ActiveCollab vs Things

Trello

Jira

Any.do

Trello is a project management tool that helps teams organize and manage their tasks. It caters to a range of industries and teams, from marketing to engineering. Trello's simple and intuitive interface makes it easy for any team to get started and stay on top of their work.

Jira is project tracking software that helps every team collaborate to plan, track, and release work by breaking down big ideas into achievable steps. Jira offers features like task organization, work alignment to goals, customizable workflows, and real-time data insights to optimize outcomes.

Any.do is a simple and powerful way to manage all your team's tasks, projects, chat and calendar. Easily collaborate with anyone, manage workloads, get real time status notifications and reports. Connect Any.do with all your existing apps to make everything run smoothly —starting at just $5 per user

Not us directly, but our customers are sometimes disturbed by the UX, despite huge leap forward recently.

Project Manager

ActiveCollab is your go-to tool if you're looking to streamline your workflows, improve teamwork, and scale: features for capacity planning and workload management, time tracking, project management, team collaboration, client communication, invoicing, budgeting, and reporting.

Access Controls/Permissions

Accounting Integration

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

Agile Methodologies

AI Copilot

Alerts/Notifications

Assignment Management

Availability Management

Bar Chart

Billable Items Tracking

Billable & Non-Billable Hours

Billing & Invoicing

Brainstorming

Budgeting/Forecasting

Budget Management

Budget Tracking

Calendar Management

Campaign Analytics

Campaign Management

Campaign Planning

Capacity Management

Chat/Messaging

Client Management

Client Portal

Collaboration Tools

Color Codes/Icons

Commenting/Notes

Communication Management

Compliance Management

Configurable Workflow

Contact Database

Contact Management

Credit Card Processing

Credit Note

Customizable Fields

Customizable Invoices

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Dashboard

Data Import/Export

Deadline Management

Dependency Tracking

Digital Asset Management

Discussions/Forums

Document Management

Document Storage

Drag & Drop

Email Management

Email-to-Task Conversion

Employee Database

Employee Management

Employee Scheduling

Estimating

Event Logs

Expense Tracking

Feedback Management

File Encryption

File Management

File Sharing

File Transfer

Financial Management

Forecasting

For Nonprofits

Gantt/Timeline View

Goal Setting/Tracking

Hourly Billing

Idea Management

Invoice Creation

Invoice History

Invoice Management

Invoice Processing

Issue Management

Kanban Board

Key Performance Indicators

Leave Tracking

Marketing Calendar

@mentions

Milestone Tracking

Mobile Access

Mobile App

Mobile Payments

Multi-Channel Communication

Multi-Currency

Multi-Language

Multiple Billing Rates

Multiple Projects

Notes Management

Offline Time Tracking

Online Invoicing

Online Time Tracking

Overtime Calculation

Payment Processing

Payroll Management

Percent-Complete Tracking

Performance Metrics

Planning Tools

Portfolio Management

Prioritization

Most reviewers indicate that ActiveCollab provides strong value for money, citing its affordability and robust features. Some users report concerns about extra fees for certain features and feel costs may be high for smaller businesses.

Value for money

By industry, ActiveCollab reviewers are most commonly professionals in marketing and advertising (21%). The most frequent use case for ActiveCollab cited by reviewers is project management (75% of reviewers).

Proprietary

ActiveCollab

Web-based

Windows

Android

Linux

iPad

iPhone

monday.com AI Work Platform

Basecamp

Asana

Wrike

ClickUp

Redmine

Teamwork.com

Slack

Bitrix24

Plus

Pro+Get Paid

100+ seats

Creative Director

it needs to have a built in form feature to capture requests.

I started using it in a multimedia company I worked for, and in 2012 I implemented AC in my current job.

Logistics Manager

Also, an option to download my entire project in text format along with all the files attached to it.

We are a construction company that organizes workers and their work files in ActiveCollab.

There's a few things I wish it could do but they're creature comforts not missing features.

Over the years I've spoken directly with their development team and product people numerous times.

Owner

The Time Tracking and profitability is well thought out too.

General Manager

We have used many tools for organizing work, ActiveCollab is by far the simplest to use.

For a basic form of job organization, it covers our needs very well.

Head of E-Commerce Sales

On the rare occasions when we did face an issue, their support team was always quick to respond and resolve everything in a very short time.

It has truly become a central part of how we manage projects and collaborate effectively.

IT Intern

They offer a wide variety of integrations and visualizations that, frankly, Office does not.

The Self-Hosted version lags far behind ActiveCollab 8.

Its just really nice to use both the desktop and phone app.

Architect

Customizable dashboards and time tracking add flexibility, making it a comprehensive solution.

ActiveCollab was perfect for us in the early stages of our creative services company.

It was hard learning and getting up-to efficiency on everything they offer.

While comprehensive, the limited third-party integrations may hinder seamless workflow connections.

Partner, Chief Creative Officer

When pulling invoices, I wish we had more options as to how to import the time entry notes. Because we require our team to place notes as to what they were doing for the hours logged - we do spend more time than desired editing invoices once the data is pulled in.

Freelancer

Its interface and design offers simplicity and helps me manage everything on one platform from tracking tasks, file sharing to planning on my calendar.

SEO Manager

Another feature that I liked is the ability to collaborate with team members in real-time and leave comments on tasks, which helped to streamline communication and keep everyone on the same page.

Member

It is very useful as it allows me to communicate and collaborate with my team on work schedules.

I can easily track time used on projects and tasks with this tool.

Agent

it allows me to increase my output and it motivates me and my team.

The dashboard gives a clear overview of progress, and the ability to integrate with other tools like Google Drive and Slack makes it even more efficient.

The ability to create custom workflows and labels helped me to stay on top of my projects and keep everything organized.

The interface is clean and intuitive, and the ability to assign tasks to team members and set deadlines is a great feature.

I lack anything that is detestable with ActiveCollab as it meets all my requirements and needs.

Additionally, the software is highly customizable, allowing us to tailor it to our specific needs and workflows.

Exploring advanced features can be time-consuming, impacting initial ease of use.

The intuitive interface and robust task management features helped in organizing and prioritizing work effectively.

Entrepreneur

Another great thing about ActiveCollab is that the features are very diverse and the ability to self host really adds to the convenience.

The interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple for my team to quickly access the features and tools they need to manage our projects.

Client Manager

For all intents and purposes, ActiveCollab is awesome at doing what it advertises it's doing - project and task management, with easy-to-use, uncomplicated and effective tools. And really, especially on the task level, it is great and will save you a lot of time and brain power.

We use AC for all our task management and time tracking.

I can manage my work and collaborate with my team effectively and hassle-free.

ActiveCollab ensures that I meet my deadlines and deliver quality work always.

The native features are very adapted to our uses, and we were able to add the missing features.

One of the things I liked most about ActiveCollab was its user-friendly interface and intuitive project management features.

The only downside I have found is that the software is a bit expensive for the small business.

It had a client portal and I could track my jobs and invoice/do estimates all from one place.

Otherwise, you're just stopped in tracks for the most of time, with little or no ways to go forward.

Director

I can create subtasks, assign executors and deadlines.

Visually easy to see what projects and tasks are priority.

Vice President of Marketing

The overall experience using ActiveCollab is smooth although there are some discomfort using the dashboard.

ActiveCollab vs Things Comparison (2026)

ActiveCollab

Things

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives