Empower Your Product Team with Effective Product Management Tools

Product management is a vital part of modern business. It manages a company’s products and services from conception to delivery. Product managers need to be able to identify customer needs, design products, and services, and oversee the production process to ensure that their products meet customer expectations.

Project management tools for software development help streamline the product management process and make it easier to monitor product performance and make decisions about product development.

Product management is a multifaceted process that requires expertise in various areas, such as customer needs analysis, customer feedback management product goals formulation, team management, and performance analysis. The correct tools are necessary for product manager teams to enable effective and productive workflow.

With an increasing number of tools available in the market, it can take time to choose the best one.

In this article, we provide an overview of the top 9 product management tools for 2023 and explain their key features and benefits based on our experience.

What are product management tools?

Product management tools are software solutions that help managers plan, develop, and launch products. These tools can support a range of tasks, including project planning and teamwork, as well as client requirements and market research.

Product management software can:

• streamline the product development process to quickly identify areas of improvement and make changes to the product
• help product managers stay organized and on track with their product roadmap
• ensure that their products meet customer needs and expectations
• track product performance and gain insights into end-user needs.

Benefits of Effective Product Management Tools

Over the years of experience, we have seen numerous instances where effective product management has become the product's key competitive advantage, enabling businesses to gain a competitive edge by quickly developing and launching new products and services, more customer satisfaction, beating out the competition, and capturing a larger market share.

Also, product management spots fresh chances for development and innovation, enabling them to stay ahead of the curve and compete in their sector.

Streamlining your workflow

Product managers may optimize their workflow and maximize their time by utilizing free product management tools and solutions. Teams may perform activities more quickly, guarantee quality in less time, and help focus on the most important tasks to keep projects on track with the support of more efficient workflows.

Identifying and prioritizing projects

Product manager can set project objectives and prioritize tasks using product lifecycle management tools. You can frequently use these tools to make project plans and assign tasks to team members. They can also use survey tools to track progress, deadlines, and other indicators to keep projects on schedule.

Managing collaboration and communication

Your PMs may manage collaboration and communication with product management software. Numerous solutions are available for coordinating team discussions, sharing files, collecting feedback, and tracking changes. Product manager can use this to collect feedback and verify that everyone is on the same page and has the knowledge necessary to contribute.

Gaining end-user insights and customer feedback

You may learn more about the needs of end users with popular project management tools. These product management software solutions frequently have functions for surveying users, using user stories, gathering feedback, and employing other analytics tools to learn more about how people interact with a product.

This data can improve customer experience, guide product decisions, and provide important insights into customer motivations and preferences.

Tracking product development progress

Best product management tools can also help product managers track product development progress. As web app development services require tracking tasks, milestones, and deadlines, product management tools can also be used to monitor the progress of individual team members, allowing product manager to ensure that everyone is on track and that tasks are being completed on time. This can simplify locating problem areas and, if necessary, taking corrective movement.

Analyzing product performance and metrics

Product management tools can help product managers analyze product strategy for startups, performance, and metrics. These tools often include features for generating reports and visualizing data to gain insights into product usage by users.

Integrating Automation into your workflows

Processes like producing reports or notifying recipients can be automated. This can ensure that work is done efficiently and accurately, freeing up product managers to concentrate on higher-value jobs.

Top product management tools

Now, let's explore the best product management tools for different teams.

Craft.io - Product management

Craft.io is an outstanding choice when it comes to product management tools, offering a unique and comprehensive approach to managing the entire product lifecycle. Unlike other tools that focus on specific aspects of product management, Craft.io covers everything from feature definition and feedback collection to capacity planning, road mapping, and portfolio management. It's like an all-in-one package for product managers!

Why you should use Craft.io?

One of the key reasons to pick Craft.io is its seamless integration of various practices within product management frameworks. Product teams can handle all aspects of their digital products' lifespan without switching between different tools or platforms. It saves time and keeps everyone on the same page!

One of the best product management software, Craft.io also excels in creating a single point of truth for managing product data. Imagine having all your product-related information in one place, accessible to everyone involved in the development process.

No more confusion or miscommunication — just a clear and transparent flow of information.

The ability to create customized roadmaps is another standout feature of Craft.io. These roadmaps are always current, allowing product managers to adapt to changes quickly and effectively. Connecting strategy to features becomes a breeze, ensuring the team stays focused on the product's goals and objectives.

Now, let's explore the three distinctive pricing plans:

For just $39 per user per month, the Essential plan empowers your team to create product roadmap creation, product work planning and prioritization, define detailed product specifications, and crafting well-informed product strategies.

At $89 per editor per month, the Pro plan elevates your product management capabilities to the next level. You can enjoy all the features of the Essential plan, plus additional benefits such as unlimited contributors and viewers for free, and create a dedicated Feedback Portal for enhanced user engagement.

With access to all the features of the Pro plan, the Enterprise plan goes above and beyond with portfolio management, on-premise Jira and Azure DevOps integration, Single Sign-On (SSO) integration and enforcement, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), customizable ideation workflows, private cloud options, an Enterprise success plan, and advanced license management.

Aha! - Roadmapping

When it comes to the best product management tools, Aha! stands out as a top choice for product managers looking to streamline their road mapping, product planning, and issue-tracking processes. Its reputation as a powerful and widely-used product roadmap software already precedes it and for a good reason.

Product managers from various industries rely on Aha! to create a strategic roadmap that aligns teams and drives product success.

Why you should use it?

What makes Aha! truly unique is its adaptability. You can tailor the platform to suit your team's needs and goals, ensuring your roadmap perfectly aligns with your product vision. This flexibility lets you prioritize features, track issues, and adapt your plans as needed.

This product management platform comes packed with impressive features covering every aspect of product management. From the initial ideation phase to the final product release, Aha! provides a user-friendly interface that simplifies the entire process. Product manager can efficiently plan, track, and manage your product development while keeping all stakeholders informed and engaged.

An essential aspect of any great product management software is its ability to integrate seamlessly with other tools and platforms. Aha! doesn't disappoint in this regard. It offers smooth integrations with popular development and collaboration tools like Jira, Trello, and Slack. Your team can continue working within their preferred environments, ensuring maximum productivity and collaboration.

The pricing varies depending on the specific features you need:

For those seeking to link strategic goals and initiatives with actual work, capture customer reviews through an ideas portal, and prioritize features based on their value, the pricing starts at $59 per user per month.

If you're looking for a comprehensive idea management tool to create unlimited ideas portals with unlimited portal users and integrate with CRM systems like Salesforce and Zendesk, the pricing starts at $39 per user per month, including Aha! Notebooks Essentials.Aha! also offers a solution for creating beautiful documents and whiteboards, collaborating in real-time, and turning early concepts directly into roadmaps. This option starts at $9 per user per month.

Additionally, Aha! provides an agile tool to connect product and engineering teams, allowing you to link technical work to the product roadmap and choose a scrum, kanban, or hybrid agile approach. This plan also costs $9 per user per month and includes Aha! Notebooks Essentials.

Trello - Collaboration

When it comes to product lifecycle management tools, Trello has established itself as a leading platform that helps teams collaborate effectively and efficiently. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive features, Trello enables teams to organize projects into customizable cards and seamlessly progress through different phases.

Why you should use Trello?

Trello's standout feature is its remarkable degree of customization, allowing users to tailor their workflow to meet the specific needs of their team members or projects. With the ability to add labels, due dates, checklists, and attachments to each project card, Trello ensures that tasks are organized and assigned appropriately, keeping everyone on the same page.

The platform provides a centralized space where team members can share ideas, updates, and feedback, fostering transparency and alignment.

By visualizing the progress of projects in real-time, Trello enables teams to streamline workloads, identify bottlenecks, and establish clear standards for the entire organization. Its user-friendly interface and customizable workflow make it easy for teams to adapt and tailor the platform to their unique needs.

Every aspect of project management is made effortless, from creating boards and cards to assigning tasks, setting due dates, and adding comments.

Trello also integrates seamlessly with various tools and platforms, allowing users to connect and synchronize data across their tech stack. Integration possibilities include popular application dev tools such as Slack, Google Analytics and Google Drive, Jira, GitHub, and many more.

Pricing plans

• The free plan is perfect for individuals or small teams and includes unlimited cards, up to 10 boards per Workspace, and basic features.
• $ 5 USD per user/month is the standard plan, designed for small teams, providing advanced checklists, custom fields, and additional storage.
• $ 10 USD per user/month if billed annually is the premium plan for teams managing multiple projects and offers various views like Calendar, Timeline, Table, Dashboard, and Map, along with other advanced features.
• $17.50USD per user/month billed annually is an enterprise plan for organizations requiring enhanced security, control, and scalability, including unlimited Workspaces and organization-wide permissions.

Miro - Visual collaboration

As a popular product management software, Miro provides teams with a unique and expansive workspace to unleash their creativity and plan projects effectively. Its standout feature is the endless canvas, which allows teams to visualize ideas, concepts, and strategies without any limitations or constraints. Unlike traditional tools, Miro offers a virtually unlimited space for brainstorming, organizing information, and fostering innovation.

Why you should you Miro?

What sets Miro apart is its robust set of features specifically designed for product strategy, project planning and management. The platform enables teams to monitor project schedules and track tasks in real-time through its main dashboard. With interactive Gantt charts, teams gain an interactive chronological view of tasks within each project, facilitating better project oversight and timely adjustments.

Miro enables to visualization product data through interactive graphs. This feature provides valuable insights into product performance and enables data-driven decision-making.

Miro's analytics capabilities empower teams to evaluate product strategies, track and understand user behavior through research, design user interfaces, and test prototypes, ensuring a comprehensive and streamlined product development process.

Moreover, Miro offers seamless integrations with various tools (Jira, Confluence, Slack) and platforms, allowing teams to connect their existing workflows and collaborate seamlessly.

Pricing plans

• Free: Always free with unlimited team members, offering a single workspace with 3 editable boards and integrations with 100+ apps.
• Starter - $8 per member/month billed annually or $10 billed monthly: Unlimited boards, collaborator access on public boards, board version history, and custom templates.
• Business - $16 per member/month billed annually or $20 monthly: Provides advanced features like unlimited private workspaces, secure collaboration with guests, and access to 2000+ advanced diagramming shapes.
• Enterprise: Pricing available upon request, designed for scalable collaboration with extensive support, security, and control.

Jira Software - Software development management

Jira, the right product management software and issue-tracking tool developed by Atlassian, has garnered widespread acclaim for its exceptional capabilities and versatility. Jira's flexibility makes it a perfect fit for teams of any size and industry. Whether you're a software development team, marketing department, or IT support group, Jira adapts to your unique requirements and workflows, making it a versatile solution that scales with your business.

Why you should use Jira?

What sets Jira apart is its robust support for agile project management methodologies. Unlike conventional project management tools, Jira is specifically designed to cater to the needs of agile teams, empowering them to adapt, respond to change, and deliver high-quality results consistently.

The platform's user-friendly interface and intuitive workflows allow teams to prioritize tasks, efficiently manage their sprints, and track progress seamlessly, fostering collaboration and transparency throughout the development process.

In addition to its native features, Jira offers seamless integrations with numerous third-party tools and applications. Integrations with popular tools like Confluence, Bitbucket, Slack, and GitHub enable teams to centralize their workflows and communicate effortlessly across platforms.

Its agility and adaptability make it a powerful tool for managing complex projects, allowing teams to react swiftly to changing requirements and deliver products and services efficiently.

Jira's intuitive user interface and customizable workflows facilitate seamless onboarding and adoption for team members, reducing the learning curve and maximizing productivity. Its rich set of features, from agile boards and sprint planning to comprehensive reporting and user-friendly issue tracking, ensures that all aspects of project management are covered with precision.

Pricing Plans

• Free: Unlimited project boards, backlog and timeline, 2 GB of storage, and community support for up to 10 users.
• Standard: $7.75 per user, offers all features from the Free plan, with additional benefits such as support for up to 35,000 users, user roles & permissions, audit logs, and 250 GB of storage.
• Premium: $15.25 per user, includes everything from the Standard plan, with added features like advanced roadmaps, sandbox & release tracks, project archiving, and 24/7 Premium support.
• Enterprise: Encompasses all Premium plan features, unlimited sites, centralized security controls, centralized user subscriptions, and 24/7 Enterprise support.

ProductPlan - Product roadmapping

ProductPlan is an exceptional product management tool designed to streamline and simplify the process of product roadmapping.

Why you should use ProductPlan?

What sets ProductPlan apart is its focus on visually compelling roadmaps that align with their strategic goals. ProductPlan provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to easily build, customize, and share roadmaps. Whether you're working on a simple product plan or managing complex initiatives, ProductPlan's flexibility allows you to tailor your roadmaps to fit your specific needs.

ProductPlan offers a range of features for the road mapping process. From high-level strategic planning to detailed task management, ProductPlan has you covered. You can create roadmaps to capture and prioritize ideas, define goals and initiatives, create milestones, and track progress. The ability to visualize your roadmap in various formats, such as timelines and swimlanes, provides a clear and intuitive view of your product strategy.

ProductPlan's comprehensive feature set lets you capture and prioritize ideas, define strategic goals, and track progress — all in one centralized platform. This simplifies the road mapping process, enhances collaboration, and promotes efficient decision-making.

Additionally, seamless integrations with other tools enable a seamless workflow, keeping your roadmap connected to your project management and other collaboration tool ecosystem.

Pricing plans

• Basic: $39 per editor/month billed yearly, includes unlimited roadmaps, unlimited viewers, and customizable roadmap views and filters.
• Professional: $69 per editor/month billed yearly, offers all features from the Basic plan, with additional benefits such as portfolio view, roadmap standardization tools, and advanced admin management.
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing details, encompasses all Professional plan features, with added integrations, REST API access, and dedicated implementation and customer success managers.

Productboard - Product management

Productboard stands out as a transformative product management platform that places customer-centricity and user interaction at the heart of product development. Unlike conventional tools, Productboard empowers product teams to capture, consolidate, and prioritize user feedback from multiple sources, creating a unified voice of the customer.

Why to choose Productboard?

What truly sets Productboard apart is its ability to be the single source of truth for customer feedback and insights. By aggregating feedback from various channels, such as support tickets, surveys, and interviews, Productboard creates a comprehensive picture of customer needs and pain points.

Teams can then collect feedback and then use this invaluable data to prioritize features and improvements that resonate with the customer base, driving higher user satisfaction and adoption.

Productboard offers various features that cater to the entire product management lifecycle. Teams can easily capture and organize feedback, identify patterns, and make informed decisions. The platform's user-friendly interface streamlines building and sharing product roadmaps, fostering seamless communication and alignment across the organization.

The integration capabilities of Productboard amplify its impact. Integrating with tools like Jira, GitHub, and Intercom enables teams to bridge the gap between product management and development, facilitating faster and more efficient execution.

Pricing plans

• Essentials: $20 per maker/month billed yearly, designed for individuals, includes customizable roadmap templates, stakeholder user roles, prioritization score, and delivery planning tool integrations.
• Pro: $80 per maker/month billed yearly, ideal for small teams, offers everything in Essentials, with additional features like customer feedback repository, advanced prioritization criteria, custom fields, and public APIs.
• Enterprise: Tailored for organizations, encompasses all Pro features, with added capabilities such as customer segmentation, insights trends dashboard, Salesforce integration, single sign-on, and enterprise-grade security & administration.

Wrike - All-in-one product management

Wrike is a cutting-edge project management and collaboration platform that excels in delivering tailored solutions to modern teams. Its standout feature lies in its unique flexibility and adaptability, allowing teams to mold the platform to suit their specific workflows and project structures.

Unlike rigid, one-size-fits-all solutions, Wrike empowers teams to optimize their project management process according to their preferred methodologies, whether it's agile, waterfall, or a hybrid approach.

Why to choose Wrike?

What truly sets Wrike apart is its commitment to customization. It recognizes that no two teams are alike, and thus offers a comprehensive suite of tools that can be easily tailored to fit the unique needs of each team. From task assignment and progress tracking to resource allocation and deadline management, Wrike's adaptable nature ensures that every aspect of project management is optimized for seamless collaboration and enhanced productivity across multiple teams.

The platform's interactive Gantt charts provide a clear visual representation of project timelines and dependencies, allowing teams to navigate complex projects with ease. This real-time overview enables better planning and resource optimization, fostering efficient project execution.

In addition to its extensive native capabilities, Wrike seamlessly integrates with leading third-party applications, including Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce, and more. This integration prowess makes Wrike a centralized hub for cross-platform collaboration, data synchronization, and streamlined communication among best product management tools.

Pricing plans

• Free: $0 per user/month, designed for teams getting started, includes centralized task management with active task limitations.
• Team: $9.80 per user/month, ideal for growing teams, offers effective team management for 2-25 users.
• Business: $24.80 per user/month, suitable for all teams across an organization, provides an intelligent platform for any use case for 5-200 users.
• Enterprise: No credit card required, tailored for large teams, offers enterprise-grade security and scalability for 5 to unlimited users.
• Pinnacle: For teams with complex work needs, offers advanced tools and analytics for complex work, including features from the Enterprise plan for 5 to unlimited users.

Monday.com - Project management

Monday.com has solidified its position as a leading product management software, transforming how teams plan, track, and collaborate on projects. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, Monday.com has become a popular choice for organizations of all sizes, from startups to enterprises.

Why to choose Monday.com?

Monday.com's standout feature lies in its adaptability as a customizable work operating system. It empowers teams to build their workflows precisely as they envision, aligning the platform with their unique processes and methodologies.

With various building blocks, teams can create tailored workspaces that optimize efficiency and foster seamless collaboration.

Monday.com offers a comprehensive set of features designed to elevate productivity and project management. Dynamic boards, timelines, and charts display real-time project progress. The platform's intuitive drag-and-drop interface simplifies task management, enabling teams to swiftly update and assign tasks without complications.

A notable aspect of Monday.com is its seamless integration with popular tools and platforms. By connecting with applications like Jira, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace, Monday.com centralizes data and streamlines workflows.

Pricing plans

• Free: €0 for up to 2 seats, designed for individuals looking to keep track of their work, with up to 3 boards, unlimited docs, and 200+ templates.
• Basic: €8 per seat/month, billed annually, total €24/month, allows managing all your teams' work in one place with unlimited free viewers, unlimited items, and 5 GB file storage.
• Standard - €10 per seat/month, billed annually, total €30/month, facilitates collaboration and optimizing team processes, includes all Basic features, with timeline & Gantt views, calendar view, guest access.
• Pro: €19 per seat/month, billed annually, total €57/month, streamlines and runs your teams' complex workflows, with private boards and docs, chart view, time tracking, and automations/integrations (25,000 actions per month).
• Enterprise: For organizations seeking enterprise-grade features, with enterprise-scale automations & integrations, advanced reporting & analytics, enterprise-grade security & governance, multi-level permissions, tailored onboarding, and premium support.

How to choose the right product management tool for your business?

To choose the right tool for specific needs, you must ask yourself the right questions. We've shared our list, which helps us to find the best tools for every project. Check it out.

What do I want to achieve with this product management software?

Not all tools are created equal, so take the time to evaluate each tool’s features to ensure that it meets your needs. At this point, eliminating great tools that are not right for you is the hardest.

Does this tool provide integrations with other systems?

Product teams ought to have easy access to the information they require. They include features for project planning, including task management and tracking, customer feedback loops, analytical capabilities, alternatives for software integration, and scalability.

What is the level of support offered by the product management tool? Does the tool offer encryption and other security measures to protect your data?

Look for tools that offer secure data storage, encryption, and access control features to ensure that only authorized users can access the data. Additionally, look for best tools that offer automated backups and disaster recovery options to ensure your data is safe and secure.

Does the tool offer customer service and technical support? Are tutorials and other resources available to help you get the most out of the tool?

Consider the customer support offered by the best product management software. Access to customer support can be invaluable when troubleshooting and resolving any issues.

Does the tool provide a trial version before subscription?

Before deciding, take advantage of the free trial to learn more about its offer. Doing so lets you test the features and see if they meet their needs. Also, clients can pick the free plan that finest work for them if the pricing options are broad and varied.

Is the tool easy to use and maintain?

Choose a product roadmap tool that is simple and intuitive so that your product teams can rapidly become proficient with it and begin managing your product strategy effectively.

While choosing a product management tool, take the implementation procedure into account. It's crucial to comprehend the implementation schedule, the resources needed, and the possibilities for training and assistance.

Does the tool offer feature to help you scale your business over time?

The tool should scale with the organisation's needs to grow and evolve as it does.

Final thoughts

Choosing the right product management tool is essential for any business. It’s important to consider factors such as user experience, scalability options, customer support options, pricing plans, and integration options when selecting a product management software. Additionally, look for customer feedback and reviews for different project management tools.

To maximize product life cycle success, businesses should choose a best product management software that suits their unique requirements.

Taking such an informed, tailored approach can make all the difference between success and failure.

FAQs

1. What are product management tools and why are they important?

   Product management tools are software applications designed to help businesses manage and organise their product development and lifecycle processes.These product manager tools offer various capabilities, including requirements management, issue tracking, feature request management, customer feedback analysis based on user behavior, project management, and release management. They are important because they provide a centralised platform for teams to collaborate and streamline workflows.

2. What features should I look for in a product management tool?

   Some key features in a best product management software include project management capabilities, user feedback management, product roadmap or product strategy creation and management, and data analytics and reporting.

3. Can product management tools be used by small businesses and startups?

   Yes, product management tools can be used by businesses of all sizes, including small businesses and startups. There are many affordable and user-friendly options available that are specifically designed for smaller teams.

4. What are some popular product management tools currently available on the market?

   Some popular product management software include Wrike, Trello, Monday.com, and Jira. It's essential to evaluate your business needs and choose a tool that best meets them.

5. What are the 3 major areas of product management?

   Product management encompasses three vital areas: Strategy, Execution, and Lifecycle Management. Strategy involves defining product vision and goals, while Execution focuses on planning, development, and timely delivery. Lifecycle Management entails continuous analysis, client feedback integration, and iterative improvements.

6. Why do I need to use product management tools?

   Product management tool optimizes the product development process, enabling efficient team collaboration, task prioritization, and alignment with business objectives. These product management software centralize data, enhance communication, and provide valuable insights, resulting in better decision-making and successful product launches.

7. How do I choose a product management tool?

   When selecting a best product management software, consider factors such as your team's specific needs, scalability, integrations with existing systems, roadmapping software, ease of use, and customer support. Conduct thorough research, seek user reviews, and explore trial versions to find the tool that best aligns with your organization's requirements and workflow.