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WordPress Guide → Plugins → Best Project Management
4 best project management plugins for WordPress
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.
But there are other ecommerce plugins besides WooCommerce that can add commerce functionality to 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. And that’s not all. Some are tailored to sell specific products and address unique business needs.
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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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 700+ | 4.2 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 8,000+ | 3.8 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+ | 4.8 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
4. Projectopia
Projectopia is a great choice for freelancers or agencies looking for a WordPress project management plugin.
| Active installations | WordPress repository rating | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| 400+ | 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
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.
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 WordPress.org hosting from Liquid Web, 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. And when you select fully managed WordPress hosting, our team of expert take care of the server so you can focus on your project or business.
Click below to explore options or start a chat with one of our WordPress hosting experts now to get answers to your questions and further guidance.
Additional resources
What is a WordPress plugin? →
A complete beginner’s guide to WordPress plugins and how to manage them
Are premium plugins worth it? →
Learn when it’s worth the investment … and when free is good enough.
How to check if a plugin is safe →
Simple steps to evaluating a plugin before you install and activate it
Lindsey Miller is a WordPress and WooCommerce expert and Chief Executive Officer of Content Journey. She has been working with WordPress since 2010 when she started her first WordPress blog. Since then she has attended WordCamps all over the world and had the honor of speaking at many WordCamps and other WordPress events such as WooSesh and WordFest.