Best Gantt Chart Maker Shortlist
Have a quick look at the tools I reviewed in this post:
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
As a project manager, you can easily get overwhelmed when looking at endless task lists that need your attention. However, if you are looking for a way to have those tasks arranged in a visual way, then a Gantt chart maker is what you need.
Popularized in the early 1900’s, the Gantt chart has been the preferred method to graphically represent a project schedule for a long time. Today, you can find Gantt charts in several places. On the one hand, you have Microsoft Project or ClickUp, where a Gantt chart is a project view. On the other hand, you have GanttPRO and TeamGantt, which are cloud-based online Gantt chart software and are entirely built around Gantt charts.
All tools on this list will help you build a Gantt chart. Your decision comes down to the additional features you would like to have.
What is a Gantt Chart Maker?
Gantt chart maker software is a program that lets you build a visual chart in which tasks are represented by horizontal bars. These bars then extend for the duration of a task and are displayed on a task vs time chart.
Nowadays, Gantt charts live in almost every project management software and make it easier for us to work through complex projects. It helps us build project timelines associated with this bar chart, set task dependencies, define when a milestone is due, and see the critical path for your entire project. As you can probably guess, this makes it easy to track progress and prioritize work.
Gantt Chart Maker Overviews
Here’s my shortlist of the top 10 best Gantt chart software:
monday.com
Best for its customization capabilities
monday.com is a work management platform that does many things related to project planning and resource tracking. Gantt charts are just one of the key features offered in this work management suite.
Why I picked monday.com: This platform's customizability is what ultimately earned its spot on my list. You can craft Gantt charts that display the specific information you need, and set them up for managing schedules, projects, product roadmaps, and more. In addition to Gantt charts, you can access Kanban, timeline, workload, and other views in the platform. And to get your Gantt chart set up quickly and use your existing data, you can import a spreadsheet from Excel and turn it into a Gantt chart.
monday.com Standout Features & Integrations
Key standout features of the software include its built-in goal and resource management capabilities. You can set goals and objectives in the platform, and outline the strategy that will help you achieve them. Those goals can then be connected with various projects and tasks, helping everyone see the bigger picture. You can also track team workloads and assign tasks to specific team members.
Integrations include Dropbox, Excel, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Integromat, Slack, Trello, and even more through a paid plan with Zapier.
Pros
- Complete work management platform
- Free-forever plan available
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
Cons
- Gantt charts not included in basic or free plan
- Limited storage in basic and free plans
Height
Best for providing guest access
Height is a project management software that's built to be intuitive, customizable, and flexible to meet the needs of various teams and businesses.
Why I picked Height: The Gantt chart maker in the platform is feature-rich and friendly to use. You can color-code tasks and sort them by status, assignees, or priority. But what really stood out to me about this tool is the ability to share your project plans, tasks, and more with external collaborators. You can create customized views for clients, freelancers, stakeholders, or other third-parties. The access permissions in the suite are detailed, letting you set up the right visibility based on the relationship.
Height Standout Features & Integrations
Standout features are essentially the rest of the product's overall capabilities. It offers not just Gantt charts but Kanban, calendar, and spreadsheet project views. And what's more, you can chat and collaborate right within the context of your projects and tasks. Speaking of tasks, the level of detail you can include in your tasks and subtasks is pretty impressive. Checklists, multiple assignees, and other custom attributes can be added to ensure the right amount of information is included for teams to move forward.
Integrations include Notion, Slack, Discord, GitHub, GitLab, Sentry, Zendesk, Figma, Slab, Fivetran, and many more through Zapier.
Pros
- Smart rescheduling
- Cross-functional collaboration features
- User-friendly interface
Cons
- Limited task features on free plan
- Security log + attribute activity logs locked to Enterprise plan
Smartsheet
Best work management solution for enterprise
Smartsheet is a work management platform that helps you organize projects, calendars, dashboards, portals, forms, and more. It offers a Gantt chart maker with several pre-built templates.
Why I picked Smartsheet: I included this platform on my list because it's much more than a Gantt chart tool, it's a comprehensive work management solution. The Gantt chart maker is drag-and-drop, customizable, and easy to use. But you can also make use of the team collaboration, workflow automation, resource management, governance and admin, and content management capabilities. Because of how much ground it covers, its well-suited to enterprises with large-scale portfolio management needs.
Smartsheet Standout Features & Integrations
Standout features include the platform's automation tools. You can set up no-code, automated workflows to help alleviate manual task completion. Conditional logic can be used to configure multiple paths for your workflows, which can be built in the drag-and-drop builder. Another helpful tool is the collaboration features included in the software. Content collaboration, chat, and file sharing are all available right in the system.
Integrations include Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, Box, DocuSign, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Gmail, Outlook, and many other apps. Some integrations require Business or Enterprise plans.
Pros
- Highly customizable Gantt charts
- Plenty of self-serve knowledge base content
- Gantt charts included in all plans
Cons
- Robust system, comes with a learning curve
- Freemium limited to 2 editors
Zoho Projects
Best for a detail-oriented solution
Zoho Projects is a project management software with a built-in Gantt chart maker. It's a highly detailed solution, helping you ensure no important information gets lost.
Why I picked Zoho Projects: This platform's interactive Gantt charts are easy to create, manage, and update. I added it to my list because of how detail-oriented it is. You can set up task four different types of task dependencies, helping make it super clear how different aspects of your project are interconnected. These dependencies can also be given specific time delays between tasks. Your Gantt chart is also color-coded, helping you differentiate tasks and resources as needed. If you need to adjust something on the fly, it's easy to do with the drag-and-drop interface.
Zoho Projects Standout Features & Integrations
Standout features include the customization options in the Gantt chart maker. You can add custom colors for color-coding, arrange your view as you wish, and adjust the visibility of specific modules. Another useful feature is the ability to export Gantt charts as a PDF, which can help you out for presentations. You can also export task lists as XLS or CV files.
Integrations include all the Zoho apps, Google Workspace, Microsoft Suite, Jira, Basecamp, Box, Dropbox, GitHub, GitLab, Zendesk, and Slack, among others. You can also connect to Zapier for additional integrations.
Pros
- Free plan for up to 2 projects
- Task automation through the Blueprint feature
- Connects easily with the complete Zoho product suite
Cons
- Takes time to learn the platform
- Subtasks not available in free plan
Wrike
Best with automated project scheduling
Wrike is a project and workflow management platform with a comprehensive feature set, including a Gantt chart maker.
Why I picked Wrike: I added this software to my list because of its automated scheduler. You can build your Gantt chart quickly with the drag-and-drop editor, setting up your milestones, dependencies, and deadlines. If ever you need to, it's easy and efficient to reschedule tasks in bulk. When you reschedule tasks, the automatic scheduler will adjust your timelines and project plan as needed. The smart tool can even share suggestions and options for how to best adjust your project.
Wrike Standout Features & Integrations
One standout feature of this platform is the option for custom work item types. If standard types like 'task' and 'project' aren't quite right, you can create a custom type instead. This is helpful for repurposing the software for specific use cases, like candidate tracking or creating an employee database. Another cool feature is the ability to import your existing project data. No need to start from scratch, you can pick up where you left off in another system and migrate easily.
Integrations include Microsoft Suite, Google Workspace, Asana, Basecamp, Dropbox, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Slack, Shopify, and hundreds more.
Pros
- Collaboration tools like file sharing and approvals
- Resource management included in higher-tier plans
- Lots of smart AI and automation features
Cons
- Real-time reports not included in free or basic plan
- Gantt charts not included in free plan
Miro
Best for a high level of flexibility
Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard with over 1,000 templates including mind maps, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, product wireframes, research boards, and flowcharts.
Why I picked Miro: This platform made it onto my list because of just how flexible it is. It can be used for all kinds of things, Gantt charts being just one. The virtual whiteboard has various elements you can use to create flowcharts, tables, mindmaps, and more.
Shapes, lines, arrows, comments, and multimedia assets like images, GIFs, and videos can all be added onto your board. So whether you're building your Gantt chart from scratch or using the pre-built template, you can customize it exactly how you like.
Miro Standout Features & Integrations
Some of the standout features of this software are its built-in collaboration tools. Team members can work together on a whiteboard in real-time, and use video chat to collaborate live. You can set timers, play music, set up voting, and other cool features to help facilitate brainstorming and ideation. The interactive presentation mode is good for sharing your Gantt chart with your team or stakeholders.
Integrations include Zoom, Figma, Asana, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Slack, Google Drive, Box, Airtable, Notion, Azure, and Webex. Some integrations are limited to paid plans only.
Pros
- Built-in communication features
- Free forever plan available
- Intuitive and easy setup
Cons
- No high-quality PDF export with free plan
- Zooming can be jumpy on larger projects
Microsoft Project
Best Gantt chart maker for its 38 years on the market
Microsoft Project Online uses familiar software UI to give you an intuitive way to visualize various project angles. MS Project Online is a great examples 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: Unlike some of the other software on this list, MS Projects doesn’t 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 Standout Features & Integrations
Features include kanban boards, timelines with milestones, Power BI dashboards, resource requests, visual heatmaps to identify over-allocation, built-in templates, reporting, task management, and portfolio management.
Integrations include other Microsoft software, like Outlook, Excel, Skype, and more.
Canva
Best for a large bank of templates
Canva is an online design platform built to be user-friendly for non-design experts. It offers templates for all kinds of things, from Gantt charts to slide decks, infographics, social media assets, and more.
Why I picked Canva: This software's simple, straightforward drag-and-drop interface is easy to use, even for the least tech-savvy among us. I chose it because not only is it super intuitive, it also comes with a ton of templates that are ready to go. You can select from the hundreds of thousands of templates available, and then customize it to best meet your needs. The free plan is a quick way to create a presentation-ready Gantt chart, quickly. And you'll be able to use the platform for all kinds of other design needs, too.
Canva Standout Features & Integrations
Standout features include the range of design elements you can use in the platform. Shapes, patterns, text, photos, graphics, and more can all be used to craft your masterpiece. Your final result can also take shape in a number of formats. A simple, static image is one option, but you can also create videos, presentations, whiteboards, and even websites. It's a super flexible tool.
Integrations include WordPress, eClincher, Rippling, Sendible, Post Planner, and Viraltag.
Pros
- Presentable product, no designer needed
- Hundreds of thousands of templates
- Super user-friendly and intuitive
Cons
- Limited download options with free plan
- Lacks advanced Gantt chart features
GanttPRO
Best Gantt chart-oriented project management
As its name suggests, GanttPRO is a project management software that's built around its Gantt chart tool.
Why I picked GanttPRO: This software made my list because not only is it a comprehensive project management solution, it's actually designed around the Gantt chart concept. You can create multiple project plans with the intuitive, drag-and-drop builder. The system also provides tools for estimating project costs and effectively managing your resources. Plus, team members can easily track their time to keep a record of how long tasks take to complete and facilitate simpler billing.
GanttPRO Standout Features & Integrations
One standout feature this software offers is its Gantt chart templates. The templates can be used not just in the platform, but also in Excel and Google Sheets. This makes for a free option, and allows you to try out the templates before purchasing the product. In a pinch, you can draft up a Gantt chart quickly in a platform you're familiar with, before committing to a new software.
Integrations include Slack, Google Drive, Jira, and Microsoft Teams. An API is also available for building custom integrations.
Pros
- Built-in time tracking and resource management
- Team communication and collaboration tools
- Email and live chat support with all plans
Cons
- No free plan available
- Portfolio view limited to higher-tier paid plans
Paymo
Best Gantt chart maker with built-in invoicing
Paymo is Gantt Chart software designed to help small and medium teams own their entire project cycle. But Paymo is not just a Gantt Chart maker, it’s a project management software offering task management, time tracking, resource scheduling, and invoicing modules.
Why I picked Paymo: It comes with Gantt Charts features that allow you to plan, schedule, and display your projects on a visual timeline and identify bottlenecks early on. Apart from the standard dependencies, you can set lead and lag time to account for overlaps or delays. With Paymo you can even auto-schedule tasks based on those dependencies and constraints. Gantt Chart-wise, click and drag on the timeline to estimate task duration, then pinch its ends to extend or shorten it. Add milestones, set up notifications, and monitor the progress of each project and adjust due dates when necessary.
When finished, click the Export button to save the project timeline and send it over to a client or team member. There’s also a Portfolio Gantt Chart available, which acts as a pipeline with all project timelines on a single screen.
Paymo Standout Features & Integrations
Features include attachments in tasks, time tracking, Kanban boards, automatic scheduling, dependencies, critical path, invoicing, and file proofing.
Integrations include popular apps such as Slack, Google Suite, Jotform and even accounting tools. Other integrations are available through Zapier or by syncing with their fully-documented API.
Free for freelancers and teams of up to 10 users.
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The Best Gantt Chart Maker Comparison Chart
Here is a table that you can use to compare the tools we just covered in the overviews.
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | monday.com Best for its customization capabilities | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Visit Website |
2 | Height Best for providing guest access | 30-day free trial | From $8.50/user/month | Visit Website |
3 | Smartsheet Best work management solution for enterprise | Freemium version available | From $7/user/month | Visit Website |
4 | Zoho Projects Best for a detail-oriented solution | Free trial available | From $5/user/month | Visit Website |
5 | Wrike Best with automated project scheduling | Free plan available | From $9.80/user/month | Visit Website |
6 | Miro Best for a high level of flexibility | Free plan available | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
7 | Microsoft Project Best Gantt chart maker for its 38 years on the market | 30-day free trial | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
8 | Canva Best for a large bank of templates | Free plan available | From $14.99/user/month | Visit Website |
9 | GanttPRO Best Gantt chart-oriented project management | 14-day free trial | From $7.99/user/month (billed annually) | Visit Website |
10 | Paymo Best Gantt chart maker with built-in invoicing | 15-day free trial | From $5.95/user/month | Visit Website |
Other Online Timeline Creators
The tools listed above aren’t the only Gantt chart creators out there. Here are some more Gantt tools that received an honorable mention.
- MeisterTask
Best Gantt chart tool for agile teams
- Backlog
Best for software development teams
- think-cell
Best for creating Gantt charts in PowerPoint and Excel
- ProjectManager.com
Best Gantt chart maker for enterprises
- FunctionFox
Best for custom views and filtering capabilities
- Visor
Best for drag-and-drop functionality
- TeamGantt
Best Gantt chart to manage team, projects, & workloads
- MindView
Best for its work breakdown structure modules
- Gantter
Best with a first-of-its-kind AI Recommendation Engine
- ClickUp
Best with team collaboration tools
- airfocus
Best priority system with customizations, ratings, & insights
- Instagantt
Best professional-looking project planning features
- Hive
Best Gantt chart maker for team collaboration
- RationalPlan
Best that follows the PMBOK guidelines
- Celoxis
Best enterprise-level Gantt chart maker
- Birdview PSA
Best with additional resource management capabilities
Check out our video on the best Gantt chart makers:
Selection Criteria for the Best Gantt Chart Maker
To decide which Gantt chart makers to feature in this list, I started with a long list of project management tools and other platforms that provide tools for making Gantt charts. From there, I narrowed it down by comparing them based on the following criteria:
Core Functionality
A Gantt chart tool should at a minimum be able to:
- Create a chart to represent your project plan with start and end dates, milestones, tasks, and assignees.
Key Features
Beyond the basic functionality that lets you build a Gantt chart, here are some popular features:
- Task management: The ability to schedule tasks, create subtasks, set task dependencies and due dates, and assign tasks to specific team members.
- Other views: Many Gantt chart makers also have Kanban board views, calendar views, and other view formats for tracking project progress.
- Resource management: Some platforms have tools for scheduling team members and assigning work based on capacities and skill sets.
- Templates: Customizable Gantt chart templates help you create your chart more quickly and efficiently.
- Time tracking: Timesheets and clock in and clock out capabilities are sometimes included to help you track and plan tasks and schedule employees effectively.
- Reporting: You can often create reports and dashboards to analyze your team’s performance and productivity. Some platforms even have real-time metrics right in your Gantt chart.
Usability
It’s important to find a Gantt chart creator that’s user-friendly and intuitive to navigate. A drag-and-drop user interface, color coding, and straightforward automation options were among the usability features I kept an eye out for. Ultimately, you want a tool that doesn’t come with too much of a learning curve. I’ve added notes on each platforms overall user-friendliness in my overviews.
Integrations
How many other tools can I connect to the software? Many Gantt chart tools integrate with other popular software like CRM software, collaboration tools, and work management platforms. I look at out-of-the-box solutions as well as third-party connectors like Zapier. Finally, I will give you information on available APIs to build custom integrations.
Pricing
Of course, it’s always important to consider cost when selecting a new software. The online Gantt chart makers on this list range from around $5 per user per month up to $25 per user per month for a basic plan. That said, many offer free trials and even free plans. You can find pricing information in both my overviews and the comparison chart.
Gantt Chart Maker FAQs
Find answers to common questions about this topic.
What is a Gantt chart?
What should a Gantt chart include?
What are the advantages of a Gantt chart?
What is a Gantt chart used for?
Does Trello have Gantt charts?
Does Asana have Gantt charts?
What is the best free Gantt chart software?
Gantt Chart Makers Speed Up Your Process!
Using one of the tools I've reviewed can help speed up your project planning and Gantt chart development. Each one has its own strengths, so choosing one that best suits your team's needs is important. And if you didn't find the perfect Gantt chart maker on my list, hopefully you're well-equipped to keep hunting!
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