Running a SaaS business means managing a lot of moving parts: leads, partnerships, support tickets, onboarding emails. In our early days at ProBackup, we tried to stay on top of it all with spreadsheets and in-house built tools. It didn’t take long before things started slipping through the cracks.

We needed something simple and reliable to keep track of our customer relationships, without committing to a massive tool or long onboarding process. That’s when we found HubSpot’s Free CRM.

The Mess Before the CRM

If you’ve ever:

• Lost track of who followed up with which lead
• Had two team members contact the same prospect
• Missed a sales opportunity because someone forgot to reply

…you’re not alone. We’ve been there too.

The problem wasn’t our effort. It was our tools. Keeping everything in sync without a proper CRM was just not scalable.

Why We Chose HubSpot’s Free CRM

We didn’t want to spend weeks setting up a tool. HubSpot was quick to try, free to start, and did what we needed right out of the box. Here’s what stood out for us:

1. One Place for Everything

We imported our contacts, connected our inboxes, and instantly had a central view of who we were talking to, what we last discussed, and what needed to happen next.

2. Clear Visual Pipeline

The drag-and-drop board helped us finally see where our deals were. It was like Kanban for sales, which felt familiar and intuitive.

3. Built-In Productivity

We use the tasks, reminders, and email templates daily. It’s made it way easier to follow up without things falling through the cracks.

4. It Just Plays Nice

It connects with Gmail, Google Calendar, and the other tools we already use, so there’s no context switching or copy-pasting.

Getting Started Took Less Than 10 Minutes

• Created an account
• Imported a CSV of contacts
• Set up deal stages
• Added teammates
• Started logging emails and calls automatically

We’re still using the free plan, and it’s doing what we need.

Final Thought

CRMs can feel like overkill if you’re a small team, but trust us, waiting too long to get organized will cost you more. HubSpot’s Free CRM was the low-friction tool we needed to get our sales and support in order. If you’re juggling leads in your head or chasing conversations across inboxes, give it a try. No pressure, no pitch... just sharing what’s worked for us.

Click here to sign up for HubSpot’s Free CRM

‍

If you manage an Asana workspace for a growing team, you already know it can quietly become the source of truth for a lot of things: project timelines, task ownership, client deliverables, approval chains. Which makes data loss less of a theoretical problem and more of a when, not if. Someone deletes the wrong project. A bulk import maps to the wrong fields. An automation fires on a broader set of tasks than intended.

This guide is aimed at system administrators, IT admins, and co-founders who need to understand not just how deletion works in Asana, but where the recovery tools stop and where third-party backups become necessary.

What is Asana?

Asana is a work management platform built around tasks, projects, and the people responsible for them. Teams use it to track everything from day-to-day work to complex cross-functional programmes, with features covering timelines, workload management, reporting dashboards, and goal tracking.

Asana has been rolling out AI features under the Asana AI banner. Their AI Studio lets teams build automated workflows using natural language instructions, and Asana Intelligence sits across the product to summarise work, surface blockers, and draft status updates. The practical upside is faster execution. The practical downside, from an admin perspective, is the same one facing any platform with AI agents that can take action at scale: a misworded instruction or a misconfigured rule can touch hundreds of tasks before anyone notices, and most of those changes are updates rather than deletions, so the trash offers no protection.

How Asana structures its data

Asana is organised hierarchically, and deletion cascades downward. Removing a container removes everything inside it.

Workspaces and organisations

The top level. A workspace contains everything: portfolios, teams, projects, and tasks. Workspace-level deletions are rare but catastrophic. There is no recovery option at this level.

Teams

Groups of users with shared access to a set of projects. Deleting a team does not automatically delete its projects, but it removes the shared access structure and can leave projects without clear ownership.

Projects

The primary containers for work. Deleting a project removes all tasks, sections, attachments, and comments inside it. This is the highest-risk everyday action in Asana.

Tasks and subtasks

The individual units of work. Deleted tasks move to a recoverable state for 30 days before permanent erasure. Subtasks behave the same way but are tied to their parent task.

Sections and columns

Asana requires at least two sections in a project before you can delete one. When you delete a section, you are prompted to decide what happens to the tasks inside: delete them or move them to another section. The prompt is easy to dismiss without reading carefully.

⚠️ Warning: The section deletion prompt is the most common source of accidental bulk task loss in Asana. Selecting 'delete tasks' instead of 'move tasks' removes every item in that section at once. There is no additional confirmation step.

Comments

Unlike tasks and projects, deleted comments cannot be recovered. There is no trash, no recovery window, no native path back. Once a comment is deleted, it is gone permanently.

Attachments

File attachments are practically irreversible once the parent task is deleted. Even if the task itself can be restored within the 30-day window, attachment recovery is not guaranteed.

Custom fields

Deleting a custom field removes that data point from every task in the project. Like column deletion in other platforms, there is no selective undo.

Archive vs delete: the default should almost always be archive

Asana gives you the option to archive projects rather than delete them. Archiving removes the project from your active views but preserves all data indefinitely. For most cleanup scenarios, this is the right call.

Delete should be reserved for test projects, duplicate entries, or compliance-driven removal where the data genuinely needs to be destroyed. For everything else — old client projects, completed programmes, inactive workstreams — archive keeps your workspace clean without creating any risk.

How to delete data in Asana

Deleting a task

Open the task pane, click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, and select Delete task. Confirm the prompt. The task moves into a deleted state and is recoverable for 30 days.

Deleting a project

Navigate to the project, click the dropdown arrow next to the project name, and select Delete project. Asana will send a recovery email to the user who performed the deletion. Keep an eye on that inbox.

Deleting a section

Click the three-dot menu next to the section name and select Delete section. You will be prompted to either delete the tasks inside or move them to another section. Read the prompt. This is where most accidental bulk deletions happen.

Deleting a custom field

Click the dropdown arrow next to the field name and select Delete field from project. This removes the field and its values from every task in the project.

⚠️ Warning: custom field deletion is irreversible within Asana. If the field contained important categorisation or tracking data, and you do not have a backup, that data is gone. Consider exporting the project to CSV before removing any custom field you are not certain about.

Immediate recovery options

Asana provides two quick recovery options for mistakes caught in the moment.

The toast notification

Immediately after deletion, a notification appears at the bottom left of the screen with an Undo option. You have roughly 15 seconds. If you catch the mistake instantly, this is the fastest path back.

The undelete button

If you delete a task while the task pane is still open, an Undelete button remains visible in the details pane until you navigate away. Clicking it restores the task immediately.

Advanced recovery: finding lost data within the 30-day window

Restoring deleted tasks

Click the Search bar at the top of the workspace and select Advanced Search. Look for a Deleted field under the Status or More filters and set it to Deleted. You can narrow results by assigned user or modification date. Once you locate the task, click Restore in the task pane.

Restoring deleted projects

Check the inbox of the person who deleted the project — Asana sends an automated email with a unique recovery link. If you cannot find that email, use Advanced Search and filter by Projects with a Deleted status.

What Asana's native recovery can and cannot do

What you cannot recover natively

Comments

There is no recovery path for deleted comments in Asana. No trash, no 30-day window. The moment a comment is deleted, it is permanently gone. For teams that use task comments as a record of decisions or client communications, this is a significant gap.

Custom field data

Deleting a custom field removes its values from every task in the project. This cannot be undone natively. If the field was being used to track status, priority, or categorisation data across hundreds of tasks, that information is gone.

Previous versions of data

Asana's activity log shows you that a field value changed and who changed it. It does not let you roll back. If a third-party integration pushes incorrect data into your tasks, or an AI-driven workflow updates the wrong set of records, you can see the history but you cannot use it to revert at scale. Every correction has to be made manually.

Expired trash

Tasks and projects deleted more than 30 days ago are permanently gone. Asana does not offer an extended window or a way to request recovery from their side. The 30-day limit is a hard cutoff.

AI workflows and automations

Asana's AI Studio can build and execute multi-step workflows that update tasks, reassign work, and change field values across a project. These actions are not deletions, so they do not appear in any trash. The activity log records what changed, but reversing bulk updates manually across a large project is not practical. Without a versioned backup, there is no reliable way to get back to where you were.

What ProBackup covers

ProBackup runs daily, automated backups of all data Asana exposes through its API: workspaces, projects, tasks, subtasks, comments, custom fields, attachments (via task fields), sections, and activity logs.

Each backup cycle creates a separate snapshot, so you can look up exactly how a project or task appeared on any given day and restore from that point. When you restore data, ProBackup adds it back without overwriting anything currently in your workspace.

Some things cannot be backed up because Asana does not make them available through the API: certain file attachments uploaded directly to tasks, and some internal system metadata.

Reducing risk before something breaks

The best time to set up recovery options is before you need them.

• Restrict delete permissions. Not every team member needs the ability to delete projects or tasks. Tighten this in your workspace admin settings and reserve project deletion for admins only.
• Review deleted items weekly. The 30-day window is shorter than it sounds when deletions go unnoticed. A weekly check of Advanced Search filtered by Deleted status catches problems before the cutoff.
• Archive instead of delete. For any project or task that might be referenced later, archive rather than delete. The data stays accessible indefinitely and there is no countdown clock.
• Export before bulk operations. Before any large import, bulk field update, or integration that writes to tasks, export the affected projects as a CSV. It is a simple precaution that gives you a fallback.
• Set up a third-party backup. Native tools cover recent, individual mistakes caught within 30 days. They do not cover comment loss, custom field deletion, version rollbacks, or AI workflow errors. If Asana holds business-critical data, treat it like a production system and back it up accordingly.

Why AI makes external backups more important, not less

For a long time, the main risk in Asana was human error: someone deletes the wrong task, an import goes to the wrong project, a deadline gets bulk-updated to the wrong date. Those mistakes still happen. But as AI becomes a standard part of how work gets managed rather than an optional add-on, the risk profile has changed in one important way: the scale of a potential mistake has increased.

Asana AI Studio can execute workflows across entire projects without a human reviewing each step. A workflow that reassigns tasks, updates custom fields, or marks items complete across hundreds of records can run in seconds. If the conditions were wrong or the instruction was ambiguous, you are left with a large number of incorrect records and an activity log that shows you what happened but cannot undo it.

Asana is a well-designed product. But it was built to manage work, not to provide version control over that work. Those are different problems, and the gap between them is exactly where a dedicated backup earns its place.

Summary

Asana's immediate undo options and 30-day trash are useful for catching recent, individual mistakes. They are not a backup strategy, and they were not designed to be.

• Archive projects and tasks rather than deleting them wherever possible.
• Read section deletion prompts carefully - this is where most accidental bulk task loss happens.
• Check the project recovery email inbox immediately if a project disappears.
• Remember that comments and custom fields have no native recovery path once deleted.
• If Asana holds anything business-critical, set up an external backup. The native tools do not cover version rollbacks, AI workflow errors, or data loss discovered after the 30-day window closes.
  

Start your free trial of ProBackup: https://app.probackup.io/onboarding?platforms=ASANA

If you are a system administrator, IT admin, or co-founder, there is a good chance HubSpot is closer to a system of record than a simple CRM at this point. Contact histories, deal pipelines, support tickets, marketing automation, ... it accumulates fast, and so does the risk that something important disappears without anyone realising until it is too late.

This guide covers how HubSpot organises its data, how deletion actually works, what the native recovery tools can handle, and where they fall short.

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a customer platform that combines CRM, marketing automation, sales tooling, and customer service into one connected system. It is one of the more widely deployed SaaS tools in the market, used by companies ranging from early-stage startups to large enterprises managing hundreds of thousands of contacts.

In recent years HubSpot has invested heavily in AI. Breeze, their AI layer, sits across the product and can draft emails, summarise contact records, score leads, and power agents that take action inside your CRM without direct human input. Breeze Agents can update records, enrol contacts in sequences, and trigger workflows automatically. That is useful for sales and marketing teams. For administrators, it introduces a new way for data to change at scale without anyone manually doing it.

How HubSpot structures its data

HubSpot organises everything around objects and their associations. Deleting a core object typically removes its associated interactions as well, so it is worth understanding what sits where before anything gets removed.

CRM objects

Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets, and Custom Objects are the core records. Most of your CRM data lives here. Deleting a contact removes not just the name and email but also calls, notes, tasks, and logged emails associated with that record.

Content and sales assets

Products, Quotes, and email templates. These live separately from CRM objects and are deleted through their respective sections in the platform.

Automation

Workflows and Sequences. These do not contain customer data directly, but deleting them removes the enrollment history alongside the logic.

Interactions

Calls, notes, tasks, and logged activities. These are attached to CRM records rather than existing as standalone objects, which affects how recovery works.

User accounts

Team members who no longer need access. Removing a user does not delete the records they owned, but ownership should be audited before anyone is removed.

How to delete data in HubSpot

HubSpot offers two types of deletion. Restorable delete moves a record to the recycle bin with a 90-day recovery window. Permanent delete is irreversible and intended primarily for GDPR compliance requests.

Deleting individual records

Navigate to the relevant object (Contacts, Deals, etc.), click the specific record, open the Actions dropdown in the left panel, and select Delete. You will be prompted to choose between restorable and permanent deletion before confirming.

Deleting multiple records

Go to the object index page, select the checkboxes next to the relevant records, then click Delete in the top header row. HubSpot will ask you to enter the number of records to confirm. It is a reasonable safeguard, though it does not tell you anything about the associations that will be removed alongside each record.

⚠️ Warning: Bulk deletion on the index page moves fast. There is no preview of what associated activities will be removed alongside each record. If your contacts have significant call and note histories, check a sample record manually before bulk deleting.

Automated deletion (Pro and Enterprise only)

You can build workflows that delete contacts automatically based on criteria like inactivity date or lifecycle stage. Go to Automations, then Workflows, set your enrollment triggers, and add the Delete Contact action.

How to restore deleted data in HubSpot

HubSpot's Recycle Bin holds deleted records for 90 days. After that, the data is permanently gone.

Restoring CRM records

Go to the index page of the object, click the Actions dropdown in the top-right corner, select Restore records, then choose the records you want to bring back.

Restoring deleted activities

Navigate to the record where the activity existed. In the activity timeline, open the Actions menu and select Restore Activity. You can filter by date to find the specific engagement.

Restoring workflows

Go to Automations, then Workflows, then the Deleted tab. You can clone a deleted workflow to recover its structure.

‍What HubSpot's native recovery can and cannot do

What you cannot recover natively

The 90-day recycle bin is longer than most SaaS tools offer, but there are gaps that cause real problems in practice.

Previous versions of data

HubSpot stores property history, so you can see that a deal stage changed on a specific date and what it changed from. What you cannot do is roll back. If a bad import overwrites the industry field on 4,000 contacts, or an automation updates deal values incorrectly, property history tells you it happened but does not give you a way to reverse it at scale. You would have to re-import or manually correct every affected record.

Workflow enrollment history

When a workflow is deleted, the record of which contacts went through it and what actions were taken is gone with it. The workflow structure can be cloned, but the history cannot be recovered.

The 90-day hard cutoff

Records deleted more than 90 days ago cannot be recovered. There is no extended window and no way to escalate to HubSpot support and retrieve the data. Ninety days sounds like a comfortable buffer until you discover a deletion from three months ago that nobody flagged at the time.

Permanently deleted records

Records deleted with the permanent option are gone immediately with no recycle bin step. This is by design for GDPR compliance, but it also means there is no recovery window if permanent delete is used by mistake or applied to a broader segment than intended.

AI agents and automations

As HubSpot's Breeze Agents become more capable, the risk profile shifts. An agent configured to update contact properties, enrol records in sequences, or resolve duplicates can work through thousands of records quickly. These are writes, not deletes, so they do not touch the recycle bin. Property history will show that something changed. Getting back to exactly where you were before is a different problem entirely.

What ProBackup covers

ProBackup runs daily, automated backups of all data HubSpot exposes through its API: contacts, companies, deals, tickets, custom objects, notes, calls, tasks, emails, and their associated properties.

Each backup cycle creates a separate snapshot, so you can look up exactly how a contact record or deal appeared on any given day and restore from that point. When you restore a record, ProBackup adds it back without overwriting anything currently in your CRM.

Some things cannot be backed up because HubSpot does not expose them through the API: workflow enrollment history, certain file attachments, and internal system logs.

Reducing risk before something breaks

Recovery after the fact is always more expensive than prevention. A few things worth putting in place now:

• Restrict delete permissions. Not every user needs the ability to permanently delete records. Tighten this in HubSpot's user and team settings, and consider reserving permanent delete for admins only.
• Audit the recycle bin weekly. Ninety days sounds like a lot of runway, but accidental deletions often go unnoticed for weeks. A weekly review catches problems before the window closes.
• Test automation before enabling at scale. Any workflow that writes to or deletes records should be tested on a small, manually verified segment before being turned on for your full database.
• Export before bulk operations. Before any large import, bulk update, or list-based action, export the affected records. It takes a couple of minutes and gives you a clean restore point if something goes wrong.
• Set up a third-party backup. The native tools cover recent, individual mistakes. They do not cover version rollbacks, data overwritten by automations, or anything discovered after the 90-day cutoff. If HubSpot runs anything revenue-sensitive for your company, back it up like a production database.

Why AI makes external backups more important, not less

The case for SaaS backups used to rest mostly on human error: a rep deletes the wrong contact, an admin runs an import without checking the field mapping, someone bulk-updates the wrong segment. That still happens. But with AI becoming a standard feature inside CRMs, the risk landscape has changed.

HubSpot's Breeze Agents can enrich records, update properties, and take action across your database without a human doing it manually. That is the point of them. It is also why a misconfiguration or an ambiguous instruction can now affect thousands of records before anyone sees it. These changes show up in property history, not the recycle bin. You can see that they happened, but rolling them back manually at any meaningful scale is not a realistic option.

The only reliable safeguard is a versioned, external backup that lets you compare what your CRM looks like today with what it looked like before the change happened. HubSpot is a well-built product, but it was designed for running customer operations, not for providing full version control over its data. The gap between those two things is where third-party backups matter.

Summary

HubSpot's recycle bin and property history are genuinely useful for catching mistakes quickly. They are not a substitute for a backup strategy.

• Use restorable delete instead of permanent delete unless you have a specific compliance reason.
• Review the recycle bin weekly before the 90-day window closes on anything important.
• Test automated deletion workflows carefully — they can move faster than you can catch them.
• If HubSpot runs anything business-critical, set up an external backup. The native tools cover recent, individual mistakes. They do not cover bulk overwrites, AI agent errors, or data loss discovered after the recovery window has closed.

Start your free trial of ProBackup: https://app.probackup.io/onboarding?platforms=HUBSPOT

ClickUp aims to be the "one app to replace them all". It offers a broad range of project management features such as task managent, time tracking, goals and since recently it has also launched ClickUp Chat. ClickUp Chat lets you send messages to your team members without leaving the app. In this article, we’ll explain what ClickUp Chat is, how to use it, and how it compares to Slack and other tools.

What is ClickUp Chat?

ClickUp Chat is a built-in chat feature in ClickUp. It lets you talk to your team without needing another app like Slack. You can send messages, share files, and even create tasks straight from your conversation. This makes it easier to keep track of discussions and get work done in one place.

How to Use ClickUp Chat

ClickUp Chat is super easy to use. You can:

• Open a chat view to talk with your team.
• Use @mentions to get someone’s attention.
• Share links and files.
• Turn messages into tasks with one click.
• React to messages with emojis.

Is ClickUp Chat Free?

Yes! ClickUp Chat is included in all paid plans and even in the Free Forever plan. Unlike Slack, which deletes old messages after 90 days on the free plan, ClickUp keeps all your messages.

ClickUp Chat vs. Slack: What’s the Difference?

Slack is a great chat tool with advanced features, but ClickUp Chat is better if you want to keep your messages connected to your tasks. A big plus of ClickUp chat is that it keeps all chat messages, even if you're using the free plan. Slack on the other hand deletes messages after 90 days on the free version. Here's a comparison of some of the key features:

Can share files?

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes
• Slack:  ✅ Yes

Has an advanced text editor (e.g. quotes, code blocks, etc)

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes
• Slack:  ✅ Yes

Allows to have threads within a channel?

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes
• Slack:  ✅ Yes

Works with task management?

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes
• Slack: ❌ No

Do old messages remain available?

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes, all messages are kept
• Slack: ❌ No, messages are deleted after 90 days

Doesn't require a separate app & license?

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes
• Slack: ❌ No

Can turn messages into tasks?

• ClickUp: ✅ Yes
• Slack: ❌ No

Do other productivity apps offer similar chat functionality?

Not all productivity apps have a built-in chat like ClickUp. Here’s how some popular tools approach team communication:

• Asana: Instead of live chat, Asana uses task comments to keep discussions tied to specific tasks (which is also possible in ClickUp).
• Trello: Trello doesn’t offer built-in chat, but you can add Slack as a Power-Up to have a closer integration between Trello and Slack. This Power Up allows you to create Trello cards from Slack Conversations.
• Monday.com: It has an Updates section, which works similar to the comments functionality from other apps.  
• Airtable: You can leave comments on records, which is great for context, but there’s no dedicated chat feature.

If chatting in the same place where you manage your work is important to you, ClickUp Chat is a solid option that eliminates the need for third-party messaging tools.

Conclusion

ClickUp Chat is a simple and helpful way to talk to your team without switching apps. You don’t have to worry about losing old messages, and you can even turn chats into tasks. If you want an easy way to chat while keeping work organized, ClickUp Chat is a great choice.

Want to see how it works? Watch this video:

If you find yourself having trouble creating content, improving your writing or organizing information in Notion, Notion AI is here to help. It’s a smart assistant built right into Notion that makes your work easier and faster. It also helps automate repetitive tasks, so you can save time and focus on the more important parts of your work. In this blog post we will cover how Notion AI can help your day-to-day work and what its common use cases are.

How can Notion AI help you?

Notion AI helps you with all kinds of tasks. For example, it can quickly help you write things like blog posts, emails, reports, and presentations. It also makes editing easier by fixing grammar mistakes, improving clarity, and changing the tone if needed. If you have a long text, Notion AI can shorten it into a simple, easy-to-read summary.

When you're stuck for ideas, Notion AI can help you brainstorm and come up with outlines or creative prompts for your projects. It also helps you save time by automatically creating things like to-do lists, SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), and structured documents. For people working with teams across different countries, Notion AI can instantly translate text into other languages, making collaboration easier. And if you have a lot of information, it can help you find the most important points and highlight them.

Where Can You Use Notion AI?

Notion AI is integrated across different areas of the app, allowing you to enhance productivity in multiple ways:

1. Pages & Docs – Generate, refine, and improve your writing directly within Notion.
2. Databases – Automate task descriptions, meeting notes, and structured documentation.
3. Notes & Knowledge Bases – Summarize lengthy notes and organize complex information.
4. Project Management – Save time by generating reports, updates, and structured action items.

Is Notion AI Part of Every Plan?

‍Notion AI isn’t included with the regular Notion plans. To use it, you’ll need to pay extra. It costs $8 per user per month if billed annually, or $10 per user per month if billed monthly.

Compared to other AI writing tools like ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) or ClickUp AI ($7/user/month), Notion AI falls in the mid-range pricing tier. Its value depends on how deeply you rely on Notion for content creation and organization.

How Does Notion AI Compare to Other AI Tools?

I tested Notion AI and ClickUp AI with the same writing task, and here’s what I found. Notion AI gave well-organized, clear responses, perfect for making documents and notes. ClickUp AI, however, focused more on helping with tasks and project management rather than writing.

When compared to other tools like ChatGPT and Jasper, Notion AI is best for people who need help organizing or taking notes inside Notion. ChatGPT and Jasper are better for writing long, detailed content. Grammarly is great for fixing grammar and improving your writing but doesn't help with creating content from scratch.

For example, when asked to summarize a 500-word project brief, Notion AI produced a well-structured paragraph, while ClickUp AI formatted it into a bulleted action list. This highlights how each AI tool serves different purposes. Notion AI is ideal for structured writing, while ClickUp AI is better for task-oriented breakdowns.

Final Thoughts

In my experience, Notion AI is a great tool for Notion users who need an AI-powered writing assistant embedded within their workflow. It enhances content creation and organization, but the additional cost may not be justified for those who only need occasional AI assistance.

Would I recommend Notion AI? If you heavily use Notion for writing and content management, it’s a valuable addition. However, if your AI needs extend beyond Notion, you may find more flexibility in standalone AI platforms like ChatGPT. The best way to decide is to test Notion AI with your workflow and see if it enhances your productivity.

To learn more about how Notion AI works, check out this video.

What if you could turn your idea into a fully functional app in seconds? That’s exactly what Airtable’s Cobuilder offers. This exciting update allows users to create no-code apps instantly using AI-generated prompts and Airtable interfaces. In this blog post, we’ll explore how Airtable Cobuilder works, its advantages and limitations, and how it compares to other AI-powered no-code platforms.

What is Airtable Cobuilder?

Airtable is redefining low-code app development with Cobuilder. With just a simple prompt (e.g., "I want an app to manage my recipes"), Cobuilder generates a custom app tailored to your request. Each generated app consists of multiple interlinked tables, complete with views, workflows, and filters.

Built on Airtable’s Interface Designer, Cobuilder enables users to create intuitive dashboards and data-driven applications. Interface Designer already allows users to streamline collaboration by displaying only the most relevant information. With Cobuilder, Airtable has taken accessibility even further, allowing businesses to jumpstart the design process and customize applications without writing a single line of code.

Common Use Cases

Cobuilder streamlines operations for a variety of teams and industries. Whether managing projects, organizing inventory, planning events, or tracking sales, users can generate purpose-built apps with minimal effort—no manual setup or external integrations required.

Here are some example prompts:

• "I need an app to launch a women’s skateboarding shoe for the Olympics."
• "Help me track renovations for our boutique hotels in Marrakesh."
• "Create an app to track parts and production schedules for the Artemis SLS rocket."

How Does It Compare to Other No-Code Solutions?

Airtable Cobuilder stands out for its seamless AI-powered app generation, but how does it stack up against other platforms?

• Notion AI – Primarily designed for content generation and knowledge management, while Cobuilder focuses on structured, database-driven applications.
• Glide – Another AI-powered app builder, but geared more toward mobile applications, making it a strong competitor for mobile-first tools.
• Zapier – Specializes in automating workflows between apps, whereas Cobuilder generates complete applications from scratch.

How to Get Started?

Cobuilder is available to all Airtable users. To try it out, log into your Airtable account, click "Create," and select "Build an app with AI." For further inspiration, check out the following demo video showcasing Cobuilder’s capabilities in action.

Final Thoughts

Airtable Cobuilder is a game-changer in the no-code space, making app creation faster and more accessible than ever. While still evolving, it already offers immense value for businesses seeking efficiency without developer resources. If you use Airtable, experimenting with Cobuilder could unlock new opportunities for automation and streamlined workflows.

Work today moves at lightning speed, and teams need tools that can keep up. Enter ClickUp Whiteboards 3.0 - a huge update that makes brainstorming, planning, and executing easier than ever. In this blog post, we will explain how to use Whiteboards 3.0 and highlight the most important updates in this version.

What is ClickUp Whiteboards 3.0?

In 2022, ClickUp introduced their Whiteboard feature, a fresh approach to virtual whiteboards for hybrid work environments. It is similar to other tools like Miro, but it is fully integrated with ClickUp's task management system. This integration allows you to create a ClickUp whiteboard to start a brainstorming session, design a flowchart, or discuss the team's retrospectives, using the whiteboard as a foundation to kickstart a project.

How to get started with Whiteboards?

The Whiteboard feature is available in every plan, even the free one! You can create a whiteboard in several ways:

• Via the Sidebar: Whiteboards are listed as an option in the sidebar below the home page and inbox. This page shows all whiteboards created in your workspace and lets you create a new one.
• Via a space: Click on the plus next to a space and click on Whiteboard.
• Via a Task: When you open a task, you can add a whiteboard directly to it. Click "/" to open the commands and search for "Create whiteboard." You can embed a whiteboard into the description, making it easy to quickly draw and add flowcharts.
• Via the Menu Bar: Click "New" in the menu bar, and you'll see whiteboards as an option. You can assign each whiteboard to a specific space, folder, or task.

What is new in ClickUp 3.0?

The 3rd iteration of ClickUp Whiteboards introduces some strong new features and impressive quality of life improvements.

Seamless Sharing and Integration

One of the strongest points of Whiteboards 3.0 is its seamless integration with the rest of ClickUp.

• Tasks: You can easily embed whiteboards into task descriptions, mention your team in comments, and create tasks directly on the whiteboard. The connection between Whiteboards and Tasks ensures every great idea is executed. '
• Docs: Embed Docs in Whiteboards and vice versa for real-time collaboration and updates.
• Chat: Whiteboards and chat live together for real-time brainstorming and sharing without switching apps.
  

This integration make it incredibly useful for turning brainstorm session action items into tasks with due dates, priorities, and assignees.

Improved speed

Nobody likes waiting for things to load. That's why Whiteboards 3.0 is now 10 times faster than the previous version. Whether you're mapping out a project or collaborating live with your team, it's smooth, responsive, and reliable.

A Design That Inspires

Your workspace should be as inspiring as your ideas. Whiteboards 3.0 offers a clean, intuitive interface that's a joy to use. Love working at night? The new dark mode is not only easy on the eyes—it helps you stay focused and creative, no matter the hour.

Turn Text Into Stunning Visuals Using AI

Bring your ideas to life with the power of AI-driven image generation. Simply type out your concept, and the AI will work its magic to create a stunning graphic right on your whiteboard. There's no need to switch between different apps or waste precious time—experience a seamless flow of creativity without any interruptions.

Touch-Friendly Controls

Sometimes, it's just easier to draw things out rather than trying to explain them verbally or through text. The touch interface is designed to let you sketch, draw, and move items naturally on any device you choose to use. Whether you're working on a tablet or a touchscreen laptop, Whiteboards 3.0 feels incredibly intuitive and effortless to use.

Ready-to-Use Templates

Looking for a starting point? Check out the new template library. It's filled with professionally designed options for brainstorming, project planning, and more. These templates let you dive in and get productive right away. Some of our favourites include the 2x2 priority matrix and the 5 whys.

Closing thoughts

We think the that whiteboards functionality is really well executed and covers most of the use cases. It takes a bit of time to get used to the UI but once you're used to adding new shapes and text, it is a very fast and useful tool to visualise your thoughts.

If you're interested to learn more about white, then we strongly recommend watching the tutorial below:

2024 marked a pivotal year for productivity apps, with AI becoming an integral part of their offering. Major platforms like monday.com and ClickUp introduced powerful AI-driven features, such as enabling users to summarize Zoom calls, enhance writing, and get instant answers. AI assistants are steadily taking on more routine tasks, making work simpler and more efficient.

At Asana’s Work Innovation Summit in New York, the company unveiled AI Studio—a new tool designed to automate repetitive tasks. Whether it’s assigning work, organizing updates, or summarizing progress, AI Studio helps you focus on high-impact tasks by eliminating busywork.

What is AI Studio?

Asana AI Studio is an extension of the app's existing rules engine. It enables teams to design  workflows, embed AI agents into that workflow, and deploy it directly within Asana—without needing to write a single line of code. AI Studio can be used by every kind of team, from marketing and operations to IT and HR. It is designed to approach varied tasks in the same four stages -- intake, planning, execution, and reporting -- regardless of the nature of the project.

Use Cases

Unlike traditional AI tools that focus on synthesizing information, AI Studio integrates directly with teams, acting as a virtual teammate. Here are some practical ways teams are using it:

• AI Teammate for Quick Answers: Tag the AI in task comments to get instant suggestions or answers, simulating a knowledgeable team member.
• Lead Evaluation for Sales: Use Smart Workflows to assess leads based on predefined criteria, helping sales teams prioritize opportunities efficiently.
• Meeting Preparation: Summarize key updates before meetings, ensuring teams are informed and ready to contribute.
• Content Creation Assistance: Enable marketing teams to generate keyword suggestions or automatically tag and organize content drafts, reducing manual effort.

How to get started with AI Studio?

AI Studio is available to Enterprise and Enterprise+ customers. Follow these steps to enable and use it:

1. Enable Asana AI Features: Ensure your organization has activated Asana AI features.
   • Admins, super admins, and billing owners can enable AI Studio via the admin console.
   • Grant access to individual users as needed.
2. Access AI Studio:
   • In any project or My Tasks, click the Customize button in the top-right.
   • Under the Add section, select AI Studio.
3. Build Smart Workflows:
   • Open AI Studio to create custom workflows tailored to your team’s needs.

Responsible Usage

To maximize the benefits of AI Studio, ensure your workflows are designed responsibly. Familiarize yourself with industry-standard policies from Asana’s AI partners, including  OpenAI and Anthropic. These guidelines can help you create ethical and effective AI-driven processes.

AI Studio represents a significant leap forward in workflow automation, making Asana an even more indispensable tool for teams striving to work smarter, not harder. Ready to revolutionize your workflows? Explore AI Studio today.

At ProBackup, we are deeply committed to ensuring that you are always up-to-date with the tools that power your daily workflows. In this blog post, we take a closer look at the most impactful updates introduced to Monday.com in 2024. It’s been another significant year for Monday.com, packed with exciting improvements.

Tailored product suites

One of the standout developments this year is Monday.com’s introduction of four tailored product bundles. These curated suites are designed to cater to specific use cases, making it easier for teams to get started and maximize the platform’s potential:

• Work Management: This bundle offers the classic Monday.com experience, which focuses on helping teams effectively manage projects and tasks. It’s a reliable foundation for streamlining workflows and ensuring productivity.
• Monday CRM: This specialized package provides tools to oversee your entire sales funnel, from managing leads to closing deals and maintaining client relationships. It’s tailored for sales teams looking for greater control and efficiency.
• Monday Dev: Aimed at fostering collaboration between developers, product designers, and business teams, this suite is designed to accelerate the product development lifecycle, helping teams bring ideas to life more efficiently.
• Monday Service: Currently in its beta phase, this suite focuses on streamlining support and IT ticket management, ensuring smoother communication between customer-facing and development teams.

We believe this strategic move by Monday.com is a step in the right direction. While the platform’s flexibility has always been a strong suit, the sheer number of options can sometimes feel overwhelming. By offering these focused bundles, teams can start with a well-defined package tailored to their needs and gradually customize their setup as they grow.

Monday Sales CRM

For those new to Monday Sales CRM, it is a powerful customer relationship management tool seamlessly built into Monday.com. Its primary goal is to streamline sales processes, track deals, and enhance client interactions. What sets it apart from other CRM solutions is its unparalleled customization options and robust integrations with other tools.

Here are some of the most noteworthy updates to Monday Sales CRM:

• Sequences allows you to automate repetitive tasks such as email outreach and task reminders, creating a smooth and efficient workflow for activities like client onboarding and lead nurturing.
  • With five available steps—automatic emails, manual email reminders, general tasks, call tasks, and delay steps—you can create sophisticated, multi-step sequences.
  • Advanced rules let you define when a sequence should start or stop, such as automatically removing a contact from a sequence once they respond to an email.
  • The Sequence Manager provides an overview of all sequences, showing how many contacts are enrolled, active, or completed. This feature, though relatively new, already rivals established tools like Drip and ActiveCampaign.
• Zoom AI integration: Another time-saving innovation is the integration with  Zoom AI, which automatically summarizes video calls by capturing key takeaways, action items, and highlights. These summaries are added directly to your activity timeline, allowing you to focus on the conversation without worrying about taking notes.
• Enhanced import tool: Importing data into Monday.com has never been easier. The new and improved import tool provides a step-by-step guide to map columns to the board structure and merge duplicate entries. This ensures that your data is accurate, organized, and ready for use right from the start.

WorkCanvas Updates

This year, Monday.com introduced WorkCanvas, a versatile digital whiteboard tool integrated within the platform. Similar to tools like Miro, WorkCanvas allows teams to brainstorm, visualize workflows, and collaborate in real time. Despite being a relatively new feature, it has already received some impressive updates:

• Synced Templates: This update enables users to create project templates in WorkCanvas that are automatically linked to specific boards. This synchronization ensures that updates, tasks, and progress are always aligned across platforms, saving time and eliminating redundant setup steps.
• Project Timelines: With this feature, you can transform your WorkCanvas into dynamic Gantt charts, providing a clear visualization of tasks, dependencies, and deadlines. This makes managing complex workflows more intuitive.
• Table Element: The new table element allows you to create, edit, and format tables directly within WorkCanvas. You can add or remove rows and columns, apply formatting, and drag-and-drop data to keep everything structured and easily accessible.

Dynamic Values in WorkDocs

WorkDocs, introduced in 2023, has become an indispensable tool for many teams, functioning like Google Docs but fully integrated with Monday.com. In 2024, Monday.com enhanced this feature by adding dynamic values, which allow live data from boards to be embedded directly into documents.

For example, by linking a Doc to a board column, you can automatically pull in data such as dates, statuses, or text updates. This feature is perfect for generating up-to-date reports, summaries, or templates without needing to manually refresh information. It’s a game-changer for teams seeking accuracy and efficiency in documentation.

Work Management Updates

In addition to the major feature rollouts, Monday.com has introduced several updates that enhance its core work management capabilities:

• Advanced Dependencies: This update makes project planning more precise by allowing users to add lead times (tasks starting earlier) and lag times (tasks starting later). It’s an essential tool for teams handling complex projects with interdependent tasks.
• Filter Subitems on Dashboards: Subitem filtering adds a new layer of granularity to dashboards, enabling users to analyze data at a deeper level. For instance, you can now filter tasks by priority, assignee, or status, making it easier to generate detailed reports and actionable insights.
• Reply Directly from Inbox: This seemingly simple but impactful update allows users to reply to comments or updates directly via email, eliminating the need to log into Monday.com or switch between tabs. It’s a small change that significantly improves communication efficiency.

Closing Thoughts

These updates reflect Monday.com’s ongoing commitment to innovation and user satisfaction. From enhanced collaboration tools to improved automation and data management capabilities, the platform continues to evolve to meet the needs of modern teams.

At ProBackup, we’re thrilled to see these advancements and are here to help you make the most of them. As always, we ensure your data stays secure while you explore and implement these exciting new features.

Which of these updates are you most excited about? We’d love to hear how they’re transforming your workflows and boosting your productivity!

Airtable has recently unveiled Portals, a feature designed to streamline collaboration with external users like clients, vendors, and partners. With Portals, you can create a tailored, secure experience for guests by offering a custom sign-in page that provides easy access to your Airtable app. This innovation makes sharing relevant data simpler and more secure than ever.

Why is this a big deal?‍

Portals enable you to give external users or guests access to Airtable Interfaces without requiring them to purchase a full Airtable license. This means you can collaborate with external stakeholders at a fraction of the cost. Pricing for the Portals add-on starts at $8 per guest per month or $120 per month for 15 guests and one portal.

Key use cases for Portals:

• Client portal: Provide clients with real-time access to project updates and deliverables.
• Vendor management: Simplify communication and document sharing with suppliers.
• Partner collaboration: Enable seamless data exchange with business partners.
• Customer support: Enhance customer experience with self-service options, FAQs, and support ticket tracking.

It’s important to note that a guest is defined as a user who does not share your team or company’s email domain, or uses a personal domain (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com). This ensures team members cannot be treated as guests to reduce licensing costs.

How is different from Airtable interfaces?‍

Airtable Interfaces have been available for some time and allow you to share access to underlying Airtable data in a customized way. With Interfaces, you can control what parts of the database are visible and editable, tailoring the experience to suit your needs.

The key distinction with Portals lies in the external login capability. Instead of logging directly into Airtable, external users access your custom partner portal to interact with Airtable Interfaces. This provides a more professional, branded experience.

Key features:

• Custom sign-in page: Allow external collaborators to access your Airtable Interface without needing to log into Airtable itself.
• Granular permissions: Control exactly what guests can see and edit, ensuring secure and tailored collaboration.
• White labeling (coming soon): Personalize your portal by matching it to your brand. Add your company logo and customize the background for a cohesive, professional look.

How to get started with Portals?

Portals are currently in beta for Teams, Business, and Enterprise Scale customers. If you’re eligible, you can add the Portals add-on to invite external users and manage their access easily.

As a trusted backup provider for Airtable, ProBackup ensures your data remains secure no matter how Airtable’s features evolve. Stay tuned for more updates on this powerful tool!

See Portals in action‍

Here are a few tutorial videos to help you explore Airtable Portals:

ProBackup Picks ClickUp's Highlights of 2024

ClickUp ended 2023 strong with the launch of ClickUp 3.0. As 2024 wraps up, we're eager to see if they kept their momentum (spoiler alert: they did!).

Here are some of the biggest updates ClickUp added or improved in 2024.

ClickUp Chat

ClickUp is fulfilling its promise to become the "one app to replace them all" with ClickUp Chat. Previously, you could communicate by commenting on tasks and docs, but now ClickUp Chat has its own spot on the sidebar (here's how to activate it).

The feature set is familiar: post announcements, message colleagues directly, and create channels for each department. The biggest advantage is its deep integration with other parts of the app. Here are two examples:

• Create a chat view for a specific list to ask for general updates related to that list or team.
• Turn conversations into tasks with one click and link chats to related work items.

Additionally, you can use the AI option to suggest replies and summarize threads. This leads us to another significant improvement...

ClickUp Brain

The rise of AI was initially met with skepticism, but 2024 proved it's here to stay. Many big SaaS players are integrating AI into their apps, and ClickUp is leading the way with impressive AI features for productivity.

When you log in, the new AI features are easy to find. The pink widget in the bottom right corner gives quick access to summarize, write, or ask a question. It's a clever way to highlight the three main AI use cases within ClickUp.

Summarize: Select text in ClickUp and "ask AI" to summarize, improve, lengthen, or shorten it. You can also check spelling and grammar or translate it. It's super handy and quick!

Writer: This feature helps you draft new text. Use it for anything: generate a meeting minutes template, draft a brainstorming agenda, or write an email with feedback. While the output is often impressive, a human review is recommended.

Ask AI: This option lets you ask questions to the ClickUp Brain. It's the most exotic option, and we haven't explored it much. In theory, you can ask AI to summarize project updates or explain a team process.

Whiteboards 3.0

In December, ClickUp launched the third version of ClickUp Whiteboards. This version is a complete rebuild, featuring a sleek design and powerful capabilities. With improved features and impressive speed, it's easier than ever to work and chat with your team in real-time on the same board.

ClickUp added hundreds of new, professionally designed templates for brainstorming, project planning, and more. They also introduced AI-powered image generation to transform text into stunning visuals in seconds. These updates make it easy to jumpstart sessions and get ideas flowing quickly.

Once you're done, convert whiteboard ideas into tasks, making it simple to turn brainstorming sessions into assigned tasks. You can also export the whiteboard as a PDF, PNG, or JPEG.

Clips 3.0

With Clips, you can instantly create and share videos, making it easy to convey your message clearly and effectively. The process is as simple as hitting record, sharing your screen, and sending your ideas to your team faster than typing a response.

Clips stand out because they integrate seamlessly into the platforms where you already work. There's no need to switch to Loom or upload files.

The flexibility in sharing Clips is remarkable: embed a Clip directly within ClickUp, send a public link to anyone outside your Workspace, or download the video file. Every Clip you record, whether in a comment, task, or Doc, is automatically stored in the Clips Hub (accessible via the navigation bar).

Conclusion

It's clear that ClickUp has had another banging year with new and improved features. This exciting development makes us even more eager to see what innovative features they'll bring in 2025!

When it comes to project management, there are a lot of tools on the market. While having options is great, the truth is that all of these competing platforms can make choosing the right project management service for your team feel like searching for a needle in a never-ending haystack. 

That’s where we come in.

Today, we’re taking a deep dive into three of today’s leading project management platforms: Asana, Trello, and Monday.com. Not only that, we'll be giving you insight into the types of teams and projects best suited to each platform so that you can make an informed decision about your operation's future.

Let’s get straight to it!

Asana

As a legacy project management platform with more than 15 years in the marketplace, Asana offers teams endless options for collaboration, automation, and creating a fully integrated workflow. With both free and paid plan options, Asana makes it easy for organizations to customize their plans based on the size of their team, making it a strong choice for operations looking to scale. 

Pros

100+ Software Integrations

Tired of constantly switching between platforms in your workflow? Asana eliminates speedbumps in your operation with more than 100 software integrations featuring the tools your team already knows and loves, like Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace. 

Customized Automation

Your workflow is about your rules. That’s why Asana strives to offer more customization opportunities for its users, allowing you to automate your process based on your own criteria. This feature helps to take the stress out of routine tasks and gives your team the freedom to focus on more pressing jobs. 

Multiple Views

From Lists and Timelines to Calendars and Progress Tracking, Asana allows all users to access multiple viewpoints for every single task. Ultimately, this leads to fewer errors in your workflow and greater prioritization for your most high-stake projects. 

Who It’s For?

Asana is a versatile platform for teams of every size, but we think this tool works best for agile organizations with lean teams. In the free plan alone, Asana allows up to 15 users, with additional users costing just 10.99 per user per month beyond that point. 

Cons

Since the paid version of Asana charges per user each month, this platform can be somewhat pricey for larger teams or organizations who anticipate adding new members as they scale. 

Trello

Launched in 2011, Trello gives users a unique approach to project management that fuses simplicity, efficiency, and collaboration all in one. Unlike other popular team-driven platforms, Trello features a Kanban-inspired layout that uses visual cues to encourage better organization and streamlined workflows. Simply put, Trello is a sleek, modern approach to project management that is easy and accessible for every member of your team. 

Pros

List-Style Format

At its core, Trello is a list-making tool. Although that may sound restrictive in terms of managing projects, the platform allows users to create unique columns, boards, and project cards that can seamlessly be moved from one list to the next. This creates a visually-driven project-tracking system that takes the stress out of figuring out which tasks require the most attention. 

User-Friendly Interface

Because Trello follows a simplified Kanban methodology for organization, the platform is naturally easy to use. In just a few clicks, team members can assign tasks, create sub-projects on each card, and move their work through the project pipeline without the need for additional tools or training. 

Optimized For Mobile

One of the most alluring features of Trello is its mobile optimization, which allows teams to work more effectively from anywhere in the world. This makes it an ideal choice for teams with members who work remotely around the globe or who need to adjust their workflow while on the go. 

Who It’s For?

Thanks to its simplicity, Trello is the ideal choice for teams who need to work quickly at moving projects through their pipeline and regularly onboard new members. Most importantly, Trello offers both a free plan and three paid tiers, allowing you to find the perfect price for your operation. 

Cons

While we may love Trello for its list-style format, this can also make managing complex tasks more challenging and may require additional integrations to handle large-scale projects. 

Monday.com

Despite being one of the newer project management platforms on the market, Monday.com has amassed a loyal following of users since its launch in 2019, and for good reason. This cloud-based platform offers some of the best customization and collaboration tools on the market, earning it plenty of recognition from organizations with diverse teams. Plus, Monday.com offers 24/7 live customer support for its users, a rarity in the project management space. 

Pros

Visual Dashboards

When you need a quick snapshot of your project status, Monday.com has you covered. The platform uses visual dashboards to give you insight into all current projects and customizable Kanban, list style, and other views. 

Real-Time Collaborations

Collaboration is the heart and soul of Monday.com’s project management approach, offering real-time collaboration tools that can be utilized by multiple team members at a time. This allows you to create custom access for specific users to edit tasks, assign collaborative projects, and everything in between. 

Customization-Driven

Like Asana, Monday.com also leans heavily into customization and automation. This allows organizations to set their own rules and create a workflow unique to their tasks, and the platform has over 200 customizable project templates to help you get started. 

Who It’s For?

Monday.com offers both free and flexible plans that go up to 16 per month, which makes it a great choice for small teams and entrepreneurs who are just beginning to grow their operations. However, thanks to its growing prominence in the market, we suspect that organizations of every size will soon be leveraging Monday.com’s benefits. 

Cons

As Monday.com is still relatively new, the brand is continuing to evolve its approach to project management, which may result in hesitation from higher-ups and senior management. 

Which Project Management Tool Is Right For You?

No matter the size and scope of your team, there are certainly plenty of project management tools designed to meet your needs. Whether you’re looking for a traditional approach to organizing tasks like Asana, a scaled-down alternative like Trello, or Monday.com’s innovative mix of both worlds, your team is sure t1o work more efficiently than ever before.

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When you have five tasks due by the end of the day, three meetings to attend, and four follow-up calls to make, it's easy for your thoughts to get jumbled. Staying on top of your tasks and duties without a way to keep organized, the quality of your work can start to decline. One of the best ways to add order to your to-do list is with a work management app like Monday.com. 

Below, we'll highlight some of the best features of Monday.com and help you see how to use it to ease your daily schedule. By optimizing your tasks, you'll find yourself accomplishing more in less time, thus freeing up valuable moments for the things that truly matter. 

What is Monday.com?

Monday.com is a cloud-based work management tool that virtually connects team members and provides a flexible platform for all types of work. Designed to boost productivity and foster collaboration, it offers ways to delegate and track responsibilities for teams and businesses of all sizes. 

Its user-friendly interface and customizable templates, like Kanban boards and Gantt charts, make it a popular choice for streamlined project management. This platform is best for groups looking to organize their work, track progress, and collaborate more efficiently in a centralized space.

1. Streamlining Workflow with Automation

Automation in platforms like Monday.com allows for the replacement of manual, repetitive tasks with automated processes. This shift saves time and minimizes the chance of human error. For example, when a task's status is updated, a notification can be sent to the relevant team members. With this, everyone is instantly advised about project updates, decreasing the frequency of manual follow-ups. 

Automation allows for the uniform execution of routine tasks. This consistency helps maintain a smooth flow of operations and keeps team members focused on their core responsibilities. Monday.com facilitates better resource management. It promotes the allocation of tasks based on team members' availability or expertise, leading to a more balanced workload distribution and a more streamlined, error-free work function.

2. Enhancing Collaboration with Team Management Features

Monday.com's team management features are designed to foster a collaborative environment, making it easier for teams to work together efficiently, regardless of their location. One significant feature is the real-time communication capability. This allows team members to discuss projects, share updates, and solve issues directly within the platform. Doing so eliminates the need for lengthy email threads or external messaging apps, keeping all communication centralized and accessible.

Having a shared workspace where team members can view, edit, and manage tasks collectively maintains transparency. This keeps everyone on the same page and helps managers or task leaders monitor the status of each project. Similarly, team leaders can assign tasks to specific members and track progress to ensure accountability and evenly distribute the workload.

These collaborative features enhance teamwork and contribute to a more organized and productive work environment. By providing tools that facilitate easy communication and resource sharing, Monday.com can improve the overall efficiency of teams.

3. Customizable Workspaces for Tailored Efficiency

Customizable workspaces allow businesses to suit their online boards to their specific needs. This individualization extends across the whole platform, including project boards, workflows, and dashboards.

For instance, a marketing team might customize their board to track campaign progress with columns for campaign stages, budgets, and deadlines. However, a software development team can set up a board that follows their sprint cycles with columns for sprint planning, development, testing, and deployment.

Because customization takes time that companies often don't have, Monday.com offers a wide variety of templates, like a content planning template for editorial teams or a project roadmap template for project managers. These can be further tailored to meet specific project requirements. The ability to adjust these elements means that every team, regardless of its size or the complexity of its projects, can set up a workspace that aligns perfectly with its operational requirements. 

4. Integration with Other Tools

Integrating management apps with other popular tools and services allows for seamless synchronization and data sharing across different platforms, ensuring that users can maintain a cohesive workflow without constantly switching between applications. Monday.com integrates with common communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, making group collaboration more streamlined. It also connects with cloud storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox, simplifying file sharing and access. 

These integrations save time and reduce the potential for errors from transferring data manually between systems. They enable a more efficient workflow, where information updates in one platform are automatically reflected in others.

5. Tracking and Reporting Data

While many business management apps offer data analytics features, they don’t all add up to what insights Monday.com can provide. Some of the specific analytics tools used in Monday.com include:

• Overview Widget: Follow the status of all projects based on the number of remaining assignments. The widget visually depicts whether projects are on track, completed, or at risk by displaying an easy-to-understand progress bar next to each assignment. 
• Performance Insights View: This feature tracks how long items have been spent in specific statuses or phases, offering valuable data on team tasks and project progression. It's similar to the Overview, but more specific to timeframes. 
• Search Everything: Like the “Find” function on documents, the Search Everything tool allows you to find any keyword in your Monday.com board. Say you need to find your assigned projects - simply search your name. Alternatively, try the word "Stuck" to locate the tasks that take longer than expected to complete. 
• Word Cloud: This visualization tool turns textual data into more meaningful insights, highlighting key terms in a visually impactful way. It tells you which key terms are mentioned the most across your board.

There are dozens of additional tools on Monday.com to analyze business performance. Each one leads to more informed decisions and streamlined processes by enhancing workflow management and productivity.

Unlocking Productivity and Collaboration with Monday.com

When you want to add a little - or a lot - more order to your company’s workflow, Monday.com may be your tool. Its host of features can help enhance team collaboration and boost overall productivity. 

As you use Monday.com, though it's cloud-based, don't let unexpected data loss hinder your team's progress. To safeguard your work, consider the added security and peace of mind with Pro Backup. This way, all your content and sensitive information is safe and retrievable, no matter what happens. 

In my role as product manager for ProBackup, I work closely with the project management apps we integrate with. We explore their core features to build a deeply-integrated backup solution, and we track every major update and release. We speak with implementation partners about their needs and requests, which gives us a solid grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of the most popular project management apps.

2026 is a pivotal year for this space. Every major platform is betting heavily on AI agents and agentic workflows, turning project management tools from passive organizers into active collaborators. With an array of options available, choosing the right tool can significantly enhance productivity and streamline workflows. In this article, we give an overview of the six tools currently leading the market, each excelling in unique ways.

Why use a project management app

The use of a project management app has become more of a necessity than a luxury. These platforms offer benefits that streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and foster collaboration, regardless of your team's size or industry.

Organisation and structure
These apps provide a structured platform to manage tasks, projects, and deadlines. They allow you to organise work into manageable segments, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

Communication and collaboration
Most apps include tools that facilitate better team collaboration. Whether assigning tasks, sharing updates, or giving feedback, everything happens in one place, reducing the need for lengthy email threads and meetings.

Accessibility and flexibility
Cloud-based functionality means you can access your work anywhere, anytime. This accessibility is essential for remote teams or individuals who travel frequently.

Time management and efficiency
By providing an overview of tasks and deadlines, these apps help prioritise work. Many also include time-tracking features, offering insights into how time is spent on each task.

Data-driven decisions
Most platforms have reporting tools that provide data and insights on project progress, team performance, and resource allocation. This information is vital for making informed decisions and planning future projects.

Project management apps are the backbone of modern, efficient work methods. They simplify task management and contribute to a more organised, collaborative, and data-driven work culture.

ClickUp: The all‑in‑One AI powerhouse

ClickUp stands as a multifaceted project management tool, offering a suite of features to cover diverse work needs. It is highly customisable, with over 35 ClickApps to tailor task management. Key features include nested subtasks, checklists, time tracking, voice and video recording, and a variety of views like list, board, and calendar.

ClickUp enhances team collaboration with real-time chat, document sharing, and proofing tools. It also excels in automation, offering over 50 actions to streamline workflows. The platform even includes features like video recording, whiteboards, and an integrated document editor. ClickUp integrates with more than 1,000 tools, making it a top choice for adaptable project management. With all of these features, ClickUp is making good on its promise to build "one app to replace them all". If you want to avoid switching apps too often, ClickUp might be the ideal solution.

What changed in 2025/2026
‍ClickUp launched version 4.0 and introduced Super Agents, which represent a major step toward autonomous AI teammates. Following the acquisition of Codegen in late 2025, ClickUp's Super Agents can now autonomously complete projects, generate software, and take action with over 500 work skills. These agents feature what ClickUp calls "human-level memory", meaning they learn from every interaction and operate natively within the workspace. This positions ClickUp as one of the first platforms to let any user create and deploy AI teammates without writing a single line of code.

ProBackup expert notes

ClickUp's ambition to be the all-in-one workspace is paying off. No other tool on this list packs as many features into a single platform. That said, the breadth can be overwhelming for smaller teams. The Super Agents launch is bold, though teams should evaluate carefully how much autonomy they want to give AI in their workflows.

Good for: Multi‑functional teams needing a single unified workspace powered by automation and AI.

Not recommended for: Very small teams or individuals who need something simple and quick to set up. The sheer volume of features can be a distraction if your needs are straightforward.

👉 Read how teams protect their ClickUp data with ProBackup

monday.com: Automation meets agentic workflows

Monday.com is a dynamic project management platform that uniquely combines automation with advanced features. It offers customisable automation for streamlining workflows and reducing manual tasks by automating task assignments, status updates, and notifications. Most project management apps offer some form of automation, but monday.com excels in this domain. The process of creating new automations is both intuitive and detailed, allowing you to build advanced workflows in no time.

Alongside this, monday.com provides customisable templates, diverse views like timelines and Kanban, and seamless integrations with other tools. This blend of automation and versatility enhances team collaboration and productivity, making monday.com a comprehensive solution for various business needs.

What changed in 2025/2026
‍Monday.com launched three major AI capabilities: monday magic, monday vibe, and monday sidekick. Monday vibe is especially notable as it brings vibe coding to the platform, allowing users to build custom applications using plain English without writing code. The company also introduced monday agents, a no-code agent builder that lets organisations create AI-powered specialists tailored to their specific needs. These agents can execute tasks end-to-end, from scheduling meetings to conducting research and creating strategies. Monday.com also expanded into new product areas, including monday service for enterprise service management and monday campaigns for AI-powered marketing within the CRM suite.

ProBackup expert notes

Monday.com's strength has always been its approachable automation engine, and the new AI capabilities amplify that advantage. The introduction of vibe coding through monday vibe is a game-changer for teams who want to build custom apps without involving developers. However, the AI credits pricing model means teams should monitor their usage carefully.

Good for: Fast-moving startups and marketing teams managing multiple workflows that want to embrace agentic AI.

Not recommended for: Teams that prioritize simple list-based project tracking.

Asana: The strategic project leader

Asana is an established project management tool that excels in organising work into manageable tasks and projects. It offers various views, including lists, calendars, timelines, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards, making it versatile for different team needs. Asana enables effective top-down task delegation, starting by defining goals and milestones, then structuring your projects with clear due dates and responsibilities.

Its custom fields feature allows for personalised task organisation, facilitating easier sorting and filtering. Asana also provides real-time status updates, time tracking, and reporting dashboards, offering insights into team progress. It supports automated workflows, resource management, and integrates with various popular tools, enhancing overall team coordination.

What changed in 2025/2026
‍Asana has made a significant push into AI with the launch of AI Teammates. These are collaborative, context-aware agents that you can assign work to just like any other team member. They understand the context of all work across your organisation and deliver updates where your team already collaborates. Asana also introduced AI Studio, which lets teams build custom AI-powered automation rules, and AI risk reports that proactively flag potential project risks before they become blockers. Multilingual semantic search now helps users find relevant items across languages.

ProBackup expert notes

Asana remains one of the most mature platforms for structured task delegation and goal tracking. Its new AI Teammates are promising, though still in beta. We see Asana work best for teams that value clear hierarchies of goals, milestones, and tasks, with strong top-down planning.

Good for: Enterprises or teams focused on OKR frameworks and strategic visibility

Not recommended for: Teams that primarily manage large data sets or need spreadsheet-style views. If your work is more data-heavy than task-heavy, consider Airtable instead.

Airtable: The developer’s playground

Airtable excels in managing complex data sets and creating linked tables, making it a powerful tool for data organisation and analysis. It offers the flexibility of a database with the ease of a spreadsheet. Users can customise fields to store various types of data, link records between tables to show how data is related, and create views that display this information in meaningful ways such as table, kanban, and calendar.

Airtable's rich field types, like checkboxes, dropdowns, and file attachments, enhance its capability to handle diverse data needs. Its focus on the table view makes Airtable the ideal candidate when you have to deal with a higher volume of records, let's say more than 100, in a project or base.

What changed in 2025/2026
‍Airtable relaunched itself as "the AI-native app platform" with the introduction of Omni, an agentic AI app-building assistant. Airtable CEO Howie Liu described Omni as combining the magic of vibe coding with enterprise reliability. Unlike standalone vibe coding tools that produce throw-away prototypes, Omni creates production-ready apps with data, automations, and interfaces, all from natural language prompts. Airtable also introduced intelligent agents that can work across thousands of records, driving decisions and orchestrating actions across entire operations. The platform now supports AI models from multiple providers including OpenAI, Gemini, Llama, and Anthropic.

ProBackup expert notes

Airtable's pivot to AI-native app building is the most dramatic transformation on this list. If your team needs to build custom internal tools on top of structured data, Airtable with Omni is now a compelling alternative to dedicated no-code platforms. That said, it remains a data-first tool, and teams looking purely for task management may find simpler options elsewhere.

Good for: Teams managing large, structured data sets such as inventories, content calendars, CRM workflows, or product catalogues. Ideal for operations, marketing ops, and data-driven teams.

Not recommended for: Teams that need traditional task management features like Gantt charts, resource allocation, or time tracking. Airtable is a database that can manage projects, not a project management tool that stores data.

Miro: Visual collaboration at scale

Miro is a robust platform known for its extensive whiteboarding capabilities, ideal for creative brainstorming and collaborative planning. It features an infinite canvas that allows teams to map out ideas freely, with tools like sticky notes and smart drawing.

Miro also supports various workstyles with customisable templates and seamless integrations with other cloud apps. This makes it perfect for diverse teams to collaborate visually, regardless of location. Miro's emphasis on whiteboards and visual tools fosters a dynamic and engaging way to manage projects and ideas. If you want to focus on ideation and brainstorming rather than following up on tasks and projects, Miro is the ideal tool.

What changed in 2025/2026
‍Miro has continued refining its core visual collaboration experience, with deeper integrations into platforms like Asana, Jira, and monday.com. The platform has added more structured planning tools to bridge the gap between brainstorming and execution, including improved diagramming capabilities and enhanced template libraries for agile workflows.

ProBackup expert notes

Miro is the clear leader for visual collaboration and ideation. However, it is not a standalone project management tool. We see it used most effectively alongside a dedicated task management platform. Teams typically brainstorm and plan in Miro, then move execution into ClickUp, Asana, or monday.com.

Good for: Teams that need a visual space for brainstorming, design sprints, workshops, and strategic planning. Popular with design, product, and consulting teams.

Not recommended for: Day-to-day task management or tracking project deliverables. Miro lacks the structured task, deadline, and reporting features that purpose-built project management tools offer.

Notion: The customizable WorkOS

Notion is renowned for its exceptional visual dashboards, which allow for a highly personalised and flexible project management experience. Its interface supports intricate project planning and tracking with customisable tables and timeline views. Notion's strength lies in its ability to represent complex information visually, making project oversight more intuitive and accessible.

The platform's versatility extends to managing tasks with calendar views, embedding diverse content types, and offering a cohesive workspace that can adapt to various project requirements. Notion doubles as a knowledge base and documentation platform, making it the go-to tool for teams that want to combine project management with internal wikis and company documentation.

What changed in 2025/2026
‍Notion continues to expand its AI capabilities, with Notion AI now deeply embedded across the platform. Users can generate summaries, extract action items, translate content, and answer questions about their workspace using natural language. Notion has also improved its database capabilities and introduced more advanced automation features, narrowing the gap with dedicated project management tools. The platform's API has been expanded, allowing for more sophisticated third-party integrations.

ProBackup expert notes

Notion is the strongest option when you need a combined workspace for both documentation and project management. Its flexibility is unmatched, but that same flexibility means it requires more upfront setup compared to dedicated project management tools. We often see Notion used alongside another tool, for example Notion for documentation and ClickUp or Asana for task management.

Good for: Teams that need a unified workspace for documentation, knowledge management, and lightweight project management. Popular with startups, content teams, and product teams.

Not recommended for: Enterprises needing strict process control or permission hierarchies. Notion can become unwieldy at scale without careful structuring.

The AI shift in project management

In 2024, these six apps each approached project management from a different angle: Asana focused on task delegation, Airtable on spreadsheets, Miro on whiteboards, and so on. While the core strengths remain, the landscape in 2026 has shifted dramatically with the arrival of AI agents and agentic workflows.

ClickUp's Super Agents and monday.com's monday agents are leading the charge, offering autonomous AI teammates that can execute entire workflows without manual intervention. Airtable's Omni and monday.com's monday vibe bring vibe coding into the enterprise, allowing anyone to build custom apps through natural language. Asana's AI Teammates take a more measured approach, acting as collaborative assistants that work within existing team structures. HubSpot, while primarily a CRM, has introduced Breeze Agents across sales, marketing, and service, including a Prospecting Agent that researches target accounts using both CRM data and external sources like company websites and news publications.

This convergence around AI means the selection process is no longer just about features. It is about how much intelligence and autonomy you want embedded in your workflows, and how much control you want to maintain.

Why backing up your project management data matters

As these platforms become more powerful and more autonomous, the data stored within them becomes increasingly valuable. AI agents making changes across hundreds of records, automated workflows triggering bulk updates, and vibe-coded apps processing data at scale all introduce new risk vectors alongside the traditional threats of human error and accidental deletions.

ProBackup provides daily, automated backups for all six platforms covered in this article. With granular one-click restore, version history, and optional Google Drive sync, you can recover from any data loss scenario, whether caused by a team member, a faulty integration, or an overzealous AI agent.

Start your free trial of ProBackup today to secure your SaaS data: https://app.probackup.io/onboarding