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10 Best Free Resource Management Software Shortlist

Here are my picks for the 10 best free resource management software tools, out of 20 total that I reviewed.

Struggling to figure out who's working on which projects, prioritize work for your team, or meet project deadlines, but don't have the funds to invest in fancy software? There are plenty of free resource management software tools available for teams and organizations on a budget.

Here are my picks for the best free resource management software tools on the market and notes on my personal experience using each one to help you simplify the process of choosing the right fit.

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We’ve been testing and reviewing resource management software since 2012. As project managers ourselves, we know how critical and difficult it is to make the right decision when selecting software.

We invest in deep research to help our audience make better software purchasing decisions. We’ve tested more than 2,000 tools for different Project Management use cases and written over 1,000 comprehensive software reviews. Learn how we stay transparent & our workflow management software review methodology.

Compare Software Specs Side-by-Side

While the tools on this list have freemiums or free versions available, most also have a paid version that typically comes with more features or customization options. Quickly compare these prices below.

Overviews of The 10 Best Free Resource Management Software

Here’s a brief description of each of the free resource management tools on my list. I’ve included what each one does best, plus screenshots to showcase some of the features.

Best for multiple resource views

  • Freemium version available
  • From $10/user/month (min of 2 seats)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.2/5

Wrike is an all-in-one platform that helps you with project management, organizing your work, and increasing collaboration among your team.

Why I picked Wrike: Wrike’s resource management features help you easily schedule and allocate resources for your projects. You can keep track of workloads and schedules using various views, including timelines, Gantt charts, calendars, and Kanban boards.

Besides the resource management features, Wrike is a powerful project management tool that helps you manage tasks, store files and marketing collateral, create approval workflows, and much more. They even have multiple project templates for various industries, from development and digital products to manufacturing.

Wrike's Standout Features & Integrations

Features include budgeting tools that let you customize everything from the preferred currency to hourly rates (which you can also customize within specific projects, rather than use the same hourly rate for all projects) and automatic calculations for planned vs actuals. You can also drag-and-drop team member work directly from the resource workload view, which allows you to make bulk changes to workloads for the team as a whole.

Integrations include over 400 popular apps, like ADP, Airtable, BambooHR, Asana, Salesforce, Clearbit, Dropbox, Google Drive, Jenkins, and Mailchimp. Additionally, you can build custom integrations using universal connectors to apps with available APIs.

Best for providing a centralized view of project resources

  • 15-day free trial
  • From $599/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.7/5

Acuity PPM is a lightweight project portfolio management software that helps organizations efficiently manage their resources and projects.

Why I picked Acuity PPM: It is a cloud-based platform that allows teams to collaborate, plan, and execute projects more effectively. Acuity PPM’s key feature is its ability to provide a centralized view of all project resources, including people, equipment, and finances. This allows project managers to allocate resources more effectively and avoid conflicts and overbooking. Its tools enable them to break down complex tasks into manageable steps, assign resources to specific tasks, and track real-time progress. The software also provides reporting and analytics tools to help teams track progress, identify issues, and make data-driven decisions.

Acuity PPM provides Gantt charts and task lists to help teams visualize and manage project timelines. It includes a resource scheduler that allows project managers to schedule and allocate resources and a timesheet module that makes it easy for team members to track their time and expenses.

Acuity PPM’s data analysis and reporting features allow users to quickly generate insightful reports about their projects and resources at any given time. These reports provide detailed insights into project costs, timelines, and resource utilization levels—allowing users to make informed decisions about their projects at every step.

Acuity PPM Standout Features & Integrations

Features include advanced algorithms for identifying which resources are best suited for specific tasks based on their skill set and availability, and for predicting future trends based on historical data from past projects. The tool also has features for managing resources across a portfolio of projects, including dashboards and reporting capabilities that will help you track budgets and priorities across your org.

Integrations with external apps are done through the make.com platform and include Jira, Smartsheet, monday.com, Asana, Wrike, and ClickUp.

Best for visual workload management

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $8/user/month (billed annually)
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Rating: 4.6/5

monday.com is a cloud-based work management platform that helps teams plan, organize, and track their projects and tasks in one centralized place. It offers customizable workflows to fit various business needs, enabling teams to collaborate effectively and stay aligned on their goals. 

Why I picked monday.com: One thing I like about monday.com is its workload view. This feature allows you to see your team's tasks and availability at a glance, helping you allocate work evenly and prevent burnout. By visualizing who is working on what and when, you can make informed decisions to optimize your team's productivity.

It also has customizable dashboards that provide real-time insights into project statuses, resource allocation, and timelines. You can tailor the widgets to display the most relevant information for your team, ensuring that everyone stays informed.

monday.com Standout Features & Integrations

Features include time tracking to monitor how long tasks take and identify areas for improvement, automation capabilities to reduce manual work by setting up triggers and actions within your workflows, and a variety of project views such as Gantt charts and Kanban boards.

Integrations include Slack, Gmail, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Zoom, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Mailchimp, DocuSign, and Microsoft Excel.

Best for facility management

  • Free plan available
  • From $100/user/month (billed annually)
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Rating: 4.3/5

Caspio is a no-code platform for business applications where you can custom-build apps to support your projects.

Why I picked Caspio: It lets you list the assets you want to manage alongside information about each one. People search for the asset they need, check the resource availability, and then schedule or reserve it. This will then update the resource’s availability.

The process happens automatically, so you don’t have to approve each reservation manually. And you even get to see basic metrics around usage history to measure the popularity of each asset. The program supports point-and-click app building to create DIY forms, reports, charts, and calendars.

Caspio offers 5 free 'DataPages,' which encompasses things like forms, reports, charts, search queries, and drilldowns. You are limited to 50,000 data records on the free plan. You'll be allowed unlimited users on your free account.

Caspio Standout Features & Integrations

Features include the ability to create custom, interactive reports that allow clients or other external users to filter, sort, and interpret relevant resource data like utilization or billable hours in whichever way they see fit. You can also create custom web forms to speed up the process of tasks like onboarding new resources to your team or adding new tasks to a project and assigning them to a specific team member.

Integrations are available through built-in connectors and third-party software Make and Zapier. These last two makes it possible to connect to over 5000 apps.

Best for software development teams

  • 7-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $7.16/user/month (billed annually, min 5 seats)
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Rating: 4.2/5

Jira is a resource management solution built for development teams. It’s easy to create tasks and then assign them to relevant people. You can track and prioritize work, so you know what people are working on.

The free plan comes with plenty of advanced features to help you streamline work. You can access scrum and kanban boards, so everyone in your team knows what is being worked on and what is coming next.

This helps you spot bottlenecks fast so you can take action before they become issues. And you can create customizable workflows to simplify the process of working through different types of tasks.

The free plan also has basic roadmaps features that show your team’s progress in real-time—highlighting whether projects are on track. It is also useful for spotting dependencies so you can account for them when assigning work.

The free plan supports up to 10 agents and comes with 2 GB of storage. But it misses out on the team capacity planning tool, which helps with resource allocation by showing how busy your team is and whether they can handle any extra work in a period.

Paid plans start at $70 per month which Jira says averages $7 per user.

Best open source RM software

  • Free plan available
  • From $61/month (billed annually)
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Rating: 4.1/5

Bitrix24 is a free online workspace for your team to collaborate and do more than just project management-related work.

Why I picked Bitrix24: It has a ton of features like a CRM, website builder, online storage, HR perk features, and more that help teams work together.

The free plan comes with basic task and project management tools that you can use when making project plans. These include the ability to create projects and then delegate tasks. You can set deadlines, add task dependencies, and view all your projects in kanban and calendar views. It’s also possible to see all overdue tasks and projects with a single click, so you can focus on getting this work done.

The tool comes with time-tracking functionality. Although with the free plan you have to do this manually. You can also add unlimited users to your workspace, even on the free plan. Although you only get 5 GB storage.

Bitrix24 Standout Features & Integrations

Features include basic CRM capabilities that allow you to manage both your internal resources and external clients or stakeholders. The tool also has built-in videoconferencing capabilities for up to 48 people, so you and your team can host your daily stand-up or work out resource and task priorities in the same place.

Integrations include over 100 third-party integrations in the on-premise edition of the software. Additionally, there is an API you can use to build custom integrations with your existing tech stack.

Best for unlimited projects

  • Free plan available
  • From $4/user/month
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Rating: 4.3/5

GoodDay is a work management platform with a free plan that provides access to the tool’s work management modules for up to 15 users.

Why I picked GoodDay: The free plan has plenty of time tracking features so you can see precise information about how long a task takes. Weekly timesheets collate this information to estimate how long your team spent on a particular task. There’s even an AI engine that analyzes time spent on specific work without your team having to report it.

The tool also has a calendar (which syncs with Google calendars). This shows all your organization’s important events and deadlines—which helps with project planning. Unfortunately, the free plan misses out on advanced planning features like Gantt charts.

Task management is a big part of the software. You can plan unlimited projects and assign them to relevant people. It is easy to create custom workflows and projects by adding tags, checklists, and custom fields to ensure everyone knows what they are doing.

GoodDay Standout Features & Integrations

Features include customer portals that let you invite customers into your projects and give them access to selected views. I also want to highlight Big Screens, which lets you select the screens within GoodDay that you would like to share with the team and display them on big screens around the office to keep everyone on the same page about who is working on what.

Integrations include Gmail, Slack, Google Docs, Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Box, and GitLab. Integrations through a third party are available with Zapier, although you will need a paid account for this. Finally, the GoodDay API will let you build custom integrations with your favorite tools.

Best for freelancers and small teams

  • Free version available
  • From $30 per member per month.

Cirkus is a scheduling and collaboration software that has a free plan for up to three team members that gives access to many of the tool’s features and 1 GB of storage per member.

Why I picked Cirkus: The tool lets you create unlimited tasks and projects. You can create subtasks to break your work down into more manageable chunks.

There are plenty of features that help you get to work quickly. For example, reusable project templates help you set up the tool whenever you have new work. Or you can create recurring tasks to ensure that regular work always gets done.

Cirkus Standout Features & Integrations

Features include the ability to not only schedule team members but equipment resources as well, which is helpful when you have limited software licenses for a specific tool, for example. The tool also includes the ability to create workflows for keeping track of external task requests and making sure that they get assigned to the right team member or resource.

Integrations include farmerswife, which lets you do all the resource scheduling within the tool. Additionally there is a Zapier integration you can use to connect to thousands of additional apps.

Best for time management

  • Free version available
  • From $2.50 per user per month

Sinnaps is an online project management tool with a free plan that helps you manage up to ten simple projects with up to 20 people working on each one.

Why I picked Sinnaps: The free version of the software has a good array of advanced features. For example, the project roadmap is a single view that shows all your company’s projects. It provides a quick overview of the tasks you need to plan for.

There’s also a Gantt chart to help you plan each project at a granular level. Control exactly how long each task should take and who should be working on what. Meanwhile, workload management features highlight if anyone in your team is over or underworked.

You also get access to task management, time tracking, and a built-in chat tool. And the company provides plenty of resources and training documents to help you get to grips with the software.

Sinnaps Standout Features & Integrations

Features include agile boards you can use to manage sprints, a testing mode that simulates changes so you can measure impact before moving to implementation, and cost management features that help you see keep an eye on project costs using planned vs actual reports.

Integrations are not part of the offering just yet.

Best for tracking project costs

  • From $8 per user per month

Dovico is a cloud-based time-tracking software that helps you track the time you and your team spend working on projects. This ensures you can accurately bill clients at the end of the period for work done and gives you better visibility into where your team spends its work hours which helps with resource utilization.

Why I picked Dovico: The employee management features include the ability to assign employees to tasks and projects. You can then get a summary of how a project is progressing in the dashboard. There’s even a feature that projects how much a project is likely to cost so you can see its expected profitability and plan accordingly. It’s also possible to track both billable and nonbillable hours which helps with invoicing.

Submitting and accepting timesheets is easy due to automation. Just set up workflows to accurately review and accept time entries. When an employee submits one they are automatically sent to an approving manager who can review the request and then accept, reject, or edit it.

Dovico Standout Features & Integrations

Features include time lockout, receipt attachments, leader approvals, timesheet consolidation, custom notifications, and reporting.

Integrations for this software are only available through Zapier. Therefore, to access these integrations, you need a paid subscription with this third-party vendor.

Other Free Resource Management Software

Here are some tools that did not make it to the top 10, but are worth a look if you didn’t find the right option above.

  1. ClickUp

    For unlimited tasks and members

  2. Celoxis

    For AI-powered resource planning

  3. Bonsai Agency Software

    For time and resource management

  4. Productive

    For agency resource management

  5. Zoho Projects

    With project collaboration features

  6. Silverbucket

    For flexible resource allocation

  7. Hub Planner

    Resource management software for project-based businesses

  8. Runn

    For creating custom templates

  9. eResource Scheduler

    For scheduling and financial management

  10. Asana

    For integrations

  11. Float

    Resource management software for capacity management

  12. Teamwork.com

    For accurate resource forecasts

  13. Ganttic

    For project visibility

  14. Resource Guru

    For its user-friendly interface

  15. Toggle Plan

    For time tracking

  16. Kantata

    For professional services project teams

  17. TeamGantt

    For Gantt charts

Check out these tools closely related to project management software that we’ve tested and evaluated:

Selection Criteria for Free Resource Management Software

I used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair, and took into account common buyer needs and pain points like limited budgets and the need for core functionality without unnecessary frills:

Core Functionality: (25% of total score)

  • Managing resource scheduling
  • Tracking resource availability
  • Monitoring project timelines
  • Allocating resources efficiently
  • Providing basic reporting capabilities

Additional Standout Features: (25% of total score)

  • Real-time collaboration tools
  • Integration with third-party software
  • Customizable resource views
  • Mobile accessibility
  • Advanced analytics or forecasting

Usability: (10% of total score)

  • An intuitive user interface
  • Minimal training to use
  • Clear navigation
  • Clean design aesthetics
  • Smooth workflows

Onboarding: (10% of total score)

  • Interactive product tours
  • Step-by-step guides or tutorials
  • Pre-built templates for setup
  • Live or recorded webinars
  • Accessible customer success resources

Customer Support: (10% of total score)

  • Responsive live chat or email support
  • A comprehensive knowledge base
  • Access to user communities or forums
  • Troubleshooting resources
  • Customer support across different time zones

Value For Money: (10% of total score)

  • A generous free tier of features
  • Essential functionalities included at no extra cost
  • Limited paywalling of critical tools
  • Transparent pricing for upgrades
  • No hidden fees

Customer Reviews: (10% of total score)

  • Ease of use highlighted in customer feedback
  • Praise for the quality of customer support
  • Reports of consistent feature performance
  • High adoption rates among teams
  • Strong retention or loyalty

How to Choose Free Resource Management Software

Here are some factors to keep in mind as you're choosing a free resource management software tool:

FactorWhat to Consider
Free Offer ScopeAssess what’s included in the free version of the software. Look for limitations like user caps, storage size, or missing features to make sure it meets your team’s basic needs.
ScalabilityConsider whether the software can grow with your team. Tools that offer paid plans or modular upgrades will save you from having to switch platforms later.
IntegrationsMake sure the software integrates with tools you already use, like Slack, Google Workspace, or Trello, to streamline your workflows.
Ease of UseA user-friendly interface reduces the learning curve. Opt for tools with intuitive dashboards and quick onboarding for your team.
CustomizationLook for features like custom workflows, labels, or dashboards that adapt to your team’s unique processes.
CollaborationCheck for features like shared calendars, real-time updates, and task assignments to keep your team aligned.
ReportingChoose software that offers clear, actionable insights through visual reports or dashboards, even on the free plan.
Support OptionsFree tools often lack customer support. Check for self-service resources like knowledge bases, forums, or tutorials to help your team troubleshoot issues.

What is Free Resource Management Software?

Free resource management software refers to tools that allow you to plan, allocate, and optimize resources without incurring any cost for the software itself. These solutions are particularly valuable for small and medium-sized businesses, non-profit organizations, and startups with budget constraints.

Free resource management software typically includes features such as project scheduling, task assignment, time tracking, and collaboration tools. This type of tool often comes with limitations on features, storage, or number of users compared to its premium counterparts, but it still offers valuable capabilities for teams seeking cost-effective ways to improve their project and resource management processes.

Learn more about the use cases of resource management software here.

Features of Free Resource Management Software

Let’s go over the features commonly found in resource management software, and which ones are usually included in free vs. paid plans.

Typically Free Resource Management Software Features

  • Basic scheduling tools: Allow you to assign resources to tasks and projects with drag-and-drop functionality.
  • Resource availability tracking: Helps monitor which team members or assets are available for current or future assignments.
  • Simple reporting: Provides basic insights into resource utilization and allocation so you can make sure resources are being used efficiently.
  • Integration with common tools: Connect with popular platforms like Google Calendar or Slack to streamline workflows.
  • Mobile access: Offers the ability to check schedules or assignments on-the-go through mobile apps.
  • Team collaboration tools: Including shared calendars and task boards to keep everyone informed and aligned.
  • User management: Lets you add or remove users and assign roles to control who can access specific resources, such as for IT services.

Typically Paid Resource Management Software Features

  • Advanced forecasting tools: Allow you to predict future resource needs based on historical data and project pipelines.
  • Customizable dashboards: Provide tailored views and metrics to suit individual team or business requirements.
  • Detailed analytics: Offer in-depth insights into resource performance, costs, and utilization for better decision-making.
  • Role-based permissions: Provide secure access by limiting features or data visibility based on user roles.
  • Automation capabilities: Reduce repetitive tasks like resource reallocation or notification triggers.
  • Integration with premium tools: Connects with advanced platforms like CRM systems, accounting software, or ERP solutions.
  • Time tracking and invoicing: Tracks billable hours and integrates directly with invoicing tools for client billing.
  • Priority support: Guarantees faster response times and access to dedicated support teams for troubleshooting.

Benefits of Free Resource Management Software

Implementing free resource management software provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:

  • Cost savings: Get essential resource management tools without adding to your expenses, making it ideal for small teams or startups.
  • Improved organization: Use scheduling and task management features to keep projects and resources in one place, which reduces confusion.
  • Better resource visibility: Track who’s available and what’s being worked on to avoid overbooking or underutilizing team members.
  • Easy collaboration: Shared calendars and team tools make it simple for everyone to stay on the same page.
  • Quick setup: Many free tools have user-friendly interfaces and templates that let you get started with minimal effort.
  • Basic integrations: Connect with popular tools like Google Calendar or Slack to fit into your existing workflow.
  • On-the-go access: Mobile apps let you check schedules and manage tasks from anywhere, so you and your team can stay productive.

Read more: Looking to manage your inventory resources? Check out our full list of inventory resource management software.

Costs & Pricing of Free Resource Management Software

I realize you came to this article looking for the best resource management software options that are available for free. However, since free plans only offer limited features, there's a good chance you'll need to scale your plan up in the future.

The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in resource management software solutions:

Plan Comparison Table for Resource Management Software

Plan TypeAverage PriceCommon Features
Free Plan$0Basic scheduling tools, resource availability tracking, simple reporting, and team collaboration features.
Personal Plan$5–$25/user/monthAdvanced scheduling, integrations with third-party tools, custom views, and mobile app access.
Business Plan$25–$50/user/monthDetailed analytics, time tracking, role-based permissions, and customizable dashboards.
Enterprise Plan$50–$100+/user/monthAdvanced forecasting, automation features, priority support, and enterprise-level integrations.

Free Resource Management Software Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions other people ask about this topic.

What is the best resource management software?

The best resource management software is the one that helps you make the most of your current resources. For some teams, this means employees who are members of project teams. For others, this includes freelancers and other external contributors.

Try to find a tool that lets you look at all those resources important to you in one place. In this list of the best resource management software, you’ll find plenty of options to consider if you are ready to make the jump to paid tools.

What key features should I look for in resource management software?

Most resource management software has similar features. But as the tools on this list are free, you’re unlikely to get access to them all. When choosing software, consider which features are most important to your team and prioritize them.

  • Task management: Resource management software tends to have task management functionality. This can include the ability to create tasks, assign them to team members, set dependencies, and create subtasks. It’s perfect for remote teams.
  • Project tracking: Tracking gives a complete overview of how a project is progressing. You can track all the tasks within a particular project and how much time and money you have spent on each one.
  • Multiple views: Gantt charts, calendar views, and Kanban boards all provide insight and visibility into the work your business is doing. This helps you manage project resources more effectively.
  • Time tracking: Some of the tools on this list help employees track the time they spend on a particular project. Other tools integrate with time-tracking software to get the same functionality.
  • Projections: Projections and forecasting estimate the resources that are required to complete a project. This can show if a project is on track or running over budget.

What are the benefits of resource management software?

Using resource management can provide multiple benefits:

  1. Displays current resource allocations
  2. Helps you determine true resource capacity
  3. Tracks resource utilization
  4. Predicts future resource availability
  5. Reduces unnecessary downtime
  6. Improves hiring decisions

Learn more details about the benefits of using resource management.

 

free resource management software logos list

What's Next?

Here's how to master resource management tasks as a project manager so you can put your new software to good use. It's also a good idea to learn more about how to build a kick-ass resource management plan.

Ben Aston
By Ben Aston

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 20 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony. I'm a Certified Scrum Master, PRINCE2 Practitioner and productivity nut!