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Working with freelancers allows you to get work done, without having to take on the financial responsibility of managing full-time employees.
To help you get the best out of working with freelancers, we cover the problems or challenges you may face when managing freelancers and the right tools and strategies you can use to mitigate them.
Our Top Picks:
Team Chat Software
Wiki and Documentation Software
Global Payments
All-In-One Collaboration
Time Tracking Software
Kanban Project Management
Simple Mobile Task Management
Tips From an Expert
Just because it exists, doesn’t mean you need it.
There are hundreds of tools out there for freelancer management. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you need to use them all. For many people, a simple spreadsheet or task tracker, regular emails, and a payment platform are sufficient. The more complicated your setup, the harder it is to maintain and keep up to date.
The Best Freelance Management Software of 2023
Best Team Chat Software
Features
- 1:1 and group messaging
- Integrations with dozens of tools
- Easily invite external users
Price
$7.25/user per month
Free Plan
Yes
Best for
Collaboration, regular communication, quick messages, info and file sharing
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As a messaging app, Slack is completely flexible. You can have as many teams as you’d like, and you can easily control who joins which team(s). On top of that, you can invite external freelancers into your workspace.
The ability to create channels means that you can collect conversations and share files about different topics in an organized way.
Wiki and Documentation Software
Features
- Integrates directly with Slack
- Intuitive and pleasing document editor
- Built-in AI tools on higher tiers
Price
$4/user per month
Free Plan
No. 30-day free trial
Best for
Documenting your processes and getting new employees or freelancers up to speed.
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Tettra is a wiki and documentation tool that leverages team organization and information-sharing features within Slack. It includes a simple text editor that makes it easy for everyone to contribute new knowledge.
It comes with a wealth of features you can use to get new freelancers up to speed and ensure they’re following your processes.
Global Payment Solution
Features
- Supports multiple currencies
- Pay freelancers in other countries
- Use ACH, bank transfers, or credit cards
Price
Transaction fees apply
Free Plan
It’s free to sign up
Best for
Paying freelancers and contractors all around the world with low processing fees
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Payoneer allows you to send payments to your payees worldwide. You can use it for one-time payments, or you can automate payments.
Its reporting features include payment history, freelancer information, account history, and more. At tax time, you can automatically generate the required tax forms.
All-In-One Collaboration
Features
- Gives everyone a work email address
- Unlocks Google Docs, Sheets, and more
- 30 GB of space (per user) to share
Price
$6 per user per month
Free Plan
For personal use
Best for
Every day communication, emailing, calendars, document-based collaboration
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Google Workspace provides email services, word processing, digital storage, calendar, spreadsheets, and more, all of which can be easily shared with and accessed by others.
Time Tracking Software
Features
- Let freelancers track time to projects
- Measure workloads and capacity planning
- Unlimited projects, clients, and tags
Price
$9 per user per month
Free Plan
Yes, up to 5 users
Best for
Tracking time to projects and clients, measuring productivity, monitoring billable hours
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Toggl is a time-tracking tool designed for simplicity, speed, and ease of use. It offers browser buttons and desktop apps, so you don’t have to stay on the website to track time.
There are also Android and iPhone apps available.
Kanban Project Management
Features
- Simple Kanban project management system
- Manage up to three projects at no cost
- Unlimited project members on every plan
Price
$12 per user per month
Free Plan
Yes, up to 3 projects
Best for
Planning projects and tasks, tracking assignment progress, communication, analytics
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MeisterTask is a visually stunning, intuitive project and task management tool that takes its cues from the Kanban productivity system.
You can add as many team members as necessary and assign them tasks.
Task Management Software
Features
- Fluff-free task management
- Recurring tasks, reminders, assignees
- Filterable task lists
Price
$4 per user per month
Free Plan
Yes, up to 5 projects
Best for
Basic task management, recurring task reminders, streamlined to do lists, simple communication
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Todoist is a cross-platform, cross-device task and project management tool. At heart, Todoist is a to-do list with features such as recurring tasks, sub-projects, labeling, and sharing.
What You Need to Know
What is the best freelance management platform?
The best tools for managing freelancers depend on your business need. There are applications for better communication, like Slack; improved productivity, like Todoist and MeisterTask; and for processing payments, Payoneer.
Other software tracks time and schedules work hours. The best place to start is to figure out where you need help and check the tools that provide that service.
What is a good project management tool for freelancers?
With the increase in freelancers and remote teams, there are many project management apps and tools on the market. Some help freelancers manage their projects, while others work best for a team of contractors.
MeisterTask and Todoist are simple, yet popular tools to help freelance teams keep track of projects.
Which software is the best for freelancing?
Several apps and software can make freelancing easier. For collaboration, you can use Slack, Tetra, and Google Workspace. For tracking time, Toggl is a good choice.
What is the best tool to manage projects?
There is no “best” tool. It depends on what you’re doing and how much detail you want to plan. For freelancers and businesses managing contracts, we recommend starting simple with MeisterTask or Todoist.
Other Freelance Management Tools
Aside from the seven above, there are dozens of other tools you can use in different situations. While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to freelancer management, there are a ton of great options for specific types of works. We recommend thinking about what you need and choosing the right tools for the job.
Team Collaboration Apps
CloudApp allows you to capture anything on your screen, including screenshots and images to create GIFs, screen, voice, and webcam recordings. You can easily annotate your content and add items to emphasize things of importance (and hide or blur sensitive content).
World Time Buddy allows you to set meeting times that work for everyone.
Other Payment Platforms
While Payoneer works for a lot of people, it’s not the only one out there.
Dwolla, for example, offers a full API that you can use to connect your app to the banking system, they also have a simple transfer platform that you can get up and running in just minutes. This platform allows you to send or request payments via email, as well as send mass payments with the CSV upload tool. You can think of Dwolla as a simple alternative to PayPal.
Productivity Tools
15Five is a performance management suite that allows you to track and manage multiple freelancers. You manage weekly check-ins, share project objectives, track progress, message your team, and more.
Axure is a wire-framing and prototyping tool that allows you to create detailed and realistic mock-ups without coding. You can also add conditional logic, dynamic content, animations, and more to make your prototype more realistic. As you build your mock-up, you can add notes that you can send to a Word document with your project’s specifications.
Cacoo is a cloud-based diagram maker. You can think of this as a cloud-based, collaboration-oriented version of Microsoft’s Visio. Version control means you can easily go back to an earlier iteration and never lose your work.
InVision is a workflow management and collaboration tool. It’s a real-time workspace where you can collaborate and be on the same page as your teammates.
Zapier is an automation system that allows you to connect your apps and automate your workflows, reducing the amount of hands-on management you have to do. Zapier supports integrations with several different apps, tools, and software suites, so you will likely find support for whatever you use.
Project Management Tools
Hubstaff is a multipurpose project management suite that tracks time, monitors your employees’ activities, handles payroll, and integrates with other tools to increase flexibility.
I Done This is a task management system that makes it easy for people to provide quick daily status updates. Each entry has a visual marker indicating its status: done, goal, or blocker. With I Done This, you can see the progress on tasks or why there’s a delay. Unfinished goals are automatically carried over to the next day.
Streamtime is a project management tool created with creative teams in mind. You can create timesheets, schedules, quotes, and invoices. It also provinces analytics for your projects.