Best Project Portfolio Management Software

Project portfolio management software—or PPM software for short—is a business solution for managing a pool of projects as a whole.

Basic project management software is fine for handling single projects. But at scale, project portfolio managers need to understand how multiple projects are progressing. In many instances, individual projects in a portfolio could be completely unrelated.

By taking a further step back from traditional project management, project portfolio software makes it easier for you to understand the resources, timelines, and overall business goals at a higher-level scope.

The software allows project portfolio managers to understand the coordination of current projects while simultaneously planning the needs of future projects.

Overall, these tools ensure that all of your company’s projects are completed on-time and under budget. From risk assessment to performance issues, executive-level business insights, resource allocation, and more, project portfolio management software does it all.

If your current project management software isn’t enough to understand the business side of managing multiple projects, it’s time to upgrade to a PPM solution.

The Top 7 Best Project Portfolio Management Software

• Sciforma
• Proggio
• Changepoint
• Celoxis
• Mavenlink
• GanttPRO
• Planview

After conducting extensive research, we’ve narrowed down the top seven project portfolio management solutions on the market today. Use this guide to find the best PPM software for your business.

#1 – Sciforma — Best Scalable PPM Software

Sciforma has been a player in the project management industry for 30+ years. More than 300,000 people worldwide trust these tools on a daily basis.

The software has everything you need to project management at scale. They have a wide range of solutions for project management, resource management, work management, and time management. But Sciforma’s project portfolio management software is one of the best you’ll find on the market today.

Sciforma provides portfolio managers with an overall health score based on a smart and comprehensive algorithm. The score encompasses the three most important parts of project portfolio management—time, cost, and quality.

The solution comes with a wide range of features and benefits, including:

• Assess ideas related to the capacity of your organization
• Define criteria that drives decision-making
• Analyze “what if” scenarios for workload, cash flow, and budget impact
• Budget consumption monitoring
• Portfolio-level collaborative work management

Sciforma is robust, easy to use, scalable, and comes with everything you need out of the box.

#2 – Proggio — Best PPM Software For Jira Users

Jira by Atlassian ranks high on our list of the best agile project management tools. If you’re using Jira as a project management tool, Proggio should be at the top of your list for PPM software.

The software seamlessly integrates with Jira. In fact, you can create your Proggio account and link it with Jira all in the same day without any complex onboarding process.

Proggio takes high-level project portfolios and makes everything easy to understand at a glance. Use the software to create project plans and even manage project-level tasks from a single place.

Some of the top highlights of Proggio include:

• Progress roadmapping
• Strategic and tactical planning
• Eliminating data silos
• Visual resource management
• R&D progress monitoring
• Align Jira tasks with roadmap

Proggio even has a free plan for basic use. But it only supports one active project, which isn’t very practical for project portfolio management. Business plans start at $30 per user per month. There’s a five-user minimum, and it supports up to 20 active projects.

For teams larger than 20 or businesses managing 20+ projects, contact Proggio for a custom quote. All of the Proggio paid plans are eligible for a free trial.

#3 – Changepoint — Best For Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM)

Changepoint is a purpose-built PPM solution. They have various tools and technologies in categories like project portfolio management, new product development, enterprise architecture, and services delivery.

SPM (strategic portfolio management) is a core component of Changepoint’s PPM software. This enables businesses to scale their project portfolios while simultaneously aligning portfolio roadmapping with corporate strategy.

The software is definitely designed for SMEs and larger organizations. Here’s a closer look at some of the top features and benefits of Changepoint for PPM:

• Full portfolio coordination
• Priority boards for current projects and new ideas
• Visual program roadmaps
• Project roadmaps
• Project intake planning
• Project management office (PMO) tools
• Enterprise project management office (EPMO)
• New product development (NPD)
• IT project management office (IT PMO)

Changepoint is flexible and agile, making it easy for you to adapt with real-time analysis and market changes. The software delivers powerful analytics so you can manage the success of your projects with data-driven insights.

Request your free demo to get started.

#4 – Celoxis — Best All-in-One Project Management Software

Celoxis is an all-in-one project management solution with built-in PPM features. It’s trusted by well-known brands like Adobe, LG, Whirlpool, Rolex, Lufthansa, Tesla, Rolex, the Cheesecake Factory, HBO, and more.

In addition to the portfolio management features, Celoxis comes with tools for project accounting, team and client collaboration, project planning, project request tracking, and resource management.

The software has excellent reporting capabilities and dashboards that are easy to comprehend. It integrates with 400+ tools out of the box and comes with an API for custom integrations as well.

With project portfolio management from Celoxis, you’ll get aggregated data and information related to your projects through a highly customizable portfolio dashboard. Set up and track your most important portfolio KPIs with ease.

Celoxis offers simple and straightforward pricing as well. There are no tiers, and you’ll get everything you need out of the box. There are just two options to choose from:

• Cloud — $22.50 per user
• On Premise — $450 per user

There’s a five-user minimum for both plans. The cloud software is billed annually, and the on-premise solution is billed once. Try Celoxis free for 30 days.

#5 – Mavenlink — Best PPM For Teams and Agencies

Mavenlink stands out from other PPM solutions on the market today with its emphasis on remote work and team collaboration. The software is designed specifically for service businesses, like agencies.

It’s branded as an all-in-one solution for project resource and project management.

Mavenlink seamlessly integrates with your favorite CRM tools.

The software eliminates the guesswork associated with project management as well. You’ll be able to accurately view your team’s capacity, demand, and skills through each stage of the project cycle.

View task statuses in real-time to ensure everything goes smoothly in-house and for your clients. You’ll be able to view complete financial visibility to ensure projects are staying on-budget. If not, the software gives you the information required to make the necessary adjustments.

Another reason I like Mavenlink is because of its built-in team collaboration tools. It’s easy to keep everyone in the loop, from your contracts and clients to your C suite and everyone in between.

There are four different plans for you to choose from based on the size and needs of your business.

• Teams – For teams just starting out
• Professional – For project planning and time tracking
• Premier – Track billable hours while managing resources and clients
• Enterprise – BI and enterprise-grade security

Pricing for Mavenlink is not available online. But you can sign up for a 10-day free trial to get started.

#6 – GanttPRO — Best Simple PPM Software

For those of you who need a simple project portfolio management solution without extra tools and complicated features, look no further than GanttPRO.

This online PPM software allows you to manage resources, budgets, risks, and projects at the highest level with enterprise-class quality. It’s robust and has everything you need to effectively meet your business goals.

Some of the top features and benefits of GanttPRO include:

• Multiple plan views (grid, Gantt chart, board, portfolio)
• Custom columns
• Auto scheduling
• Project calendars
• Task management
• Team collaboration tools
• Real-time data sync
• Project health statuses
• Workload management
• Resource management
• Budget tracking

GanttPRO seamlessly integrates with Google Drive and Jira Software. But it also has an API that can automate your workflows for custom integrations.

Plans for individuals start at $15 per month. The price per user depends on the size of your team; with a lower per-user rate the larger your team gets. For example, it costs $8.90 per user for teams of five but $6.50 per user for teams of 40. Contact GanttPRO for an enterprise quote if you have more than 100 users on your team.

#7 – Planview — Best Software For PPM Beginners

If you’re new to the world of project portfolio management, Planview will be a top choice for you to consider. The software is trusted by 4,000+ businesses and 1+ million users across the globe.

Planview has been an industry leader in the project management space for more than 30 years.

I like Planview because they have software built specifically for those who are just starting out in project portfolio management. If you just need some basic help with resource planning and portfolio prioritization, Planview PPM Pro is perfect for you.

It has role-based solutions for PMOs, portfolio managers, resource managers, project managers, and individual team members.

For businesses that need more advanced solutions, try Planview Enterprise One, an enterprise-grade PPM solution. The enterprise plan comes with strategic and financial planning, lean portfolio management, product portfolio management, and enterprise architecture features.

Request a free demo to get started.

How to Find the Best Project Portfolio Management Software For Your Business

Choosing the right project portfolio management solution for your business can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for. There are so many options to consider, and generally speaking, there’s no “best for everyone” tool.

This is the methodology that we used to pick the winners on our list. These are the features you should be evaluating as you’re shopping around.

Risk Management

The best PPM software lets you analyze the risk involved with each individual project, as well as your total project portfolio as a whole. You can group projects together and determine which projects, or sets of projects, are too risky.

All of these risk management tools should be easily viewable and customizable through your admin dashboard.

Resource Planning

How many projects can your team handle? Which team members should be working on specific tasks or projects? Are you at capacity?

PPM software takes the guesswork out of these questions. You’ll have actual data and information for resource management to help maximize efficiencies while ensuring that teams and individuals alike aren’t overburdened.

Pipeline Management

In short, pipeline management tools are used to determine if projects or sets of projects will be finished in time. Instead of being surprised at the last minute, you’ll have full visibility of tasks and other status updates from a big-picture perspective.

This information will allow you to manage your resources more effectively and make changes to meet deadlines.

Financial Distribution

Obviously, financial planning is a significant component of project management. At scale, it’s easy to go over budget if you’re not keeping track of things closely.

PPM software allows you to allocate financial resources accordingly while making sure projects are finished under budget.

Conclusion

What’s the best project portfolio management (PPM) software? It depends on what you’re looking for.

Sciforma is perfect for businesses that need to manage a growing team and scaling project portfolio. Proggio is our top pick for Jira users due to its simple integration with the software.

Changepoint is perfect for SPM (strategic portfolio management). Celoxis is an all-in-one tool for project management with PPM features built-in. Are you managing an agency? Try Mavenlink. GanttPRO and Planview are both excellent options for beginners and people just getting started with project portfolio management.

Regardless of your team size or business needs, you can find the best PPM software for your company using the recommendations in this guide.