Project management, especially for beginners or small teams, can be challenging due to the intricate communication, planning, and task coordination required. Gantt charts, with their visual appeal, offer a solution by allowing users to map project timelines and dependencies.
Conventionally, creating Gantt charts involved manual effort or expensive software. However, free Gantt chart software have emerged, providing core functionalities like task creation and dependency management.
This empowers new project managers and smaller teams to leverage Gantt charts without a significant financial investment.
While free software may lack advanced features like resource allocation, it serves as a professional and accessible entry point for budget-conscious managers or those leading simpler projects.
This blog post explores the benefits of using free Gantt chart software and its potential to improve project workflows and outcomes.
This section reviews the top 9 best free Gantt chart software options, highlighting their strengths and potential limitations to help you choose the perfect fit for your project management needs. The Following are the free Gantt chart examples:
1. ClickUp
ClickUp software is particularly easy to use and is great for people who are new to Gantt charts. It has a user-friendly interface that uses the drag-and-drop feature to enable task creation and management.
ClickUp has a free version that is ideal for small teams or individual projects since it allows unlimited number of users. However, the free plan is somewhat restricted in terms of storage and the number of automations allowed.
2. TeamGantt
TeamGantt is a free project management software with a Gantt chart. It excels in team collaboration in project management. Communication is constant through updates and discussions on tasks, thus maintaining efficiency in the project.
The basic plan is free, and it comes with two collaborators and one manager, which is ideal for a small team. TeamGantt has a comprehensive free version but features such as workload management and resource management are available only in the paid version.
3. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects offers a free plan ideal for up to three users. It has features such as task dependencies, resources, and progress tracking, which makes it a great choice for those who are looking for a solution with all the bells, and whistles.
Zoho Projects employs a somewhat more complicated layout compared to some other free tools. However, it is easy to learn, and the free plan offers enough features to handle different types of projects.
4. monday.com
monday.com software is suitable for solopreneurs as it offers a free plan with a clean graphic design for up to two users. It provides the necessities, such as to-do lists, due dates, and simple Gantt charts, that allow you to manage and plan projects effectively.
The free plan may not be suitable for large projects, but it is perfect for solopreneurs or those who are handling small projects only.
5. Wrike
Wrike software has a powerful free plan that includes Gantt chart features such as critical path display and resource utilization. These features help you pinpoint the risks and prevent them from occurring, or if they do occur, to allocate the resources in a way that will make the project run as smoothly as possible.
However, the free plan is somewhat restricted in the amount of storage space, and the number of collaborators. If the team or project is big or the data is huge, there is a possibility that the user might have to switch to the paid version.
6. Visor
Visor has a different approach to team alignment with bi-directional integration and connected spreadsheets. Unlike some project management software Visor has a free version where you can use the core features for free.
This means individuals and small teams can manage their projects efficiently. The free version has basic tools like Gantt charts and roadmaps, so you can have robust project visualization and organization without the cost. Visor’s interface is so intuitive you can set up and start managing your projects in no time.
7. GanttProject
GanttProject is a free, open-source software that is focused on Gantt charts exclusively. It is specifically useful in handling large projects that have many interrelated tasks.
GanttProject is easy to use and provides solid capabilities for managing dependencies. However, it may take a bit more effort to learn than some of the other options on this list may take.
8. OpenProject
OpenProject is another open-source solution that provides a free plan with Gantt charts, resources, and reports. It is beneficial for teams or individuals who want a solution that does not cost a lot of money.
However, it should be noted that, compared to some other cloud-based tools, OpenProject may be slightly more complex to use. The free plan has some restrictions on the storage space and the number of users allowed.
9. Vizzlo
Vizzlo is a cloud-based design software focusing on data visualization and complex graphs. It allows you to create free Gantt charts in Google Slides, PowerPoint or even online. Interactive project collaboration, design bars, and diagrams make your workflows look good.
You can even extract from your budget and forecasting reports, advanced charts, and so on. It has bubble and pie charts, exports high-quality PDF to PNG, and automates document creation to be ahead of the curve.
Free Gantt chart software are a viable alternative to paid project management software. Compared to other paid plans, it provides the core features, and helps to optimize processes—perfect for small teams, startups, or freelancers.
Although the Gantt chart free software do not contain some characteristics of paid software, they offer a solid base for efficient project planning.
Their clear visualization, collaborative features, and enhanced task management capabilities enable the users to control their projects and succeed – all at a low cost.
Since there are many free Gantt chart software, it becomes difficult to determine which one to use. Here's a roadmap to guide your selection
