10 Best free Gantt Chart Software in 2019

Missing a deadline when you are on a serious project is never an option!

You need to accomplish your task with accuracy and precision, and that too within the fixed timeline. There are a lot of things running on the schedule that one needs to manage while working on a project.

Project management is not as easy as you think. You will have to keep a record of every step you take. It will be difficult to maintain such records if you don't have a Gantt Chart Software. Right from the duration for the task, name of the person who is assigned to the task, task milestone, how much investment was involved, and how much time is scheduled for each achieving each milestone-everything must be recorded with top-notch accuracy.

For fulfilling these project management requirements, Gantt chart software always comes in handy. Unlike the traditional timeline charts and manual records, it focuses more on the interdependencies within tasks instead of emphasizing only on the broad picture.

What is a Gantt chart?

Gantt chart is a very important tool which is used to visually schedule and monitor the projects. Its main objective is to show the activities which are finished, the ones that are currently ongoing, and also those that are yet to start.

Henry Gantt was the first person to introduce the concept of a Gantt chart, and ever since it has become an integral project management tool. Gantt chart gives a visual or graphical representation of all the tasks undertaken in the project. It also gives the duration for each task and other important details with the progression of the project.

Generally, the bar of the graph changes its shading to show the progress in the project. Upon the completion of the project, the graph colour turns to a different shade. Also, it can show the name of the person to whom a particular task is assigned, and the milestones that are set to achieve the final goal. You can get your work done in a free Gantt chart software without buying one.

Gantt Chart Glossary you need to know:

• Tasks: Tasks are different types of work assigned to individuals which should be done to reach the goal. They come with the start date, end date, duration, assigned person and all the other details involved.

• Milestone: It’s a task with zero duration. It can indicate an important date in the project plan, for example, the initiation or completion of an important task. You might use it to make the completion dates of specific tasks. 

• Summary task: It is a group of tasks. They are made of sub-tasks which shows combined information.

• Task status: It shows the progress, percentage, and completion of the task.

• Dependencies: It shows the link and connection between different errands.

• Assigned resources: It indicates the name of the people assigned to specific tasks

Top 10 Gantt software

Gantt project

Price: Free

Supported Platform: Windows, Linux, OSX

Here’s why we have placed Gantt project at the top position of this list: It’s available for free for both the personal and commercial uses.

Established in 2003, Gantt Project is not just a clone of MS project but a lot more. It is one of the most efficient and trusted free Gantt chart software. Gantt project will run anywhere where Java runtime is available as it is written in Java.

It is a desktop application which can allow you to:

• Manage the elements like task and milestones, including the initiation date, priority, duration, notes, and resources, etc.

• Create a hierarchy which shows cost, progress, and details of lower level tasks displayed on the upper level.

• Draw dependency: dependencies between tasks, leads, etc

• Baseline: you can compare your current status with your previous plans by creating baselines

• Generate PDF / JPEG/ PNG files

• It can export and import to/from CSV for analyzing data in spreadsheet apps.

• Allows import and export to Microsoft projects.

Apart from all these great features, you Gantt Project allows users to do collaborate with WebDAV servers and use cloud storage for storing all projects in the cloud. As you can see, Gantt project is a light and useful software which is very easy to use if you are a beginner in project management.

Gantter

Pricing: $5 per month per user. Gantter is also available for a 30-day free trial.

Supported Platforms: Web-based apps.

Gantter is a cloud-based, community-powered, project scheduling and management tool. Its most distinctive feature is the community contributed task scheduling templates and the suggest and assist the engine,

With Gantter, you get an optimized user experience as it allows seamless integration with Google apps like Google Drive, Calendar, Hangout, and etc. Primarily,

Gantter has three editions:

• Gantter Cloud

• Gantter for Google Drive, and

• Gantter for G-Suite

Here’s what you’ll get with these editions: 

Features:

• Save or open the Gantter files to Gantter cloud/Google Drive.

• Access to millions of free community-based templates.

• Access 24/7 community-powered support, suggest and edit recommendation, and real-time collaborative editing.

• Auto-Generated WBS (Work breakdown structure), custom columns, built-in-analytics, Cost and task tracking, and resource auto-leveling. 

• MS project import and export.

The team collaboration features let users bring multiple timelines and teams together, work on multiple tasks, and gauge the project completion. The Google edition is best for those who use Google drive and other G-suite applications.

Bitrix24

Pricing: $69 per month for all team members

Supported Platform: App Store and Google Play Store

Bitrix24 is a highly reliable Gantt chart software with the main specialty of moving tasks while still keeping their connections to compare current and baseline state at any time. This is mainly a team collaboration software that offers benefits of project management and CRM.

It can create a very professional Gantt chart for unlimited tasks and projects. It's another great option to work with 12-users. So even a small or average sized company can use it very easily.

It also monitors the workload on employees and identifies the task which can be uncertainly delayed.

Important features:

• Free unlimited projects

• Free unlimited subtasks

• Free 5gb online storage

• Multiple Gantt charts

• Free 12 users

• Task dependencies

• Cloud and on-premise

• Open source code and API

• Free mobile PM (Android and IOS)

With Bitrix, you can communicate with team members and also work collaboratively on the project by gauging the visual representation of tasks, milestones, deadlines, and dependencies. Other fancy features are office reports, checklists, templates report builders, etc.

TeamGantt

Pricing: $0 for small teams of three members. $49.5 and $74.5 for teams up to 5 and 10 members.

Supported Platforms: Web-based

This project management suite allows users to manage task while reviewing them in a different visual or graphical format. It provides team communication, project planning, and resource management functions which are very intuitive and offers user flexibility to assign tasks, set deadline, and create priorities via drag and drop option.

Some of the exciting features of this project scheduling software are:

• Unlimited time for using the free version

• Drag and drop scheduling

• Customizable view through Google Calendar 

• Centralized storage of tasks, conversations, documents, and achievable.

• Review into team member’s workload and availability

• Exports to PDF but the watermark

• Auto-update on team progress

• Daily mail reminders

• File attachments

• Graphical formats for showing planned vs. actual timeline.

TeamGantt brings project scheduling online with the easy-to-integrate Gantt software. Users can invite teammates, co-workers, and friends to edit and view the Gantt chart.

GanttPro

Pricing: Free 14-day trial and $15 per user per month

Supported Platform: Web-based

With this exclusive Gantt Chart software, you can easily create charts and visual graphs through existing templates of project planning. These charts can be shared with team members for better collaboration and project management.

Gantt pro has an extensive community of users who create and share editable templates for different projects.

Here are some of the features of Gantt Pro:

• Unlimited number of projects and premium support

• Multiple Gantt chart baseline and task filter

• Can allow one active project per member

• Customizable export to PNG, PDF, and XL format 

• Project estimation cost and working hours

• Onboarding and team progress tracking

• Resource management

• All the other basic Gantt chart features

Gantt chart is a great pick for people working individually. It’s also a good choice if you want to work with your group since it supports features like team training sessions, real-time notifications, and project role settings for members.

Rational plan

Pricing: Free trial and the paid plan starts from $19 per month (for cloud-hosted version).

Supported Platforms: Linux, Cloud-based, On-premise.

This comprehensive project planning and scheduling software covers are available for free with Linux.

The rational plan offers a variety of project management features. It is available as a cloud-based solution as well as on-premise and it helps both the project managers and teams to develop a consistent project plan with the analyzed workload, allocation of resources, estimation of project cost, and management of the budget.

Rational Plan has two versions: You can either use cloud service or opt for on-premise application.

On-premise- single version for Linux- It shows advanced planning through dynamic Gantt charts and time sheets. This single version will allow you to share the project with MS users. Gives you a chance to share the details about your projects to other users who are involved.

Cloud-based- Includes all the basic Gantt chart features for two users, two projects, 100 tasks, and 5 MB storage.

Here’s why Rational Plan is a great choice for Linux users:

• Schedule the project using duration driven activities.

• Use of recurrent, split tasks, and milestones.

• A visual way of tracking the baseline and dependencies

• Critical path detection

• Collaboration with team members and integration with Microsoft project files

Some other feature includes portfolio management, resource management tool, costs tracking, scheduling, time management, and all the basic Gantt chart features.

Tom's planner

Pricing: $ 9.95 per month

Supported Platform: Web-based

It is Import projects from Excel, MS Project, Trello, and Basecamp an excellent web-based Gantt chart application. It requires no installation and has an easy drag and drop options with right click menu and task management.

Tom’s planner really stands unique when it comes to the collaboration feature. This project scheduling tool offers a free subscription with two-user limitations and offers most of the basic features.

With Tom’s planner you can:

• Create professional Gantt charts and share them virtually

• Zoom in to check who’s doing what and how far they’ve progressed

• Drag and drop to make the edits and changes on the fly

• Import projects from Excel, Basecamp, MS Project, and Trello

• Embed charts with SharePoint, Wordpress, and Confluence

The free subscription can allow for 200 items in a schedule. It only lasts for one year. This software is recommended for beginners who want to have a basic knowledge of project management.

ProjectLibre

Pricing: Free

Supported Platform: Window, Linux, Mac OS.

ProjectLibre is another great project scheduling solution for your team projects. Unlike other software, it is not a complicated one. Its main objective is that all the company user should be able to learn to work in the chart even if they cannot afford it. That's the reason it is an open source software.

This open-source alternative of MS project has the following features:

• Gantt Chart

• Earned Value Costing

• WBS/RBS charts

• Network Diagram

• Resource Histograms

• Compatibility with Microsoft Project

The software has received various awards which proves that being free it can give the best results. You can translate it into any language. It has a versatility which makes it much easier to work for a small or large business.

Hansoft

Pricing: Varying rates depending on team members and type of installation

Supported Platform: Cloud and On-premise

Hansoft is originated from Sweden. The Swedish company offers many project management tools along with a Gantt chart template. Many companies swear by this software because of the seven main features.

• You are allowed to refine your task from backlog feature.

• Long term, as well as short term planning, can be viewed and modified.

• Supports Kanban, Waterfall method, hybrids, and Scrum

• Efficiency bosting feature like the acceleration of plan up to 20% 

• Real-time dashboard to stay informed to real-world data and workflow management

Hansoft has all the basic features like issue tracker, to-do lists, reports, resource allocation, integration, backlogs, and on-premise installation. So, you might want to change your mind if you are working on a big project.

Merlin project 4

Pricing: $149 per year per user and $1,415 per year for 10 users 

Supported Platform: Mac and iPad

It is the latest project management software from the project wizard. It runs specifically on Mac so before you go for this software make sure your team can work on mac.

It has all the basic features one Gantt chart software has and also it is user-friendly offering many possibilities. You can customize it as per your need. It can also be used offline. You can edit or modify your planning offline, and it will keep the updates on the chart when you are back on.

• Kanban View and Waterfall feature

• Find critical paths and distribute tasks with few gestures

• Link attachment to tasks in the project

• Stay up-to-date with cloud storage

• Compact on the iPhone

• Export and Import through MS project.

However, it allows only 30 days for working free without any restriction, but after that, you must purchase it. Or you can upgrade Merlin project 3 which is totally free.

Conclusion

There are many options outlined in this article. You can narrow the best choice by understanding what each software offers and comparing it with your company’s needs. If you are still confused about which one to pick, consider the following five capabilities of an ideal Gantt Chart software:

• It should support a maximum number of users and collaborators

• It should allow unlimited edits of the chart

• It should offer flexibility to work on multiple projects

• It should be easy-to-use with drag-and-drop features and one-click sync

• It should be compatible with the devices you and your team members use

Once you keep these five features in your mind and also consider your team’s requirement, the selection of the final pick will be a piece of cake!