Poor resource management is one of the biggest reasons for project failure. If you too struggle to balance project demand and team utilization, it’s time to look at resource planning tools.
Top resource planning tools differ by price, feature set, and ease of use. This means each tool is unique, and no tool will work 100% perfectly for all businesses.
And that’s why we’ve compiled this list of the best project resource management software to help you find one for your specific needs.
While most project management tools come with resource planning features, some offer only resource management tools.
In this article, you’ll learn about both types, along with the following:
- What are their price plans, and how do they compare?
- What are their top resource management features, pros, and cons?
- Who are they best suited for?
The bottom line: if you’re looking for the best project and resource management software for your specific needs, you’ll find it below.
Top resource planning tools
- Toggl Plan
- Toggl Track
- Ganttic
- Float
- Resource Guru
- Smartsheet
- Monday.com
- Asana
- Forecast
- LiquidPlanner
Now, let’s look at each tool in detail. 👇
#1. Toggl Plan
✅ Simple, visual resource planning ✅ Best integration for Toggl Track
💵 $9-15 /user/month ⭐ 4.6/5
Toggl Plan is a simple, visual project and resource planning tool. Its drag-and-drop timelines make it a breeze to get a clear overview of your project and team schedules.
Resource identification, allocation, and scheduling are a breeze using Toggl Plan’s Team Timelines. Using Team Timelines, you can:
- Get a visual overview of your team’s scheduled tasks and time off.
- See everyone’s daily workloads based on task estimates.
- Drag-and-drop tasks to create and adjust your team members’ schedules and workloads.
- Prioritize resource scheduling with upcoming project milestones.
- Plan time off to visualize resource availability and prevent scheduling conflicts.
- Plan your projects and resource on the go with Android and iOS apps.
In addition, you also get visual project planning and task management features with Project Timelines and Boards.
Price plans
- Free plan for solo users
- $9 /user/month plan for teams that need simple project planning and resource management
- $15 /user/month plan for businesses and teams that need guest user access, time off planning, and project tracking
Both paid plans come with a 14-day free trial.
Review ratings
According to Capterra reviewers, Toggl Plan gets a solid 4.6/5 rating with a 4.7 rating for ease of use. Here’s what a reviewer says:
The timeline view is super impressive, and it really helps me get a real-time view of what each one of my team is working on.
Pros and cons
- See who’s available and who’s booked ✅
- Stay on top of who’s doing what and when across multiple projects ✅
- Make resource plans quickly with drag-and-drop timelines and boards ✅
- Integrate with Toggl Track—our time-tracking software ✅
- No complex task dependencies, automation, permission-based access, or portfolio management 👎
Is Toggl Plan the right resource planning tool for you?
If you’re looking for a simple project management tool with resource planning features, a time-tracking integration, and an almost zero learning curve, Toggl Plan is perfect for you. Professional agencies and consultancies find it has enough detail to be practical yet easy to use.
On the other hand, if you need technical or enterprise resource management software that only certified project managers can use, Toggl Plan is not for you.
#2. Toggl Track
✅ Simple time tracking ✅ Powerful workload reports
💵 $9-18 /user/month ⭐ 4.7/5
Toggl Track is a popular time-tracking tool. Founded in 2006, it already has over five million users. Where planning tools help you look ahead, this time-tracking app helps you create accurate estimates and balance workloads by looking at the actual tracked time.
Toggl Track makes tracking time spent on tasks easy with its desktop and mobile apps, integrations, and browser extensions. Plus, it helps you see resource utilization with robust and detailed reports. Here’s a quick look at some of its resource management features:
- One-click tracking with 100+ integrations, browser extensions, and apps
- Forecast accurate project and task estimates with historically tracked time and billable rates
- Stay on top of estimated vs. actual time spent on tasks to spot resource risks
In addition, you also get a calendar view to visualize your team’s allocation and workloads across multiple projects.
Price plans
- Free plan with basic time-tracking features for up to 5 users
- $9 /user/month plan, with estimates, billing rates, and multiple calendars
- $18 /user/month plan, with project forecasts, time tracking audits, and reminders
Both paid plans come with a 30-day free trial.
Review ratings
Capterra reviewers give Toggl Track a 4.7/5 rating. Here’s what a reviewer says:
Excellent time tracking (our most important resource!) and overview of project management. Toggl (Track) helps us drive insights about how to allocate time and energy better.
Pros and Cons
- Track actual time spent on projects and tasks from anywhere ✅
- Powerful reporting to stay on top of resource risks ✅
- 100+ integrations, browser extensions, and desktop and mobile apps ✅
- It’s a powerful time-tracking tool but not an “all-in-one” solution 👎
Is Toggl Track right for you?
Whether you work on fixed-fee or time-based projects, Toggl Track is critical to ensure profitable project delivery. In addition, it ensures optimal resource utilization and balanced workloads for team members. Integrate it with Toggl Plan, and you have an all-in-one project management tool.
#3. Ganttic
✅ Resource management with timelines ✅ People and material resources
💵 $25-790 /month ⭐ 4.2/5
Ganttic is a timeline-based resource management software. It comes with resource scheduling and management features.
Top features in Ganttic include:
- Drag-and-drop scheduling
- Plan and allocate resources of multiple types, including people, materials, vehicles, etc.
- Track skills and certifications to allocate resources from a pool
- Get automized resource reports in your inbox
- Integrate with hundreds of other apps via Zapier
Price plans
- Unlimited users in all plans
- Free plan to manage up to 10 resources
- $25-$750 /month, depending on the number of resources to manage
Review ratings
Reviewers give Ganttic a 4.2/5 rating with a 4.6 for resource scheduling. A reviewer says:
Very interesting product that could be easily upgraded to fulfill more specific needs.
Pros and Cons
- Simple, drag-and-drop resource scheduling ✅
- Automized reports sent via email ✅
- Manage different types of resources along with their skills and certifications ✅
- It doesn’t come with project planning and management features, more ideal for resource managers than project managers 👎
Is Ganttic the ideal resource management software for you?
It depends—if you’re a resource manager (typically, this role exists in large organizations), Ganttic may be one of your best resource management solutions. However, other tools are better if you want a combined project management and resource solution.
#4. Float
✅ Budget, material, and people resource management ✅ Capacity reporting
💵 $7.50-12.50 /user/month ⭐4.5/5
In its own words, Float helps you assign the best team for a job. It comes with resource identification, resource scheduling, and capacity planning features.
Notable features include:
- Get a live view of your team’s capacity and schedule
- Robust scheduling with custom work hours and locations
- Project forecast reports to predict capacity and spend
- In built, simple time tracking
- Integrations with project management, calendars, and collaboration tools
Price plans
- $7.50 /person/month, with resource scheduling and capacity reporting
- $12.50 /person/month, with time tracking and forecasting
Both plans come with a 30-day free trial.
Review ratings
Reviewers give Float a 4.5/5 rating. Here’s what a reviewer says:
I love the modern-looking UI and simple design, which makes our messy everyday schedules seem more organized.
Pros and cons
- Complete resource management software from identification to scheduling to basic time tracking ✅
- Get a clear overview of your team’s capacity, availability, and schedule ✅
- Forecast people, budget, and material resource requirements ✅
- Project management features are missing, as a result, you’ll need to integrate with other project management tools 👎
Is Float the right resource management solution for you?
If you’re evaluating pure resource management tools, you should check out Float. It’s a fantastic tool for resource management teams. However, for smaller teams looking for one tool to manage projects and overcome resource constraints, there are better options on this list.
#5. Resource Guru
✅ Simple resource management software ✅ Leave management
💵 $5-12 /person/month ⭐4.6/5
Resource Guru is another pure resource management tool. It comes with many features, including capacity planning, resource scheduling, project forecasting, and equipment management.
Top features include:
- Manage equipment and human resources
- Schedule your resources using simple drag-and-drop
- Plan vacations and other time off
- Monitor project health with resource utilization reports
- Get a complete picture of team members’ workloads
Price plans
- $5 /person/month plan, with all resource management features
- $8 /person/month plan, with reporting
- $12 /person/month plan, with data import, single sign-on, and approvals
All plans come with a free 30-day trial.
Review ratings
Capterra reviews stand at a solid 4.6/5 rating. A reviewer says:
The daily/weekly tracker is handy, and the ability to plan ahead is a godsend.
Pros and cons
- Plan and schedule people and equipment resources ✅
- Visualize daily/weekly workloads of team members ✅
- Track resource availability with leave management features ✅
- Integrates with calendars or other resource planning apps using Zapier ✅
- Lacks project and task management features 👎
Is Resource Guru the resource management software for your team?
Like Ganttic and Float, this is a powerful resource management tool. However, you will also need an additional budget for project management and time-tracking tools.
#6. Smartsheet
✅ Simple resource allocation ✅ Excel-like interface
💵 $9-32+ /user/month ⭐4.2/5
Smartsheet is a flexible, Excel-like, all-in-one project management tool. It comes with customizable sheets for your project and resource management needs. However, the resource management module is sold separately from Smartsheet as a premium add-on product.
Top features in Smartsheet include:
- Visualize and track work using a grid, timeline, board, or calendar view.
- Forecast hiring needs; find and allocate resources to projects.
- Submit basic and pre-filled timesheets to track project hours.
- Visualize complex resource trends with dynamic reports.
- Integrate with Smartsheet project management software.
Price plans
The pricing of Smartsheet’s resource management tool isn’t available on their website. However, the pricing page mentions that it’s sold as a premium add-on to Smartsheet’s monthly plans.
- $9 /user/month, maximum ten users
- $32 /user/month, minimum three users, with baseline planning, proofing, and unlimited automation
Both plans come with a 30-day free trial.
Review ratings
Reviewers give Smartsheet Resource Management module a 4.2/5 rating. A reviewer says:
I love how you can allocate team members to projects. I also love that it got us away from the “timer method” of time tracking.
Pros and cons
- Comprehensive resource management features for complex needs ✅
- Powerful and flexible resource tracking reporting ✅
- Time tracking and resource management modules are sold separately as an add-on to Smartsheet which can significantly increase your costs 👎
- A steep learning curve because Smartsheet is so customizable 👎
Is Smartsheet a smart choice for you?
If you are okay with shelling out the extra dollars every month, Smartsheet is one of the most comprehensive resource planning tools. It can meet your most complex resource management needs.
#7. Asana
✅ Comprehensive workload management
💵 $30.49 /user/month ⭐4.6/5
Asana is a popular online project management software. It also has workload management that helps project managers ensure team members aren’t overwhelmed or underworked, and projects are adequately staffed.
The top resource management features in Asana are:
- Get a complete picture of every team member’s capacity at a glance.
- See who has too much and who doesn’t have enough work.
- Drag and drop tasks to reassign or reschedule.
- Integrate with popular time-tracking tools.
Price plans
The workload management feature is available only in Asana’s top-tier plan. It costs $30.49 /user/month with a 30-day free trial.
Review ratings
Asana gets a high 4.5/5 rating from reviewers. A reviewer says:
Asana helped me as a manager understand the workload on my teammates and help them prioritize the tasks critical for the project delivery.
Pros and cons
- Comprehensive workload balancing and management features ✅
- Drag and drop reassignment or rescheduling ✅
- Expensive at $30.49 /user/month 👎
Is Asana the right resource planning tool for you?
If you already use Asana for project management, getting the resource management features would cost 2x your current monthly plan. However, upgrading to the top tier may be worthwhile if you also plan to manage portfolios, goals, and approvals.
#8. Monday.com
✅ Basic time tracking ✅ Workload tracking
💵 $20 /user/month ⭐4.6/5
Monday.com is a flexible work management tool with a few resource management features, including basic time tracking and workload management.
In Monday.com, you can create custom items (projects, tasks, etc.). Additionally, you can customize each item by adding custom fields, workflows, and relations with other custom items. In addition, you can also track resource loading in project management using its workload view.
For resource management, you get these features:
- Track time against their projects and tasks with a basic time-tracking custom field.
- Visualize your team’s workload using the workload view.
- Integrate with 200+ other project and resource management solutions.
Price plans
Both resource management features in Monday.com are available on the $20 /user/month plan. You can try the plan free for 14 days.
Review ratings
Reviewers give Monday.com at a solid 4.6/5 rating. However, both the resource management features are unrated as of now.
Monday.com is a very versatile software that provides features to manage all projects… But it’s not the most user-friendly software, and it shows in the beginning stages of setting everything up in the software.
Pros and cons
- Flexible, powerful, customizable workflow management ✅
- Basic but simple time tracking ✅
- An innovative way to visualize workloads ✅
- No resource allocation features 👎
- Time tracking and workload view are only available on the highest price plan 👎
Is Monday.com the right for you?
If you’re already using Monday.com, upgrading to the higher tier plan for time tracking and workload views may be worth it.
#9. Forecast
✅ Work, resource, and financial management in one platform
💵 $30+ /seat/month billed annually ⭐4.5/5
The Forecast app also offers financial resource management features along with equipment, material, and human resources management.
Forecast app comes with the following features:
- Run, track, and manage resources with AI scheduling and optimization.
- Get a big-picture view of the workloads and capacities across your organization.
- Forecast demand to make hiring decisions.
- Get accurate reports of resource utilization and efficiency.
It also comes with project management, accounting, and collaboration features.
Price plans
Forecast offers three price plans—Lite, Pro, and Plus.
The Lite plan costs $30 /seat/month, billed annually, with a minimum requirement of 20 seats. Other plan prices are not available on their website.
Review ratings
Forecast gets a strong 4.5/5 rating on Capterra. However, it’s resource management features only get a 3/5 rating. Here’s what a reviewer has to say:
Time-tracking, project-management and scheduling. Forecast is great for it.
Pros and cons
- AI-driven, intelligent resource management feature set ✅
- Includes financial resource management tools ✅
- Too expensive for small and mid-sized teams 👎
Is Forecast the right resource planning app for you?
Besides the expensive price plans, Forecast is a feature-rich all-in-one work management tool. If that’s what you’re looking for, give it a try.
#10. LiquidPlanner
✅ Intelligent predictive scheduling ✅ Workload management
💵 $15-35 /user/month billed annually ⭐4.3/5
LiquidPlanner helps you plan your projects and resources in one place. It comes with resource forecasting, scheduling, and workload management features.
Top features include:
- Automize scheduling by running multiple simulations across projects.
- See the bandwidth for the entire team across all projects.
- Track efforts spent on tasks with manual timesheet management.
Price plans
- $15 /user/month with predictive resource scheduling and workload management
- $25 /user/month with time and rate sheets
- $35 /user/month with sign sign-on and access control
All plans are billed annually and come with a 14-day free trial.
Pros and cons
- Intelligent predictive scheduling ✅
- Basic timesheet management ✅
- Expensive compared to other resource management solutions 👎
- UI feels a bit outdated 👎
Is LiquidPlanner the right resource planning tool for you?
If you’re looking for an automated resource scheduling tool, LiquidPlanner could be for you.
What features make a good resource planning tool?
A resource planning tool helps project managers plan resource allocation, utilization, and workloads to deliver projects successfully.
Project managers use a resource planning tool to identify, allocate, and manage resources in a project. On the other hand, business owners use a resource management tool to plan and manage capacity at the business level.
A good resource planning tool should have the following features:
- Track resource availability: Plan and track when human resources are available and when they’re on time off or busy with another project.
- Manage resource allocation: Find available resources which can be assigned to the project whenever there’s demand.
- Adjust resource plans: Can adjust project resource plans when things change quickly.
- Track resource utilization: Track the time spent on tasks and compare against estimates.
- Stay on top of capacity plans: Provide a bird’s eye view of team capacity and help the business owner decide when to take on new projects and when to hire.
When choosing a resource planning tool, you can prioritize these features based on your needs.
How to choose the best resource management software for your needs?
When looking for the best resource management software, look for features, pricing, and onboarding time that match your needs. To understand which of these tools would be the best option for you, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who will use it—resource managers, project managers, or all the team members?
- Does it have all the features to satisfy the users’ needs—resource identification, resource scheduling, workload management, capacity planning, etc.?
- Is the new tool an overkill—do you really need all the resource management features, or are they just a distraction?
- If you need to choose from full-blown resource management tools, do they integrate with your current time tracking and project management tool?
- What does the learning curve look like? Does the tool feel like a distraction rather than letting your team concentrate on productive work?
- Does it fit your budget?
Explore all options, take the free trials (the free versions rarely have all the features), and then decide the best resource planning tool for your needs.
Jitesh is an SEO and content specialist. He manages content projects at Toggl and loves sharing actionable tips to deliver projects profitably.
