Is there truly free project planning software?

Yes. Trello, Asana, ClickUp, monday.com, Notion, Jira, Linear and GitHub all have free plans with no time limit, each with its own cap on people, volume, storage or views. Open-source tools such as OpenProject, Plane, Taiga and Redmine are free to host yourself.

Which free project planning tools include a Gantt chart?

Among the open-source tools, OpenProject and Redmine include Gantt charts. Among hosted free plans, check each vendor’s plan page: Asana lists Timeline and Gantt views on its paid plans, and ClickUp lists Gantt as a trial on Free Forever.

What is the difference between project planning software and project management software?

Planning software focuses on deciding what happens and when, with timelines, milestones and dependencies. Management software also tracks the work as it happens. Most tools today do both to some degree, and the words are used almost interchangeably.

Is open-source project management software really free?

The license is free, but you pay in time and hosting: a server, upgrades, backups and security patches. For a team without anyone to run a server, a hosted free plan is usually cheaper in practice.

Free Project Planning Software: Options for Small Teams

What the free plans of Trello, Asana, ClickUp, monday.com, Notion, Jira, Linear and GitHub Projects actually include and limit, the open-source tools you can host yourself, and how to choose without a ranking.

October 1, 20266 min read

Most project planning software has a free plan, and most free plans are generous on tasks and strict on one other thing: the number of people, boards, projects or tickets, the storage, or the planning views such as timelines and Gantt charts. The right free tool is the one whose limit you will not hit in the next six months. If you would rather have no vendor limit at all, open-source tools such as OpenProject, Plane, Taiga and Redmine are free to host yourself, in exchange for running a server.

This is a description of what each free plan includes, taken from each vendor’s own plan pages as of October 1, 2026, not a ranking. Free plans change often, so check the vendor’s page before you move a team.

What free project planning software usually limits

People. Seats, members or collaborators per workspace. This is the limit small teams hit first.
Containers. The number of boards, projects, teams or documents.
Volume. A cap on tasks or tickets, or on how many are open at once.
Planning views. Timeline, Gantt and workload views are often paid, even when list and board views are free.
History and storage. Shorter page or activity history, smaller file uploads, less storage.
Automation and AI. A monthly allowance, a trial, or nothing.

Free plans, vendor by vendor

Trello

Trello’s Free plan allows up to 10 collaborators per Workspace and up to 10 open boards per Workspace (closed boards do not count), with unlimited cards and unlimited Power-Ups per board. Automation is capped at a number of Workspace command runs per month. It suits a small team that thinks in boards and cards. Our guide on how to use Trello covers the basics.

Asana

Asana’s free plan is called Personal and is described as for one or two people: 2 users, unlimited tasks and projects, and list, board and calendar views. Timeline and Gantt views start on the paid plans, so on Personal you plan in lists, boards and a calendar.

ClickUp

ClickUp’s Free Forever plan lists unlimited tasks and unlimited free-plan members, with docs, kanban boards and a calendar view. Storage is small (60MB), and views such as Gantt and timeline are listed as trials rather than full features on the free plan.

monday.com

monday.com’s Free plan allows up to 2 seats, up to 3 boards and up to 3 Docs, with templates and the mobile apps. It is enough to try the product with one other person, not to run a team.

Notion

Notion’s Free plan gives an individual unlimited pages and blocks, but blocks are limited once two or more members share a workspace. It includes databases with subtasks and dependencies, up to 10 external guests, 7 days of page history and file uploads up to 5 MB. Notion is a planning tool if you build the planning yourself from databases.

Jira

Jira’s Free plan is for up to 10 users with 2 GB of storage. For what a single unit of work looks like, see what a Jira ticket is.

Linear

Linear’s Free plan has unlimited members but is limited to 2 teams and 250 issues, the only plan here with a cap on the number of issues. Linear still calls its units issues. It is aimed at software teams.

GitHub Projects

GitHub lists Issues and Projects on its Free plan. A project is a table, a board or a roadmap built from your issues and pull requests, and GitHub’s documentation (opens in a new tab) says a project can hold a maximum of 50,000 items. It is the natural choice when the work already lives in GitHub, and less so when half the team never opens it. See GitHub Projects as a kanban board.

Open-source project planning software

Open-source tools have no plan limits because there is no plan: you install the software on your own server or cloud account and run it. The cost moves from a subscription to your time, for upgrades, backups and security. The cloud vs self-hosted trade-off is covered in our guide to cloud project management software.

OpenProject. A free Community edition, licensed under the GNU GPL v3, with Gantt charts and agile boards for Scrum and kanban. OpenProject’s site (opens in a new tab) says it can be installed on-premises on your own infrastructure.
Plane. The Community Edition is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and, according to Plane (opens in a new tab), is free with no user limits, including unlimited projects, work items and cycles.
Taiga. Describes itself as a free and open-source project management tool (opens in a new tab) with Scrum and kanban boards, epics and subtasks, and an on-premise hosting option.
Redmine. A long-running, self-hosted project management web application (opens in a new tab) under the GNU GPL v2, with issue tracking, a Gantt chart and calendar, and multiple projects.
Focalboard. Its GitHub repository (opens in a new tab) now says it is currently not maintained. Do not start a new team on it.

How to choose free project planning software

Count the people who need to change the plan, not just view it, in six months’ time. Rule out every free plan below that number.
Decide whether you need a timeline or Gantt view on day one. If you do, check that it is in the free plan and not a trial. The Gantt chart vs kanban post helps you decide.
Find the volume cap: tasks, issues, boards, projects. Estimate how fast you will reach it.
Check who can be an admin. Some free plans make everyone one.
Check export. If you outgrow the free plan or the vendor changes it, can you take your plan with you?
Check how AI assistants get in, if you use them: an MCP server, an API token, or nothing.
Try it for a week with real work, not sample data. A project plan template gives you something real to load.

For product-by-product detail, the compare pages go further: Trello, Asana, ClickUp, monday.com, Notion, Jira, Linear and GitHub Projects.

Where fenbs fits

fenbs is a simple task board, not a planner with timelines. Its free plan is your own board: no card, nothing expires, a limit on how many tasks are open at once (completed and archived tasks do not count), your AI context, and as many AI assistants as you want to connect over MCP. Sharing a board with a team is a paid plan; the details are on pricing.

What it does have: four lanes (To Do, Next Up, In Progress, Completed), three kinds (feature, enhancement, bug), priority 1 to 10, an optional size from XS to XL, and a history of who changed what. What it does not have: Gantt charts, timelines, sprints, due dates, dependencies or a settable assignee. If your plan is a schedule, pick a tool with a timeline. If your plan is a list of things to build in order, read why fewer features is the point.

Managing your own list rather than a team plan? See the best to-do list apps by need. To start a fenbs board from a ready layout, browse the templates.