What is the difference between a project management tool and an agile project management tool?

The main difference is that "agile project management" is a kind of project management. It is specific to the development of software and philosophically very explicit.  This is what we use in software development. "Project management" has been around longer, and is a method for executing tasks. I am the CEO and co-founder of https://nostromo.io/?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=pm-tool. We follow the agile development process for many years now in every client product we develop.In our daily work we use https://nostromo.io/?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=pm-tool which is basically built to cover the lean circle and the agile development workflow. After trying out dozens of tool we knew what would be optimal, so we built our own product which includes all the good stuff we liked and is extended with features we missed.Beside the well-known kanban board it has also key features like time tracking or reporting. It’s easy to use, free and supports agile workflows!The basic project board is a kanban board, but you can separate the planning phase and the implementation phase as it has two separate board: The Plan board and the Work board.This is the Work board, with cards organized into columns and you can move them with drag&drop . Also you can assign project members to cards: The Plan board is based on the same logic. A great feature is that you can move cards between the boards with a click: This is the detailed card view, where you can discuss anything in the comment thread, create checklists for subtasks, and assign tasks to teammates bymentioning them: There is a built in time logging feature, so you don't have to use a different tool (like Toggle) for time management: We just launched our latest feature, the Screen module in which you can share and discuss any design you want. So you can avoid using a third tool for design collaboration, and keep everything connected to the project in one tool: And the tool is free too, as we are in a beta now. If you want to give it a try you can do it here: https://app.nostromo.io/?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=pm-tool

Conventional project management tools such as Microsoft Project are oriented around a traditional, plan-driven approach to project management.  The emphasis is on planning and control of the project scope through following a fairly well-defined plan and controlling changes to the plan.Agile Project Management tools are designed around a much more adaptive approach to project management with less emphasis on planning and control and more emphasis on taking a dynamic and adaptive approach to maximize the value that you deliver in a much more uncertain environment.-  Conventional project management tools are generally oriented around defining the *structure* of how the work is done in a project using such things as Gantt charts, Pert charts, Work Breakdown Structures, etc.  -  With Agile Project Management tools, the structure of how the work is done is significantly simplified by using more of a continuous flow model and isn't as relevant because you generally may not know enough about the project upfront to define the structure.In a nutshell, the key difference is Agile project management tools are primarily focused on managing flow to optimize efficiency in a very dynamic environment where traditional project management tools are primarily focusing on defining and controlling the scope and structure of the way the work is done in a much less dynamic environment.Chuck Cobb Author of "The Project Manager's Guide to Mastering Agile" Check out my free online training at http://agileprojectmanagementacademy.com/

There is a huge misconception in play that a 'project management tool' equates to something that can build gantt charts, i.e. Microsoft Project.   A formal project involves many different aspects and will have multiple planning documents, of which a gantt chart is only one small but important element.   Examples of other planning artifacts include: the business case,  quality management plan, risk log and gate controls associated with whatever methodology is in place for governance. In contrast an 'agile project management tool' is normally associated with a much narrower remit, where the primary aim is to control the scope of work associated in terms of a backlog and how that backlog can prioritized and top sliced in terms of splitting work across a number of fixed term work intervals.