of cloud storage.

9. Monday.com

Although technically a project management app, monday.com is composed of an array of customized spreadsheets that your team can collaborate on. Each user can log tasks on their to-do list and provide status updates and comments, which allows the whole team to view active tasks and work together on projects. This cloud-based platform includes a variety of built-in templates and automated workflow, and its customizable design means you can scale and adapt monday.com to your business as needed.

The user interface is friendly and intuitive, but you and your team still have access to 24/7 customer support. Most collaboration and project management apps use a per-user pricing setup, but Monday.com charges per group and can potentially have a higher cost-per-user ratio than other options. If you pay for a group of 40 users, for example, you’ll still pay the full fee for 40 people even if you only have 30 active users during that period.

Advantages

  • Knowledge base and daily live webinars for users
  • Exceptional customization and flexibility
  • 24/7 customer support

Drawbacks

  • Group-based pricing model
  • Limited integrated app actions

Pricing

For a basic plan and three seats, expect to pay $8 per user per month or a total of $24 per month. You can try the app for free.

10. Flock

Cloud-based Flock functions as your team’s communication hub and virtual meeting place with instant messaging, video calling, task tracking, and secure file-sharing. Its intuitive and user-friendly interface as well as public and private chat channels make it easy for your remote and hybrid teams to stay connected and focused on the same goals.

Comparable to leading workplace chat and collaboration software, Flock features mobile apps, a variety of third-party app integrations, automations, and more. Some users report that the visual design and updated features don’t always keep up with the competition.

Advantages

  • Mobile apps for iOS, Android, and more
  • Wide range of third-party app integrations
  • In-app video conferencing and chat

Drawbacks

  • Few customization options
  • Lacking interface and feature polish

Pricing

Flock’s paid plans start at $4.50 per user per month. To unlock every available feature, you’ll have to request a quote for the Enterprise plan.

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What Is Collaboration Software?

Collaboration software refers to software that’s intended to support communication and shared workflows within teams and across contractors, clients, and other parties.

Although each software and its collaboration tools are a little different, most team collaboration software includes features for real-time chat, task delegation, central data hubs, and file sharing. It often eliminates or reduces the need for email-based communication and instead uses tag-based messaging and automated workflows to streamline collaboration. Combined with project management tools and various viewing options, teams can visualize and track project progress.

Collaborative Software Comparison Table

All collaboration software aims to enhance your team’s productivity, but each software carries a few key differences and pricing options. Check out the differences below.

CompanyBest ForStarting Price
FreshBooksBest for Small BusinessesFree Trial – Sign Up Now!
SlackBest for Features and Integrations$7.25/user per month(billed annually)
AsanaBest for Workflow Management$10.99/user per month(billed annually)
MiroBest for Whiteboard Collaboration$8/user per month(billed annually)
AirtableBest for Database-Driven Collaboration$20/user per month(billed annually)
TrelloBest for Kanban-Style Collaboration$5/user per month(billed annually)
PodioBest for Customized Workplace Hubs$11.20/user per month(billed annually)
BasecampBest for Balancing Work and Communication$15/user per month(billed annually)
Monday.comBest for Startups on a Tight Budget$8/user per month(billed annually)
FlockBest for Sales and Marketing Teams$4.50/user per month(billed annually)

FreshBooks Lets You Collaborate Seamlessly

Whether you’re a freelancer or a business owner with a small team, you know that effective teamwork, collaboration, and teamwork are the key characteristics of a successful business. With FreshBooks Collaboration Software, you can invite team members and clients to projects, provide focused feedback, integrate with other third-party apps, share files and images, and take advantage of other team collaboration tools.
Ready to get started with seamless collaboration software? Try FreshBooks free today, and watch how you and your team’s productivity, communication, and efficiency level up.

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FAQs about Collaboration Tools

Interested in learning more about online collaboration tools and how they can help your business? Check out these FAQs about collaboration tools.

Why do companies need a collaboration system?

Collaboration systems aim to improve communication, organization, and workflows within a business, which in turn allows employees to focus on their common goals and delegated tasks. It’s especially important for hybrid or remote workplaces that can otherwise have some disconnect between team members.

How do I choose the best collaboration tool?

There are many collaboration software to choose from, and the right one depends on the specific needs of your business. To determine the right fit for your business, consider factors such as the features the software needs to have, the size of your business and your team, the volume of projects you manage, and the complexity of each project.


Levon Kokhlikyan headshot
Levon Kokhlikyan, ACCA

About the author

Levon Kokhlikyan is a Finance Manager and accountant with 18 years of experience in managerial accounting and consolidations. He has a proven track record of success in cost accounting, analyzing financial data, and implementing effective processes. He holds an ACCA accreditation and a bachelor’s degree in social science from Yerevan State University.

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