Free Project Management Software: A Roundup of 20+ Options to Try

There’s more to Project Management than software. But, like all good tools, software can make our lives easier. But many start-up businesses, clubs, and community organizations just don’t have the funds to pay for software. Luckily, the ‘freemium’ model of software marketing means there are many options for high-quality free project management software.

So, that’s what we’ll look at in this article. If you need free project management software – or simply want to conduct a thorough evaluation – here’s the place to be.

This is Not a Set of Reviews

But I’m not a software reviewer. So these won’t be reviews. There’s just too much to know about any decent software solution. And let’s avoid this whole thing of…

‘My software is better than yours’

Your software may be better… for you. You can only assess the value of any tool or solution in the context of the job to be done or the problem to solve. And only you know what your:

• needs are
• preferences are
• priorities are

However, I will tackle the problem of choosing software; whether its is free Project Management software, or any other software tool. I’ll share my tips and advice below.

What do I mean by Free Project Management Software?

There are some sources of genuinely free stuff. But, let’s face it, it’s reasonable to pay for tools that have a value. And it’s reasonable for the creators to earn money to cover their investment of time and money on developing it.

And it’s also often (but not always) true that:

1. You get what you pay for – paid products are usually (but not always) better than free versions.
   Exceptions in the software realm are community-developed tools that are passion-projects for the creators, like OBS.
2. You don’t value what you don’t pay for.
   There’s something about paying for something to make you learn it and use it properly. When we see free stuff, we often ‘impulse buy it’ then never use it.

So, I am including paid software that comes with a free tier. That is, one that allows you to make real use of the software. But I am not including software that offers a free trial period, but that you have to pay for at the end. None of the software in this list (currently) gives you a time constraint on using their free tiers.

Four Levels of Free Tier

I haven’t been scientific in this. But I have described each free Project Management software tool as having one of four (subjectively-assessed) levels of free offering. You may disagree with my assessments in the comments below!

1. Completely free
   – open source – no charge for full functionality and unlimited use
2. Generous free tier
   – usually generous in terms of most or all of:
   1. Number of users
   2. Functionality available
   3. Number of projects you can host
3. Free tier
   – a decent level of generosity; good, but not great
4. Limited free tier
   – enough to be useful to some people, but you will quickly run up against limitations in users, functionality, or projects.

Contents

Here’s what we cover. We start with:

• How to Choose the Best Free Project Management Software for You

Then, I have arranged the free Project management software in alphabetical order. Note that, unless explicitly stated, none of the links are affiliated.

1. Airtable
2. Asana
3. Avaza
4. Basecamp
5. Bitrix24
6. ClickUp
7. FreedCamp
8. Kissflow Project
9. MeisterTask
10. Method Grid
11. nTask Manager
12. Onepoint Projects
13. Paymo
14. PivotalTracker
15. Podio
16. Teamdeck
17. Teamwork Projects
18. Todoist
19. Toggl Plan
20. Trello
21. Wrike
22. Yodiz
23. Zenkit
24. Zoho Projects

Capabilities

In the capabilities lists, I have used:

• Yes
  to indicate clear evidence on their website that the capability is present
• A ‘?‘
  to indicate ambiguous evidence suggesting the capability may be present
• A blank
  to indicate that I failed to find any evidence for that capability

Important Note: I have used my best efforts to gauge the functionality of these free Project Management software tools. However, I have relied only on their websites and may have missed something. I have not used many of these – and none of them in depth. If I have made an error, please point it out (politely) in the comments or by emailing me, and I shall amend the article accordingly.

How to Choose the Best Free Project Management Software for You

…and, how to choose the best software for you – free or paid, PM or anything else.

My recommendation is to keep it simple, and follow a MoSCoW approach:

1. Make a list of you ‘must-have’ features
   Without these features, the tool will be useless to you – free or not
2. Make a list of your ‘should-have’ features
   These will help you select which of the tools with all of of your must-haves that are most likely to meet your needs. These should be highly valuable, but not essential, features.
3. Make a list of your ‘could-have’ features
   These are features you’d like, but would not ever pay for, nor base your selection upon
4. Anything else is either something you don’t care about,
   or:
5. ‘Won’t-have’ features
   These are feature that, if they are present, you will actively reject the tool.
6. Look for several tools that have all of your must-have features
   …and none of your ‘won’t-have’ features.
7. Select the ones that have all or most of your ‘should-have’ features
8. If you have more than three…
   find the ones that have the most ‘could-have’ features
9. Evaluate these three tools thoroughly and select the one with the best:
   1. usability
   2. reliability
   3. commercial proposition

This approach to evaluation draws heavily on:

• MOSCOW Analysis
• The Kano Model

What Free Project Management Software Have We Missed?
And What is Your Experience of the Software in Our List?

Please do share your thoughts in the comments below, and I will be sure to respond.

And, of courses, if you feel we have misrepresented one of these tools, please do let us know and, if we can verify your comments, we’ll amend the table with pleasure.