Top 15 Best Free Project Management Software Tools Compared
Welcome one and all to this article all about free project management software tools. Here we'll look at 15 of the best free apps for managing tasks, projects and teams.
Normally we compare pricing plans, but in this case we’ll focus on the free versions, in particular what you get for free, and what tools are missing. Where possible, we also highlight the specific niches or strengths each project management platform offers and what areas of PM they are best suited to help you with.
Best free project management tools comparison chart (top 10 highest rated)
Before we get into the mega text of the 15 top free project management tools online, let’s look at just the top 10 highest rated. And though this is an article about free tools, here you can quickly see the starting price for the regular paid versions.
Product | Best for | Pricing* | Site |
Wrike | Best free project management software overall | $9.80 /user/month | |
ClickUp | Top project management freeware | $5 /user/month | |
Asana | Great free team management app | $10.99 /user/month | |
Trello | Good free project tracker | $5 /user/month | |
Teamwork | Best free project scheduling software | $10 /user/month | |
Paymo | Great free web based project management software | $4.95 /user/month | |
Zoho Projects | Best free project management app | $4 /user/month | |
Freedcamp | Top free project manager software | $1.49 /user/month | |
Monday.com | Great free project management platform | $9 /user/month | |
Airtable | Top free project management software for workflow automations | $10 /user/month |
*Prices start at
What is the best free project management software 2022? Here’s our top 15 list:
We’ve now got 15 of the best free project management software 2022. These 15 PM apps are full of useful tools for task management, team communication and collaboration, time tracking and more. There’ll be a link for a more detailed review of some of these project management tools.
1. Wrike (Best free project management software overall)
Wrike is a very popular project management solution for team members working together and remote teams, and is regularly considered the best free project management solution. It is part of the Citrix brand of apps. Wrike was founded in 2006. In 2021 Wrike released a free version of its software, as well as other new tools like a Wrike workflow engine.
Pros:
Wrike’s free plan is good for unlimited users, and that’s why it’s the best overall free project management system. You get iOS and Android apps, as well as 2 GBs of free storage per account.
For task management functionality, you get tasks, subtasks and folder hierarchies. You get customizable work views including Kanban boards and table views. For AI tools, there is smart searching and AI recommendations for your tasks. For workflow automations, the free plan offers templates.
There are also basic email integrations with notifications. As for more integrations, there is an open API and integrations with other cloud-storage platforms.
Cons:
The free task tools do not include dashboards like personal work schedules or account-wide scheduling tools. You also lack more options for custom fields and larger portfolio management. Another drawback is that calendar views, Gantt charts and real-time reporting are also not available.
Get this project management software free here
2. ClickUp (Top project management freeware)
ClickUp is a strong contender for being a great team collaboration solution and project planning freeware. The ClickUp team is headquartered in San Diego, California, but there are ClickUp offices around the globe. Today, over 800,000 teams use ClickUp to communicate, track tasks and manage project progress.
Pros:
The ClickUp free forever plan is best for personal use, as in for freelancers. You get an unlimited number of tasks which you can put into a max number of 5 workspaces, with 100 lists per workspace.
There is also an unlimited number of custom views on the free plan. ClickUp has a great free project management template library. You get list views, board views and calendar views, as well as 100 uses of Gantt charts.
The free plan offers 100 workflow automations per month, as well as free task checklist, tags and task dependencies. ClickUp also has free time tracking, 10 milestones, and some basic Scrum functionality.
Cons:
The free plan is not so advantageous if you have larger teams or are running a small business. There are no team sharing or team communication tools in the free version. And while there is time tracking, there are no time tracking widgets and no timesheets tools. The free ClickUp does not integrate with Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or DropBox.
Get this project planning freeware here
3. Asana (Great free team management app)
Asana is a great choice for a free team management tool and project management solution. It’s great for small teams above all. The software Asana was the brainchild of two former Facebook whizz kids. The name Asana comes from Sanskrit.
Pros:
The number of users in Asana’s free plan is up to 15 users, and that’s pretty good for free. The software starts with loads of unlimited features like unlimited task lists, projects, due dates and activity logs to track projects.
It is also great for unlimited messaging and other collaboration tools among team members. 100 MBs per doc helps with large file sharing.
The free plan gets you list views, boards and calendars. There is free time tracking through integrations as well as 100 other integrations. There are also basic workflows and basic reporting.
Another Asana advantage is that it is user friendly.
Cons:
There are no timeline views, portfolio management or goals and milestone views with Asana’s free plan. There is also a lack of customization here whether with workflows or reporting.
Get this free management tool here
4. Trello (Good free project tracker)
Trello is currently owned and operated by Atlassian which also makes Jira. This is one of the best project management software options particularly for its famous Kanban view. It also has good workflow automation tools.
Pros:
The free Trello plan has 10 boards per workspace and an unlimited number of tasks. There is also unlimited file storage but with a max of 10 MB per doc.
Trello offers a range of great built-in automations for free. It also has unlimited power-ups with other SaaS tools like Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce and Dropbox.
For those who like collaboration features centered around drag and drop Kanban views for handling online project management, Trello is a top choice.
Cons:
Aside from the Kanban board, the other views are reserved for premium plans. Also, things like advanced checklists and advanced custom fields are also not available for free.
Get this project tracking software free here
5. Teamwork (Best free project scheduling software)
Teamwork is a team collaboration and communication solution that does great project management especially for things like scheduling, but also for resource management. The company has its roots in Ireland.
Pros:
Teamwork has a free forever plan. You have free time tracking but you are limited when it comes to seeing your team’s workload capacity, though you get enough for basic human resource management.
For free task management, there are dependencies, milestones, subtasks and task-level labeling. Teamwork also offers a Gantt chart view with its free plan. With Zapier, you can connect Teamwork to other apps.
Cons:
There are lots of good native integrations but not with the free version. Likewise, there are some great Teamwork tools that are only in the premium plan, like billing and invoicing, or team messaging. The number of users on it is capped at 5.
Get this project scheduling software free here
6. Paymo (Great free web based project management software)
Paymo is a free web based project management tool that’s great for small teams and keeping close ties with your clients throughout a project lifecycle. The company was founded in 2007 and today has over 150,000 users.
Pros:
One of the benefits of Paymo is its excellent suite of time tracking tools which are all in the free plan. You can use Paymo for up to 3 clients, with unlimited projects and 50 tasks.
You also get free invoicing and estimation tools including recurring invoices and expense tracking. There are spreadsheets which are like Excel but better, calendar views and Kanban boards for free. Paymo has some sweet mobile apps too.
Cons:
Storage is limited to 1 GB so that’s a con. Also, invoices and estimates are also limited to 3 per month. You do not get the Meta Kanban board nor the Gantt chart with the free plan, nor employee scheduling features.
Get this web based project management free here
7. Zoho Projects (Best free project management app)
Zoho is a mega name in SaaS for their list of great products that cover everything from sales, CRM, HR, accounting and project management. Zoho’s origins go back to 1996 with a company called AdventNet Inc. Zoho CRM was launched in 2001. Zoho Projects came out a few months later.
Pros:
You get a free simple Gantt chart with Zoho Projects, as well as project feeds, calendars and forums. Individuals can leverage the free Zoho Projects to do simple issue tracking. There are great mobile apps for iOS, Android and iPad OS.
You can arrange all your projects, milestones and tasks with custom statuses. Another pro to Zoho Projects is it streamlines well with many other Zoho free apps.
Cons:
Zoho Projects is free for up to 3 users, and it’s only good for 2 projects with limited storage space, so all in all, not a huge benefit. All the project templates are reserved for the paid plans. While there is a free Gantt chart, the more advanced project Gantt chart is not free.
Get this project management app free here
8. Freedcamp (Top free project manager software)
Freedcamp bills itself as an intelligent project management software, meaning it leverages workflows to streamline many business processes throughout a project. It’s got desktop applications for Windows and Mac as well as mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Pros:
The Freedcamp core apps will always be free. They include the basics for task management, group forums and messaging, calendar tools, file sharing, tagging and labeling, milestones, time management as well as a password manager. For free you also get a Zapier integration and their open API.
Cons:
The drawbacks with Freedcamp are the more premium features that are not free of charge, like CRM tools, invoicing, issue tracking, project templates, and reporting. Also, there is little customization in the free plan for things like custom fields and custom statuses.
Get this project manager software free here
9. Monday.com (Great free project management platform)
Monday.com was released in 2017 when it was renamed from daPulse, and soon moved into an awesome fancy new HQ in NYC. This is a PM solution most people are already familiar with, but it’s worth highlighting their free version.
Pros:
You get unlimited docs in the Monday.com free version, along with over 200 templates, which is a lot. There are over 20 column types to choose from. You get an activity log of one week, which is not that bad.
Monday.com is one of the few free PM tools to offer shared whiteboard functionality. You also get good shareable forms and customizable notifications. Monday.com also offers solid customer support in their free version.
Cons:
The number of users in their free plan is limited, and you only get 3 boards. Kanban boards are the only views here, with no timeline, calendar, map or workload views. Also, while there is a good task overview, the overall project overviews are not in the free plan.
Get this project management platform free here
10. Airtable (Top free project management software for workflow automations)
As a workflow-centric project management system, Airtable is used by over 300,000 organizations worldwide, including many Fortune 100 users, whoa!
Pros:
Airtable is one of those no-code workflow builders, meaning it’s quite intuitive and uses drag and drop functionality. With the free Airtable plan, you can run 100 automations per month, and that’s impressive. You can also do 2 run-histories per week. You get free automated integrations with Salesforce, Jira, Microsoft Outlook and more. Views for free include grid, calendar, Kanbans and gallery views.
Cons:
There are no Gantt charts or timeline views with the free plan. You are also very very limited with syncing tools if you do not have a paid version. The free Airtable has little to no customization nor permissions features. The free plan has a cap at 5 users.
Get this free project workflow software here
11. Jira (Great free project management tool for Scrum)
Jira is also made by Atlassian, which made Trello, the famous Kanban tool. Well, if Trello is for Kanban, then one can say Jira is for Scrum. While it has free Kanbans and Scrum boards, the Jira Scrum board is great for planning short bursts of work known as sprints.
Pros:
As a PM tool for managing sprints, the board has a neat little day by day countdown timer in your dashboard. You also get a free backlog to serve as a handy to-do list. Since Jira is an agile project tool, it gets you great free agile project reporting for real-time insights. You get free basic roadmaps and basic task dependency tools. And while you can only use the free Jira to manage one site, which is true for most of their paid plans, it’s good for up to 10 users which is a decent number for free users.
Cons:
All the really advanced customization and analytics come in the more expensive Jira options. These include functionalities for permissions, insights, roadmapping, dependencies, automations and project archiving.
Get this Scrum and sprint management PM system free here
12. GoodDay (Good free project management software for small business)
GoodDay aims to be a really great all-in-one task and project management solution for teamwork and collaboration. It’s also a pretty good tool for implementing an agile project methodology.
Pros:
GoodDay is great for teamwork including remote teams. Its free version is good for up to 15 users, which, like Asana, is a pretty high number for a free plan, and that makes it great for small teams, startups and small businesses. You get free integration with Gmail, Google Calendar and other Google Workspace tools (formerly G Suite). There are calendar views, and you can do event management, and there’s good free time tracking and analytics.
Cons:
What you are missing out with the free plan are tools like customer portals, advanced searching, custom fields, and views such as Gantt, timelines and workload views.
Get this small business project management app free here
13. Project.co (Best free project management app for collaboration)
Project.co is a project management tool that is very useful for communicating your project progress across your team as well as with the client. There is a free plan and a team plan, but both allow for unlimited users. The only difference is that with the free plan, there is but one creator.
Pros:
Once you get over the single creator thing, Project.co allows for unlimited collaborators and unlimited projects. It gives you 10 GBs of storage space, and you get every single feature and all the views for free. There’s task management, real-time messaging, invoicing and payment processing, and more. You can supposedly get a project going in under one minute with Project.co.
Cons:
Obviously, if you want to have more than one project creator, this will be a problem on the free plan. But if your team or small business picks one person to be the creator, you can get around having to pay for the premium version.
Get this free team collaboration management app here
14. Todoist (Top free task management platform)
As the name suggests, Todoist is a number one to-do list and task management tool. It offers a free plan, a pro plan and a business plan, and these latter two premium versions are still competitively priced.
Pros:
Todoist task management gets you most of the best tools for free of charge. These include task due dates, priorities, comments, templates and labels. You can also sync your calendars, and you can add tasks from your email. For free you can have 5 active projects with a solid 300 tasks per project. There are good free integrations, and you get a feature for something called productivity trends.
Cons:
File uploads are limited to 5 MBs per file in the free plan. You also only get 3 file views and one week of an activity log. The only task management tool that is not there for free is the reminders feature. You also miss the shared team inbox.
Get this free project and task management platform here
15. MeisterTask (Good free time tracking tool)
MeisterTask is part of the suite of apps by Meister which also includes MeisterMind for mind mapping, and MeisterNote for document collaboration. MeisterTask is a great time tracking tool and basic task management platform.
Pros:
Time tracking with MeisterTrack is completely free. You get an unlimited number of tasks which Meister will let you keep track of. You can create free custom boards which include board workflows. With the MeisterTask free plan you can invite multiple team members to join a project.
Cons:
You only get up to 3 projects with the MeisterTrack free plan. All file uploads are limited to 20 MBs each. Other missing tools from the free plan are timeline views and agenda features. Integrations, automations, API access and recurring tasks are also reserved for paying customers.
Get this time management tool free here
Which of these free project planning software tools is best for me? Our takeaways
And there you have it, that’s the big list of project planning software free of charge.
Some of the best free project management apps we listed might feel more old school, like a spreadsheet, while others are more modern with interactive dashboards.
Many of these PM platforms are viable across a wide range of applications. They might work well as construction project management software, or for event planning or software development.
No matter what, when it comes to choosing the best free project management tool, the one thing you can’t haggle about is price. Of course, the best project management software might not be the free kind, but free is always a good place to be.
