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Easily distribute, analyze, and grade student work with Assignments for your LMS

Assignments is an application for your learning management system (LMS). It helps educators save time grading and guides students to turn in their best work with originality reports — all through the collaborative power of Google Workspace for Education.

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Bring your favorite tools together within your LMS

Make Google Docs and Google Drive compatible with your LMS

Simplify assignment management with user-friendly Google Workspace productivity tools

Built with the latest Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standards for robust security and easy installation in your LMS

Save time distributing and grading classwork

Distribute personalized copies of Google Drive templates and worksheets to students

Grade consistently and transparently with rubrics integrated into student work

Add rich feedback faster using the customizable comment bank

Examine student work to ensure authenticity

Compare student work against hundreds of billions of web pages and over 40 million books with originality reports

Make student-to-student comparisons on your domain-owned repository of past submissions when you sign up for the Teaching and Learning Upgrade or Google Workspace for Education Plus

Allow students to scan their own work for recommended citations up to three times

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Protect student privacy — data is owned and managed solely by you and your students

Provide an ad-free experience for all your users

Compatible with LTI version 1.1 or higher and meets rigorous compliance standards

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“Assignments enable faculty to save time on the mundane parts of grading and...spend more time on providing more personalized and relevant feedback to students.” Benjamin Hommerding , Technology Innovationist, St. Norbert College

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20 Best Task Management Software Tools to Elevate Your Workflows [2024 Edition]

Sudarshan Somanathan

Head of Content

May 13, 2024

Just a few years back, I was always stuck in a cycle of frustration and self-blame—all because my professional workload was spiraling out of control . I’d make ambitious plans for me and my team and watch in agony as they fell flat. Things became so bad that I got used to the anxiety that accompanied my zillion unattended tasks. What followed was constant overwhelm, a clear lack of motivation , and even sneaky health repercussions. 😔

Eventually, I confided in some peers and realized that I was definitely not alone. In fact, there’s research revealing that as many as 41% of workers experience stress due to their heavy workloads. 

I was able to get out of this rough patch over time, and I cannot emphasize enough how life-changing it was for me to find the right task management software. You see, it’s never the amount of work that creates chaos—but poor task management.

In my case, for instance, I once unknowingly orchestrated a team burnout as I had the habit of setting over-enthusiastic ( read: unreasonable ) deadlines and delegating tasks without realistic workload considerations. It was only after I found my perfect task management tool that I had the knowledge and visibility needed to make more practical choices.

I’d call myself a much saner task manager now, and I hope my team here at ClickUp agrees. We have worked together to bring you this article exploring the 20 best task management software , with a special focus on tools that can assist you in assigning tasks and optimizing priorities effectively in 2024. You can learn about their key features, limitations, and pricing before locking your ideal task manager tool. 🌻

What Should You Look for in a Task Management Tool?

• 1. ClickUp—best overall project & task management software

2. Asana—best for remote teams

3. jira—best for experienced it professionals, 4. monday.com—best for marketing and pmo teams, 5. trello—best for small teams, 6. hive—best task management software for multi-layered team collaboration, 7. meistertask—best for kanban task management, 8. ntask—best task management software for scheduling, 9. zenhub—best for software teams, 10. zoho projects—best for complex project management, 11. activecollab—best for personalized task management experience for client-based workflows, 12. wrike—best for scalable workflow management, 13. todoist—best for teams on a budget, 14. proofhub—best for granular task tracking, 15. smarttask—best for managing multiple projects, 16. hubspot (hubspot task management)—best for crm tasks, 17. paymo—best for client tasks and bookings, 18. timecamp—best for time tracking and billing tasks, 19. any.do—best for creating to-do lists, 20. smartsheet—best for spreadsheet-style task management, leveraging the best task management tools: which one to pick.

For cross-collaborative teams like mine, task management software doesn’t just help identify, monitor, and manage tasks . It goes beyond supporting a simple to-do list and offers features to efficiently collaborate on elaborate workflows for effective goal completion .

The best task management software allows my team to set deadlines, prioritize tasks , track progress, and adjust schedules with ease, which results in smoother decision-making. Other useful functionalities that we prioritize include:

• Flexibility: In my experience, good task management software is always the one that has a user-friendly interface. Bonus points if it runs smoothly on all major operating systems across devices, giving my team more control over everyday work
• Time tracking: We find it’s best to go for a task management solution that lets us improve our time management through seamless time tracking
• Task automation: As your business grows, automation plays a key role in expanding your task base sustainably. The best task management software lets us automate recurring admin tasks, leaving everyone more time to focus on cognitively demanding, high-level assignments
• Communication support: Because I’m running a busy, distributed team, I value tools that support productive task-related discussions, file sharing, and instant announcements
• Reporting and analytics: We’ve noticed that quality task management software provides reporting features to record and analyze information (like clock-in/clock-out data, absence, and overtime hours) for productivity analysis, invoicing, and payroll management
• Integration with other tools: Now this may be a personal preference, but I like it when my task management system integrates with other software we use, like messaging apps , project management tools , and writing assistants , simply because this eliminates context switching and makes team collaboration and task monitoring way easier 😇

20 Best Task Management Software for Balanced Task Planning and Execution

When we started testing out the tons of task management apps available on the market, one aspect was clear—they’re not all cut from the same cloth. For instance, some are versatile tools, while others focus on nailing specific functions like task dependencies.

We eventually narrowed down to 20 best task management software that just had to be on our list. We cherry-picked them after considering diverse criteria like feature set and affordability, so you’re sure to find something that addresses your immediate needs. 🧐

Here’s a snapshot of our list, which will be followed by detailed and honest reviews of each software:

1. ClickUp —best overall project & task management software

Why end with a bang when we can start with one? 💥

We might be a bit biased here, but ClickUp has repeatedly proved itself to be the best task management solution for individuals, professionals, and teams alike. It’s not just us; even G2 considers it to be the best-rated task management and team task management software , ranking it #1 in 15+ competitive categories in 2024!

What makes ClickUp click is its AI-enabled, end-to-end support for managing tasks and priorities, monitoring progress, and staying productive.

How we use ClickUp for hands-on task management

The way we leverage ClickUp for my team is pretty straightforward—for starters, we go to ClickUp Tasks for everything, from centralized task planning and scheduling to tracking individual assignments.

I love how the platform makes our task management process super intuitive and data-rich. We get to categorize team tasks by type and set Custom Task Status from To Do to Done to make tracking effortless. We can use as many Custom Fields as we want to set deadlines, add assignees, and define further details we want to track or filter through. For each task assignment, our team can also: 

• Add links and comments to centralize contextual knowledge and discussions
• Specify task dependencies to offer visibility for schedule management
• Define subtasks and checklists to support extensive deliverables 
• Use @mentions and action items to delegate tasks and share updates

Our Task View is by default a pop-up window, but we can also minimize it to a sidebar or Task Tray if we want to keep our individual to-do lists accessible or track time as we go.

If you are a visual task manager like me, there’s good news! I frequently use the 15+ project views of this task management software for comprehensive visibility over our entire workflow—I manage tasks on Kanban boards, sort through them in the List view, and visualize timelines with colorful Gantt charts. 🌈

ClickUp comes with a drag-and-drop Calendar view that aids our granular task planning. We also make use of the Recurring Tasks feature to schedule routine stuff, like meetings and sprint retrospectives, and visualize or adjust our day-to-day directly on the Calendar.

At any given day, we have 100+ active tasks across departments, and it’s near impossible to follow up on each one of them. Thankfully, we can stay on top of our task lists with ClickUp Reminders . We create them from any task comment or notification, which gives us more flexibility to manage team tasks seamlessly from any device we’re on without losing sight of inter-departmental dependencies.

And, if we’re dealing with an overwhelming workload, we identify what to prioritize and deprioritize using ClickUp Task Priorities and its color-coded tags. We also lighten team workloads with ClickUp Automatons , which lets us automate time-consuming tasks like checking emails or organizing documents.

Bonus! Our secret to stress-free productivity? ClickUp Brain and pre-made templates

Beyond tracking and prioritizing tasks, ClickUp also lends us a hand with Project Management . For instance, we employ ClickUp Brain , the platform’s AI assistant, to automate project summaries, task planning, and task standups and updates.

ClickUp Brain is a neural network connecting the team’s tasks, documents, and discussions living on the platform—it helps us extract and summarize information and action items through simple prompts and questions.

We also take our productivity to new heights with numerous customizable ClickUp templates that help us standardize task assignments immediately! If you’re new to the platform, the ClickUp Task Management Template can be a great starting point. By downloading this free template , you can organize your tasks into Lists like Action Items , Ideas , and Backlog for easier navigation. Open separate views to track assignments by department or priority label. 🚩

ClickUp best features

• 1,000+ templates to kickstart skillful task management
• Intuitive task scheduling platform with time tracking
• ClickUp Dashboards for real-time task tracking and productivity metrics
• ClickUp Goals to set measurable task KPIs
• Task Checklist feature for easy to-do list creation
• Multiple project views like List, Table, and Timeline
• Custom task statuses to complement your workflow
• A Bulk Action Toolbar to edit multiple tasks at once
• Automates recurring, error-prone tasks
• Built-in task prioritization levels  
• Universal Search and Tags to access tasks quickly
• Supports task generation directly from ClickUp Docs and Whiteboards
• Integrates with 1,000+ apps like Slack, Gmail, Zoom, Outlook, and HubSpot
• Dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android
• Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux
• Built-in chat and file-sharing options for task collaboration
• Easy-to-use, no-code interface

ClickUp limitations

• It takes time to explore all its task management features (you can leverage the ClickUp Help Center to ease the learning curve)
• A dedicated subtask reporting feature would be a great add-on

ClickUp pricing

Most of ClickUp’s task management features are accessible on the free plan. The price-to-features ratio on the paid options is one of the best in this space.

• Free Forever (supports unlimited tasks and members)
• Unlimited: $7/month per user
• Business: $12/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing
• ClickUp AI: Add to any paid plan for $5 per member per month

*All listed prices refer to the yearly billing model

ClickUp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (9,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (4,000+ reviews)

The platform has garnered largely positive reviews as a task management solution. Here’s how one user describes their experience :

My favorite feature is the ‘add to’ function for tasks, which enables me to have a central location for all major projects. Within the project/Epic, subtasks can be assigned to the correct space/list to be worked on by whoever needs it. Having a top-down view of the location and status of each subtask is invaluable to keeping track of what is completed and incomplete. Adding custom fields wherever I need them is also fantastic.

There’s no milder way to put it—we just love Asana as an online task management software for remote teams! For starters, we can use pre-built templates to organize our remote projects and coordinate on tasks and updates using the centralized Inbox feature.

As we tested the tool further, we noticed that it was incredibly easy to add and track cross-team tasks across multiple projects. Essentially, I can ensure the same task is never duplicated in another department, which is a common pain point for remote teams!

Its breadth of features is quite similar to ClickUp (you can check out a detailed ClickUp vs. Asana comparison here ). For instance, I can add task descriptions in the form of bulleted lists, embed files to add context, set due dates, and add assignees in a few clicks. It’s also effortless to create subtasks, identify blockers, and streamline approvals on task changes.

What makes Asana stand out among its alternatives for me is the Workflow Builder feature —it gives us a smooth interface to create workflows without coding, helping us automate routine tasks and expedite projects. This quality task management software also features a My Tasks list , which helps prioritize work by auto-promoting tasks based on due dates.

Overall, Asana is a collaborative task management tool for anyone working remotely —my distributed team was able to communicate directly within the app, encouraging cross-functional collaboration with minimal friction. For added transparency, we recommend adding relevant collaborators to your team’s tasks to keep them updated on progress async.

Asana best features

• Templates for task management
• Remote-friendly collaboration tools
• Zero-code workflow builder
• Search and filtering options for simpler navigation
• Integrates with apps like Slack and Dropbox, as well as ClickUp
• Mobile app for Android and iOS

Asana limitations

• May be challenging to implement for larger teams
• Storage and collaboration features could use improvement

Asana pricing

• Personal: Free forever (for up to 10 users)
• Starter: $10.99/month per user
• Advanced: $24.99/month per user

Asana ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (9,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (12,000+ reviews)

Many users have favorably reviewed Asana’s auto-reminders feature, like this one :

I like how Asana helps us to make and assign tasks to employees in our team, and also it auto gives them reminders to complete the tasks on time. Their reminder emails are very much helpful, this way our co-workers have the list of To-Do’s ready without checking multiple messaging platforms and emails.

When I first started exploring Jira, it was evident to me that this was not as beginner-friendly as other alternatives due to a somewhat complex feature set. But then, Jira is a popular task management software option among seasoned professionals in industries like IT, finance, marketing, and HR, so it was worth a try.

To give you some context, Jira was first launched by Atlassian as an issue-tracking tool for software developers—but has now branched out to become a useful tool for project managers and task managers alike. In my experience, I found it to be an incredibly handy tool for Agile project management .

My team tried to set up a sample workflow for a complex Agile project, and we were able to break everything into manageable sprints . We got the option to set up tasks under:

• Company-managed projects: A standard admin-controlled workflow
• Team-managed projects: A more self-contained workspace for independent teams

Jira’s multiple views, like boards and timelines, makes it easy to track sprint tasks and identify roadblocks to ensure continuous improvement . The tool also supports team collaboration by allowing members to brainstorm and exchange task information across departments through shared workflows.

Moving to productivity, it’s worth noting that Jira, like ClickUp , lets us update custom task statuses in real time, while its automaton feature allows for running manual actions in the background. Plus, project managers can automate work using its numerous task management templates . 😀

Tip: Explore the Jira-ClickUp integration to manage your Agile workflow better!

Jira best features

• Workflow automation support
• Multiple task views for agile teams
• Templates for niches like human resources , marketing, and IT
• Integrates with Atlassian Work Management and other popular apps
• Effective task management apps for Android and iOS

Jira limitations

• The system can be slow at times
• The user interface and dashboard design could be improved

Jira pricing

• Free: Up to 10 users
• Standard: $8.15/month per user
• Premium: $16/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

Jira’s business support is only available on paid tiers. However, free plan users can seek out community support .

Jira ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (5,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (13,000+ reviews)

Bonus read: Check out these Jira alternatives !

Can using Monday.com for managing tasks can make Mondays less dreadful? We think yes! This simple task management software provides all key features, from multiple task views to task templates, that you’d find in most Monday alternatives .

However, what our research team loves the most is the software’s specific task management features for marketing and PMO teams . For example, marketing teams can benefit from key features like brand asset management , robust Gantt charts (to build task timelines), and campaign tracking . Meanwhile, PMO teams rely on features for monitoring OKRs , identifying dependencies, and tracking time for future task planning.

I think Monday.com also stands out with its smooth interface . Its Work Management feature lets you create no-code marketing workflows for specific functions like content creation, social media, and event planning.

I consulted a few project managers who use the tool, and they even appreciated its intuitive layout. For example, the platform allows them to make informed decisions by accessing quick overviews of task progress on a dashboard. 📈

Plus, Monday.com allows you to organize workspaces into projects with individual tasks and subtasks, complete with color-coding options to help you track task priorities and statuses easily.

Overall, it’s a powerful task management tool—quite similar to ClickUp and Asana in terms of design and feature set. Plus, the platform integrates with top marketing tools as well as other collaborative platforms ( including ClickUp ).

Monday.com best features

• Includes 200+ automation options
• Color-coded custom task statuses and priority levels
• User-friendly project templates
• No-code workflows setup
• Offers a mobile app for iOS and Android
• Integrates with over 200 apps

Monday.com limitations

• The initial setup tends to be overwhelming
• Some users struggle with custom reminders and experience delays in notifications

Monday.com pricing

You can access the following plans by first signing up for a 14-day free trial:

• Free: Up to two users
• Basic: $9/month per user
• Standard: $12/month per user
• Pro: $19/month per user

Monday.com ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (10,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,000+ reviews)

I’m a religious fan of Kanban boards, which is partly why I always have a blast using Trello. One of the main reasons why I put it high up on our list is simplicity—most project management software are not as easy to learn as Trello, which makes it perfect for managing linear tasks on a smaller scale.

This good task management software is all about moving tasks like sticky notes on a drag-and-drop Kanban board for easier status tracking. Individuals can use it to create personalized task lists, while team members can rely on advanced checklists to add context to tasks by adding due dates and assignees. 

As far as basic task management is concerned, this software supports task prioritization through labels like high, medium, or low priority. Say I want to access a specific batch of tasks and prepare a quick status report—all I have to do is filter through these labels.

Trello’s no-code (and cute!) automation tool called Butler is also incredibly comfortable to use. Even the less tech-savvy members of my team can automate recurring tasks by creating simple rules, buttons, and commands.

Trello lets us view tasks on calendars, timelines, and neatly organized tables, which is often more than enough to manage workloads in smaller teams. However, if you’re running a larger team or a more complex project that requires agility and a wider variety of project views, Trello alternatives with enterprise features may be a better option.

Trello best features

• Butler—a no-code automation tool
• Kanban-based task tracking software
• Includes checklists, calendars, and timelines
• Color-coding helps prioritize tasks
• Android and iOS mobile apps
• Integrates with other task management systems like ClickUp and Jira

Trello limitations

• Gets costly as users increase in number
• May not support complex project management

Trello pricing

Trello’s free plan is pretty generous and supports up to 10 boards. You need to get a Premium tier to access more views and AI-driven features, which are necessary for effective task management in modern workspaces.

• Standard: $5/month per user
• Premium: $10/month per user
• Enterprise: $17.5/month per user

Trello ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (13,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (23,000+ reviews)

Here’s what one user had to say about completing tasks and projects with Trello:

Trello provides software development projects with a smooth platform for managing Agile and Kanban workflows. Tasks can be easily created and organized because of its user-friendly interface and customisable boards, lists, and cards. While Trello’s ease of use is one of its main advantages, it might not have all the complex project management capabilities of more all-inclusive applications. 

I had little idea of what Hive is like when I first started testing it. The platform advertises itself as an all-encompassing project management software with use cases ranging from project and resource management to client engagement. While I mostly explored features for task management, I can confidently say that this tool wins when it comes to facilitating team collaboration.

Hive provides any hybrid team with a task management platform to:

• Assign, track, and execute tasks together, regardless of location
• Monitor upcoming tasks across departments
• Streamline task intake data with forms
• Collaborate async or live with Hive Notes and Text and Voice Chat

Like ClickUp, Hive supports project collaboration by letting teammates communicate across projects by leaving comments on action cards or tagging team members.

Collaboration here is smoother because you get to observe your tasks from unique angles . For example, we can use the Portfolio view to get a detailed overview of tasks across projects or the Label view to categorize subtasks. I thought I could focus better by activating the My Actions view to display my task assignments in a concentrated way. 

We can also rely on key features like task status to easily track progress, templates to customize project layouts and business processes, and notifications to never miss a beat. Plus, Hive offers Workflows App —a no-code task automation tool to help you cut down on manual labor and design personalized automated workflows. 

Hive best features

• Collaborative task management tool
• Supports individual, group, or project discussions
• AI assistant ( HiveMind ) and templates to support standard tasks
• My Actions view tracks all the tasks assigned to you 
• Includes a no-code task automation tool
• Integrates with Dropbox and Google Drive

Hive limitations

• The mobile app has limited functionality
• UX may get compromised with many collaborators

Hive pricing

Hive’s free plan neatly supports basic task management for all your projects, but you’ll have to upgrade to paid plans for features like custom fields, task labels, and an in-app calendar.

• Starter: $5/month per user
• Teams: $12/month per user

Hive ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)

Bonus: Check out these Hive alternatives !

Most alternatives to MeisterTask include Kanban boards as one of their key features. However, I’d emphasize that MeisterTask excels as Kanban-based task management software because of how user-friendly and intuitive it is. 😻

The tool is beautifully crafted and provides customizable Kanban-style boards that let us organize and monitor task cards. We can mark if tasks are In Progress , Done , or on the To Do list (or create custom sections). What’s cool is that we can also switch to a Gantt-like timeline view to access more linear scheduling.

These boards keep all work centralized and let us communicate effectively through task comments. We can mention teammates in the comments, add them as project watchers, and assign them tasks directly from the board. Whenever you manage projects prone to changes, just activate real-time notifications to keep everyone in the loop about the latest updates.

Besides collaborative boards, the software offers personal Kanban pinboards called Agendas , where we can organize all the tasks assigned to us, as well as access due dates and important files faster.

Many user reviews for MeisterTask compliment the tool’s pretty interface —here’s what a verified user shared:

The colorful Kanban-type interface, the multiple project lists you can have, tags, integration from MindMeister, easy integration from other websites to spawn tasks. I use it on my phone, tablet, and iPad.

MeisterTask best features

• Easy-to-use Kanban boards to track project progress
• Can serve as a personal task management software
• Task-related collaboration through comments
• Dashboards to track tasks, time-tracking data, and notifications
• Lets you automate recurring tasks
• iOS and Android mobile apps

MeisterTask limitations

• The software could benefit from adding a workflow calendar to its features
• Notifications may be delayed on mobile devices

MeisterTask pricing

• Basic: Free (doesn’t allow integration with other apps)
• Pro: $6.50/month per user

MeisterTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,000+ reviews)

nTask serves as an SMB-focused hub for tracking and scheduling tasks under three sections: To-Do, Workflow, and Projects . The idea is to create both personal and professional task lists, as well as define workflows for specific functions like designing, fund management, and freelancing. 

In my opinion, the Projects tab has quite a clutter-free interface to design granular schedules and assign tasks or entire task lists to your teammates. If you’re new to the platform, you can start with a weekly scheduling sheet to create a baseline of tasks, along with descriptions and assignees. Then, you can use the Task Builder to add tasks as needed.

As a visual task management tool, my team was able to use nTask to plan and prioritize tasks on a Kanban layout, manage interconnected delivery timelines, and visualize projects with color-coded Gantt charts.

For example, we scheduled tasks by setting planned and actual due dates and creating task dependencies and milestones to ensure timely completion. Then, we set priorities, custom statuses, and real-time notifications to ensure no action remains overlooked.

nTask’s robust time-tracking capabilities help us stay within realistic timeframes. I can monitor time spent on tasks and estimate the time my team will need for future tasks, which makes scheduling (and invoicing) easier over time.

nTask best features

• Offers multiple project views (board, grid, list, and calendar)
• Comprehensive task tracking
• Visual task management and task scheduling through Gantt charts
• Recurring tasks feature with daily, weekly, or monthly repeats
• Integrates with 1,000+ tools like Apple Calendar, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams
• Android and iOS support

nTask limitations

• Attaching documents and images to tasks may be challenging
• User interface could be more intuitive

nTask pricing

You can access a 7-day trial period for all plans. NGOs may be able to get up to 50% off upon contacting sales.

• Premium: $3/month per user
• Business: $8/month per user

nTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (10+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)

ZenHub is a project management solution that primarily caters to software development teams. It provides a native GitHub integration via a browser extension for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This helps reduce context switching by keeping project tasks connected with GitHub code. 

Plus, ZenHub offers automatic task updates as users complete issues in GitHub, streamlining task completion by eliminating manual status check-ins from your team’s to-do list. There are also automated hand-offs to update all connected workspaces.

This online task management software and software development tool brings tasks together on intuitive, drag-and-drop Kanban boards , allowing teams to view all current tasks and their statuses.

Use these boards to prioritize tasks, track projects, and attach pull requests to corresponding issues. Group related issues into Epics or connect various private and public GitHub repos to a single board. 👨‍🏫

Additionally, ZenHub offers sprint planning features, making it a handy tool for agile teams . It lets us set automated sprint cycles, auto-generate new sprints with prioritized and unfinished tasks, and receive periodical reports on progress.

I’ve also heard pretty exciting things about ZenHub AI (automatic issue categorization, sprint reviews, etc.). However, I wasn’t able to get past the waitlist to try out its beta program.

ZenHub best features

• Various key features for agile teams
• Native GitHub integration
• Provides spring planning and tracking
• Boards with intuitive task management capabilities
• Automate repetitive tasks and hand-offs
• Acts as a visual task management tool with roadmaps and timelines
• Integrates with Figma, Miro, and Loom

ZenHub limitations

• Steep learning curve
• The interface may be challenging to navigate

ZenHub pricing

• For Teams: $8.33/month per user (annual billing after a 14-day free trial)
• For Enterprises: Contact sales for pricing

ZenHub ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (30+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (30+ reviews)

Zoho Projects is a reliable project management software with features such as issue tracking, team monitoring , project timesheets, and resource utilization charts. From the range of use cases we explored, this platform can be excellent for managing complex projects in industries like marketing, construction, IT, and consulting.

Zoho Projects offers a comprehensive toolset for task management that assists us in breaking projects down into milestones, task lists, and subtasks for simpler tracking. This task management platform is all about details—each task can have attributes like assignees, work hours, priorities, and reminders. Plus, we can use timesheets and timers to record time spent on each task.

We were able to schedule tasks on a calendar and get an overview of team members’ capacity simultaneously. This, I think, is crucial for balanced task planning and avoiding the risk of team burnout.

Like many Zoho alternatives , this tool simplifies task organization by providing Kanban-style boards with drag-and-drop task cards and flexible statuses. As for planning and tracking complex workflows, we can use Gantt charts to identify granular team tasks, set dependencies, and monitor deadlines to ensure everything is done on time. ⌛

I believe that using Zoho Projects is great for consolidating your task ecosystem when you use other Zoho applications, such as Zoho Mail or Zoho CRM, as the tool gives you a unified view of your tasks across sister platforms.

Zoho Projects best features

• Quick-access Gantt charts
• Supports versatile task management use cases
• Highly customizable workflows with project templates
• Easy task scheduling on calendars
• Integrates with various Zoho, Google, and Microsoft apps 
• Task management apps (iOS 9.0+ and Android 4.1+)

Zoho Projects limitations

• Initial setup may be challenging
• Software customization can be time-consuming 

Zoho Projects pricing

• Free: Up to three users
• Premium: $4/month per user (10-day trial)
• Enterprise: $9/month per user (10-day trial)

Zoho Projects ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (400+ reviews)

Reviews mostly mention the product to be useful, albeit confusing at times. Here’s an excerpt :

Zoho Projects is useful when using to assign tasks, getting multiple projects done, and needing to know who will do it by when. It allows people to go in and time themselves to track how long it took them to do it. It does get really confusing at times to create tasks because of the many tedious needs that can be miscommunicated while trying to assign (tasks). 

ActiveCollab is all about increasing productivity and meeting deadlines with ease in client-based workflows. Whether you’re a startup or a small creative team, the tool lets you invite unlimited clients to the platform for improved collaboration and feedback loops. In my opinion, this alone can help eliminate those hard-to-keep-track-of client meetings and follow-up email chains.

My experience? Besides adding tasks for my team, I was also able to break down complex actions into subtasks for my clients, ensuring all assigned tasks got done as planned. Additionally, we saw functions to:

• Add due dates, assignees, and detailed task descriptions
• Group tasks based on different criteria
• Duplicate repetitive tasks

This online task management software offers only three project views to choose from, which is less than what ActiveCollab alternatives typically offer. Still, it includes frequently used views—the Kanban board, Gantt chart, and List view. 📝

I know automation is a recurring theme at this point, but still worth a mention—ActiveCollab can reduce manual labor by automating recurring tasks like drafting weekly reports. And, if you need to ensure actions are completed in a fixed order, just create dependencies between multiple tasks.

ActiveCollab stresses the importance of a personal task manager, which freelancers may find useful. It provides a My Work page where you can find and organize your task assignments by project, client, or due date. 

ActiveCollab’s timesheets also impress me quite a bit. Besides getting an overview of all my time records, I can access project-level time tracking for easier billing. I can even revisit my productivity in terms of the comments posted, tasks created or closed, or due dates modified.

ActiveCollab best features

• Excellent personal task management software
• Tools to automate repetitive tasks
• Dependencies for completing tasks in a specific order
• Android and iOS smartphone apps
• Integrates with other task management tools like Asana and Trello

ActiveCollab limitations

• The file-sharing feature of this task management software could be simpler to use
• Adding more customization options could be beneficial 

ActiveCollab pricing

All plans come with a 14-day free trial. However, you have to subscribe to the most expensive plan for features like workload management and days-off planning.

• Plus: $9.5/month 3 users/month
• Pro: $8/month per user/month
• Pro+Get Paid: $11.75/month per user

ActiveCollab ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (90+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (300+ reviews)

Wrike is well-known for its robust task and workflow management features. But what many users miss is how beautifully scalable it is! For instance, the platform lets me build a library of custom tasks that mimics our core processes—we can use it as a baseline for all our future workflows. And the best part is, we can expand this library to build a workspace tailored to a role, department, or even industry.

During the time we tested this tool, we created multi-level task lists across levels like folders, milestones, phases, and projects. Some of us even created personalized dashboards by pinning important tasks from our to-do list, all automatically sorted by priority and due date.

Like most of Wrike’s competitors , the platform supports strong teamwork —we can collaborate on real-time project plans, task assignments, and decision-making within the platform. Plus, the software includes built-in proofing tools for quick yet detailed task feedback and task automation to save time and increase work efficiency.

Additionally, Wrike allows project managers to build customizable reports on task and team performance. I was, for instance, able to further optimize workflows by analyzing relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) on dashboards.

Wrike best features

• Comprehensive project dashboards with personalized reports
• Supports feedback-friendly team collaboration
• Multiple project views
• Visualize tasks in views like Gantt Chart, Kanban, and Calendar
• 400+ third-party integrations
• Task automation

Wrike limitations

• Could use more custom display options
• Some users experience task syncing issues

Wrike pricing

Wrike offers integrations and additional cloud security features for an extra fee, but all of the following plans contain task management features:

• Team: $9.80/month per user
• Business: $24.80/month per user
• Enterprise and Pinnacle: Contact sales

Wrike ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (3,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (2,000+ reviews)

While many Todoist alternatives on our list offer additional project management features, this veteran app is purely focused on task management. I think Todoist is one of the few apps that consistently upgrades itself within its niche space. For instance, we can now create detailed daily to-do lists and set recurring tasks using natural language.

The tool ticks all the boxes for basic task planning and management—we can create tasks and subtasks, determine priorities, add due dates, and set reminders to ensure nothing goes overlooked. 👀

Although it’s primarily a task management app, Todoist can help you manage small-scale projects as it includes goal-setting features , labels to categorize tasks, and task descriptions to keep information centralized.

I personally loved its Upcoming calendar view —it displays which tasks are due urgently, and if anything’s too demanding, I can use a drag-and-drop function to reschedule assignments. And if I need to focus on team tasks that are currently due, I simply go to the Today view .

While Todoist’s simple navigation and low price make it a handy tool for personal task management, it’s also a good to-do list app for teams on a tight budget . Its project management features aren’t too comprehensive, but you can still assign tasks and leverage comments for better teamwork and transparency. Here’s what a small business owner had to share after using the tool :

Extremely easy to use for all levels of technological understanding. I use Todoist several times a day and we have integrated this across our whole team. We’ve experienced far less chance of tasks being lost or forgotten and people stay accountable because of the notifications received upon completion.

Tip: ClickUp has a neat Import from Todoist feature if you need to switch to a more extensive project management tool in the future.

Todoist best features

• Efficient daily task management
• Multiple task views (including Kanban boards and lists)
• Basic team collaboration support
• Easy navigation to monitor project progress
• Integrates with various productivity and time-tracking apps
• Has a to-do list app for Android and iOS

Todoist limitations

• Integrating the software with some apps may be challenging
• It would be beneficial if the app displayed tasks when you’re offline

Todoist pricing

• Beginner: Free
• Pro: $4/month per user
• Business: $6/month per user

Todoist ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (700+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (2,000+ reviews)

Besides being a good task management tool, ProofHub is a task tracking software that lets you easily create task lists and individual tasks, assign them to more than one team member, and closely follow due dates and priorities across task categories . I am particularly in awe of the platform’s Table view for task tracking—I get to monitor progress percentages for actions in different categories (without being a pesky micromanager). 😁

Similar to ProofHub alternatives , the software is fully customizable —we can build personalized workflows and use custom fields to capture any task-related data my team deems important. Custom fields enhance task tracking —because we customize them to track virtually any detail, be it deadlines or output.

Speaking of tracking, ProofHub has an intuitive interface for creating task dependencies for ensuring tasks are completed in a predetermined order. If you want to offer more clarity to assignees, leave comments on tasks or use mentions to guide them.

Additionally, ProofHub offers various reporting options to help gain insight into a project’s progress. You can enhance resource allocation by analyzing resource utilization reports or track project-specific progress with task completion reports.

ProofHub best features

• Multi-faceted task tracking software
• Customizable workflows
• Supports task-related discussions through comments and mentions
• Reports to gauge task progress
• Various project views like Kanbans and tables
• Mobile-friendly

ProofHub limitations

• Notifications can get difficult to manage
• Some users find its customization features complex

ProofHub pricing

Note that ProofHub currently avoids the per-user billing format, which may make it appealing for some teams.

• Essential: $45/month for unlimited users
• Ultimate Control: $150/month (or $89/month for a limited time offer)

ProofHub ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (80+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (90+ reviews)

SmartTask includes all key features you’d typically find in a task management tool. You can set deadlines, add dependencies, and manage tasks in views like calendar, list, and board. I’d highlight that you can create a realistic workflow here by optimizing dependent, overlapping, and ignored tasks—this is the kind of visibility you need when your team is juggling 5+ projects simultaneously.

This software stands out for me especially because of its tools for managing multiple projects simultaneously in a cross-functional setup. Its Project Portfolios feature allows you to create multiple boards to track separate goals, aligning your marketing, sales, and design teams. To play it safer, you can even share task lists across teams to prevent orphaned actions. 

SmartTask supports team collaboration by letting us comment on tasks and generate real-time notifications for updates. We can also invite clients, vendors, and external stakeholders to collaborate on any task or project by sending them an invitation.

Plus, it provides dashboard reports on both project tasks and sales that you can easily find through its advanced search bar. 🔎

SmartTask best features

• Internal and external team communication
• Set recurring tasks (daily, weekly, or monthly)
• Task and sales reports
• Supports managing tasks across projects
• Time tracking for individual tasks
• Task management tools for iOS and Android

SmartTask limitations

• The UI and UX could use some improvement
• Adding more integrations would be useful

SmartTask pricing

SmartTask may offer discounted pricing to NGOs upon contact. Eligible startups can also apply for a $1,000 worth of credit.

• Free Forever
• Premium: $7.99/month per user
• Business: $10.99/month per user

SmartTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (60+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (30+ reviews)

I’ll admit that HubSpot Task Management is far from a traditional task manager—it’s more of a suite designed to help marketers streamline Customer Relationship Management (CRM) processes. Now, we know that effective CRM depends on properly storing, tracking, and managing lead- and customer-based activities. HubSpot helps you streamline these scattered tasks to boost revenue.

We explored this software extensively and can confirm that it reduces the need to switch between multiple tabs when talking to prospects, all thanks to dashboards that centralize all CRM work. In terms of use cases, utilize the dashboards to track your to-do list items, view prospect details, and stay on top of meetings. 

Need to create new tasks? Do that directly from your workflows, email inbox, or to-do list. And if you need insights from past task performances, like deals made and activities completed, leverage HubSpot’s reporting tools. This platform simplifies communication with email templates (for sending messages in bulk) and real-time team chat. 

While sales and marketing teams may enjoy HubSpot’s task management style, some of HubSpot’s alternatives could be a better choice for companies in IT or finance. You can even consider the HubSpot-ClickUp integration if you want to organize your customer-facing processes more diligently.

HubSpot best features

• A wide array of CRM functionalities
• Live team chats
• Dashboards to centralize prospect-related work
• Integrates with apps like WordPress, Gmail, and Zapier
• iOS and Android mobile app for HubSpot CRM

HubSpot limitations

• Limited option to prioritize tasks
• Workflow automation is limited on the free plan

HubSpot pricing

For individuals and small teams:

• Starter: $15/month
• Professional: $800/month

HubSpot (CRM) ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (11,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (4,000+ reviews)

Paymo is a simple task management software and invoicing app rolled into one, so I can see how it holds enormous appeal for professionals and freelancers who want to manage client work, time tracking data, and resources within one platform . It lets you automatically set up ghost bookings based on the task details you’ve entered in the past, as well as receive a visual overview of all bookings for the immediate team on a single screen. 🖥️

Paymo also simplifies managing resources by allowing multiple managers to work on scheduling to avoid overbooking or underbooking. We can:

• Book time for time-sensitive tasks by the hour
• Accommodate unscheduled tasks with a simple drag-and-drop function
• Visualize our team’s availability on timelines
• Send booking notifications only to relevant team members

The platform lets my employees view their tasks in a single view, while our task managers monitor both their personal tasks and team’s work in separate views. Like with most Paymo alternatives , we get project views like Gantt charts, Tables, and Calendars to visualize tasks.

Paymo also encourages team collaboration, offering a detailed Task View to chat in real time about the latest task updates. Finally, Paymo provides task priority levels like critical, high, normal, or low across teams, which we can adjust based on our delivery commitment to clients.

Paymo best features

• Timelines to assess employee availability
• Allows booking time for client tasks by the hour
• Real-time chat
• Project views like Gantt chart and Kanban board
• Integrates with apps like Slack, Google Calendar, and JotForm
• Mobile app support for iOS and Android

Paymo limitations

• The mobile app may be tricky to navigate
• Takes time to train employees to use the platform

Paymo pricing

• Free (for up to five clients)
• Starter: $5.9/month per user
• Small Office: $10.9/month per user
• Business: $16.9/month per user

Paymo ratings and reviews

• Capterra: 4.8/5 (400+ reviews)

I have talked to many freelancers about their task management routines, and I think one of their main problem areas is connecting tasks to tracked hours and, eventually, invoices. That’s precisely why I made sure this handy all-in-one tool was on our list.

While most TimeCamp alternatives on this list include typical task and project management features, TimeCamp shifts its focus to time-task budgeting instead.

With its one-click time-tracking capabilities , you can track your or your team’s working hours effortlessly. You can use this data to standardize times for specific jobs, plan and create task assignments and invoice estimates, and monitor each team member’s productivity.

TimeCamp also provides features for measuring the profitability of your projects and tracking billable hours, streamlining invoicing and resource management. Basically, the tasks you had to do manually, like creating invoices and approving timesheets, are automated on this platform.

Although this software highlights time tracking, it’s still a task management tool. Its TimeCamp Planner product helps you organize tasks and monitor their progress on Kanban-style boards. 

If you’re dealing with repeatable tasks, automate them by specifying information like due dates, assignees, and progress statuses. Plus, you can switch from team task overview to your own using the My Tasks feature , which displays your assigned tasks on a list, calendar, or timeline view.

Note that TimeCamp’s time tracking and task management features are available on separate pricing plans .

TimeCamp best features

• Comprehensive time-tracking tools
• Kanban board for easy task tracking
• Personal task lists
• Can automate repeatable tasks
• Includes apps for Android and iOS
• ClickUp (you can use this integration to time your ClickUp tasks and enjoy billing accuracy)
• Google Calendar

TimeCamp limitations

• The user interface and server load time could be better
• The tool may be buggy at times

TimeCamp pricing (for TimeCamp Planner)

• Starter: $2.99/month per user (best for freelancers)
• Premium: $4.99/month per user (ideal for businesses tracking profitability)
• Ultimate: $7.99/month per user (for better analytical reporting)
• Enterprise: $11.99/month per user (for higher security and custom integrations)

TimeCamp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (500+ reviews)

Any.do specializes in providing easy-to-use to-do lists to help you achieve both personal or professional goals efficiently. It caters to individuals, families, and teams, and is available via 10+ platforms, including Mac, Safari, and iPad.

During my time with this tool, I was able to organize my to-dos in separate lists and projects, all color-coded to set clear priorities and determine task categories. We can enhance our task lists with:

• Subtasks and attachments for added task awareness
• Deadlines and reminders

Sharing responsibilities is also simple—just share a task list with your teammates or family to collaborate on task completion . For example, you can assign different items on a grocery list to family members and track the list to ensure they complete the task successfully. If there’s an urgent matter you wish to discuss, use the chat function to communicate in real time.  

For companies looking for a task management tool with project management capabilities, Any.do is a solid choice as it also offers features like customizable workflows, views, pre-made templates, and powerful integrations with other work tools.

If you want more comprehensive workflow features, though, explore some more advanced Any.do alternatives .

Any.do best features

• Provides simple to-do lists
• Great as a daily task manager
• Lets you share lists with teams, family, and friends
• Reminders for timely task completion
• Has apps for iOS and Android
• Integrates with other task management tools like ClickUp and Asana (via Zapier)

Any.do limitations

• Some users desire more integrations (like with Microsoft Calendar)
• Limited advanced features for this price range

Any.do pricing

Remember to get a Family or Teams plan to access shared lists.

• Premium: $2.99/month per user
• Family: $8.33/month per four users
• Teams: $4.99/month per user

*All listed prices refer to approx values billed annually

Any.do ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (100+ reviews)

At the time of reviewing this tool, we noted a few less-than-positive reviews by Android and iOS users, mostly about some UX elements. However, the reviews for the overall functionalities are quite positive. Here’s what a sales manager who uses the product had to say :

With Any.do, organizing my tasks is simple and fast. The app works fine, and it does the job that it’s supposed to do, setting daily reminders and scheduling to keep myself on track of what’s going on. I love apps that offer a simple, minimalistic professional design.

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like task management tool . It’s great for those who are comfortable tracking tasks in Excel but are open to switching to a tool with less complicated calculation work. The tool is popular in construction, healthcare, and education industries where task management is all about working with scattered data.

Like ClickUp, Smartsheet offers comprehensive project and task management tools for handling different workflows. For example, it lets you schedule tasks, create subtasks, allocate resources, and track assignments efficiently from one platform. ✅

Here, tasks are represented on spreadsheets for individual projects. Like most Smartsheet alternatives , we can add basic task information, like due dates and assignees, in clear fields and columns. We can also merge several spreadsheets to have a consolidated view of our tasks across categories.

However, these aren’t traditional spreadsheets—they also provide the advanced features of a modern task management tool. For instance, we can use checkboxes, dropdown lists, and comments to interact with tasks on Smartsheet.

This is a great task management software for teams working on extensive projects as it includes templates for agile project management, OKR tracking, budgeting, and resource management.

It also supports task automation, real-time collaboration , and advanced analytics. Plus, it integrates with services we may already use, like Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams.

Bonus read: Explore ClickUp vs. Smartsheet !

Smartsheet best features

• Spreadsheet-based project management tool
• Advanced functionalities for monitoring complex projects
• Supports real-time team communication
• Templates for agile project management
• Integrates with numerous communication, data visualization, and project delivery apps
• Available as an iOS or Android mobile app

Smartsheet limitations

• There may be a steep learning curve for users figuring out advanced features
• It could benefit from adding more template options

Smartsheet pricing

• Free (for up to two task editors)
• Pro: $7/month per user
• Business: $25/month per user

Smartsheet ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (14,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (3,000+ reviews)

Our first-hand experience with these tools has been both adventurous and enlightening. We think each of these options understands their target users and strives to deliver. However, if you’re still struggling to find “the one,” make a list of what you really prioritize in a task management platform.

Typically, great task management software provides features that help you plan, organize, track, and assign tasks, but you shouldn’t have to pay a fortune for these functions. Some features, like reminders, automation, and task views, are the bare minimum, and we see them in almost every tool we discussed.

What you can explore is the overall functionalities you get for a given price. Say Tool A gives you 30 advanced features and the more popular Tool B gives you 25 advanced features at the same price point—you know what to pick!

Lastly, the best task management tools are supposed to make your life easier, not vice versa, so ensure your chosen tool is easy to implement and fun to work with! 🥳

If you absolutely can’t make a choice, we’ll be cheeky and persuade you to try ClickUp ! It’s got all the features you’ll need to streamline task management with minimal effort. Whether you want to set goals, track and assign tasks, manage time, reduce manual labor, or communicate with your team, the possibilities are endless.

Sign up to ClickUp today and enjoy the best toolkit a free task management software has to offer! 💖

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Never forget a class or assignment again.

Unlock your potential and manage your classes, tasks and exams with mystudylife- the world's #1 student planner and school organizer app..

School planner and organizer

The MyStudyLife planner app supports rotation schedules, as well as traditional weekly schedules. MSL allows you to enter your school subjects, organize your workload, and enter information about your classes – all so you can effortlessly keep on track of your school calendar.

Homework planner and task tracker

Become a master of task management by tracking every single task with our online planner – no matter how big or small.

Stay on top of your workload by receiving notifications of upcoming classes, assignments or exams, as well as incomplete tasks, on all your devices.

“Featuring a clean interface, MyStudyLife offers a comprehensive palette of schedules, timetables and personalized notifications that sync across multiple devices.”

” My Study Life is a calendar app designed specifically for students. As well as showing you your weekly timetable– with support for rotations – you can add exams, essay deadlines and reminders, and keep a list of all the tasks you need to complete. It also works on the web, so you can log in and check your schedule from any device.”

“MyStudyLife is a great study planner app that makes it simple for students to add assignments, classes, and tests to a standard weekly schedule.”

“I cannot recommend this platform enough. My Study Life is the perfect online planner to keep track of your classes and assignments. I like to use both the website and the mobile app so I can use it on my phone and computer! I do not go a single day without using this platform–go check it out!!”

“Staying organized is a critical part of being a disciplined student, and the MyStudyLife app is an excellent organizer.”

The ultimate study app

The MyStudyLife student planner helps you keep track of all your classes, tasks, assignments and exams – anywhere, on any device.

Whether you’re in middle school, high school or college MyStudyLife’s online school agenda will organize your school life for you for less stress, more productivity, and ultimately, better grades.  

Take control of your day with MyStudyLife

Stay on top of your studies. Organize tasks, set reminders, and get better grades, one day at a time.

We get it- student life can be busy. Start each day with the confidence that nothing important will be forgotten, so that you can stay focused and get more done.

Track your class schedule on your phone or computer, online or offline, so that you always know where you’re meant to be.

Shift your focus back to your goals, knowing that MyStudyLife has your back with timely reminders that make success the main event of your day

Say goodbye to last minute stress with MyStudyLife’s homework planner to make procrastination a thing of the past.

Coming soon!

MyStudyLife has lots of exciting changes and features in the works. Stay tuned!

Stay on track on all of your devices.

All your tasks are automatically synced across all your devices, instantly.

Trusted by millions of students around the world.

School can be hard. MyStudyLife makes it easier.

Our easy-to-use online study planner app is available on the App Store, the Google Play Store and can be used on desktop. This means that you can use MyStudyLife anywhere and on any device.

Discover more on the MyStudyLife blog

See how MyStudyLife can help organize your life.

Maximize Your Success: Final Exam Calculator & Last-Minute Tips for Better Grades

As 10 melhores ferramentas de ia para ajudar os alunos a aprender mais rápido em 2024, filter by category.

• Career Planning
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• Productivity
• Spanish/Español
• Student News
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• Using MyStudyLife

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Test and Worksheet Generators for Math Teachers

Test and worksheet generators, learning management system, how it works, you choose the topic..

You choose the mathematical properties of the questions.

Every topic has different options., it creates as many questions as you would like., distribute assignments to your students., print hard copies to give to students..

Post assignments to Kuta Works.

Students complete online., unlimited questions.

Once you have created an assignment, you can regenerate all of its questions with a single click. The new questions will conform to the same parameters as the original questions, but they will be completely new. This feature is at the heart of our software and is what makes it so powerful: you choose the properties of the questions, not the questions themselves. When a question is replaced, you get a new one that is similar to the original question. How it works. You can regenerate entire assignments, particular question groups, or individual questions.

Easy Spacing

Respace the entire assignment to the desired length with one click. Easily give your students enough room to show their work by increasing the spacing. Or you can save paper by decreasing the spacing.

Spacing can also be controlled manually.

Presentation Mode

Very useful as a teaching aid when used in combination with an LCD projector or other display system. One to four questions at a time are shown on the screen.

Use this feature while you teach. Prepare your examples with the software, and then use a projector to display the questions on the board. This saves time during planning and during the lesson, and it makes it very easy to present long questions or questions with graphs and diagrams. With one question displayed, you can:

• Change the zoom level -- so students in the back can read it
• Draw lines beside the question to help you organize your work if you solve the question
• Jump to another question -- useful while reviewing homework
• Reveal the answer
• Show / hide the question number and the directions.

Multiple-Version Printing

Print multiple versions of an assignment. You control how each new version is created: scramble the choices, scramble the questions, or make completely new questions. You can also save each new version after it is created.

Scale Assignment

Proportionally increase or decrease the number of questions in the assignment. This is very useful when planning a lesson. You can create a few questions to use as examples, and then scale up the number of question to create a homework assignment. The questions on the homework will be completely new, yet follow precisely from the lesson--and you don't need to design the questions again.

Export Questions

Export questions as bitmap images and paste them into your favorite word processing software. Questions created with our products can be added to existing assignments you have created with other programs. Or you can freshen old assignments by replacing old questions with new ones.

All questions are available for export.

Good Multiple-Choice Questions

Every question you create can be toggled between free-response and multiple-choice format. Multiple-choice questions come with smart, potentially misleading choices. Some are based on common mistakes students make while others are just random but near the correct answer.

You control the number of choices each question has, from two to five.

Merge Assignments

Merge two or more assignments into one. Easily create quizzes, tests, and reviews by merging the assignments from the unit and then scaling the total to an appropriate length. The questions will be new while following exactly from what you taught.

Diagrams Drawn to Scale

Diagrams are all accurately drawn, except if the answer would be given away. If an angle is labeled as 30°, then it really is 30°. If a triangle's sides are labeled 3, 4, and 5, then its lengths truly are in a 3:4:5 ratio. Seeing accurate diagrams helps students gain an intuitive understanding of angles and measurements.

Answer Format

When you print an assignment, you choose how the answers are reported:

• On an answer sheet
• On an answer sheet with just the odds
• In context (next to or within the question)
• No answer sheet

Graphing and Graph Paper Utility

Supplement your lessons with high-quality graphs and graph paper of any size. Each graph can have zero to two functions graphed on it. Graphs can be of any logical and physical size. You can also tile graphs across the page to maximize your paper use.

Custom Directions and Custom Questions

Enter your own directions to create new types of problems. Shown on the left was a standard order of operations question that has been modified to be more analytical. You can alter the directions on any question type.

From time to time, you will need to enter your own question. That's what custom questions are for. They can be either free response or multiple-choice and can contain math formatted text (equations, expressions, etc).

Modify Automatically-Generated Questions

Most automatically-generated questions can be modified manually. If there is a choice you don't like, you can change it. If you wish a question was slightly different, you can change it.

Paper Size and Margins

Print assignments on any sized paper that your printer supports. If you decide to print an assignment on legal-sized paper, no problem. The questions will automatically be repositioned for you--no cutting and pasting the assignment back together just to use a different paper size. You also have control over the margins, page numbering, and paper orientation.

Top 7 Homework Planner Apps for Students

Whether you are attending classes, completing your assignments, studying for a quiz, project work, extra-curricular activities, or squeezing some time for friends and family. You’d agree that organizing and planning goes a long way. That’s why a homework organizer or a homework planner app can be a lifesaver to keep track of all your assignments, tests, submission deadlines, and exams. I did the research and shortlisted the perfect homework planner apps for Android and iOS. Let’s check those out.

Read:  Best Notes App for Windows to Increase Productivity

Homework Planner Apps for Students

1. student planner- homework agenda & notes.

The first app on the list is a simple homework and notes management app. It keeps track of homework, assignments, projects, and to-do lists. The layout is minimal, all the tasks are neatly organized with a colored bookmark for easy identification. You can mark a task complete and remove it from the pending list.

Courses can be added easily and color-coded as well. The calendar shows any upcoming deadlines so you can prioritize accordingly. The tasks have a progress bar that you can adjust as you make progress which enables you to get a quick summary without actually opening every task.

You can also break your assignments in small chunks as subtasks that would make finishing a task much easier and the progress bar will fill automatically. It also allows you to attach media files to your assignments or projects for easy access to the important information in one place.

• Progress bar
• Deadline Reminders
• Calendar View
• No option to sync data to the cloud

Student Planner is a great app for all the students, it has all the necessary features like Deadline reminders, subtasks, progress bar, color-coded tasks, and courses. It can significantly increase your productivity when used regularly. You can get this app for free in the Play Store.

Install Student Planner- Homework Agenda ( Android )

2. Student Planner

Student Planner is another fast and simple homework management app which is wrapped by a beautiful and intuitive material designed UI. What Student Planner adds to the table is the inclusion of a schedule or time table which you can use to either store your class schedule or it might even be a study schedule for your exams.

You first start by adding your subject and the schedule then you can add an assignment or set a reminder. The due assignments are arranged as separate cards and can be swiped away once done with.

•  Simple and easy to get started with
•  Fast and small in size
•  Beautiful Minimal UI
•  Option for Schedule
• No sync/backup
• Timetable implementation not perfect

I would recommend this app to anyone who is looking for a simple homework management app with timetable support and a minimal UI.

Install Student Planner ( Android )

Egenda is simple. Open the app, add all the classes or subjects to the app, and once that is set up, you have the option of adding a new Homework, Quiz, Project, or Test and choose the respective subject deadlines. The app also arranges the due work in cards that can be swiped away when done. But what I love the most about this app is that the fact it allows you to go subject-wise and view all your upcoming tests, projects, or pending assignments which is a huge convenience for planning your schedule ahead of time instead of the previous day.

Unfortunately, the app doesn’t have a timetable option, but in its latest update, it added a  Calendar View  where you can see your whole month at a glance with your assignments, tests, and projects.

•  Subject-wise sorting
•  Calendar View
• No timetable support

Egenda provides some great tools for Homework and Test planning and I am sure anyone would find them extremely convenient and useful. But keeping its single con in mind, go for this app if you are not too keen on having a schedule or timetable.

Install  Egenda  ( Android  |  iOS )

4. ChalkBoard

The next app on our list is ChalkBoard, which I found out to be a pretty smart homework planner app. Chalkboard strikes a perfect balance between simplicity and features.

Although the setup process is a little longer than the previous three apps, as you have to feed meticulous details about the classes, teacher, and schedule. It is worth the effort.

On the home screen, you are shown upcoming classes, events tab, and upcoming tests. ChalkBoard fetches the dates for every subject from the Timetable for your future classes. Little features like these make the app stand out from the rest and give an overall great experience. You can also view classes and assignments subject wise.

• Proper Timetable
• Ability to add teachers for subjects
• View tomorrow’s classes as well as assignments/tests/quizzes
• Smart features
• Little longer to set up
• No calendar view

If you are looking for a homework planner as well as a school planner, Chalkboard is the app as it strikes a great ground with almost all the features one might need while not being too bulky.

Install ChalkBoard ( Android )

5. School Planner

School Planner is a full-fledged planning application designed for students to manage their career as a student. Along with your homework and timetables, School Planner offers you to keep track of your grades and attendance, add contacts for teachers, add recorded lectures, and even multiple planners.

The app supports backing up of all your data via Google Drive, Calendar View along with a weekly report, attaching snapshots to your assignment reminders, student accounts from ClassViva, and a lot more. In spite of so many features, the app doesn’t feel slow at all and delivers a powerful performance with its beautiful design.

• Full-fledged student companion
• Feature-packed and free
• Supports sync and backup
• Widget Support
• Tedious setup procedure
• Big in size
• Complex, not so smooth learning curve

While it is not for someone who is looking for a fast and easy way into homework management, School Planner is a great student companion app and serious students will surely get the most out of hit.

Install School Planner ( Android )

6. My Study Life

My Study Life comes with its own web app and syncs with the Android app, essentially making your data accessible from any device as long as it has a browser.

It implements a goal-centric circular tracker that shows your progress. The Calendar view combines your timetable, deadlines, and shows all your classes and assignments, projects in a single place.

• Refreshingly new UI
• Access from anywhere through its web app
• Sync and Backup
• Lengthy setup process

If you study from your computer or laptop, My Study Life makes it easy to access your homework planner on your phone from your computer, while not compromising on features and being completely free. What more can you ask for?

Install My Study Life ( Android  |  iOS )

7. iStudiez Pro

Like School Planner, iStudiez Pro includes grading and subject wise organization of tasks. iStudiez Pro takes it further with the integration of Google Calendar that allows you to directly get all your holidays, exam schedule, routine from Google Calendar itself.

It also offers separate apps on all platforms including iOS, Mac, and Windows. All the apps sync seamlessly between themselves, so studying on your computer consulting your planner won’t be an issue.

• Google Calendar Integration
• Cross-Platform
• Cumulative Price

If Google Calendar integration and cross-platform support is a must for you, iStudiez Pro is definitely the app you want.

Install iStudiez Pro ( Android   |  iOS )

So this was our roundup of the best homework planner apps for Android. We genuinely think that there is an app for every need and we hope that you found a Homework Planner that suits your need whether you are a high school student or a college senior. So which one was your favorite or did we forget to add yours? Let us know in the comments below.

Also Read:  Take a Picture of Handwriting And Convert to Text – Android Apps

Sometimes I write. Business Enquiries: [email protected]

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Project management software and tools: Your best picks for 2024

Project management software connects teams, enabling everyone in the organization to prioritize the work that matters most. Software that fosters this type of high-level collaboration is essential for most companies. But at a glance, many of the tools organizations use have seemingly similar features. Use our guide to narrow down your choices and understand which tools are best for different types of companies.

If you manage work, you’re a project manager. But that wasn’t always the case. For many years, the only people responsible for managing projects were (unsurprisingly) project managers. These highly specialized roles used legacy tools that required extensive training and knowledge to use. 

Now, almost everyone is expected to manage their own projects, and these outdated tools are no longer practical. And while project manager roles and legacy softwares still exist, modern project management software has adapted to fill the needs of a more dynamic, collaborative workforce.

Whether you’re a brand new business owner who just needs help with invoicing or you're operating a multi-national company, there’s a project management software that’s right for you. Read on to see which project management software fits your company's needs.

What is project management software?

Project management software is a tool that helps teams to organize, track, and execute work. In its simplest form, you can think of project management software as an interactive workspace, where you coordinate the way you work, collaborate, and communicate with others. But the best project management software goes far beyond that—connecting your most advanced workflows across the company and helping you achieve your biggest, boldest goals. 

It’s a broad category, and can be as simple as digital checklists or as advanced as a full work management platform. The type of project management software you choose—and the way you use it—will depend on the size, needs, and overarching goals of your organization.

Why use project management software?

These days, everyone manages projects, but they don’t always have the tools they need to manage projects effectively. This often leads to teams using a spreadsheet, which is great for organizing work but doesn't show real-time updates. Spreadsheets are extremely manual, and can actually impede cross-functional collaboration. In short, they lack the capabilities of project management software. 

That’s why project management software is so crucial to today’s working environment. Among its many benefits, project management software serves as the connector for work, teams, stakeholders, goals, and everything in between.

The benefits of project management software

Focus your work. You’ll get more done—but more importantly, you’ll get the right work done. With project management software, you’re less likely to duplicate work or waste time searching for materials.

Reduce busywork. With project management software, you can connect every single task to goals that support the company’s biggest, broadest vision—so everyone knows how they’re driving the success of the company with every project. When employees understand how their day-to-day tasks impact the company, they’re even more motivated to produce their best possible work.

Create a system of record. Project management software serves as a system of record for all your projects and their related tasks. As a result, you can simultaneously store information while also making it easier for stakeholders and teams to access and use that information.

Increase cross-functional collaboration . Project management software is, at its core, a team collaboration tool. By bringing together work, goals, and people across projects, teams, and departments, project management software helps you build an interconnected, thriving cross-functional organization.

Store work safely. Ever delete a cell by accident in your spreadsheet? Or forget where you saved your latest to-do list ? Keeping everything cloud-based both helps you stay organized and reduces the chance of you losing work—all while maintaining your privacy. 

The 11 best project management software & tools in 2024 

There’s a wide range of project management software available in today’s market—choosing just one can feel overwhelming. That’s why we compiled this list of the best products in the industry today, and the types of businesses they’re most likely to help. See how each one compares, and the different ways project management software can streamline and enhance your work.

1. Asana: Best for enterprise companies

Asana goes beyond traditional project management software to provide a full work management solution that supports the dynamic, changing needs of enterprise companies. Asana doesn't just help you manage your tasks (although you can do that too)—it connects all the work your company is doing to your highest-level goals and business strategy. With Asana, you get so much more than project management software, including:

Integrations to all your favorite tools and systems, so you can keep your work organized in one platform.

Goals that connect to everyone and every task across your company, so you can ensure the work that gets done is always the most important.

Automations for tasks, scheduling, assigning work, and much more—all designed to reduce the amount of time you spend on low-priority busywork.

Ready-made project templates so you can get to work on your most important tasks right away.

Reporting dashboards that automatically update stakeholders and eliminate status update meetings.

Security, privacy, and compliance features that keep your data safe.

Discover even more of what Asana can do.

2. Trello: Best for simple project management

Trello is a Kanban-board style project management software , owned by Atlassian. In Trello, you nest project tasks under boards labeled with an overarching theme. For example, you might have a board for “Not started,” “In Progress,” and “Complete.” The setup makes it easy to track project progress from board to board, which is helpful when you need a simple tool for small projects.

3. Smartsheet: Best for spreadsheet lovers

Think of Smartsheet as an advanced version of a spreadsheet, with more capabilities. This system can be intuitive for companies who traditionally used spreadsheets for project management, such as time tracking with timesheets. 

4. Jira: Best for Agile-specific project management

Designed specifically for software development, Jira comes ready to launch for teams that use the Agile methodology to do their work. Owned by parent company Atlassian, Jira is often used for common development projects like bug tracking, as well as projects that use the Scrum process .

5. Monday: Best for small businesses

Monday offers a broad spectrum of apps that make it easy to implement and get started right away. This works for small businesses who are new to project management software, though once you rev up your work, company size, or collaboration across teams, you might hit a threshold for what’s possible.

6. Clickup: Best for small teams or startups

Clickup’s intuitive and colorful interface makes it easy to understand and adopt. Clickup is a popular choice for startups with limited resources and smaller teams that may not need as many capabilities. 

7. Notion: Best for notetakers

Notion is an elevated system to create and store dynamic documents, sheets, and note taking. This works best for companies or individuals who just need a more organized space for thoughts and ideas, though Notion can feel limited in how you can work with others in the tool itself.

8. Airtable: Best for those who want to build it themselves

Airtable provides a flexible no- and low-code database you can use to build your own bespoke project management system (or other custom application). For those who prefer to oversee the backend development of their project management software, Airtable offers that option.

9. Wrike: Best for client management

Wrike offers stackable storage and security in an easy-to-use format, so both clients and internal teams can safely access information. This can be helpful when you’re working with external partners, such as clients, in addition to managing work as a company.

10. Workfront: Best for marketing-only teams

Workfront (owned by Adobe) is a project management software that was initially developed for marketers. They’ve built out their platform to be a tool for all teams, but because it’s so targeted, users may struggle to coordinate with other teams outside of the marketing department. 

11. Microsoft: Best for personal tools

Microsoft Office is often labeled as a project management tool, but that’s mostly because their products are a staple at any company. Because we already know and understand how to use them, Microsoft Office products are often the first tool managers turn to when they start experimenting with project management. But the reality is, Excel spreadsheets and docs weren’t built for collaboration, so you’re better off using them in conjunction with full-fledged project management software. 

Features to look for in your project management tool

Ready to buy? Each project management system will have different features and functionality, but we recommend you prioritize a platform with these features at a minimum:

Collaboration features that enable work between team members, departments, and across the company—including file sharing, project tracking, and resource management.

A platform that provides portfolio management capabilities and the ability to connect goals to actionable tasks, so the entire company can see how all work is connected.

A mobile app so you can send off approvals, receive timely notifications, and manage projects on the go.

Project and reporting dashboards that are easy to access and view.

Varying project view styles that support all your project types and operations, including Gantt charts , Kanban boards, Lists, and Calendars (so as your company grows, you know your software has the capability to grow with it).

Enhanced project scheduling to set due dates, create important milestones, and easily track time so everything stays on schedule.

Project management app integrations that fit your custom business needs.

Automations and dependencies that update you and stakeholders in real-time.

The best project management software is the one that grows with you

A lot of project management software claims similar features, and at a basic level, many of them are the same. But when you choose a project management solution, it shouldn’t just be another tool. It should be a full-fledged project management platform that enables you and your team to get their best work done, with less effort. 

This means you need a platform that continues to grow, expand, and adapt as your company does. The last thing you need is to hit a ceiling just when you’re getting into your ideal workflow. Asana is built for enterprise teams, which means it can support your project management work from the beginning—when you’re a one-person team with an idea—all the way through your Fortune 100 growth. In fact, more than 80% of Fortune 100 companies use Asana*.

With Asana, it’s not just about putting out more deliverables. Instead, Asana focuses on how you can connect and leverage every aspect of your company’s work, goals, and resources to produce the right work. 

Project management software FAQ 

Which software is best for project management.

The best project management software is the one with the features you need. Look for a tool like Asana , a full work management platform where you can integrate the apps you already use, connect goals to work tasks, break down silos between teams, and automate time-consuming busywork.

What type of software is project management software?

Project management software is a type of software used for every aspect of project management. Often, this includes everything from the project planning stages (resource allocation, setting due dates, and building and assigning work task lists) to project scheduling, tracking, and reporting. The best project management software will help you coordinate and automate work not just across projects, but also across portfolios, teams, and departments.

What’s the difference between project management software and task management software?

Task management software is used strictly to manage tasks and is focused on production. Often, this looks like a digital to-do list with more capabilities. Project management software goes beyond task management to the actual planning, coordination, and goals of a project. This incorporates the bigger-picture, high-impact work and the actionable tasks you need to get there. Good project management software will also have task management capabilities, but the reverse isn’t always true.

How does project management software work?

Project management software is a tool to help you coordinate everything you need for project management. Often, this includes capabilities to create and assign tasks, scheduling all aspects of a project, and coordinating with others in your project team. The best project management software will also enable you to work cross-functionally across all teams, departments, and projects within your organization.

Is project management software worth it?

The short answer: yes! Project management software has an almost endless list of benefits. Most people immediately think of productivity as the reason to purchase project management software, but the right project management software can do more than increase your output. If you invest in the best project management software, you can break down silos and connect your entire company to your largest visions and goals. This enables everyone to work better on the projects that matter most.

*Accurate as of September 7, 2022 . Asana makes no representations about updating this number.

Related resources

How to choose project management software for your team

7 steps to complete a social media audit (with template)

3 visual project management layouts (and how to use them)

Grant management: A nonprofit’s guide

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10 Best Employee Scheduling Software & Apps for Work

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: July 23, 2022

You found our list of the best employee scheduling software .

Employee scheduling software are online apps and programs that help managers assign work shifts to staff. These programs often include features such as drag-and-drop scheduling displays, shift swaps, coworker communication tools, and reporting. The purpose of these tools is to automate and simplify the scheduling process so that business leaders can focus on other management tasks. There are both free and paid software options available. These tools and apps are also known as “staff scheduling software” or “work scheduling software.”

Scheduling tools are a subset of HR software and remote work platforms , and are similar to time tracking software and employee management software .

This article contains:

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• work scheduling software
• workforce scheduling software
• shift scheduling software

Here is the list!

List of employee scheduling software

Here is a list of the best work scheduling software for both hourly employees and salaried workforces.

1. ZoomShift

ZoomShift is a scheduling tool for hourly employees. The program enables managers and business owners to track employee time, prevent timesheet errors, and run payroll in minutes. The drag and drop schedule builder simplifies the shift assignment process, and the app makes it easy to swap or reassign shifts seamlessly. Communication features allow for real-time conversation between colleagues, and streamline conversations into a centralized platform. The software also includes PTO tracking tools that make it easier to manage leave and availability. ZoomShift also compares staffing costs to sales and includes labor forecasting tools.

ZoomShift is best for small to medium businesses that want an easy way to schedule and communicate with employees.

Key Features:

• Free mobile app
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Drag and drop schedule builder
• Team collaboration
 and communication tools
• Schedule sharing via email, push, text
• Customisable time clock software and app with geofencing technology.
• Easy to use clock in and clock out functionality.
• Timesheet error prevention measures
• Customizable payroll reports

Learn more about ZoomShift .

2. Workforce

Workforce is one of the most popular employee scheduling platforms. The program includes an easy-to-use employee app, and also offers managers tools that make it easy to build, edit, and share schedules on the move. The mobile platform includes push notifications and real time updates to keep the whole team updated on changes or requests.

The software takes online attendance tracking to the next level with features like unique pin codes, GPS tracking, and photo verification. Workforce also regularly solicits feedback from employees and managers by providing per-shift performance ratings and surveys.

Workforce’s analytics tools compare projections with results and scheduled shifts with actual hours worked. These comparisons allow for filtering by day, and calculate costs in real time. Also, Workforce’s labor compliance tools allow managers to differentiate workers by location to better follow state-specific laws. Plus, managers can program rules for different types of shifts.

• Labor compliance tools
• Customizable shift differentials
• Overtime alerts & distinctions
• Workforce analytics
• App enabled schedule editing
• Real time feed
• Wide integration
• Notifications & messaging
• Feedback tools and performance ratings per shift
• Accuracy and error prevention
• Data-driven scheduling

Learn more about Workforce .

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3. Humanity

Humanity is an enterprise shift scheduling software built to integrate seamlessly with leading HR software. The compatibility with HCM software creates a more cohesive system that eliminates double data entry and makes onboarding, payroll, and human resource management a more seamless process for all parties.

The platform aims to reduce scheduling time by up to 80% through the use of automated technology and customizable rules. The program includes robust data and analytics tools that empower employers to collect and interpret data in a way that improves the scheduling systems.

While Humanity caters to larger companies, the employee experience is central in the platform’s design. The software offers a mobile app with a self-service portal that enables employees to communicate with colleagues and swap shifts in real time. The product’s main mission is to improve employee experiences while increasing worker retention rates .

• Flex scheduling
• Time clock tools
• Enterprise management
• Demand-driven scheduling
• Compliance features
• Mobile shift management

Learn more about Humanity .

4. Homebase

Homebase is one of the better free employees scheduling tools. The unpaid version of the program supports an unlimited number of staff for a single location, making it an ideal choice for smaller operations like restaurants or independent retailers with hourly workers.

The app’s sharing features enable employees and managers to instantly communicate updates, swaps, and approvals, helping the whole team access the most accurate schedule. Homebase is mobile-friendly, making it easy to access and update from any device. Forecasting tools like scheduling conflict alerts and overtime calculators help business owners staff optimally while controlling costs.

• Drag-and-drop tool
• Scheduling confirmation
• Communication features
• Integrations with payroll software
• User-friendly interface
• 24/7 Customer support

Learn more about Homebase .

5. When I Work

When I Work is a standard workforce scheduling software that facilitates the building, sharing, and tracking of schedules. The mobile interface mimics social media platforms with a live feed, chat, and simple navigation to schedules or requests. Features like one click auto scheduling and instant sharing add to the convenience. When I Work also includes labor forecasting tools that help managers calculate costs and manage budgets as well as projecting staffing needs. Also, schedule enforcement capabilities ensure employees can only punch in at the correct times and locations.

• Online time clock and attendance
• Budgeting and labor forecasting
• Contractor management
• Team news feeds, alerts, and real time chats
• Automated shift distribution
• One click auto scheduling
• Payroll and resource management
• Performance metrics, reporting, and analytics
• Easy shift swapping

Learn more about When I Work .

Deputy is a work scheduling platform that aims to simplify the shift assignment process. Like many similar tools, the program includes drag and drop functionality, a mobile app, and communication capabilities. One standout feature is that Deputy provides skills tracking and distinguishes workers based on training certifications. This feature helps managers staff qualified employees on particular shifts or projects, and is ideal for fields with specializations such as construction and healthcare. Deputy also includes fair workweek compliance tools to ensure employers compensate employees for last minute changes in regions governed by such laws. The program also has multi-location and group scheduling functions that help leaders better organize and track the workforce.

• Employee lifecycle management
• Skills tracking/Training
• GPS tracking
• Automated employee scheduling
• Leave management functionality
• Multi-location and group scheduling
• Labor and payroll forecasting
• Notable customer service
• In-app communication

Learn more about Deputy .

7. Connecteam

Connecteam is one of the more robust employee scheduling apps. Beyond scheduling features, the software also doubles as an employee engagement tool . Notable features of this software include virtual onboarding and training tools, surveys and polls, and a social-media style news feed that facilitates peer recognition. The software permits leaders to not only assign shifts but also tasks, making Connecteam a great choice for managing salaried and contracted employees as well as hourly workers. The program enables employees to reject or accept shifts and provides action updates, and color-codes in-app behavior. Connecteam streamlines communication and assignments and functions as an all-in-one hub for dispersed teams.

• Employee rewards & recognition
• Pulse surveys
• News feed, company directory, group chat, and file sharing
• Dispatch & work order management
• Online punch clock and salaried employee tracking
• Real-time scheduling & shift swap
• Multi-location & group scheduling
• Easy to use single-button commands and easy to read color coding

Learn more about Connecteam .

8. Clockshark

Clockshark is a mobile time tracking and scheduling software designed primarily for field service companies. The program enables managers to set specifications for jobs and oversee assignments. Clockshark provides GPS-functionality and location tracking to restrict clock-ins to on-site areas and help employers keep tabs on workforce distribution. The program helps with payroll by providing quick and easy reports and enabling administrators to input multiple billing rates as well as distinguish between billable or non billable hours. Clockshark has simple scheduling functions and an easy to use mobile application.

• Drag and drop scheduling
• Billing rate and type distinction
• GPS-enabled geofencing and all-day location tracking
• Online punch card with biometric recognition
• Quick reports, including timesheet, payroll, budget forecasting, and job cost tracking
• Ease of use, intuitiveness & smart automation
• Customizations & customer service

Learn more about Clockshark .

Float is a resource management software geared towards creative and collaborative projects. The central dashboard has a clean, color-coded layout that makes it easy to view workloads at a glance. Assigning or editing tasks is a simple, single-click process. The platform is searchable and contains a designated area for updates. Float includes project management tools like boards and budgets, and even the ability to plan roles for future hires. The platform is ideal for scheduling creative, project-based teams.

• Messaging platform
• Project tracking tools
• Forecasting and workload projections
• Data analytics & specific reporting
• Scrolling functionality
• Ability to add notes & details
• Global view at a glance
• Clean visual displays/timelines

Learn more about Float .

10. Resource Guru.

Resource Guru is a task scheduling software with a drag-and-drop team timeline. Managers can search for capable staff within a centralized directory and contact team members within the app. The program generates daily agendas that outline the team member’s tasks, and also sends email reminders.

The platform makes it easy to view team assignments and progress at a glance, is searchable, and includes filtering options. Resource Guru also provides a meeting room scheduling feature and equipment management tool. The software also has milestone tracking and project forecasting tool, making it easy to conceptualize progress and keep assignments on schedule. Plus, administrators can grant permissions and visibility to other users, enabling leaders to share updates with teammates, clients, and shareholders.

• Calendar management & synchronization
• Reporting capabilities
• Daily reminders via email
• Filtering options
• Grouping features
• Customizable permissions & visibility
• Task management tracking
• Equipment management and room booking
• Milestone tracking and project forecasting
• Web-based platform
• Easy to format and navigate, responsive design

Learn more about Resource Guru .

Scheduling is an important responsibility, and can be time consuming without the right tools. Luckily, the automation and templates that software provides can cut down the assignment process significantly. The data-driven, unbiased nature of the programs eliminate accusations of unfair scheduling or favoritism, and self-serve portals give employees the power and responsibility to find coverage.

These programs provide valuable analytics and insights that help organizational leaders improve human capital management, budgets, and general operations, and generate actionable reports. Plus, many software tools include compliance features that help organizations adhere to labor laws. Workforce scheduling software can even aid with payroll and billing.

The help these programs provide is substantial. By handling the routine aspects of staff assignment, scheduling software empowers employers to focus energy on higher-level functions like improving products and services, boosting output, and building better company culture.

Next, check out our guide to team management skills and this list of the best PEOs for remote teams .

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FAQ: Employee scheduling software

Here are answers to common questions about employee scheduling software.

What is employee scheduling software?

Employee scheduling software are online computer programs that facilitate the scheduling of shifts and tasks to employees and the workforce. These platforms often include time tracking and attendance features as well as mobile apps and built-in chats. The software also commonly includes dashboards, data analytics, and reporting functions that provide managers with valuable staffing insights. The main function of the programs is to automate the schedule building process and to gather data that informs future staffing decisions.

What are the best employee scheduling tools?

The best employee scheduling tools include Zoomshift, Humanity, Connecteam, and Workforce.

What are the benefits of employee scheduling software?

The benefits of employee scheduling software include saving time and automating the assignment process for your workforce. Most programs include mobile versions and employee portals that make it easy to swap shifts on the go and give all staff access to the most accurate schedules. Data-driven scheduling reduces suspicions of unfair assignment practices, and program compliance features help employers adhere to labor laws. Plus, the software collects, analyzes, and presents shift and project insights in a way that helps employers improve staffing processes.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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At Maine Dentistry, complete comfort meets unparalleled expertise for whole mouth health. Our clinical team specializes in many cosmetic dental procedures and has continued their clinical training to provide the best results possible in their field. Maine Dentistry provides clinical services to patients of all ages. Our hygienists provide thorough cleanings and are experts at preventative treatment identification for our patients. We offered services including dental implants, minimal prep veneers, Invisalign, professional teeth whitening, bridges, tooth extractions, and myofunctional therapy. …

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Readsynth: short-read simulation for consideration of composition-biases in reduced metagenome sequencing approaches

• Ryan Kuster 1 &
• Margaret Staton 1  

BMC Bioinformatics volume  25 , Article number:  191 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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The application of reduced metagenomic sequencing approaches holds promise as a middle ground between targeted amplicon sequencing and whole metagenome sequencing approaches but has not been widely adopted as a technique. A major barrier to adoption is the lack of read simulation software built to handle characteristic features of these novel approaches. Reduced metagenomic sequencing (RMS) produces unique patterns of fragmentation per genome that are sensitive to restriction enzyme choice, and the non-uniform size selection of these fragments may introduce novel challenges to taxonomic assignment as well as relative abundance estimates.

Through the development and application of simulation software, readsynth, we compare simulated metagenomic sequencing libraries with existing RMS data to assess the influence of multiple library preparation and sequencing steps on downstream analytical results. Based on read depth per position, readsynth achieved 0.79 Pearson’s correlation and 0.94 Spearman’s correlation to these benchmarks. Application of a novel estimation approach, fixed length taxonomic ratios , improved quantification accuracy of simulated human gut microbial communities when compared to estimates of mean or median coverage.

Conclusions

We investigate the possible strengths and weaknesses of applying the RMS technique to profiling microbial communities via simulations with readsynth. The choice of restriction enzymes and size selection steps in library prep are non-trivial decisions that bias downstream profiling and quantification. The simulations investigated in this study illustrate the possible limits of preparing metagenomic libraries with a reduced representation sequencing approach, but also allow for the development of strategies for producing and handling the sequence data produced by this promising application.

Peer Review reports

Since its first application, reduced metagenomic sequencing (RMS) has remained a niche approach to profiling microbial communities. First coined by Liu et al., RMS is the application of reduced-representation sequencing (RRS) to metagenomic libraries, adopting steps modified from the original ddRADseq protocol [ 1 , 2 ]. Metagenomic profiling of human samples comparing RMS and whole genome sequencing (WGS) yielded similar microbial profiles, and concerns of GC content bias weren’t detected. Three further studies have shown the potential for RMS to yield similar results or even outperform the traditional 16S and WGS approaches [ 3 , 4 , 5 ].

Although traditional approaches of amplicon and WGS can be effective for studying community structure, they exist on extreme ends of sequencing efforts and the benefits of each may exist in a middle ground. The conserved gene regions used in amplicon sequencing, often the 16S or ITS gene, can create bias towards some community members due to the primers selected and often these marker gene targets lack the resolution to consistently identify one species or strain from another [ 6 ]. WGS increases resolution but is comparatively expensive for deep sampling of rare taxa. Continuous, overlapping reads originating from closely related taxa may be computationally challenging to assign. Comparable to genotyping by sequencing (GBS), RMS reduces a genome into sampled DNA fragments by using one or more restriction enzymes [ 7 ]. These subsetted fragments represent predictable, targeted loci within a genome and function as hundreds of markers within each microbial genome allowing for species and even strain-level identification not found in amplicon sequencing alone. RRS increases per-locus sequencing depth for these fragments and allows for more samples to be analyzed in the same sequencing run, improving sequencing accuracy and lowering the per-sample cost of sequencing [ 1 , 8 , 9 ]. Unlike the original application of reduced representation sequencing for GBS, which produces fragments from the genome of an individual, RMS creates fragments from many unknown source genomes into a single pooled sequencing run.

Despite the potential benefits of RMS, the ability of this approach to accurately quantify at the species and strain level has not been tested at scale, possibly hindering adoption by metagenomics researchers. A major caveat to the RMS approach is that restriction enzyme motifs are enriched in a taxa-dependent manner [ 3 ]. Genome size, which can range over an order of magnitude in bacteria, as well as the varying degrees of sequence conservation among closely related microbes may complicate RMS quantification [ 10 ]. For example, genomic loci yielding RMS fragments may be variable even among closely related individuals, as a single base mutation altering a restriction cut site can lead to “allelic dropout” [ 11 ]. The degree to which this variation affects taxonomic identification and determination of relative abundance of community members has not been studied deeply. Every community member comprising the metagenomic sample will yield a unique distribution of fragment lengths.

Further complicating RMS profiling, sequencing effort (i.e. total read count) and size selection constraints may significantly impact the taxa included in the final sequencing library. Both PCR amplification and fragment size selection steps will affect the probability of a given DNA fragment surviving into the final sequencing reaction in a size-dependent manner with possible PCR biases dependent on template length [ 12 , 13 ]. Gel or bead mediated size selection is a critical step in RRS library design that helps to remove adapter dimers and optimize flow cell performance, and so remains an unavoidable library preparation step in most cases. An alternative RRS approach using isolength (type IIB) restriction enzymes has been proposed as a potential solution to this issue of variable fragment length [ 14 , 15 ]. Using a single enzyme that produces constant fragment lengths frequently across the genome may create detailed fingerprints of genomic communities without size selection steps, assuming adapter dimers can be reduced. Normalizing for the non-uniform read depths associated with a single organism is a task that existing metagenome profiling software aren’t designed to handle.

In applications such as RMS, where existing short read approaches are being used in novel ways, it may be difficult to gain traction because the features of the data are so understudied for the intended application. Spending money to develop new experimental techniques can be a highly risky endeavor, and it also requires the development of custom software tools and statistical approaches necessary to analyze this new form of data. In instances such as these, simulation can be useful to predict and overcome artifacts from library prep that could not be anticipated or otherwise measured without a ground truth. Capturing the nuances of RMS behavior under different conditions is a necessary step in understanding its application, therefore, we introduce the software readsynth as a simulation aid to researchers in considering these promising alternative approaches to sequencing metagenomes. Readsynth simulates read count constrained metagenomic sequence data based on pre-assembled genomes and user-defined community compositions along with multiple library preparation parameters.

In this study, both real and simulated RMS libraries are investigated to understand the influence of non-uniform fragment sizes and possible molecular and computational considerations that might be used to overcome these biases. Bias in fragment lengths may be occurring due to the biology of the individual community members being sampled and/or the technical library preparation. These factors prevent the total numbers of reads mapped to reference genomes from being directly used for calculating relative abundance. Our proposed solution uses the fixed length taxonomic ratio (FLTR) of read depths occurring within a non-uniform fragment length distribution. Barring the presence of strong GC bias, the ratio of two taxa should remain constant within all fragment lengths where both taxa are present. We first benchmark readsynth’s ability to faithfully capture features of mock community data. To demonstrate the utility of readsynth simulations, we then investigate this novel FLTR quantification approach that may overcome some of the challenges produced by non-uniform fragment distributions. Upon finding the library conditions that produce the best resolution, we consider the ability of these approaches when the search space includes a full database of all available reference genomes.

Implementation

Simulation software overview.

Readsynth was developed to simulate Illumina short read libraries to assess the compositional abundance of highly custom communities under multiple reduced sequencing conditions. Readsynth is a command line software package written in Python and C++ that uses commonly maintained statistical packages and consists of a digestion, size-selection, and read-writing stages (Fig.  1 ). The software was written to be highly customizable across three categories: (1) microbial community composition, defined by input genomes and their relative abundance; (2) experimental parameters, including reduced library approach, enzyme digestion rates, expected fragment length distributions, and custom adapter design, and (3) sequencing parameters, such as total read number, read length, and base quality value profiles.

Overview of readsynth inputs and flow of data. Necessary input files (shown in pink) are a collection of genome files and a corresponding abundance table for each. Output files include per fragment count estimates and the final, paired-end read fastq files

Readsynth first reads each input genome assembly individually to capture the set of possible fragments and calculate the probability of each sequence fragment surviving to the final library. Given a user input set of IUPAC restriction site motifs, overlap-tolerant regular expression (regex) searches are performed to exhaustively detect all possible cleavage sites and define fragments within the expected size-selection distribution. Fragments resulting from any combination of palindromic restriction enzyme motifs are modeled probabilistically to account for partial enzyme digestion. The probability of a fragment remaining at the end of digestion is calculated based on the probability of an enzyme cut producing the necessary forward and reverse adapter-boundary sites, adjusted accordingly for fragments harboring internal cut sites.

The per-fragment probability is a function of enzyme cleavage occurring at both ends of a sequence based on a user defined enzyme cut efficiency (c). Sequences that harbor greater numbers of internal cut sites (i) are less frequently represented as a sequenced read. The probabilities for each fragment length are then summed, approximating the expected fragments given a single genome copy for each genome in consideration.

Size selection

To simulate size selection, each fragment’s post-digestion probability is adjusted based on multiple additional factors affecting its representation. First, the expected fragment counts for each genome are scaled by their proportional abundance, as defined in the abundance table. The combined distribution of digested fragment lengths for all input genomes then undergoes size selection. The counts of the digestion distribution are used to scale a Gaussian probability density function at a given length, x, and this intersection of sample spaces defines the final size selection distribution (Fig.  2 ). This approach follows the size variability expected in gel-based size-selection equipment (e.g., SageScience BluePippin) at the narrow and broad range selection techniques while preventing artificial inflation of reads in lower abundance than produced by the Gaussian curve [ 1 ]. To simulate the hardware-imposed limitation on the composition of metagenomic fragments, the input read number (n) is divided evenly amongst the resulting size-selected distribution of the digested metagenome.

Digestion distribution of reduced metagenome sequencing (RMS) fragment lengths (bp) A after simulated enzyme fragmentation, counts represent expected fragment frequency with 1X genome coverage; B final read counts of size-selected fragments from the intersection of a Gaussian normal (μ: 150 bp, σ: 50) and A, scaled to the count at length 100 bp from A. Bar colors indicate individual bacterial genomes present in the simulated community

Error modeling

Readsynth applies a straightforward substitution error model to every read using randomly sampled Q scores from any existing fastq file, with several publicly available profiles to select from. Phred-like error probability rates from the sampled Q scores are used to mutate each nucleotide base to a non-self modification using pseudo-random number generation. Simulated fragments that are shorter than the simulated read length resulted in expected adapter contamination in data output (Supplementary Fig.  1 ), and users may provide any number of custom-designed adapters with specific overhangs.

Software benchmarking

In order to benchmark the simulation accuracy of readsynth, we use existing RMS data as a ground truth. The loci-specific enrichment of reads as well as the similarity in taxonomic profiles between real and simulated reads are used as performance metrics. Two previously sequenced mock community data sets produced with RMS approaches were considered. These communities used standardized concentrations of each community member, making them ideal for comparison with simulated reads. The first dataset from Snipen et al. consists of a Human Microbiome Project mock community of 20 bacterial strains (BEI HM-782D) digested using the restriction enzymes EcoRI and MseI [ 5 ]. To simulate the abundance of each taxon, the input abundance table used the reciprocal of the ribosomal copy number determined from the ribosomal RNA operon copy number database [ 16 ]. The second dataset from Sun et al. used a separate community of 20 bacterial strains (ATCC MSA-1002), which was assumed to have even genomic copy number [ 14 ]. This dataset was created using the type IIB restriction enzyme BcgI which produces short fragments with no length variation.

Extracting sequencing features from real and simulated mock communities

Sequence reads from the existing mock communities were adapter trimmed using Cutadapt 4.1 [ 17 ]. Reads were then mapped against each of the community member reference genomes using BWA MEM (Burrows Wheeler Aligner 0.7.17) [ 18 ]. Samtools 1.15.1 was used to select only paired end reads with the appropriate orientation. The Samtools stats and depth commands were used to summarize the read lengths as well as the per-position depth of all aligned reads [ 19 ]. Using positional information from these reads, a custom fragment length distribution was estimated for use in simulation. The count ratio of fully digested fragments to the larger fragments immediately encompassing them (r) was used to estimate the cut efficiency (c) of enzyme digestion except for the case of complete digestion in which c = 1. In cases of incomplete digestion, following the per-fragment probability model, fragments containing internal cut sites will occur less frequently than their contained fragments such that r must be greater than 1.

Only fragment lengths in the range of 100 bp to 450 bp were used to estimate cut efficiency, as these were observed to be less constrained by size selection and therefore more reliable in preserving true read ratios (Supplementary Fig.  2 ). Aligning community mixtures of many taxa against individual reference genomes in BWA MEM returned many reads that aligned to multiple genomes (Supplementary Fig.  3 ). Further, variability between the published reference sequence and the real sequence data resulted in the rare presence of RMS fragments not reproducible in simulation. In order to make meaningful comparisons between the real and simulated data, custom Python scripts were used to extract positional information from high quality read alignments in the sam-formatted file in order to preserve the fragment size distribution while removing duplicate alignments.

Simulation was performed using fragment size distribution, enzyme cut efficiency, and Q score profile derived from the real sequence data. Although we expect these derived inputs to most closely resemble the real data, additional simulations were run to test the importance of fragment size distribution and enzyme cut efficiency. Three fragment length distributions were considered to measure the impact of size selection. The first was created using the exact fragment counts extracted as a custom.json file from the extracted sequence alignments. The second simulated size selection using the mean and standard deviation from the samtools summary statistics to define the distribution shape. The third size selection distribution used identical standard deviation values, but with the mean fragment size increased by 100 bp. BWA MEM and Samtools were again used to map simulated reads to the reference genomes and the read depth at every expected fragment position was counted. Cumulative read depth across every position in the mock community was compared between real and simulated sequences using both Pearson and Spearman correlation.

Assessing compositional-biases using simulation

Simulations of RMS sequencing reads were informed using the mock community and two representative gut metagenomic communities based on sequencing efforts from complex microbial samples. Mock community sequences from Snipen et al. (replicates SRR10199716, SRR10199724, and SRR10199725) were again used as a baseline to quantify taxonomic abundances from a mixture of 20 bacterial taxa at known relative abundance. Taxa were assumed to be approximately equimolar in ribosomal operon count as described in the product specifications. A single human stool sample (SRR5298272) prepared with RMS using NlaIII and HpyCH4IV was used to establish a microbial community with greater richness for simulation [ 2 ]. These biological sample reads were assigned putative taxonomic labels using Kraken2 and Bracken (Standard plus protozoa, fungi & plant database ‘PlusPFP’ June 2022) and resulting taxonomic identification numbers were used to download representative genomes from each of the 691 non-host hits [ 20 , 21 ]. Finally, the OTU profile resulting from gut samples from 2,084 individuals from the Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study served as a basis for simulating microbial communities with authentic taxonomic abundances [ 22 ]. Of the 744 OTUs, 610 unique RefSeq genome references from the genus and species level served as the basis for simulation. When multiple OTUs from the same genus level were encountered, multiple species from this genus were selected based on genomes with full, major releases in GenBank, which included many highly similar strains to be simulated in the same community. All simulations were performed using the software readsynth (0.1.0; commit 88d8bb1).

To assess the sensitivity of RMS to capture rare taxa, metagenomes based on HELIUS communities were simulated using a series of increasing total read counts (1 × 10 5 , 1 × 10 6 , 1 × 10 7 , and 1 × 10 8 paired end reads) and four combinations of restriction enzyme double digests. The combinations of restriction enzymes selected (EcoRI/AgeI, EcoRI/MseI, HhaI/AgeI, and HhaI/MseI) were chosen for the diversity of the cut site frequency and GC content of the recognition motifs (Table  1 ). Additionally, a type IIB enzyme “BcgI” digest was simulated to assess the application of the resulting isolength fragments.

Paired end reads from each of the real and simulated datasets were aligned to a combined reference genome concatenated from all known members in the metagenome using BWA MEM. Mapped reads with a MAPQ score of zero were removed to avoid reads that map closely to multiple reference genomes. Custom Python scripts (available at github.com/ryandkuster/readsynth_analysis) were used to recreate the original genomic fragments corresponding with each read pair based on the simulated start and end positions for each fragment produced in simulation. Only those fragments harboring no internal cut sites were kept as incomplete digests are expected to unpredictably affect quantification and assessment of existing RMS data found these fragments to be rare. The observed count and corresponding taxonomic assignment were stored for each fragment.

We also assess the performance of RMS data when the reference database is not curated to only those references in the ground truth set, as is the case in most practical applications of metagenomic profiling. Reads simulated using taxa derived from the Liu et al. RMS stool sample dataset were queried against the Kraken2 ‘PlusPFP’ database. We wanted to see if mapping and recreating fragments using an inclusive database would produce taxa count and abundance comparable with the input 691 taxa simulated at even relative abundance.

Fixed length taxonomic ratios

The frequency of fragments was analyzed individually across the range of observed fragment lengths. Within each discrete fragment length, the ratios of the observed counts between all taxa present were calculated. The ratio was calculated iteratively by dividing the individual fragment count by the average fragment count for each of the other taxa present at that length (Fig.  3 ). These taxonomic ratios were then averaged over all fragment lengths to produce an n x n matrix of all n taxa. Because many taxonomic ratios were missing, all columns in the taxonomic ratio matrix were scaled to the taxon with the greatest number of relationships to all other taxa. The row average of this scaled matrix was used to predict relative taxonomic abundance for all taxa.

Visual representation of read depths originating from hypothetical taxa x, y, and z present in a 1:2:1 ratio. The left distribution shows fragments resulting from reduced sequencing under size selection or PCR fragment length biases. The differences in relative abundance estimates produced using mean and median read depths is compared with the taxonomic ratio approach (FLTR) introduced here. The ratio table on the right displays the averaged pairwise read depth ratios calculated individually within each fragment length. Even assuming no bias within each fragment length, the mean and median read depth estimates produce relative abundances that don’t account for variance in the size distribution, which is often not normal or uniform

Performance of software

A hypothetical gut microbiome was established to assess the computational performance of readsynth on larger metagenomic communities. Reference genomes derived from human gut samples (Liu et al. [ 2 ]) were downloaded and simulated under various input settings using a single core on a AMD EPYC 7F72 24-Core Processor (x86_64, 3028.149 MHz) (Supplementary Table  1 ). The cumulative size of the metagenome reference sequences influenced the time to simulate, but choice of enzymes had the largest impact on time and performance. Frequent, 4-base cutters produced many potential fragments to process, and use of less frequent motifs performed more efficiently. The most time consuming task tested, two 4-base cutters against 691 microbial genomes and the human genome, took 204 min; all other tasks took less than two hours.

Benchmarking of simulation accuracy

Spearman correlation captured a monotonic relationship between real and simulated read depths across the length of all 20 reference genomes in the mock community, and therefore was sensitive to differences in fragment presence or absence. The reads simulated using 100 percent enzyme cut efficiency corresponded closely with the real data (Fig.  4 group E; r = 0.92 to 0.94), comparable to the covariance measured between replicates of the real data. Simulation with a lower enzyme cut efficiency of 80 percent produced lower correlation with the real data, possibly resulting from increased novel loci surviving the fragmentation process (Fig.  4 group D, r = 0.66 to 0.68).

Spearman correlation coefficient of metagenome-wide, position-specific read depth for each of three replicates of real and simulated mock community sequencing. Real1-3 are the depth correlations of the real sequencing data replicates. Mapped read depth correlations from readsynth simulations are shown in A – E : A custom (.json) dictionary of fragment lengths derived from real sequence data and cut efficiency derived from real sequence data; B normal distribution of fragment lengths and cut efficiency derived from real sequence data; C normal distribution of fragment lengths with fragment mean increased by 100 bp and cut efficiency derived from real sequence data; D normal distribution of fragment lengths and cut efficiency reduced to 0.8; E normal distribution of fragment lengths and cut efficiency increased to 1

Pearson correlation was sensitive for comparing fragment read depths and was affected by noise in the data, as can be seen by variation within the replicates of the real sequencing datasets. The simulation that produced the highest read depth correlation coefficients between 0.76 to 0.79 used exact fragment size distributions informed by the real dataset (Supplementary Fig.  4 , group A). Using a normal distribution produced coefficients between 0.71 and 0.76 (groups B, D, E), suggesting the real data was approximated by applying readsynth’s normal distribution approach. The distribution with mean fragment lengths shifted only 100 bp longer affected read depth considerably with coefficients of 0.67 to 0.7 across replications (Supplementary Fig.  4 , group C). Simulations of the isolength dataset produced lower Pearson correlation (r = 0.56) but higher Spearman correlation (r = 0.97). The use of type IIB enzymes avoids variability in fragment length and while simulations with readsynth aligned closely with sequence presence-absence, simulation did not capture variability in the per-fragment depth.

Comparing Kraken2/Bracken profiles of real and simulated mock communities

The adapter-trimmed reads from the previously described mock community sequencing efforts were profiled using custom databases with Kraken2 (2.1.2) and Bracken (2.7). Raw reads mapping to each species-level identification was used as a metric of performance between the real and simulated reads. Generally, simulations captured trends in the distribution of real sequence data accurately (Fig.  5 ). The simulations with increased fragment size selection and decreased cut efficiency (Fig.  5 , groups C and D) caused larger shifts in predicted distributions. These changes are largely due to taxa-specific patterns of fragmentation where some community members, such as Phocaeicola vulgatus and Staphylococcus epidermidis , contain disproportionate read counts originating from either long or short fragments (Supplementary Fig.  5 ).

Kraken2/Bracken percent abundance profiles based on read assignments of real and simulated mock community sequencing. Real1-3 are the relative abundances of mapped reads per species produced from the real sequencing data. Mapped read depth correlations from readsynth simulations are shown in A – E : A custom (.json) dictionary of fragment lengths; B normal distribution and cut rate; C normal distribution and cut rate with fragment mean increased by 100 bp; D normal distribution and cut rate with cut rate reduced to 0.8; E normal distribution and cut rate with cut rate increased to 1. All fragment distributions and cut rates estimated from real sequence data unless specified

Impact of simulation parameters and quantification method

The FLTR approach is an alternative to read median or mean depth for profiling that measures the average relationships in read depth ratios between the taxa present at a given length. To test the FLTR approach, we first compared it to mean depth and median depth using the Snipen et al. 2021 mock community samples. Across the three replicates, using ratios produced relative abundance estimates similar to those produced using either the median or mean read depths, with Pearson correlation to the ground truth relative abundances ranging between 0.809 and 0.852 (Supplementary Fig.  6 ). Estimates of relative abundance across the three replicates show consistent, taxa-specific patterns of over- and underabundance in several of the 20 mock community members (Supplementary Fig.  7 ). These differences may be the result of sequence-specific amplification biases or slight deviations from the reported proportions expected from the mock community standard.

Data simulated from the 610 HELIUS gut microbial taxa were used to assess differences in profiling performance for the new FLTR approach versus previously published methods under varying library preparation conditions. Across all simulated HELIUS datasets, FLTR estimates of relative abundance outperformed the mean and median read depth in every instance (Supplementary Table  2 ). In some extreme cases, relying on the mean and median depths fall far from the target relative abundances (Fig.  6 ). Reads simulated from the HELIUS data captured several general trends not captured with the mock community analyses. Most notably, we see a strong interaction between the characteristics of restriction enzymes selected and the signal of the taxa simulated. Use of two frequent restriction enzymes, HhaI and MseI, each with 4 bp recognition motifs, required 100 million reads in order to detect > 90% of the input taxa. Interestingly, the use of two infrequent restriction enzymes, EcoRI and AgeI, was able to identify a higher percentage of taxa at lower sequencing efforts relative to the other treatments considered (Fig.  7 ). At 10 million reads, the combination of EcoRI and MseI captured 96.1% of taxa. The majority of simulated datasets performed moderately well at 10 million reads, and this was used as the basis for additional simulations. Lowering the mean fragment size for the EcoRI/MseI simulations by 100 bp reduced the number of identifiable taxa to 89%, and an increase by 100 bp marginally improved detection to 96.7%. Simulating the isolength, BcgI fragmentation of the HELIUS data returned only 56.1% of the 610 taxa, compared with the 66.7% of taxa identified by HhaI/MseI at the same sequencing effort (Supplementary Fig.  8 ). Across all simulations at 10 million reads, between 16 and 20% of reads were discarded per simulation due to the multi-mapping criterion described in the methods.

Comparisons of ground truth relative abundance (black) vs. results obtained using taxonomic ratio approach (green), mean depth (blue), and median depth (red) for 567 taxa returned using HELIUS simulated reads digested with HhaI and AgeI using 1 × 10 8 total reads

The relationship between the input simulated reads target and the percent of taxa identified across 4 combinations of restriction enzyme double digests. Of the expected 610 unique taxa, many are not captured at lower levels of coverage. Combination of rare cutters (EcoRI and AgeI) performed better at these lower levels of coverage

In order to compare the profiling performance of RMS reads when mapping to a known set of reference genomes and a fully inclusive database, 691 taxa based on the Liu et al. dataset were simulated using even abundance. Using even relative abundance allows qualitative assessment of profiling quantification efforts independent from taxonomic assignment, which expectedly contain naming and identification discrepancies between the input reference genome naming and the resulting assignments. Unlike the HELIUS results, aligning these reads to the known set of references was able to uniquely identify every input genome (Supplementary Fig.  9 ). The same simulated reads were then assigned to the species level of the ‘PlusPFP’ Kraken2 database using Bracken, which includes the target genomes and an additional 28,763 non-target genomes at the species level or lower. The resulting number of taxonomic hits was inflated from 691 to 1534 total taxa. To explore the basis of these false positive taxonomic assignments and potential methods of reduction, the reference genomes from these preliminary hits were then used for BWA MEM alignment and fragment recreation in place of the curated, known reference approach described above. Upon selecting reads whose source fragments aligned to the expected cut positions and removing multi mapped reads, 93.8% were able to map precisely to fragments expected in 749 of the 1,534 taxa from the Kraken2/Bracken profile, greatly reducing the false positives. Visual inspection of the recreated fragment length distribution captured the expected profile (Supplementary Fig.  10 ). Applying the FLTR approach to these reads yielded broadly even estimates of relative abundance matching the expected community composition. Some of the estimates have much lower than even representation, but comparatively these results further support the fallibility of using mean and median read depths to estimate abundances using RMS (Fig.  8 ).

Comparisons of ground truth vs. results obtained using taxonomic ratio approach, mean depth, and median depths by mapping simulated reads naively to a fully inclusive, pre-made Kraken2 database (‘PlusPFP’) before fragment recreation. A total of 749 taxa were returned using this approach. Reads from 691 taxa were simulated based on the metagenomic taxa from Liu et al. [ 2 ] sequence SRR5298272 using even representation and 1/749 was used as ground truth to reflect the assumption of equal abundance. In silico reference genomes were digested with NlaIII and HpyCH4IV producing ~ 3.3 × 10 6 total reads

Simulation is a meaningful way to measure the behavior of bioinformatics approaches, but its utility hinges on its ability to faithfully capture features found in real sequencing data. The applications of short reads are highly variable. Often the impacts of library prep are overlooked in the production of bioinformatics tools, and more tools need to be considerate of these possible nuances. Readsynth simulations of RMS mock communities produced realistic taxonomic distributions of genomic fragments and the output sequence profiles corresponded closely to those found in the limited RMS mock community sequences that exist. Each taxon present in the simulated RMS mock community produces a unique digest profile at varying relative abundance, and readsynth simulations faithfully captured these influential patterns in read depth across all combined loci in the metagenome. These simulations also demonstrate the influence that library preparation can have on profiling efforts. The fragment origin and read depth were sensitive to even minor differences in simulated library parameters, particularly size selection and enzyme efficiency.

Restriction enzyme digests of metagenomic communities produce irregular fragment length distributions that cannot be readily modeled assuming features of an underlying distribution. Therefore, calculating relative proportions in the context of a mixture of individuals prepared this way is a challenge that has not been properly addressed to account for the influences of library preparation. The FLTR methodology proposed here may benefit efforts in metagenomic quantification when fragment or target length differs between organisms. It may also have useful applications outside of metagenomics where fragment size bias affects abundance estimates using read depth, such as genotyping approaches using reduced representation sequencing. We found that using the FLTR approach appears to be a more stable metric than either mean or median depth, often because RMS fragments are not unimodally distributed within an individual genome. Removal of multi-mapped reads may compound this effect by leaving only a small number of reads representing a genome, and these reads may exist in regions of the fragment length distribution that are influenced by size-selection and PCR length biases. For RMS approaches to overcome the confounding influence of variable fragment lengths, it is a necessary prerequisite to first recreate fragments in order to know fragment lengths. Fortunately, if a reference genome assembly is reliable enough to produce a strong hit to RMS reads, it should be able to provide a framework for simulating the expected fragments so long as the cut sites are preserved. Conversely, reads that remain unassigned or ambiguous cannot be interpreted as proportional due to the uneven contribution of community members, the removal of which may result in inflated estimates of relative abundance. It may be possible to retain multi-mapped reads using estimated abundances of uniquely aligned kmers, such as the KrakenUniq approach to assignment. Such approaches have not been tested in this study.

Simulated assessments of RMS’s capability to capture rare taxa suggest that it may be possible but is highly dependent on the library preparation methods. Given a finite set of sequence reads, the restriction enzymes selected and size sampling protocols will determine which taxa produce enough signal to be detected. Fragmenting a set of highly diverse genomes with a frequent cutting enzyme may produce hundreds of thousands or even millions of potential fragments, but when these reads are distributed between taxa whose relative abundances differ by orders of magnitude, the signal for rare taxa may be lost. It is likely that enzyme digests that produce shorter fragments will create more multi-mapping collisions, as the shorter read lengths reduce mapping confidence. Here we found that digests using HhaI/MseI or the BcgI isolength enzyme produced the greatest number of potential fragments, but based on the sensitivity of the profiling approach employed, few were actually informative because the short fragments they produce often lack resolution against a highly inclusive database. This mapping-based phenomenon may also explain the success of infrequent cutters, which captured a greater percent of the taxa present using a fraction of the overall fragments as the frequent cutters. Increasing sequencing effort may allow for greater resolution when many fragments are produced; however, using upwards of 100 million reads per sample to capture rare taxa may reduce the cost benefits of RRS. Therefore, it is recommended to consider each community’s complexity when considering the necessary read coverage, as has been similarly proposed for WGS profiling [ 23 ].

When two closely related taxa exist within a community, simulations indicate that it may become difficult to estimate the relative abundance of each using the RMS approach. This is because most fragments originating from both organisms will be identical and only a small fraction of loci will be uniquely informative to a taxon. In instances when only a small number of fragments may be used for quantification, abundance estimates using read depths may become highly sensitive to per-fragment biases originating from size-selection or PCR. The development of ddRADseq protocols for GBS were based around comparing conserved regions of the genome between closely related species. With RMS, conservation between these fragments may be counterproductive when trying to parse the individual members of a complex community. The taxonomic ratio methodology described here does not rely on normalization, but it is also not designed to handle redundancies in multi-mapping fragments, as evidenced by the set of unidentified taxa in the simulated HELIUS community. Eliminating fragments based on similarity may ultimately eliminate all useful, identifying markers if multiple, nearly identical strains are present. Retaining these fragments requires a means of identifying distinct taxa when aligning against a fully inclusive database of potential matches, and the results may be highly dependent on the database as well as the behavior of the aligning tool used [ 24 ]. We also recommend future investigations into profiling software choice and handling ambiguously assigned reads.

While simulation cannot be expected to capture all the nuances of real sequencing data, it can help find the edge cases where existing tools might fail to perform as intended. Using a set of largely pre-existing bioinformatics tools, our assessments here of simulated RMS data may be successful in some instances and very underpowered in others. While RMS offers promising applications, profiling benchmarks have not been widely tested on mixed samples including viral, protist, or non-fungal eukaryotic members and instead focus largely on prokaryotic and fungal taxa. Simulation could be a useful means in determining whether such mixed communities contain enzyme site biases preventing meaningful profiling accuracy. RMS may provide a fast and affordable profiling technique for communities that are relatively simple in structure. It may also be fast and economical in instances where detecting rare taxa is not critical. One of the largest obstacles preventing community use of RMS is the lack of bioinformatic tools developed to handle the data it produces, and applying existing profiling tools will not work out of the box. Both developers and users of new tools should be cognizant of the intersection between sample preparation and downstream analytical tools selected.

Availability and requirements

Project name: Readsynth

Project home page: github.com/ryandkuster/readsynth

Operating system(s): Linux/MacOS,

Programming language: Python3, C++ 

Other requirements: Python packages: numpy, pandas, and seaborn

License: Apache-2.0

Any restrictions to use by non-academics: none.

Availability of data and materials

The code and parameters used in all simulation and analytical steps used in this study are available on GitHub at https://github.com/ryandkuster/readsynth_analysis and raw data are stored at https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nzs7h44zk . The freely available package readsynth can be downloaded at https://github.com/ryandkuster/readsynth . The mock RMS and isolength sequencing datasets analyzed for this study can be found in the NCBI BioProject PRJNA574678 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA574678 and figshare https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12272360.v8 . The RMS gut metagenome data is available in NCBI BioProject PRJNA377403 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA377403 . The Kraken2/Bracken PlusPFP database (6/7/2022) and indices used in this study were downloaded from https://benlangmead.github.io/aws-indexes/k2 .

Abbreviations

Reduced metagenomic sequencing

Reduced representation sequencing

Double-digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing

Genotyping by sequencing

Polymerase chain reaction

Operational taxonomic unit

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Bode Olukolu for the initiation of research into genotyping by sequencing for microbiome exploration. We would like to thank Aaron Onufrak for software testing and the Hadziabdic lab for guidance on amplicon sequencing methodology.

Financial support was provided by the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and the Scholarly and Research Incentive Funds from the Graduate School, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

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RK designed the research and carried out the experiments. MS supervised the project, provided software guidance, and contributed to the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

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Kuster, R., Staton, M. Readsynth: short-read simulation for consideration of composition-biases in reduced metagenome sequencing approaches. BMC Bioinformatics 25 , 191 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-024-05809-3

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