Top 10 Best Productivity Apps for Startups in 2022

man holding smartphone looking at productivity wall decor

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What is a productivity app?

Productivity apps are generally designed to enhance the efficiency of startups around day-to-day tasks. Productivity software for startups enables teams to collaborate coherently and ensure that every task, regardless of its impact on the bottom line, is being fulfilled. This is important because startups need to wisely allocate resources and make sure all team members are on the same page, so nothing falls through the cracks.

Productivity apps for startups provide tools for enhancing effectiveness throughout the business org by ensuring consistency across all kinds of work that are handled by different team members. It may go unnoticed that a particular department is unable to work efficiently when there are multitudes of disparate ends. This is where the consistency that productivity apps ensure proves beneficial.

There are a few startup-specific benefits of productivity apps:

Proper planning will only make sense if it is followed by efficient execution. Productivity apps allow you to schedule projects, delegate roles and get a view of overall progress. You will quickly see which areas need more resources.
The one thing that a startup absolutely cannot afford to lose, is time. Efficient management demands knowledge of the time spent accomplishing each task so you know whether the time limits assigned by you are reasonable or not. When all tasks are completed within the set duration (as productivity apps make sure they are), then the time you save can be devoted to other important tasks.
In order to track productivity at work, thorough communication is a must. Productivity apps streamline communication across the team by providing a single tool for hosting all communication. That way, everybody knows what their team members are working on at all times. This eliminates ambiguity and duplication of effort. Productivity apps ensure that teams deliver quality as well as quantity.
The best productivity apps have reminders for deadlines. This is added assurance that important elements of major projects aren't left to the last minute, or even worse, forgotten completely.

What key criteria to keep in mind to evaluate productivity apps?

1. User-friendly interface

The ideal productivity app will be easy to use, both for managers and other team members, so that time is not wasted learning to use it. All users should be able to locate exactly what they want in one intuitive interface that does not require heavy technical expertise.

2. Automation

Workflows should be streamlined to pave the way for efficient collaboration. Manual operations invite forced errors and automation of workflows ensures that all tasks are carried out by team members accurately and efficiently. Transparency curtails miscommunication.

3. Integration

All team members can be expected to work efficiently when they are provided with efficient tools that do not require them to move back and forth across different platforms to fulfill one task. The ideal productivity app will provide integrations with other platforms, so you get maximum benefit out of automation in a minimal amount of time.

4. Collaborative features

Any startup would want to achieve overall efficiency across all its departments. To make sure this is possible, all team members must be able to collaborate coherently. The ideal productivity app will provide tools to enhance collaboration, so that every team member is aware of their individual responsibility vis-a-vis collective responsibility.

Top 10 Best Productivity Apps for Startups in 2022

When I Work

Description: An easy-to-use platform for startups to streamline schedules, track time, and manage employee attendance and communication with smart tools - all with the primary aim of saving time and money.

Best for: Startups of all sizes and across several industries.

Cost

Two plans are available at different prices:

Small Business: $2 per user

Enterprise: Custom quote available for larger teams.

A free trial is available.

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, intuitive mobile app that makes employees' scheduling a task to be completed in minutes
Automation: Yes, automated scheduling and time tracking
Integration: A robust API is available for custom integrations. Integrations are available with Gusto, ADP Workforce Now, Onpay, QuickBooks Online, PayChex, Square, People, Zapier, and Rippling.
Collaborative features: Available, in the form of Team Messaging that allows you to communicate with everyone, without the need for sharing phone numbers - and all in one place.

Pros:

No credit card required to start a free trial
No ambiguity in scheduling employee shifts because of the "history" button that keeps track of all employees' shifts from start to finish
No prior training or expertise is needed to use When I Work.

Cons:

The Print feature has no option to change the font.
Some of the android app users have reported occasional interruptions.
There is no option to get an instant answer in case there is a problem. One has to wait for an email response.

Todoist

Description: Leading task manager for personal and professional needs that allows its users to work on assigned tasks and ensures that they are completed on time.

Best for: Startups of all sizes

Cost

Three plans are available at different prices:

Free

Pro: $3 per month, billed annually

Business: $5 per user, per month, billed annually

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, everything in one place including a concrete visualization of productivity and personalized task views.
Automation: Yes, with a central workflow that also incorporates data from your email, files, and calendar.
Integration: Available. Integrates with tools already present in your tech stack such as browsers, project management tools, time tracking tools, communication tools and so on. Some new integrations include those with Google Chrome, Outlook and IFTTT.
Collaborative features: Yes, with the provision to share the workload by delegating tasks to your team, sharing files, and keeping everyone on the same page in terms of progress.

Pros:

Even the Free plan offers a one-week activity history.
Significant discounts are available for nonprofits.
It enables different views, including the Kanban board, to streamline your workflows.

Cons:

Some users complain of the multiple features as distractions from what is actually needed.
Setting up and managing tasks is not as easy as users expect it to be.

Salesloft

Description: Sales engagement platform that enables sales teams to work efficiently by providing them with valuable insights to boost sales, drive revenue, and move systematically so they know what to do next.

Best for: Startups and teams of all sizes

Cost: Custom quotes available for the Prospect, Sell, Engage, and Enterprise packages.

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, with everything for sales teams in one place, including insightful dashboards
Automation: Yes, facilitation of the sales process for reps through complete automation of their buyer-oriented interactions
Integration: Robust API and an app directory with several app integrations, including Salesforce and LinkedIn
Collaborative features: Yes, built-in flexibility to personalize buyer-oriented interactions, and optimal use of the behavior of the most efficient sales reps through the call recording and coaching features.

Pros:

Near-limitless features on a single, intuitive, and easy-to-use platform.
Salesloft streamlines the outreach efforts of the sales team.
Reporting and analytics help users to track meaningful data.

Cons:

Occasionally, the system does not respond, which halts workflow.
More integrations are desired.

Pushover

Description: Cloud-based solution for startups that keeps them up to date with multiple notifications from applications, websites, and apps.

Best for: Small startups as well as big companies and businesses.

Cost

Two pricing tiers are available:

Individual pricing: $5 (one-time purchase) on each platform.

Team pricing: $5 per user, per month.

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, provides users with a high degree of customization and timely alerts when something goes amiss.
Automation: Yes, the platform allows you to perform automated tasks online.
Integration: Available through a simple API such as IFTTT, Email Gateway, Zapier, GitHub, and IRSSI.
Collaborative features: Yes, Pushover for Teams allows you to send messages to multiple users, with additional features such as user management.

Pros:

Each user can send up to 10,000 messages per month for free.
All Pushover for Teams users have access to Pushover on all supported platforms for no extra cost.
A greater degree of customization for social notifications is available.

Cons:

Some app integrations are not guaranteed by Pushover.
The app lacks regular updates.
There is difficulty in navigating through the notification history.

RescueTime

Description: Time management tool that drives teams towards productivity by tracking and analyzing daily habits to give you a clear picture of how your actual work day looks in terms of the time devoted to different websites.

Best for: Startups and established businesses of all sizes

Cost: The pricing starts at $6.50 per month with a 2-week free trial available.

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, with ease in customizing users' respective goals
Automation: Yes, it provides an automatic account of your day of work along with automated time tracking
Integration: Slack, Office 365, and Google Calendar.
Collaborative features: Yes, RescueTime for Teams provides specific data to look into the strengths and weaknesses in time management for everyone on the team along with inputs for personal and collective improvement.

Pros:

Efficient time management with clear insights on how time is spent both online and offline
Setting up is extremely easy.
Flexibility across platforms including Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone, and Linux, so that everyone on the internal or external teams can use it.

Cons:

There is no provision to delegate work to clients.
The dashboard could do with more clarity.

Trello

Description: All-inclusive platform that manages employees' progress plans and weekly agendas so you stay updated on due dates and the status of your tasks.

Best for: Small and medium-sized teams

Cost

Four plans are available at different prices:

Free

Standard: $5 per user, per month, billed annually

Premium: $10 per user, per month, billed annually

Enterprise: $17.50 per user, per month, billed annually

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, intuitive interface that streamlines workflows for teams according to their needs. Trello cards ensure every aspect of task management is in one place.
Automation: Yes, no-code built-in Butler automation
Integration: Evernote, Confluence, Slack, Dropbox, and Google Drive
Collaborative features: Yes, with the core goal of streamlining collaboration across your team

Pros:

The Free plan offers a host of features like unlimited cards, 2-factor authentication, and an unlimited activity log.
Easy-to-use templates
Facilitates remote work through features like shared accountability and easy sharing of data

Cons:

Customer service is not as prompt as it could be.
Some out of the box features are missing.

Asana

Description: Team management platform that boosts productivity by consolidating day-to-day tasks and providing strategies to make smart business decisions.

Best for: Small startups and growing businesses

Cost

Three plans are available at different prices:

Basic: $0, forever free

Premium: $10.99 per user, per month, billed annually

Business: $24.99 per use,r per month, billed annually

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, with all the information in one place and flexible user autonomy in terms of the degree of customization required.
Automation: Yes, all recurring tasks are automated
Integration: 200+ integrations including Jira Cloud, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Sheets, Salesforce, One Drive, Box, Office 365, Dropbox, and Slack.
Collaborative features: Yes, one shared space for team members to collaborate, no matter where they are.

Pros:

Real-time charts are available for keeping work on track
The Basic plan offers over 100 integrations along with unlimited tasks, messages, projects, and activity logs.
Users vouch for the ease of collaboration regardless of location.

Cons:

Archiving of completed tasks is required.
Tasks can be sorted only according to due dates and not on a priority basis.

CoSchedule

Description: Marketing management platform that enables teams to deliver timely outputs through efficient collaboration.

Best for: Mid-market and enterprise companies

Cost

Three plans are available at different prices:

Marketing Calendar Free: $0, forever free

Marketing Calendar Pro: $29 per user, per month, billed annually

Marketing Suite Business: Custom quote available

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, in the form of a Marketing Calendar that provides all information in one place.
Automation: Yes, complete automation of social media marketing in one place with the all-inclusive Marketing Calendar
Integration: Google Analytics, Bitly, Zapier, and Flock among several others
Collaborative features: Yes, sharing of progress with higher-ups is made possible with the Marketing Calendar.

Pros:

Efficient for organizing projects and related tasks
Efficient management of social media campaigns

Cons:

Customer service is not as prompt as it should be.
Moving around rescheduled items is not as easy as it should be.

Apptivo

Description: Powerful CRM tool to orchestrate sales and marketing through smart tools such as intuitive dashboards and a 360-degree view of customers so that startups move towards productivity.

Best for: Small and growing startups as well as larger businesses and enterprises

Cost

Four plans are available at different prices:

Lite: $8 per user, per month, billed annually

Premium: $12 per user, per month, billed annually

Ultimate: $20 per user, per month, billed annually

Enterprise: Custom quote available

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, user-friendly in terms of managing information and streamlining projects
Automation: Yes, comes with tools that enable powerful task automation.
Integration: G Suite, Office 365, Slack, Xero, QuickBooks, PayPal, Stripe, and Zipmark.
Collaborative features: Yes, customizable collaborative features are available.

Pros:

Efficient for the needs of a growing startup
It is very easy to add or remove information.
Customers vouch for the flexibility of customization.

Cons:

Email templates cannot be created easily.
It is difficult to customize certain templates.

Monday.com

Description: All-inclusive platform that drives teams towards success by effective collaboration and smart tools for project management through insights on team progress.

Best for: Startups of all sizes and across several industries.

Cost

Five plans are available at different prices:

Individual: $0, free forever

Basic: $24 per month, billed annually

Standard: $30 per month, billed annually

Pro: Total $48 per month, billed annually

Enterprise: Custom quote available

Evaluation of key criteria:

User-friendly interface: Yes, customizable dashboards with a centralized Work OS.
Automation: Easy-to-use automations
Integration: Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, Google Calendar, and Zapier.
Collaborative features: Yes, expect effective collaboration across the org.

Pros:

Fair pricing for small businesses
Efficient communication eliminates confusion
Real-time tracking of project completion

Cons:

The Android version is very slow.
Some users reported the loss of important information in the midst of a project.

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