Professional project management does not require expensive software. Several of the most widely used platforms offer genuinely free plans with meaningful capabilities, enough to manage real projects with real teams. The challenge is not finding free options. It is finding the right free option among dozens of competing tools, each with different strengths, limitations, and ideal use cases.
This guide compares the most popular free project management software available in 2026, covering what each tool does well, where its free plan falls short, and who it serves best. The focus is entirely on permanently free plans, not free trials. Every tool reviewed here offers a plan you can use indefinitely without payment, though each comes with trade-offs that shape who it works best for.
The goal is not to declare a winner. The best free project tools for your team depend entirely on your team size, project complexity, workflow preferences, and growth trajectory. This project management tool comparison gives you the information to make that decision confidently.
1. What to Look for in Free Project Management Software
Before comparing specific tools, establish the criteria that matter for your situation. Free plans always involve trade-offs, and understanding which limitations you can accept narrows the field quickly.
Essential Features
At minimum, look for task creation and assignment, the ability to organize work into projects, some form of progress tracking, collaboration features like comments and file sharing, and mobile access. Most free plans deliver these basics. The differences emerge in how much of each you get and how the tool structures your workflow.
Understanding Free Plan Limits
Every free plan restricts something. The most common limitations are user caps (how many people can use the tool), storage limits (how many files you can attach), feature restrictions (views, automation, and reporting locked behind paid tiers), and project or board limits. Identifying which limitation will affect you most determines which tools are viable.
A tool with a generous 100-person user limit but minimal storage may be perfect for a large team tracking tasks with few attachments. A tool with only two free users but generous features may suit a freelancer beautifully. Match the limitations to your situation.
Matching Tools to Your Needs
A solo freelancer needs simple task tracking and maybe client-facing project visibility. A five-person startup needs collaboration, file sharing, and multiple project management. A marketing team needs visual workflows and content calendars. A software team needs issue tracking and code integration. The right project tracking software options depend on these specifics, not on which tool won an award.
Think about how your team prefers to work. Some teams think visually and want Kanban boards. Others prefer structured lists with detailed task information. Some need Gantt charts to manage dependencies and timelines. Your workflow preference is as important as the feature list because a powerful tool your team avoids using is less valuable than a simpler tool they adopt enthusiastically.
2. Trello: Visual Kanban Simplicity
Trello is the tool most people think of when they picture a Kanban board. Its card-and-board interface is visually intuitive and requires almost no training to start using.
Free Plan Details
Trello’s free plan includes unlimited cards (tasks) and lists, up to 10 boards per workspace, up to 10 collaborators per workspace, 10MB file attachment limit per file, 250 automation runs per month through Butler, and one Power-Up (integration) per board. Mobile apps are available on both iOS and Android.
Strengths
Trello’s greatest asset is simplicity. You create a board, add lists (columns), create cards (tasks), and drag them between lists as work progresses. The visual nature makes project status immediately obvious. Setup takes minutes, and team members who have never used project management software adapt quickly. The template library covers dozens of use cases, from marketing campaigns to personal planning.
Limitations
The 10-board and 10-collaborator limits per workspace restrict teams managing many simultaneous projects. There is no Gantt chart, timeline, or dashboard view on the free plan. Reporting is minimal. The single Power-Up per board forces a choice between calendar view, custom fields, time tracking, or other integrations. For complex projects with dependencies and detailed tracking needs, Trello’s simplicity becomes a limitation.
Best For
Small teams or individuals managing a handful of projects with flexible, visual workflows. Creative teams, personal productivity, and anyone who values immediate usability over advanced features. In any project management tool comparison, Trello wins on onboarding speed and visual clarity but falls behind on reporting and advanced project views.
Trello works best when your projects follow a straightforward progression through stages. If your workflow fits naturally into columns (To Do, In Progress, Review, Done), Trello makes that flow visible and manageable with minimal setup. When projects require detailed dependencies, resource tracking, or multi-level reporting, you will likely need a more comprehensive tool.
3. Asana: Comprehensive Task Management
Asana offers a richer feature set on its free plan than most competitors, making it a strong choice for teams that need structure and multiple ways to view their work.
Free Plan Details
Asana’s free plan supports up to 15 team members, unlimited tasks, projects, and messages, list, board, and calendar views, basic dashboards, over 100 integrations, file attachments up to 100MB per file, and mobile apps. This is one of the most generous free tiers among team collaboration platforms free offerings.
Strengths
Asana provides multiple project views (list, board, calendar) on the free plan, where most competitors restrict these to paid tiers. The task management is detailed, supporting subtasks, due dates, assignees, and priorities. The 15-user limit accommodates most small teams. The interface is professional and clean, scaling from simple task lists to complex project structures.
Limitations
The free plan lacks timeline (Gantt) view, advanced reporting, custom fields, forms, workload management, and goals tracking. The learning curve is steeper than Trello’s because there are more features to understand. Some users find the interface overwhelming compared to simpler alternatives.
Best For
Small teams (under 15 people) managing multiple complex projects who need more structure than Kanban boards alone provide. Teams that value multiple view options and detailed task tracking without paying for premium features. Among free project management software options, Asana offers one of the best balances between capability and accessibility.
Asana is particularly strong for teams transitioning from spreadsheets or informal task tracking to dedicated project management. The multiple views help different team members interact with the same project in the way that suits them best. The project management tool comparison between Asana and Trello often comes down to this: Trello is simpler to start with, but Asana provides more structure as projects grow in complexity.
4. ClickUp: Maximum Features, Maximum Complexity
ClickUp positions itself as the “one app to replace them all,” and its free plan delivers on that ambition with more features than most competitors offer in their paid tiers.
Free Plan Details
ClickUp’s free plan includes unlimited tasks and unlimited members, 100MB total storage, collaborative docs, Kanban boards, calendars, and Gantt charts, native time tracking, real-time chat, whiteboards and mind maps, two-factor authentication, and 24/7 support. Among team collaboration platforms free options, this feature list is unmatched.
Strengths
For teams evaluating best free project tools by feature count, ClickUp is difficult to beat. Gantt charts, time tracking, whiteboards, and multiple views are all available without payment. The unlimited member count means any team size can use the free plan. Customization is extensive: you can configure statuses, views, and workflows to match virtually any process.
Limitations
The 100MB total storage limit (not per file, total) is the most significant constraint. Teams sharing files will hit this quickly. The sheer volume of features creates a learning curve that can overwhelm teams seeking simple task management. Interface performance has been reported as slower than lighter tools. The complexity that makes ClickUp powerful also makes it harder to adopt.
Best For
Tech-savvy teams comfortable with configuration who want maximum functionality for free. Teams that need built-in time tracking, Gantt charts, or docs without paying. Users willing to invest time in learning the platform. ClickUp rewards that investment with capabilities that rival paid plans elsewhere.
5. Monday.com: Beautiful but Limited Free Plan
Monday.com offers one of the most visually polished interfaces in project management, but its free plan has a restriction that makes it impractical for most teams.
Free Plan Details
The free plan supports only 2 seats (users), with unlimited boards and items, 500MB storage, 20+ column types, iOS and Android apps, and basic integrations. There is no timeline view, limited automation, and restricted integrations.
Strengths
The interface is beautiful, colorful, and immediately understandable. Status columns with color coding make progress tracking visual and engaging. The template library is extensive. For individual users or partnerships of exactly two people, the tool is excellent.
Limitations
The 2-user limit is the defining constraint. Most project tracking software options offer five to fifteen free users; Monday.com offers two. This makes the free plan unsuitable for team collaboration. Advanced features like automations, integrations, and timeline views are heavily restricted. The free plan functions more as an evaluation tool for individuals considering a paid team plan.
Best For
Solo professionals managing personal projects, or two-person partnerships needing a visually appealing project tracker. Teams evaluating Monday.com before committing to a paid plan. Not viable as a team collaboration platforms free solution due to the user limit.
6. Notion: Flexible Workspace, Not Just Project Management
Notion blurs the line between project management, documentation, and knowledge management. It is not a traditional project management tool, but its flexibility allows it to serve that function alongside many others.
Free Plan Details
The free plan for individual use includes unlimited pages and blocks, unlimited file uploads, sync across devices, 7-day page history, and up to 10 guest collaborators. For teams, the free plan is more restricted, with limited block usage for guests and a trial-based approach to team workspaces.
Strengths
Notion’s block-based architecture allows you to build virtually anything: task boards, project trackers, wikis, meeting notes, databases, and documents, all in one workspace. The database and relation features enable sophisticated project tracking when configured properly. Templates created by the community cover thousands of use cases. For individuals and small teams who want their project management, documentation, and knowledge base in a single tool, Notion is uniquely powerful.
Limitations
Notion is not purpose-built for project management. It lacks native Gantt charts, time tracking, and the workflow automation that dedicated tools provide. The flexibility that makes it powerful also means more setup time; you are building your own system rather than using a pre-built one. Team collaboration on the free plan is limited compared to dedicated free project management software. The learning curve for building custom databases is significant.
Best For
Knowledge workers, writers, and solopreneurs who want a combined workspace for projects, notes, and documentation. Teams with strong documentation needs alongside project tracking. Users who enjoy building and customizing their own systems.
7. Todoist: Simple, Fast, and Focused
Todoist is a task management tool that prioritizes speed and simplicity over feature depth. It is not a full project management platform, but for individual productivity and simple project tracking, it excels.
Free Plan Details
The free plan includes up to 5 active projects, up to 5 collaborators per project, 5MB file uploads, 1-week activity history, basic templates, and cross-platform apps.
Strengths
Todoist’s interface is exceptionally clean and fast. Natural language input (type “meeting with Sarah tomorrow at 3pm” and it creates the task with the correct date and time) makes task capture nearly frictionless. The mobile apps are among the best in any task management category. For personal productivity and simple shared projects, the experience is outstanding.
Limitations
5 projects and 5 collaborators per project severely limit team use. There are no project views beyond a basic list, no Gantt charts, no calendar view on the free plan, and minimal reporting. Todoist is a task list, not a project management platform.
Best For
Individuals who want fast, clean task management. Solo freelancers tracking personal work. GTD practitioners who need a reliable capture and organization tool. Todoist ranks among the best free project tools for individual productivity, though teams needing shared project management will find its collaboration features too limited.
8. GitHub Projects: For Software Teams
GitHub Projects provides project management tightly integrated with code repositories, making it purpose-built for software development teams.
Free Plan Details
Free plans include unlimited public and private repositories, project boards with table and board views, issue tracking with labels and milestones, wikis, and GitHub Actions for automation. Teams up to three collaborators on private repositories.
Strengths
For development teams already using GitHub, the integration between issues, pull requests, and project boards creates a seamless workflow. Issue tracking is excellent. Automation through GitHub Actions is powerful. There is no additional tool to learn or sync.
Limitations
GitHub Projects is designed for software development. It is not suitable for non-technical project management. The interface is developer-oriented and less intuitive for non-technical team members. Feature set is narrow compared to general-purpose project tracking software options.
Best For
Software development teams, open source projects, and technical teams already using GitHub for code management. For non-technical teams, the other project tracking software options on this list will be more accessible and better suited to general project work.
9. Feature Comparison at a Glance
Choosing between these tools is easier when you compare them across the dimensions that matter most.
User Limits
ClickUp stands alone with unlimited free users. Asana allows 15. Trello allows 10 collaborators per workspace. Todoist allows 5 per project. Monday.com allows only 2. For larger teams on a budget, this single factor often determines which tools are viable.
Views and Visualization
ClickUp offers the most views on its free plan: list, board, calendar, Gantt, and more. Asana provides list, board, and calendar. Trello offers only the Kanban board view for free. Monday.com and Todoist offer limited views. If your team needs Gantt charts or timeline views without paying, ClickUp is the primary option among team collaboration platforms free offerings.
Storage
Monday.com offers 500MB. ClickUp offers 100MB total. Asana allows 100MB per file. Trello allows 10MB per file. Todoist allows 5MB. Teams sharing documents and images frequently need to weigh storage carefully.
Integrations and Automation
Asana offers over 100 integrations on its free plan. ClickUp includes automation and integrations. Trello limits Power-Ups to one per board. Monday.com restricts integrations significantly. GitHub Projects integrates deeply but only within the development ecosystem. This project management tool comparison reveals that integration needs can be a deciding factor for teams using multiple tools in their workflow.
Ease of Adoption
A tool’s value depends on whether your team actually uses it. Trello and Todoist require almost no training. Asana and Monday.com have moderate learning curves. ClickUp and Notion demand more initial investment but reward it with deeper customization. When evaluating team collaboration platforms free plans, consider not just what the tool can do but how quickly your team will adopt it. The most feature-rich tool is worthless if half your team avoids logging in.
10. Making Your Decision
With the features and limitations laid out, the decision comes down to your specific situation.
Start With Your Constraints
If your team has more than 15 people, ClickUp is the only viable free option. If your team has 6 to 15 people, Asana and ClickUp are your primary choices. If your team has 3 to 10 people, Trello, Asana, and ClickUp all work. If you are working solo or with one partner, every tool on this list is available to you, and the choice becomes about workflow preference rather than limitations.
Then Consider Complexity
For simple, visual task tracking, Trello is hard to beat. For structured projects with dependencies and multiple views, Asana provides the best balance of capability and usability. For maximum features and customization, ClickUp delivers the most at no cost. For combined project and knowledge management, Notion offers unique flexibility. For pure individual task management, Todoist is the cleanest experience. This project management tool comparison shows that the decision is less about which tool is “best” and more about which tool fits your specific situation.
Test Before Committing
Set up a real project in two or three tools. Invite a few team members. Use each tool for a week. Evaluate not just features but how the tool feels in daily use. The best free project tools are the ones your team actually uses consistently, and that is determined by experience, not feature lists alone. Create identical test projects in each tool and ask your team which environment felt most natural for their work.
When to Consider Paid Plans
Outgrowing a free plan is a positive sign. It means your project management practices are working and your team is growing. When user limits, storage, or feature restrictions begin causing friction, upgrading is a reasonable investment. The free plan served its purpose by letting you find the right tool through real use before committing money. Most tools offer smooth upgrade paths that preserve your existing projects and data.
Choose One and Start This Week
Excellent free project management software exists for virtually every team size and project type. The tools reviewed here cover the spectrum from simple Kanban boards to comprehensive work management platforms, all without requiring payment.
Do not spend weeks evaluating. Choose the tool that matches your team size and workflow preference, set up one real project, and invite your team. A week of actual use reveals more than hours of feature comparison. If the first tool does not fit, the investment is minimal because you paid nothing. The best free project tools are waiting to be tested; the only cost is the time to try them.
The tool matters less than the practice. Consistent project management, tracking tasks, maintaining accountability, and reviewing progress, transforms team performance regardless of which platform hosts it. The right project tracking software options make that practice easier and more sustainable, but the practice itself is what delivers results.
Start this week. Your projects are already underway. Give them the structure they deserve. Even a basic free tool used consistently outperforms an expensive platform that sits unused.