ActiveCollab Reviews

Perfect Project management tool.

Comments: ActiveCollab is one of the best, if not the best project management tool that I have ever used and I have jumped from one to another tool for different projects and project types. If offers so many features, perfect dashboard, milestone preview, calendar, planner, contact details, time tracking and much more. While it is perfect for managing many different types of projects, this is still not the perfect tool for managing software development projects. The only reason for that would be, there is no (or that was not back then) an integration with Git or other version of control system. It was simply a missing feature back then.
I truly hope that nowadays the ActiveCollab team managed to improve and integrate such feature, but talking 6-7 years ago, that was the only downside that I can say about it. If for some reason that is still not available and you are into software development business, look for something else like Asana or Bitbucket.

Pros:

Great dashboard, different types of reports, milestone preview, calendars, time tracking tool are just a few of the features that make this software irreplaceable tool when it comes to project management.

Cons:

Lack of integration with Git or another version of control system.

A simple Project Manager's review

Comments: Overall very smooth experience for me. Fast bandwidth. Bug free experience.

Pros:

Project view grouping and filtering with grid and table layout. This is a killer feature for my use case.Very simple yet comprehensive overall system design. This is important for me as my coworkers came from different backgrounds.Activity View is very effective to have an overall view on what's going on without wasting a lot of time.Mobile Application gets the job done. No bugs, no unexpected behavior.

Cons:

The optional GetPaid (invoicing and payment management) paid add-on is honestly not for me. It's a very nice and really good addition for more simple uses case like when we just started business, but It definitely needs more attention to fit our needs. We finally opted for a more specialized product to keep track of our finance.

It is a beautiful app but not that useful

Comments: It was nice in the beginning but I just soon realised I needed something with easier to use features and no hidden costs. Onces a app like this becomes too complicated to navigate or customise - you will not use it as you need to daily because of that hassle.

Pros:

It is beautifully designed so initially it seemed easier to use and navigate. It had a client portal and I could track my jobs and invoice/do estimates all from one place.

Cons:

It has hidden fees. Everywhere it advertises itself as only 7.50 a month. - But using the MAIN FEATURES OF WHY I WANTED THIS APP is extra, like invoicing, time tracking and using the client portal. This was not made clear initially. The client service is terrible. I would ask questions but there response was really terrible english language - not what I would expect from an international app that everyone should be able to understand. Especially a client service person called Darla. Terrible and rude manners and unhelpful.!

Finally a project management system small businesses can afford

Comments: We have been using ActiveCollab for around 4 years now and they continue to work on ways to fineness the tool for the better. The support team has always been very responsive -- although we have only had a few SOS calls they AC team reacted quickly and we were able to continue work with very little interruption.

Pros:

Visually easy to see what projects and tasks are priority. I also love the budget tracker which allows me to make sure projects stay on budget. This program is extremely easy to learn to use as both an administrator and a day-to-day user. I have worked with so many project management systems in my career (some at a much higher price point) and ActiveCollab is a true competitor for a fraction of the cost.

Cons:

When pulling invoices, I wish we had more options as to how to import the time entry notes. Because we require our team to place notes as to what they were doing for the hours logged - we do spend more time than desired editing invoices once the data is pulled in.

Very easy to use but packs a big punch

Comments: Our overall experience is absolutely positive. We get to plan out our projects, go through them daily, track everything, and at the end exactly know what to invoice the client. It really covers all the basis that we need in our process and we love it for that.

Pros:

I really appreciate the simplicity and the power behind the features it delivers. On the surface, it offers just a list of tasks me and my team manage throughout our design and development process, but under the hood it offers task dependencies, estimates, time tracking and many other cool things that make it deceptively powerful.

Cons:

Probably the speed of the app on some larger projects. It's lightning fast for everything small to medium, but on larger projects it can take a while to load everything.

A very good tool

Pros:

The native features are very adapted to our uses, and we were able to add the missing features.Especially, time and budget tracking are good to have and

Cons:

Not us directly, but our customers are sometimes disturbed by the UX, despite huge leap forward recently.We sometimes find it a bit slow in terms of performance - we host it so we may be to blame - and access to data (because we have a lot of projects and customers).

Not Just Project Management! Superior Time Tracking and Reporting for Clients Too!

Pros:

Time tracking. It's wonderful. We are able to track our time down to the specific task within projects. We can also label each project by client and bill clients based on the time we've specifically tracked for each task and project. All of this tracking also allows for reporting to our clients - down to being able to let them know how much time was spent on each task. Customer service is also amazing. One of our team members has made suggestions for new/alternate features/revised functionality, and things were updated fairly quickly! So good. Thank you!

Cons:

I'd love to see the organization of the projects in a different way. Organized instead by client on the main page. The main page is otherwise less organized than I need it to be.

Comprehensive Project management

Comments: Despite the above mentioned short comings (search functionality and date entry on estimates), overall Active Collab is a great asset to our team and our companie's ability to track all projects and billings in one place. We find it indispensable.

Pros:

Ease of use and implementation. Simple staff on-boarding and intuitive interface.

Cons:

Poor search function and lack of ability to enter a date on estimates... crazy that such a well rounded and useful software lacks a full feature search function and doesn't allow (nor even auto generate) a date field on the estimate form.

Great all-in-one solution

Comments: Our team manages all of our projects through ActiveCollab, and that includes budgeting, tasks, and time management. Without it, we'd be lost in a sea of emails and Slack messages.

Pros:

ActiveCollab is quite feature rich. We were able to consolidate multiple pieces of software into one.

Cons:

Some of the menus are hard to find and I'd really like to see a comprehensive calendar approach to tasks, vs just per project.

Best Project and task management software for SMEs

Comments: Simple UI, even a stupid person may understand after simple guidance

Pros:

I have tried multiple task management software for our company, But anyhow I was not satisfied with other product because of no option to manage workload or time and invoice calculation or somehow workflow is difficult for non technical user to use. Activ Collab has the most simple UI and Design. Only 1 or 2 days training will be sufficient for any users to understand it. Workload segment is really simple and most important functionality it have. And the support team is really great. Most importantly - it have self hosted options which is utmost priority for us for data security and privacy and also we can reduce cost for our users.

Cons:

Android app needs improvement. It doesn't comes anywhere near to desktop web version.

The Right Project Management Tool for Small to Medium Sized Team

Comments: It's easy to use and worth the cost.

Pros:

My team and I do really like the simplicity of the software. It helps us focus on doing the tasks rather than figuring out how to use the software correctly to assign tasks.

Cons:

- Unmaintained mobile apps, both iOS and Android versions. - No function to duplicate tasks list. - Zipping attachments from a task to be downloaded, takes forever. - Bulk actions on tasks seem to need an improvement on UX so that it's more user friendly to use. Currently, we need to scroll up and down to choose the actions. - On the Reports page for Tasks, every time we choose a Custom Report, the columns and "sort by" are always reset. - As admin, I can't see the full list of other user's Activities. I can only see the last 5 or something. I might be able to give some more feedback. Do let me know if it helps improve your product :)

A/C has been a game changer for us. We are using it a bit outside of its intended scope but it works

Comments: Highly focussed team members. Remote work flexibility. Collaboration. Time Management. Quality Management. Data Management. Targeted and SMART Goals. Internal Motivation. Trust.

Pros:

The platform makes communicating with team members a breeze. We have a multitude of projects and tasks within the three departments - A/C helps keep everything organized and on track. LOVE the landing screen "My Work". The calendar view is awesome for our morning meetings. It is great that we can filter by person or project on the calendar. It's a robust feature that other platforms did not have. Really enjoy the notifications when I mention a team member. The robust area within a project including Tasks List, Discussions, Files, notes, Time, Expenses, Activity is great. Not only does it encourage collaboration it fully supports remote work. On the task list, we can drag/drop tasks. Filter by assignees, tasks lists, due dates, or completed tasks. You can also review the overall project progress. A/C has some great reporting features. I like how we can star projects. Simple features like that are NOT overlooked in the A/C platform. Time tracking, invoicing, and estimates functions look great. We haven't used them yet but we will eventually. I appreciate the pricing. The customer support is quick and responsive. Our team has embraced the platform and I feel we will continue to use it for years to come. I would recommend the platform to others.

Cons:

Disclaimer: We use it a bit outside of its intended purpose. Our group is Marketing, Web Development, and IT. Although there are a ton of project-based objectives within the departments there are some marketing functions that are not project based. This is the biggest thing I've got it's not a deal breaker. Maybe extend the software to include flexible user accounts or setup different types of project areas. That isn't necessarily project oriented. Minors: Recurring tasks are a bit of a pain to setup the first time Multiple different calendars confuse people sometimes and they end up creating a calendar for themselves. Maybe we could setup tasks requiring a sign-off? Maybe this is already a feature and I don't know how to do it yet?

Surprisingly helpful and pleasantly quick to implement. Continuing to find more useful features!

Comments: Increased project efficiency, improved client satisfaction through better scheduling, better communication, and giving clients open access to interact with us on project tasks (while easily limiting them from internal discussions they don't need to see). Saved time on recording project data and improvements/lessons learned, saved time invoicing thanks to time tracking and integration with accounting software, and have a centralised document store for internal use (apart from client projects) without needing to manage a duplicate access permission system.

Pros:

Lots of detailed helpful features which don't complicate the interface but are great when you start using them. Customer support has pointed some out when I put in what we thought was a feature request... but it already existed and I'd missed it. Actively developed and continually updated without annoyingly changing things unnecessarily or 'fixing' anything that isn't broken.

Cons:

Using Elastic Search as the only available search feature is limiting, as it's difficult to host and especially so in a shared hosting environment. Without Elastic Search, there's not even a simple text search available for project/task/comment description. There's a couple glitches that pop up from time to time but customer support has been responsive about them and some of our suggestions have been included as feature requests.

A life changing tool!

Comments: Overall ActiveCollab makes my life easier.

Pros:

Active Collaboration is super intuitive and affordable. Before switching to Active Collaboration a few years ago we used WorkFront and it was an absolute nightmare. After 10 months of getting templates set up and trying to learn how to use them our team was so frustrated that I knew that I wouldn't be renewing that tool for another year. Active Collaboration is so easy to use, it literally takes 10 minutes for me to walk a new team member through the tool when coming onboard. I've learned over the years of project managing that if someone doesn't understand how to use something or its too complicated to input a simple request or comment in, they aren't going use so it, they will default to email or drive-byes. I just don't have that problem with Active Collaboration. I highly recommend it.

Cons:

I wish there was a feature that if you change a task date there's an option to move out all the dates at one time.

Fantastic software for project management

Comments: We have loved activeCollab since version 4. It is a valuable software, which really helps its users on a daily basis and is very flexible in its operation. We greatly appreciate his progress and are reassured about his future. Keep up the good work!

Pros:

Very smooth operation in a team. It really helps to share information and make quick and concerted decisions.

Cons:

The invoicing module is far too limited. Integration into QBO or other is not really a factor to be taken into account.

Cheap alternative of Basecamp for small team

Pros:

Timelines.

Cons:

Not reactive interface. Terrible iOS app.

Active Collab is helpful in keeping everyone on the same page and up to date on tasks

Comments: Overall, I really like ActiveCollab as a project management tool. We have been able to onboard folks to it quickly and again, I like to have one place that I can go and see all my active projects and current tasks. You are also able to see past projects and tasks.

Pros:

I like that I can go one place and see all my tasks for the projects I am a part of. It is easy to tag people and the software is pretty intuitive. It allows many people to be part of the big picture and stay up to date on the progress of projects. It also cuts down on the number of emails I need to send because I can follow up on items within the program and tag people.

Cons:

The customer support often leaves something to be desired. When issues arise it is not usually a quick fix and when Active Collab is down, our project management comes to a halt because this is the key to our success. The everyday support for quick answers is fine, but when major issues arise the solutions are not always quick.

We wake up with ActiveCollab and close the work day with it :)

Comments: 10000% happy camper

Pros:

It's been more than 10 years using ActiveCollab since the day they had this 90s looking masterpiece of project scheduling platform. Today ActiveCollab grew sooo much and we love the minimalist style, the fact that they keep integrating and updating new features and functionalities making it every next day better and better.

Cons:

I've tried so many other Project planning and Teamwork platforms but this one is the best I've ever seen for what we need - combining teamwork, with project planing, milestones progress, resource scheduling and time tracking.

After extensive research, our team settled on AC for its simple interface and robust structure.

Pros:

- Simple, clean UI - Easy to learn - Clear structure (teams, projects, categorized task lists) that works well for us - Ability to sort things in the My Work list, so I can arrange my priorities for the week and then easily reorder things as tasks are completed. - Integrates well with Dropbox - Powerful customizable reports (ex. can easily see what got done in the past week on project A, or can get a clear portrait of what employee B did for the last month) Also, when you're in the middle of writing something (ex. a comment or a note) and get interrupted, it *retains* what you wrote (even if you didn't submit it and no one else can see it). This has saved me so much effort, since it's hard to juggle doing things with documenting them.

Cons:

- The Asana importer didn't work for me. This resulted in a huge amount of effort migrating projects and tasks by hand. - AC emails you every time you're added to a project, and you need to be part of a project to see what's going on in it - we use this for workplace transparency, so there are a lot of projects and the notifications are irritating - Can't easily transform a task into a project - The My Work interface doesn't automatically refresh when there's an update on one of my projects, so I can be in AC all day and still miss some notifications (unless I enable email notifications, which I dislike).

ActiveCollab is great for keeping in touch with colleagues around the world - makes it fast and easy

Comments: Ease and speed of use, ability to tag co-workers, review discussions easily and keep track of tasks.

Pros:

I love the fact that it's linked to my email account, so if there is a new post I know about it quickly! It's also great that I can reply to threads directly from my email, that feature is so helpful. I like that the threads within ActiveCollab are easy to keep track of, so no more wading through emails trying to find a reference to something! The interface is quick and easy to use, and it's great being able to tag co-workers in threads to grab their attention.

Cons:

There isn't much to be honest, but I suppose I would like it if the software took me directly to recent activity, as when there are a lot of projects sometimes I find it hard to navigate my way to the thread I'm looking for. But that's a minor quibble! Other than that, I really enjoy using the software.

Very intuitive for our daily use. Our 4-person team is able to keep everything clear and organized.

Comments: Workflow efficiency. Team project management. Time-tracking for hourly clients.

Pros:

The robust features that are at our disposal should we scale up or change the way we work. Discussions, notes, tasks, lists. Third-party app integration if needed. I like that we have room to grow. I also very much like the reports. As the business owner, it's key to see how efficiently my team is performing, and how to keep our workflow profitable.

Cons:

Day-to-day, the timer app is buggy. It's frustrating when I can't scroll through our long list of active jobs, or when the status doesn't appear in my toolbar for easy reference. We've also had issues with days going by with time records not being logged, having to take screencaps and re-enter by hand (if we're lucky enough to no re-start the app). A better timer app would be very welcomed.

Great tool to work with both clients and developers in the same projects

Comments: Operational control of projects

Pros:

Enables us to work efficiently on multiple tasks, with multiple users across multiple projects and multiple geographies. It's not too complicated for non-technical users and not too simple when dealing with technical issues with developers. Also can be used many different types of projects.

Cons:

We would like more elaborate options for "operational analytics". The reports are ok, but we still have to do too much manual manipulation of data to get what we want. We would also welcome SMS/Text alerts and integration with services such Ghost inspector (e.g. automatic ticket generation).

One of the best project management softwares I've used (and I've used a lot!)

Comments: I have used a lot of project management software between different jobs and Active Collab has by far been the easiest, most straightforward, and practical. I love how streamlined it is. I've used far too many software that try to do too much at once and there are WAY too many buttons and options to complicate things. Active Collab gets the balance right between offering lots of features and keeping the interface user friendly. While there are a few features I wish this had, Active Collab has been great at listening to their users by adding requested features. I greatly appreciate it!

Pros:

-Easy to see everything assigned to me -Ability to star projects to keep them at the top -Multiple timers all reside under a convenient clock icon at the top -Ability to add reminders -Labels

Cons:

-Can only sort tasks by name, project, or due date. I wish you could sort by more than one thing at a time (i.e. By project AND due date) -Sometimes buggy, but a simple refresh usually fixes the problem

Easy in use and very practical. One of the best PM-tools i've ever worked with.

Comments: I find it very easy to work with. I have already adviced people to use it, because I really like to work with it. It's also not expensive, which I find a very important asset.

Pros:

It allows you to make different projects and within the projects itself you have tons of options. Also, you can make tasks and subtasks and assign them to someone, which I find very usefull, certainly when working with a lot of people. The billing-tool is also very easy. I've been working with ActiveCollab for a while now, and it's by far one of the best project management tools I have used.

A lot of potential, but buggy and some features could be much improved.

Pros:

It's powerful enough without being overly complex. It has the potential to be the best product for creative/tech teams on the market, and I'm trying to stick around long enough to see the improvements on the roadmap.

Cons:

The lack of task dependencies. What I view as a completely broken time management system allowing employees to decide if a time entry is billable or not when that should only be left to management to decide. It's been buggy lately and the issue with images not uploading has been awful. Design is outdated.