What is task management software, and how is it different from project management?

The difference is scale. Task management is about getting individual pieces of work done: who does what, by when. Project management software covers the whole project: scope, schedules, timelines, budgets, resources and reporting across many projects.

Task tools are lighter and quicker to adopt, which is why small teams often prefer them. Project tools pay off when a team runs large, interdependent programmes that need Gantt charts, workload planning and portfolio reporting. Many teams sit in between and need a few project features, such as boards and dependencies, without the full planning layer.

Start with how much structure you need. A team of five rarely needs custom fields, workflow rules and timelines; it needs shared projects, assignees, a board and reminders that people actually read. Check how long it takes to add a task, because that decides whether the team keeps using the tool.

Then check the free plan's limits, how the price grows as you add people, whether tasks can have more than one assignee, how reminders are sent, and whether the tool sits alongside the other apps your team already uses.