Best 5 Project Management Software for Mac

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Finding the right project management software is one of the best investments you can make, helping you streamline workflows and boost productivity. The best part? Most systems are web-based, meaning you can run them seamlessly on Apple products.

In our opinion, the best project management software for Mac is monday.com. Why? Simply because it meets the specific needs of Mac users, with a strong focus on design, security, integrations, ease of use, and collaboration. But it’s just one of five worthy contenders.

  • monday.com is number one because of its intuitive interface, wide choice of integrations, and affordable price plans. Meanwhile, its customization and choice of collaboration tools make it ideal for creative teams.
  • ClickUp is a safe bet, literally. It’s the best PM software for Mac users wanting a secure system without overspending, offering 2-factor authentication and guest access on all plans.
  • Working remotely? Then you’ll want strong collaboration tools, which is what you can enjoy with Smartsheet.
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Lowest price

$9/user

Lowest price

$5 per user per month

Lowest price

$7 p/a

Lowest price

$10.99 p/a

Lowest price

$22.50p/a

Key features
  • Gantt chart
  • Over 200 templates for projects and items
  • Sub-task milestones and dependencies

 

Key features
  • Preset charts
  • Custom project templates
  • Custom automations
  • Gantt chart
  • Milestones
  • 24/7 live support
Key features
  • Email customer support
  • Gantt chart
  • Kanban board
  • Custom project templates
  • Custom automations
  • Team instant-messenger
Key features
  • CRM integrations
  • Kanban board
  • Custom project templates
  • Project message board
  • Task comments
  • Calendar
Key features
  • Gantt chart, subtasks, milestones, and dependencies
  • Integrations with a lot of popular software
  • Preset and custom project templates
Free Plan
Free Plan
Free Plan
Free Plan
Free Plan
Try monday.com Try ClickUp Try Smartsheet Compare Compare Prices

1. monday.com

Best Overall Project Management Software for Mac

We recommend monday.com to most project managers, and Mac users are no different. In our Mac-specific testing, monday.com grabbed the top spot thanks to its intuitive interface, superb Collaboration features score (3.8/5), and mightily impressive Customer Score (4.5/5), which means customers like you love using it.

monday.com encourages customization and collaboration, which is key to the Mac user's working life. For example, it offers an interactive whiteboard that allows you to get creative with colleagues from anywhere in the world. Then, as well as over 50 integrations, you can choose from 200+ templates, 30+ column types, and eight different types of data visualization, including Kanban boards and Gantt charts.

It doesn't have the best customer support (it lacks live chat), but it's an excellent piece of kit overall. That's why it's one of the best project management software on the market. With a free plan, and pricing tiers from $9 per user, per month, it's not too expensive, either.

monday.com kanban board
monday.com offers customizable Kanban boards to help you collaborate more easily

2. ClickUp

Best Project Management System for Mac for Security

ClickUp is the most secure Mac-compatible platform that we tested, offering two-factor authentication, guest access, and user permissions on its generous free plan. ClickUp's freemium plan provides unlimited users, spaces, and tasks, plus you can use up to 100 Gantt charts. That's what makes ClickUp the best free project management software available. 

Security is important for any Mac user. If you're working remotely, then it's even more vital that you keep your project from prying eyes. For added peace of mind, you can bolster your software with 1,000+ free integrations via Zapier including ProBackup which offers daily automated backups.

Overall, ClickUp is an excellent alternative to monday.com if you want to cut costs without sacrificing security, with price plans starting from just $5 per user, per month.

ClickUp data collection
ClickUp offers many ways to protect your Mac's sensitive data

3. Smartsheet

Best Project Management System for Mac for Collaboration Features

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like project management software, suitable for Macs, that encourages collaboration. With the rise of remote working, it's vital that you keep everyone connected during your project. Smartsheet's collaborative features bridge the gap between project stakeholders, offering an in-built instant messenger, live document editing where you can add suggestions or improvements, plus task comments where you can add feedback in real-time.

It's also really easy to use, especially if you're familiar with Excel or Google Sheets. In our Apple-specific testing, Smartsheet got the highest Usability score (4.3/5), which means it's incredibly user-friendly. If you want a more user-friendly alternative to ClickUp, then Smartsheets is a smart choice.

It's not the cheapest project management software for Macs with no free option, and price plans starting from $7 per user, per month but it still gained an impressive overall score of 4.5/5.

Smartsheet interface
You can add task comments to improve collaboration with your team

4. Asana

Best Project Management System for Mac for Integrations

Asana is the all-you-can-eat buffet of Mac project management software. No, we don't we mean endless mac n' cheese, we mean 200+ native integrations to choose from – the most of any platform we tested. With Asana's native integrations, you can install apps like Slack, Teams, or Adobe Creative Cloud in a couple of clicks, without having to install Zapier first. In contrast, monday.com and ClickUp only offer around 50 native integrations. 

Apple products are built for customization, so you shouldn't have any trouble adding integrations to your Asana software. On top of this, Asana itself is strong. It provides a clean, colorful interface, along with useful task management features like Kanban boards, task dependencies, Gantt charts, and custom fields.

Asana offers a free plan, plus paid tiers from $10.99 per user, per month. It's not the most budget-friendly project management software for Macs, but it's one of the most flexible.

Asana interface
Asana offers a clean and colourful interface, along with 200+ native integrations

5. Celoxis

Best Project Management System for Mac for Usability

Celoxis is the easy-going member of the group. It's not fussed about advanced functionalities like workflow streaming (it doesn't provide them), but it does bring strong task management features to the table, along with a very pleasant user experience for basic project management tasks.

It offers Kanban boards, sub-tasks tools, and burndown charts that plot your progress vs time on a graph which you can't get on Smartsheets. You can also collaborate through project discussions, @mentions, and document version control. These features are all simple to use and should help you manage projects from your Mac with ease.

Despite its impressive Usability score (4.2/5), our researchers gave Celoxis one of the lowest Pricing scores (2.9/5), which means it doesn't offer much value for money. That's because it has no free plan, and starts pricing from $20 per user, per month, when billed every three years. That's way more than monday.com or ClickUp.

Celoxis interface
Celoxis makes it easy to track your progress vs budget

How did we Find the Best Project Management Software for Mac?

Here at Expert Market, we have an independent team of researchers that carries out an in-depth analysis of all the topics we write about. 

To decide today’s list, our researchers tested 14 different project management software, focusing on the areas that matter most to Mac users. In most cases, Apple users prioritize design, security, integrations, and ease of use.

During that testing period, our researchers rated each platform out of five in these areas:

  • Usability – the user experience and simplicity of tasks
  • Pricing – the software’s value for money
  • Customer Support – the available customer support options
  • Features – broken down into Task Management, Project & Management Workflow Creation, Data Visualization, and Collaboration
  • Customer Score– aggregate of consumer scores on sites like G2 and Trustpilot

Using our Apple focus, we then looked at the overall scores and picked the best project management software for Macs for you today.


Verdict

The best project management software for Mac users is monday.com. It's got an excellent set of features with a strong focus on collaboration and ease of use, gaining 3.8/5 for Collaboration and 4.1/5 for Usability. In short, it's got everything you need to manage projects efficiently from your Mac.

ClickUp is an excellent alternative. It offers cheaper price plans and a more generous free plan that comes with better security features than monday.com, including user permissions and guest access. So, if cutting costs while staying secure is your main aim, then we recommend ClickUp.

For many Mac owners, finding suitable software can prove tricky. Luckily, that's not the case with project management software, which are typically web-based. That means you can use them seamlessly on any operating system.


FAQs

What’s the difference between project management software for Mac and for Windows?
These days, most project management software is web-based. That means they work seamlessly on both Mac and Windows. For example, to use the best project management software – including monday.com, ClickUp, and  Smartsheet – you simply need an internet connection. It doesn't matter which operating system you have. 
What is a web-based project management software?
Web-based project management software runs on the internet. You don't need to install anything or find Mac and Windows-specific versions of web-based software. This is great, because it means any business can benefit from the best project management software, including monday.com and ClickUp, regardless of the computer's operating system.
What is the best project management software for Mac users?
monday.com is the best project management software for Mac users. That's because it offers an incredibly intuitive interface, along with a strong set of core features. Specifically, monday.com offers impressive collaborative tools, including interactive whiteboards that allow you to hold workshops, feedback sessions, or group tasks with your project stakeholders, from anywhere in the world. These factors will hugely benefit Mac users.
Written by:
Dan’s a Senior Writer at Expert Market, specialising in digital marketing, web design, and photocopiers, amongst other topics.
Reviewed by:
James thinks all businesses can improve if they use the right technology. At Expert Market, he utilises his 4+ years experience as a researcher to offer specialised advice on a wide range of categories from CRM to Fleet Management.