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You know you want to enable the creation and management of Gantt charts for project planning and tracking but need to figure out which tool is best. After all, with so many different Gantt chart software solutions available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. I've got you!

In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using dozens of different Gantt chart tools with various teams and projects and offering my picks of the best Gantt chart software.

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Compare Software Specs Side-by-Side

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the baffling array of Gantt chart software out there. Below, we’ve put together a reader-friendly table neatly summarizing basic info about the tools described in this article.

Tool Best For Trial Info Price
1
monday.com

Monday.com provides a Gantt chart template that can be customized through a drag-and-drop function to manage team projects and tasks.

Best Gantt chart software for task management & collaboration

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually) Website
2
Bonsai Agency Software

Bonsai's Gantt charts can be used to visualize project timelines, tasks, and workload.

Best for agency project management

Free trial available

From $9/user/month (billed annually) Website
3
Miro

Miro offers collaborative Gantt charts where team members can add tasks, shift deadlines, leave notes, or track project progress.

Best Gantt chart software with built-in communication tools

30-day free trial + free plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually) Website
4
Microsoft Project

Microsoft Projects Online attaches RAG status to Gantt chart items for easy prioritization.

Best for Microsoft users

30-day free trial

From $10/user/month (billed annually) Website
5
Canva

One of the many free sample Gantt chart templates from Canva.

Best for small teams and businesses

Free plan available

From $12.99/month (billed annually) Website
6
Backlog

Backlog provides burndown charts, Git graphs, and Gantt charts.

Best for software development teams

30-day free trial

From $35/month (up to 30 users) Website
7
Office Timeline

Create visually appealing and easy to understand PowerPoint timelines

Best for creating Gantt charts and timelines directly in PowerPoint

Free plan available

From $21/year (billed annually) Website
8
GoodDay

GoodDay’s dashboard provides Kanban boards, Gantt charts, project reports, and more.

Best Gantt Chart tool for customizability

Free plan available

From $4/user/month Website
9
Vault ERP

Vault is a cloud-based ERP software with simple Gantt charts for project planning, integrated with time tracking and budgeting.

Best Gantt chart software for enterprise scalability

Free demo available

From $450/month Website
10
Height

Height's Gantt chart software makes it easy to identify priority work and ensure it's never missed.

Best for cross-functional workload prioritization

30-day free trial

From $8.50/user/month Website

Best Gantt Chart Software Reviews

Here’s a brief description of each of the Gantt chart tools on my list, including what the tool does best and some of its features and integrations.

Best Gantt chart software for task management & collaboration

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

monday.com is a provider of multiple software solutions, covering different aspects of business processes, from creative and design, software development, and marketing to project management, sales and CRM, as well as HR and task management. With a work management suite, monday.com can facilitate many things related to project planning and resource tracking. Gantt charts are just one of the core features available in their project management software suite.

Why I Picked monday.com: monday.com’s Gantt charts software solution provides project managers and teams with a quick overview of their project timeline. It lets them see upcoming deadlines on tasks and projects and keep track of the status of multiple active tasks in real time. Creating Gantt charts with monday.com project management software is relatively easy. Users can customize the charts in minutes to facilitate the needs of their team. They even have the ability to take their Gantt charts on the go and remain up to date on project progress using monday.com’s mobile app.

Gantt charts that are created on monday.com will often begin with a dynamic table view, allowing users to add all important information related to the current or upcoming project. While Gantt charts are extremely useful for monitoring project progress, they don’t necessarily work for everyone. This is why monday.com doesn’t rely on Gantt charts alone to visualize project timelines. The platform also provides Kanban board and calendar views.

Although monday.com offer a freemium plan, this does not include Gantt charts so it will not be sufficient for your needs. Instead, use their free trial to test out the software.

monday.com Standout Features & Integrations

Features include project management, task scheduling/tracking, resource management, scheduling, budgeting, API, calendar management, Gantt charts, file sharing, time management, email integration, third party plugins, and notifications.

Integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform and many more, accessible through a paid plan with Zapier.

Best for agency project management

  • Free trial available
  • From $9/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.4/5

Bonsai is a business management software designed to assist agencies and consulting firms with project and client management. It includes features for managing proposals, contracts, scheduling, and invoicing, helping ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget. 

Why I Picked Bonsai: Bonsai helps you manage multiple projects across your portfolio with its Gantt charts, which visually display project timelines and progress. You can break down tasks into specific phases and set clear deadlines, making it easy to track your team’s progress at a glance. Plus, Bonsai’s task assignment tools simplify delegating work to your team, ensuring workloads stay balanced and manageable.

Bonsai also has advanced features like time tracking and invoicing, which can be especially useful for agency project management. You can track billable hours directly within each project and generate invoices, helping you stay on top of both progress and payments.

Bonsai Standout Features & Integrations

Features include client management tools, like a client portal, billing, contracts, and documentation management. It also offers budget tools to track project expenses and time tracking for logging the hours spent on different projects or tasks.

Integrations include QuickBooks Online, Zapier, Calendly, Xero, Google Sheets, Slack, and HubSpot.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Integrated project financial management
  • Visibility across all your projects
  • Good client management features

Cons:

  • Scalability limitations
  • Mobile app is limited compared to the desktop version

Best Gantt chart software with built-in communication tools

  • 30-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $8/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard tailored for creating Gantt charts, among other visual planning tools. Its infinite canvas supports a broad expression of ideas, whether through text, images, or videos, facilitating detailed and accessible project visualizations.

Why I Picked Miro: Miro is designed for real-time collaboration and comes equipped with tools such as voting, sticky notes, and comments. This approach enables teams to adjust and discuss plans directly within the workspace and encourages active participation and immediate feedback among team members.

Moreover, Miro stands out by allowing users to upload and build upon existing charts from various platforms, ensuring no previous work is lost during the transition. This ensures seamless integration into Miro’s interactive space, allowing further development and fostering continuous workflow and collaboration without the need to start over.

Miro Standout Features & Integrations

Features include over 1,000 pre-made templates or various uses such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and mind maps, built-in communication tools, including video conferencing and TalkTrack to record process videos to be viewed asynchronously, as well as quick diagram tools, a planner tool, and a dependencies app.

Integrations include Zoom, Figma, Asana, Microsoft Teams, Monday.com, Confluence, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, Box, Airtable, Notion, Azure, and Webex. Some integrations are limited to paid plans only.

Miro is free to use for unlimited members with up to 3 editable boards. Paid plans start at $8/user/month (billed annually).

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Built-in communication features for streamlined collaboration
  • Intuitive and easy setup
  • Free forever plan available

Cons:

  • Free version does not allow high-quality export to pdf
  • Zooming can be jumpy on larger projects
  • Visitor/guest accounts locked to paid plans only

Best for Microsoft users

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $10/user/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.7/5

Microsoft Project Online uses a familiar software UI to give you an intuitive way to visualize various project angles. MS Project Online is a great example of Gantt chart template software, offering loads of built-in templates and familiar scheduling tools that make it easy to launch and navigate each assignment. The Gantt chart builder lets you select items for phase indicators, start and end dates, and RAG risk status.

Why I Picked Microsoft Project Online: Unlike some of the other software on this list, MS Projects doesn't have the same number of features and functions despite the higher licensing cost for the full suite of tools. Therefore, they fall short in our value for money spend evaluation criteria, meaning they aren’t the best for small business or startups.

Collaboration is limited by the fact that a project file cannot be opened by multiple team members at the same time. Changing schedule dates is not as seamless as it should be and often ends up causing chaos across the timeline. MS Projects is definitely geared towards large-scale projects and might not work for smaller workflows.

Microsoft Project Online Standout Features & Integrations

Features include project management, resource management, task management, scheduling, portfolio management, dynamic scheduling, business intelligence, Gantt charts, kanban boards, collaboration, reporting, roadmaps, timesheets, and demand management.

Integrations include MS Office suite, OneDrive, Outlook, Skype, and OneNote.

Best for small teams and businesses

  • Free plan available
  • From $12.99/month (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.7/5

Canva is a Gantt chart maker and design program with over 1 million free shapes and photos in their asset library and hundreds of thousands of product templates. Canva does more than just Gantt charts: You’ll find templates for slideshows, presentations, infographics, graphs, emails, and more. They have a simple drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy for non-designers to create aesthetically pleasing designs with minimal effort.

Why I Picked Canva: They offer quite a bit for their price, per our evaluation criteria, but free users won’t have access to everything. While Canva is free to tinker with, it will cost you to use certain designs, shapes, patterns, and templates. It will also cost you to download your work in any functional format (besides a mere screenshot). Still, the price is ideal for smaller businesses that are looking for Gantt charts along with other marketing graphics but don’t have a budget for an in-house designer.

Furthermore, if the only thing you need is Gantt charts then Canva doesn’t offer the range of robust data detailing that other programs do. Rather, it’s strength comes from the clean simplicity of its designs. If your project requires an in-depth, multifaceted timetable, Canva probably won’t be for you.

Canva Standout Features & Integrations

Features include Gantt chart templates, whiteboards, presentations, social media integration, video, print products, marketing, drag-and-drop editor, photos & graphics library, collaboration, and third-party integrations/plugins. 

Integrations include WordPress, eClincher, Rippling, Sendible, Post Planner, and Viraltag. As you can probably tell, their focus with integration is on social media and/or content creation – if you need to access PM or workflow apps, you’re out of luck.

Best for software development teams

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $35/month (up to 30 users)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.5/5

Backlog is a cloud-based project management tool perfect for developers and the teams they collaborate with. Backlog provides a mobile app on both iOS and Android for collaborating on-the-go.

Why I Picked Backlog: Backlog provides a range of useful team collaboration features including task management (including subtasks, checklists, and custom fields), milestones, burndown charts, file management, wikis, and most importantly, a Gantt chart maker. But Backlog is more than a collaboration and Gantt chart tool. It’s also a bug tracker and version control system in one.

For collaborating on code, Backlog provides SVN and Git repositories, a differences viewer and inline comments, plus pull requests, merge requests, and branches. Visually, the app provides burndown charts, Git graphs, and Gantt charts, so project managers and users alike can quickly assess projects at a glance.

Backlog allows you to assign, track, and release work, right in one app while ensuring transparency and accountability across teams. If you’re looking for a tool to help manage development projects or working closely with a team of developers, this is the app for you.

Backlog Standout Features & Integrations

Features include Gantt charts, boards, burndown charts, issue tracking, custom fields, milestones, versioning, notifications & alerts, code management, documentation management, file sharing, and third-party integrations/plugins. 

Integrations include Typetalk, Cacoo, Nulab Pass, Slack, Redmine, Jira Importer, Jenkins, iCal Sync, email platforms, Google Sheets, and LambdaTest. You can also build your own integrations and add-ons with Backlog's API.

Best for creating Gantt charts and timelines directly in PowerPoint

  • Free plan available
  • From $21/year (billed annually)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.3/5

Office timeline is a project planning tool that enables users to create visually appealing timelines and Gantt charts directly within Microsoft PowerPoint or through its web-based tool. It also allows you import data directly from Excel and access a wide variety of customizable templates.

Why I picked Office Timeline: Office Timeline integrates smoothly with essential tools like MS Project, Excel, and PowerPoint, making your data visualizations not just easy but efficient. It also stands out for its dual offering of a PowerPoint add-in and a web-based tool, catering to different user preferences and project needs.

You'll love the intuitive design and customizable templates that let you create professional-looking project visuals without needing to be a design whiz. This tool makes your project management tasks as straightforward as possible, allowing you to focus more on the project and less on the process of reporting it.

Office Timeline Standout Features & Integrations

Features include the desktop add-in which offers a variety of customizable templates for timelines, Gantt charts, and roadmaps, while the online version facilitates quick creation and sharing of project visuals from any web-enabled device. The software's vast array of design options and templates allows users to tailor their project timelines to the audience's needs, whether for high-level executive briefings or detailed team updates.

Integrations include tools like Jira, Project, Excel, and Smartsheet. These let you import data and manipulate it so you can get the PowerPoint visuals you need for your stakeholder presentations

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Free, customizable templates
  • Intuitive and easy to use
  • Directly integrates Microsoft PowerPoint

Cons:

  • Dependency on Microsoft ecosystem can be limiting
  • Inflexible pricing options

Best Gantt Chart tool for customizability

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

GoodDay is a work management platform for building Gantt charts to plan projects, allocate resources, and manage tasks, subprojects, events, and dependencies. It’s an affordable all-in-one tool for project management, tasks collaboration, planning, reporting, and productivity with an easy-to-use interface.

GoodDay lets you customize Gantt chart views, columns, the user interface, fields, task types, project templates, and priorities. Additional functionalities include auto-zoom, export to PDF, and filtering.

GoodDay integrates with hundreds of apps such as Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Gitlab, Excel, Jira, Trello, and many others, accessible via native integration. More integrations are available through Zapier and GoodDay Api.

GoodDay costs from $4/user/month and offers a free-forever version for up to 15-user teams.

Best Gantt chart software for enterprise scalability

  • Free demo available
  • From $450/month
Visit Website
Rating: 5/5

Vault ERP is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that allows users to streamline their business processes. It can also be used as powerful Gantt chart software for project management. Gantt charts are used to illustrate the timeline and progress of a project, and Vault ERP provides the tools necessary for effective visualization.

Why I Picked Vault ERP: Using Vault ERP as Gantt chart software is easy and intuitive. With just a few clicks, users can quickly create tasks, add milestones, set dependencies, or assign resources to team members. The software also supports multiple projects in one view so that users can compare timelines side-by-side with ease. Moreover, Vault ERP's interactive dashboard feature makes it possible to visualize data trends in real-time with minimal effort.

Vault ERP is hugely scalable as a Gantt chart solution. This is because you can mix and match your subscription to include other workforce management modules like recruitment, time tracking, leave management, onboarding, asset management, client management, and more. Most companies need more than just a Gantt chart for their company management and Vault ERP can accommodate with additional solutions for HR, invoicing, and skill building.

Vault ERP Standout Features & Integrations

Features include Gantt charts, resource management, project management, attendance tracking, calendar management, customer management, employee database, external integrations, notifications, task scheduling/tracking, timesheets, time management, collaboration support, batch permissions & access, dashboards, data visualization, scheduling, workflow management, budgeting, expense tracking, forecasting, payroll, supplier management, and vacation & absence calendar.

Integrations include Unfuddle, Microsoft Azure, Jira, GitHub, Basecamp, Google Apps, Logmill, Wufoo, Trello, Microsoft Active Directory, NodeBB, and Tempo.

Best for cross-functional workload prioritization

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $8.50/user/month

Height is a cloud-based project management software that offers robust Gantt chart functionality to help teams plan and track project progress.

Why I picked Height: the platform offers advanced Gantt chart capabilities. It allows users to create complex project schedules and track progress with ease. The software provides a clear overview of project timelines, and the ability to assign tasks and deadlines to team members was invaluable.

Height Standout Features & Integrations

Features include the ability to create dependencies between tasks, custom task fields, task templates, and the ability to set project milestones. Additionally, the drag-and-drop functionality is incredibly user-friendly, helping you create a workload from scratch in a short amount of time.

Integrations include Figma, Notion, Sentry, Zendesk, Slack, Discord, Fivetran, GitHub and GitLab. It also offers a REST API, enabling custom integrations with other tools.

Other Gantt Chart Software

Here are a few additional apps that did not make the top 10, but are worth your consideration if you want to expand your research.

  1. GanttPRO

    Gantt chart software for workload visualization

  2. ClickUp

    For its easy and intuitive timeline with drag-and-drop functionality

  3. Smartsheet

    For Gantt chart templates

  4. Productive

    For all-in-one agency management & planning

  5. airfocus

    For project prioritization

  6. Wrike

    Collaborative Gantt chart software

  7. Instagantt

    Add-on for Asana users

  8. Hub Planner

    Gantt chart software with integrated time tracking & approval

  9. Visor

    For creating Gantt charts collaboratively

  10. Paymo

    Free Gantt chart software

  11. TeamGantt

    Online Gantt chart software

  12. MindView

    For built-in mind mapping capabilities

Selection Criteria for Gantt Chart Software

When selecting the best Gantt chart software to include on this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like managing complex project schedules and ensuring team collaboration in real-time. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:

Core Functionality (25% of total score)
To be considered for inclusion on this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:

  • Creating and updating Gantt charts
  • Tracking project progress and dependencies
  • Assigning tasks and set deadlines
  • Collaborating with team members
  • Exporting and sharing project plans

Additional Standout Features (25% of total score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:

  • AI-powered scheduling tools
  • Advanced resource allocation features
  • Custom reporting and dashboards
  • Real-time data sync across platforms
  • Drag-and-drop timeline adjustments

Usability (10% of total score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:

  • Intuitive interface and navigation
  • Availability of pre-built templates
  • Simple task creation and editing
  • Clear visualization of dependencies
  • Minimal learning curve for new users

Onboarding (10% of total score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:

  • Availability of video tutorials
  • Access to ready-to-use templates
  • Interactive walkthroughs for new users
  • Responsive chatbots for quick help
  • Regularly scheduled training webinars

Customer Support (10% of total score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:

  • Availability of 24/7 support channels
  • Responsiveness to inquiries
  • Quality of help documentation
  • Access to a dedicated support team
  • Presence of an active user community

Value For Money (10% of total score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:

  • Transparent pricing models
  • Scalability for different team sizes
  • Competitive pricing for features offered
  • Discounts for annual subscriptions
  • Trial periods or free versions available

Customer Reviews (10% of total score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:

  • Feedback on ease of use
  • Reports of technical reliability
  • Sentiment about customer service quality
  • Comparisons with competitors' solutions
  • Insights on long-term user satisfaction

How to Choose Gantt Chart Software

It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:

FactorWhat to Consider
ScalabilityLook for software that can grow with your projects. Ensure the tool can handle increased users, tasks, and project complexities effortlessly.
IntegrationsCheck if the software connects with tools your team already uses, like Asana, Slack, or Microsoft Teams, to streamline workflows.
CustomizabilityYour team’s needs are unique. Prioritize software that lets you adapt Gantt charts to specific project workflows or branding.
Ease of UseAvoid steep learning curves. Ensure the software offers an intuitive interface and features like drag-and-drop editing.
BudgetConfirm that the software fits your budget, not just for today but long-term, including hidden costs like user licenses or feature add-ons.
Security SafeguardsYour data matters. Verify features like encryption, role-based access, and compliance with standards like GDPR or SOC 2.
Collaboration ToolsEnsure the software allows real-time collaboration, such as sharing charts with clients or assigning tasks directly within the software.
Mobile AccessibilityChoose software with mobile compatibility so your team can track progress and make updates on-the-go.

In my research, I sourced countless product updates, press releases, and release logs from different Gantt chart software vendors. Here are some of the emerging trends I’m keeping an eye on:

  • AI-Driven Scheduling: Tools are now using AI to predict delays and suggest adjustments to timelines. For example, some platforms offer automatic task prioritization based on resource availability and deadlines.
  • Dynamic Workflows: Gantt charts are becoming more interactive, allowing teams to connect timelines directly to task boards or Kanban views. This makes it easier to transition between high-level planning and detailed task management.
  • Enhanced Visual Customization: More tools are letting users adjust chart aesthetics like colors, labels, and layouts to better match branding or project requirements. Some vendors even include design templates for specific industries.
  • Real-Time Collaboration Insights: New features focus on showing live updates about who’s working on what and tracking team workloads in real time. This helps distributed teams stay in sync without extra meetings.
  • Scenario Planning: Vendors are now adding tools for “what-if” scenario testing, so users can model potential risks or changes before committing to a schedule. This is especially helpful for complex, long-term projects.

What is Gantt Chart Software?

Gantt chart software is a tool that helps teams plan, schedule, and visualize projects using timelines. Project managers, team leads, and professionals in industries like construction, marketing, software development, and event planning use these tools to track tasks, deadlines, and dependencies.

Modern Gantt chart tools are particularly effective for dynamic project environments, offering advanced features like real-time updates and collaboration options. Many organizations rely on Gantt charts for multiple projects to maintain oversight across various initiatives, including use cases such as: managing resource allocation across different product launches, tracking progress in multi-phase construction projects, coordinating marketing campaigns with strict deadlines, and organizing software development sprints with intricate task dependencies.

The best chart software often includes features like interactive timelines, progress tracking, and resource allocation. Overall, these tools make it easier to manage complex projects, adapt to changes, and meet deadlines efficiently.

Features of Gantt Chart Software

When selecting Gantt chart software, keep an eye out for the following key features:

  • Interactive timelines: Allows users to drag and drop tasks to adjust schedules quickly, making it easy to adapt to changes in real-time.
  • Dependency management: Enables linking tasks to show dependencies, helping teams visualize how delays in one task impact others.
  • Milestone tracking: Highlights key project milestones to ensure critical deadlines and goals are visible and met.
  • Progress tracking: Updates tasks with completion percentages, giving teams a clear view of project progress at a glance.
  • Resource allocation: Lets users assign team members to tasks and track workloads to avoid overbooking or underutilization.
  • Baseline comparison: Captures initial plans so teams can compare actual progress against the original timeline.
  • Multiple project views: Provides alternative views like Kanban boards or task lists alongside the Gantt chart for diverse planning needs.
  • Collaboration tools: Includes features like comments and file sharing directly within tasks to keep communication centralized.
  • Export options: Allows users to save or share Gantt charts as PDFs or Excel files for easy reporting and presentations.
  • Scenario modeling: Lets teams test different scheduling scenarios to see potential impacts before finalizing plans.

Benefits of Gantt Chart Software

Implementing Gantt chart software can provide several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:

  • Clear project timelines: Helps your team understand deadlines and priorities by visualizing tasks in a simple timeline format.
  • Better team coordination: Assigning tasks and tracking progress in one place keeps everyone on the same page and reduces miscommunication.
  • Improved resource management: Lets you see workloads across your team and adjust assignments to prevent burnout or underutilization.
  • Easier progress tracking: Gives you a clear picture of where your project stands and helps you spot delays early.
  • Informed decision-making: Features like scenario modeling let you test changes to timelines or resources before committing to them.
  • Increased accountability: Task assignments and status updates make it clear who’s responsible for each piece of the project.
  • Enhanced client communication: Exportable charts let you share project plans and updates easily with stakeholders or clients.

Costs & Pricing for Gantt Chart Software

Selecting Gantt chart software requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in Gantt chart software solutions:

Plan TypeAverage PriceCommon Features
Free Plan$0Basic Gantt chart creation, limited projects, limited user seats, and no advanced reporting or integrations.
Personal Plan$5-$25/user/monthUnlimited tasks, color-coded timelines, export options, and simple integrations like Google Calendar.
Business Plan$25-$50/user/monthAdvanced project tracking, resource management tools, real-time collaboration, and custom reporting.
Enterprise Plan$50-$100/user/monthCustomizable workflows, dedicated account support, enhanced security features, and advanced analytics.

Gantt Chart Software FAQs

What is Gantt chart software?

Gantt chart software is software that has the capability to generate Gantt charts. Different Gantt chart software vendors offer different features for planning project tasks and objectives.

A Gantt chart is simply a fancy term for a visual representation of project activities, timelines, and dependencies.

Learn more about the project types that benefit from Gantt chart software.

What should a Gantt chart include?

The best Gantt chart software will include the ability to create horizontal bar charts that depict the timeline of a project’s schedule, the overlay of interdependent tasks (i.e. Task B cannot start until Task A is finished), time estimates, a schedule progress status, and team assignments. Most modern Gantt chart programs also have task management and collaboration features as well.

More on what a Gantt chart should include here.

What is a Gantt chart used for?

Henry Gantt developed the first Gantt chart as a way to plan production and factory resource loading around the turn of the 19th Century. And we still use Gantt charts to this day for resource tracking, deadline plotting, and project communication. A good Gantt chart should visualize the relationship between the work to be done and plotted over a set period of time. It will flag the intended start and due date of tasks and subtasks, dependencies between different pieces of work, and plot who is responsible for each item.

We go into more detail about it here: What Is A Gantt Chart, And Why Is It Used?

How do you create a Gantt chart?

Great question! You can follow our step-by-step guide to learn exactly how to create a Gantt chart if you are coming at it for the first time. If you’ve made Gantt charts before and are looking for tips and tricks, try: Elements To Include In A Gantt Chart + Other Gantt Chart Tips.

Is there a Gantt chart in Excel?

Not really but you can build your own or snag a Gantt chart template for Microsoft Excel online. I wouldn’t recommend this approach, though, as it is a ton of manual input for very little benefit. If one project element changes, you have to manually change every step afterward or craft a formula to do so for you.

If you are in the Microsoft ecosystem and loving it, check out MS Projects. You’ll get the familiar look and feel of Excel and other Microsoft platforms with a Gantt chart builder, project management tools, and more

What is the best free Gantt chart software?

The most common free Gantt chart software is probably Excel or Google Sheets. You’ll find templates for creating Gantt charts in those programs if you do a search online, although the templates might cost a few bucks. It works in a pinch, but it’s not great.

Or, you can try a free tool like ClickUp, which offers 100 Gantt charts for free on their basic level plan. There are many other free and open-source Gantt chart software options available online, including RedBooth, GanttProject, Bitrix24, Agantty, Teamweek, and Instagantt for Asana, as well as free versions of paid tools such as Wrike, Paymo, and others.

For more options, read our full list of free Gantt chart software.

How can Gantt charts support resource management?

Gantt charts support resource management by visually aligning tasks with assigned resources, ensuring efficient allocation and avoiding overallocation. They provide clarity on resource availability, timelines, and dependencies, helping teams manage workloads effectively. Additionally, real-time updates in Gantt charts enable teams to make proactive adjustments to resources as project needs evolve.

What are the benefits of multiple view options in Gantt chart software?

Multiple view options in Gantt chart software allow users to switch between perspectives like timelines, calendars, or task lists, catering to different team needs and preferences. This flexibility enhances collaboration by providing tailored insights for stakeholders, project managers, and team members. It also improves productivity by simplifying complex data and ensuring everyone stays aligned with project goals.

What's Next?

Gantt charts are just one way that you can track how you spend your time, set priorities, plan ahead, stay organized, schedule time, and delegate—all key features of a master of time management. Since you are dealing with timelines, I recommend you learn about the critical path method and why it's important.

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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!