Short answer: Float is the best resource scheduling tool for agencies, with clear visual capacity planning and time tracking. Resource Guru is the simplest booking-style alternative, and Productive.io adds budgets and profitability. SEO Runway shows workload per person inside the marketing delivery tool, which is enough for many small teams but isn't a full capacity planner.
Disclosure: SEO Runway is our product. We ranked it using the same criteria as every other tool, and noted where others do better.
Quick picks
- Best resource scheduling: Float
- Simplest booking: Resource Guru
- Best with profitability: Productive.io
- Best forecasting: Runn
- Workload inside the delivery tool: SEO Runway
Resource management tools compared
| Tool | Capacity planning | Time tracking | Forecasting | Utilisation reports | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Float | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~$7* |
| Resource Guru | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | ~$5* |
| Productive.io | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~$9* |
| Runn | Yes | Yes | Strong | Yes | ~$10* |
| Teamwork.com | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | ~$10* |
| Forecast (Harvest) | Yes | Via Harvest | Yes | Yes | See site* |
| SEO Runway | Team workload view | [verify] | No | Partial | Included from $49/mo |
| Monday.com | Workload widget | Yes | Partial | Partial | ~$9* |
| ClickUp | Workload view | Yes | Partial | Partial | ~$7* |
| Scoro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~$26* |
*Approximate; verify.
How we chose these tools
We compared each tool's published features, plans and documentation on five criteria: capacity planning, time tracking, forecasting, utilisation reports, and price.
1. Float: best resource scheduling
Verdict: a clear visual schedule of who's doing what, with capacity and time tracking.
Pros: clarity; integrations.
Cons: not a full PM tool.
2. Resource Guru: simplest booking
Verdict: book people like meeting rooms, with clash management.
Pros: ease.
Cons: lighter reporting.
3. Productive.io: best with profitability
Verdict: resourcing tied to budgets and margins.
Pros: financial view.
Cons: setup.
4. Runn: best forecasting
Verdict: capacity forecasts and tentative projects.
Pros: forecasting.
Cons: price.
5. Teamwork.com: best PM + resourcing
Verdict: workload and resourcing in a client-work PM tool.
Pros: one tool.
Cons: interface.
6. Forecast (Harvest): best with Harvest time tracking
Verdict: scheduling for teams using Harvest.
Pros: Harvest data.
Cons: limited development.
7. SEO Runway: workload inside the delivery tool
Verdict: team workload per person alongside tasks, a work queue and a kanban board with WIP limits, inside the platform where SEO, local, Ads and social work is done.
Pricing: included with SEO Runway plans from $49/month; 14-day free trial. See plans.
Pros: no extra tool for small teams; WIP limits prevent overload.
Cons: no capacity forecasting, utilisation targets or resource booking.
8. Monday.com: best visual workload
Verdict: a workload widget across boards.
Pros: visuals.
Cons: needs setup.
9. ClickUp: best workload in PM
Verdict: a workload view by points or hours.
Pros: price.
Cons: complexity.
10. Scoro: best all-in-one agency ops
Verdict: resourcing, quotes, billing and reporting together.
Pros: breadth.
Cons: price.
Spotting overload before deadlines slip
- Weekly check: assigned hours against capacity, per person.
- WIP limits: cap the number of in-progress tasks per person.
- Watch for signals: rising overdue tasks, growing review queues and weekend work.
- Rebalance early: move tasks or move deadlines before the week starts.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What is a healthy utilisation rate?
For agency delivery staff, billable utilisation of about 70–85% is a common target. Higher than that leaves no room for admin, learning or surprises.
How do agencies plan capacity?
They compare upcoming project hours with each person's available hours, include pipeline work at a probability, and adjust hiring or timelines.
Do small agencies need resource management software?
Under about ten people, a workload view in your PM or delivery tool is usually enough. Dedicated tools pay off as the team grows.
The bottom line
- Resource scheduling: Float.
- Simple booking: Resource Guru.
- Profitability: Productive.io.
- Small marketing teams wanting workload in the delivery tool: SEO Runway.
