As your organization grows, it might also outgrow Float. Here are some alternatives to cover the resource scheduling pains when Float no longer cuts it.
We’re fans of Float, the resource scheduling tool for small teams. But when you outgrow Float’s functionality, where next? Here are five Float alternatives for growing and growth-focused teams.
Float is unapologetically aimed at smaller teams and businesses. Resource scheduling functionality makes it quick and easy to organize your small team’s schedule.
There’s time tracking built-in, plus basic reporting and analytics. For a bijou business, it’s a definite improvement on using spreadsheets to manage resource planning.
But what happens when Float stops floating your boat? Among the resource scheduling software’s many positive reviews are numerous niggles from customers that have outgrown Float’s limited functionality.
Designed specifically for resource scheduling, Float doesn’t have the project management functionality that goes hand-in-hand with resource scheduling needs. This leads some otherwise happy customers needing an additional tool in their stack. ‘[There’s] no project management feature. If it was there, we would have used just Float for both project management and resource planning/scheduling.’
Growing pains become apparent when using Float for managing a larger team or portfolio. ‘We have 70 people time-sheeted and we have project managers filling this in, they find it cumbersome.’
Reporting and budget management also come in for criticism. ‘It's not great for managing the budget of a project: the reports are really limited so you have to do a csv export if you want to do in-depth analysis,’ says one reviewer on Capterra. While another says ‘I think reports should be a bit less complicated and more visual.’
Other people complain that basic functionality limits efficiency gains. ‘Simple additions like the ability to duplicate/copy events created would make it more efficient,’ says one. ‘Copying tasks and not having more admin control over users is difficult and counterproductive,’ says another.
If these common Float frustrations sound familiar, it could be time to move on. But to what? Here’s our pick of five resource scheduling alternatives that are more robust, better rounded, and have bigger functional footprints.
Runn is a cloud-based resource and project management platform. It’s designed for professional services and project-based businesses that want to increase their performance and profitability.
It’s called Runn for a reason. It accelerates all of your project processes and lets you proactively improve efficiency. Doesn’t that sound better than just…floating?
Runn’s centralized resource calendar shows you all available resources, their skill set and seniority, billable cost, capacity, utilization, and availability - so you can easily select and schedule the perfect person for every project.
The project management module lets PMs easily build robust project plans. Simply drag and drop project phases, milestones, deadlines, and tasks to create structured plans.
See resource availability plotted against the project schedule to determine the best people to allocate to avoid resource clashes, overutilization, and other risks to delivery.
Financial reports and an intuitive dashboard let PMs see granular detail about project budgets and profitability, empowering them to track progress against projections and take corrective action if needed.
It also predicts your future billing and profitability.
‘Runn is great at providing a projection of what the billings of a professional services organisation will be in months to come. It's an essential part of running an effective business which isn't as commonplace as it should be!’ says one Capterra reviewer.
Senior leaders will love receiving actionable insights on business performance, plus how Runn accelerates scenario planning. Toggling to ‘tentative’ project planning lets you test different project scenarios. You can instantly see the impact of different combinations on capacity and profitability, so you can choose which projects to onboard.
Capacity planning is also a breeze thanks to reports on utilization, which show which skill sets you need to recruit - and when - to prevent future resource shortages.
Read on our dedicated comparison guide on Runn vs Float to choose a tool perfect for your needs.
Like Float, Teamdeck is aimed at small teams and businesses. It’s great for organizations looking for an all-in-one solution that provides an intuitive overview of their project portfolio.
It aims to provide smaller teams with both a bird’s eye view and granular control over resource and project management. Functionality includes resource scheduling, project planning, timesheets, budgets, utilization, performance, and more - all from within one platform.
Teamdeck’s Calendar view lets PMs see resource allocations, leave, availability, and how they’re spending their time - making it easy to find the right people for the right tasks, whilst avoiding over- or under-utilization.
It offers robust financial and budget planning, which can help PMs keep projects profitable. There’s clear timesheet and billing information, so you can keep track of what you’re working on and how much it has cost - however, some find the reporting functionality hit-and-miss.
Teamdeck has an API that lets you access and update data in your app - if you’re inclined to - plus integrations with Slack and HR tools to support communication and cross-team transparency.
Customer reviews are split on the interface - some love it, some hate it. Those who have struggled to get to grips with the UI have, however, reported satisfactory and timely support from Teamdeck’s customer service team.
Productive is a cloud-based project management platform aimed at professional service firms, agencies, and studios. It positions itself as an ‘end-to-end’ tool that starts with your sales pipeline, before moving on to resource and project management.
It allows users to track their team’s time, manage their projects and budgets, and create invoices easily.
Productive positions itself as being all about profitability. It has a strong focus on financials including employee cost rates and company overhead costs. It can also predict your future revenue with resource planning and project progress reports. Keeping track of these metrics can help you keep control of your profit margins.
Users appreciate the budget tracking functionality, with one Capterra reviewer saying ‘We are able to put all shapes of budgets into the system and track them correctly and effectively across all of our projects.’ It also integrates well with other software via its API.
However, like any software that tries to deliver an all-in-one solution, it can’t please everyone all of the time. Some people love the invoicing, the interface, the UI… other people don’t.
Some users have criticized its task management component, whilst others are left wanting more from the sales pipeline features, saying ‘It’s hard to make full use of Productive. Some features - such as the sales funnel - don't act enough like a CRM.’
Like Runn, Mosaic is a web-based resource management tool that lets you centralize your people and project data. With resource and portfolio information at your fingertips, you can optimize resource utilization, keep plans on track, and guide projects to profitable delivery.
Mosaic prides itself on its use of AI to accelerate project and resource planning. Mosaic’s AI automatically identifies good-fit projects for people and people for projects. It can also use past project data to forecast workload and revenue.
It supports capacity planning by spotting role demand and notifying you that it might be time to hire.
Mosaic has the features you’d expect from quality resource planning software, including drag-and-drop resource allocation, real-time reporting, staff skill profiles, and more.
Using information gathered from timesheets, the AI predicts how long future projects might take, and suggests new project schedules based on resource availability.
However, if you prefer to schedule projects based on your own retrospectives and calculations, note that some users have complained that tasks become unavailable on completion. This information can be valuable to PMs when planning similar future projects. ‘Usually completed tasks just disappear after it is finished but there are times when we need to review what was done and when it was done.’
Mobile functionality, issues with formulas, and occasional syncing problems are some of the few cons highlighted by Capterra users.
Formerly known as Mavenlink, Kantata was renamed in 2022 following a merger with Kimble Applications. But enough of names, what about functionality?
Cloud-based Kantata bills itself as professional services automation (PSA) and resource scheduling software. The award-winning platform boasts features for resource, financial and project management, team collaboration, and business intelligence.
It also supports integrations and workflows by connecting with different software in your stack, such as Salesforce, creating an end-to-end process across multiple systems.
‘[It] sits directly on our Salesforce platform, and it has been great for our business to have a more comprehensive perspective from Pre-Sales through project close-out,’ says one user on Capterra.
Ease of use, strong resource scheduling, and helpful time management functionality make Kantata popular with PMs. Whilst detailed reporting and BI functionality appeal to senior leaders looking for insights to improve overall business performance.
However, the system receives some criticism for sometimes suffering lag, which eats away at efficiency gains. ‘The more tasks and individuals assigned to a project, the worse it is,’ complains one Capterra reviewer.
Another criticizes a lack of mobile functionality for the new realities of remote working. Overall, the cons of the system seem limited to niggles rather than major complaints.
Hub Planner makes a great extension to Float as it brings project management into the game. Although the tool’s main focus is resource management, project management is also key for small professional services companies - and this is where Hub Planner delivers.
One interesting feature that would also come in handy is resource requesting. You can fill out a simple request form to see if some team members can find time to join your new initiative. And you can have multiple approvers that have a say in this resource requesting process.
The tool also helps you do budget management by giving you insights into project spend, profitability, and other relevant insights. You can manage teams across multiple projects and stay in full control of your deliverables.
Hub Planner’s users point out the company’s Help Center and customer service among the biggest stand-outs: ‘The help guides are detailed & comprehensive, but if they don't provide the answers, the support team are fantastic & responsive, providing a fast & efficient resolution to any problems or questions.’
However, it’s important to mention that there might be a point where you hit the ceiling here, too, as some core features bigger teams generally need are still missing. As one Capterra review says, there’s a limitation about the ‘Inability to adjust dates on the dashboard, and set 'line-managers' to approve time-sheets, rather than project managers as it currently stands.’
With Resource Guru, it is all about simplicity of use. This tool is resource-first in the sense that it is a resource management tool with some project management functionality.
For example, with their project scheduling you can create project plans by looking into your team’s availability. You can even do equipment management, which sets this tool apart from all of those agency-focused software where their main focus is human resources.
Another thing that will come in handy if you are expanding the business is Resource Guru’s project forecasting and resource utilization reports. They will help you optimize resource use and see how your projects are expected to develop with your current resource setup.
This simplicity of use that Resource Guru talks about is well-deserved as multiple users have spoken about how easy it is to navigate around the tool and manage resources with no particular effort. Users also point out that they switched from other tools to Resource Guru because they were spending unnecessarily much time managing their resources and figuring out the tool.
‘Love this software and the interface is so easy to use. I like that I can add resources that are not people and move things around with ease.’
However, it looks like the simplicity of use comes at a price as this Float alternative also has limitations in the product. In that regard, it is similar to Hub Planner because as your business grows, you might need to make yet another switch to a more advanced and all-in solution. ‘Lack of features. The application does the simple scheduling\tracking perfectly though.’, a Capterra review mentions as the tool’s disadvantage.
Your use case and business needs are unique, so there’s no ‘right’ answer to this question.
Every resource scheduling software has pros and cons - whether that’s because they offer different features for different markets, or because things like UX and design are so subjective.
This is why was always advise you try before you buy - and why we make it super simple for you to take us for a test drive.
Runn offers a completely free 14-day trial ➡️
You don’t need to give us your credit card details (which means we don't start charging you at the end of the trial, hoping that you forget).
All we need is your email address to get you started.
You can explore the system using our data - playing with pie-in-the-sky projects like our secret moon base. Or you can easily import your own data and start experimenting with that.
