The best free project management software in 2025 These are the 8 best options for free task management software. By Kiera Abbamonte · November 6, 2024 Hero image with the logos of the best free project management software We independently review every app we recommend in our best apps lists. When you click some of the links on this page, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
Everyone has a different way of managing projects. Some people like to use their inbox to keep track of tasks. Others prefer to visualize work on a Kanban board or in a calendar view, while some even prefer the old pen and paper system.
That's fine on an individual level, but when you collaborate on projects as a team, you need a flexible and capable project management tool that works for everyone. And with so many teams working remotely, there's an even more pressing need for a task management app that can help track projects, collaborate, and keep everyone in the loop.
Connect your project management software to your other apps Make your job easier As a freelance writer, I've worked inside tons of different project management setups across my clients—I've seen how each app approaches the standard features, the potential of great, streamlined collaboration, and the consequences of poor project management. The good news: free project management software can give you the flexibility you need to manage tasks, communicate with stakeholders, and maintain project visibility—without paying a cent.
I've been updating this list for several years. This year, I considered nearly 70 free project management tools, and after extensive testing, I've settled on my top eight picks.
The 8 best free project management tools Trello for visually managing projects
Asana for teams
ClickUp for customized task views
Wrike for spreadsheet-like features
Paymo for freelancers and small agency teams
Airtable for building a customized project management app
Jira for developers
Hive for AI features
What makes the best free project management tool? How we evaluate and test apps Our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. Unless explicitly stated, we spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog.
To narrow down the list of the best free project management online tools, I looked for apps that met the following criteria:
Free for unlimited projects. All the project tracking software I chose lets you manage an unlimited number of projects for free.
Hosted. There are a lot of great, free, self-hosted project management applications, but they take longer to set up and manage. I was looking at task management software that's hosted by the companies that provide the tools. If you're interested in free, self-hosted project management software, I'd recommend checking out Taiga, Lavagna, and Redmine.
Collaboration and sharing features. The free project management apps included here make it quick and easy to add team members to your project management setup and control user types and permissions.
Flexibility. The best project managers are flexible enough to handle multiple teams, project types, and organization styles, so I looked for apps that support a number of different views and project management methodologies.
Integrations. A great project tracker should fit seamlessly into the rest of your stack, so I've only included apps that integrate with other popular software like email and Slack, calendars, and document storage.
After filtering for those criteria, I ran each remaining contender through a similar testing protocol that included:
Going through the signup process and any onboarding provided
Creating a new project and choosing a primary methodology (Kanban, Scrum, Gantt, etc.) or view (list, table, calendar, etc.) for it
Creating a number of new tasks and adding various details, like due dates, links and attachments, and user assignments
Toggling between view options and testing out any additional methodologies offered
Inviting new users and setting permissions
Toggling between team-wide and individual views
Testing out any unique features like time tracking, client views, or AI
After running each app through that workflow, I landed on the top eight free online project manager tools you see below.
Note: I selected tools that offer web apps (though many offer synchronized web, mobile, and desktop apps). If it's not important to you that your project planner is accessible online, you may also want to consider ProjectLibre and GanttProject in addition to the apps listed below. Both of these tools are powerful desktop-only apps that are designed to be alternatives to Microsoft Project.
Need more features and have a bit more flexibility in your budget? Check out our recommendations for the best project management software for small business.
The best free project management software at a glance
Best for
Standout feature
Free plan
Trello
Visually managing projects
Customizable Kanban boards with unlimited Power-Ups
10 boards per workspace and unlimited cards
Asana
Teams
Flexible project management methodologies
Unlimited projects and tasks and up to 10 users
ClickUp
Customized task views
14 different task views
Unlimited tasks and users
Wrike
Spreadsheet-like features
Best-in-class project tracking
Unlimited projects and users
Paymo
Freelancers and small agency teams
Built-in time tracking, invoicing, and expenses
Unlimited tasks and users and up to 5 clients
Airtable
Building a customized app
The most customizable app with lots of templates
Unlimited bases at 1,000 records per base and up to 5 users
Jira
Agile software development teams
Purpose-built for developers and engineers
Unlimited projects on 1 site and up to 10 users
Hive
AI features
Creates projects from a prompt
AI project planner and content generator, unlimited tasks and notes
Best free project management software for visually managing projects Trello (Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android) Trello, our pick for the best free project management software for visually managing projects Trello pros:
Super customizable boards with unlimited Power-Ups
Most visual interface of any of the apps I tested
Tons of templates to get you started
Trello cons:
Free users are limited to Kanban
User/team management features require an upgrade
Trello is simple project management software that gives you a way to organize your projects with Kanban boards. And with a generous free plan that allows for 10 boards per workspace and unlimited cards and users, it's a tool that anyone can use. Freelancers can use Trello to plan their assignments on a personal board, and teams can use Trello to build a complete project workflow with visibility at every stage.
Start by creating a new board from scratch or choosing a template from dozens of options across marketing, sales, design, team management, and beyond. Add a handful of lists for your tasks (each list is a column), and customize those lists with the steps in your workflow (e.g., to-do, doing, and done) or as separate parts of your project (e.g., development, design, and distribution). Next, add your tasks as visual cards in each column—with labels, due dates, members, checklists, images, attachments, and comments to keep everything in one place.
As you start completing tasks, simply drag the cards to the appropriate list. You can keep track of all comments and tasks that mention you—or that you're watching—from the activity menu.
For more features, Trello's Power-Up options (unlimited even on the free plan) let you view tasks on a calendar, add voting options on tasks, fade away old tasks automatically, and much more. And you can make Trello boards for everything—personal and work tasks alike—to get your work done in a way that best fits your needs.
For even more flexibility, use Trello's Zapier integrations to connect Trello with your favorite apps, like Gmail and Slack. Learn more about popular ways to automate Trello, or get started with one of these pre-made templates.
Create new Trello cards from new Google Calendar events Try it Google Calendar, Trello Google Calendar + Trello More details Create Trello cards weekly at scheduled times Try it Schedule by Zapier, Trello Schedule by Zapier + Trello More details Create Trello cards from new Google Forms responses Try it Google Forms, Trello Google Forms + Trello More details Trello price: The free plan includes unlimited cards and members, 10 boards per workspace, unlimited Power-Ups, and 250 automated commands each month; upgrade for $5/user/month (billed annually) to the Standard plan that includes unlimited boards, custom fields, advanced checklists, up to 1,000 automated commands per month, and more.
Best free project management software for teams Asana (Web, iOS, Android) Asana, our pick for the best free project management software for teams Asana pros:
Flexible with project management methodologies between projects and users
Great, focused My Tasks view
To-do list style made better with team features
Asana cons:
Expensive upgrade
Your to-do list isn't bad—you just need a few more features to manage your team projects. Asana offers just that. It's a project management tool that lets you break projects down into sections and sub-lists, along with dashboards to see how much of the project has been completed already. You'll add, rearrange, and complete tasks the same way you would in a to-do list app, but with the collaboration and organization features you need to work as a team.
For your personal tasks—or the things at work that don't fit into a precise project—you can make extra lists in Asana that are only shared with specific people. Your own assigned tasks will also show up in your My Tasks view for a quick way to see the things you need to take care of.
Whether you're working solo or with a team, you can automate Asana with Asana's Zapier integrations, letting you connect project information to other apps. Try one of the workflows below, or get inspiration from these popular Asana automations.
Create new Asana tasks from new Google Calendar events Try it Google Calendar, Asana Google Calendar + Asana More details Add new Typeform entries to Asana as tasks Try it Typeform, Asana Typeform + Asana More details Add new Google Calendar appointments to an Asana task list Try it Google Calendar, Asana Google Calendar + Asana More details Asana price: The free Personal plan includes unlimited projects, tasks, and storage; up to 15 users; and list, board, and calendar views. Upgrade for $10.99/user/month (billed annually) to the Starter plan that adds Gantt and timeline views, extensive reports, and Asana AI.
Best free project management software for customized task views ClickUp (Web, iOS, Android) ClickUp, our pick for the best free project management software for customized task views ClickUp pros:
14 different task views to choose from
Super generous free plan
ClickUp cons:
More involved set-up process
Most project management apps let you choose from only a handful of task views, like a list, calendar, or Kanban view. Additional views, especially Gantt charts, are usually a premium feature. ClickUp is different.
It's a simple and free project management app that lets you choose from 14 different views, including Gantt charts and mind maps, along with Chat (which displays conversations alongside your tasks), Docs (which lets you create docs, wikis, and knowledge bases), and Embed (to add apps and websites next to your tasks).
ClickUp's dashboards are just as customizable, letting you choose from tons of different widgets, so you can only highlight the most important project information. Plus, with a revamped task details screen, you can view details, create subtasks, and add attachments really easily—you can even track time right inside the task.
There's a lot to parse when you're first getting started with ClickUp. The onboarding process won't be as simple as Trello, for example, but the extra customization is worth it—especially when it's completely free. Plus, the company has done a great job with guided in-app onboarding to get you started.
And with ClickUp's Zapier integrations, you can connect ClickUp with your favorite apps. Try one of the automations below, or read about how to automate ClickUp with Zapier.
