Introduction
For freelancers, staying organised and on top of your projects is a key step for success. Most freelancers will benefit from a project management tool — so finding one that you like and works with the way you work makes a lot of sense.
A project management tool can cover a lot of things — but for freelancers, the most common use cases are:
- Having a central place for all tasks, deadlines, and resources related to a project
- Planning upcoming projects and your availability
- Communication and collaboration with your clients, like commenting on documents or direct messaging
- Day-to-day task management and to-do lists
Notion has become a popular project management tool for remote teams and freelancers. It can cover all of your freelance needs. Take notes, organise projects, and collaborate with your clients. Notion is made up of blocks, so it can be fully customised to your needs.
Notion is a great choice for freelancers, but some people find it too complicated for their needs. Luckily many other options also work well for freelancers. Here are six great alternatives to notion for your project management needs as a freelancer.
1: Linear
Free/paid
Linear is a modern project management tool — initially made for software engineers and product teams. But don’t let that put you off — it also works great for solo freelancers and small studios. Linear is known for its high levels of software quality, so the interface and user experience are fluid, fast, and easy to use.
They recently released their projects feature — which covers the whole lifecycle of larger pieces of work. Bringing everything from a project into one place — milestones, project templates, documents and more.
Why is Linear great for freelancers?
- It’s really fast to use — the interface is responsive, everything loads fast, and there are keyboard shortcuts throughout for power users
- Projects can be broken down into smaller milestones
- A simple and lightweight setup out-of-the-box, no complicated configuration needed
2: Asana
Free/paid
A powerful tool trusted by freelancers, agencies and companies around the world. Includes everything you'd expect from a project management tool — project overviews, task management, and resource management. Works well for individuals or large teams, and simple or complex projects.
Why is Asana great for freelancers?
- Track projects from start to finish, keeping your clients up-to-date through the process
- Create custom project templates that you can reuse for multiple client projects
- Deep integrations with popular tools that you probably use, like Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom
3: Trello
Free/paid
Trello is a popular choice because of its simplicity and flexibility. Trello is centred around its card-based, kanban board interface. It’s super simple. You have a column for each stage of your progress. A very simple setup could be: to-do, doing, done. Then you just drag the card to the right as the status of your task changes.
Why is Trello great for freelancers?
- It is a focused tool that does one thing well rather than trying to do it all
- Easy-to-grasp, drag-and-drop interface for managing your projects, lists, and cards
- A very generous free plan, you can have up to 10 boards and unlimited cards
4: ClickUp
Free/paid
ClickUp is an all-encompassing project management tool for all types of teams. It has a suite of features to help you as a freelancer, including task management, goal tracking, time tracking, document sharing, and automation. You can create custom workflows, collaborate in real time with your clients, and it integrates with your favourite tools.
Why is ClickUp great for freelancers?
- Realtime collaboration, so you and your clients can edit documents at the same time or whiteboard together
- The product covers a lot of ground — writing documents, time tracking, chat messaging, roadmaps and more
- You can set up advanced automations to save time with things like client onboarding
5. Bonsai
7 day free trial/paid
Bonsai isn’t just a project management tool — but it caters to your project management needs. Easy-to-setup project dashboards so you can see everything at a glance. And the projects link nicely together with other Bonsai features — like your time tracking, CRM, and related project documents.
Why is Bonsai great for freelancers?
- If you’re already using Bonsai for other business management, you could reduce the need for another separate tool
- Ties in nicely with their other tools like time tracking, CRM, and project documents
- Includes a suite of other useful tools to grow your business like contracts, proposals, and automatic invoicing
6: Monday.com
Free/paid
You can manage the entirety of your freelance projects with Monday.com. It offers customisable views to track your tasks and project deadlines. Monday.com feels like spreadsheets taken up a notch — so If you’re familiar with spreadsheets, you will feel at home. It can be customised to suit your needs — you can make it simple, you can make it advanced.
Why is Monday.com great for freelancers?
- Plan, manage, and collaborate on projects in one place
- There’s over 200 ready-to-use templates so you can get started fast
- More than 10 different views, including Gantt charts, calendars, and kanban boards
Wrapping up
While Notion is a powerful and flexible tool, it doesn’t suit everyone’s needs. Exploring alternatives and finding the one for you is important. Whether you want to prioritise simplicity, customisation, or collaboration. There's a perfect project management tool for you. Stay organised as a freelancer to level up your efficiency.