Best Task Management Software for Small Businesses in 2025

You're opening in 20 minutes, and you're already juggling a dozen things. Two team members called in sick, the inventory list is MIA, and the new hire is waiting for training. Meanwhile, your phone won’t stop buzzing with updates from the night crew—and somewhere, today’s cleaning checklist is buried under a stack of receipts.

This is what running a business without a system looks like. Or more specifically, without the right task management software for small businesses.

When you’re managing a team, keeping track of who’s doing what (and when) it can feel like a full-time job on its own. The good news? A simple task tracking software for hourly workers can help you ditch the chaos and run a tighter ship.

In this guide, we’re walking you through the best task management software in 2025. These aren’t bloated enterprise platforms you’ll never use. They’re tools built for you, the small business owner who needs to assign tasks, schedule shifts, track progress, and keep everyone on the same page.

So, put down the crumpled up post-its, mute your notifications, and let’s get started.

TL;DR: Best task management software for small business in 2025

No time to read the whole article? We’ve got you. Here’s the fast-track version of what to pick, why, and what to look for.

Best task management software at a glance

Homebase: Combines task tracking, time clocks, scheduling, and built-in messaging. Designed for hourly workers.

Asana or Monday.com: Great for teams juggling multiple projects or departments. 

Wrike or Zoho Projects: Ideal if your team handles multi-step projects with dependencies, deadlines, and detailed reporting needs.

ClickUp: A surprisingly powerful free plan with multiple task views, recurring reminders, and automations.

Must-have features for small business task management:

• Mobile access so employees can check tasks on the go
• Self-serve task checklists to reduce micromanagement
• Time tracking and task coordination in one place
• Calendar or scheduling integration

What to consider before choosing your management software:

• Are you managing hourly staff, projects, or both?
• Do you need scheduling and payroll features in the same system?
• How large is your team or how fast are you growing?
• Will your employees be using it on their phones?

Whichever tool catches your eye, the right task management software should make your life easier, not add another item to your to-do list.

"Finding a platform to manage employees schedules, time clock, vacation time, and reports was challenging as a small business. Homebase takes a lot of the work out of managing these tasks at a great value. Bottom line is that Homebase has changed how we as a small business keep organized." - Daniel Gravely, Owner of Eurotech

What makes a great task management software?

Not all task management software is created equal. If you're a small business owner or manager juggling schedules, staff, and a million tiny moving parts, you need task management software that actually works for you.

Here’s what to look for when choosing the best task management software for small business needs.

User-friendly interface

You don’t have time to babysit your software (or your team while they figure it out). The best simple task tracking software should feel intuitive from day one. Think: drag-and-drop task boards, clean dashboards, and filters that let you find what’s due now instead of three clicks and a prayer.

If your team can’t pick it up in under 15 minutes, it’s not the right fit. 

Customizable workflows

A bakery’s daily checklist isn’t the same as a landscaping crew’s. Your business has its own rhythm, and your task tool should match it. Look for employee task management software that lets you create custom task categories, recurring task templates, and status updates that make sense for how you work.

Bonus points if it lets you assign tasks by role, shift, or location—especially if you’re managing hourly workers or multiple teams.

Collaboration tools

Task management isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s about keeping everyone in sync. Built-in messaging, file attachments, and real-time updates help avoid crossed wires and “Wait, who was doing that again?” moments.

Collaborative task management tools keep your team aligned. No email clutter or rogue group texts.

Smart integrations

Your tools should talk to each other. Task management software with scheduling integrations means you can align daily task lists with shift planning. Bonus if it connects to your payroll system, time tracking tools, or cloud storage.

Look for task management with calendar integration, Slack or Teams syncing, and automation options to reduce repetitive admin.

Scalability

Your task manager should grow with your business. Today you’re managing a few part-timers. Next year? Maybe you’ve got two locations and a full-time team. Cloud-based task manager tools with multi-user support, permission levels, and flexible workflows make scaling smoother when your ops expand.

Think of this like future-proofing.

Mobile app availability

You’re not glued to a desk, and neither is your team. Whether you’re walking the floor, out on a job site, or answering emails between deliveries, a mobile task management app keeps everyone in the loop.

Need to reassign a task while grabbing coffee? Done. Push a checklist to your closing crew while commuting? Easy. The best cross-platform task manager tools make work happen anywhere.

Reporting and analytics

You can’t fix what you can’t measure. Daily task management software that shows you what’s on track (and what’s slipping) helps you coach smarter, staff better, and stop problems before they snowball.

Look for task assignment and progress tracking features with dashboards that break it down: overdue tasks, productivity trends, and who’s consistently knocking it out of the park.

Price transparency

You shouldn’t need a spreadsheet to figure out your software bill. Budget-friendly task management tools should make pricing clear, not cloak it behind sales calls or fine print.

We love a good free software. When it's time to uplevel, look for flat rates per location (not per user), and plans that grow with your business. Avoid platforms that nickel-and-dime you for basic features like task scheduling or user permissions.

Best task management software for small businesses

Here are our top picks for the best task management software for small business owners looking for structure and minimal stress.

Homebase: Best all-in-one task manager for hourly teams

If you need to manage employee shifts, delegate tasks, and keep everyone in the loop—without juggling five different tools—Homebase is your go-to. It’s purpose-built for small businesses with hourly workers, offering a task manager that connects seamlessly with scheduling, time tracking, and payroll.

Use Homebase to assign daily checklists, track task completion in real-time, and tie tasks directly to shifts. Need your opener to check inventory before the store opens? Want your closing crew to clean the espresso machine? You can assign it, set due times, and get notifications when it’s done.

Why employers love it:

• Integrated with your employee schedule
• Assign tasks by role, team, or location
• Mobile-friendly for real-time updates on the floor

Cost: Free plan available for teams up to 20 people

“Homebase makes it easy and convenient to run our business. As a healthcare facility, we encounter various different tasks throughout any given day. From features such as timesheets and communication, homebase provides us with the tools to make completing said tasks seamless.” - Joseph Pfeiffer-Powell, Managing Director of United Physical Therapy

Smartsheet: Best for visual project planning and task tracking

Smartsheet blends the familiarity of a spreadsheet with the power of a project management tool. It’s ideal for small businesses that manage complex workflows or need approvals across departments.

Smartsheet works especially well for task coordination that spans days or weeks—think events, campaigns, or recurring client projects.

Why employers love it:

• Customizable task dashboards
• Gantt charts and workload views
• Good for planning with dependencies
• Scales up well as your business grows

Cost: From $9-$19 per member/month depending on membership level

Teamwork: Best for service businesses and client-facing task management

If your business runs on client deliverables, like a creative agency, marketing firm, or consulting business, Teamwork helps you manage internal and client tasks with ease. It’s designed to make project tracking, time logging, and team collaboration all happen in one place.

Plus, you can track billable time and generate invoices right inside the platform, making it one of the best task management software options for service-based small businesses.

Why employers love it:

• Built-in time tracking and invoicing
• Templates for repeatable projects
• Great for managing freelancers and contractors
• Scales from solo to multi-user teams

Cost: From $0-$19.99 per user/month depending on membership level

Best task management software for team collaboration

When your team needs to stay connected across locations or departments you need a good collaboration tool. Built to keep everyone aligned, whether you’re assigning work, managing deadlines, or just trying to stop the “who’s doing what?” chaos.

Asana: Best for organized, growing teams that need structure

Asana is a fan favorite for a reason. It’s flexible, powerful, and designed to help teams move work forward without micromanaging. You can view tasks in list, board, or calendar format, and it works beautifully for cross-functional projects that involve multiple contributors and deadlines.

If you’re growing fast and want your task system to grow with you, Asana is one of the top task management software options on the market.

Why employers love it:

• Tons of workflow templates and automations
• Great for planning campaigns, launches, and ops tasks
• Built-in progress tracking and goal-setting tools
• Easy to assign, tag, and prioritize tasks across teams

Cost: From $14.49 - $32.99 per user/month depending on membership level

Monday.com: Best for visual collaboration and process automation

If your team likes color-coded dashboards and drag-and-drop simplicity, Monday.com makes task management look good—and work better. It’s highly customizable, with templates for everything from sales pipelines to employee onboarding.

It’s a strong fit for small businesses that want their task tracking to double as a team dashboard, especially if you need cross-team visibility.

Why employers love it:

• Visual workflows that are easy to customize
• Automations to reduce admin work
• Task dependencies and notifications
• Integrates with email, Slack, Zoom, and more

Cost: From $0-$26 per seat/month depending on membership level

Basecamp: Best for simplicity and keeping everyone on the same page

Basecamp is built for clarity. You won’t find fancy Gantt charts or deep analytics here, just straightforward tools for assigning tasks, sharing files, chatting as a team, and keeping track of what’s due when.

If your small business is tired of too many tools and wants everything in one place (with fewer notifications), Basecamp might be your perfect match.

Why employers love it:

• Easy to use and onboard your team quickly
• Message boards, to-dos, calendars, and docs in one place
• Great for teams who like async communication

Cost: $15 per user/month depending on membership level or $299/month for all-inclusive pricing

Best task management software for complex projects

Some businesses just need simple task lists. But if you're managing overlapping deadlines, interdependent tasks, or multiple teams across locations, you need more than a checklist. 

Wrike: Best for task-heavy businesses juggling multiple teams and deadlines

Wrike blends enterprise-level functionality with a surprisingly clean user interface. It's ideal for companies that want detailed timelines, role-specific dashboards, and visual resource planning.

Why employers love it:

• Task dependencies, milestones, and timeline views
• Built-in approval workflows and version control
• Great for marketing, operations, or service teams juggling complex deliverables
• Desktop and mobile task management app included

Cost: From $0-$25 per user/month depending on membership level

Airtable: Best for highly customizable workflows and cross-functional data management

Airtable feels like a spreadsheet, but with superpowers. It’s one of the best cross-platform task managers for businesses that need flexible structure and detailed tracking. Think of it as a drag-and-drop task tracker that can double as a CRM, content calendar, or hiring pipeline.

Why employers love it:

• Grid, calendar, Kanban, and gallery views
• Automations and integrations keep recurring tasks off your plate
• Custom dashboards for everything from inventory to project planning
• Strong mobile and cloud-based task manager functionality

Cost: From $0-$45 per seat/month depending on membership level

Zoho Projects: Best for businesses already using the Zoho suite

If you're already running your business with Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, or other Zoho tools, Zoho Projects plugs right in. It’s great for coordinating remote teams and handling large projects across departments.

Why employers love it:

• Built-in time tracking and budget tracking
• Gantt charts, task dependencies, and milestones
• Seamless integration with Zoho and other business tools
• Affordable task management with time tracking and invoicing

Cost: From $0-$11 per user/month depending on membership level

Best free task management software

Free shouldn’t mean “barely works.” We've covered options above that have a free tier, but we've got a few more free task management software for small business options for you that shine for their features.

ClickUp: Best all-around free task tracking software for teams and individuals

ClickUp’s free plan is one of the most generous out there. You get to-do list software with reminders, multiple views (like calendar, list, and Kanban), time tracking, and even document creation.

Why employers love it:

• Extremely flexible task views and statuses
• Great for teams and solo users alike
• Automations and templates included, even on the free plan
• Works as both daily task management software and long-term project tracker

Trello: Best for visual task organization with zero learning curve

Trello remains one of the top simple task tracking software platforms for a reason. Its card-and-board setup mimics sticky notes and is easy for teams to adopt. Great for organizing repeatable workflows, task handoffs, or daily ops.

Why employers love it:

• Dead-simple onboarding for new employees
• Custom labels, checklists, and Power-Ups for extra functionality
• Ideal for retail teams, content production, or administrative workflows
• Available as a desktop task management software or mobile app

Freedcamp: Best free platform for small teams with growing needs

Freedcamp flies under the radar but delivers surprisingly strong features for free. You’ll get Kanban boards, task dependencies, time tracking, and file sharing.

Why employers love it:

• Budget-friendly task management tool
• Includes collaboration tools at no extra cost
• Works great for service-based businesses and agencies managing repeat client work
• Flexible enough to be your first employee task management software

How to transition to new task management software

Even the best task management software for small business won’t make a difference if your team never fully adopts it. Switching systems can feel overwhelming, but with the right approach, you can make the move smooth, strategic, and stress-free. Here's how to pull it off.

1. Assess your current workflow

Before you dive into a shiny new platform, take stock of what’s working and what’s not. Are tasks falling through the cracks? Is communication clunky? Are you duplicating efforts across spreadsheets and sticky notes? Knowing your pain points will help you choose the right software and customize it to match your operations.

2. Migrate data seamlessly

No one wants to re-enter hundreds of tasks manually. The good news? Most modern task management software offers import tools, CSV uploads, or migration services to move your projects over with minimal friction. Just make sure your task names, due dates, and assignments are clean and up-to-date before importing.

3. Train your team

Even the most intuitive tools need a little onboarding. Carve out time for a walk-through or demo, and explain how this new software will make their jobs easier. Focus on task creation, assignments, notifications, and deadlines—aka the daily basics.

4. Test and refine

Give your new system a trial period. Test it with a real project or workflow before going all-in. This helps you catch any hiccups early, like missing fields, confusing steps, or duplicate task notifications and make quick adjustments.

Why Homebase is the best task management software for small businesses

Homebase makes managing tasks simple, scalable, and stress-free, no matter how big (or small) your team is. Here’s what you get:

• Clear task assignments: Assign tasks to individuals, roles, or departments with full visibility on who’s doing what—no micromanaging required.
• ‍Mobile access: Your team can check tasks from their phones in real time, so nothing slips through the cracks.
• ‍Real-time tracking: See what’s done and what’s overdue. No need for constant check-ins or reminders.
• ‍Repeatable task templates: Automate recurring checklists (like opening and closing duties) to save time and ensure consistency.
• ‍New hire onboarding: Standardize training with repeatable task flows so every new employee gets up to speed the same way.
• ‍Performance insights: Spot trends over time to identify bottlenecks or training gaps.
• ‍All-in-one team management: Manage tasks, schedules, and time tracking in the same app. You don’t need to switch tools or juggle tabs.
• ‍Task notes for better communication: Let your team leave notes on tasks to flag issues or updates. Less phone tag, more clarity.
• ‍Desktop and mobile flexibility: Review, assign, and monitor tasks from anywhere, on the floor or on the go.

Try Homebase for free and give your team a task management system that actually works, for them and for you.

‍
Start now

‍