Resource management software helps project managers keep track of the human resources, raw materials and equipment needed to complete a project. Projects are made up of many tasks, and they all need resources. This creates the necessity to plan how to allocate your available resources, which is known as resource planning.

Once you know what resources are needed for each task, you’ll need to create a resource schedule, so that your team members have what they need, when they need it. Resource management can mean a lot of headaches for project managers trying to balance their available resources with the team’s capacity. And, of course, resource planning must adjust to your project plan, budget and schedule.

You can see the need for resource management software, which includes resource planning and resource allocation features to make sure teams have what they need when they need it. It’s through resource management that projects keep to their budgets and stay on schedule.

Before we look at a number of tools that claim to be the best resource management software, let’s define resource management in-depth. Then we’ll get to the best resource management software rankings of 2023.

What Is Resource Management?

Resource management is all about getting the materials, supplies, equipment and people you need to execute a project. It involves how you plan, schedule, allocate and manage those resources to best serve the project.

Making sure your resources are used effectively is the backbone of resource management, whether those resources come internally or externally. That means working with vendors, subcontractors and your own teams, coordinating their work and making sure that resources are always balanced with capacity planning to keep productivity high.

Clearly, resource management is a critical part of project planning. Using too many resources can be costly and using too few can slow down production or might affect your project schedule, and project plan. You’ll either overspend or miss your deadlines. Neither option is advisable. Fortunately, resource management software can help.

The following are a handful of the best resource management software currently available. One of them should meet your resource management needs.

2023 Best Resource Management Software Rankings

1. ProjectManager

ProjectManager is a comprehensive project and work management software that tops our list of best resource management software because it manages and tracks your project resources with an ease of use that its competitors lack. This resource management software organizes your resources, tasks, projects and teams allowing you to plan, schedule and reallocate their resources as needed. Live data gives users greater visibility into their resource schedule, tracking labor costs, workload and task progress in real time. No other software helps you plan and schedule resources better.

Live data gives teams greater visibility into their resources, so they can track labor costs, workload and task progress in real time. That means you have the most current information to better plan and schedule resources.

Schedule & Track Resources with Gantt Charts

Resource planning is one of the more challenging aspects of managing a project. Fortunately, ProjectManager makes it easy to identify and categorize teams, supplies, equipment and other resources for easy planning and scheduling on the Gantt chart. More than that, the Gantt chart schedules resources based on their availability and skillset. Then, monitor costs and workload in real time to keep to your budget and avoid burning out your team. In fact, this resource management software is great for tracking project variance once you set the baseline helping you monitor progress in real time to stay on schedule.

Set Availability and Balance Workload

Teams are your most valuable resource and you need a resource management tool that knows how busy they are without getting in their way. A color-coded workload chart gives managers transparency into how many or how few tasks are assigned to their team. You can then balance the workload right from that same page. When you reallocate resources, though, you need to know your team’s availability, especially if they’re hybrid or remote.

ProjectManager is a great resource scheduling software because it lets you define working days, holidays and planned hours, blocking days and setting parameters to help with task management and project scheduling. You can even filter by project, team or month, if you’re using the tool for project portfolio management or program management.

Monitor and Track Resources in Real Time

Resource management is not just about planning and scheduling; it’s also about tracking resource utilization. ProjectManager has live dashboards, unlike other tools that require time-consuming setup, and one-click reporting for in-depth tracking of workload, availability, timesheets and tasks. Secure timesheets track how long your team is spending on tasks. Plus, when teams update their status that resource utilization data is shared across the software in real time.

With these features and others like a sheet view, kanban and more, no software does resource management better than ProjectManager. The best part? You can get started for free right away. Start your free trial of ProjectManager by clicking here. 

Pricing

• Team: $13 user/month
• Business: $24 user/month

Q&A

• Does ProjectManager offer a free trial? Yes, ProjectManager has a 30-day free trial
• Does ProjectManager have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

2. Float

Float is a resource management software that is used by agencies, studios and firms for tracking who is working on what and when. It can manage more than one project at a time, so you can see all your projects and their competing milestones in a single view, which helps with planning and scheduling. You can monitor your budgets in real time and forecast hours, which helps you from overspending. The resource management software integrates with Slack, Google Calendar and other apps, which fills in some holes. But it does excel at capacity management, demand forecasting and skills tracking.

A problem with the resource management software is that if more than one person is using it things like task names and job descriptions are not centrally controlled and can vary as people edit them. While it can help organize resources, it’s missing some vital resource planning features, such as a decent search and a well-designed dashboard. Resource utilization reports are complicated and not visual, which would make them easier to digest at a glance. However, the fact that it can work with multiple projects makes it a good bet for project portfolio or program management.

Pricing

• Resource Planning: $6 user/month
• Resource Planning + Time Tracking: $10 user/month

Q&A

• Does Float offer a free trial? Yes, Float has a 30-day free trial
• Does Float have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

3. Resource Guru

Resource Guru is designed for resource managers and project managers. It is a project scheduling and resource management software. Adding, editing, moving or deleting items in your schedule is fast and simple. You get visibility into resource utilization on its calendar view and a staff time tracker helps you stay updated on vacations, sick days, maternity leave, etc. The calendar syncs to a resource planning dashboard so everyone in the project is on the same page, and visual reports give you data on resource allocation.

Beyond that, the resource management software has limited features. For example, there are no alerts or appointment scheduling. There’s also little automation, which would help streamline the process greatly. The reporting feature could be better, and while there are integration workarounds, it would be nice to have everything working under one roof. But the fact that it keeps your teams on schedule is a resource management win.

Pricing

• Grasshopper: $2.50 user/month
• Black Belt: $4.16 user/month
• Master: $6.65 user/month

Q&A

• Does Resource Guru offer a free trial? Yes, Resource Guru has a 30-day free trial
• Does Resource Guru offer a free version? No, Resource Guru doesn’t offer a free plan
• Does Resource Guru have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

4. Silverbucket

Silverbucket is a resource planning tool for projects that is user-friendly and helps to plan and allocate resources. It allows you to avoid conflicts and manage loads and capacity. Projects, people and capacity planning all are monitored within a single view, so resource scheduling decisions are based on hard data, which leads to greater profitability. There is a filtered search, which is helpful, and skill tracking for team members. Plus, it integrates into many other project management apps.

Some issues include that the resource management software doesn’t have drag-and-drop functionality, which can make it a bit clunky to use. The resource planning dashboard is less than ideal, and you have to click to get data on team members’ allocation. Resource utilization reporting is problematic, too, and leaves a big hole in the software that hopefully will get filled in one day. For all its shortcomings, we did appreciate the ease with which it integrated with other project management apps.

Pricing

• Resource Planning: 7.5€ user/month
• Resource Planning + Time Tracking: 11€ user/month

Q&A

• Does Silverbucket offer a free trial? Yes, Silverbucket has a 30-day free trial
• Does Silverbucket have a mobile project management app? No

5. Easy Projects

Easy Projects is a resource management software for midsize to enterprise-level teams. It’s used in projects ranging from marketing, IT, operations, software development to professional services. A big plus here is that this software automates your workflows, which saves time. Teams can automatically create template-driven projects or tasks based on available resources and incoming requests. Easy Projects offers a more visual resource planning and project reporting user interface. It has team collaboration tools, Gantt charts and kanban boards, making it more of a full project planning solution.

However, Easy Projects might not be the best project management software for team communication or collaboration. For example, if two people are working on a task and one finishes because they still receive notifications until the other completes the assignment. There have been issues with resource allocation reporting, as well, as project stakeholders don’t get the full Gantt chart view unless they have a license. While there were some dings, the overall visual style was very appealing and makes using this project resource management software fun and functional.

Pricing

• Team: $24 user/month
• Enterprise: custom pricing

Q&A

• Does Easy Projects offer a free trial? Yes, Easy Projects has a 30-day free trial
• Does Easy Projects have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

6. Paymo

Paymo is a resource management app that helps to align teams and keep them engaged. Its resource scheduling works with features on project planning, time tracking and invoicing. There are task management tools for managing team capacity, workload and availability and automatic ghost bookings based on task dates that were already added to the project plan. Other key features include Gantt charts and timesheets that track planned vs. actual work time.

Users have complained about the steep learning curve of using this resource management app. But even if you take the time and put in the effort to learn how to use it, there are limits that might have you seeking more robust resource management tools. For example, the dashboard is more geared for invoicing than resource management. There’s a web task timer, which is great for managing remote workers, only it doesn’t detect idle time or automatically shut off when left running, which can cause some discrepancies with your team.

Pricing

• Free: limited features for a maximum of 10 users
• Small Office: $11.95 user/month
• Business: $18.95 user/month
• Enterprise: custom pricing

Q&A

• Does Paymo offer a free trial? Yes, Paymo has a 15-day free trial
• Does Paymo have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

7. Forecast

Forecast is a resource management software used throughout the world mostly in the professional services, agency, consulting and software sectors. Some of its benefits include the fact that it offers real-time data that can help companies with enterprise resource planning and to improve KPIs. It is one of the new crops of tools that applies AI to help with resource scheduling and selecting team members who are most suited to working on a particular task or project.

As with many of the options on our 2023 best resource management software list, Forecast can be difficult to use. One of the major deficits is the lack of reporting tools, which means poor tracking and difficulty learning from the lessons of past projects. Some users praise it as a forecasting tool but criticize the project visualization that gets confusing when dealing with larger teams in bigger organizations. Finally, the software is suited for more traditional ways of working with resource management and those creative industries or teams who work in an agile project management methodology tend to be frustrated by the tool.

Pricing

• Light: $29 user/month
• Pro: $49 user/month
• Plus: Custom pricing

Q&A

• Does Forecast offer a free trial? Yes, Forecast has a 14-day free trial
• Does Forecast have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

8. Hubstaff Tasks

Hubstaff Tasks is a resource management software designed for agile project management. In fact, the whole tool is based on an agile methodology to foster team collaboration and communication. Its visual user interface is certainly going to attract the agile crowd, and kanban features will keep them happy. It’s easy to use and has multiple task management features, including Gantt charts, for resource planning. Customizable workflows help teams know that all their tasks are being worked on.

The problem with this resource management app that targets agile users is that its kanban boards have no work-in-progress (WIP) limits, swimlanes, custom fields or image previews in the board view. This is sure to turn off agile enthusiasts. Another fault of the software is its lack of integrations. Most organizations want their resource management tool to seamlessly integrate with other project management apps that they use. Not having this function or a very limited one might be a deal-breaker.

Pricing

• Free: limited features for up to five users
• Premium: $5 user/month

Q&A

• Does Hubstaff Tasks offer a free trial? Yes, Hubstaff Tasks has a 14-day free trial
• Does Hubstaff Tasks have a mobile project management app? Yes, it’s available for Android and iOS

9. Mavenlink

Mavenlink is resource management software with project accounting, integrations and business intelligence. This tool was designed to help managers with resource planning and scheduling to streamline project and business processes. The dashboard also acts as a communication channel between the project manager and resource manager. The software has a configurable resource recommendation tool that is a great way to optimize your resources by analyzing processes and offering suggestions.

Pricing is not available on the website, so potential users have to request pricing from the company, which should be a red flag that the pricing can get expensive, especially for smaller businesses. The software has a mobile app, but only for top-tier users, and it’s really just a mobile-optimized website. Another issue with Mavenlink is the lack of a chat feature or any robust communication tools. While the website could be easier to navigate there are some strong features that should motivate most users to struggle through the user interface.

Pricing

• Contact the company for details about its professional and teams editions

Q&A

• Does Mavenlink offer a free trial? Yes, Mavenlink has a 10-day free trial
• Does Mavenlink have a mobile project management app? Sort of, it’s available for premier users

10. Ganttic

Ganttic is an online resource management software that is ideal for portfolio management. Ganttic visualizes tasks in a matrix, which gives users a fully customized view of the project. Not only can you brainstorm, plan and allocate tasks to your team, but also track resource utilization on your dashboard. While excelling at workload and resource management, it also has portfolio optimization and can help you pick the right resources for the job along with the right projects for your organization.

That’s a lot of resource management features, but it takes a lot of time to get there. Setup is long due to all the personalizing of unique client data required. It’s also not the easiest resource management software to use. For example, there’s no click-and-drag punctuality to move an allocated block of time around the timeline. It can also be problematic on some web browsers, such as Chrome. You can’t create a draft that is private until published, which might turn off some potential users. Some users complained about the complexity of its time tracking and task management tools. There are still some bugs in the user interface, but that’s par for the course and shouldn’t deter those who like the portfolio features.

Pricing

• Free: Up to 10 resources
• Pro 20: $1.25 resource/month, maximum 20 resources
• Pro 50: $1.18 resource/month, maximum 50 resources
• Pro 150: .99 cents resource/month, maximum 150 resources
• Pro 250: .92 cents resource/month, maximum 250 resources
• Pro 500: .76 cents resource/month, maximum 500 resources
• Pro 1000: .50 cents resource/month, maximum 1000 resources

Q&A

• Does Ganttic offer a free trial? Yes, Mavenlink has a 10-day free trial
• Does Mavenlink have a mobile project management app? Sort of, it’s available for premier users

What’s the Best Resource Management Software for You?

There are a lot of resource management software choices. The right one for you depends on what you’re looking for in a resource management tool. Some projects aren’t going to be as resource-rich, but most projects require a lot of resources and that means a lot of management.

Getting a resource management tool that helps you plan, schedule and allocate is crucial. Having one that’s online and provides you with real-time data to track your resources is even more important, especially in the 2023 working environment. Whether you use it now or grow into it, you’ll not regret the investment.

ProjectManager is the one-stop shop for all your project management needs. Its cloud-based software has the most up-to-date data possible, so your resource management is in real-time. ProjectManager’s resource management is part of a larger project management suite of tools that control your entire project from planning to monitoring and reporting. See how it can manage resources on your next project by taking this free 30-day trial today.