ProofHub Review

Table of Contents

• ProofHub Full Review
• Key Features
  • Project Workspaces
  • List & Task Management
  • Group Chat
  • "Proofing"
  • Time Tracking
• Reporting
• Integrations
• ProofHub vs. Basecamp
• Is ProofHub Right for You?

ProofHub Pricing

ProofHub Full Review

Founded in 2011, ProofHub is an online project management and collaboration tool used by over 85,000 teams globally including Disney, Netflix, and Nike. The software is an all-in-one project management system that provides a centralized tool for teams to manage the entire lifecycle of a project.

You can create tasks with clear specifications and deadlines, and assign them to individual team members. All relevant information such as to-do lists, files/documents, and discussions are stored within individual project spaces, making it easy to quickly access all relevant information. To fully support your team and streamline processes, businesses can also build customized workflows using Kanban boards with specified stages.

Collaboration is also a fundamental element of ProofHub. Users can share ideas privately within a project, or set up a group chat through a built-in messaging system. You can also add clients to your project (with restricted access) to share information and communicate with businesses through the platform. A unique "Proofing" tool enables teams to comment and review files with clients to get real-time feedback.

Dedicated project managers can also be assigned to projects to ensure resources and tasks are properly managed. In addition to receiving regular notifications, managers can visualize the project's progress on a Gantt chart, and utilize in-depth reports to track overdue tasks.

ProofHub’s emphasis on improving communication, in addition to its extensive project management features, make the software an excellent option for growing businesses.

Key Features

Below, we'll discuss the key features of ProofHub and how the software can benefit your business.

Project Workspaces

ProofHub provides a centralized workspace where team members can plan, organize, and collaborate on various projects. Projects are organized into private workspaces where all tasks, files, and conversations can be found. You can assign projects to various teams or clients, with the option to assign a dedicated project manager who can receive regular progress reports to ensure tasks are on track.

Projects are visualized in card and list formats on the main dashboard. A menu bar at the top allows you to toggle between the projects assigned to you, projects you are managing, and all currently available projects. The clean layout and intuitive design make it easy to quickly access all relevant information.

Adding a new project is straightforward, and users have the option to either create projects from scratch, or from a template. There are excellent customization options for managing projects including establishing start and end dates, assigning individuals or groups, and adding custom categories to keep everything organized. Each workspace is only shared with people that have been added, allowing confidential projects to remain safe. Custom roles can also be applied to limit access for certain users and to ensure more control over projects. As an example, you can restrict clients to only access timesheets, reports, and the chat feature, and prohibit them from accessing other parts of the system.

One extremely useful tool for a high-level overview of your project is the Gantt chart view. With the ability to control all aspects of a project, the Gantt chart provides an excellent visualization of the current state of your project, which can help you manage resources accordingly. Individual tasks are shown along with the assigned team member and the current progress (displayed as a percentage). The critical path can also be highlighted so you can clearly see important tasks.

List and Task Management

ProofHub supports the management of lists, tasks, and sub-tasks, which are each subcomponents of projects. Lists are used to group together similar tasks and help to keep your project organized. As an example, you might want to create a list called "Social Media", which encompasses all related tasks that the marketing team needs to accomplish. ProofHub also includes an option to go down a level and add sub-tasks for complex projects. When creating a list, you have the option to apply the list and associated tasks to a Gantt chart, enable time tracking, and establish specific milestones.

ProofHub aims to make your teams more productive and accountable, storing various details forgiven tasks. You can set start and end dates for each project, task or sub-task, and utilize notifications to ensure that the team hits their deadlines. Labels can be applied to keep everything organized. A filtering system at the top is especially helpful, as you can search by different stages (To-do, In Progress, Done), assigned tasks, due dates, or labels.

The software is very customizable and designed to fit within your business’ workflow. Tasks are displayed in a default list view or a Kanban board, with the ability to easily switch between the two. Kanban boards can be adjusted to define different stages to suit your business processes. As an example, your marketing team might want to set up a basic workflow for content planning that includes "Ideas", "Researching", "Writing", and "Published" columns. You can move tasks between stages using a drag-and-drop feature.

Group Chat

Proofhub has a built-in browser chat that helps streamline communication between your team. The chat button conveniently sits at the bottom of every page and supports individual or group conversations.

Once users have been added to your account, you can start chatting with them in real-time. Teams can share documents or files with one another, communicate their progress, and ultimately stay on top of important tasks or projects. You can also send emojis to add personality to your conversations, although you do need to manually type in the expression you’re looking for to select from a list.

The chat feature is also extremely useful for client collaboration and can reduce unnecessary meetings or emails. Businesses can simply add a client to the chat platform and allocate them to a specific project. Getting approval from your client and updating them on project progress can be as simple as attaching a file and sending a quick message.

"Proofing"

ProofHub also offers a helpful review feature called "Proofing". Designed to streamline and simplify the feedback process for companies, Proofing enables your team to provide feedback on different content types (JPEG, PDF, PNG) in real-time. Comments appear as a historical thread on the right-hand side, allowing any team members that are added at a later date to see past messages and revisions. Mark up tools are also available to highlight specific sections of interest.

Time Tracking

Time tracking is included as part of ProofHub’s core features, enabling you to keep track of your team’s performance and stay within budget. Teams can track tasks and sub-tasks using the built-in time tracking tool, with an option to add manual time if needed. Recorded data sits on timesheets within individual projects and can be linked to third-party applications, such as FreshBooks, to provide a seamless client invoicing process.

Teams can set time estimates for individual tasks and generate reports to compare projected time against actual time spent. Analyzing this information can help to improve your planning process, allowing you to deliver more accurate project estimates and manage resources accordingly. One thing to remember when setting up your lists is to enable time tracking; otherwise, you won’t be able to keep track of work performed.

We like that this functionality is included as part of ProofHub's core functionality, so that you don't need to use a separate dedicated time tracking system, such as TimeCamp, Time Doctor, or Toggl.

Reporting

Reports provide the ability to analyze projects, tasks, milestones, and resources. The home reporting dashboard displays a high-level snapshot of all upcoming projects on a calendar timeline. You can easily identify projects that are falling behind schedule through the "Slipping Report".

Managers can dig a little deeper into the data by analyzing tasks, time logged, resources used, and view a roadmap to project completion. Burnup charts are available for each project, which show tasks completed vs. tasks assigned, and enable you to see how your team is progressing.

Integrations

While ProofHub offers an excellent array of built-in project management tools, the software only integrates with a handful of third-party applications such as FreshBooks, Dropbox, Google Drive, Calendar & iCal, Outlook, OneDrive, and Box.

ProofHub vs. Basecamp

Compared to Basecamp, ProofHub is a much more well-rounded project management tool that is better suited to businesses that manage larger projects. While Basecamp is an excellent option for basic team collaboration, it lacks some important project management features such as time tracking, Gantt charts, reports, proofing, and customizable workflows.

ProofHub allows you to build Kanban workflows to suit the way your team works. Users can take advantage of sub-tasks and time estimates, which are especially useful for effectively managing resources and breaking down complex projects. On the other hand, Basecamp has a much more rigid system that cannot be molded to fit your team’s workflow.

Within ProofHub, users have access to a wide range of reports to gain insights into tasks, projects, resources, and more. Basecamp has taken a different approach and offers an "Activity" finder where users can view to-do lists, overdue tasks, and employee activity. While Basecamp is easy to use for smaller tasks, due to ProofHub's flexibility, it's the more suitable option for larger-scale projects.

Is ProofHub Right for You?

ProofHub is an ideal solution for growing or established businesses looking for a flexible project management tool. With a robust set of reporting and task management features, businesses can maintain tight control over projects and ensure that projects stay on track.

The software provides a central location to manage your team and store important project information and communications. Customized Kanban workflows can streamline your business processes and a Gantt chart offers excellent flexibility to view project progress and stay on schedule. The built-in time tracking tool can be used to improve your team’s efficiency and ensure human resources are appropriately managed.

While the software has an extensive range of features, the lack of a budgeting tool is one notable omission. However, the company is very responsive to feedback and are continually adding new features to improve the utility of the platform.

Overall, the competitive pricing at $89/month makes ProofHub an excellent software for small to medium-sized businesses, while the intuitive interface and comprehensive range of tools ensure large businesses can still manage projects and teams with ease.