If your office is anything like mine, you spend long days chained to your desk, working at a desktop computer.

There’s nothing wrong with a desktop—I love having a full keyboard and the computer’s superior processing power. However, in today’s modern office, you aren’t limited to a desktop computer to do your work.

We live in a world of work-life blending, where we check our work and personal emails on our phones before bed, update tasks with a swipe instead of a click, and aren’t shy to “Bring Your Own Device” to work. For project managers, that means mobile-optimized project management software is a must.

The iPhone is a beautiful piece of technology. Consumer Reports says that the iPhone 8 has the best camera and battery life of any iPhone yet, not to mention the addition of wireless charging, making it one of their highest-rated phones ever. For iPhone-wielding project managers (or those still holding out for the soon-to-be-released $1,000 iPhone X) there are lots of project management apps to keep your projects moving while you’re on the go.

In fact, there are so many project management apps that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. A quick App Store search reveals over 150 options. There’s no way you can try all of them.

Project management apps for iPhone

Just a fraction of the selection of project management apps available for the iPhone

I’ve taken the time to filter through reviews and test out some of the most-celebrated project management apps for iPhone, and used the following criteria:

Must be optimized for teams (no single-user task management apps)

Must offer communication tools

Must offer file sharing

Must be consistent with the desktop project management software

Must offer task management

Must provide search

Must have an extra “wow” factor

From these requirements, I pulled the following seven stand-out options from the App Store. They’re ordered alphabetically below, and all options are compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Pros/cons are based on product descriptions, our observations, and customer reviews.

The Projects view in the Asana iPhone app

Asana has continually stood out as an outstanding project management software option, and its mobile app is no exception. It offers a sleek design, easy file sharing, and really does do away with unnecessary emails. The latest update (6.3.0) added a new calendar view with easily adjustable deadlines.

Pros:

Offers almost all features available on the desktop version

Push notifications

Drag-and-drop interface

Instantaneously updates to the cloud

Cons:

Can’t delete projects from the app

Can’t add projects using templates

No app customizations

No bulleted or numbered list formatting

Price: The app itself is free in the App Store. The service (online and mobile) is free for up to 15 members, then charges $9.99 per user, per month. Smaller teams qualify for discount pricing.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later

App Store customer rating: 4.7/5

Used Asana? Leave a review!

The Company HQ screen in Basecamp 3 for iPhone

When it comes to popular project management software, Basecamp rightfully makes the top five. Basecamp’s software offerings are easy-to-use basic project management winners, and the app is no exception. The latest version (3.6) added improved sketching and drag-and-drop functionality for images and files.

Pros:

View client commentary and approvals

Simple, intuitive interface

Quick data sync and real-time communication

Outstanding customer support

Cons:

The app can struggle when internet connection is poor

A few aesthetic design issues

Little customization

May not offer enough features for Agile IT project management

Price: The app itself is free in the App Store. If you want to use Basecamp 3 with a team, it’s a flat rate of $99/month after a 30-day free trial, regardless of the number of users or projects.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later

App Store customer rating: 4.7/5

Used Basecamp 3? Leave a review!

A discussion in Clarizen

When it comes to enterprise-level project management apps, Clarizen offers a feature-rich tool at a great price. If you’re managing a project portfolio and want an on-the-go iOS app, Clarizen should be on your short list.

Pros:

Robust billable and non-billable time tracking system

Permissions management

Sort and filter your projects and tasks

Upload expenses into a template with your phone’s camera

Cons:

There is a small learning curve to use the app effectively

Custom views made on the desktop version are not visible

Some users have reported that the app may freeze if you lose your data connection

The interface can be unintuitive for some actions

Price: The app itself is free in the App Store. The service starts at $45 per user, per month, after a 30-day free trial, and scales up with more added features.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 or later

App Store customer rating: N/A

Used Clarizen? Leave a review!

The Gantt chart view in OmniPlan 3

When it comes to top project management software for Mac, OmniPlan 3 stands out against its competition. It’s an Apple-first program, designed with iOS devices in mind.

Pros:

Designed end-to-end for Apple users

Networking diagrams, Gantt charts, tasks, and subtasks

Scheduling and tracking reports

Task hierarchy designation

Cons:

No time tracking

Microsoft Project file imports sometimes fail

Because there is so much data on screen at once, some text can appear small on Gantt charts and networking diagrams

Not great for Agile project management

Price: $74.99 in the App Store after a free two-week trial. Includes service. Pro upgrade (which adds features such as Monte Carlo simulations, change tracking, and Microsoft Project import/export) available for another $74.99. You can also continue to use the app just for document viewing for free. The desktop version is sold separately.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 11.0 or later

App Store customer rating: N/A

Used OmniPlan? Leave a review!

A basic project in Gantt view with dependencies on the iPhone app

Smartsheet is one of the most popular desktop project management tools on the market, so it’s no surprise that the Smartsheet iPhone app is also a popular tool. The mobile app does almost everything that the desktop application does, including Gantt charts, collaboration, and file sharing.

Pros:

Take pictures with your iPhone camera and add them directly to charts

Built-in templates for quick chart creation

Search and filter features for finding projects

Quickly switch between List view, Grid view, or Gantt view

Cons:

No monthly pricing. You are committed to six months at a time (after the 30-day free trial)

Pricing for Team and Business plans is not available to the public

No Kanban view

You can’t zoom or quick jump on the mobile sheets, making it difficult to view and navigate data-rich charts

Price: The app itself is free in the App Store. The individual plan is $94.99 for a non-renewing six-month subscription, after a 30-day free trial.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 10.0 or later

App Store customer rating: 4.8/5

Used Smartsheet? Leave a review!

Project completion view in Taskworld

Taskworld takes Apple’s love of simplicity and applies it to its mobile app. The interface is clear, straightforward, and does exactly what it promises to do.

Pros:

Wonderful user experience; very easy to learn and use

Task-based file management

Time tracking by task and entire projects

Interactive calendar that makes who’s doing what clear

Cons:

No landscape view

No Gantt charts

Reporting features unavailable in app

No customization

Price: The app itself is free in the App Store. The service starts at $5.99 per user, per month for solo users, or $8.99 per user, per month for teams, after a 15-day free trial, and scales with team size.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later

App Store customer rating: N/A

Used Taskworld? Leave a review!

A new task in Wrike for iPhone

Wrike has a stand-out mobile app and just released a ton of new features, such as starred tasks, intuitive navigation, offline task creation, table reports, proofing and approval, and time tracking.

Pros:

Simple interface with lots of easily-readable information

Great customer service

Can be used in all industries, but particularly good for advertising and sales

Mainly used for communicating updates and file management

Cons:

Some users have experienced stability issues

Subtasks aren’t labeled with their associated projects

Doesn’t support all of Wrike’s features, such as creating repeating tasks

Description editor sometimes has formatting issues

Price: The app itself is free in the App Store. The service is free for up to five users, then scales from $9.80 per user, per month.

Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later

App Store customer rating: 3.2/5

Used Wrike? Leave a review!

What apps do you use for project management?

There are a ton of project management apps for iPhone that I haven’t covered here. What else do you think belongs on the list? What are your experiences with these apps? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!