Podio means it when they say “Work The Way You Work”
Updated March 17, 2015

Podio means it when they say “Work The Way You Work”

Nando Cabán-Méndez | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review

Software Version

Current, as of Sept 2014

Modules Used

  • All
  • Custom

Overall Satisfaction with Podio

I customized a collaboration workspace in Podio for a distributed content marketing team. The entire team (8, at one point) used it for everything from CRM and client sign-up, to project and service management.

Allowed to very effectively run a complex business
In its simplest form, Podio is a very advanced web and mobile-based task manager. It allows one to assign tasks to others and be notified when those are complete. Tasks can be referenced to what it calls "apps" (more like modules, easy to modify). Once I learned I could customize and cross-reference these internal apps , I created an app called "Clients", "Deliverables", "Campaigns", and "Content Planner" (A comprehensive content calendar: blog, social, email, etc.). This allowed for project management of all deliverables for clients, from setups to ongoing marketing, bulk upload of deliverables and content calendar, and lots of other good stuff.

Killed email, with its annoying CC's and ReplyAlls
Team communications happen within Podio, ideally within the comments space of the app (much like we do on social media). For instance, to follow up on an article draft for a deliverable due next week, instead of emailing the team member, I'd make a comment and “@ mention” the responsible person within the content unit. When they reply, the comments become a history for all team members to see. We could @ mention the graphic designer regarding an image needed and bring her into the conversation that way.
This way of working reduced our internal email to practically zero.

Lets one have a big picture, and also dive deep into details.
Because of the way if works, if set-up correctly, One can have a calendar view of the work being done, or a task view, or table with progress indicators.

A single point for all business info
Podio can substitute your CRM software, project management, have custom modules suited to specific business needs, and integrate with outside SaaS tools.

Did I mention it has great iPhone and Android mobile apps?


  • Tool is vastly customizable. They're not kidding when their tag line says: “Work the way you do”
  • The mobile apps are top notch. One can even customize how much of the desktop functionality one wants in the mobile app!
  • Eliminates the need for internal email. (This alone should be plenty good)
  • Expedites communication about big ideas or menial tasks. Makes teams more agile.
  • Like a set of old-school Lego, you must know what you want to do with it before digging in. Just creating an account to “give it a try” won't do. This requires planning, and discipline to execute.
  • As of the date of the review, some functions, like CRM fall a little short of dedicated SaaS solutions. A lot can be achieved, however, with API and outside extension.
  • Again, as of date of review: No built-in task dependencies or Gantt chart functionality.
  • Somewhere along the line we lost Google Apps integration, which was a great way to clean the inbox. One used to be able to create a Task from within a message, which in turn would include the body of the email message for reference.
  • Calendar integration is convoluted. Global calendar, Workspace calendars. IT gets a little unwieldy to manage.
  • Sharing with clients is impractical.
  • Increased productivity by reduced email, faster internal communication, clear tasks, deliverables and objectives.
  • Very high rate of adoption due to ease of use and mobile app.
  • Very powerful, expandable tool at very low cost (Free up to 5 users, or $9/month/user with unlimited external guest users)
  • Trello,Basecamp,Zoho CRM,Asana
Unlike Trello, Podio allowed us to establish a structure for the data, to be used by all team members, and establishing a clear workflow. (Podio can mimic the Trello “card” look, and integrates with it).
Basecamp seemed too rigid, or complex to modify. It's a solid tool, but not for our application.
Zoho (last time used a few years ago) was very cumbersome to update, and slow (again, years ago).
Asana is very likeable. Crazy fast to use with very intuitive keyboard shortcuts. I wanted to like it, but the inability to create my own apps –for CRM, milestones, and other more specialized functions– ultimately forced me to go back to Podio.
Better-suited:
Small companies with a distributed workforce that need structure in their process (as opposed to relying on shared spreadsheets or post-it-notes for process)
Great for any team that has had trouble implementing other, more rigid, project management tools (since they can customize this one)

Less-suited:
For technical reasons, it's not very good if you need or want to include clients in the conversations. One can work around this limitation, but also found out our clients didn't care to see the ghost inside the machine.

Podio Feature Ratings

Task Management
10
Resource Management
5
Scheduling
5
Workflow Automation
5
Team Collaboration
10
Support for Agile Methodology
10
Support for Waterfall Methodology
10
Document Management
1
Email integration
1
Mobile Access
10
Timesheet Tracking
1
Change request and Case Management
7
Budget and Expense Management
7

Using Podio

Podio customer service is great. The cloud and mobile service is fast (almost instant, continuous syncing). With a solid user base, and backed by Citrix, this is a serious business solution. They're also constantly working on improving and making it more powerful. I anticipate it only getting better.