Marketing project management software has to cope with work that general project tools were not built for: dozens of small deliverables per campaign, rounds of feedback on creative files, content calendars, and, for agencies, retainers that burn through their hours without anyone noticing. No single tool does all of that well, so the right choice depends on where your team loses the most time.
We grouped 15 marketing project management tools, including several built as marketing agency project management software, by the job they do best: tracking time, budgets, and profitability; organizing campaigns and resources; and running reviews and approvals with colleagues and clients. Pricing comes from each vendor’s own pricing page.
What to look for in marketing project management software
Whether you are choosing project management software for marketing in house or agency project management software for client work, these are the capabilities that separate the tools below.
In house marketing teams and marketing agencies need overlapping but different things. In house teams care most about intake, calendars, and approvals; agencies also need to know whether each client and retainer is profitable.
- Request intake. Forms that turn “can you just make a quick banner” messages into scoped tasks with owners and deadlines.
- Campaign and content calendars. A shared view of what launches when, across channels.
- Review and approval. Comments on the actual file or post, version history, and a clear sign off, instead of feedback scattered across email.
- Resource capacity. A view of who is overloaded before deadlines slip, especially across several campaigns at once.
- Time, budget, and retainer tracking. For agencies this decides profitability: hours logged against clients, budgets that warn before they run out, and billable amounts ready to invoice.
- Client access. Portals or guest reviewers so clients can see progress and approve work without joining your internal tools.
For the process side of running marketing projects, see our guide to marketing project management.
What over servicing a retainer costs
For agencies, the most expensive problem is rarely missed deadlines. It is unbilled work on retainers, which only shows up if hours are tracked against each client. Here is an illustrative example.
If the overrun grows to 24 hours a month, the yearly gap reaches $28,800 on one client. That is why the first category below focuses on tools that tie hours to clients, budgets, and invoices.
Best for tracking time, budgets, and profitability
| Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| actiTIME | Time, cost, and profit by client and project | Free version for up to 3 users; from $5 per user per month |
| Productive | Agencies wanting one agency management system | $10 per user per month, billed annually; 3 seat minimum |
| Scoro | Quote to cash for larger agencies | From $17 per user per month; 5 user minimum |
| FunctionFox | Creative and marketing timesheets with retainers | $10.50 per user per month, billed annually; 3 user minimum |
| Workamajig | Agencies wanting PM and accounting together | From $45 to $49 per user per month; 10 user minimum |
1. actiTIME
Key features:
- Time tracking on tasks
- Estimates and Kanban
- Cost budgets
- Profit and billing reports
actiTIME suits marketing teams and agencies that need to know what each client, campaign, and deliverable really costs. Work is organized as customers, projects, and tasks with estimates, deadlines, and a Kanban board, and people log time in a weekly timesheet, a calendar view, the mobile app, or with the optional Chrome extension that records browser activity.
Each person has a cost rate, and billing rates are set on types of work, so actiTIME can show both what the hours cost and what they are worth. Cost budgets on clients or projects turn red once exceeded, the Estimated vs. Actual Time Report flags tasks running over, and the Profit/Loss Report compares billable amounts with costs by customer or project, which is the retainer math above. Invoices are generated from billable time.
Limitation: actiTIME has no creative proofing or content calendar, so teams with heavy review cycles usually pair it with a tool like Filestage or Planable.
Pricing: free version for up to 3 users; paid version from $5 per user per month; free 30 day trial.
actiTIME helps us in data analysis and international reporting
actiTIME is pretty easy and understandable even for a layman. The app requires no big technical know-how. Simple user interfaces and stylish reporting became vital factor in making a decision on the application. It helps us a lot in data analysis, client billing and international reporting. There has been a tremendously positive impact on the process since we’ve been using the product!
2. Productive
Key features:
- Time tracking
- Project budgets
- Resource planning
- Invoicing on Professional
Productive is agency management software built specifically for agencies and professional services firms that want projects, time, budgets, and resourcing in one system. Its reports focus on whether each project, client, and retainer is profitable.
Time tracking and budgeting are included from the Essential tier at $10 per user per month billed annually ($12 monthly). The Professional tier, at $25 per user per month billed annually ($29 monthly), adds invoicing and HRIS integrations. All tiers require at least 3 seats and come with a 14 day trial.
Limitation: invoicing needs the Professional tier, and it is more system than a small in house team usually needs.
Pricing: Essential $10 and Professional $25 per user per month, billed annually; 3 seat minimum; 14 day trial.
3. Scoro
Key features:
- Quotes and budgets
- Time and labor cost
- Invoicing
- Margin reports
Scoro covers the full quote to cash cycle that larger marketing agencies run: building quotes and budgets, tracking time and labor cost, invoicing, and margin reporting. It is sold as combinations of modules, so you pay for the parts you use.
The time and billing combination starts from $17 per user per month, Projects and Resources and Quote to Cash each cost $29, and the End to end package costs $57 per user per month. Annual billing takes 13% to 17% off, every package has a 5 user minimum, and there is a 14 day trial.
Limitation: the 5 user minimum and module pricing put it out of reach for very small teams.
Pricing: from $17 per user per month; 5 user minimum; 14 day trial.
4. FunctionFox
Key features:
- Timesheet and timer
- Estimate and budget tracking
- Retainer tracking
- Gantt charts on Premier
FunctionFox is built for creative and marketing teams, and its strength is the timesheet and budget side rather than planning views. The Classic tier includes a timesheet with stopwatch timer, unlimited clients and projects, estimate and budget tracking, and retainer tracking.
Classic costs $10.50 per user per month billed annually ($12.75 monthly). Premier, at $16 billed annually, adds to do lists, Gantt charts, schedules, and availability reports, and In House, at $36.75, adds custom job intake forms and an advanced report builder for internal marketing departments. All tiers have a 3 user minimum.
Limitation: planning and scheduling views only arrive on the Premier tier, and the interface is more practical than modern.
Pricing: Classic $10.50, Premier $16, In House $36.75 per user per month, billed annually; 3 user minimum.
5. Workamajig
Key features:
- Project management
- Agency accounting
- Resource scheduling
- CRM
Workamajig is all in one agency management software that combines project management with full accounting, so agencies can run traffic, timesheets, budgets, and billing in the same system. It suits established agencies that want to replace several tools at once.
Its Teams and Agencies packages are priced from $49 per user per month, dropping to $47 and $45 at larger user tiers, with a minimum of 10 users. There is no published free trial; the vendor offers demos and one month free with annual payment.
Limitation: the 10 user minimum and per user price make it a big commitment, and setup takes longer than lighter tools.
Pricing: from $45 to $49 per user per month; 10 user minimum; demo available.
Best for campaign and resource planning
| Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Hive | Flexible project views for in house teams | Free for up to 10 members; from $5 per user per month |
| GoodDay | Budget friendly work management | Free for up to 15 members; from $4 per user per month, billed annually |
| Adobe Workfront | Enterprise marketing operations | By quote |
| CoSchedule | Marketing and social calendars | From $29 per month, billed annually; projects on Suite from $69 |
| Streamtime | Creative studio scheduling | Custom, based on team and usage |
6. Hive
Key features:
- Multiple project views
- Gantt charts
- Time tracking on Teams
- Proofing add on
Hive is a project management tool that lets each person view the same work as a list, board, calendar, or Gantt chart, which helps marketing teams where designers, writers, and managers prefer different views. It also includes collaborative notes, chat, and email inside the app.
The free tier covers up to 10 workspace members with unlimited tasks. Starter costs $5 per user per month and adds Gantt charts; Teams costs $12 per user per month and adds time tracking, with proofing available as an add on. There is a 14 day trial with the full feature set.
Limitation: time tracking and proofing sit on the Teams tier or as add ons, so the real cost for a marketing team is above the entry price.
Pricing: free for up to 10 members; Starter $5 and Teams $12 per user per month; 14 day trial.
7. GoodDay
Key features:
- Waterfall and Kanban views
- Resource planning
- Time tracking
- Goals and dashboards
GoodDay is a work management platform with a long list of modules, including waterfall and Kanban views, resource planning, time tracking, goals, forms, and dashboards, and it explicitly supports marketing campaign workflows. Its main appeal is how much it covers at a low price.
The free tier covers up to 15 members with 1 GB of storage. Professional costs $4 per user per month billed annually ($6 monthly) for 5 to 250 users, and Business costs $7 per user per month billed annually ($10 monthly) for 15 to 350 users.
Limitation: the breadth of modules can make setup feel heavy, and it has no marketing specific features such as creative proofing.
Pricing: free for up to 15 members; Professional $4 and Business $7 per user per month, billed annually.
8. Adobe Workfront
Key features:
- Demand management
- Resource management
- Review and approval
- Portfolio management
Adobe Workfront is built for large marketing organizations that need to manage incoming requests, portfolios of campaigns, and capacity across many teams. Its packages cover work management, demand management with custom forms and approvals, resource management across projects, and review and approval with versioning and digital sign off.
Workfront is sold in three packages, Select, Prime, and Ultimate, with pricing available on request.
Limitation: it is an enterprise product with enterprise pricing and setup, which is far more than small teams and agencies need.
Pricing: by quote; Select, Prime, and Ultimate packages.
9. CoSchedule
Key features:
- Marketing calendar
- Social scheduling
- Projects and tasks on Suite
- Approval workflows
CoSchedule is built around a marketing calendar, which makes it the most marketing specific option in this group. Its core plans focus on social media scheduling, while the Suite adds marketing projects, tasks, reusable project and campaign templates, approval workflows, intake request forms, and a team management dashboard.
Starter costs $29 per month billed annually ($39 monthly) and Professional costs $49 ($59 monthly). The Suite, which is where the project management features live, starts at $69 per month through sales. There is a free tier for scheduling up to 15 posts on one profile, and every plan can be tried free for 14 days.
Limitation: project management only comes with the Suite, so the cheaper plans are social schedulers rather than marketing project management software.
Pricing: Starter $29, Professional $49 per month billed annually; Suite from $69 per month.
10. Streamtime
Key features:
- Scheduling
- Time tracking
- Quoting and invoicing
- Kanban and reporting
Streamtime is project management software for creative businesses, covering project planning, scheduling, time tracking, quoting and invoicing, Kanban, and reporting. It pitches itself on balancing a healthy profit with a team that is not overloaded, which makes its scheduling and capacity views the center of the product.
Pricing is unusual: there is no fixed per user fee. Streamtime builds a custom monthly price from your number of permanent team members, your average number of freelancers, and your annual revenue, and adjusts it as your needs change.
Limitation: you cannot see a price without contacting the vendor, which makes quick comparisons harder.
Pricing: custom, based on team size, freelancers, and revenue.
Best for collaboration and approvals
| Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Basecamp | Simple team and client collaboration | Free for 1 project; $59 per month flat for unlimited users |
| Ravetree | Client portals and file approvals | $29 per user per month, billed yearly |
| Filestage | Reviewing files with clients | Free for 1 active project; from $199 per month |
| Ziflow | Proofing at volume | Free for 2 users; from $199 per month, billed yearly |
| Planable | Approving social and content posts | 50 free posts; from $33 per workspace per month |
11. Basecamp
Key features:
- Message boards
- To dos and card tables
- Chat
- Flat pricing
Basecamp keeps project communication in one place: message boards for announcements, to dos, card tables (its take on Kanban), group chat, and files. It suits small agencies and marketing teams that want order without a heavy tool.
Its pricing is flat rather than per user. The free tier covers one project. The Studio tier costs $59 per month for up to 10 active projects with unlimited users, and the Unlimited Edition costs $300 per month for unlimited projects. Paid tiers come with a 30 day free trial.
Limitation: it has no budgets, resource views, or proofing on the file itself, so it handles conversation better than control.
Pricing: free for 1 project; Studio $59 per month; Unlimited Edition $300 per month; 30 day trial.
12. Ravetree
Key features:
- Client portals
- File approvals
- Budgets and retainers
- Time and expense
Ravetree is an all in one work management platform with a focus on client facing collaboration. It includes client portals, file approvals with custom multi stage workflows, requests, and a CRM, alongside project management, time and expense tracking, budgets and retainers, and resource management.
That combination suits agencies that want clients to approve work and see progress in the same system where the team tracks budgets. Pricing is a single tier: $29 per user per month billed yearly, $34 billed quarterly, or $39 billed monthly, with free onboarding and training.
Limitation: one price tier means small teams pay for features they may not use.
Pricing: $29 per user per month billed yearly; $39 billed monthly; free trial.
13. Filestage
Key features:
- Online proofing
- Unlimited reviewers
- Review groups
- Version comparison
Filestage is a review and approval platform for marketing and creative teams. Reviewers comment directly on videos, designs, documents, and other files, and teams manage feedback in review groups instead of email threads, with unlimited reviewers on every tier.
The free tier allows one active project, up to 5 new files a month, and 10 team members. Starter costs $199 per month and Business $329 per month, each including 10 seats with more in bundles of 5; yearly billing gives two months free. There is a 14 day trial.
Limitation: it handles approvals only, so you still need a separate tool for tasks, time, and budgets.
Pricing: free for 1 active project; Starter $199 and Business $329 per month; 14 day trial.
14. Ziflow
Key features:
- Unlimited proofs
- 1,200+ file types
- Workflow stages
- Adobe plugins
Ziflow is online proofing software for teams that review a lot of creative work. It supports more than 1,200 file types, pixel level version comparison, collaborative comments, and plugins for Adobe Creative Cloud, with unlimited proofs and reviewers on every tier.
The free Personal tier covers 2 users with 2 GB of storage and one workflow stage. Standard costs $199 per month billed yearly for 15 users and 1 TB, and Pro costs $329 per month billed yearly for 20 users, more workflow stages, and folder level permissions.
Limitation: like Filestage, it covers review and approval only, and the jump from free to $199 a month is steep.
Pricing: free for 2 users; Standard $199 and Pro $329 per month, billed yearly.
15. Planable
Key features:
- Content planning
- Approval workflows
- Calendar and grid views
- Unlimited users
Planable is a content collaboration tool where marketing teams and agencies plan social posts and other content, collect comments, and get approvals in a feed, calendar, or grid view that looks like the finished post. Approvals can be optional, required, or multi level, which matches how most agencies get client sign off.
Pricing is per workspace rather than per user, with unlimited users. Basic costs $33 per workspace per month and Pro $49, with yearly billing giving two months free. The first 50 posts are free with no time limit.
Limitation: it is focused on social and content approvals, not broader project or budget management.
Pricing: 50 free posts; Basic $33 and Pro $49 per workspace per month.
FAQ
What is marketing project management software?
It is software for planning, running, and reviewing marketing work, from single assets to multichannel campaigns. Compared with general project tools, it usually adds request intake, content calendars, and review and approval of creative files, and for agencies, time, budget, and retainer tracking by client.
What is the difference between agency management software and agency project management software?
Agency project management software organizes tasks, deadlines, and collaboration. Agency management software, such as Productive, Scoro, or Workamajig, adds the business side: quotes, time and cost tracking, retainers, invoicing, and profitability per client. Many agencies combine a lighter project tool with a time and cost tracker like actiTIME instead of moving everything into one large system.
Do marketing teams need separate proofing software?
If you review more than a handful of creative files a week, usually yes. Comments placed on the file, version comparison, and a clear approval status save hours of back and forth. Tools like Filestage, Ziflow, and Planable do this well and sit alongside your project and time tracking tools rather than replacing them.
Conclusion
The best marketing project management software for your team is usually a combination, and the best marketing agency project management software setup almost always includes time and budget tracking. In house teams lean on planning and approval tools such as Hive, CoSchedule, or Filestage. Agencies add something that tracks time, budgets, and profit by client, because that is where retainers and fixed fee work lose money.
To see what each client and campaign really costs your team, start a free trial of actiTIME. For more agency options, see our list of the best agency time tracking software.
