Successful product management requires team collaboration, a perpetually up-to-date progress tracker, and efficient workflows. While project management tools can help you deliver complex projects in a timely manner, businesses that regularly create and launch products can benefit from the deeper functionality of product-specific management tools.
These tools provide a unified view of the complete product development life cycle—from ideation through product improvements long after launch. In this guide, you’ll learn why product management tools are important, key features to look for, and some of the best product management tools for small businesses.
What are product management tools?
A product management tool is a digital platform that helps teams organize, plan, and manage product development. It serves as a collaborative planning hub that connects teams and shows how work is progressing. While product management tools are commonly used by software development teams, they can also help companies that make and sell products—both physical and digital.
Some tools work like a digital version of sticky notes on a whiteboard, with each stage of product development broken down into individual tasks. Product managers can see how each team is working toward their deadlines and move tasks to different stages as work progresses. Some tools offer views like Gantt charts to display timelines.
Why are product management tools important?
Every product launch comes with a heavy dose of project management. Product management tools combine the most useful elements of project management tools with the specific needs of tracking a product vision and the steps that make it a reality. Here are some of the benefits of using product management tools:
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Efficiency. Having a platform that centralizes product development tasks and makes sure everyone is on the same page can save you time and money. These tools provide structure and remove ambiguity, allowing a product manager to break product development down into stages, account for every task it takes to develop and launch a product, and assign tasks and monitor progress across teams, all in one place.
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Centralized knowledge management. A product management solution lets you store, see, and manage every detail of a product initiative all in one tool. From internal brainstorming to user insights and client feedback, product management platforms bring diverse workstreams together.
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Better collaboration. Using a product management system allows for seamless collaboration. The right product management software makes deadlines plain to see and progress easy to measure, so all teams involved have visibility throughout the product life cycle.
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Customer feedback management. The best product management solutions include customer feedback management, like integrated customer survey tools and feedback analysis. Some platforms offer AI tools that synthesize user research, analyze feedback trends, and offer suggestions about how to apply customer feedback to your product development.
What to look for in a product management tool
Different product management platforms have distinct specialties—some focus on project management, while others focus on fostering a collaborative environment or maximizing the value of customer feedback. Here are some key features to look for in any product management tool:
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Project tracking. This allows you to set deadlines and monitor the progress of all product management tasks through charts and dashboards.
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Collaboration features. Many product management tools focus on seamless collaboration, allowing teams to brainstorm—such as in a live text-based document anyone can add to or a virtual whiteboard where people can review concepts and leave specific feedback—and comment on tasks as they progress.
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Communication tools. With features like notifications, automated alerts, and reports, these platforms make it easier to communicate both general updates and detailed progress reports to stakeholders and internal teams.
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Seamless integration. Look for a product management tool that easily integrates with the platforms you use every day, such as Google Workspace, Shopify, or Zoom.
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The ability to assign tasks. One key element of project management embedded in product management software is task assignment to individual contributors or managers. For example, you can assign and tag your engineering team lead in a task to review proposed new product features.
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Data-driven insights. With accurate insights from your software, such as the amount of time it takes to complete tasks, you can identify and address roadblocks, learning how well your teams are collaborating and meeting deadlines.
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Workflow automation. Some platforms can automate repetitive tasks, like managing team calendars, generating reports, and performing data analysis.
8 best product management tools
Let’s dig into some of the best product management software options for small businesses that can help you stay on track, meet deadlines, and launch products your customers love.
Monday Dev
Monday Dev is a product management tool that allows you to build customized road maps and product management workflows. You can integrate ecommerce platforms like Shopify to track orders and share customer data. Product managers can drag and drop tasks along a Kanban board as they progress, offering a visual look into the product development process, and see important key performance indicators (KPIs) like cycle time at a glance.
Pricing: Monday Dev starts at $9 per user per month, albeit with limited product management features at the first tier. Automation features, app integrations, and Gantt charts are available starting at $12 per user per month.
Wrike
Wrike is an all-in-one product and project management tool, offering a visual, comprehensive overview of the entire product development process—from ideation through delivery. You can manage product development through customizable charts and graphs with a drag-and-drop design that makes the process easy to see. Wrike also offers generative AI features to help you create reports, meeting agendas, and project plans.
Pricing: Wrike has a free plan with basic task management and AI content tools. More features, such as dashboards, team calendars, and product portfolio management, are included in plans starting at $10 per user per month.
Asana
Asana is a work management platform with product management capabilities. It allows you to manage projects across teams and create custom tasks, use templates, or import tasks from a spreadsheet. Product managers can assign tasks and deadlines, keeping track of progress and costs, all while automating repetitive actions. Asana features a communication platform that works much like social media, allowing for direct or group messaging, task commenting, and reactions.
Pricing: Asana has a free, basic plan for solopreneurs managing personal projects. AI features, automation, and timeline visualizations are offered in plans starting at $10.99 per user per month.
LoopedIn
LoopedIn is a product management tool focused on aligning product development with customer feedback. LoopedIn gathers user feedback from social media, email, and your website and puts it front and center in your product road map. You can also collect customer input in a form or poll, and add results to your road map. And when you launch new features or products, you can use LoopedIn to notify customers.
Pricing: LoopedIn’s free plan is limited to one roadmap, with features such as customization and increased user access starting at $12 per month.
Jira
Jira is often used for software development, but product managers across industries can use it to keep tabs on multiple ongoing projects. You can create goals (such as a new product launch) and then assign tasks and deadlines. You can also assign sub-goals, showing related wins that product teams are working toward. Jira features a drag-and-drop project timeline with customizable templates, and you can move tasks from stage to stage as they’re completed.
Pricing: Jira has a free plan for up to 10 users and two gigabytes of storage. AI and external collaboration features are available with plans starting at $7.91 per user per month.
ClickUp
ClickUp is a project management platform that brings projects, documents, and collaboration tools into one place. ClickUp features a wide selection of project management templates, such as a “Brain Dump Tracker” for product ideation and various whiteboards, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts. It also offers AI features for routine task automation and finding relevant documents.
Pricing: ClickUp’s free plan includes Kanban boards, calendar management, collaborative documents, and 60 megabytes of storage. Plans with AI features, time tracking, Gantt charts, chat, email, and more start at $7 per user per month.
Miro
Miro is a project management platform that uses AI to assist with decision-making and generating reports. The tool’s dashboard puts your designated KPIs front and center and shows how product development tasks are coming along with progress bars. Miro features a unique whiteboard design for real-time collaboration, where individual teams can create flowcharts, write comments on sticky notes, and automate workflows.
Pricing: Miro has a free plan with a single workspace and three editable whiteboards. More robust features, including greater access to Miro AI and custom templates, start at $8 per user per month.
Canny
Canny is a product development tool centered on connecting customer feedback to your product road map. You can collect feedback privately or publicly through a Canny form to learn more about what your customers want. Canny features integrations with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot, as well as more all-in-one product management tools like Asana or ClickUp. You can also share a public road map, so customers can stay informed about product updates.
Pricing: Canny’s free plan has limited AI and feedback management tools, with paid plans featuring customization and audience segmentation starting at $19 per month.
Product management tools FAQ
What are product management tools?
Product management tools are platforms that help teams manage tasks throughout the product development life cycle. This includes collaborating on ideation, assigning and managing tasks, monitoring progress, analyzing customer feedback, and communicating with stakeholders.
What tools do product managers use?
Product managers use software like Asana, ClickUp, and Wrike to build product road maps, track task progress, and collaborate with product teams. They use tools like Canny or LoopedIn to gather customer feedback and incorporate it into the product road map.
What are the five Cs of product management?
The five Cs of product management are customers, competition, company, collaborators, and context. Product management tools help companies understand customer needs, focus on building better products than competitors, collaborate, and provide context for the product road map.
