PM Tool Features Agencies Actually Use vs. Pay For
Project management tools ship with dozens of features. Agencies pay for premium tiers to unlock them. But which ones actually matter?
We surveyed 50+ agency owners and analyzed their tool usage. Here's what we found: most paid features are rarely used.
The Features Agencies Actually Use Daily
Project Management (The Basics)
- Creating tasks: 100% use daily
- Assigning tasks: 95% use daily
- Setting due dates: 93% use daily
- Updating task status: 91% use daily
- Adding task description: 87% use daily
These are table stakes. If a tool doesn't do these, it fails.
Views and Organization
- List view (to-do list): 96% use weekly
- Board view (kanban): 72% use weekly
- Filtering tasks: 68% use weekly
- Sorting by deadline: 65% use weekly
Agencies want to see work multiple ways. Single-view tools feel limiting.
Collaboration
- Comments on tasks: 84% use daily
- Task notifications: 79% use daily
- Slack integration: 61% use weekly
Teams communicate via comments. Slack integration prevents tool fatigue.
Sharing and Visibility
- Sharing projects with team: 100% use weekly
- Sharing projects with clients: 73% use weekly
- Portfolio view (all projects): 82% use weekly
Portfolio visibility is critical for agencies managing many concurrent projects.
The Features Agencies Pay For But Don't Use
Advanced Reporting
- Velocity charts: 12% use monthly
- Capacity planning: 18% use monthly
- Custom reports: 8% use monthly
Agencies pay for advanced reporting, but they don't use it. The data is too messy (multiple projects with different workflows) to be meaningful.
Automation and Workflows
- Automated task creation: 24% use weekly
- Conditional workflows: 8% use weekly
- Multi-step automation: 3% use monthly
Agencies automate simple things (when status changes, notify Slack), but complex automation is too fragile.
Timeline and Scheduling
- Gantt charts: 38% use weekly
- Dependency management: 15% use weekly
- Critical path analysis: 4% use monthly
Most agencies don't have dependencies worth tracking. Timeline views are nice-to-have, not essential.
Custom Fields and Customization
- Using custom fields: 31% create them, but only 12% actually use them
- Custom statuses: 24% create them, 14% consistently use them
- Custom workflows: 8% set up, 3% stick with them
Customization is appealing in trials, but agencies rarely maintain it. Custom fields become technical debt.
Time Tracking and Billing
- Native time tracking: 34% use weekly
- Time tracking integrations: 28% use weekly
- Billing integrations: 12% use monthly
Time tracking matters if you bill by the hour. But most agencies use external tools (Harvest, Toggl) because they're better.
Advanced Collaboration
- Mentions and notifications: 61% use weekly
- Document attachment: 49% use weekly
- Approval workflows: 8% use monthly
Basic comments work fine. Approval workflows are rarely used; agencies handle approvals outside the tool.
The Surprising Finding
The features agencies use most (creating tasks, updating status, seeing all projects) are available on free or cheap tiers.
Most of the paid features are unused.
Feature Tier Matrix
Here's how features map to pricing tiers:
| Feature | Free | Basic ($10-12) | Standard ($20-25) | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create/assign tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| List + board view | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Comments on tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Share with team | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio view | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Slack integration | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gantt timeline | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| Custom fields | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Automation | No | Basic | Advanced | Enterprise |
| Reporting | No | Basic | Good | Advanced |
| Time tracking | No | No | Yes (via integration) | Yes |
The gap between Free and Basic matters: Slack integration and portfolio view.
The gap between Basic and Standard is customization and advanced features agencies rarely use.
What Agencies Really Need
After analyzing actual usage, here's the minimal feature set an agency needs:
- Task creation and assignment
- Multiple views (list, board)
- Portfolio view (see all projects)
- Team sharing
- Client sharing
- Slack integration
- Comments on tasks
- Filtering and sorting
That's it. Everything beyond this is nice-to-have.
Most tools have this at the Basic or Standard tier.
The Cost-Benefit Analysis
If an agency needs features 1-7, they should pay for Basic.
If they think they need custom fields and automation (Standard tier), they're probably wrong. They'll set them up, not maintain them, and waste money.
Where Agencies Actually Spend Extra Money
Rather than paying for advanced PM tool features, agencies should pay for:
Time tracking tool (Harvest, Toggl): $10-20/person/month. Better than built-in.
Invoicing tool (FreshBooks, Wave): $15-30/month. Not a PM tool feature.
Design collaboration (Figma): $12-30/user/month. Essential for creative agencies.
Document management (Google Drive, Dropbox): $10-20/person/month. Usually already owned.
The "all-in-one" premium PM tool tier costs $200-300/month for 10 people. You could buy:
- Basic PM tool: $100/month
- Separate time tracking: $120/month
- Separate invoicing: $20/month
For the same $200/month, you get better tools for each function instead of one mediocre tool trying to do everything.
Why Tools Ship Features Nobody Uses
Competitive feature checklist: "Does Asana have automation? Our tool should too."
Enterprise customers drive requirements: Big companies with 200+ people need custom workflows. Small agencies don't.
"Just in case" thinking: Ship it, maybe someone will use it.
Pricing tier separation: Need something to justify Standard vs. Basic tiers. Push advanced features up.
What This Means for Your Tool Choice
Don't pay for features because they're there.
Evaluate based on the features you'll actually use:
Do you need portfolio view? Yes (82% use weekly). Pay for it.
Do you need custom fields? Probably not (only 12% consistently use them). Don't pay extra for it.
Do you need Gantt charts? Maybe (38% use weekly, but casually). It's nice but not essential.
Do you need automation? Probably not (most agencies don't maintain it). Skip it.
Do you need reporting? No (most agencies don't use it). Skip it.
By this logic, you want a tool that costs $100-150/month with great portfolio view and Slack integration. That's usually Basic tier.
Real Agency Scenarios
Scenario 1: 5-Person Design Agency, Simple Workflows
What they need:
- Task creation and assignment: Yes
- Portfolio view: Yes (managing 5 concurrent projects)
- Slack integration: Yes
- Client sharing: Yes
- Custom fields: No
- Automation: No
- Reporting: No
Best choice: Asana Basic or Monday Basic. ($100-130/month)
Current choice: Often Standard tier ($150-200/month). Paying for unused features.
Scenario 2: 15-Person Development Agency, Complex Workflows
What they need:
- Task creation and assignment: Yes
- Portfolio view: Yes (managing 15+ projects)
- Slack integration: Yes
- Client sharing: Maybe (some clients, not all)
- Custom fields: Maybe (to track time or billing code)
- Automation: Maybe (if they have standard processes)
- Reporting: Maybe (to track revenue)
Best choice: Standard tier of a good tool. ($200-250/month)
Current choice: Often spending correctly, but not all features are used.
Scenario 3: 10-Person Mixed Agency (Design + Dev)
What they need:
- Task creation and assignment: Yes
- Portfolio view: Yes
- Slack integration: Yes
- GitHub integration: Maybe (dev team only)
- Client sharing: Yes
- Custom fields: Maybe
- Time tracking: Yes (billing hours)
Best choice: ClickUp Business or Monday Standard ($150-190/month)
ClickUp's native time tracking justifies Business tier. Monday's Standard is cheaper.
FAQ
Should I pay for a higher tier just in case? No. You'll create custom fields and not maintain them. Pay for what you need. Upgrade if you hit a real limitation, not a "what if."
Are premium features worth it? Some are. Portfolio view (critical for agencies). Slack integration (prevents tool fatigue). Gantt charts (nice if you have dependencies). Custom fields (usually not). Automation (rarely maintained). Reporting (useful if you're data-driven, which most agencies aren't).
What if my team wants advanced features? Ask if they actually use them in a trial. Most people overestimate how much they'll use a feature. Try it for two weeks. If they're not using it, don't pay for it.
Is it worth upgrading tiers to get Slack integration? If your team lives in Slack (and it does), yes. Not seeing task updates in Slack causes people to stop using the tool. Slack integration is worth the upgrade.
What's the most overrated feature? Custom reporting. Agencies think they want it, but they don't have the data quality to use it. They'd rather a human tell them "5 projects are at risk" than dig through a report.