Top 9 Free Project Management Software for 2020

September 11, 2020

best free project management software

While managing a project, you need to take care of a variety of tasks simultaneously.

Some tasks are dependent on others, while some require collaborative efforts from different individuals. It's manageable when there are a few of them in the project, but as the number of these tasks increases, so do your problems managing it. This is where project management software can ensure your success.

Project management software allows you to organize and plan your projects visually, assign individual tasks, fix the order of priority, track progress, and address challenges before they turn into real problems. The majority offree project management toolsoffer such capabilities, but they might have some restrictions due to the freemium model.

Let's look at the best free project management software available in the market.

Best free project management software

The list below contains real-user reviews from the best free project management software on the market. To be included in this list, not only do you have to offer afree trialperiod or be a free application, but you also:

  • Create project plans and work breakdown structures (WBS) based on the scope.
  • Define, manage, and allocate resources based on demand and availability.
  • 创建项目预算和compare them with actual costs and expenses.
  • Support multiple project management methodologies such as waterfall and agile.
  • Provide project templates that can be modified or combined to create new projects.
  • Manage interdependencies between tasks and their impact on deadlines.
  • Automatically generate a critical path and update it when the project changes.
  • Allow users to mass update tasks without changing interdependencies.
  • Include multiple project views such as calendar view or customer (or partner) view.
  • Monitor project progress, resource utilization, and user productivity.

* This list is based on G2 data collected on September 10, 2020. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.

1.Asana

Asanaempowers teams to track their work, gain clarity, and collaborate to produce exceptional results in less time. The software develops a frictionless process where the team can co-create and be in-charge of the assigned work. You have options to prioritize tasks and complete the things that are most important and urgent. Not only does it help you in streamlining the project, but it also empowers you to leverage automation for your benefit.

What users like:

"Asana is loaded with features for small businesses, even at the free level. I use it to manage a hiring process, social media content planning, sales pipeline with reminders and subtasks, and notes to follow up and share tasks with other team members. Additionally, it's easy to use and intuitive. I can add and remove temporary users, provide them access to only specific projects.

"I have personal spaces set up that I don't want coworkers/VAs to access or view, and finance projects that I don't want marketing people to see and vice-versa. Here, I have complete control. The mobile app is probably used more than the computer/website because of its full-featured interface. When I have time, I just whip out the app and quickly call my next lead with the name and contact info safely stored."

-Asana Review, Allen E.

What users dislike:

"I could probably adjust these settings, but on some projects where I am a member, I receive an email for every single change, which can be a lot. Still, it hasn't bothered me enough to research and change it."

-Asana Review, Stevan J.

2.Trello

Trelloallows teams to manage projects visually, organize and prioritize tasks, and collaborate in a fun and rewarding way. Trello is for everyone, whether you are an individual or a team, working in uniform or diverse roles. You always have the flexibility to design and customize your project based on your unique needs and expectations.

Trello's project management solution is as simple as organizing sticky notes on the wall. You have complete freedom to move around the tasks using the drag and drop feature. The ease of collaboration is further enhanced by transparency and the ease of sharing between different boards and projects.

What users like:

"I love that Trello allows you to organize your thoughts by lists and boards simultaneously. The boards' visual aspect makes listing and tasking easier to organize utilizing the Trello's drag and drop features. Inside each item, there is ample space to add files, conversations, detailed notes, etc. I prefer this detailing of a task or individual item in Trello, more so than via any other apps."

-TrelloReview, Shannon S.

What users dislike:

"It doesn't always look as organized. I'm not a fan of horizontal scrolling. It's not very easy to use on mobile devices, so I don't recommend that. I'd love it if all project resources could be uploaded in one place, then attached to different cards instead of uploading them to each card. It can get difficult to find where something was placed."

-TrelloReview, Kosha B

3. ClickUp

ClickUpoffers reminders, goals, calendars, and even an inbox for your unique needs and expectations. Your team can quickly adapt to the software and collaborate while ensuring all are on the same page. The company's mission is to make the world more productive by removing friction caused by many different applications.

Built for teams of all sizes and industries, ClickUp's fully customizable and proprietary features make it potentially important for teams that want to keep everything in one place.

What users like:

"Custom status selections are beneficial. I like being able to view tasks in different views, such as timelines, charts, etc., and the reports I get. I appreciate customizable list fields. It was the reason that I shifted from other task management platforms to ClickUp. I wanted to see the balance of work between my employees, assign tasks to multiple people, and customize each list's fields as per the needs. Being able to view things differently for varied expectations has been my favorite part of this platform."

-ClickUp Review, Alyssa C.

What users dislike:

"There is quite a steep learning curve when starting because of the level of control that the user has. This can easily confuse and overwhelm people. Since I am implementing the systems, I loved learning the ins and outs of each feature and coming up with new ways to make use of them. However, others in my team were often confused initially."

-ClickUp Review, Ruben D.

4. Wrike

Wrikehelps companies worldwide do their best work — no matter where their employees are. With over a decade's experience in empowering teams to manage work better, the software defines the next generation of work management.

Wrike's project management tool allows you and your team to stay on schedule and inform stakeholders about the project's current status and progress. It enables you to focus on tasks that contribute the most to your company's goals instead of spending time on redundant activities usingcritical path management software. The software uses automation to streamline the process to eliminate repetitive tasks like reminders, e-mails, and so on.

What users like:

"I find it excellent by the way it offers multiple tools to make everything much easier, such as live chat and video calls, data storage system with tagging, and quick search— all in real-time. I like that it has multiple capabilities, useful actions for my work, and integrations with other tools that allow me to consolidate all in one place. It helps me send notifications according to my personalized settings. This way, I make sure I have a reminder whenever I need it. The chat system is highly automated and makes our support management easy."

-WrikeReview, Lyonne D.

What users dislike:

"The time tracking system is often buggy, and I wish the user interface and reports were more appealing, visually. The way panels are filtered and organized can be better with more options. Also, the mobile application has fewer features and can be improved."

-Wrike Review, Arantza E.

5. Airtable

Airtableprovides a task management platform where the entire team can collaborate and sync up in real-time. The software helps you in staying organized all the time. No matter what you throw at it, the fields can handle any attachment like long notes, links to records in other tables, and even barcodes, enabling you to organize and manage everything.

The software enhances agility by providing transparency to the team and the managers, ensuring that all collaborators are on the same page.

What users like:

“Airtable是一个了不起的产品,它结合了简单and reliable software capabilities with functional and professional tools, creating a balance between users and projects. I really like how capable it is to stream and document our data more efficiently and intuitively than simple spreadsheets, which also get the work done, but it's not enough for our team to get to our highest potential.

"Airtable has different methods in which each of us can create and assign tasks, and in the process, it records and stores our data that can be shared among our team, clients, and organization. I like the idea behind the "tables," and I find them useful to have in the app's main page, where I can see all my tasks organized by different types of projects, making it easier to get my work done. Airtable has a nice, minimalistic touch to their UI too."

-Airtable Review, Lonette H.

What users dislike:

"Very sensitive. Adding rows and columns are confusing. It takes a while to understand how to color-code every input. However, the templates are useful and high in numbers. It's a hassle to find things, and some features are complicated to use, even though they would be helpful."

-Airtable Review, Parwar B.

6. Teamwork

Teamworkis a project management solution that you won't outgrow when you scale your company. The software streamlines your projects by organizing tasks, customizing workflows and manages complex projects with its set of advanced tools and capabilities.

What users dislike:

“这是一个理想的平台,帮助我每天with my work management, provides sustainable tools that contribute, allows easy assignment of tasks and fulfillment of projects according to agreed deadlines. Altogether, it provides the perfect route to keep the team guided to meet the goals, step by step. I like that it offers amazing collaboration with both the clients and the team. It makes it possible to share the projects' progress with everyone and supervise. It allows us to ensure that everyone brainstorms, receive comments, and coordinate in an efficient, collaborative, and flawless way so that everything flows towards the project's success."

-Teamwork Review, Anne T.

What users dislike:

"Its mobile application sometimes gets slow, which is a very troubling issue when you have to deal with emergency cases. Moreover, we have faced many issues in uploading the files because, with time, systems become bulkier with projects, and searching emanates as the main issue."

-Teamwork Review, Rebacca F.

7.TeamGantt

TeamGantt'sonline Gantt chart allows you to plan your project in minutes. The solution offers an intuitive chart maker that enables you to manage your project and gain clarity on the variety of tasks and activities that needs to be done. It also empowers you to update and manage your projects on the go with its mobile application.

What users like:

"It gives you simple yet complete visibility about the project statuses and next steps towards the goal. Every meeting, when someone pops up a question about what to do next, you can promptly answer as everything is right there. When you add the team members to the project board, everyone knows and sees the impacts of postponing delivery or not completing something. This makes the team share the project responsibility and improves the overall commitment."

-TeamGantt Review, Claudio B.

What users dislike:

"I think the ability to name team members to assign tasks is a good attempt, but it's missing something. I don't think the people I assign a task are always the ones I want within the Team Gantt notification circle. Sometimes there are many more people involved in a task on rotation that I'd rather signify with headcount to complete the task than to name each person. There should also be a way to sort the list view contents by start or finish date. I find I'm dragging many tasks into place after the scheduled dates shift, and it takes a long time."

-TeamGantt Review, Brent S.

8. Paymo

Paymooffers a fully-featured online work management solution for teams trying to rise above the chaos. The software manages your scattered documents, emails, and other files so that you can focus on completing the task rather than clearing the clutter.

It comes with distinctive task management capabilities, time tracking, and more, enabling you to organize and manage your projects easily, even under thin deadlines. It allows you to manage projects from start to finish.

What users like:

"Paymo manages to be fully featured and yet simple to use. It has also steadily evolved since the early days, and I never have to worry that it's going to disappear on me one day simply. The support team is responsive and knowledgeable, and their features perfectly meet my time tracking needs."

-PaymoReview, Robin D.

What users dislike:

"There is very little to dislike, but there are only two user types if I were nitpicking. Admins and users. Sometimes we need a bit more visibility for our managers but not so much visibility that they are admins. But, there are workarounds, and for the price, Paymo is amazing."

-Paymo Review, Chris O.

9. Avaza

Avazais an all-in-one software for professional teams seeking seamless project management solutions, time tracking, and other essential capabilities to stay focused and organized. It allows you to collaborate with your clients online and manage the task in the list view, kanban view, or on Gantt charts.

The software enables users to generate reports on status, financials, and more, enabling you to provide accurate reports quickly.

What users like:

"I like that Avaza has different tools that, if put together, make a great solution for project management. It has features such as invoicing (including billing and expense management), project management, and collaboration tools that work exceptionally, making it a great software. When using Avaza, I like that I can set reminders for my team to complete tasks or timesheets while also working in the sales part of my job, allowing me to see my clients' list through Kanban View or other different ways in which I can adjust the interface."

-Awaza Review, Samantha M.

What users dislike:

"The fact that an email is sent out on every action is away from my likings. The free version lets you use one seat for a timesheet, which is not sufficient for my team's size. The fact that multiple people cannot be assigned a task is not helpful, as collaboration is the core of what we do. This feature should be there."

-Awaza Review, Shourya A.

Organize and plan your projects better

With the project management software working as your strongest ally, you should be able to ensure that your entire team is on the same page and consistently working towards achieving the unified goal. You now have a complete overview of your project's lifecycle and its current status so that you can forecast your needs before they arise in the project's journey.

Altogether, the project management software will help you better organize and plan tasks for your team. All you need now to lead your team is a sneak-peek into theproject management stylesthat would motivate them and increase their productivity.

free-project-management-software
Never miss a deadline

There's a better way to organize and plan your projects. Find free project management software.

free-project-management-software
Never miss a deadline

There's a better way to organize and plan your projects. Find free project management software.

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