Zoho Projects alternative: FlexiProject compared

A project charter is the document you start a project with. It records the goal, the scope, stakeholders, milestones and success measures with a baseline and a target value. Data from the schedule, the risk register and the budget flows into the charter straight from the project modules. A sponsor approves the charter in the approval workflow software, and approved versions stay in the archive with their author and date.

Every risk carries a probability, an impact, an owner and a response plan. You set the risk matrix on a 3×3, 5×5 or custom scale, and an administrator defines the risk categories. In Zoho Projects you can adjust the risk module with custom fields, but the vendor does not describe a risk matrix. In FlexiProject you link a risk to the schedule task it affects. You see the risks of every project in the portfolio, and you can read more on the risk management module page.

Yes. In the project template module one template covers the schedule, the budget, a list of typical risks and deliverables with document templates. You count template deadlines in working days from the project start. In Zoho Projects a template carries over the schedule and task lists, without project deliverables. In FlexiProject you can save a finished project as a new template, and import a template’s schedule into a project already underway.

In the project budget software you keep costs and revenue in one budget, so the margin on a project sits next to the spend. You link budget lines to schedule tasks. When you move a task, the expense date and the cash flow in later months move with it. You approve every budget change as a new version. Next to the plan and the costs incurred, you see a forecast of the final cost.

Every deliverable has an owner, a deadline and acceptance criteria. You link it to the tasks that deliver it, so you describe the scope through outcomes. In Zoho Projects a deliverable is a task or a milestone, without its own acceptance criteria. You bring together the status of deliverables, risks and plan changes in the project reporting tool.

Yes. In the Kanban board software you work on the same tasks as on the Gantt chart and the task list. These are three views of one schedule, so a status change on the board shows up in the project plan right away. Contributors who only work on tasks assigned to them use the system free of charge.

Yes. FlexiProject is a good Zoho Projects alternative for portfolio management because you can test the portfolio mix in a simulation. You switch selected projects off and see how the portfolio indicators change. A portfolio budget carries a reserve and an expected NPV, and the same project can belong to several portfolios. You bring together the schedules, finances and risks of every project in the project portfolio software.

In the program management tool you link the schedules of several projects into one shared plan. Dependencies tie tasks from different projects together, so moving one date shifts the tasks that depend on it. You test the effect of such a change in a what-if mode before you approve it. The same project can belong to several programs, and you collect its budget and risks in the portfolio.

You score ideas against weighted criteria, such as strategic fit, ROI, risk and resource availability. You send a scoring survey to several reviewers, and you set separate scoring models for different project types. You score a project again while it is running and decide whether to continue it, change its scope or stop it. You will find instructions and videos on scoring in the knowledge base module.

You log hours against the schedule task in the time tracking tool, also from the mobile app. You compare actual time with planned time for every task, so you see the effort spent next to progress. From your phone you can also report task progress with a comment and a photo. The project manager sees the whole team’s entries next to the tasks they concern.

Yes. In the resource planning module you see each person’s daily availability, with leave and part-time hours. You can import leave from Outlook. You check workload at the level of the organization and departments, and also on the Gantt chart. When you assign a task to someone with no free hours, you get a warning. After you move a task, you see the team’s new workload right away.

Yes. You run system maintenance, recurring duties and other everyday tasks in the operational tasks module. In Zoho Projects, work outside projects has no dedicated place. In FlexiProject you count the same availability for it as for project work, so you see the whole workload in one place. Recurring tasks regenerate after completion at a frequency you set.

You hold the conversation next to the object it concerns: a task, a risk, a deliverable or a budget line. A person tagged with @ gets a notification right away, and everyone sets their own email notification scope. You get in-app notifications as they happen. Project chat stays in the archive together with the project. Comments, mentions and chat live in the team communication tool.

Yes. For companies that keep data in-house, FlexiProject is a Zoho Projects alternative on your own servers, with no loss of functionality. The on-premises version includes the project scheduling software and every module built on it. Zoho Projects runs only in the vendor’s cloud. In the cloud version you keep FlexiProject data in the European Economic Area.

You will find license rates on the pricing page. People who only complete and edit their own tasks use the system free of charge. There is no limit on the number of such users. Work at the project level needs a standard license, and the full range of modules comes with a full license. There is no minimum number of licenses; one full license for an administrator is enough to start.