FluentBoards vs WP Project Manager: Which Is the Best WordPress Project Manager Plugin

Managing projects inside WordPress is becoming more popular day by day. Many businesses, agencies, and website owners now want to handle their tasks, teams, and deadlines without leaving their WordPress dashboard. This makes WordPress project management plugins a must-have tool for many.

Two popular names in this category are FluentBoards and WP Project Manager. Both plugins help you manage projects, but they work in different ways. One focuses on visual task management using Kanban boards, while the other offers a full set of project management features like task lists, milestones, and time tracking.

If you’re confused about which one is right for you, this blog post will help. In this article, we’ll compare FluentBoards vs WP Project Manager side by side. Let’s find out which is the best WordPress project manager plugin for your needs.

FluentBoards: A Quick Overview

FluentBoards is a modern and lightweight project management plugin for WordPress. It is built by WP Manage Ninja, the same team behind Fluent Forms and FluentCRM. FluentBoards follows a Kanban-style task management system. This means you can organize your projects visually using boards, lists, and task cards.

It gives you a simple and clean dashboard where you can track task progress, set priorities, assign team members, and manage deadlines. You can create unlimited boards and tasks, set custom task stages, and collaborate with your team easily. FluentBoards is easy to integrate with any other product developed by WP Manage Ninja.

WP Project Manager: A Quick Overview

WP Project Manager is one of the oldest and most popular project management plugins for WordPress. It is developed by weDevs, a well-known WordPress product company. You can create projects, add task lists, set milestones, assign tasks to team members, and track project progress from start to finish.

The plugin comes with a wide range of features like time tracking, file sharing, discussions, and user roles. WP Project Manager is suitable for teams, agencies, and businesses that need a detailed project management system. It also offers both free and premium plans. The premium version unlocks advanced tools like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, subtasks, reports, and more.

FluentBoards vs WP Project Manager: Feature by Feature Comparison

To decide which is the best project manager plugin for WordPress, we must explore and compare the key features of these two plugins. Let's do it in the discussion below.

1. Kanban Boards

FluentBoards offers a highly intuitive and customizable Kanban board experience. It's developed in such a way to mirror the design simplicity of tools like Trello. Its drag-and-drop interface allows you to create, manage, and organize tasks across multiple stages with ease. The boards are visually polished, with options to customize columns, set task priorities, and add labels for quick identification.

WP Project Manager provides Kanban boards as part of its premium version. The boards allow users to create tasks, assign team members, and track progress through customizable stages, with support for subtasks and milestones to break down complex projects. While effective for task visualization, its interface also feels somewhat similar to Trello. Its strength lies in additional features like progress reports and time tracking that complement the Kanban boards.

2. Task Management

FluentBoards offers an intuitive task management system. Its Kanban-style boards allow users to create unlimited tasks and projects, with drag-and-drop functionality to organize tasks across customizable stages like ‘To-Do,' ‘In Progress,' or ‘Completed.' Tasks can be assigned to unlimited team members, making it ideal for growing teams without restrictive user limits. FluentBoards enhances productivity with features like task prioritization, due dates, and a time tracker.

WP Project Manager provides a detailed task management system. It supports task creation with subtasks, milestones, and dependencies, allowing for granular control over project workflows. Users can assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and track progress through features like Gantt charts and time tracking. These are particularly valuable for agencies managing long-term or multi-phase projects.

3. Gantt Chart

Unfortunately, FluentBoards doesn't have a Gantt Chart. Instead, it focuses only on Kanban Boards for listing and managing tasks.

But WP Project Manager has a feature-rich Gantt Chart. It has been designed to provide a comprehensive visual representation of project timelines through horizontal bar graphs. This Gantt Chart allows you to set task durations, establish dependencies, and track progress with drag-and-drop functionality.

This makes it an ideal option for managing complex projects with multiple milestones and subtasks. The Gantt chart integrates seamlessly with other features like time tracking and interactive calendars. Learn how to use the Gantt Chart to schedule any project.

4. Task Calendar

FluentBoards offers a Calendar view that visually represents project tasks, deadlines, and milestones arranged chronologically, which makes it easy to track project schedules and progress. You can have a clear overview of task timelines in daily, weekly, or monthly views, with the ability to filter tasks by assignees, priorities, or due dates.

WP Project Manager includes an interactive calendar feature that displays tasks and milestones in daily, weekly, monthly, or user-specific views, which is accessible directly from the WordPress dashboard. You can even create tasks directly in the calendar by selecting a date, specifying project details, assigning team members, and setting deadlines. By adding color-codes, you can easily indicate taskbars, like complete, incomplete, or outstanding.

5. Analytics and Reporting

FluentBoards provides comprehensive reports and analytics to provide clear insights into project progress. Its analytics dashboard allows users to track task completion rates, monitor stage-wise progress on Kanban boards, and analyze task priorities with visual charts. Users can generate reports to assess team performance, identify bottlenecks, and measure project milestones, all within the interface.

WP Project Manager excels in analytics and reporting, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for detailed project oversight. We have already discussed that the plugin has a Board, Gantt Chart, Calendar, and Time Tracker. All these tools together can provide you with a detailed report on task completion, overdue tasks, and team productivity. It can also generate reports on time spent per task or project.

Explore the best Kanban Boards for WordPress project management.

6. Integrations

FluentBoards integrates natively with FluentCRM. This allows you to link CRM contacts to tasks or boards, enabling automation triggers like ‘Contact Added to Board,' ‘Contact Added to Task,' or ‘Stage Changed' for streamlined client management and automated workflows. Additionally, FluentBoards connects with Fluent Forms.

This automatically converts form submissions into tasks, which simplifies gathering project details from clients. Its integration with Fluent Support transforms support tickets into tasks with a single click. FluentBoards also supports Webhook integration for custom automation and allows easy data migration from Trello and Asana.

WP Project Manager integrates with platforms like GitHub and Bitbucket for seamless code management. It allows developers to sync repositories with project tasks. Slack integration enables real-time team notifications and updates.

The plugin also supports BuddyPress for community-driven project discussions and WooCommerce for e-commerce project tracking. Additionally, WP Project Manager integrates with WP ERP, which is a comprehensive ERP solution.

Check this post on why you need a productivity time tracker.

7. Frontend Compatibility

FluentBoards allows users to manage projects directly from the frontend of their WordPress site via a dedicated frontend portal. This enables team members and clients to view and interact with project boards without needing backend access. This is particularly helpful for non-admin users or external stakeholders. The frontend portal supports dynamic shortcodes. So, you can easily embed project boards or specific tasks into any page or post.

WP Project Manager also provides frontend compatibility. It allows users to manage projects and tasks from the frontend of their WordPress site. It lets users view projects, assign tasks, and track progress through a frontend interface. Clients and vendors can access project files, provide feedback, and review progress with individual login credentials.

8. In-Project Discussion

FluentBoards allows in-project discussions through its comment and mention features, which is very basic. Team members can add comments to specific tasks, tag colleagues using mentions to ensure targeted communication, and share vital resources to clarify project details. These discussions are integrated into the task interface, so users can track conversations alongside task progress in real-time.

WP Project Manager includes extensive in-project discussion capabilities through dedicated discussion boards and comment systems. Users can create project-specific discussion threads, attach files, and stylize messages to foster clear communication among team members. The plugin supports both open-channel and private discussions to ensure flexible collaboration for project needs.

Here's a guide on how to mitigate risks in project management.

9. Collaboration Tools

FluentBoards has a collection of tools designed to ease team communication. Its real-time comment system allows team members to discuss tasks directly on the platform, reducing the need for external tools like email or Slack. Role-based permissions ensure that team members, clients, or stakeholders have secured access during collaboration.

WP Project Manager provides a comprehensive suite of collaboration tools for complex project management. Its built-in discussion boards allow for detailed task-specific conversations, which ensure transparency and accountability among team members. The plugin supports real-time notifications. Advanced features like private messaging and file-sharing capabilities enable seamless communication and document exchange within the WordPress dashboard.

10. Invoice Creation and Payment Gateway Integration

FluentBoards does not natively offer invoice creation or direct payment gateway integration as part of its core functionality. If you need these features, you have to install a third-party plugin on your site that offers these solutions.

WP Project Manager offers a dedicated Invoice module that enables easy invoice creation. Besides, payment gateway integration makes it a strong choice for users needing to bill clients directly from their project management tool. The module allows you to create invoices for hourly or fixed-rate projects, track payment statuses, and download invoices as PDFs. WP Project Manager has flawless integration with Stripe.

Fluentboards vs WP Project Manager: A Quick Snapshot

Hope you enjoyed the above discussion. Now, to give you a quick recap, we’ll summarize all the key information from the above discussion in the table below.

FluentBoards vs WP Project Manager: Which One Is the Best for You

Hope by now you have a good idea about the key features of these plugins and key comparisons between them. Now, in this section, we'll cover a quick discussion on who are ideal users are for these plugins. Keep reading.

FluentBoards: Who Are Its Ideal Users?

FluentBoards is ideal for users who prioritize simplicity, a modern interface, and seamless integration within the WordPress ecosystem, particularly for those already using FluentCRM or Fluent Forms. This plugin is ideal for:

• Freelancers
• Small to medium agencies
• WordPress-centric teams

WP Project Manager: Who Are Its Ideal Users?

WP Project Manager is the go-to choice for teams looking for a comprehensive set of features, especially those who directly want to sell services from their website.

• Large teams
• Agencies
• Businesses with complex projects
• Users needing Gantt charts and invoicing
• Those requiring extensive third-party integrations

FluentBoards vs WP Project Manager: Pricing Plans

FluentBoards has two pricing schemes – Annual and Lifetime. Each scheme has three plans. They are:

>> Annual Scheme

• Single License – $77 for one domain
• Agency License – $149 for five domains
• Unlimited License – $299 for unlimited domains

>> Lifetime Scheme

• Single License – $174 for one domain
• Agency License – $349 for five domains
• Unlimited License – $699 for unlimited domains

In the same way, WP Project Manager also has two pricing schemes – Annual and Lifetime. Each one has three plans. They are:

>> Annual Scheme

• Personal – $79 for one domain
• Professional – $149 for five domains
• Business – $249 for ten domains

>> Lifetime Scheme

• Personal – $395 for one domain
• Professional – $745 for five domains
• Business – $1245 for ten domains

Final Thoughts!

Now, comparing the pricing, we can see that FluentBoards is cheaper than WP Project Manager. However, when it comes to features, WP Project Manager is clearly ahead. It’s now your turn to choose the plugin that fits your needs and budget.

Of course, every new tool comes with a learning curve. But the good news is, both of these plugins are intuitive and easy to use. To conclude today’s write-up with an expert opinion: If you are managing a small team, don’t need advanced project management features, and don’t plan to involve your clients heavily in the project, FluentBoards is a good choice.

But if you are handling a large team and need features like payment gateway support and more advanced tools, WP Project Manager is a better option. Now, the choice is yours! If you have any questions, let us know through the comment box below.