10 Best Free Collaboration Tools

Why You Should Use Collaboration Software?

In today’s fast-paced and chaotic world it is important to communicate and collaborate via practical tools. The amount of information that we send and receive every day may become overwhelming if not managed properly. That’s why organizations and employees decide to use collaboration tools and apps – to make work more effective.

Using software for collaboration brings only benefits. It improves the workflow, employees are able to clearly understand processes taking place in an organization, and it boosts people’s productivity. If you use the right tools, your business will be organized, and you will have a unified communication and work management channel.

Take a look at our list of 10 best free collaboration tools.

#1 TimeCamp Planner – an easy-to-use collaboration tool

Created by the Timecamp team, TimeCamp Planner is a free task management software for everyone. It’s a combination of Slack and Trello. TimeCamp Planner has plenty of useful features that good collaboration software should have:

• Thanks to its design you can see three boards in one place – your team and spaces (different channels), chat, list of cards with tasks.
• You can easily convert part of your conversation into a task.
• The collaboration board with tasks allows you to see all projects in one place.
• Every task can be adjusted – you can set date, assign people to it, add tags, description, files, comment on it. All to keep you updated on task progress.
• You can share files.
• The feature of workspaces allows you to create many spaces, if, for example, you work for various organizations or have different clients.
• Pleasant and intuitive interface.

TimeCamp Planner gives you space to freely and smoothly collaborate with your teams and clients. No more switching between apps and tabs. You have everything in one place!

Take your company to another level.

Sign up for TimeCamp Planner today!

#2 Filestage

Filestage is the enterprise-ready online proofing software that helps teams to get their work reviewed and approved faster. The tool enables colleagues and clients to view, comment, and annotate files in real-time to collect and discuss feedback.

Furthermore, Filestage streamlines collaborative work with customizable workflows, task automation, and in-built versioning of files. The tool also reduces stress for your colleagues or clients by providing them with a simple way to communicate and give feedback. They don’t even need to sign up. With Filestag you can manage all your review processes in one place, speed up approvals, and complete projects faster by eliminating back-and-forth email chains.

#3 Kezmo

Kezmo is a collaboration software dedicated to people who would like to keep the e-mail style of correspondence and manage their tasks based on it. This tool is a great alternative for e-mail. What is more, you can be sure that your messages and data are secured.

In Kezmo you can create workspaces for different projects or clients, keep track of tasks’ deadlines, share and organize content, create polls, adjust language or declutter conversation by separating it into channels. Kezmo is an intuitive tool with plain interface.

#4 Realtime Board

If you’re looking for a simple solution, Realtime Board will be your perfect match. The tool has a form of a virtual whiteboard which you can decorate with sticky notes, charts, flows, and any other form of shapes to organize ideas and manage workflow. No matter where your team is, they can all access Realtime Board and chat over the project, brainstorm, and add new ideas.

This collaboration software allows you and your team to digitize ideas, plans, and tasks with over 50 templates (Kanban, Business model, Flowchart, and many, many more).

#5 Bitrix24 – an advanced collaboration tool

Collaboration involves various actions besides chat. Bitrix24 is one of that collaboration software which combines project management software. It is aimed at enhancing collaboration through proper communication of task. Bitrix24 has a broad list of features:

• Group chat, private chat, public chat, audio and video calls, screen sharing.
• Extranet access for clients.
• Available as a mobile version for iOS and Android.
• Time tracking, quotes and invoices, Gantt, shared calendars, task templates, checklists, dependencies, subtasks, custom fields.
• Access to workflow.
• Integrations.

It’s one of the most popular and complex collaboration tools.

#6 Samepage

Samepage is software dedicated to people who want to improve the team’s collaboration. Some of its main features include team chat, video conferencing, task management, file sharing, or real-time document collaboration. It’s a good alternative to project management software as these often don’t include collaboration aspects.

Samepage allows team members to share any type of information, files, videos, etc. and by that improve collaboration. Moreover, it saves the effort of jumping from one app to another to check the project’s or task’s status and your team’s work progress. You can choose from several different views: collaboration board, spreadsheets, mindmaps, calendars etc. If you are looking for good collaboration tools you should definitely consider Samepage.

#7 RingCentral Video

Certain tools are created for certain purposes. RingCentral Video was created to enhance team collaboration via a solid communication channel. It’s an easy, intuitive, and functional task management software with chat. It’s a great solution for enthusiasts of simplicity. Apart from chat with the function of screen sharing to collaborate live, RingCentral Video offers managing tasks. Tasks can be easily adjusted thanks to various options.

 

#8 hibox

Hibox is a combination of chat, video tool, and task management software. It allows you not only to chat with your team but also to connect with them via video. Thanks to that you can talk to them from every place.

In Hibox, you can create streams for different teams, share files, and create tasks for employees who are part of the stream. You can manage conversations, files, and track tasks organized by the project while you have multiple projects running at once. Similarly to TimeCamp Planner, Hibox’s tasks can be personalized by adding files, setting deadlines, or even by using the assistance of personal AI. It’s available as a mobile app and integrates with various tools and apps.

#9 Yammer

If you’re a fan of Facebook, you may like Yammer for its design – it is very similar to the famous social media platform. It’s a part of Microsoft Office 365 and if you’re using other Microsoft Office products, you may want to consider choosing this collaboration software.

Yammer helps to draw a certain scheme for a hierarchy in the organization. It connects the team with leaders and people being at the top of the organizational hierarchy ladder. That allows staying connected with every member of the company and with every project. In Yammer, you can easily join and create groups relevant to your work and interests, safely collaborate with contractors, customers or sister companies. You can also add various files to conversations. Yammer is available as a mobile app for iOS and Android.

#10 Flowlu

Flowlu is a simple collaboration tool with all the features a team needs to communicate and cooperate. It has online chat, workspaces with dedicated activity feed, reports for tasks and projects, and a section for file sharing.

In Flowlu you can easily chat with your team, manage tasks, and the workflow. You can monitor your projects on a comprehensive collaboration board. The tool is intuitive and easy-to-use.

#11 Clinked

Created by Rabbitsoft, Clinked is an easy-to-use, comprehensive collaboration software. The tool is available as a mobile version so you can easily access it from any place in the world. Additionally, you can work both with clients and your employees, thanks to the feature of workspaces.

Clinked works similarly to project management software and can effortlessly collaborate with other people. The software is a great solution for organizations who want to improve cooperation with clients. Thanks to Clinked, you speed up processes, don’t need to organize meetings, and smoothly transfer information and provide updates on projects. If you want to improve business relations of your organization, Clinked is the right collaboration software.

Bonus Tool: Markup Hero

For fast and easy feedback on project tickets, marketing comps, content marketing, screenshots and just about anything else, try Markup Hero. Annotate images, PDF’s, Google Docs and more. No account or credit card required to try!

What Are Your Favorite Collaboration Tools?

Working together can be enjoyable, you only need to have the right collaboration tools. Remember to choose wisely and use the tools that suit your business needs!

And what’s your favorite app for team collaboration?

Happy collaborating! 😄

Kate Borucka Kate is a freelance translator, copywriter, and a content writer specializing in time tracking software, time management, and productivity. When not researching new software, she's reading books, or spending time outdoors.

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