20 Best Free Project Management Software Comparison (2023)

The work that stands behind the term project management is not easy – you have to have the right skills, experience, and often a certain gut feeling on how to best manage the whole situation.

However, picking the right project management tools can really help.

Thus, we have come up with this list of the best free project management software that can visualize, optimize and automate your processes as well as improve results.

Curious to see the project management software tools we included and which of them may be right for you?

Then go ahead and review the list. The tools are listed in no particular order, but each of them has a feature phrase that outlines its strong point. You will also find a short description, main features, and price, allowing you to decide well on which project management software to consider.

And just before you dive in, here is a comparison table of all the project management tools on the list.

Project Management Software Comparison Table

1 – Teamhood

Best free project management software for high-performing teams

Teamhood is a visual and well-rounded project management tool that works great for monitoring daily tasks, planning, and tracking large company goals. This is a great choice if you need project management software that works on both – team and management levels.

The team can create, monitor, and manage tasks in visual Kanban boards, track time to help with project estimation and client billing and review progress in several automated reports and dashboards.

While managers can control the progress of several projects in the Portfolio view equipped with Gantt charts, review team occupancy in the Workload view, and quickly delegate tasks to available resources based on due dates.

Capterra score: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Teamhood is great at holding various information and helping teams communicate with the ability to add extensive details to each task, discuss issues, and track the progress that has been made. New features are being released every few weeks, so look out for more additions in the future.

Main Features:

• Project Gantt
• Portfolio Gantt
• Time Tracking
• Kanban Project Management
• Workload management
• Budget and Cost tracking
• Dashboard and Reporting
• Auto-scheduling

Price: Free for unlimited users.

2 – Microsoft Project

Solution for those using the Microsoft suite

Capterra score: 4.4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you are researching the best Microsoft project management software, Microsoft Project has undoubtedly entered your mind.

This project management solution is great for those that want a tool that stays within the Microsoft family and is easily integrated with its other solutions. Traditional project management features like Gantt chart, task management, and reporting will be used. However, this is not the most functional option if you are looking for the newest trends and Agile project management software.

Main features:

• Gantt chart
• Timeline
• Task details
• Basic Kanban view

Price: From $10 user/month.

3 – Trello

Best free project management software for keeping track of personal tasks or small projects

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you are in the project management field, you have certainly heard about Trello as a great option for smaller projects.

It is a visual and easy-to-use project management software with basic features. You can visualize, manage and track tasks, review them in a timeline, and generate reports. Trello is focused on visually appealing interfaces and features.

Main Features:

• Kanban boards
• Task detail visualization
• Team dashboard

Price: Free for personal use and $10 user/month for teams.

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4 – Asana 

Best project management tool for collaboration

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Asana is a visual task management tool that helps teams collaborate on projects. To better visualize project tasks, Asana offers an option to create a basic Kanban board and track task movements there. You can create the Asana task board using columns and track tasks together with your team. Asana also has integrations to CRM tools like HubSpot that can link your Kanban board to customer tickets, forms, and emails.

Asana is a nice option for those looking to collaborate on projects. However, it is not rich in project management features. Thus, those looking for a more featured solution might have to look elsewhere.

Main features:

• Message boards
• Schedule
• To-do lists

5 – Jira

Project management software for developers

Capterra score: 4.4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jira is one of the best-known project management software options in the market and, without a doubt, deserves a spot on this list as a great solution for software development teams.

With it, you can effectively manage development tasks and track software project progress throughout all of its stages. Organize and visualize project tasks around the development process, review automated reports, manage releases and solve issues quicker and more efficiently.

Jira is a great choice for solely development-focused teams but lacks a little in UX to be a tool for everyone.

Main Features:

• Software release tracking
• Kanban boards
• Issue reporting

Price: Free for up to 10 users, then from $7 per user/month.

6 – Basecamp

Small to mid projects that don’t require many project management features

Capterra score: 4.3/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Basecamp is the preferred project management tool for small businesses, who enjoy its modern social media-like interface and carefree team collaboration features.

If your main goal for looking into project management apps is to enhance collaboration, Basecamp is a great option. Unburdened with project management features, it gets you just the essentials needed to work effectively and concentrates mostly on collaboration features.

Main features:

• Message boards
• Schedule
• To-do lists

Price: $99 per month.

7 – Roadmunk

Best project management software for roadmap planning

Capterra score: 4.4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Roadmunk is a great option if you need the best project management software to plan your company roadmap.

Use it to set milestones and track the team efforts as you move towards achieving your goals. With Roadmunk, you can also create Kanban boards to track the team tasks, keep track of customer feedback and easily prioritize what should be built next.

Main Features:

• Roadmap
• Customer feedback gathering
• Idea tracking and prioritization

Price: Starting at $19 user/month.

8 – Click Up

Best free project management tools for remote teams

Capterra score: 4.7/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you are on a tight budget and prefer a free project management tool for startups, your best bet may be ClickUp.

This solution offers a free plan that could be used by small teams or for personal projects. It allows teams to manage their tasks in lists or boards, supports e-mail and chats to ease collaboration, and generates reports for easier goal tracking. In ClickUp, you can also create a team knowledge base that could greatly help projects with a lot of information.

Main features:

• Kanban boards and list view
• Comments and other collaboration features
• Project documentation and Wiki
• Time tracking

Price: Free for up to 100MB, Premium for $5 user/month

9 – Redmine

Open-source best project management tool

Capterra score: 4.1/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Redmine is a great option with multi-language support for those looking to use open-source project management software.

This tool is highly flexible due to the great volunteer community and carries various project management features to ensure your projects succeed. You can visualize the project roadmap and plan tasks using Gantt charts. Task tracking is ensured through a list-type view that lets you track task names, statuses, assignments, and priorities. There are also simple time-tracking features to help the team better understand progress and e-mail notifications to keep everyone informed of changes. Lastly, you can manage documents and files to minimize the usage of other apps.

Main features:

• Roadmap
• Gantt chart
• Time tracking
• E-mail notifications

Pricing: Free

10 – Clarizen

Fully featured enterprise solution

If you are looking for the best project-tracking software that also works for the executive suite, Clarizen is a great option.

Review the whole company efforts in the C-suite dashboards, share discussions and e-mails with inside and outside stakeholders, and automate the repeatable processes to improve process efficiency and workflows. Clarizen is strongly focused on executive-level tasks and allows you to manage long-term company goals the most effectively.

Main features:

• Portfolio management
• Automated status reports
• Multiple integrations

Price: quoted by request.

11 – Forecast

Best project management software with automation features

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Forecast is a tool for those wanting more automation in their project management process.

It allows you to enter the initial project data and automatically calculates the optimal length of the project. Once the team starts working on an approved project, Forecast helps them complete tasks in a more efficient manner by taking care of mundane and repeating items. Lastly, this tool helps you track the project expenses and invoices for the completed work all in one place.

Main features:

• Work automation
• Resource management
• Project accounting

Price: $27 user/month.

12 – Function Fox

Project management for creative teams

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

FunctionFox is the best project management software geared toward creative teams.

It carries simple but effective project management tools that allow teams to manage their tasks and keep in line with deadlines. Create project schedules, track time spent on projects, and use interactive real-time reporting features. Lastly, set project budgets, track progress, and manage resources in the most effective manner.

Main features:

• Budget estimation and tracking
• Project milestones
• Personal dashboards

Pricing: from $5 user/month.

13 – Paymo

Best project management tools for built-in billing and invoicing

Capterra score: 4.7/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you are looking for a project management tool that includes invoicing, Paymo is the way to go.

It is a simple project management tool that helps you combine task management and billing for the completed work. Visualize your work in a Kanban board or Gantt chart, collaborate with your team, track time, and stay on budget with built-in project cost estimation.

Main features:

• Time tracking
• Invoicing and estimates
• Resource management

Pricing: Starting at $9.95 user/month.

14 – Podio

For the most available integrations

Capterra score: 4.3/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Podio is a great option for those looking to integrate various other tools with their project management software.

Besides the integrations, it allows the users to create custom workflows and track tasks through them. Teams can visualize project work items in Kanban boards and easily share files to ease collaboration and minimize the number of tools needed.

Main features:

• Task management
• File management
• Various integrations

Price: Free for up to 5 people, then $7.20 user/month.

15 – Notion

A tool with the ability to hold various information

Capterra score: 4.7/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Notion is the best project management software built for teams that have to share and categorize a lot of information.

Besides tracking project tasks and projects, this tool allows you to create and share information with your team. The big emphasis here is the ability to create the team or project Wiki. Here you can find everything from the company values to the vacation schedule. Making it easier to share information. Notion is also great for taking and categorizing meeting notes, allowing you to review this information anytime.

Top features:

• Team wiki
• Saving and categorizing meeting notes
• Kanban board

Price: from $8 user/month for teams.

16 – Active Collab

A project management workspace with billing features

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

ActiveCollab is a great option for those wanting simple project management software that includes client invoicing.

This tool is light on complicated project management features but carries everything you may need for a small team to execute a project. You can plan work in a timeline, track progress with Kanban boards and collaborate with your teammates on the task details. The biggest advantage of ActiveCollab comes in the form of time tracking and the ability to generate invoices for the client right from the project management tool.

Main features:

• Time tracking and invoicing
• Kanban boards
• Collaboration features

Price: from $7 user/month.

17 – Toggl Plan

Timeline-based project management tool

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

For those that like to see and plan their projects on a timeline, Toggl Plan is a great option.

It offers visual task management that is based on the main timeline view. Where teams can review what is planned and coordinate actions to reach the desired results. The Gantt chart type of interface is great for visual planners. Scheduling work by the hour and seeing team members’ availability makes workload management easy.

Main features

• Timeline view
• Drag and drop interface
• Task details
• Basic Kanban view

Price: from $8 user/month.

18 – Insightly

Customer relationship management tool with project management features

Capterra score: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If your main goal for getting the best project management software is to manage customer relationships, Insightly is a great option.

You can conveniently manage leads, contacts, vendors, suppliers, and partners here. Thus giving you a fully functional CRM tool. At the same time, Insightly allows you to track project activity, review task dashboards and reports, and compare the actual performance against the set milestones. It is also easy to use. Thus, both sales experts and beginners can take advantage of various features.

Main features:

• Contact management
• Progress tracking with custom dashboards
• Various integrations

Price: from $29 month/user.

19 – Weekdone

For weekly reporting and goal setting

Capterra score: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you are looking for something to set and report team goals rather than manage every project detail, Weekdone is a great pick for you.

Use these project management tools for startups to get a clear overview of long- and short-term goals, set and track OKRs, and quickly overview and discuss results. Using these tools, you can link weekly tasks with short and long-term objectives and ensure everyone on the team stays on track.

Main features:

• Weekly reports
• OKR and short-term result tracking
• Ability to link tasks and goals

Price: Free for up to 3 people, from $10 user/month for larger teams.

20 – YouTrack

Capterra score: 4.4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

YouTrack is a project management tool known for excellent task management and increased productivity. I especially liked assigning tasks to team members and monitoring progress for well-organized projects. Its workflow functionality is highly useful, backed by extensive and helpful documentation.

However, I found implementing SCRUM workflows challenging due to limited support for sprints and backlogs. The interface can be clunky with limited views, and certain features like “Assigned to me” search are not easily accessible. Initial setup and user configuration may be confusing.

Nevertheless, I think YouTrack is a great option for teams that value customization and want to tailor their tools to specific needs.

Main features:

• Task Management
• Team Collaboration
• Workflows
• Agile Boards
• Knowledge Base and Helpdesk Projects

Price: Free for up to 10 people, from $6 user/month for larger teams.

Best project management solution

Grab the best project management solution for both your team and the executive floor. Teamhood is great for both as it can follow the daily tasks as well as long-term goals. Visualize work in Kanban boards, Gantt charts, Portfolio view, track time, and enjoy various reporting features to make your project successful!

Signup for free and start your effective project management journey today!

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Dovile Miseviciute

Passionate content marketer looking to bring better solutions to the project management space.

2020 - Present Marketing specialist at Teamhood.
2014 - 2020 Marketing manager for Eylean.