Project management isn't just for big teams and businesses. Individuals can also use project management software to organise and manage their projects to reach new goals and achievements.
Best Project Management Apps for Individuals: Summary
- Notion - Flexible solo workflow management with templates.
- ClickUp - Has a perfect solo mode for managing projects.
- Akiflow - Consolidate all task apps in one.
- Asana - Great for solo use and expanding to a team.
- Todoist - For a basic easy-to-use task management system.
- Zenkit To-Do - Can expand into the Zenkit ecosystem.
- Milanote - Great project management software for visual thinkers.
We have gathered a list of the best personal project management apps you can use as a solo user for organising whatever it is you want to plan and manage.
Maybe you are a freelancer and need a better way to organise your client's projects, or you might just be an individual working towards a goal and need a better-structured plan.
Let's dig into this list
Let's take a look at our chosen project management apps for solo users, freelancers, or those who want to eventually expand into a small or larger team.
Project Management App with Flexible Layouts
Best For
Passionate All-In-One
Availability
Pricing
Notion is a flexible workspace lots of individuals use for a range of reasons. You can use Notion to track tasks, projects, or even the movies and books you want to complete.
With Notion, you can use a huge range of Notion templates, create your own templates or buy other templates. This helps you get started with Notion since there's a bit of a learning curve.
Notion uses things like pages, workspaces and databases to create a workflow. In terms of project management, you can create a space for tracking progress, assigning tasks and writing down all to-dos and ideas.
See how Abi Connick uses Notion for her business below.
Why is Notion Good For Personal Use?
Three reasons why Notion is a good solo project management application.
- Flexible nature - Notion is a super flexible app where you can customise and design your own workflow for your own specific needs.
- Allows you to use templates for making project views - Use a range of templates to help get you started with solo project management.
- Wide range of users who create templates - There are so many Notion experts who create and sell their templates for a range of needs.
Overall, Notion is good for personal use because you can learn how the app works, customise your own workflow and have the opportunity to add other team members.
Personal Project Management App With Built in Solo Mode
Best For
Small Teams
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Pricing
Type of Tool
ClickUp is an all-in-one project management application that now uses AI to assist users with writing and organising tasks. The beauty of ClickUp is that you can use it for free.
Solo use in ClickUp is free and you are then able to manage your own projects using the following features; multiple views such as calendar and Kanban boards, whiteboard, documents and sprint management. When your team grows you can always expand.
With ClickUp you can create spaces for each project or area, and inside these spaces, you can have lists, views for project tracking, documents and chat with others.
See how Teri-Ann Tagget uses ClickUp as a solopreneur.
What Makes ClickUp Good For Personal Use?
ClickUp is good for personal use because it has everything you need in a clean space for personal project management with the ability to expand if you wanted to.
- Comes with a ClickUp Solo Mode - ClickUp has a solo mode for those working for themselves or on their own projects. You can also use the free version for this.
- Perfect for managing Tasks & Projects - ClickUp is made for managing both tasks and larger projects thanks to its range of features and workflow abilities.
- Great for expanding if you expand into a small or large team - When the time comes to expand your business, you can always upgrade to add more members.
So, if you want something with more added structure rather than having to create your own workflow, Clickup could be a good option as a solo project management app.
Bringing Tasks from Other Project Management Apps
Best For
Advanced Daily Planner
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Pricing
Akiflow is known for being a task consolidation tool, this means you can integrate your other task management applications into one, allowing you to manage everything in one place.
Akiflow uses a universal inbox where all your tasks will live, from here you can drag them into your calendar, set due dates and schedule all your tasks in. You can then see everything you need to get done today in one place, from all your apps.
Time-block your tasks to include time management, send your availability to clients, set recurring tasks and more to create an all-in-one place for solo task management.
Watch or read our beginner's guide to Akiflow here.
Why is Akiflow a Good Personal Project App?
Akiflow makes a good solo project management app because you can add all tasks in one place. It reduces stress and boosts productivity, allowing you to focus better on tasks and productivity.
- Allows you to plan tasks and calendar - With Akiflow you can plan your tasks and calendar in one place, making sure events and tasks don't clash.
- Bring in tasks from other apps like ClickUp, Notion and Gmail - As a task consolidation tool, you can organise everything in one place.
- This is your own view of tasks - You can see all your own personal tasks here in Akiflow, from all apps so you can manage personal projects.
Overall, Akiflow provides a task and calendar management system to organise to-dos, tasks and events from multiple applications.
Project Management App Expanding Your Team
Best For
All-Round Project Manager
Availability
Pricing
Asana is easy to get started with since everything you need for project management is already there. It's a clean and simple application to use with an enjoyable interface.
Asana uses different views such as lists, timelines and boards to help visualise tasks at hand. Different views also help with tracking progress and seeing what needs doing.
With Asana you can also automate your workflows to speed up time, this is useful if you are solo managing your projects and helps you not forget anything. You can also track progress with reports.
Paul Minors talks a lot in more detail about using Asana for project management.
Why Asana is Good For Personal Use
Asana can be used for solo project management, with the chance to level up and add team members if you wish.
- Paul Minors uses Asana for project management - Lots of people use Asana for solo project management and you can find inspiration and tutorials on how to do so.
- Ideal for growing with a team - If you eventually want to grow your team, you'll already know how the software works and integrate this nicely.
- Easy to grasp and basic to use - Asana is all laid out for you, the project management workflow is easy to follow and you can quickly train your team.
Overall, Asana provides a clean and basic project management system, great for getting started without the stress and huge learning curve.
Easy-to-Use Task Management & List System
Best For
Simple task management
Availability
Pricing
Todoist is more of a to-do list and task app that can be used for individuals to manage projects. With Todoist you can create lists of tasks you need to complete and set due dates.
Todoist is great for quickly getting thoughts and ideas down, to then managing and turning them into a task at a later date. You can then organise with tags and add subtasks to break these down further. You can create workspaces to separate your work and personal tasks and use priority sorting and reminders to stay on top of what's important.
Watch this guide to organising tasks in Todoist.
Why is Todoist Good For Personal Project Management?
Todoist is a really good personal project management app for personal use thanks to its ease of use and simplicity for managing tasks.
- A basic task management app - Todoist is a really basic task management app, you don't have all the advanced features but you might not need them for solo use.
- Use boards for planning projects - Todoist gives a visual ability for planning tasks using boards and a list view so you can see everything in one place.
- Create good custom views for your tasks with labels and filters - Use labels and filters to view all similar tasks and projects when searching for them.
Overall, Todoist is great if you're looking for a more simple and refined way to manage smaller tasks over time.
Expand Into The Zenkit Ecosystem
Zenkit To-Do is an easy task management platform for all your lists, to-dos and tasks. You can organise your notes and tasks to make sense of things you need to get done and to stay on track with projects and events.
You can view your day to see everything you have scheduled, add tasks to craft your day and set reminders for times, this helps to add structure and to get things done from your list.
Zenkit To-Do is part of the Zenkit suite, a group of apps that all work together to boost productivity. Some of these apps include Zenkit Projects, Zenkit Base and ZenChat.
What Makes Zenkit To-Do Good For Personal Use?
Zenkit To-Do is more of a task management app for individuals to plan and organise their smaller to-dos, lists, events and more. It's easy to follow and get started with.
- All round good task application - If you're looking for a task management app and don't really need all the advanced features, it might be a good choice.
- Allows you to expand into Zenkit Projects - Zenkit also has Zenkit projects, which you can lead into from To-Do to then use more features to manage projects all in one ecosystem.
Overall, Zenkit To-Do provides an easy space to manage tasks, and events to-dos with the possibility of extending further into the Zenkit ecosystem to fulfil further needs.
Great Project Management Software For Visual Thinkers
Best For
Visual Thinkers
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Pricing
Milanote is a visual project and task management app, great for those who want to visualise their plans and ideas, especially in creative areas of work like product design.
With Milanote you can create boards to collect everything in one place. This includes PDFs, notes, images and files and links from the web, you can arrange your boards to further organise your ideas and project planning. Use lines and text boxes to connect ideas and make sense of your thoughts, from here you can also invite others to collaborate with you, useful if you eventually end up working in a team.
Why is Milanote Good For Solo Project Management?
Milanote is a good solo project management app for those who are looking for a more visual and creative place to organise thoughts and manage their tasks.
- Perfect for visual thinkers - If you're a visual thinker, lists just won't cut it. Milanote uses images, links, text, arrows and more to create a space for ideas to grow.
- Planning with boards and ideas - Uses open spaces like boards for users to completely brainstorm their ideas and create step-by-step processes.
Milanote is overall a good solo project management app especially if you want to create your own workspace in a visual and creative manner.
Best Personal Project Management App Category Winners
There are so many apps to choose from for personal project management, here are three we think are great for visual use, flexibility and overall project management.
Best Visual Project Management App: Milanote
Milanote wins the place of the best visual project management app thanks to its board view. You can create a visual plan to work through your projects and amend this visual plan so it works for you and your brain.
There's no set structure on how to plan your project, you can add in images, notes, PDF's and more.
Best Flexible Project Management App: Notion
Notion is one of the best flexible project management applications since you can really create workspaces that suit your own personal needs or start with templates.
In Notion you can use linked databases to track progress, assign others if you wish and keep information in sync across different pages.
Best To-Do App for Client Project Management: Akiflow
If you are a freelancer or working by yourself managing clients Akiflow is a great easy place to start, you can also build your team inside Akiflow if you wish to.
Akiflow is great for consolidating all your tasks from various apps and being able to manage everything in one place alongside your calendar, perfect for managing clients and your own personal schedule.
A To-Do App or Project Management App?
Stuck between deciding if you need just a to-do list app to manage your tasks, or if a project management app is better suited for your needs? Let's explore the differences.
Should I Use a To-Do List App?
To-do list apps are more for creating task-based lists. It's a simpler and easier way to manage your tasks but provides less structure and insight into your progress.
With a to-do list, you can daily input things you need to get done or schedule your time ahead. You can also add subtasks to your lists and reminders for due dates.
Recap of To-Do Lists Features:
- For writing task lists that require short to long amounts of time.
- Add priorities such as high, medium and low to further plan.
- Add subtasks to break down larger task lists.
- Set reminders and due dates for when tasks need to be completed.
- Great for personal and small teams who work on individual tasks.
So, if you are looking for a simple and easy-to-use application to manage your daily tasks that can be quickly completed, a to-do list might be better suited for you.
Or, Should I Use a Project Management App?
Project management apps hold more abilities and features for managing tasks that are spread out over some time and have lots of different elements to them.
They are great for seeing timelines, tracking progress and being able to spot any issues before they occur. Project management apps are more commonly used within teams and businesses, however, freelancers and individuals can use them too.
Recap of Project Management Features:
- For organising a large-scale project.
- From brainstorming to execution.
- Assign individual tasks to others such as design and sales.
- See progress over time.
- Have a big end goal for one thing, not lots of little tasks.
So, if you are wanting to track and manage a large project for a period of time with different elements such as brainstorming, designing, communicating etc, try out a PM app.
- Best Project Management Apps for Individuals: Summary
- Project Management App with Flexible Layouts
- Personal Project Management App With Built in Solo Mode
- Bringing Tasks from Other Project Management Apps
- Project Management App Expanding Your Team
- Easy-to-Use Task Management & List System
- Expand Into The Zenkit Ecosystem
- Great Project Management Software For Visual Thinkers
- Best Personal Project Management App Category Winners
- Best Visual Project Management App:
- Best Flexible Project Management App:
- Best To-Do App for Client Project Management:
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