Top 10 Free Project Management Software to Get Things Done

The need for a free project management software is more important today, than ever before, as companies are required to preserve money for uncertain times, while needing to provide a centralized place for their teams to get things done.

According to McKinsey, the rate at which companies are introducing digital products and services has advanced by 7 years globally! In such a dynamic and fast-paced work environment, keeping up with project deliveries has become a challenge for any project manager. This is where an online free project management software can lend a helping hand.

In this blog, we will deep-dive to understand the top 10 free project management software you can leverage to multi-task your way to success. Let’s jump right in.

Top 10 Free Project Management Software

1. Nifty

The All-In-One Free Project Management Software

Think of Nifty as an all-in-one workspace that empowers project managers to improve team productivity and shorten their project delivery cycles.

Need to keep your team members, projects, milestones, and functions in sync with your organization? Wish to access chat, goals, tasks, docs, and files in a centralized place (as opposed to juggling between tools)? Want to build a dedicated knowledge hub and boost cross-departmental collaboration?

Whatever your requirement, Nifty is the perfect online free project management software for you.

Top Features:

• Knowledge hub: The Discussions feature enables focused collaboration amongst project members to facilitate meaningful decision-making.
• Task management: You can easily organize, prioritize, and manage tasks with a high level of detail.
• Project milestones: The Milestones feature serves as your visual project guide by automating progress based on task completion.
• Project portfolio management: Bring better organization and more automation to your workflow by structuring your projects with the Project Portfolios feature. 
• Roles and permissions: You can provide different permissions to different roles such as Admin, Owner, Member, Guests, etc.

What do you get in the free version:

• Team members: Unlimited 
• Tasks: Unlimited
• Core features: Tasks, Milestones, Discussions, Docs, Files, Team Chat, Portfolios, Recurring Tasks, Task Dependencies, Milestone Dependencies
• Account and security: Two-Factor Authentication
• Support: Self-Serve Help Center

Who should use it?

Agile teams can use the Nifty project management tool for small to large-scale projects comprising multiple team members.

Why Nifty?

• Nifty is one of the best free project management software that offers a collaborative workspace. You can access Nifty on Web Browser, Desktop, Android, and iOS apps.
• Its color-coded Milestones and Goal tracking feature allows you to track and automate project and cross-project progress and timelines with effortless ease.

• It is ideal for project managers looking to categorize projects based on locations, managers, departments, etc., thanks to its portfolio management feature. This helpful feature allows you to assign tasks and prevent bottlenecks in real-time.
• You can also use the built-in time tracking feature to get powerful insights into projects and team members with the task name, date, task duration, start and end of tracked time, along with notes informing timestamp edits, and more.

✨ Ready to try Nifty? Get started with Nifty for free!

2. Hive

A Free Project Management Software for Hybrid Work—Shaped by Users

Hive is one of the best free project management software that enables teams to work together in any capacity–be it online, in-office, fully remote, or with the hybrid model. The tool’s biggest advantage is its simplified user interface and one-click access to essential project management features such as task management, collaboration, project management, time management, notes, native chat, and more.

Features:

• Project management: It allows you to simplify workflows for complex processes and manage projects in a centralized platform.
• Time management: You can understand where your team members are spending their time and manage in-person, remote, and hybrid teams with ease.
• Team collaboration: You can leverage enhanced collaboration features to keep your entire team on the same page.  
• Advanced automation: You can use Hive to put your projects on autopilot.
• Hive Notes: You can use the tool’s best-in-class and most-loved Notes feature from within the platform itself.

What do you get in the free version:

Hive Free is the platform’s free-forever plan, which offers the following features:

• Up to 10 workspace members
• 200MB storage
• Unlimited tasks
• Unlimited collaborative notes
• Work your way views
• Email in Hive
• Desktop, iOS, and Android apps
• Native chat messaging
• Custom emojis

Who should use it?

Hive is an ideal free pm solution for individuals, smaller teams of up to 10 people, freelancers, and solopreneurs who have basic project management requirements and need to use the tool to organize their projects in one place.

Why we picked this tool?

• It is a community-built, democratic software platform. This tool is the world’s first productivity platform that is built on user feedback. This is why the tool boasts of a loyal user base who can offer feedback and get the features they want to be rolled out:

• Hive can be easily used by everyone. There’s little to no learning curve, and you don’t need to be a full-stack, certified project manager to use this tool.
• The user interface is extremely intuitive and easy, allowing you to view and set up your projects within 10 minutes!

3. Zoho Projects

The Best Online Free Project Management Software for Businesses of All Scales, Sizes, and Types

Zoho Projects is an online free project management software that enables project managers to plan their projects, track the work efficiently, and collaborate with team members. It offers a suite of robust features–from sales and marketing to powerful integrations and cloud storage.

You can also leverage a larger suite of Zoho products, such as the popular CRM platform, meeting tools, virtual assistant software, and more. So, if you are looking to bundle multiple software and want value-driven free ppm software for your team, Zoho Projects is for you.

Features:

• Customizations: You can create custom layouts for your tasks and projects and address your project requirements.
• Team collaboration: You can get quick updates across all your projects through an interactive feed. This feed allows you to post comments, tag team members, and add attachments.
• Automation: You can design workflows to automate task processes and tackle routine work like a pro.
• Charts and reports: You can easily see basic/advanced reports on all tasks in a project based on the status, completion percentage, owner, or priority. 
• Integrations and add-ons: You can integrate this tool with Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Spreadsheets, Zoho Sprints, CRM, Analytics, and more.

What do you get in the free version:

• Users: Free for up to 3 users
• Storage: 10MB file storage
• Projects: 2
• Other features: Custom Status, Task Management, Gantt Chart, Project Feeds, Calendar & Forums, Basic Task and Issue Reports, Mobile Apps (Android, iOS, iPad OS)

Who should use it?

Zoho Projects can be used by smaller teams as a free project planner as its free for up to 3 users. 

Why we picked this tool?

• This tool is trusted by the likes of established giants such as Stanford University, Tata Chemicals Limited, Dell, HDFC Securities, and more.
• It is a low-cost tool that is perfect for small, growing businesses.

4. Trello

A Robust Free Project Management Software for Agile Teams

Trello is a completely free project management software that brings your team members, tools, and tasks together. This free pm software empowers your team to manage diverse projects, workflows, and tasks. You can also customize your project management experience by leveraging advanced features and security–at scale.

Features:

• Trello Views: It allows you to see your projects from every angle with Board, Timeline, Table, Calendar, Dashboard, Map, and Workspace views to lend a fresh perspective to the task at hand.
• Templates: This feature enables you to give your team a blueprint. You can leverage tried-and-true templates from the Trello community. All you need to do is copy, customize, and collaborate!
• Automation: Thanks to Butler automation, you can easily automate the workflow and tasks.
• Power-ups: You can power-up your teams by linking their favorite tools with Trello plugins.

What do you get in the free version:

• Unlimited cards
• Up to 10 boards per Workspace
• Unlimited Power-Ups per board
• Unlimited storage (10MB/file)
• 250 Workspace command runs per month
• Custom backgrounds and stickers
• Unlimited activity log
• Assignee and due dates
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• 2-factor authentication

Who should use it?

The free tool is perfect for small teams and individuals who wish to keep their work organized.

30 Best Trello Alternatives

Why we picked this tool?

• Trello is a great tool for agile projects. 
• It offers a slew of useful features, such as quick-glance Kanban boards and seamless workflow automation, and is easily available on iOS and Android apps.
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• It offers unlimited boards to free users so that you can successfully complete tasks.

5. ClickUp

An End-to-End Free Project Management Software

ClickUp is a highly-customizable free project management software that empowers you to edit and control the platform. It offers a host of integrated features to address your needs. Plus, with 100MB of storage, access to unlimited tasks and members, and the ability to use real-time chat as well as collaborative docs in the free version, you can set up your team for project management success.

Features:

• ClickUp Overview: It helps you to create the perfect structure that scales with your needs. Each level comes with greater flexibility and control to organize everything.
• Views: You can access 15+ powerful views to get ahead of your workload. These include Board, Box, Calendar, Gantt, Form, Doc, Chat, and more.
• Customization: You can easily customize the tool and manage diverse projects with no code or add-ons needed.
• Collaboration: You can collaborate with your team members using Whiteboard, Chat, Email, Comments, Proofing, etc.

What do you get in the free version:

• 100 MB storage
• Unlimited tasks
• Unlimited free plan members
• Collaborative docs
• Whiteboards
• Two-Factor Authentication
• Real-time chat
• Kanban boards
• Sprint management
• Native time tracking
• In-app video recording
• 24/7 support

Who should use it?

ClickUp’s free plan is ideal for personal use. It can also be useful for smaller teams looking to optimize their work processes.

Why we picked this tool?

• This free pm software is best if you want to use popular collaboration tools such as Salesforce and Dropbox.
• Its drag-and-drop capabilities are user-friendly. This tool enables you to engage in seamless resource allocation. Plus, you get access to 15+ View options such as Gantt, Scrum, Board, and so on.
• Finally, ClickUp offers hundreds of features (with more added every week) that can be customized based on your unique requirement. The best part? These features are all free, forever.

6. Asana

One of the Best Free Project Management Tools for Cross-Functional Work

Asana is, without a doubt, one of the best free project management tools for driving efficiency across your organization. The tool is flexible, easy-to-use, and helps deliver quality work together in no time at all. Whether you need to orchestrate your work or tackle daily strategic tasks, Asana empowers your team members to be more confident, move with speed, and accomplish more with less—irrespective of their location.

Features:

• Workflow Builder: You can create automated processes to coordinate your teams.
• App Integrations: You can bring all your tools and apps together and support your teams.
• Automation: You can streamline processes, reduce errors, and automate routine tasks, saving invaluable effort and time. 
• Timeline: You can build a beautiful Gantt chart in minutes.
• Reporting: You can get real-time insights into projects and/or work progress at the click of a button.

What do you get in the free version:

• Unlimited tasks
• Unlimited projects
• Unlimited messages
• Unlimited activity log
• Unlimited file storage (100 MB per file)
• Collaborate with up to 15 teammates
• List view projects
• Board view projects
• Calendar view
• Assignee and due dates
• Project Overview and Project Brief
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Time tracking with integrations
• 100+ free integrations with your favorite apps

Who should use it?

Asana is the best platform for visualizing and tracking the smallest of details. It is ideally a project management software for individuals and/or teams who are just getting started with project management.

Why we picked this tool?

• Asana has the first-mover advantage as it was one of the market’s first free project management software. This platform boasts an impressive 9100+ user reviews on G2. According to a user, “The interface is beautiful, and the gamified tweaks, like celebrations after completing tasks, make Asana fun to use.”
• The platform has mastered To-Do lists like no other tool. You can leverage organized To-Do lists to your advantage and streamline your work requests with greater ease. 
• Project managers also get access to the status of progress goals, allowing for more informed decision-making.
• You get instant access to user-friendly features such as interactive dashboards, task assignments, sub-lists, and re-arrangeable components.
• The tool also functions as a free project tracker software as it has built-in time tracking capabilities. 

Read Also: Asana vs Monday: Which one’s best for you? 

7. Wrike

A 360-Degree Online Free Project Management Software

Wrike is another top-performing online free project management software on our list that deserves special mention. For starters, its Spreadsheet and Workbook features are unparalleled. Wrike is an enterprise project management software tool that adapts to every kind of management style and supports teams on the go. The tool follows a linear approach and offers clear calculations, columns, tables, etc., to help project managers stay on top of their work.

Features:

• Dashboards: This feature enables you to visualize tasks, processes, analytics, and so on.
• Automation: You can easily define as well as trigger automated workflows to iron out manual effort of any kind.
• Kanban boards: You can view project progress and build customized workflows.
• Cross-tagging: This feature enables project managers to gain unparalleled visibility across multiple work streams.
• Project resource planning: Project managers can plan and allocate resources for on-time delivery.  

What do you get in the free version:

• Web, desktop, and mobile apps
• Project and task management
• Board view
• Table view
• Active task (limitations apply)

Who should use it?

This project management software tool is ideal for teams that are just getting started and want to engage in centralized task management.

Why we picked this tool?

• In our opinion, this tool offers great time-tracking features, a customized dashboard, and extensive as well as easy-to-understand Gantt charts.
• This tool is mobile-friendly, having a presence for both iOS and Android apps. Plus, the free version provides access to unlimited users.
• It is used by esteemed clients such as Estée Lauder, Nielsen, Ogilvy, Hootsuite, Siemens, Tiffany & Co, and more. It also offers multi-lingual support to users (think: German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.)

8. Monday.com 

One of the Best Free Project Management Software for Increased Efficiency + Productivity

Need an open platform where you can build and shape the tools you need to improve the way your business runs? Monday.com is worth a try. This tool combines the building blocks of project management (think: excellent access to apps and integrations, customized workflows, and more). 

Features:

• Dashboards: This feature allows you to simplify the decision-making process with real-time insights.
• Automation: You can save your team’s time by automating repetitive processes.
• Kanban: The much-loved Kanban feature helps you to prioritize tasks and balance the workload based on resource availability and capacity.
• Gantt: You can visualize your project’s milestones and dependencies with relative ease.

What do you get in the free version:

• Access for up to 2 team members
• Up to 3 boards
• Unlimited docs
• 200+ templates
• Over 20 column types
• iOS and Android apps

Who should use it?

The free plan is built for individuals who wish to keep track of their work.

Why we picked this tool?

• Monday.com offers multiple industry-specific products such as Monday marketer, Monday dev, Monday sales CRM, Monday projects, and Monday work management, which are all built on top of the Work OS. This makes it easy for you to use a specialized app for unique business use cases.
• Monday.com is also useful if you want to understand your project’s dependency and want a tool that offers world-class app integrations, such as Jira, Slack, Asana, and HubSpot CRM, to name a few. Aside from this, the platform offers features such as native social media management, CRM, and free educational webinars for its subscribers.
• The best part about the tool is the “panic button” feature. This feature allows you to immediately lock your account in case the data gets compromised.

9. nTask

An all-in-one, free project management tool

The nTask tool comes power-packed with an intuitive and minimalistic interface. So if your business requires you to onboard new users on a routine basis, nTask is for you. That’s not all. This platform offers multiple project manager-friendly features such as team management, meeting management, bug tracking, Gantt charting, timesheet management, and more.

Features:

• Project planning: You can easily define your projects, set billing methods, decide the payout rate, and allocate resources to your projects in this free project management tool.
• Team chat: You can connect with team members anytime on your projects with the Team chat feature.
• Task management: This feature enables you to instantly plan, organize, and assign tasks in your projects. As a result, you’ll be able to see who is working on what and what needs to be completed on priority. You can also create to-do lists and make unlimited sub-tasks.
• Gantt chart: The interactive Gantt Chart feature empowers you to get organized, gain transparency, and become flexible with your ongoing projects. 

What do you get in the free version:

• The Basic free plan is free for teams with up to 5 people
• Unlimited workspaces
• Unlimited tasks
• Unlimited access to meetings, issues tracking, and timesheets to manage time spent by your team

Who should use it?

This tool is ideal for users who wish to integrate their project management software with Slack and other useful third-party apps.

Why we picked this tool?

• This platform offers work-friendly features such as one-click CSV import and export, advanced filters, and robust timesheets.
• You can create multiple tasks and projects and easily define team member roles, milestones, budgets, and more.
• The Gantt chart is drag-and-drop and can be personalized to accommodate real-life changes to your project.

10. GoodDay

The World’s Most Customizable Free Project Management Software

GoodDay is a free project management software that empowers teams to tackle day-to-day work with powerful tools and drive continuous improvement of all processes. The platform aims to boost transparency, accountability, and recognition within your project management processes.

Features:

• Views: You get access to 20+ views (think: Gantt, Kanban, Board, Calendar, etc.) to build your ideal workspace.
• Customization: You can build your own work management experience with a sophisticated structure and extensive workflows.
• Apps: You can access the tool on your mobile or desktop and work on the go.
• Templates: You can get started quickly with ready-to-use, one-click start templates designed for teams of all shapes and sizes.

What do you get in the free version:

• Unlimited projects/tasks/events
• 1 GB of storage
• Up to 15 members
• Calendar and events management
• Custom workflows, tasks, and project types
• Time tracking
• Analytics
• Basic integrations (G-Suite, Google calendar, G-Mail, Google Drive, Email)
• Activity stream
• Dashboards
• Views
• Basic support
• Customer success webinars

Who should use it?

The GoodDay tool can support smaller teams and startups that wish to boost their productivity and want to leverage a tool that can be quickly adopted across departments.

Why we picked this tool?

• This free project management tool doubles up as a great project, product, time, task, and team management platform. Whether you want to engage in high-level planning or track the project status, this tool might be right for you.

How to Find the Best Free Project Management Software Options

Wondering if there’s a checklist to finding the best free project management software? Keep reading. You can follow these steps to narrow down on a relevant and suitable choice.

Step 1: Narrow Down Your Project Lists

The first thing you’ll need to assess is understanding the kind of projects your organization deals with. Make sure to look at the current pain points and obstacles. By categorizing these projects, you’ll have a better understanding of the best tool to use to augment your team’s efforts and how the software will impact your project process in the long run.

Step 2: Ask for Input from Your Team

This step is incredibly important. Remember that your team members will ultimately be using the free project management software. So, their opinion must have a seat at the executive’s table. So, collaborate and take inputs as well as feedback from your team to understand what’s working (and what’s not) and focus on collecting your team’s specific needs.

Step 3: Evaluate the Features You Need

An extension of the previous step, make a list of the top must-have features you need within the tool. Do you want to track your team member’s time in a better manner? Are you struggling with getting real-time visibility into resource availability? Do you need a tool that offers free project management apps? Do you want to visualize your project roadmap and deliverables? By factoring in your project (and business) end goals, you can get a clearer understanding of the key features you need. 

Step 4: Understand Your Team Size

Another step that’s often missed is analyzing your organization’s team size. The project management software you choose must be able to sufficiently address all your active team member’s concerns. So, make sure to analyze your team size before you hit the buy button.

Step 5: Focus on the User Experience

Finally, do not go by the latest fad and invest in an increasingly complex product that no one understands (and, by extension, can use). If there’s a steep learning curve to the tool, your team members are more likely to jump ship and avoid using the tool altogether. So, focus on investing in a tool that offers a simple, easy-to-use user interface to ensure widespread and seamless adoption.

Read also: Best agile project management software

Final Thoughts 

There you go. The next time you find yourself Googling: “Project management software free, refer to this handy list of 10 free project management software. The thing to note is that every organization is different and has varied needs. Hence, while one particular project management tool may work for some, it may not work for others.

So, when it comes to selecting the right all-in-one project management software, do not take a templatized approach. Deep dive to gauge and analyze your organization’s unique needs and go for a custom tool that allows you to take a productive, profitable, and personalized approach to delivering projects.

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