In this article, you’ll learn more about the process of product management and take a look at our top 10 picks of relevant product management software to try in 2024.
Developing excellent products isn’t easy, and there’s no doubt about it. It’s balancing between meeting customer expectations and dealing with all the ins and outs of product life cycles.
Choosing the right product management tool isn’t an easy task either. Seamless and intuitive product management software is a necessity for effective collaboration, especially within remote teams. Such solutions can simplify product launch planning, project management, product analisys, prototyping, and even marketing. The right software can help you optimize productivity, maintain effective communication within teams, manage tasks, and stay on top of all the project deadlines.
In today’s article, after careful explorations and experiments with different tools, we’re going to share with you 10 top-notch product management tools that have proven invaluable in navigating the challenging realm of product management.
Definition of Product Management
The question, “What is product management?” comes up quite often, even among seasoned business people. It could be due to the fact that product management encompasses a wide-ranging area of responsibilities and might mean entirely different things in different companies.
Putting it in straightforward terms, product management is the process of bringing to market products and services that customers need. This work is integral to the broader product development cycle, which encompasses the entire process of transforming a raw idea into a solution that addresses customer needs, and then measuring its lovability in the market.
Various product management tools can help teams take care of particular phases in the product life cycle, from product launch planning and product analytics to prototyping or even product marketing.
At the same time, there are some product management software tools, such as comprehensive project management software, that provide a central platform for developing and managing products.
Therefore, it makes sense to find a single virtual product management solution that will offer your team the right features.
Things to Consider When Choosing the Product Management Solution
When it comes to digital tools that simplify work processes, product managers now have more options than ever. Certain solutions cover a wide range of tasks that product managers are responsible for.
A product manager’s job involves more than simply gathering product insight, tracking the backlog, and reviewing the product roadmap, and the following is a list of product management tools that can help you excel in your role:
- user behavior analytics tools, including heat mapping and session replays;
- tools for collaboration that encompass messaging, voice chats, file sharing, and document editing;
- roadmapping software for drafting and maintaining product roadmap;
- project management tools to facilitate product managers in keeping track of things;
- web conferencing tools with support of screen sharing and recording for demos, presentations, and onboarding.
Yet no matter what the specific needs of your company are, some key areas to consider are pretty universal. The software of your choosing should adhere to the following parameters:
- Usability. Product management software should be easy to deploy, use, and navigate. Ease of use of the software can be a crucial step in deciding your ability to efficiently manage a product and the data associated with it.
- Integrations. Since most tools aren’t an all-in-one solution, you’ll need to make sure your product tools have integrations available. This way, you’ll be able to create a stack of tools for project managers that meets your company’s unique needs.
- Analytics and reporting features. The best tools for product managers will support their responsibility to clearly communicate and present why and how products are built by providing easy ways to report on the progress and present the roadmap.
- Customization. Every company has different product management needs, which makes it rather difficult to pinpoint one product management software that would work for everybody. The ability to customize templates, roadmaps, and integrations is essential for finding product management software that fits into the frameworks of your business.
- Scalability. Product development platform of your choosing should be able to keep up with the rising demands your organization may face.
- Value for money. A full product suite can get pretty costly, and no one wants to pay for features that will be left unused. Software’s paid plans should be flexible and cost efficient.
- Level of support. The software should have customer support available and provide its users with options to help learn how to use the tool. Other online resources to help customers adapt features to their organizational needs should also be shared.
Overall, there’ll never be a single product management app that could cover all the needs of a product manager. Yes, such software can help you make informed decisions and create your product roadmap, but you'll also need a lot of various tech support along the way. The ultimate question when choosing the optimal product management software for the specific needs of your company should be, “Can this software help my team create a better product aligned with our customer needs and business objectives?”
Our Pick of Top 10 Product Management Software of 2024
No organization has the exact same needs, and different product management frameworks will have different impact on the features that are more suitable for a company.
Below, you’ll find the overview of the most comprehensive product management tools we’ve compiled through market research and personal inquiries.
1. Jira
Jira is a SaaS project and product management platform that is a part of the Atlassian family of products. It is best suited for medium to large-sized teams in the software development sector.
The solution can serve as a single source of visibility for product teams. Jira Software provides product managers with real-time visual data. With user stories, issues, and tasks, Jira can help product managers break bigger concepts and ideas so they are more manageable across all teams. Users can also discuss and prioritize allocated tasks with complete visibility at every stage of the product development process.
Useful Features:
- Product & project management
- Issue tracking
- Customizable workflows
- Permission & access management
- Third-party integrations
Pricing Options:
Pricing for Jira Software starts at $7.16 (user/ month, when billed monthly) with the Standard plan or at $12.48 (user/ month, when billed monthly) with the Premium plan, both of which include a 7-day free trial. Annual pricing plans start at 201-300 user tier. A free plan is available for up to 10 users.
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2. Asana
Asana is comprehensive software that helps teams orchestrate various aspects of their work, from daily tasks and small projects to strategic initiatives.
The solution helps teams of all sizes to have more clarity, move faster, and reach more ambitious goals. The platform is focused on its scalability and reliability so managers can always be ready to work.
It offers great functionality to manage projects with the ability to pull real-time fully customizable dashboards based on project tasks and objectives. The software is great for collaboration, providing the ability to create custom rules and templates. Overall, it’s quite intuitive and user-friendly, which helps with onboarding of new users and the overall adoption of the software.
Useful Features:
- Project management
- Task management
- Team assignment
- Collaboration tools
- Easy implementation process
Pricing Options:
Its Starter pricing plan, which is suitable for growing teams that need to track the progress of their projects, costs $10.99 (user/month, billed annually). The Advanced plan, best suited for companies that need to manage a portfolio of work and goals across departments, comes at $24.99 (user/month, billed annually). The solution also has a free version for the individuals and small teams up to 10 users who’re looking to manage their tasks.
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3. Monday dev
Monday dev is a product management tool that aids teams in planning, building, and launching new products. The solution provides a comprehensive suite of tools, facilitating detailed interactive roadmaps that make it easier to track the entire product development lifecycle.
The platform’s drag-and-drop functionality simplifies task organization, milestone setting, and progress tracking so that teams maintain full visibility throughout the projects.
Monday dev also offers visualization capabilities, such as Gantt charts and Kanban board, which aid teams in effective management of their work, be it backlog management or sprint execution. The platform promotes real-time collaboration, enabling team members to comment on tasks, share updates, and attach files directly within the interface.
Useful Features:
- Custom dashboards
- Burndown charts
- Execution Management
- Task scheduling & tracking
- Resource management
Pricing Options:
Monday dev’s pricing ranges from $9 (user/month, billed annually) for its Basic plan and $12 (user/month, billed annually) for the Standard plan to $20 (user/month, billed annually) for its Pro plan, with free trials of each plan available. A free plan with limited functionality is available for up to 2 users.
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4. ClickUp
ClickUp is a product management tool that considers itself to be the “one app to replace them all,” with tasks, docs, chat, goals and dashboards packaged into one solution.
Easily customizable, the solution lets teams of all sizes deliver work more effectively, boosting their productivity. The software’s key product management features include task boards for product roadmaps and collaborative docs for idea sharing.
Useful Features:
- Project management
- Task scheduling & tracking
- Data visualization
- Employee database
- Third-party plugins
Pricing Options:
ClickUp is free to use for unlimited users with some storage and feature limitations. Paid plans start from $7 (user/month, billed annually) for its Unlimited plan and $12 (user/month, billed annually) for its Business plan to $19 (user/month, billed annually) for the software’s most feature-exhaustive Business Plus plan.
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5. Airfocus
Airfocus is the only modular product management platform currently available on the market. It is tailored for product teams to manage market-facing products, internal products, IT portfolios, etc.
The flexibility of the platform helps product teams manage strategy, understand user needs, prioritize, and align everybody involved in the project around clear roadmaps.
Airfocus offers quick setup of the roadmaps with the intuitive drag-and-drop interface. It also comes equipped with a library of fully adjustable templates built on proven product management and roadmapping methods.
Useful Features:
- Roadmapping
- Project management
- Customer feedback management
- Objectives & OKRs management
Pricing Options:
Airfocus Advanced pricing plan starts from $69 (user/month, when billed annually + 2 free months). It also offers two custom plans (Pro and Enterprise), the pricing of which is available upon request. The solution has a 14-day free trial that offers access to the features and services from all of the plans.
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6. Craft.io
Craft.io is an end-to-end product management platform that aids in effective management of the entire lifecycle of digital products, from feedback collection and feature definition to roadmapping and portfolio management.
The tool can be used to create tailored, up-to-date roadmaps that seamlessly connect strategy to features and tell compelling product stories. Its pre-built templates for product epics, user personas, and prioritization frameworks can help even experienced product managers develop their assets in minutes instead of spending hours building them manually.
Useful Features:
- Roadmapping
- Guru views & Gantt charts
- Workflow management & tracking
- Capacity planning
Pricing Options:
Craft.io pricing plans range from $19 to $79 (user/month, billed annually). It also offers a custom Enterprise pricing plan, with enterprise-grade software features, security, onboarding, and support. A 14-day free trial is available.
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7. ProdPad
ProdPad is a product roadmap tool that supports the entire product journey, aiding in keeping all members of the team informed and aligned. Its dynamic toolkit integrates with product development processes at every stage and supports collaboration from the entire business.
Some users might find the software navigation rather difficult, struggling with its browsing and search capabilities, which are not quite as streamlined as they could be. Some minor integration issues can also be experienced.
Useful Features:
- Roadmapping
- Task scheduling, tracking, and prioritization
- Portfolio & feedback management
- Unlimited integrations
Pricing Options:
ProdPad has a variety of pricing plans, the cost of which ranges from $24 (user/month, billed annually) (“Roadmaps Essential” plan) to $44 (user/month, billed annually) (“Roadmaps Advanced” plan). It also offers a free trial of the entire platform.
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8. Miro
Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard platform designed to increase product team efficiency. The solution is incredibly flexible and versatile. It can be used for pretty much everything, from creating product roadmaps to running sprint retrospectives.
Useful Features:
- Mind mapping
- Task tracking
- Data visualization
- Miro Assist AI
Pricing Options:
Miro pricing starts at $8 (user/month, when billed annually) for its Starter plan and at $16 (user/month, when billed annually) for the Business plan. There’s a free plan available with limited functionality and maximum of 3 editable work boards.
Video overview:
9. Visor
Visor is a cloud-based product management tool that aids in streamlining product development processes, making it easier for product teams to collaborate, prioritize features, and track progress.
The solution is a spreadsheet-inspired workspace that stays in sync with Jira. It’s best suited for businesses looking for a product management tool that can help them manage their products from ideation to launch.
Useful Features:
- Data visualization & dashboards
- Multi-user platform with external integrations
- Third-party plugins & add-ons
Pricing Options:
Visor starts at $9 (user/month, billed annually) with its Pro pricing plan and goes up to $19 (user/month, billed annually) with the Ultimate plan. The solution also has a free forever plan available for up to 2 workbooks.
Video overview:
10. Zeda.io
Zeda.io is an AI-powered product discovery and strategy platform.
It’s designed to help B2B and SaaS businesses identify customer problems and guide product development decisions. The AI-guided strategy capabilities of the software enable companies to create revenue-driving product roadmaps informed by customer insights and product intelligence.
The solution consolidates all customer feedback into a central hub, thus offering a holistic view of customer insights and the ability to close the feedback loop faster with the help of AI.
Useful Features:
- Insights analysis with themes
- Centralized idea pool
- Drag-&-drop roadmap builder
- Collaboration on discussion threads
Pricing Options:
The software offers a Pro pricing plan that comes at $99 (user/month, billed annually). It also offers a Custom plan for scaling teams requiring advanced customizations and enterprise features such as SSO, on-premise implementation, SAML, migration assistance, the price of which is available upon request. A free 14-day trial of the solution is also available.
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Honorable mention: Kickidler
Kickidler is a comprehensive software with powerful functionality that be utilized for product management amongst other things.
The software incorporates a wide variety of tools within a unified platform. Its built-in features help executives and product managers oversee their ongoing projects and keep track of their teams throughout the entire product development lifecycle. Managers can keep their team members focused on their designated tasks, streamline workflows, and save a lot of time and effort.
It also provides native time tracking, employee monitoring, and a variety of helpful analytics, including reports on workload capacity, so managers can see what each team member has on their plate in real time.
In the beginning of the year, Kickidler developers announced a set of new features – Kickidler Project Monitoring. The suite can be used to enhance product monitoring experience, including progress tracking, focus monitoring, and workload tracking.
Useful Features:
- Online monitoring of PCs
- Monitoring employee efficiency & analyzing performed tasks during each workday
- Continuous video recording of employee screens
- Logging all keystrokes pressed during the workday
- Best-in-its-class customer support
- Built-in AI for product managers
- Enterprise-ready with world-class scalability
Pricing Options:
The cost of Kickidler’s Employee Monitoring pricing plan is just $5.5 (user/month, when billed annually). You can learn more about the software’s pricing plans here.
The software also has a free 2-week trial period that allows you to form your own unbiased opinion on its functionality.
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