Simpler than project management software
Project management tools are built for projects: phases, dependencies, timesheets, and somebody whose job it is to keep the board tidy. Most small businesses do not run projects. They run today. This page is the honest version, including the list of things StaffToDo cannot do.
The honest part
What StaffToDo does not do
Every tool in this category publishes a feature list. Almost none publish this one. If something below is important to you, the rest of the page will not change your mind and you should buy a project tool.
- No Gantt charts or timelines
- There is no view that lays tasks along a calendar bar. If you need to show a client a timeline, StaffToDo will not draw it.
- No dependencies
- You cannot say task B starts when task A finishes. Daily work in a shop rarely chains like that, so it is not modelled.
- No sprints, boards, or backlogs
- No columns to drag between, no sprint planning, no velocity. Nothing to configure and nothing to maintain.
- No time tracking or timesheets
- StaffToDo records whether a job was finished, not how many minutes it took. If you bill by the hour, you need a tool that does.
- No custom fields or automations
- You cannot build your own workflow rules. That is a real limit, and it is also the reason there is no setup day.
- No client portals or invoicing
- Nothing customer-facing. It is an internal tool for the people who work for you.
- No rota, shifts, or payroll
- It does not say who is working. It says what they are doing while they are there.
Buy the other thing
When you genuinely need project software
These are not edge cases. If one of them describes your business, the heavier tool is the right purchase and the setup cost is worth paying.
- You run projects for clients
- Fixed scope, phases, a delivery date somebody signed. That is what project software is for, and it is worth the setup.
- You bill by the hour
- If time on a task turns into an invoice, you need time tracking at the centre of the tool, not bolted on.
- Work has a real critical path
- Building, manufacturing, or anything where one late task genuinely stops the next one. Dependencies are not decoration there.
- You have someone to run it
- Project tools reward an owner who maintains them. Without that person they decay into an out-of-date board nobody trusts.
What is left
What you get instead
Everything removed above is why the remaining thing is usable on the first day by people who are on their feet rather than at a desk.
- Daily jobs, not projects
- Openings, closings, callbacks, deliveries, stock counts, repairs. Work measured in hours, not quarters.
- Nothing to set up
- No board to design, no fields to define, no workflow to agree in a meeting first.
- Staff who are not at a desk
- Speak a task instead of typing it, in over 99 languages, and it arrives in English. It runs in a web browser, so there is nothing to install.
- A bill that does not grow with the team
- Priced per workspace, not per person, so hiring never changes the invoice.
In one line
The trade you are making
You give up planning: timelines, dependencies, and the ability to model work that runs for months. You get back the thing small teams actually lose, which is knowing who has each job today and whether it got done. Owners and admins see every task in the company, including late work and the jobs that keep slipping, without asking anyone.
Questions
Asked and answered
- What is a simple alternative to project management software for a small business?
- A staff task app rather than a project tool. StaffToDo gives each job one owner, a deadline, and a state you can look up, with no boards to configure and no setup day. It suits daily work that passes between people, which is what most small businesses actually run.
- What can StaffToDo not do?
- No Gantt charts or timelines, no task dependencies, no sprints or boards, no time tracking or timesheets, no custom fields or automations, no client portals or invoicing, and no rota, shift, or payroll features. If you need any of those, buy a project management tool instead.
- When should I buy Asana, ClickUp, or a similar tool instead?
- When you deliver projects for clients with phases and a signed delivery date, when you bill by the hour, when one late task genuinely blocks the next one, or when you have somebody whose job includes keeping the tool up to date. In those cases the setup cost pays for itself.
- Why is project management software too much for a small team?
- Not because it is bad, but because it is priced and designed around a role that a six person shop does not have. Boards, custom fields, and automations need someone to build and maintain them. Without that person the tool goes stale and staff quietly return to chat and paper.
- How much does StaffToDo cost compared with project management tools?
- Most project tools charge per user, so the cost rises with every hire. StaffToDo charges ₹599 a month for each workspace in India, £15 elsewhere, with no limit on how many staff you add.
Skip the setup day.
If the list above did not lose you, put a week of real jobs through it and see.