Remote team management tools for you and your assistants: chat, tasks and seeing what got done

You need three things: a place to talk, a place for the work, and a way to see what got done. Here are six tools that cover them, and the catch with each.

What it takes to make working with a remote assistant work

This list is for an owner with one to five remote assistants. Your assistant needs to know what to do today, where the logins are and how you want it done. You need to know at 6pm what got done, without chasing. Most owners cover that with a chat app, a task board and sometimes a time tracker, so the tools below are grouped by those jobs.

What to look for in remote team tools when you work with assistants

We started from the tools that come up most in other roundups of remote team tools, then kept the ones that do one of these jobs well for a team of a few people.

Chat with full history, so instructions you gave last month are still there
Calls with screen sharing, for walking your assistant through a task
A task list your assistant can work from without asking what's next
A way to see what got done today: a report, a board or tracked hours
A price the vendor publishes on its own website

The bottom line for an owner with remote assistants

Pick one chat app and one place for tasks, and decide how you'll see what got done. Slack or Teams for chat, depending on whether you work in Microsoft 365. Trello if your assistant's work fits on a board, ClickUp if it runs as projects with many steps. Hubstaff if you pay by the hour. If your assistant comes from Catalyst, Crewhall comes with the placement and holds the chat, the routines and the daily report in one app.

The tools at a glance: what each is best for, its price and the catch

Checked against each tool's own website on 7 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars, as each vendor lists them.

Crewhall: Owners with a Catalyst assistant who want chat, routines, logins and the daily report in one app / Comes with the placement, as the app your assistant works in; not sold on its own / Browser only; calls are one-to-one
Slack: Chat that connects to the tools you already use / Free plan; Pro US$7.25 per user a month billed yearly (US$8.75 monthly) / The free plan keeps 90 days of messages
Microsoft Teams: Chat and long meetings, for businesses on Microsoft 365 / Teams Essentials US$4 per user a month, paid yearly / Listed prices are for a yearly subscription
Trello: A simple task board your assistant works from / Free plan; Standard US$5 per user a month billed yearly (US$6 monthly) / No team chat or calls
ClickUp: Tasks, docs and chat for project-heavy work / Free Forever plan; Unlimited US$7 per user a month billed yearly (US$10 monthly) / The free plan has 60MB of storage
Hubstaff: Tracked hours and activity, for paying by the hour / From US$4.99 per seat a month on Starter, two-seat minimum / You pay for every seat, your own included

1. Crewhall: See what got done without asking

Our app, built for clients who work with Catalyst assistants. It has team chat, one-to-one video calls with screen sharing, routines your assistant runs as steps, tasks, a shared login vault, SOPs, and an end-of-day report with hours that can also reach you as a scheduled email.

Disclosure: Crewhall is ours. It's made by Catalyst, who publish this page.
Best for: A business with one or more Catalyst assistants that wants chat, routines, logins and the daily report in one place.
Price: No separate price. You get it when you hire an assistant through Catalyst; it isn't sold on its own.
The catch: It runs in the browser on your computer or phone, with no app-store app. Calls are one-to-one, so group meetings need another app.

2. Slack

Team chat with channels, threads and huddles, and over 2,600 apps in its directory, from Google Drive to Salesforce.

Best for: Owners who want their chat connected to the tools they already use.
Price: Free plan; Pro US$7.25 per user a month billed yearly (US$8.75 monthly).
The catch: The free plan keeps 90 days of messages and has one-to-one huddles only, so older instructions are out of reach until you upgrade.

3. Microsoft Teams

Chat and meetings from Microsoft. Teams Essentials covers meetings of up to 300 people for up to 30 hours, with recordings and transcripts, unlimited chat and 10 GB of storage per user.

Best for: A business that already pays for Microsoft 365 Business, where Teams is part of the plan.
Price: Teams Essentials US$4 per user a month, paid yearly. Microsoft 365 Business Basic, with Teams and a business email address, is US$7.
The catch: Those prices are for a yearly subscription that renews automatically.

4. Trello

Boards, lists and cards. Each job is a card with a due date and an assignee, and your assistant moves it along the board as the work gets done.

Best for: An owner who wants a simple board of tasks the assistant works from.
Price: Free for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace; Standard US$5 per user a month billed yearly (US$6 monthly).
The catch: The free plan stops at 10 boards per Workspace, and there's no team chat or calls, so you'll still need a chat app.

5. ClickUp

Tasks, docs, chat and in-app video recording in one tool, with board and calendar views.

Best for: Teams running projects with several stages and owners, where your assistant is one person among many.
Price: Free Forever plan; Unlimited US$7 per user a month billed yearly (US$10 monthly); Business US$12 (US$19 monthly).
The catch: The free plan has 60MB of storage, and unlimited message history starts on Business.

6. Hubstaff

Time tracking with timesheets, activity levels and screenshots, plus payroll on the Team plan.

Best for: Owners who pay assistants by the hour and want tracked time as the record.
Price: From US$4.99 per seat a month on Starter and US$10 on Team, with a two-seat minimum and a 14-day free trial.
The catch: You pay for every seat, your own included, even if you don't track time. Screenshots are limited below the Team plan.

If you're growing past a handful of assistants

A bigger in-house team with several departments needs different things: permissions, admin controls and reporting across many projects and people. ClickUp's Business plan or Microsoft 365 fit that better than a small setup does. Crewhall is built for an owner and their assistants, so it's the wrong tool for a company buying hundreds of seats.

Sources

Slack: slack.com/pricing, read 7 October 2026
Microsoft Teams: microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-business-options and /essentials, read 7 October 2026
Trello: trello.com/pricing, read 7 October 2026
ClickUp: clickup.com/pricing, read 7 October 2026
Hubstaff: hubstaff.com/pricing, read 7 October 2026
Crewhall: the app itself, checked 7 October 2026

Frequently asked questions

What is remote team management software?

Software for running people who don't sit in your office: a place to talk, a place for the work, and a way to see what got done. Most small businesses use two or three tools for it, such as a chat app, a task board and a time tracker.

What tools do I need to manage a remote assistant?

At minimum, a chat app with calls and a shared task list. Keep logins in a password manager or a shared vault rather than in chat, and use a daily report or tracked hours to see what got done.

Is there free remote team management software?

Yes, with limits. Slack Free keeps 90 days of messages, Trello Free allows 10 boards per Workspace, and ClickUp Free Forever has 60MB of storage. Hubstaff has a 14-day free trial rather than a free plan.

Slack or Microsoft Teams for a remote team?

If you work in Outlook, Word and Excel, Teams comes with Microsoft 365 and is the easier choice. If you want your chat connected to other tools, Slack has over 2,600 apps. Either handles chat and calls with one assistant.

How do I see what my remote assistant got done today?

Ask for an end-of-day report: what was done, what's stuck and the hours worked. A Trello board shows which cards moved, and Hubstaff shows tracked time and activity. In Crewhall the assistant files the report in the app, and you can get it by scheduled email.

Is Crewhall free?

Catalyst clients get it with their assistant placement. It isn't sold on its own, so there's no plan to buy.