Mike Chandler

After weeks of searching, trial registrations, research and mild frustration, I have finally settled on what I believe is the best online project management tool available online.  It’s called 5pm and it’s easily the most solid, most thorough and most surprisingly simple option.

I tried Basecamp for a while, mostly because it’s built on Ruby on Rails which I find to be a fascinating platform.  But Basecamp was overly simplistic for my needs and the authors seemed disinterested in expanding its capabilities.  In researching the options, I found that while Basecamp had a heavy user base, they also had a heavy base of unanswered complaints.  I ditched my account and moved on.

When I found 5pm, I found the screenshots of the interface were more along the lines of what I was searching for, and this was evident before I even signed in for the first time.  The 5pm pricing plans are in line with what their competitors are offering, so there wasn’t anything surprising there.  When I signed up for the free trial, I was pleased to find everything I had been looking for, from task management to reporting.  My clients can login and view screenshots that I upload, review their specifications and view progress.  It’s perfect.  So after a few hours in my trial, I decided 5pm was the winner and I purchased a subscription.

Check it out for yourself on the 5pm website.