Zoho Project Management (Reports, Blueprint, Timesheet & more)

Udn Webber

Editorial Coordinator

So you’re here because you think Zoho project management has potential.

Or maybe you and Zoho Projects are going through a rough patch, and you want a clearer look at what they’re capable of before you decide to call it quits. 💔

Either way, you’ll have all the answers you need by the end of this review.

In this article, we’ll discuss Zoho Projects, its key features, and benefits. We’ll also go over its major limitations and suggest the ultimate Zoho project alternative to help you out.

Let’s find out if you and Zoho Projects are meant to be .

What Is Zoho Projects?

Zoho Projects is a popular cloud-based project management tool for team collaboration, connecting with stakeholders , tracking tasks, and creating workflows.

Basically, if you’ve been on the project scene for a while now, you’ve probably heard of them.

This tool can also manage project issues and handle basic bug tracking requests.

And while the affordable pricing options make Zoho Project management a good fit for both large and small teams, let’s focus on the main questions.

What are Zoho Projects’ most impressive features?

And will sparks fly if you choose this tool ?

Read on to find out…

5 Key Features Of Zoho Projects

We want you to find a match as soon as possible.

So, to help you out, we’ve done some in-depth research and handpicked some of its most important features.

1. Zoho Gantt Chart

Zoho Projects’ Gantt chart is a great way to visualize your project and team’s progress.

It supports tracking every task, task list, milestone , and task dependency for better resource management .

You can also calculate the critical path using Zoho’s Gantt chart.

Baselines are a unique feature of the Zoho Gantt Charts. Project managers can set initial baselines which help assess a project’s deviation from the original timeline. This helps to identify and resolve bottlenecks, and team members can plan new tasks based on the current baseline.

Read more about Gantt charts and how to use them .

2. Resource Utilization Chart

Need to ensure your sales department (and coffee machines) aren’t overworking? ☕

Or do you need to identify who has enough room to take on more work?

This is where the resource utilization chart will come in handy. It lets you view the workload distribution to allocate it better and boost overall team productivity .

The resource utilization chart has two viewing options:

Use the mode you like and visualize the allotted work in hours and completion percentage. This way, you’ll be able to make better decisions for enhancing work efficiency.

3. Zoho Blueprint

Zoho Blueprint is like a digital sketch board where you can design and visualize your workflow to automate your processes.

Here, you can add task statuses that fit your organization, such as open, in progress, in-approval, done, etc.

Once live, Zoho Project’s Blueprint is designed to help execute your entire team’s processes in a sequential manner. It aims to fix inconsistencies and gaps that might be missed by following offline processes.

Bonus: More tools similar to Zoho Project !

But wait.

We don’t want to break your heart, but the Blueprint feature isn’t available for free.

You’ll have to upgrade to their Premium Plan (at $4/ user per month) or the Enterprise plan (at $9/ user per month) to access this fun feature.

Too high a price for a simple grid-like interface?

We think so too. 🤦

4. Zoho Timesheets

Keeping track of the hours that go into work can be challenging, especially if you run a remote team. This is where Zoho Projects’ Timesheets can help.

This feature allows:

Additionally, the timesheet module has three views: list, grid, and calendar view to give you some flexibility. You can also group timesheets by a user or date.

By using Zoho Timesheets, you can understand your projects better and increase productivity.

5. Zoho app integrations

Zoho Projects’ integrates well with the other Zoho apps.

Some of the apps in the Zoho ecosystem include:

However, there is one question:

Why develop so many separate apps when they’re all project-related? You want to find the one for you, right? 🤔

3 Key Benefits Of Zoho Projects

Loving Zoho Projects so far?

Then let’s check out three key benefits that make you like it more:

1. Project planning

If Zoho Projects is good at something, it’s project planning .

Throw simple or complex projects at this project management tool, and it’ll do a fine job to help you create a good project plan.

Use Zoho Projects to make project tasks and subtasks, manage assignees, task dependencies, and so much more on multiple projects .

Got an Agile team ?

You’re going to love their Gantt chart and Kanban board features.

Of course, let’s be honest.

This is the bare minimum you should expect from a project management platform.

Like wearing deodorant on a first date. Ugh.

2. Team collaboration

Zoho Projects isn’t just for solo high-fliers. It supports efficient team communication collaboration too.

Some of their key team collaboration features include:

Now, combine them with task management features like deadlines, time estimates, and task statuses.

Nice, right?

But don’t forget, you’re still coordinating over, like, five different apps.

That’s like trying to schedule a date with your bae but having to check with four of her best friends first!

Zoho Projects is still not a one-stop collaboration tool.

3. Project and task reports

Project reports give you a full picture of your project status and help you identify the areas that need improvement.

And Zoho reports helps you out with reports for all kinds of project and task-related data like:

With all this information, you could have the superpower to improve your team’s productivity with each new project. 🎉

The Zoho reporting tool allows you to view the status of your project, how resources are allocated , and hours spent by team members. Zoho reports also includes 50 ready-made report and dashboard templates to get started immediately.

Unfortunately, the free plan only has basic reports, and the advanced reports are limited to the paid plan.

Looks like there’s no splitting the bill on this date. 🙄

6 Major Limitations Of Zoho Projects (With Solutions)

Zoho Projects may be capable of doing great things, but is it perfect?

The answer is no .

But Zoho… they had so much potential, right?

Let’s find out where this project management software falls short (and how you can solve these problems).

1. No recurring reminders

Want to set a reminder to send your client a project update every Tuesday?

Or remind your team of  Taco Tuesday? 🌮

Well, don’t turn to Zoho Projects.

They don’t support reminders.

The app that can make it possible is UDN Task Manager .

UDN Task Manager is a powerful project management software that’s also the ultimate Zoho Project alternative .

UDN Task Manager , may not make some mean Tacos (yet), but the app does a great job with Recurring Reminders for routine tasks.

Use it to keep your team and clients in the loop. Oh, and keep them prepared for Tacos every Tuesday!

Not only do you get recurring Reminders , but also Recurring Tasks and Checklists .

Because when we’re good at something, we like to keep doing it! 😜

Incidentally, this is also one of the many features that make UDN Task Manager a great Basecamp alternative . Check out our Basecamp review to learn why.

2. No PDF annotation or image markup

You’d think Zoho Projects would offer you PDF annotation because it brags about its excellent document management features.

But unfortunately, there’s no such thing in this tool.

Feeling a little betrayed?

Well, here’s an intervention:

Stop looking for help from multiple tools. Because you deserve better.

Go for a single tool that can handle document management and annotations.

Just use UDN Task Manager .

UDN Task Manager lets you annotate PDFs and images with its Proofing features.

Use it to place clear markers and comments on:

3. No offline access

With almost every project activity happening online, things can turn nightmarish when you’re offline.👀

But your client isn’t going to take ‘wifi down’ as an excuse for missed deadlines.

Maybe they’ll accept “I use Zoho” as an excuse since it can’t handle anything without the internet.

Nobody panic.

The solution is here.

And the solution is UDN Task Manager .

Thanks to the Offline Mode , UDN Task Manager can remember every task and reminder you create when the internet isn’t working.

Carry on with your work from anywhere, even when the internet is down.

This way, everything is synced as soon as the internet is back.

No excuses, my friend.

4. Limited integrations with non-Zoho apps

Zoho Projects has integrations with some non-Zoho apps like Google Drive , GitHub, Microsoft Project , and Excel .

However, the integration list is relatively short because Zoho Projects loves its own apps a bit too much.

It doesn’t support Zoom, Toggl, Figma, and many other integrations with your favorite apps.

Think of it this way:

If you commit to Zoho, you’re only going to be hanging with its friends. Your circle of friends is going to have to take a backseat.

Don’t settle for that .

UDN Task Manager ’s list of Integrations will leave you super impressed. 😍

You can integrate directly with Slack , Evernote , Google Assistant , Webhooks , Zendesk , and more.

And if you use Zapier , you’ll walk straight into an integration wonderland that supports over 1,500 apps. 🤯

5. Depends on integration for sprint management

This drawback comes as a surprise.

It’s kind of weird that for an Agile project management software , Zoho Project must integrate with Zoho Sprints for sprint management.

This feels like an unnecessary step when there are other tools on the market that can perform the same task without any external help.

Other tools like UDN Task Manager .

This free Zoho project alternative software has an inbuilt Sprints feature to help you achieve your sprint Goals on time.

When you create Sprints, you can even cover more ground and measure progress with Dashboards and Sprint Widgets .

Use them to report on your Sprints with Burnup , Burndown , Cumulative Flow Diagram , and Velocity charts.

6. No built-in notepad

While you can take notes in Zoho Projects, it isn’t on an inbuilt notepad.

You’ll have to go through the entire process of downloading the Zoho Notebook extension.

Another separate app?!

Isn’t that a little too much trouble for something so basic?

Try the UDN Task Manager Notepad instead.

Take as many notes as you want right alongside your project coordination.

Use Slash Commands to add Rich Text Editing like fonts, headers, and more to your notes.

But here’s why it’s so much more than an ordinary notepad.

You can even convert your notes into tasks !

Has this changed your mind yet? The next point certainly will!

7. Limited free version

Sure, Zoho Projects offers a free version.

However, it has a user limit of three, supports only two projects, and you only get 10MB of file storage.

And we agree.

It can’t work for you, especially if you run a small team that doesn’t have the budget for an upgrade and has more than two projects to deal with.

Here’s an idea. Try UDN Task Manager ’s Free Forever Plan .

And hey, we take commitment seriously. We’re truly free forever . 💕

It’s the best Zoho alternative you’re going to find with unlimited projects, tasks, and even unlimited users.

Moreover, the free plan comes with 100MB of file storage.

That’s ten times what Zoho Projects has to give!

If we can do all that for free, imagine how epic our paid plan can be!

Not feeling the Zoho love anymore? Check out these 21 project management tools that can be great alternatives to Zoho Projects .

And it’s not just Zoho. UDN Task Manager is also the ultimate Trello alternative , Wrike alternative , and Microsoft Project alternative .

Zoho Projects: It’s Time To Break-Up 💔

Sure, Zoho Projects is a capable project management app in some areas .

However, when you dig deep, all you see is an app falling short in some of the simplest areas. It’s like that date who’ll take you to the fanciest restaurant in town and forget their wallet and the fact that it’s your birthday.

Sigh.

Your project management solution should not have to depend on integrations for sprint management. Nor should it rely on an extension for something as simple as notes, right?

The bottom line is you need a powerful project management app that can do everything Zoho Projects can and more with much ease.

All you need is UDN Task Manager !

In this free Zoho Project alternative, you can plan projects , assign tasks, work offline, create an Agile workflow , manage your Sprints , and track task dependencies.

And that’s just a drop in the ocean of awesome features we offer.

So get UDN Task Manager for free today and find your forever project management software. 💝