If you’re running an advertising agency and looking for a project management tool, you shouldn’t settle for a generic tool. What you should be looking for is a special tool – one that’s tailor-made with ad agency workflows in mind.
A tool that ticks all your team and client needs boxes.
But where do you start? Right here, with this article. We’ve created a best advertising agency project management software shortlist of dream tools, and we’re giving you their best features, along with some insightful user reviews. Use it to identify the two or three tools you should look into and try to see if they’re a good fit for your ad agency business.
| Platform | Best For | Top Feature | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCollab | Agencies & consultancies 15-50 employees | End-to-end agency operations, project management, budgeting & profitability, time tracking, invoicing & payments | $ |
| Scoro | Agencies & consultancies 100+ employees | Robust project management, workflow automation | $$$$ |
| Asana | Enterprise agencies | AI powered environment | $$$$ |
| Hive | Agencies 50-200 employees | Buzz AI assistant, work proofing | $$ |
| Motion | Small teams within company | AI automation & task relationships | $$$ |
| ScreenDragon | Mid-size agencies 50-100 employees | Client portal, customization, scalability | $$$ |
| Synergyst | Mid-size agencies 50-100 employees | CRM, project customization | $$$$ |
1. ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab is an all-inclusive advertising agency tool for project and client management, resource and capacity planning, budget tracking, invoicing, and profitability analysis. It’s a platform you can start using as a small agency for your day-to-day operations. When you decide it’s time to move on and expand, take advantage of more advanced features to help you understand your business health and the viability of your client accounts.
The tool is ideal for any service-based business with 15 or more employees, with the greatest portion of our customer base in the marketing, advertising, and creative agency sectors.
We’re a favorite amongst this crowd because our platform has been designed to meet the needs of creative professionals and account managers who want a comprehensive but uncomplicated feature set in their project management tool.
ActiveCollab’s top features
Project profitability overview – Calculate your project’s profitability, view and track task completion rates, distribution of billable and unbillable hours, budget spending, and estimated against tracked time.
Time-tracking, time off & timesheets – Log task time manually or use the timer tracker, log time off, and gather timesheets for your employees or contractors.
Invoicing, payments & reporting – Take time logs and turn them into invoices clients can pay online or create reports to analyze where your people's time is being spent and which portfolios are worth your while.
What users are saying about ActiveCollab
With over 500 online reviews, our tool has a rating of 4.9 on ProductHunt, 4.5 on Capterra, and 4.2 on G2. Besides being named the tool that serves as an indispensable compass for smart project decision-making, usual benefits our users usually call out include:
Pros
- User-friendly & straightforward usability – New users get the hang of the tool quickly. The intuitive interface lets you use as much, or as little of the functionalities as you need.
- Hassle-free collaboration – The in-app chat and task mentions make it super easy to collaborate on individual tasks and projects. Daily activity notifications make sure the entire team is updated on project changes.
- Multi-currency client invoicing – Agencies that operate across borders appreciate that you can set clients up in different currencies and tax rates for invoicing.
Pricing
You can sign up for a 14-day free trial to test-drive the platform or book a demo with one of our people to see if we’re a good fit for your advertising agency team – also feel free to check out our pricing page for more pricing details!
2. Scoro
Scoro is a project, resource, and finance management system that lets teams stay in control and on top of all the moving parts of client accounts, interactions, and work.
Who is Scoro best for?
The ideal advertising agency for Scoro is a medium to large team that wants to unify all its client projects and get granular reporting into workflow optimization and profitability. About half of the positive online reviews for project management come from teams of 50 or more employees.
Scoro’s top features
- Reporting dashboards – Create customizable reports on project profitability and resource capacity to see and understand where and when your projects are efficient.
- End-to-end projects – Set projects on a fixed fee, time, or on a retainer model and manage the entire workflow from assigning a task to available resources to tracking work completion.
What users are saying about Scoro
With over 600 online reviews and a rating of 4.5 on G2 and 4.6 on Capterra, most users like Scoro, which offers a range of business operation management features in one tool. Some of the main pros and cons include the following:
Pros
- Invoicing feature – Many users like the easy-to-use invoicing feature that lets them customize and centralize all their client work financials.
- Multi-language – The tool supports six languages: English, German, Estonian, French, Latvian, Lithuanian & Spanish.
Cons
- Overwhelming learning curve – You have to dedicate some time getting to know the platform in a way that lets you use it effectively.
- Steep pricing – When compared to other similar tools on the market, pricing plans are relatively steep and probably not affordable for smaller teams.
Pricing
Plans start at $26 per person, monthly, but keep in mind that it offers limited features. Scoro does offer a 14-day free trial.
3. Asana
Asana is one of the most popular project management solutions for almost any type of organization, and when it comes to advertising agency project management software, Asana can also play a good role.
Who Is Asana Best For?
The tool is a good fit for enterprise businesses in the marketing, media, advertising, IT, and software development industries. Because it’s customizable, it can be adapted to many different team and workflow needs.
Asana's top features
- AI work environment – AI is the future, and Asana being trailblazer of the industry, incorporates AI assistance and powers workflows quite fast.
- Migration – they have companies of all sizes, and their migration team will definitely make sure the transition of your 100+ emoployees is as smooth as possible
What users are saying about Airtable
With over 25,000 online reviews and a rating of 4.4 on G2 and 4.5 on Capterra, the tool has a lot of fans. Some of the big pros and cons users find are:
Pros
- Easy to use & customizable – The top benefit of Asana seems to be the visually appealing user interface, which makes it easy to use.
- Team collaboration – Users love the communication options that let them directly comment and tag people on work items.
Cons
- Limited reporting – If you want a tool that gives you comprehensive insights based on project data, you might not get that here. It does, however, offer basic reports. For advanced ones, you'll need top plans.
- Tricky automation set-up – If you’re not particularly tech-savvy, all those great work automation we mentioned above may be a little difficult to set up.
Pricing
Asana offers a free plan for small teams which is quite limited and paid plans start from $11 per person per month paid annually
4. Hive
Hive is a project management platform with a built-in AI assistant. It also comes with some handy resource and time management features, as well as collaboration tools.
Who is Hive best for?
Hive is ideal for agencies of all sizes, but the majority of happy users seem to be small teams of up to 50 people and medium teams of companies with 50-1000 employees within the marketing sector.
Hive’s top features
- Client approvals & forms – Store document and video assets, share externally with clients, get feedback, edit, and finalize approvals. You can also create feedback forms and turn them into action cards in Hive.
- Buzz AI – Review, edit, or translate documents, create summaries, or make tone adjustments. Get help to execute workflows and set up automation to streamline daily tasks.
What users are saying about Hive
With around 900 online reviews and a rating of 4.5 on G2, 4.4 on Capterra, and 4.2 on ProductHunt, Hive has gathered a happy customer base because of the user-friendly interface and long list of features. Some of the big pros and cons include the following:
Pros
- Video chat – Very few project management tools give you the option of in-app video chat, and this can be super useful for teams that like to meet ad-hoc.
- 100+ templates – Access one of hundreds of project templates for marketing, creative, HR, operations, production,t, and more to let you set up your project quicker.
Cons
- Advanced feature cost – To get all the fancy features such as automation & proofing, you’ll need to pay more, and this is something that might not fit your budget.
- File management issues – There is a common complaint amongst users that files and attachments can be hard to find and locate because the tool doesn’t display thumbnails.
Pricing
The free plan offers basic features for up to 10 users. Paid plans start from $3 per person, and you can customize plans with add-ons. Hive also offers a 14-day free trial.
5. Motion
Motion is an AI-powered productivity platform for project management and scheduling that removes manual tasks and project organization.
Who is Motion best for?
The tool is best for small teams of up to 10 people, but it can also work well for medium-sized teams of up to 50 users. It’s ideal for marketing, advertising, and creative agencies that need to collaborate and track client deliverables.
Motion’s top features
- AI automation – The tool’s ability to build, schedule, prioritize, and reprioritize tasks as the project progresses. It also helps you limit meetings and set up focus time for uninterrupted work.
- Task integrations – You can create sub-tasks and set task dependencies to make project management easier and more streamlined when things change.
What users are saying about Motion
With around 200 online reviews, Motion is a fairly new, next-gen type of project management platform. It has a rating of 4.3 on Capterra and 4.1 on G2, which isn’t up to scratch when compared to other platforms, but we think it’s worth a mention because it’s different.
Pros
- Time management – Users highly praise the time management features that help them block time for focus so they work more effectively.
- Seamless integrations – The tool integrates well with external apps like Google Calendar and Slack, which helps keep everything and everyone in one place.
Cons
- Limited customization – Compared to other project management platforms, customization options are limited when it comes to project layouts.
- Basic reporting – Some users feel the reporting dashboards are too basic and that there’s lots of room for improvement in this feature.
Pricing
Plans start from $12 per person for teams of 15 or fewer users, and you can also test the platform via the 7-day free trial.
6. Screendragon
Screendragon isa collaboration and project management tool specifically designed for creative teams in the marketing and advertising industries.
Who is Screendragon best for?
Unlike most of the other tools in this list, Screendragon seems to be best for larger teams of 50 or more people. It’s also a good fit for media and production teams, whether it be videos or animations.
Screendragon’s top features
- Highly customizable – Set up customized workflows for individual projects and triggers for task automation to remove manual task management. You can also apply your branding to the platform with logos, colors, and visual elements.
- Scalability – The platform is flexible enough to meet users' needs for simple project management as well as large-scale complex project workflows.
What users are saying about Screendragon
With a little over 150 online reviews, Screendragon is highly rated, with a score of 4.7 on G2 and Capterra. One thing called out in most reviews is the excellent customer support offered to users. Other pros and cons include:
Pros
- Centralized feedback – This is especially useful for creatives and agencies that need to deliver work for proofing. The tool lets teams annotate assets directly into the task and gather feedback instantly.
- Client portals – The client portal feature lets your clients review and approve creative work and provide personalized feedback to different stakeholders.
Cons
- Limited AI features – One of the main disadvantages of the tool is the limited AI functionality, which users seem to be keen on for speeding up workflows.
- Limited templates – Some users feel there could be more templates for a mix of marketing and advertising projects.
Pricing
Screendragon doesn’t disclose pricing plans on its website. However, they do say the pricing setup includes a per-user cost, as well as a one-off initial setup and training fee.
7. Synergist
Synergist is an agency management tool with project planning, financial forecasting, and invoicing features with advanced reporting capabilities.
Who is Synergist best for?
The tool seems to be a good fit for medium to large-sized teams of 50 or more people. Smaller teams may find it too pricey.
Synergist’s top features
- CRM & pipeline – You can manage your pipeline in Synergist or import them directly from HubSpot or Salesforce CRM. The tool also lets you track sales versus targets and analyze sales performance.
- Project planning & automation – You can set up complex project workflows with milestones and dependencies. Automate your approved jobs to turn into tasks that are booked straight into your team’s schedule.
What users are saying about Synergist
Even though Synergist only has around 50 online reviews, with a Capterra rating of 4.7, the vast majority of users seem to be happy with the product. Some of the main pros and cons mentioned include:
Pros
- Comprehensive feature set – Because it’s an all-in-one agency solution, it lets agencies consolidate their tool stack and manage everything from one platform.
- Intuitive & user-friendly – While the large number of features may feel overwhelming, the intuitive design is user-friendly once you get the hang of it.
Cons
- Requires training – If you want to use the tool to its full potential, your team will need to dedicate some time to training.
- Premium price tag – Because of the additional set-up cost and complex pricing structure, with add-ons coming at additional charges, it’s a premium option for advertising agencies with larger budgets.
Pricing
Synergist has a complex pricing structure and a one-off onboarding fee. However, the more users you have, the price per user decreases.
ActiveCollab: your advertising agency’s project management software
The best advertising agency project management tool is the one that gives you everything your team needs. Just because most agencies are happy with one tool doesn’t mean you will be. That’s why it’s important to shop around and try different tools before you commit to buying.
ActiveCollab is one of many all-in-one agency work management solutions that come with the full suite of features from project management to resource planning, collaboration, and invoicing. However, what makes us unique is our usability factor. We grow on you quickly, and then we help you grow.
When you’re ready to take the leap, you can use our reporting features to understand how efficient and profitable your team, projects, and client portfolios are. Because let’s face it, managing your ad agency and all its projects isn’t just about assigning and aligning tasks so you get them to the finish line.
To be a real rockstar at ad agency project management, you need to take learnings from past projects and apply them to make better, more informed (and more profitable) decisions in the future. To do that, you also want a tool that’s not going to put a strain on your business operations budget.
And that’s where ActiveCollab can help: we give you the tool that helps you scale with minimum hassle at a reasonable price. Don’t believe us? The least you can do is try us: Sign up for our 14-day free trial or book a demo with one of our people to see how your agency workflows might look on ActiveCollab!
