10 Best Free Project Management Software

Businesses are fueled by their projects. Every company goes through phases of growth and expansion. When this happens, projects arise, and they often overlap. As such, great project management tools are necessary. They help project managers and key stakeholders work through projects together, ensuring success.

A lot of the time, these project management apps can be expensive. Thankfully, there are free project management tools that are just as good as their paid alternatives. If you’re looking for project management software for your next endeavour, you’ve come to the right place. We’re looking at the 10 best free project management software options available!

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What is Project Management Software?

The 10 Best Free Project Management Tools Available

Key Takeaways

What is Project Management Software?

Project management software is a type of program developed specifically for the use of project management. This can mean a number of things, however. Project management requires a number of individual pieces to come together to form the whole. When looking for project management software, you want to find an option with some of the following features:

• Access for the entire team working on the project
• The ability to make a task list for each portion of the project
• Time tracking capabilities
• File sharing between team members
• Real-time collaboration features
• Project timeline creation and editing
• Project schedule overview
• Project budget resources
• The ability to invite external users
• A user-friendly interface

There are a number of different project management tools available on the market. Many of them have core features, as well as advanced features unique to them. It is important that you pick the right option for you and your team’s needs.

The 10 Best Free Project Management Tools Available

We have gone down the list and reviewed the 10 best project management tools available. Many of the traditional software options are cost-prohibitive, so we have reviewed the best free options. Some may have additional features locked behind a paywall. However, we only looked at what was readily available to users at the free level.

1. FreshBooks

The FreshBooks collaborative project management software is an excellent choice. Admittedly, it isn’t entirely free, but the developer allows for a free trial. This is highly important, as it means none of the features during the trial are locked away. You get to use the entire program without anything being blocked.

FreshBooks is specifically built for small-business owners. They understand the need for project management tools that are easy to use but can still handle complex projects. The collaborative workspace within the program allows all participants to work together seamlessly.

The software allows for all of the following features, making project management simple:

• Team project assignments
• Deliverable editing and management
• A collaborative workplace for all project members
• File sharing capabilities
• Billable rates and cost assignments for clients
• Control over team access to files and data
• Time tracking
• Progress tracking

FreshBooks provides a great set of collaboration tools to their users, making project management easy. Try it free today! You’ll likely find that you don’t mind paying for it after the free trial.

2. ClickUp

The free version of ClickUp guarantees that it will be free forever. That’s a great guarantee, and something that they plan on standing by. With this software, you get access to free unlimited users, a huge plus for any company that’s experiencing growth. They also provide a number of comprehensive task management tools that most small businesses won’t outgrow.

When you sign up for the free version of ClickUp, you receive the following basic features. These might be considered basic, but all of them are key features in expensive software options, too.

• The ability to choose customized views, like Gantt charts or calendar views
• Workload management for all project participants
• Dashboards and widgets that let you view your project at a glance
• Task assignment and comment reminders for users
• Task priority lists and management
• Customizable workflows and custom fields
• A drag and drop interface

ClickUp’s free version will always be free. They also offer a minimal cost or unlimited storage alongside the program. This can be useful for any projects with large files. Overall, ClickUp is an excellent free software option for any business!

3. TeamWeek

If you prefer to use a calendar view for all things, then you will love TeamWeek. This project management option is meant to be used as a calendar with many additional features. It allows users to visualize all of the data associated with their projects. Deadlines are always at your fingertips with the easy-to-use calendar view.

While using TeamWeek, you can carefully plan your participants’ workload using the calendar view. Team schedules are the key feature to TeamWeek. That being said, that’s about all it can do. This tool is specifically meant for people who love calendars for project management. TeamWeek’s free version comes with the following features:

• Unlimited projects for all participants
• Unlimited tasks per project
• A free mobile app to take the software on the go
• Up to 5 team members

For scheduling purposes, TeamWeek is an excellent option for an intimate team. If you’re working with a remote team, however, it lacks the communication tools that you may want.

4. Wrike

Most people want their project management tools to be simple. Wrike delivers that, and more. This software gives users everything they need for project management in a simple package. Simple project management software can help reduce distractions, as well as stress.

Wrike is best suited for small teams. This is especially true of their free version. All of their premium features are locked away in premium plans. That’s not entirely surprising, but it can be a bit frustrating for some. The free version of Wrike comes with the following:

• The ability to create projects, folders, and tasks
• File sharing capabilities
• A simple table view
• A communications inbox
• Unlimited users
• Task and subtask management
• Mobile apps for both iOS and Android users

All in all, Wrike is best used for small teams that want more than what TeamWeek offers.

5. Asana

Asana may be one of the most well-known project management programs available. It is often one of the most highly recommended software options. It is also the option that other programs are compared to. With it being so popular, it isn’t surprising that the free plan is a good option for project managers.

This application is visually appealing, and includes some of the best organizational tools around. Projects can be broken down into sections and tasks. They can also be assigned to specific users, giving everyone oversight on who is doing what. The best part? All of the assignments are done by dragging and dropping. This makes work quick and easy.

The hardest part about using Asana is the learning curve. Many users find it to be quite steep. While project managers may be well-prepared to use it, many team members aren’t.

The free version of Asana comes with the below features:

• Unlimited projects, as well as unlimited tasks
• Unlimited conversations between team members
• Basic dashboards for users
• Basic search tools for more complex tasks

Asana is excellent, so much so that many consider it to be the benchmark. However, the free version is limited compared to the paid version, though it still functions well.

6. MeisterTask

For those who love a Kanban board view, there’s MeisterTask. This tool is the best use of Kanban boards that we’ve seen. All information regarding projects can be set up on the view in MeisterTask. This includes tasks, comments, due dates, and more. Everything is optional, and can be viewed together or separately.

This cloud-based management tool is flexible. However, it lacks a pretty big part of the project management process. In MeisterTask you cannot create any timelines or agendas. This makes it fairly problematic for some users who prefer to have everything wrapped up into one program. Even with this large fault, we feel that the free version of MeisterTask will measure up against other more limited options.

MeisterTask comes with the following features:

• Unlimited users and unlimited projects
• Integration with Slack or Zendesk
• An easy-to-navigate interface
• File sharing capabilities
• Task checklists
• Time tracking features

7. Trello

If you want to talk more about Kanban boards, let’s talk about Trello. Trello is a free management tool that has popularized Kanban boards in recent years. It’s entirely based on this kind of workflow. That means that it comes with no additional views. That’s okay for some, but a deal breaker for others.

Overall, Trello is a beautiful program. It is easy to use, and doesn’t have a steep learning curve. When you sign up for the free version of Trello, you get the following features:

• Unlimited Kanban boards
• Unlimited users
• Unlimited projects with task lists, cards and checklists
• One third-party integration per Kanban board
• File sharing capabilities

8. Teamwork Projects

Teamwork Projects is one of the larger software options available. They’re fairly well-known as enterprise project management software. Their enterprise plans come packed with plenty of powerful features, making them a go-to for larger companies. That being said, they are really only geared towards that larger audience.

Teamwork Projects have a free plan, but compared to their other plans it is very limited. The premium plan comes with plenty of features that larger businesses may find necessary. These include billing and invoicing options, single sign-on capabilities, and HIPAA compliance. However, the free plan only comes with the following:

• Two active projects at any given time
• A limited number of boards for each project
• Subtasks for projects
• Individual color themes

The enterprise plans come with much more, like Dropbox integration and storage. The free plan may tide you over, but you’ll be tempted by the premium plan more often than not.

9. Todoist

If you’re the only person working in your company, then you may be able to use Todoist more effectively than a team. The app was originally built as a personal task management tool. As such, it works very well on mobile for taking notes or setting reminders on the go. It lacks when it comes to collaboration, though.

Todoist doesn’t allow for any real-time collaboration in the free version. Because of this, if you need to work with a team you might not be able to use Todoist effectively. To use it for team management for projects, you’ll need to pay for the premium version. The free version, ideal for individuals, comes with the following:

• Access on over 10 different platforms
• Task customization, including priority levels
• Recurring due dates for frequent tasks
• The ability to create 80 active projects
• Access to projects for up to 5 people

10. Airtable

Are you a Microsoft Excel enthusiast? Are spreadsheets the way you prefer to plan things? Airtable was made for users just like you. Unlike Excel or Google Sheets, Airtable is a project management tool. This means that it combines spreadsheets and databases into a single program. Best of all? It’s web-based.

Airtable comes with a lot of the spreadsheet functions that you enjoy. It doesn’t require sophisticated programming, like SQL, either. The following features are available with Airtable’s free plan:

• Unlimited databases
• Unlimited scheduling views
• The ability to comment in spreadsheets and bases
• Historical data for each sheet that dates back up to 2 weeks
• Storage up to 2GB

Airtable lacks any sort of reminders or follow-ups. This means that you’ll need to schedule these things yourself. That being said, other spreadsheet programs don’t include those either. If you’re used to managing projects in spreadsheets, Airtable is a better version of what you’re already doing.

Key Takeaways

Project management is one of the most important parts of the business. As such, it’s important to have the right tools to manage your projects. Without them, you’ll likely have a hard time keeping up with tasks and deadlines. Project management software can alleviate those issues. If you’re looking for project management software, these 10 free options are a good way to get started!

We have more articles like this one on our resource hub. Be sure to take a look at them, as well! We have all the information you need to keep your small business growing.

---

RELATED ARTICLES