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Podio

Podio

Overview

What is Podio?

Podio is a cloud-based platform for organizing team communication, business processes, and reporting in project management workspaces; also it may be used as a light CRM platform. It enables workflow automation and integrations. It includes a free version and paid…

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Recent Reviews
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Popular Features

View all 18 features
  • Task Management (24)
    3.1
    31%
  • Team Collaboration (26)
    3.1
    31%
  • Workflow Automation (25)
    1.2
    12%
  • Document Management (22)
    1.1
    11%
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Pricing

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Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.podio.com/site/pricing

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $9 per month
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Features

Project Management

Project management software provides capabilities to streamline management of complex projects through task management, team collaboration and workflow automation

5.3
Avg 7.5

Professional Services Automation

Features that support professional services organizations

6.7
Avg 7.4
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Product Details

What is Podio?

Podio is a cloud-based collaboration service that was founded in 2009 and acquired by Citrix in 2012. Podio supplies a web-based platform for organizing team communication, business processes, data and content in project management workspaces; also it may be used as a social intranet or as a light CRM platform. Its reporting features allow a user to observe sales pipelines and manage budgets and time. Its task management interface is meant to be lively and dynamic as a social networking site's to facilitate sharing and task delegations, and supports document uploading. Workflows can be improved via automation of various triggered tasks. It integrates email and many familiar programs and applications (e.g. Dropbox, Gmail and Google Apps, Gotomeeting, Excel) to expand functionality, and it is mobile accessible. Podio began as a free service and a free option still remains, though three tiers of paid plans (Basic, Plus, and Premium) are now offered which expand support options from implementation only to a priority lifetime user able to gain support at any time (Premium), and limited access to shared projects for subordinate team members. However core features are supported across the tiers.

Podio Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Podio is a cloud-based platform for organizing team communication, business processes, and reporting in project management workspaces; also it may be used as a light CRM platform. It enables workflow automation and integrations. It includes a free version and paid packages with additional features.

Podio starts at $9.

Asana, Jira Software, and Basecamp are common alternatives for Podio.

Reviewers rate Support for Waterfall Methodology highest, with a score of 9.4.

The most common users of Podio are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(131)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-2 of 2)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Podio is still under evaluation at Apartments247.com, but we are using it to track Leads, Deals, Sales and Cancellations for the Sales & Marketing Department. The initial hope was that it could also work for Development and Production, bringing 3 departments under a single, streamlined system. That remains to be proved one way or the other, however.
  • Podio's apps are the most customizable tools I have seen anywhere, and I have tested and evaluated a large number of work management solutions. The abstract nature of their apps makes them ideal for very specific, niche cases as well as common, general purpose uses. The solution is elegant: an app is simply a collection of app items, with characteristics and perhaps links to other apps & their app items, all of which can be defined by your needs. Anyone who enjoys making "lists" of "things" should love this.
  • Custom reporting is a dream in Podio. I can take any characteristics or fields in any of my app items, compare or filter them with other apps' items, run calculations on them and figure totals by month, team member or almost anything else you can imagine. The possibilities really seem limited only by your imagination.
  • Podio has a lot of features, but another strength to factor in is third-party support. There are a lot of outside companies that offer additional features like detailed workflows, synchronizations between other cloud-based apps, and possibly even graphs in the near future.
  • Task management is an afterthought, unfortunately. For complex production operations that need detailed tasks, recurring tasks, prerequisite tasks and staggered due dates for a large number of projects, Podio simply does not cut the mustard. In this area, Asana reigns supreme. It's unfortunate that simple things like due dates are missing from the app item task list view. You have to click on the task to see its due date; there is no project view of due dates. You can see due dates on the global task view, but then you can't see the app item or project that task is part of. In a production dept. with a lot of duplicate named tasks, the global task view is all but useless. Unfortunately, there is no project-based, big picture view of tasks, assignees and due dates in a single view. If you have a large team doing a lot of Production work, go with Asana or AskCow. We use Asana.
  • Don't even bother telling Podio about their shortcomings. The absurdly negative answers I got from my assigned client services representative were (and I quote) "Tasks are a simple function. They cannot be customized" and when I asked if I could make tasks more prominent, "tasks will always be on the bottom of the item." When I suggested app items could benefit from color coding (common in all major text editors, spreadsheets and traffic intersections), I was hit with the insulting, "A color-coded rainbow of an item list won't happen" and most frustratingly, "You are one customer among very, very many." Thanks for nothing, Podio support. They simply do not care about you or your company's needs, and clearly only want to do business in aggregate. Terrible, deplorable customer service. Bad enough on its own to not want to do business with them on principle alone.
  • Automated Workflows, while exciting initially, turned out to be rudimentary at best. You have two triggers and two effects, giving you a total multiplier of four whole options. Nothing to write home about there.
  • While the text-based reporting is great, a total lack of charts or graphs means I still need to resort to using spreadsheets to visualize sales performance. (or another software solution)
Podio is great for niche businesses needing highly customizable apps. It is also suitable for smaller businesses where one person may wear many hats and operate in multiple departments simultaneously. Do you have a high-volume production dept. with a massive number of projects per month and a dozen or more tasks per project? If so, Podio is probably not a good fit for you. Good reporting alone does not make up for inefficiency and missed deadlines. If you demand high-quality customer support for your team, don't even think about Podio. Your people don't need to be insulted by the person whose job is supposed to be helping them.
Project Management (14)
44.28571428571429%
4.4
Task Management
10%
1.0
Resource Management
30%
3.0
Gantt Charts
10%
1.0
Scheduling
70%
7.0
Workflow Automation
10%
1.0
Team Collaboration
60%
6.0
Support for Agile Methodology
50%
5.0
Support for Waterfall Methodology
50%
5.0
Document Management
50%
5.0
Email integration
50%
5.0
Mobile Access
50%
5.0
Timesheet Tracking
90%
9.0
Change request and Case Management
10%
1.0
Budget and Expense Management
80%
8.0
Professional Services Automation
N/A
N/A
  • Podio may have helped us sharpen our own customer service by demonstrating how NOT to treat customers.
  • Since we are still in the evaluation stage and are actively seeking other options, I can't say that this experience has harmed us. I am glad I found out sooner rather than later about their attitude towards their customers before we had invested too much time & money in it. I may be just "one customer among very, very many" but I intend to share my experience with other prospective customers, and I expect this mistake will impact them more than just the value of our company's business.
I have not yet found a permanent solution that meets all of our needs. We continue to use different tools across our different departments, and none of our tools really communicate with one another to our satisfaction. We remain optimistic, however, that a company will emerge that embraces an abstract, highly customizable interface and also provides exceptional customer service with an open-minded development team that does not simply say no to everything by default.
I have a sales rep who is putting me in touch with a new support team member and we're supposed to have a meeting next week. It does not look particularly likely that we will end up choosing Podio based on my initial customer service experience, but I am not closing the door entirely. It's going to be an uphill battle for sure, but it is not entirely out of the question, particularly if they have improved task management on the horizon and can demonstrate a greatly improved attitude.
  • Linking related "apps" to one another and running calculations and reports on fields was extremely simple and straight-forward.
  • Shared workspaces and personal chats all but eliminate the need for a separate communication system like HipChat or the now-defunct Campfire.
  • Choosing multiple views for each app is handy, because not everyone visualizes things the same way. Or maybe the data lends itself to a table in one circumstance, and cards in another, depending on what you're trying to accomplish.
  • Task Management is deplorable. Really an embarrassment compared to a system like Asana. To make matters worse, Podio has a sort of fundamentalist objection to genuinely improving their task system: https://help.podio.com/hc/communities/public/questions/200519198-Sub-task
  • Tasks in Podio are simply too rudimentary to achieve anything but the most basic of task lists. If you're looking for a task management tool primarily, keep moving. Nothing to see here...
  • Initial set-up and data entry is a chore. The best way to make Podio work for you is to build custom apps. This is really interesting at first, but gets old pretty quick once you realize how many separate apps you need to build in order to accomplish what should be fairly simple functions. Podio's layering on built-in functionality for tasks and contacts actually makes matters worse rather than better because the native implementations cannot be removed if you prefer a custom app you build yourself. Contacts in two places, tasks in two places... it becomes a mess pretty quick.
  • Development is S L O W . Looking at the Task Management issue, you can see that Podio has known this is a weakness of theirs for YEARS. Nothing has been done. Workflows were purported to be great when they were first announced, but the simple workflows are all but useless and the Advanced workflows cost $14 per user per month! It takes too long to get anything done...
It is usable, for sure. Requires a bit of thinking to be really useful.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Podio is the core cloud based tool used by Think to Act. All workflows and communication is in Podio and we link to other cloud based tools for specific actions eg Google Apps for Business for gmail, calendar, contacts, google documents etc and specific cloud based tools like Lucidchart.
  • Provides clients the ability to take a workflow in email, excel or paper and make it easy to use and modify
  • Makes it easy to delegate tasks and track progress
  • Reduces the need to have WIP meetings and action and communication is immediate
  • Allows for collaborating in multiple locations and supports flexible work practises
  • Ease of working with clients and suppliers on a common platform
  • Greater sales visibility and facts to follow up on outstanding leads. You can track actual compared to target sales
  • Cross functional application. Some CRM's have a narrow focus on one or two functions. Other project management tools are very IT or technically focused. Podio can apply across multiple functions and roles
  • Podio is customised for the way you work as opposed to changing your behaviours to fit a system
  • Integration with Citrix GotToMeeting, video, audio and chat makes it easy to work in one place
  • Use of web forms for collecting information pre and post meetings
  • Lack of automation of workflows. There is a 3rd party solution called Globiflow and Podio have launched a basic workflow tool.
  • GoToMeeting integration is good however expensive compared to other solutions
  • Podio can be complex to learn and requires training
  • Podio architecture is best to be set-up before you build too many apps as it can become confusing
  • The search features could be improved
  • Not able to clone workspaces, only apps
  • Keeping on top of notifications and learning how to unfollow notifications
Podio is good for people wanting to systemise their business and has the ability to integrate with other software through API links and third party connectors like Zapier. It can take some time to construct your current way of working with tools like microsoft office, to a new way.

I suggest getting a Podio authorised partner or a user with 3 months+ experience to help set it up. Documenting your current workflows and agreeing on the way to do things first, makes the build in Podio easier. Podio is a little like snow skiing for the first time, you can teach yourself, however it can be more enjoyable if you learn from an expert.

Also don't start too big. Work on one area of the business and test it. People need to get to know the core of tasks, chat, apps etc as they learn customised apps. I suggest not to bite off too much at the start.

Combine heavy and like users in the testing environment to account for different skill levels and ways of learning.

Lead from the top. If the owner/leader is using it this will have a ripple effect.
  • 30%+ reduction in sales cycle for many clients.
  • Productivity gains from new employees on-boarding and trained quicker
  • High life time value of clients due to customer service improvements
  • 25%+ increase in sales for existing clients.
  • Increased new product launches through speed and quality
  • Increase in employee engagement
  • Asana,teamwork PM,Insightly,Basecamp,Trello
  • Ability to get apps of the market place
  • Ability to build customised apps
  • Less than 5 users free
  • $10 per user per month which can be cancelled one month in advance
  • Podio support and help
  • Podio community through Podio workspaces and Linkedin groups
  • Ability to go across multi functions
  • Citrix owned and backed
  • Research and upgrades
  • External users free
I have tried many options and not found a platform that allows you to build your own apps within a secure and user friendly platform. There is a commitment to improve the platform based on user feedback and there are funds available to do it. The Podio community is very helpful and has like minded people in it. It is affordable and external users are not charged to use the system.
9
Sales
Marketing
People
Finance
IT
Client services
Legal
3
User level
Expert level
Basic programming
Advanced programming
  • Sales CRM
  • On-boarding clients and Smart Assistants
  • Marketing
  • Finance and integration with accounting software - Xero
  • Talking into an app which sends a message to a Smart Assistant who enters task into Podio. When complete you get notified. Combine speed of technology and people to take action.
  • Linkedin profiles. When someone looks at my linkedin profile we have a Podio app that tracks a series of actions
  • Writing a book. Did interviews in Podio and then outsourced this to a ghost writer to create ebook
  • Link to google drive
  • Link to Xero accounting software
  • Automated app building
  • Business Plan that can be cloned for clients to use
  • API links to infusion soft
  • Dashboards - graphics and scorecards
  • Back-ups
  • Automation
Yes
TeamworkPM

Templates confusing and cumbersome
Cost per month
UX

Asana
No ability to build apps

Sharepoint

No ability to build apps
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Vendor Reputation
  • Third-party Reviews
Product usability. Could I run my business using one tool across any device and any function. Would my people and clients love using it and find it easy to use. Will there be further R&D and investment on improving the UX
Speak to existing and past users
Read forums
Test more competitors
Use an expert to help set-up
  • Professional services company
100 rails
Yes
Basic for 30 days
Ongoing support. As an authorised partner we are now self sufficient and use other partners for complex programming
Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled
We used brain preference profiling tools to match training to peoples preferences.
We started small with multiple users
We did weekly training
We stopped using other tools and use Podio for everything - especially stopped email and excel
  • How to set up the architecture
  • What worked in paper or excel was different when cloud based or on the phone
  • Getting time in client and supplier diaries to train them
Could of got more help sooner and mapped out structure after the 1st month. Future planning
  • Self-taught
It was hard to learn through self taught and I would not recommend this for others. I would recommend using a Podio authorised partner for training or a Podio user with 3+ months experience. It takes time to get the workflows correct and building of your own apps is not easy. Once you are trained, you then have the confidence to do it yourself.
The key benefit of Podio is the ability to create your own apps. You can configure them the way you want it. The downside is creating your own branding or the ability to use a 'white skin'.
I would recommend you engage a Podio authorised partner or Preferred partner.
Yes - we have customized the interface extensively
The workspace design and configuration, app building and reporting are all customised.
Some - we have added small pieces of custom code
We use Zapier to create links to other cloud computing eg Xero accounting, Dropbox, Google Apps for Business
We are continually working on API links and ways of automating workflows. The next focus will be infusionsoft.
Yes
I use other Podio authorised partners to help with API integrations and complex Podio problems
There when I need them
Assigned a person to me that I can chat to
Great Podio forum and community
I had to find a search solution and they helped me over and above a standard technical solution
  • Chat
  • Task
  • Building apps
  • Workflow
  • Search
  • Editing data fields
Yes
Great. Very simple to use and works exceptionally well. I run my business from it
Ease to use. Modify it yourself to suit your needs
As you business grows, so does Podio. There seems to be no limit to the workspace and apps you can create on the platform.
I have not experienced any down time.
It works all the time and if I have a question, support get back to me ASAP.
  • Xero
  • Google Apps for Business
  • Infusion Soft
Two way sync of contact details with google contacts. Export of data to google docs. Setting up clients in Xero cloud based accounting software. Just starting with campaigns for Infusion soft.
  • Share File
  • Lucidchart
  • Evernote
  • Flipboard
Podio has a very good API pipeline.
  • File import/export
  • API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
You do need some help with Zapier or similar tools.
Seek help from users who have successfully gone where you are heading.
The contacted you and gave basic support when you started. The need for workflow design and tips are more advanced and need a third party to support you.
Support is very good. Quick turn around times. The Podio community is excellent, which is loosely supported by Podio.
One size fits all. Open and fair for all. No negotiation available.
Work with authorised and preferred partners
No
  • Easier user interface
  • Automation
Yes
Number of employees went above 6
No
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