Ever since the first pandemic lockdowns, companies around the world have made the shift towards remote work.
However, running a business comes with its own set of challenges that need to be addressed if you want to continue growing.
While communication and flexibility are certainly a part of it, having the right collaboration apps in your tool stack is also essential. Today, we’re going to walk you through ten apps that can help make collaboration a lot more seamless for you and your team.
Top 10 Remote Collaboration Apps
Table of Contents
Workpuls
Workpuls is one of the most granular employee monitoring tools out there since it lets you see the productivity levels of each individual team member. You’ll also be able to see if their productivity has risen or fallen compared to the previous period.
Outside of real-time monitoring and custom reports, you’ll also be able to assign tasks and see which projects take the longest to complete. If you go for the pricier Automatic Time Mapping tier then you’ll even be able to automate the process entirely.
Paid plans range from $8/month to $15/month depending on which features you need for your use case. There are also custom quotes for enterprise customers and annual discounts on all plans that will help you reduce the overall cost.
Chanty
A unique benefit that Chanty has over other team collaboration software is its Teambook feature. This lets you view all pinned messages, shared files, and upcoming tasks in a single place so you don’t have to jump around different areas on the platform.
Furthermore, you’ll be able to view the full message history without upgrading to a paid subscription, unlike other freemium options. In terms of meetings, the tool has 4K capabilities and can support up to 1,000 simultaneous participants.
As if all that wasn’t good enough, Chanty is also free forever. There is a business plan with extra features like video conferencing, expanded storage, dedicated support lines, and unlimited integrations but that only costs $3/month if you bill annually.
Jotform Apps
Jotform apps is a no-code app builder that will help you get your business’s app working seamlessly. It will change how your business receives and sends information while helping you go mobile and save you wait times and development costs. Working remotely may have some challenges, but using an app builder to create a collaboration app will allow your team to collaborate on incoming and outgoing communications in your own workspace.
It provides safe and easy communication between team members while also tracking your data. Serving as a huge collaboration hub, any updates made to your app takes effect in real time and doesn’t need rebuilds or installs. You can utilize Jotform Apps to hire remotely, request work from teammates, host webinars and even coordinate virtual team happy hours!
All these features for absolutely free! You can upgrade your plan and get more features depending on what your team needs. They have a ton of pricing options to choose from.
Asana
Most people who have used Asana are already familiar with its intuitive, minimalistic UI and seamless workflows. That said, you might not know that Asana actually has a Chrome extension that lets you add tasks directly through your browser toolbar.
Users also get access to over 100 integrations such as Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, Jira Cloud, Office 365, Google Workspace, Slack, Zapier, HubSpot, JotForm, and so many more.
Asana’s freemium tier is probably more than enough for most casual users but it is worth noting that their paid subscriptions are a bit more expensive than the competition, starting at $13.50/month.
ProofHub
ProofHub is an all-in-one project planner. It’s similar to Basecamp in that the feature suite is priced at a fixed-cost basis meaning you’ll be able to add as many team members as you want without having to worry about additional per-user fees.
There are tons of features like Gantt charts, time tracking, file sharing/versioning, group chats, and project templates. You’ll also be able to use integrations like Freshbooks, Dropbox, Google Calendar, and more. ProofHub even has multilingual support for nine languages.
Considering you’ll only be paying $50/month for all these features (or $99/month on the Ultimate Plan) it’s hard to argue with the value that ProofHub provides. You’ll also get 15GB worth of storage on the Essential plan or 100GB if you decide to go for the Ultimate Control plan.
Brosix
Brosix isn’t the newest or most popular communication solution on the market but it offers privacy, security, and affordability in a well-rounded package. In fact, teams of three people or less will be able to use the Startup plan which is totally free.
One of Brosix’s main selling points is its emphasis on security. Your private team network encrypts all data transfers to ensure your communications remain secure while the P2P file sharing functionality keeps your sensitive documents from falling into the wrong hands.
Brosix even lets you set security levels that determine what data a team member can access. Finally, you’ll be able to manage team activities, user permissions, and the network status from your web control panel which serves as the perfect admin dashboard.
HelpCrunch
With the goal of being the definitive customer communication platform, HelpCrunch lets you create knowledge base articles, create custom pop-ups, set up auto-messages, and track customer tickets with ease.
It’s incredibly easy to tweak the resources you create with HelpCrunch in every way except CSS. That said, the Basic plan is a bit limiting since you can only create one widget so we’d recommend going for the Pro tier if you plan to scale your business up in the near future.
The HelpCrunch dashboard has also received praise from users since it makes it easier to access all core features from a single place. Other positive reviews focused on the rapid setup and high-quality customer support.
Apploye
Apploye may have started out as a time tracking app but its native functionality is so diverse that the platform is comparable to full-blown collaboration suites. The tool also has payroll, invoicing, and time tracking features so you can stay on top of the financial side of things.
Where Apploye truly shines is in employee monitoring which is a challenge that most remote teams deal with. You’ll be able to see which apps people are using, the URLs they visit, and preview their activity through periodic screenshots that trigger every 10 minutes.
With prices ranging from $4/month to $7/month — not to mention the 50% off discount for annual billing — it’s easy to see why this affordable tool has been making waves in the remote collaboration space.
Time Doctor
Time Doctor is much more than a time tracker since it also has payroll, web usage monitoring, breaks tracking, detailed analytics, and alerts that remind employees to stay off social media when possible. That said, the time tracking itself is quite impressive as well.
You’ll be able to see the idle time for every team member in real-time, allowing you to step in if you see someone stuck on a task. Time Doctor also has a work-life balance feature currently in beta that helps employees identify issues that may be impacting their productivity.
To top it all off, Time Doctor has over 60 integrations for you to choose from including Salesforce, Trello, Freshdesk, QuickBooks, and more — making it extremely easy to add to your tool stack.
nTask
nTask is an all-in-one project planner that streamlines everything from resource allocation to setting campaign milestones. Its budgeting features may not be as complex as a dedicated solution but they should be more than enough for most standard use cases.
Users can also choose between Kanban boards or Gantt charts depending on their preferences and the project type. Those looking for communication features won’t be disappointed either since nTask has a team chat and dedicated workspaces.
The free plan offers 100 MB worth of storage and accommodates up to five team members which makes it a good starter option. nTask’s paid tiers range from $4/month to $12/month for each user, with perks like 5 GB to 10 GB in storage and advanced reporting.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many tools that can make your remote collaboration experience a more positive and stress-free one. If you consider your specific needs, find the right features, and avoid going over budget then you’ll be well on your way to crafting the ideal tool stack.
That’s all for today but feel free to leave a comment below if you have any favorite apps that you think we should’ve covered. After all, Noupe is the webworkers magazine so we’re always excited to hear your opinions. Until then, stay safe!
