8 Best Tools For Effectively Tracking Project Milestones 

In project management, the journey from start to end is filled with a series of milestones. That’s why we’ve identified the best apps to track project milestones and help project managers easily navigate complex projects. 

The stakes are high: According to the Project Management Institute, organizations waste an average of 11.4% of their total assets because of insufficient project performance.

Project planning is crucial: Over 60% of project managers report consistently applying a defined methodology to their project management, according to data from Wellington.

Luckily, you don’t have to worry about manual tracking when managing milestones — project management software can automate this process. The key is finding a project management tool that works best for your team. In this article, we’ll cover the importance of milestone tracking and give you ideas for tools that can automate this process. 

Overview of best apps to track project milestones

We’re all about saving time, so if you’re just looking for a quick overview, check out this comparison chart: 

Tool	Key features	Pricing	Review average
Hubstaff	– Project milestone tracking – Sprint planning – Kanban and timeline views – Project buckets (Epics) – Time tracking and reporting – Productivity insights	Free plan Premium – $5 per user/month As a Hubstaff add-on: Starts at $9 per user/month	4.45/5
ClickUp	– Project milestones – Dashboards – Task management – Time tracking – Goals and OKRs	Starting at $10 per user/month	4.7/5
Wrike	– Project milestones – Task management – Gantt charts – Collaboration – Custom workflows	Starting at $9.80 per user/month	4.25/5
Smartsheet	– Project milestone reports – AutomationGantt charts – Task management – Collaborative workspaces	Starting at $9 per user/​month	4.45/5
Zoho Projects	– Project milestones – Task management – TemplatesGantt charts – Time tracking	Starting at $5 per user/month	4.35/5
nTask	– Project milestones – Task management – Checklists – Time tracking – Issue tracking	Starting at $4/month	4.3/5
Toggl Plan	– Project milestones – Task management – Project timeline – Resource planning – Customizable workflows	Starting at $9 per user/month	4.45/5
Monday.com	– Project milestones – Task management – Resource management – Collaboration – Goal setting	Starting at $12 per user/month	4.65/5

Best app superlatives:

Wondering who came out on top? Here are the best of the best: 

• Best features: Hubstaff
• Best pricing: nTask 
• Best reviews: ClickUp 

Now that you’ve seen the brief overview let’s delve deeper into the tools that can help with milestone tracking. 

The 8 best apps to track project milestones

Above all, tracking project milestones should be done automatically. The last thing you want to do is introduce another step into your project timeline. Instead, find a tool that can track milestones for you. 

According to PWC, 77% of high-performing projects use project management software. Don’t let your team fall behind with manual project management. You can also check out these tools that can save you countless hours of admin work. 

Up first, a familiar name. 

1. Hubstaff

Hubstaff Tasks is a versatile project management and time tracking tool for teams of all sizes. Whether you’re a small team in need of task management features or an enterprise-grade Agile team, Hubstaff Tasks is a great fit. 

Tasks is great as a standalone product, but it’s even better as a Hubstaff add-on. When paired with our great all-in-one workforce management tool, the Tasks add-on helps you manage your projects, see real-time costs by project and task, and more. 

What sets Hubstaff apart: Using Hubstaff Tasks as an add-on lets you utilize Hubstaff’s flagship workforce management features. This provides extensive productivity insights, payroll, invoicing features, and more. 

Key features

• Project milestone tracking: Use the Hubstaff Tasks add-on to tag and track your milestones. Use custom labels to mark milestones so they stand out in your task list.
  
• Sprint planning: Create Tasks, assign them to Sprints, and add assignees and collaborators as needed. With drag-and-drop Sprint planning, your team can sort their work so that high-priority work is always at the top.
  
• Kanban and timeline views: Create custom workflows and use drag-and-drop technology to organize your projects with a Kanban board view. Use timeline views to visualize work and stay informed of project progress.
  
• Project buckets (Epics): Group smaller tasks together to make managing day-to-day work easier. Epics are perfect for Agile software development teams and reducing roadblocks.
  
• Time tracking and reporting: Use Hubstaff’s time tracking software to see real-time project spend, payroll, and productivity.
  

Pricing 

Hubstaff Tasks

Time tracking and project management meet with this project milestone app — and at an affordable price.

• Free plan
• Premium: $5 per user/month

Hubstaff

Hubstaff offers a free plan for single users with time tracking and payment features. There’s also a $7 per user/month Starter Plan with a nice array of features.

However, it’s the Grow plan where you really start seeing the power of Hubstaff and Hubstaff Tasks. For project milestone tracking and more advanced features, you can also pick from one of the paid plans — all supporting unlimited users.

Pricing plans:

• Grow: $9 per user/month
• Team: $12 per user/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing is available upon request

Add-ons:

• Tasks – $3 per user/month
• Insights – $2 per user/month

For more features, check out some of our additional add-ons.

Reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 stars (509 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 stars (1,456 reviews)
  

2. ClickUp

With its robust task management features and seamless collaboration tools, ClickUp empowers teams to stay organized, ensuring they can track and hit their project milestones. 

What sets ClickUp apart: ClickUp is known for its ease of use and aesthetically pleasing UI. 

Features

• Project milestones: Teams can create customizable project phases, set deadlines, and visualize progress with intuitive Gantt charts.
  
• Dashboards: Keep an eye on project progress with real-time reporting and easy-to-use dashboards.
  
• Task management: Create tasks, subtasks, and checklists to organize projects efficiently.
  
• Time tracking: Monitor time spent on tasks and projects, enabling accurate billing and resource allocation with ClickUp.
  
• Goals and OKRs: Set and track objectives and key results to align team efforts with overarching goals.

Pricing

• Free forever: Free for single users
• Unlimited: $10 per user/month
• Business: $19 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact ClickUp’s sales team for pricing

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 stars (9,387 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 stars (4,014 reviews)
  

3. Wrike

Wrike offers impressive project management capabilities, allowing teams to manage project milestones easily. 

What sets Wrike apart: Customized software for industries like software development and marketing. 

Features

• Project milestones: Wrike enables users to track milestones that signify achievements or stages within a project life cycle.
   
• Task management: Design, assign, and prioritize task lists efficiently. Tasks can be organized into folders and projects, enabling teams to stay focused and on track.
  
• Gantt charts: With Gantt chart view, teams can visualize project timelines, dependencies, and milestones in a clear and interactive format.
  
• Collaboration: Wrike’s team collaboration tools include real-time editing, comments, @mentions, and file sharing.
  
• Custom workflows: Customizable workflows allow teams to tailor project processes to their needs.
  

Pricing

• Free plan
• Team: $9.80 per user/month
• Business: $24.80 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Wrike for enterprise pricing

Reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 stars‎ (3,520 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 stars (2,585 reviews)

4. Smartsheet 

Smartsheet is a versatile project management tool that excels in managing project milestones with its robust features. 

What sets Smartsheet apart: Advanced spreadsheet organization. Think of Smartsheet as Excel times ten. 

Features

• Project milestone reports: Create customizable dashboards and reports to track project milestones, monitor progress, and analyze performance metrics.
   
• Gantt charts: Interactive Gantt charts allow teams to visualize project timelines, dependencies, and milestones.
  
• Automation: Eliminate manual work with no-code automated workflows. Set up automatic alerts and reminders for approaching deadlines, task assignments, or changes to project milestones.
  
• Task management: Create, assign, and track tasks within a centralized workspace. Task lists can be organized, prioritized, and updated in real time.
  
• Collaborative workspaces: Share files, documents, and project updates in one centralized location. 

Pricing

• Free: Free for single users
• Pro: $9 per user/​month
• Business: $32 per user/​month
• Enterprise: Contact the Smartsheet sales team for pricing

Reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 stars (14,488 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 stars‎ (3,155 reviews)

5. Zoho Projects

Using Zoho Projects to manage project milestones provides a streamlined approach to tracking and achieving key project objectives. 

What sets Zoho Projects apart: Their generous free plan allows up to 3 project team members to use Zoho Projects for free. 

Features

• Project milestones: Determine and track milestones and celebrate key accomplishments throughout the project lifecycle.
  
• Task management: Create, assign, and track tasks within your projects. You can set deadlines, prioritize tasks, and collaborate with team members.
  
• Templates: Use pre-built templates to get started faster on project management. Template options include software development, website development, security testing, and more.
  
• Gantt charts: Visualize project timelines and task dependencies using Gantt charts.
  
• Time tracking: Native time tracking abilities allow team members to log hours spent on tasks and projects. 

Pricing

• Free: Free for up to 3 users
• Premium: $5 per user/month 
• Enterprise: $10 per user/month 

Reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 stars (392 reviews) 
• Capterra: ​​4.4/5 stars (467 reviews)

6. nTask

Using nTask for managing project milestones offers a simplified yet comprehensive approach to tracking and achieving critical project objectives. 

What sets nTask apart: nTask offers the most affordable paid plans on this list, so if you’re on a budget, this might be a good pick. 

Features

• Project milestones: Gantt charts enable users to define and track project milestones within nTask.
  
• Task management: Organize and track project activities efficiently with nTask. Creating, assigning, and prioritizing tasks is easy — and at an affordable price.
  
• Checklists: Users can create checklists within tasks to break down complex activities into manageable steps, ensuring nothing gets overlooked.
  
• Time tracking: Built-in tracking capabilities allow users to track the time spent on specific tasks and projects.
  
• Issue tracking: Track bugs and issues easily with integrated software connecting teams, tasks, projects, and milestones.

Pricing

• Premium: $4/month
• Business: $12/month
• Enterprise: Contact nTask for custom pricing

Reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 stars (17 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.2/5 stars (105 reviews)

7. Toggl Plan

Using Toggl Plan to manage project milestones provides a streamlined approach to tracking and achieving key project objectives. 

What sets Toggl Plan apart: Toggl is a time tracking tool at its core, so its time tracking stands out on this list.

Features

• Project milestones: Users can set and track milestones by adding the “milestone” label to project tasks.
  
• Task management: Create, organize, and prioritize tasks within projects, providing a clear overview of project activities and deadlines.
  
• Project timeline: With a timeline, users can easily create a project plan and schedule tasks, track progress, and identify potential bottlenecks.
  
• Resource planning: Visualize and efficiently distribute tasks across your team to avoid overworking or underutilization.
  
• Customizable workflows: Create custom workflows and task statuses to match their requirements, ensuring flexibility and adaptability to different project needs.

Pricing

• Team: $9 per user/month
• Business: $15 per user/month

Reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 stars ‎(37 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 stars (112 reviews)

8. Monday.com

Leveraging Monday.com for managing project milestones is never a bad idea. This seemingly robust platform is visually beautiful and relatively easy to use for tracking and accomplishing critical project objectives. 

What sets Monday.com apart: Like ClickUp, Monday.com is known for its ease of use and exceptional UI. 

Features

• Project milestones: Tack project milestones and create milestone charts that map a project’s path to completion
  
• Task management: Users can visualize project progress using customizable boards, timelines, and Gantt charts.
  
• Resource management: Allocate and manage resources to balance workloads more efficiently.
  
• Collaboration: Communication features include comments, file sharing, and @mentions.
  
• Goal setting: Set goals and objectives for each task to create a shared understanding of project objectives.
  
• Pre-made templates: No need to start from scratch. Utilize pre-made templates based on industry, use case, or job responsibilities to hit the ground running. 

Pricing

• Free plan
• Basic: $12 per user/month
• Standard: $14 per user/month
• Pro: $24 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Monday.com for pricing

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 stars (10,552 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 stars (4,619 reviews)

The importance of tracking project milestones

So, what can tracking project management milestones do for your organization? We did some research and found a few compelling statistics regarding milestone tracking. 

• Keep stakeholders informed: Stakeholder engagement is among the most valuable project management initiatives. A survey done in 2023 showed that 62% of successfully completed projects had supportive sponsors.
  
• Stay on budget: Going over budget is one of the main reasons projects fail. Organizations that invest in project management practices waste 28 times less money than those that don’t, according to the Project Management Institute.
  
• Keep projects on track: By monitoring progress, you can determine whether or not you’re reaching milestones. 73% of organizations that use an organized project management approach always or often meet their deadlines.

These statistics show that using careful project milestone tracking and project management software can improve the success of your project and help you stay on budget. 

With this in mind, are you ready to get started? 

How to implement milestone tracking tools 

If you’re ready to use project management software to track milestones, here’s how to do it in four simple steps:

1. Define project milestones: The first step is defining the milestones for your project. Our tip? Use SMART goals and ensure that milestones are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
   
2. Customize your task management tool: Once you know what you’re aiming for, you need to set these milestones up in your task tracking tool. Another key point to consider when selecting your tool is how advanced the customization options are.
   
3. Establish milestone tracking procedures: Establish clear procedures and guidelines within your team. Transparent expectations help your team hit the ground running.
   
4. Monitor and review progress: Finally, once you have implemented milestone tracking, you need to monitor progress regularly. Analyze key metrics, identify trends, and promptly address any issues or deviations from the project schedule.

By following these steps, you can implement milestone tracking tools within your own project management framework. 

Time to pick your favorite tool

In summary, by leveraging project management tools for milestone tracking, you can streamline your project management processes, progress seamlessly through each project phase, enhance collaboration among team members, and ensure timely delivery of project objectives. 

By now, you have everything you need to select a project management tool and track your project milestones. Try free trials and demos to see which tools fit best into your project workflow. 

Do you have a favorite tool that you use to track milestones? We want to hear your recommendations!