ActiveCollab Erfahrungen

Vorteile

Before I decided to go with ActiveCollab a few years ago, I researched and tried all the project management softwares I could find. I ended up going with ActiveCollab for a number of reasons.

One, their interface is simple, practical, and easy on the eye. I found other project management softwares trying to hard and it essentially complicated simple things. Also, I loved how my projects can be displayed and searched. I know this sounds trivial, but when you manage hundreds of projects (websites), I need an interface that works for me. Their interface works perfectly for someone with my needs. I constantly have to go back and forth on so many notes for projects and ActiveCollab has made it user-friendly for me to do this.

Second, ActiveCollab had awesome customer service when I had any issues or questions. This was a big plus because I then knew I was in good hands.

Third, they had some add-ons other softwares didn't have so it was nice to have features I wanted to use all in one place, like time tracking and invoicing.

Fourth, it was reasonably priced.

Nachteile

While I went with ActiveCollab, I am still frustrated with some of their features:

One, I use notes A LOT. Their notes interface design looks like something from the 90's.

Two, while they have the invoicing option available, it's sub-par. There are a lot of things they can improve with their invoicing. I wish I could use it, but it's just very limited. An example of a limitation is that you can't even enter or send an invoice without "inviting" the client to join ActiveCollab. I tried testing an invoice by putting an email manually because they claimed you could, but nothing gets sent, unless I "invite" someone into my account. This is silly. Another issue I have with the invoicing is that it shows "Active Collab" as the sender and you do NOT have the option to change this. Kinda stupid.

Three, you only have a measly 3 ways to categorize or filter projects: Client, Category, and Label. This can be very limiting depending on what you're doing.

Vorteile

We tried many alternatives, but the simplicity and the ability to self host won us over.
Task lists, Kanban Style boards, Time tracking, Notifying and Assigning all work well.

Nachteile

I feel the file sharing (or at least referencing a file you have already uploaded) could be simpler. Apart from that we're really happy.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Trello, Basecamp und Asana

Zuvor genutzte Software

Asana

Gründe für den Wechsel zu ActiveCollab

Primarily the ability to self host, and have a large team accessing without paying by user per month.

Vorteile

Onboarding is easy, interface is easy to use and understanding. It's also one of the cheapest option in the market. For features that are not available, the ActiveCollab team is keen to consider adding that feature though during our usage, we didn't really see the feature being rolled out.

Nachteile

I used to use Basecamp and when compared, there are a lot of features that are lacking in ActiveCollab such as being able to create a Gantt timeline, quite messy grouping of projects on the main home page, not able to add vendors (only can add clients, yet we do not use ActiveCollab to collaborate with clients). As a project management tool, we also would like to see how we can gauge the workload of each team mate and if each team mate might be overload within the day or week, this function at the moment is not available. Completed tasked are being archived and under archived, the completed tasks are not organised according to task list. Some features such as invoicing and budget management cannot be adopted by finance team as they uses a more advanced thou legacy system which includes a whole lot of other functions on top of merely invoicing.

Vorteile

Web used Active Collab during several years in our servers. The database structure is very simple and allow us to create dashboards with user data.

Nachteile

Lack of features like kanban and of user interface improvements during updates

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Redmine, Jira und Basecamp

Warum ActiveCollab gewählt wurde

Jira was so complicated and hard do mantain. I'm talking about 2009

Zuvor genutzte Software

Redmine, Jira und Basecamp

Gründe für den Wechsel zu ActiveCollab

Price and simples maintenance

Vorteile

Being able to:
- upload images and files into task discussion threads to facilitate easy review of work
- easily add and archive users
- run reports at the task, project, client, and user levels

Nachteile

- No integration with Microsoft Teams.
- Limited ability to manage user groups or fine-tune user permissions.
Most needed feature:
- The ability to mark notifications "unread" or "priority".

Vorteile

Ease of use and implementation. Simple staff on-boarding and intuitive interface.

Nachteile

Poor search function and lack of ability to enter a date on estimates... crazy that such a well rounded and useful software lacks a full feature search function and doesn't allow (nor even auto generate) a date field on the estimate form.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

FunctionFox, Basecamp und Asana

Gründe für den Wechsel zu ActiveCollab

Cost was major consideration, but it also provides all features we needed.

Vorteile

I have tried multiple task management software for our company, But anyhow I was not satisfied with other product because of no option to manage workload or time and invoice calculation or somehow workflow is difficult for non technical user to use.
Activ Collab has the most simple UI and Design. Only 1 or 2 days training will be sufficient for any users to understand it.
Workload segment is really simple and most important functionality it have.
And the support team is really great.

Most importantly - it have self hosted options which is utmost priority for us for data security and privacy and also we can reduce cost for our users.

Nachteile

Android app needs improvement. It doesn't comes anywhere near to desktop web version.

Vorteile

Solid options for organization and streamlining processes that even clients can be taught to use. As a creative agency selling our time it's important to communicate quickly and efficiently with our clients. A big part of that happens at the beginning of every project when they fill out a creative brief. We've used ActiveCollab to set up standard brief templates so AC asks all the questions and they go down the list and fill it out. The time tracker works great and is a painless way to keep track of time. Email notifications are great, especially being able to respond to comments VIA email really speeds things up. Support staff is great. Always available and helpful.

Nachteile

The invoicing functionality is great but is missing major sorting and display capabilities. For example, if I wanted to show each time entry with its note about what that entry was for organized by project, I cannot do that. My wife has also complained about the App not having a lot of functionality, but I have not used it much personally. I also think the 'Notes' 'Files' and 'Discussions' tabs are kind of random. Haven't found a good place for those in our workflows and they're confusing for clients. I realize it's a big thing to ask, but I'd also like to see some way of incorporating something like Slack into Active Collab, so we can move away from Skype completely.

Vorteile

It's amazing how flexible AC can be depending on a project's needs. It can serve as a simple reminder list with great speed and simplicity but also get fully blown up for projects involving production teams and clients at once. Compared to its competition it never feels like its dictating you to use it in a certain way, it just hands you a great bunch of options and lets you use them without interference. I use other products like dropbox and dropbox paper too and it all goes together really nicely.
One thing to note is a personal and genuinely helpful customer service, there have been issues and bugs here and there (not many) and in 90% of the cases they were solved within short time.

I think AC is great for freelancers and small project groups working remotely I switched from Basecamp and it was one of a relief.

Nachteile

I personally don't like the free limitations of users. I know there's a business model behind it but I hate to delete other clients/team members just to make room for someone else.

Vorteile

In such a complex world, where the time and control factor in operations makes a difference, it is vital to have a platform that allows access to many tasks that, otherwise, would involve and coordinate many people, this type of tools allows us to save costs and reduce involuntary human errors, in everything that refers to the necessary coordination between all the members of the project. The calendar allows to have all the tasks, meetings, and filter the tasks by projects, and if that were not enough, all this can be complemented with the participation of the members remotely, so that it is possible to follow the general state of the proyects. In case of any problem, the support team is attentive to clarify your doubts, there are still elements that we have not had the opportunity to explore, but that, surely, according to our needs we will be using them to solve the growing demands of our organizations.

Nachteile

As with many platforms, the versions that are used in tables or smart devices show some limitations, in relation to those that are handled by PC, it would be very important to preserve and maximize the benefits when you have other devices and not limit the functions that, After all, knowledge or traditional devices for solving problems are not always available.

Vorteile

My team and I do really like the simplicity of the software. It helps us focus on doing the tasks rather than figuring out how to use the software correctly to assign tasks.

Nachteile

- Unmaintained mobile apps, both iOS and Android versions.
- No function to duplicate tasks list.
- Zipping attachments from a task to be downloaded, takes forever.
- Bulk actions on tasks seem to need an improvement on UX so that it's more user friendly to use. Currently, we need to scroll up and down to choose the actions.
- On the Reports page for Tasks, every time we choose a Custom Report, the columns and "sort by" are always reset.
- As admin, I can't see the full list of other user's Activities. I can only see the last 5 or something.

I might be able to give some more feedback. Do let me know if it helps improve your product :)

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

monday.com und Bitrix24

Warum ActiveCollab gewählt wurde

Lack of bulk actions feature

Zuvor genutzte Software

Trello

Gründe für den Wechsel zu ActiveCollab

Pricing term and cost effectiveness

Vorteile

This software includes all of the features of the leading brands and more in most cases. I compared ActiveCollab to every system out there and tried demos and trials of each as well. It combines robust options with ease of use, and is more affordable than most other options. We can use kan-ban, calendar or list views, and can organize almost everything to our own preference. They also are continuously upgrading the system and adding features. I also like that they have a roadmap on their website so you know what they will be working on next. Top quality product and service.

Nachteile

We used to be able to change the colors and design options but now we are limited to one set of colors and 4 or 5 different background images. I know it is probably only the designers who care, but as a design company, it drives me crazy. It's not ugly, per se, and it is definitely not hard to read or use, but it is not how I would like it to look, so, it's my least favorite thing about it.

Vorteile

Active Collab is efficient, friendly, and structured just right for our team's work. The reporting, activity stream, project, task, and subtask organization are all well-calibrated for daily use to organize work and to report on projects.

Nachteile

I wish AC integrated with Jira. Our development unit uses Jira, but the complexity means it's a no-go for our unit's daily use. The lack of integration means that sometimes members of our team have to ping-pong between both products, or fail to understand what's happening there. A preview of a Jira ticket in AC would be totally sufficient.

Vorteile

The very first thing I would like to highlight is ActiveCollab's great, minimalist design. It is one of the most beautiful UI I have ever used. Everything is clearly and logically laid out and it doesn't take many clicks to get to the desired item.
The project management is also simply beautiful, so you don't lose track of everything. Tags and statuses can be customized and the integrated calendar provides an overview of upcoming tasks including deadlines. Task lists and to-dos can be added to each project and sorted by priority. The time tracking is also a nice feature, so you don't have to rely on another program.

Nachteile

Currently, I still find creating customers a bit too cumbersome. I first have to navigate to the "Contacts" item and create the respective company before I can assign a project. I would like to be able to add a project directly from the list of the corresponding company/contact without having to switch back and forth in the menu. An integration with HubSpot would also make work easier if contacts are constantly synchronized, because with HubSpot I always have all contacts automatically.

Vorteile

I love how easy it was to implement across our IT team. We started using this for our project management and it has drastically increased our efficiency and communication.

Nachteile

The only thing I have found that I dislike about ActiveCollab is there is no due date for overall projects. You can create due dates for individual tasks, but it would be nice to set it for the project itself. In no way has this impacted our performance, it would just be a nice feature to add.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Basecamp

Vorteile

I truly do not really like anything about ActiveCollab, but the feature that allows you to hide things from clients is nice.

Nachteile

The title says all of it - ActiveCollab is the single worst project management system I have ever used. Their customer service is the worst part, because it makes solving all of the other issues that go on almost impossible. The timer never works and deletes people's work, the server is often down for days at a time, clients will lose access for no reason at all and not be able to login, we'll stop receiving ActiveCollab email notifications and tasks will show either for the wrong day or not at all. When we reach out to ActiveCollab, they more often than not have absolutely no solution and just say "they are working on it".

Vorteile

I like that I can go one place and see all my tasks for the projects I am a part of. It is easy to tag people and the software is pretty intuitive. It allows many people to be part of the big picture and stay up to date on the progress of projects. It also cuts down on the number of emails I need to send because I can follow up on items within the program and tag people.

Nachteile

The customer support often leaves something to be desired. When issues arise it is not usually a quick fix and when Active Collab is down, our project management comes to a halt because this is the key to our success. The everyday support for quick answers is fine, but when major issues arise the solutions are not always quick.

Vorteile

Working at an agency with 50+ people, where there are many moving parts and everyone wears a lot of hats, Active Collab allows us to stay organized and hold conversations in tasks, with or without clients. Tasks are easy to schedule, reschedule and conversate in.

Nachteile

Overall, these are the issues we experienced with ActiveCollab on a regular basis:

- The ActiveCollab timer erased logged time regularly
- Documents were unable to be uploaded to tasks from time to time, which halted communication on certain topics
- The customer service is very slow. If you're having an issue with the software, it takes weeks to resolve the issue
- Sometimes the software is so slow or won't open for an unreasonable amount of time, ultimately wasting time

Vorteile

1. Nice and easy-to-use interface. No issues with using it for several hours a day.
2. Several nice feeds: global (across all projects), project-wide and personal.
3. Ability to estimate and then track time for a given task.
4. We are an agency and our clients are REALLY NOT eager to use various task-trackers that different agencies push onto them. Thankfully, you can respond to any ActiveCollab comment via email so our clients do not even need to open ActiveCollab to collaborate with us. Meanwhile, we have all messages and comment in a nice and clean order, all inside our comfy ActiveCollab interface.

Nachteile

At some point we decided to move to a self-hosted version of ActiveCollab. By that point we've been using ActiveCollab for a while and our database (including all the files) was about 150GB. Unfortunately, it took about 6 weeks (from 16/10/2017 to 30/11/2017) for the guys over at ActiveCollab to provide us with a link to download our data.

Vorteile

Our entire team is happy to finally use only one piece of software for teamwork. Starting with the project manager, up to the developer and the support all use the same software. Due to the interface (API) the software can be integrated wonderfully into our existing system infrastructure.

Nachteile

We use the self-hosted version of the program. One requirement for the search is the use of ElasticSearch. Unfortunately this is not possible at the moment, so that we cannot use the search.

Vorteile

MOST: The desktop version. Structurally and organizationally sound. Streamlines workflow and allows multiple leads to see the workload and run reports on their various departments. Really helps with tracking estimated time for the individual and their part in the project. Communication is up and the stress of the communication is way way down. Creatives have more freedom and administrators and managers feel like they have the control they need. Love the Command+K shortcut we found today. We're still learning how to customize it to our team. It has made dealing with 60 national brands much easier and has put an end to the grade school feeling of walking up to the gigantic whiteboard to move color blocks around.

Nachteile

Notifications - We believe if a Project is set up and has multiple tasks that run linearly, we should be able to connect them and have a notification sent to the next person when the person before them has completed their task - An automated "passing of the baton" type of thing.

Vorteile

Easy to use, affordable, logical, logical, really helps. The latest version has greate GUI and I have been using this tool for last 4 years. I first used it at Xivic, then took it with me to Get My Auto, Everything Online, Digital Advertier, and now my own consulting firm.

Nachteile

I wish it would connect to other project management tools such as basecamp, asana, etc. I work with many contractors and vendors and if I could do everything in active collab, then it would create a ticket in their platforms, it would be awsome.

Vorteile

Active Collab is a very easy tool to use that allows for the safe and secure sharing of materials between remote stakeholders. The tool provides a great forum for online discussions and file sharing, enabling our company to work seamlessly with clients all around the world.

Nachteile

Recently I have come across some bugs with the uploading of files which has been frustrating when trying to share deadline senstive files with remote clients.

Vorteile

I like the fact that everything is contextually linked, you can dive into a task from a calendar, report, email - anything really.
As a manager it's great for checking workload and distributing tasks efficiently. I've been using ActiveCollab for a while now in different organisations, so much so I recommended we get the self-hosted version.

Nachteile

The inability to email direct to other modules like conversations and files unlike Basecamp which does allow it. That and not being able to add tasks from the calendar. That would be awesome.

Vorteile

Easy of use, all in one place, we like invoices a lot!

Nachteile

Missing sprint planing option, a lot!! :) we now use scrumdo.com for sprintplaning :( would be coll to have such functionality inside activecollab. this will make activecollab bes projectmanagement tool out there!