Project management software has changed how companies and teams achieve their goals. As remote work becomes more mainstream, team connection and project clarity is even more essential.
What is project management (PM) software? How is it different from project management of the past?
Traditionally, projects were assigned to a team - who then applied their own style and approach to tasks. We all know what this looks like: memos, sticky notes, and long meetings about project progress.
Let’s be honest though - traditional methods have some shortcomings. Things fall through the cracks, information is unevenly distributed, and there’s a lot of waste - nearly ten cents of every dollar - along the way to the finished product.
Free project management software ensures that everyone can access the same information and share their progress.
Imagine putting all your office supplies and work styles into an interactive digital workplace - what you’re imagining is possible!
From interactive Kanban boards to editable workflows, there's a free digital service that caters to your project needs.
If you've never used project management software before or are limited by budget, the best way to get started is with one of many free platforms. While some industry leaders offer teaser introductory trials, the list below focuses on free project management software options that really work.
Note: Most of the platforms below do offer paid subscriptions, usually to increase the number of users. That said, their free functionality - though limited by head count - is quite robust.
nTask
Best for: Integration with Slack and other 3rd party apps
Top Features:
- Task prioritization
- Risk management
- 3rd party apps
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: 5 members per team, unlimited tasks, 100MB storage
Summary: Having already served 100,000+ smart teams, nTask recently released version 2.0. The platform offers one-click CSV import and export, advanced filters, and timesheets. If you are curious about how online project management software works, check out their blog.
Freedcamp
Best for: One stop shop for all your project management needs
Top Features:
- Multi-tier tasks
- Kanban boards
- Gantt charts
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: Unlimited projects, tasks, storage, and users
Summary: Self-proclaimed as the “first truly intelligent” project management platform, Freedcamp offers services for just about anything: calendars, milestones, wikis, and more. Few services are this comprehensive, which might be what you need to push your projects past the finish line.
Asana
Best for: Visualizing and tracking every detail, no matter how small
Top Features:
- Organized to-do lists
- Streamlined work requests
- Progress goals
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: Unlimited projects, 100MB storage per file, 15 team members
Summary: One of the earliest platforms in the free online project management space, Asana showed us that our to-do lists were lacking. Through interactive dashboards, sub-lists, task assignments, and re-arrangable components, Asana helps teams get on the same page.
Wrike
Best for: Spreadsheet and workbook features
Top Features:
- Time tracking
- Gantt charts
- Dashboard customization
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Price: Unlimited tasks and projects, 5 users
Summary: We are all familiar with different management styles, from the creative but disorganized to the detail-oriented engineer. Wrike was built to support them all. With a linear approach, Wrike offers clear calculations, tables, and columns, as well as task status levels to show progress and keep teams on track.
ClickUp
Best for: Interacting with collaboration tools like Salesforce and Dropbox
Top Features:
- View options (Gantt, Scrum, etc)
- Resource allocation
- Drag and drop
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Price: Unlimited users
Summary: Many project management services offer a particular identity, which can be limited to a single aesthetic dashboard in free versions. ClickUp is all about customization. Edit and control the platform, and its integrated features, to meet your team’s needs and preferences.
Trello
Best for: Agile projects
Top Features:
- Quick glance Kanban cards
- Workflow automation
- Familiar workboards
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: 10MB per file, unlimited boards, tasks, and users
Summary: Kanban boards were once an insider methodology, but no longer. You've likely seen them in film and TV - bright young coders moving sticky notes on a white board from one column to the next - in a highly viusal representation of project progress. Trello has helped popularize this project management style by offering unlimited boards to free users so they can move tasks to completion.
Todoist
Best for: Personal and freelance task management
Top Features:
- Easy-to-use interface
- Intuitive to-do list
- Automatic reminders
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: 5 people per project, up to 80 projects
Summary: Todoist has helped customers complete 1.5+ billion tasks and 150+ million projects. For the traditionalist, whose office is filled with scribbles on legal pads or Moleskines, Todoist offers a seamless transition to digital and cloud-based task management.
MeisterTask
Best for: Introduction to workflow boards
Top Features:
- Practical Kanban boards
- Simplified interface
- Reliable cloud service
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Price: Up to 3 projects, limited integrations, 20MB file sharing
Summary: As Kanban boards went digital, they offered the ability to integrate media and other content. Enter MeisterTask, which seeks to make workflow easy no matter your speciality or role. Utilizing tracking, automations, and recurring tasks, the platform let’s no reminder slip through the cracks.
Bitrix24
Best for: Smaller businesses that need an all-in-one platform
Top Features:
- Gantt charts
- Task management
- Chat and video
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: 12 users, 5GB storage, Kanban boards
Summary: Bitrix24 has worked with 7+ million organizations. While some of their clients are larger organizations, many are small up-and-comers - they need their project management software to wear many hats. Bitrix24 offers customer relationship management (CRM), contact centers, and other services (limiting the need for outside integrations).
TeamGantt
Best for: TeamGantt purists
Top Features:
- Simple layout
- View all projects simultaneously
- Multiple timelines
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Free Plan: 3 team members, 1 project, basic planning
Summary: Project management software can do a lot, but for some teams, they want it to do one thing well. With TeamGantt it’s all in the name: Gantt charts. Planning is as simple as drag and drop to show project timeline and a deliverable’s trajectory.
Podio
Best for: Customization to fit your company's needs
Top Features:
- Easy administration
- Fast communication
- Custom structures
Mobile capable: iOS and Android
Price: 5 team members, task management, apps and workspaces
Summary: Communication is key to project success. Podio, acquired by Citrix in 2012, specializes in chat functions and software integration. This winning combination ensures that teams and the tools they use are operating in sync.
Conclusion
There's no one-size-fits-all project management software - and that’s a good thing!
When deciding what works for your personal or business needs, take note of the platforms and services you already use (Google Docs, Slack, Dropbox, etc).
If your team or resources are lean, then a jack-of-all-trades platform might be best - providing you with multiple services in one software. If your company is large and subscribes to multiple Software as a Service (SaaS) tools, then look to products that complement and integrate with what you already have.
The goal is to reduce clutter and streamline, not create redundancies or overlap. Remember, the project management softwares in this list are free. If you are deciding between two or three, just download and test them out.
Choose the option that works best for you - then get the job done.