Wrike vs. LiquidPlanner: Project Management Pugilism

There are few project management (PM) tools that can compete with LiquidPlanner. This Editors' Choice tool offers rich features, a dynamic and customizable user interface (UI), and in-depth reporting that everyone on your management team will love. Just one notch below LiquidPlanner, you'll find Wrike, an easy-to-use PM tool that offers a ton of third-party integrations.

Although Wrike doesn't offer as much customization and features as LiquidPlanner or our other Editors' Choice tools Teamwork Projects or Zoho Projects , its simplicity and quick setup make it worth consideration. Because there are so many high-quality PM tools on the market, it's important that you define your particular needs prior to making your selection. You'll want to scrutinize each platform in terms of pricing, ease-of-use, features, and integration support. In order to help narrow down your options, this article pits LiquidPlanner and Wrike against one another to help you decide which one is best for you.

Price

If you're still undecided about whether or not you truly need PM software, start with Wrike's robust free plan, which allows five users to work on an unlimited number of projects of up to 2 GB of data. The free plan is bare-bones and doesn't feature basic tools such as timesheets or dashboards. Once you've decided to invest in PM software, you can upgrade to one of Wrike's three paid tiers: Wrike Professional ($49 per month for up to five users or $99 per month for up to 15 users). If you need unlimited users and unlimited data, ask Wrike about its Enterprise package, which features customized pricing.

LiquidPlanner doesn't offer a free plan. The lowest-priced plan LiquidPlanner offers is the $29 per user per month Standard plan, which has a 10-user minimum requirement and a maximum of 25 active clients. The Professional plan goes up to 100 active clients for $39 per user per month, and the Enterprise plan gives you access to an unlimited number of seats. Enterprise pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis, so you'll have to request a quote from LiquidPlanner to determine if this tier is right for your business.

If you've got fewer than 100 users but more than five users, you'll definitely prefer LiquidPlanner's pricing structure. Keep in mind, however, that we can't definitively say which service offers a more affordable plan at the Enterprise level, so it's highly possible that Wrike is the better option if you need to add hundreds of users to your system. Edge: LiquidPlanner.

Features and UI

Wrike's UI uses a folder-based structure that can be a bit confusing if you're not accustomed to the system. Folders are essentially projects and, once a project is created, you can invite team members, add files, and send messages. Once you get into a folder, you're essentially seeing the same things you'd see on other platforms, but this odd categorization might be a minor stumbling block for new users. However, Wrike does an excellent job incorporating features such as Timeline, Reports, and Pins to let you interact with workflows to make changes and additions as you go.

LiquidPlanner's UI is a bit cold and mechanical but, unlike Wrike, it's not confusing or overwhelmin (even for software neophytes). LiquidPlanner is chock-full of useful features that let you create and name projects, assign various team members to tasks, set deadlines, and add milestones. Tasks can have subtasks and projects can have subprojects, all of which make it easier to boil down to specific actions and requirements for each member of your team. You'll be able to add prioritization, time tracking, and in-depth analytics for creating, managing, and examining your workflows. Edge: LiquidPlanner.

Integrations

Wrike and LiquidPlanner both offer a healthy number of integrations with third-party services such as Box , Dropbox , and Google Drive . They are both supported by Zapier, which connects more than 500 apps within one designated workflow.

In addition to Zapier, LiquidPlanner heavily relies on its Salesforce.com and Okta integrations to ensure your PM tool ties back to the rest of your organization's software. Wrike, on the other hand, ties back to 35 separate tools, including Okta and Zapier. These tools include Apple Mail and Microsoft Office 365 . These additions give Wrike a clear edge in this category. Edge: Wrike.

Bottom Line

Both tools are heavyweights in the PM space. Unfortunately for Wrike, LiquidPlanner is the undisputed champion. With its more affordable price plan, easy-to-use UI, and rich feature set, it sits just above Wrike at the head of this category. However, if third-party integrations are your main concern, Wrike offers a more diverse set of offerings. Recommendation: LiquidPlanner

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.