15 Best Workflow Management Software Solutions

If you’re still into workflows that rely on manual processes, then it is time you invest in a comprehensive workflow management software. With the tool, processes that once get out of control and cost you hours of sleep are reined in, with each step easily evaluated to see how they align with your business objectives.

In this article, we present the 15 best workflow management software solutions to save you the trouble of doing it on your own. Mind, too, that you can also improve your content marketing using these platforms. If it would help you clinch that final selection, also consider how the vendors handle support and incorporate the best technologies as they emerge.

Workflow management software solutions have changed the way organizations handle their processes, making previously tedious tasks easier to accomplish while ensuring high levels of productivity and accuracy. In practice, they are typically part of most top project management suites. In fact, virtually all B2B SaaS products have automation features for various types of functions. This includes marketing, sales, and HR among many others.

Workflow management software benefits are anchored on automation with artificial intelligence (AI) leading all other technologies. The continued increase in the use of AI workflow automation and other processes is seen to positively impact the global economy, which is expected to expand by $16 trillion by the year 2030. There is the matter of choosing between buying or building your own AI and automation solution, however. To that, many opt to buy or blend both options.

An extension of AI, machine learning, has been improving a wide array of processes, most notable of which is pushing natural language processing to new heights.

However, many continue to shy away from the technology, despite the organizational and financial benefits that workflow automation offers. In particular, many have expressed worry over job cuts that could come with widespread automation. The World Economic Forum, however, allays such concerns. In particular, its latest study finds that AI will generate more jobs than it would displace, reinforcing similar findings of its first research.

1. Wrike

A powerful workflow management tool, Wrike helps you in the creation of workflows that can provide you with a total view of your projects. It accomplishes such by the creation of four task status groups, namely, active, deferred, completed, and canceled. This results in a more streamlined management of multiple projects.

The tool gets rid of the need for status meetings by giving all team members a clear view of task or project progress, regardless of its status. You get automatically notified of critical tasks, allowing you to keep tabs on them. These notifications can be toggled on or off, depending on your preference. To help you keep track of your projects, the system lets you create timelines while allowing for goal prioritization, outcome reviews, and results analysis.

You can easily sign up for a Wrike free trial and get to know the features firsthand at no cost and without commitment.

Wrike

Try out Wrike with their free trial

VISIT WEBSITE FREE

You get absolute visibility over each task/project using a singular platform and a single status for each workflow group using the app’s default workflow. Custom workflows can likewise be created, which display ideal team processes. Reporting is also a strength as the software drills down into data in an instant. It automatically generates reports, which can be updated with available data.

2. monday.com

Essentially a collaboration and project management platform, monday.com, is a major player in the collaboration and communication apps market. It is basically a data hub, which syncs all your information while enabling team members to put their heads together and come up with sound decisions.

This robust piece of software can collate and display information related to project progress, keeping team members updated on the status of their projects. It likewise provides members with the needed incentives to carry out task assignments. And because companies with project management waste 28 times less money than those without, a tool like monday.com can simply make your workflow more efficient and productive.

The vendor has an appealing free trial where you can tinker with the features at no cost.

monday.com

Try out monday.com with their free trial

monday.com’s interface is reminiscent of those of social media platforms in that it displays profiles in a similar manner and lets users communicate with one another. This makes the app quite easy to use, requiring no special training at all. However, the vendor provides first-time users with training materials in the form of training videos available through its website and YouTube channel.

Apart from those mentioned, monday.com also comes with a powerful scheduling feature, which can be used in both project and task management, effectively eliminating paper-based processes. It also ensures a high level of accuracy as errors from manual data entry are minimized. The system, in a nutshell, combines collaboration functionalities with project management to speed up key processes.

For pricing, monday.com offers an Individual plan for free. This includes the software’s basic functions and can support up to two users. For teams in need of more advanced features, paid plans start at $8/user/month.

3. Studio Creatio Enterprise

Studio Creatio Enterprise is a complete workflow management suite that allows users to test, control, and improve their diverse operations. The vendor is best-known for helping businesses adapt to market changes, keep alterations in the loop, and adjust to trends as they’re approaching. You can check the product’s free trial and experience firsthand how it can improve the performance of your team.

The interface is highly interactive, which helps users focus on metrics that are genuinely important to them. In a social networking-style, Studio Creatio Enterprise handles leads, sales, and accounting operations, giving you an appealing and very compact unit to manage all aspects of your business. You will also like how this system empowers file sharing and communication and joins departments on common operations to ensure there are no mistakes or inefficiency.

The vendor has an appealing free trial where you can tinker with the features at no cost.

Studio Creatio Enterprise

Try out Studio Creatio Enterprise with their free trial

All functionality is customer-focused and built to suit different industries: the system uses a WYSIWYG process designer to moderate operations, and make them brand-centric regardless of their importance and complexity. Alongside customization and an open configuration, the system offers two deployment options for users to choose from (cloud hosting and on-premise deployment). Another distinctive advantage is that the product is fully responsive on mobile devices, meaning that you can alter important processes even when not in the office. Studio Creatio Enterprise offers a flexible, quote-based pricing scheme, which means that plans are tailored individually, and with the intent to suit specific needs and budget capacity.

4. ProjectManager

Cloud-based project management software ProjectManager.com mixes collaboration apps with scheduling and project management features to help teams get a better handle on their projects. This versatile tool can be used to manage projects, big and small, and allows you to conduct them in stages. You can do this using the vast array of tools that come with the software, helping you complete and deliver projects on time.

With ProjectManager, you can plan projects, assign tasks, monitor progress, and allocate resources and assets–using a single dashboard. You can track and manage any task down to the last detail with the system providing updates in real-time. It has a drag and functionality that makes scheduling a breeze. You can change due dates, comment on tasks, and even attach files when needed. The platform essentially takes project management to new heights, allowing you to keep the competition at bay.

The vendor offers a comprehensive free trial to get you up to speed with the features.

Another nifty feature that would surely benefit your organization is ProjectManager’s ability to come up with a comparison between actual and planned progress. This allows you to see how your team is performing relative to project progress. This way, you can make the necessary adjustments in areas where they are needed to ensure timely project completion and delivery. With the platform’s wide array of tools, you’ll be able to handle just about every area of your projects.

5. Quixy

Quixy is a workflow automation platform that caters to small companies, large enterprises, and everything in between. Equipped with a wide range of robust business process management tools, a best-in-class workflow designer and rules engine, and a no-code app builder, this platform can help you streamline all company processes and optimize overall organizational performance. Whether you want to improve your onboarding processes, build rules for IT operations, or even create a cohesive project management protocol, this platform is sure to help you achieve your goals as efficiently as possible.

Should you want to learn more about what this solution has to offer, the vendor offers a convenient free trial plan that lets you test out its features firsthand at no cost.

Aside from its core no-code workflow automation functionalities, what makes Quixy a top solution is its advanced dashboards which can be configured based on your requirements. It also comes with field-level access control, app versioning options, white labeling tools, and multi-channel support.

To top it all off, Quixy is enterprise-grade and mobile-ready. This allows users to quickly scale the platform up or down, depending on their needs. Moreover, it provides users with on-demand access to their processes.  What’s more, with its extensive integration support, the platform can easily play well with your existing business software.

6. Scoro

Scoro is a business management software ideal for small to medium businesses. It offers collaboration tools, project management, and financial reporting, helping you manage all aspects of your business. It allows you to switch from reactive to proactive management, which means you get to work on pre-planned priorities and monitor your business performance in real-time.

You can easily sign up for Scoro free trial and get to know the features firsthand at no cost and without commitment.

Moreover, Scoro lets you manage your team on a granular level with its employee management tools. For instance, the time tracking feature allows you to monitor the actual and billable time your employees spend on a certain project. With a few clicks, the hours tracked can be transferred right away to your invoice.

Another notable quality of the software is its financial management feature, which serves several functions. It automates late invoice reminders and scheduled or recurring invoicing. Plus, it keeps track of all your purchases and costs and provides sales forecasts based on your booked deals and invoices.

7. KiSSFLOW

KiSSFLOW is a cloud-based solution that helps users easily design, create, and customize business apps. It takes a lightweight approach to BPM and places the power of creating workflows back in the hands of users who understand the issues best.

You can easily sign up for KISSFLOW free trial and get to know the features firsthand at no cost and without commitment.

KiSSFLOW

Try out KiSSFLOW with their free trial

KiSSFLOW offers about 50 pre-installed business apps, such as vendor payment, mileage reimbursement, purchase orders, employee onboarding, and more. You can either install these applications and edit them to suit your needs, or you can build your own from scratch. The business app also includes a form to capture data, a workflow with a sequence of human and system tasks, notifications, and reports.

KiSSFLOW boasts that it has more than 10,000 customers across 121 countries, including top brands like Flipkart, Danone, Michelin, Sysco, Dominos, and Pepsi. It also has a large SMB market base. Finally, the vendor offers support for Spanish and Portuguese languages.

8. Trello

Trello is a project management tool that can help you improve your business’ workflows. For simpler workflows, the platform lets you set up multiple boards so you can categorize cards according to their progress.

The software can also be set up to accommodate more complex workflows. For instance, Trello offers the flexibility to fit scrum and agile methodologies. The software allows users to set up Backlog lists of cards at the beginning of every sprint period. At the end of the sprint, users will be able to easily see which tasks have been completed and identify weak points in the workflow for improvement.

Moreover, Trello comes with various tools to automate your workflow. The platform’s built-in Butler feature lets you set up rules and triggers to automatically categorize cards and assign cards to users. Similarly, a Workflows power-up on Trello lets you define the way cards move between lists. All these features come in handy for making sure your business’ workflow is as smooth as possible.

9. Jira

Jira is one of the most popular project management solutions today, and with good reason. The software offers the utmost flexibility, making workflow management easier for all types of businesses. Whether you use Scrum or Kanban methodologies or a combination of both, you’ll be able to take advantage of Jira’s features.

One of the best Jira features for workflow management is its workflow designer. The platform’s workflow designer lets you visualize your entire workflow and create a diagram with specific steps and transitions. This diagram ensures that your team members understand the steps they need to take when doing their tasks and working on projects.

No matter how you’ve customized your workflow, the platform displays this workflow on a digital board, with statuses and transitions for every task. This improves transparency and accountability for everyone on the team. By using statuses to categorize work, the software also helps teams make more accurate estimates on their deliverables, an important feature for teams who work directly with clients.

10. HoneyBook

HoneyBook is an end-to-end billing and invoicing solution that can help freelancers, startups, and small businesses organize their work and help them get paid. You can track all your billable activities, hours, and appointments, communicate and schedule with clients, receive and sign contracts, send proposals, and more in one simple dashboard. HoneyBook accepts payments from major credit and debit cards and bank transfers.

HoneyBook

Try out HoneyBook with their free trial

You need to sign up to use their service, which is, at the moment, open only to U.S. and Canadian residents. It offers a 7-day free trial when you sign up, with the option to upgrade to premium, billed either monthly or annually.

It has a mobile application for iOS and Android users and can be integrated with third-party applications like Gmail, Google Calendar, and Zapier. It can also generate reports and send automatic, templated responses.

11. ActiveBatch

ActiveBatch, developed by Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.’s, automates your workflow, whatever the industry you are in, although it has seen its biggest use in IT fields. The way it works is that it centralizes all enterprise processes that requires computer hardware, such as data analytics, file storage, IT infrastructure, and more. Because it integrates all processes, applications, and scripts in one tool, it eliminates the errors associated with running huge volumes of parallel workflows.

While ActiveBatch doesn’t offer a free trial, it does offer a demo and a quote-based pricing plan. This allows you to have a custom workflow solution designed specifically for your business.

The Service Library of ActiveBatch supports REST, .NET, WSDLS, command lines, and more that gives the user unprecedented control over extensibility and integration. The Service Library also allows you to support other applications and hardware that can give you the ultimate cross-platform flexibility when it comes automation.

12. Orchestly

Orchestly is Zoho’s central BPM tool that combines different functionalities into a single platform. It can work as a collaboration tool, scheduling app, report module, task board, and more. Also, all of the aforementioned features can be operated entirely through a graphical user interface. This code-free approach makes it very user-friendly, even for beginners.

You can easily sign up for Orchestly free trial and get to know the features firsthand at no cost and without commitment.

For workflow management, Orchestly represents each workflow as flowcharts known as Blueprints. Users can add a layer of control in each of these flowcharts. This will define the people who’ll be responsible for every step in the process. This essentially maps every business process in a visual manner. Also, since all information is documented, you can increase accountability and transparency across the organization.

Furthermore, Orchestly has a feature that monitors “Jobs” or the requests that go through the workflows within the system. Whenever there’s a job, users can choose to send it through the new job pane. There, it can either be assigned to somebody, or if it isn’t, team members can pick it up. The status of each task is reflected in real-time, including which parts of the business process it has already been through.

It’s mentioned before how Orchestly is a centralized platform that all business processes are created and implemented. Therefore, it’s only logical that it munches a lot of business data from day-to-day operations. The platform makes good use of these by generating charts, reports, and visualizations that provide users with insight into their operations at a glance.

13. Atlassian Confluence

Atlassian Confluence is a project management solution designed to make collaboration as easy as possible. The platform offers various features to help teams work together and improve overall productivity. Through the software, users can set up team workspaces and create pages that map out the tasks needed to complete projects on time.

The software also makes it easy for users to create approval workflows. You can set page restrictions so only editors can view pages and approve content. Once the content is approved, restrictions can be removed and the page can be shared with more users. These features come in handy for ensuring that the right information goes out to team members.

Native features such as @mentions also help users work together on tasks that require feedback, while in-context comments make conversations easier to follow. Moreover, third-party apps add more workflow functionalities to the platform. Some of these apps allow users to moderate content before it’s published to Confluence and automatically assign tasks. These features ensure that workflows move smoothly and prevent obstacles that reduce productivity.

14. Backlog

Project management software Backlog was built specifically for app developers. This tool covers practically all aspects of software development, including development, design, marketing, IT, and production. It is typically deployed via the cloud, but users also have the option of going for an on-premise version.

Should you want to investigate the platform firsthand, you can easily do so when you can sign up for Backlog free trial here.

It can be said that Backlog is a total project management platform, able to boost collaboration, communication, and coordination between non-tech team members and developers. The software keeps all your tasks in a single location while being able to assign the same to other teams. Project progress can also be tracked by the system, while feedback can be sent to members easily.

Using Backlog, you get to have a clearer view of your projects while team productivity gets better using progress reports generated with the use of Burndown and Gantt charts. You can even come up with your own repositories within the solution using Git. Team collaboration gets that needed boost, allowing you to easily address bugs. This is done through a commenting feature that comes with the tool.

15. Intervals

Intervals is a tool that mixes task and time management to help small businesses better manage their projects. It allows project managers to track productive work hours and assign tasks while letting them handle any project area without ever leaving the system. You can keep tabs on your billable hours using its task monitoring feature, resulting in more revenues.

If you want to check its comprehensive feature set, you can easily sign up for Intervals free trial.

Intervals is also known for its powerful project and client management functionalities, along with its robust analytics, tools that can be configured to streamline all project processes. Project team communication likewise gets a facelift using the app as it comes with collaboration features. With these functionalities, you can be sure that your team is always on the same page and even be able to monitor project progress for individual members.

The platform is not your typical project management solution; it comes with all the tools that you need to plan, execute, and deliver all your projects on time. These include client management, document management, and work requests, to name a few. It even allows you to approve timesheets and create invoices. Support is quite excellent, with the vendor providing any client with all the help they need to maximize the use of the system. The software is being marketed in a variety of pricing models, which come in bundles for specific business sizes and types.

What to Look for in a Workflow Management Tool

Workflow management solutions continue to gain prominence among companies that want to stay ahead of their competition. This is evident in the fact that many businesses have expressed the intention to invest more in these platforms. There’s a vast selection of workflow software out there, making the task of choosing one a tad difficult. While it is true that a lot of factors should be considered, taking into account a tool’s features still tops the list. Here are some of the functionalities you should look for in a Workflow management system.

One of our best in this category is Wrike. It’s a full-featured project management solution that allows you and your team to stay on top of your workflow. You can make decisions, interact with the rest of the team, and contribute to the project all in one customizable application. If you’re interested to try its features without committing, you can simply sign up for a Wrike free trial and tinker around with it.

If you choose to, you can opt to look at business process management software benefits, which are quite similar to those of workflow management platforms, or you can give our top choice a try and see if it fits the bill.

By Stephanie Seymour

Stephanie Seymour is a senior business analyst and one of the crucial members of the FinancesOnline research team. She is a leading expert in the field of business intelligence and data science. She specializes in visual data discovery, cloud-based BI solutions, and big data analytics. She’s fascinated by how companies dealing with big data are increasingly embracing cloud business intelligence. In her software reviews, she always focuses on the aspects that let users share analytics and enhance findings with context.