If you're looking at this category because you think it'll be a silver bullet to all of your teams needs... Well... we implore you to think again and lower your expectations. 😅
This is the exact problem we see arise with the advent of this app category—which is why it gave me pause to even add it to the site. Figured it was better to add it and have a caution, rather than not at all.
So here it goes: We've seen no shortage of teams attempting to use apps like Notion or Coda as their "all-in-one company brain" (think CRM + Documentation + Project Management and more), only to be left overwhelmed and disheartened.
As to why you actually need a CRM instead of trying to make Notion your CRM, check out this article and video. As for why they've been left overwhelmed and disheartened? It's because to become an all-in-one tool, you need to forego most any opinionation.
How do you know if this is the case for an app? See if they have a "Templates" area, and if those templates span across 5+ of the categories listed here (e.g. Notion CRM, Notion Project Manager, etc.). If so, you're in for a real treat!
It's one thing signing up for a CRM and then taking a course, it's another thing trying to use a jack-of-all-traits tool, and trying to build it into what you want it to be. You're essentially building a no-code solution at that point—are you a product manager? Do you understand how databases should be set up and what best practices should take place?
Now you need automation, do you use the baked in automation? Or use something like Zapier or Make? No fret! I'm here to tell you that it has taken us over a decade to actually get good at that. Understanding all of the best practices and structure required is not a small feat or something you'll learn by watching a Notion course—it's much larger than that, and you have a right to feel overwhelmed.
Not to mention, when it comes to training the team on what you've built, how confident are you in what you built? Do you feel like you've been creative? Solved some problems in a unique way? Yep, all bad things when it comes to training a team. Training and team adoption requires clear processes that make sense, and confidence in what to do as edge-cases arise.
Not to mention, with all of the complexity and intertwining of information, you're also going to get an app that gets slower and slower as your team grows.
The solution? Use the best tool for the job. Need a CRM? Use a CRM. Need task management? Use something like Motion—it's opinionated and knows what it's trying to do for you. You're not being "clever" trying to make Airtable work as a project management tool. It was not built to be one, so you're going to struggle to turn it into one (believe me, we've tried many-a-times over the years for customers...it has always failed with meaningful scale).
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This is a category that I had internal conflict about adding for a couple reasons:
Why is #2 an issue? Well it's because looking at each of the tools listed here would be better categorized in 1 or 2 other categories, versus getting the denomination of "all-in-one" (it just feels like a bit of a cop-out).
That said, there's value in explaining this in further detail. Take apps like Notion and Coda, can you build some no-code apps with them? Yes—they are quite impressive in that regard, that said both of those tools were originally built as as a team knowledge base tool, in part to compete with Google Docs. And to that they have—they caught up, surpassed it, and then went searching for more areas to expand their Total Addressable Market (TAM).
We've also found that rolling out all-in-one solutions with customers is actually more difficult to get team adoption due to overwhelm.
Take Notion, it's not opinionated. In them deciding to make it super flexible, allowing it to "do anything", it by design becomes overwhelming with time. We know, it'll be incredibly exciting at first—all of the limitless potential! But then that "potential" turns to overwhelm in weeks and months.
What structure should I add these notes in? Should I add tasks here? Or over here? Do I message you on Slack, or @comment you here in Notion? Because it does "everything", it introduces micro-fatigue for doing anything.
Although, if you're looking for an incredibly flexible note taking tool that struts the lines of "no-code builder", where you actually see structure as a negative, then that's where an all-in-one app like Notion will shine.
And this is the exact problem we have with this category. It does many things well, but it's consistently missing the last 20–30% in every category, which might not seem like a big deal, but I assure you that it'll frustrate the team.
So with all of that said, that's where we typically recommend using the best tool for the job in the respective categories that you're trying to solve for, and then integrate them together with a tool like Zapier if you really need them connected when the time comes.
This is where things get difficult to prescribe without deeply understanding specific use-cases. In general, we rarely believe that "all-in-one" tools are best for companies, as we strongly believe in using the best tool for the job.
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For teams of all sizes looking for a flexible and user-friendly database (spreadsheet replacement) that can easily connect with other tools.
Airtable is an incredibly flexible tool that can be used from something as simple as a Google Sheets replacement, all the way up to a no-code builder.
At a core, it's really just a user-friendly database, similar to that of Coda and even Notion (although those 2 apps both started as more of knowledge base tools first, whereas Airtable has always been first-and-foremost a user-friendly database).
If your team is still using Google Sheets (for things outside of company finance reporting like balance sheets, etc.), then we fully encourage you to check out Airtable and to give it a try. In most cases, it will completely replace the need for Google Sheets, Google Forms, Typeform, Jotform, and other Form software.
Believe it or not, over the past 8+ years, we've actually entirely replaced every single internal Google Sheet with Airtable alternative. Sometimes the structure needs to change slightly, but doing so unlocks so much additional functionality.
We've done this because it provides way more structure (it being a proper database), while also having an incredibly powerful API (for integrating and automating).
And that's where it has some no-code builder functionality, which means with the right guidance, it can even replace more complicated apps lite Submittable (more of an application management software).
As much as we don't recommend using Airtable as your CRM, we do believe it serves a place in just about every business. For instance, Airtable can serve as a fantastic database extension of your lead and customer info.
That said, we actually named Airtable as one of our 5 Best Copper App Integrations of 2023, so it still serves a purpose even when you're seeing how it might fit alongside your CRM needs.
Airtable is also not a project manager—please stop trying to use it as one 😅
On that note, if you're super tempted to use Airtable as your CRM and don't want a more fully-fledged CRM like Copper, you might want to try out Folk instead.
We love working with the Airtable API. It just does most everything you could want it to do, and it incredibly flexible and easy to work with.
You can simply create a new view within an Airtable Base, add filtered logic to it, and set it up so when a new record enters that view, an automation can be triggered. This allows it to be incredibly flexible.
With it ultimately just being a database at the end of the day and having such a powerful API, it is the most core tool in our stack. I don't think there's one customer we've taken on that we haven't used Airtable with for at least some aspect to their business.
Even if it's just more in the background as an intermediary database, doing data manipulation, allowing for us to more easily pass data between software.
With all of that said, there's a fine line between what it is good for, and what it's not good for. So it brings with it the same issues we've seen arise with tools like Notion and Coda. Determining when you should and shouldn't be using it is probably the most important thing to nail down when determining if Airtable is the right fit for your needs.
Coda is a flexible document tool that struts the line of no-code (you can use it for building micro apps).
We used to be huge fans of Coda for internal documentation and shared customer documentation. When it first came out, it was competing with Google Docs, and it was just better on every single front. And to that end, it still is.
We mainly used it as more of a collaborative project manager mixed with knowledge base solution, to where we'd spin one up when beginning work with a new customer, and it'd be the sole place we'd communicate and document.
The friction point grew over time as documents increasingly felt separate from one another. Jumping between internal documentation and customer documentation was like moving in and out of folders in Google Drive, and quickly searching across all of this was just too much.
That and the team at Coda decided they were going to double-down more on the no-code and database functionality of Coda and less on the knowledge base/documentation side of things.
I must admit, they did an exceptional job at this—in terms of re-thinking Google Docs and turning it into something that's just better in all ways, they accomplished that and more. It's just also with that, they began strutting the line of an all-in-one tool, to which if you've read enough on the site, you'd see that this is a category we see poised with issues.
We've gotta hand it to their team, if you want to dip your toes into the no-code world, there's probably no better entrance than Coda. They have a deep library of concept apps, it was genuinely one of the first tools that really got me thinking in the no-code headspace.
If you're technical enough to understand formulas in Google Sheets, you can do some pretty cool things with Coda. We almost see Coda as more of a playground, a fun place to learn and experiment. If you have a non-standard process that genuinely fits outside that of what other more structured tools offer, it might be worth giving Coda a shot.
This is also the area that's quite difficult though, just because they show you in their templates area that you can build a CRM or Project Manager in Coda, doesn't mean you should.
So while we encourage you to experiment with Coda, we just highly encourage you not to go overboard—if you find yourself trying to recreate an existing solution like a CRM or task manager, take a step back and re-evaluate, as you may be using the wrong tool for the job.
The most direct competition Coda has is probably Notion, as they both started out in the documentation/knowledge base area, and evolved their database functionality to a level of no-code builder capabilities.
We've seen some companies do some incredibly impressive things with Coda—heck, we were one of them. What we see with tools like this though is they start out with a clear focus and purpose—let's build an MVP for a non-standard process we have going on in our company, one that no other tool on the market fits into.
And we agree with that premise! Where it falls apart is shortly after that, when the team starts seeing the capabilities of Coda, and begin rebuilding all other systems into Coda. The exact same reason why we don't recommend using Notion as your CRM is the same reason we don't recommend using Coda as your CRM.
Why is this relevant? Well it's because we've seen way too many well meaning companies using Coda for one division (e.g. marketing), and a CRM for another division (e.g. Sales), and then someone wants the two systems integrated together (totally fine by the way)! What comes next is the problem...
There's then this person that has the "smart" idea of:
"Why don't we remove our reliance on our CRM and instead just build it directly into Coda? How hard can it really be?"
And that's where all hell breaks loose. Not immediately, but rather 1–2 years later when the team finally realizes that they made a huge mistake.
The project manager for large teams looking for an all-in-one task and documentation tool.
ClickUp is best categorized as an "all-in-one tool", even though it started off as more of a project manager, and is quite task management focused at the core. ClickUp now offers tasks, docs, whiteboards, time tracking and even chat. They are truly trying to do it all.
ClickUp appeals to folks who want one tool to manage all work-related projects and processes. These folks don't typically need nor want the best project management tool, or best docs, or best of anything, they just appreciate that one tool (ClickUp) bundles all the apps together under one subscription.
For instance, say you were looking for the best project management tool, then you'd want to consider Asana for larger teams, or Motion for smaller teams (if you're seeking simplicity) because they are both focused only on one thing: project management.
You might like ClickUp if you fall into one or all of the below categories:
The main complaint we've heard about ClickUp is that there is too much configuration and customization. We know this is draw for some, but for most folks, the amount of stuff going on within ClickUp is overwhelming. For instance, many of their features are irrelevant if you're just wanting to use ClickUp for project or task management, making the simple things difficult to find and accomplish.
With that, users of ClickUp report feeling like there is too much clutter that gets in the way, making it difficult to find where things are or you are shown buttons that you have no idea what they're used for. There are SO many options to sift through that you can't find what you're looking for unless you've been using the platform extensively and know it inside and out.
With too much "noise", it's easy for team members to miss being notified in a thread, spending too much time searching for things or wondering about the progress of projects. This steep learning curve for teams makes it difficult to truly adopt and buy-into.
Another complaint we've heard countless of times is that ClickUp is slow to load. While this might not seem like a big deal at first, when you're waiting 3-5 extra seconds for a tool to load, it can certainly get frustrating and slow you down.
All-In-One CRM For Sales & Marketing
We'll get right to it: Avoid GoHighLevel at all costs.
GoHighLevel is essentially a software MLM. You have people that are trying to start businesses or agencies looking for an additional revenue stream, so they purchase GoHighLevel and re-sell it to their customers. So you have these layers on top of layers on top of layers that are selling GoHighLevel.
This is further messed up because you are purchasing a sub license to someone else's GoHighLevel account. Which means you're forever tied to the person who sold it to you, that is also charging you a premium for it. What if they decide to cancel their main GoHighLevel subscription? Or their payment lapses? Well that impacts you, since you sit under them in the purchasing pyramid.
Oh, not to mention you don't own any of your data either. If you want to truly run a business who a good software foundation, do not sign up for GoHighLevel.
An all-in-one project management tool and suite of products for teams.
Monday started off as a project management software, but in order to gain more market share, continued to build tools and expand their offering. They went from being a project management software, to an "all-in-one" tool. They now offer products such as Monday "Work Management" (aka project management), Monday sales CRM and Monday dev (for agile workflows).
When comparing Asana vs Monday Asana wins in the category of project management. Why? Because Monday is trying to be "all-in-one" tool, meaning they are trying to do everything rather than doing one thing super well. Asana is a project management software, through and through. They aren't trying to be anything more.
One area where Monday stands out is it's vibrant interface and bold colors that adds a sprinkle of fun when managing projects. They have different ways to visualize data, like using a 5 star rating system (for priority for example) or timeline views to see project progress. Dragging and dropping tasks in is relatively easy and intuitive. That said, users have reported Monday to be quite buggy in terms of functionality, so when comparing Monday vs Asana in terms of stability, Asana wins this category also.
While Monday offers tiers for small teams, we'd think there are better tools for teams with under 300 employees (like Asana or Motion). That's not to say that smaller teams don't use Monday (they do), it's just going to take quite a bit of work to set it up for success.
Here are the categories, we'd specifically recommend Monday for project management. You may fit into one or all of the below categories:
The main difficulty with Monday is actually getting it setup for success. Many folks create an account, invite their team, pop in some projects and then it sits there as an abandoned tool, with no one on the team actually feeling like its reliable. This comes from not doing a proper Monday implementation (often means working with a consultant). Mapping your processes to Monday and creating team documentation will lead to higher chances of success.
If the above sounds overkill for your business, consider something like Motion as that's more so a project management tool that you can get set up out of the gate and have your team using it fairly quickly (read full Motion review).
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A shared documentation and note taking tool that tip-toes the line of a flexible no-code platform (for teams of all sizes).
Notion positions itself as an "all-in-one" workspace tool, but that doesn't mean it's ideal for "everything."
At its core, Notion is a knowledge base or wiki, designed for documenting company processes and notes. Over time, Notion has expanded its capabilities, allowing users to link notes, create databases with formulas, and more.
Notion's versatility allows you to customize it into almost anything you need. This flexibility has led teams to use Notion as a CRM, project management tool, task manager, knowledge base, and more. However, just because Notion can be adapted for various purposes doesn't always mean it should be. We often receive feedback from teams who've tried using "Notion for everything", only to find it becoming overwhelming and messy.
If you want to use Notion, use it as a knowledge base/company wiki (or use Slite, our top pick and what we use 😉). For specific business functions like project and task management or CRM, it's usually better to opt for dedicated tools built for the job.
A huge drawback of using Notion for CRM or project management is that you're now building your system from scratch. Even with available templates, you'll find yourself investing a lot of time in learning to configure Notion and tailoring it to your processes.
In contrast, a project management tool that is developed by a team focused solely on creating the best product in that niche, will much more quickly set you up for success.
Just think about it: when you're using a project manager that was built for that function, this means that their entire team focused on building the best project manager out there. So you're already getting a tool with project management features that are useful to thousands of other businesses. While with Notion... well guess who is going to be building said features? YOU 😅
The reality is, we often hear people say "but my business is unique so I need a custom solution, which is why Notion is appealing".
After helping teams of all sizes and in many industries for over a decade, we promise you that business processes are not that unique and 95% of the time can be (and should be) mapped to the structure of existing tools.
Oh and if you're considering using Notion as a CRM, make sure to read this dedicated article as to why we don't recommend that either.
Notion offers a free tier for up to 10 guests, making it accessible if you're curious about its capabilities. Notion has a free tier for up to 10 guests, so if you're curious as to what the hype is about, you can easily sign up and start playing with it yourself. If after a day you start feeling overwhelmed, you're not alone, it's more or less a blank slate after all.
A project management tool built to streamline all workflows.
Wrike is often the tool favored by larger organizations or teams with complex, multi-faceted projects requiring advanced project management features and deep customization. Wrike is more of an enterprise-level project management tool (think similar to the Salesforce of project management).
While Monday and Asana are more user-friendly in terms of their user interface, Wrike's interface has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive features.
Wrike’s integrations are particularly beneficial for enterprise-level software ecosystems, think Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, Jira, SAP, ServiceNow, and Tableau.
Wrike has an edge in advanced reporting and analytics compared to Asana and Monday.com, offering detailed insights that are crucial for large teams and complex projects.
In summary, unless you're an enterprise company, do not consider Wrike. If you're a team with under 1000 employees, Wrike alternatives like Asana or Monday will be much better suited for your team.
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