10 Best Free Project Management Tools (2026)

Free project management tools come in two flavors: free tiers from paid products (with limits designed to make you upgrade) and genuinely free/open-source tools (with trade-offs in polish and support).

Both can work. The trick is knowing which limits you'll actually hit. Here's what's free, what's not, and where each tool gets you.

Quick comparison

1. ClickUp Free

ClickUp's free tier is the most generous of any commercial PM tool — unlimited users, unlimited tasks, collaborative Docs, Whiteboards, and Kanban boards. The catch? 100MB total workspace storage. Not per user. Total. Your team will burn through that in a week if anyone uploads files.

What you get: Unlimited users and tasks, Kanban boards, Sprint management, Calendar view, 1 Form, in-app video recording, 24/7 support, basic custom fields.

What you don't: Gantt charts, integrations, chat/messaging, time tracking, goals, resource management, automations. And that brutal 100MB storage cap.

Upgrade trigger: The moment anyone needs to attach files or use Gantt charts. Unlimited plan is $7/user/mo (annual).

Best for: Small teams who work primarily in tasks and boards without heavy file sharing.

2. Asana Free

Asana's free plan supports up to 10 teammates with unlimited tasks, projects, and messages. It's clean and capable for basic project tracking. But it strips out the features that make Asana powerful — timeline view, custom fields, workflow builder, and AI.

What you get: 10 users, unlimited tasks and projects, List/Board/Calendar views, basic integrations (Slack, Gmail, Teams), activity logs, status updates.

What you don't: Timeline/Gantt views, task dependencies, custom fields, automations, portfolios, goals, reporting, forms, time tracking, Asana AI.

Upgrade trigger: When you need dependencies between tasks or any custom field beyond the basics. Starter is $10.99/user/mo (annual).

Best for: Small teams (under 10) who need structured project tracking without complex workflows.

3. Trello Free

Trello Free gives you drag-and-drop Kanban that anyone can learn in 60 seconds. The limit is 10 boards per workspace and 10 collaborators. For simple visual task management, it's hard to beat.

What you get: 10 boards, unlimited cards, 10 collaborators, basic automations (250 runs/mo), unlimited storage (10MB per file), all core views (Board, Timeline, Table, Calendar, Dashboard, Map).

What you don't: Unlimited boards, advanced checklists, custom fields, unlimited automations, collections, observers, more than 1 Power-Up per board.

Upgrade trigger: When 10 boards isn't enough. Standard at $5/user/mo (annual) is one of the cheapest upgrades on this list.

Best for: Individuals and tiny teams who want the simplest possible visual task management.

4. Notion Free

Notion Free is generous for individual use — unlimited blocks and pages, databases, templates, and basic sharing. But it's designed for one person. Guest editing is limited, and collaborative features are restricted.

What you get: Unlimited pages and blocks for 1 member, 7-day page history, 5MB file uploads, basic API access, 10 guest invites (view-only for databases).

What you don't: Unlimited team members, real collaboration, 30+ day page history, bulk export, SAML SSO, unlimited file uploads. No AI (one-time 20-response trial only).

Upgrade trigger: The moment a second person needs to edit regularly. Plus is $10/user/mo (annual).

Best for: Solo users who want a flexible workspace combining notes, tasks, databases, and docs.

5. Monday.com Free

Monday.com's free plan is the most limited of the major PM tools — 2 seats maximum with up to 3 boards. It's essentially a demo, not a usable free tier.

What you get: 2 seats, up to 3 boards, unlimited docs, 200+ templates, Kanban view, embedded forms.

What you don't: Timeline, Gantt, calendar, integrations, automations, dashboards, guest access, time tracking, basically everything useful.

Upgrade trigger: Immediately, if you have more than 2 people. Basic starts at $9/user/mo (annual) with a 3-seat minimum ($27/mo minimum).

Best for: Two people who want to try Monday.com before buying. Not a serious free option.

6. Todoist Free

Todoist isn't a PM tool in the traditional sense — it's a personal task manager that some teams stretch into project management. The free tier gives you 5 active projects with natural language task input ("Meeting with Sarah tomorrow at 3pm").

What you get: 5 active projects, 5 personal labels, priority levels, natural language processing, basic filters, 1 file upload per task (5MB), mobile apps.

What you don't: Team features, reminders, comments, task duration, calendar layout, 300+ integrations, custom filters.

Upgrade trigger: When you need more than 5 projects or want team collaboration. Pro is $5/mo (annual).

Best for: Individuals who want a clean personal task manager, not teams managing projects.

7. Freedcamp

Freedcamp is genuinely free for unlimited users with tasks, milestones, discussions, and a calendar. No catch, no user limit. The trade-off is that the interface looks like it was designed in 2015 and development moves slowly.

What you get: Unlimited users and projects, tasks with subtasks, milestones, discussions, calendar, file sharing, time tracking.

What you don't: Gantt charts, CRM, invoicing, issue tracker (all paid add-ons at $1.49-$7.49/mo each). No AI features.

Upgrade trigger: When you need Gantt charts or the dated interface becomes a problem. Pro is $2.49/user/mo.

Best for: Budget-constrained teams who need basic project management for unlimited users and can tolerate an older UI.

8. Taiga (Open Source)

Taiga is a free, open-source PM tool built for Scrum and Kanban teams. You host it yourself (or use the cloud version with limits). The Scrum implementation is excellent — backlogs, sprints, burndown charts, velocity tracking.

What you get (self-hosted): Everything — unlimited users, projects, full Scrum + Kanban, epics, issues, wiki, activity timeline.

Cloud free tier: 1 private project, 3 public projects, 300MB storage.

What you don't (cloud): More than 1 private project, custom fields, larger storage.

Upgrade trigger: Cloud limits are tight. If you can't self-host, the paid cloud plans start at €5/user/mo.

Best for: Scrum teams with the technical ability to self-host, or small teams happy with the cloud free tier.

9. OpenProject (Open Source)

OpenProject is the most full-featured open-source PM tool. Gantt charts, time tracking, budgets, agile boards, meeting management, BIM support — it rivals paid enterprise tools.

What you get (self-hosted): Full PM suite — Gantt/timeline planning, agile boards, time and cost tracking, wiki, forums, budgets, work packages, meeting management.

Cloud free tier: No cloud free tier. Self-hosted Community Edition is free.

What you don't (Community): Team planning views, baseline comparisons, story points, advanced reporting. The Enterprise add-on starts at €5.95/user/mo.

Upgrade trigger: When you need the Enterprise features or don't want to manage your own server.

Best for: Technical teams who can manage a self-hosted instance and need enterprise-grade PM features for free.

10. Plane (Open Source)

Plane is a newer open-source alternative to Jira and Linear. The UI is modern and clean — closer to Linear's design philosophy than traditional open-source tools. It's still maturing but already handles issue tracking, cycles (sprints), modules, and views well.

What you get (self-hosted): Unlimited everything — issues, cycles, modules, views, pages, analytics.

Cloud free tier: Up to 5 members, unlimited issues.

What you don't (cloud free): More than 5 members, priority support, advanced analytics. Pro is $4/user/mo.

Upgrade trigger: When your team exceeds 5 members on the cloud version.

Best for: Dev teams who want a modern, open-source issue tracker and are comfortable with self-hosting or a small cloud team.

How to choose

Solo user: Notion Free (flexible workspace) or Todoist Free (clean task management).

Small team (2-10 people): Trello Free (simplest), Asana Free (most structured), or ClickUp Free (most features, but watch storage).

Unlimited users needed: Freedcamp (commercial, dated UI) or self-hosted Taiga/OpenProject/Plane (modern, requires server).

Dev team on a budget: Plane (self-hosted) for a Linear-like experience, or Taiga for full Scrum.

FAQ

Which free PM tool has the most users allowed?
ClickUp, Freedcamp, and all self-hosted open-source tools (Taiga, OpenProject, Plane) allow unlimited users. Asana and Trello cap at 10.

Are free tiers good enough for real work?
For solo users and teams under 5, yes. For anything larger, you'll hit limits within the first month. Budget $5-12/user/mo for a real PM tool.

Which open-source PM tool is best?
OpenProject for full-featured traditional PM. Plane for modern issue tracking. Taiga for Scrum teams. All three require self-hosting for the full experience.

Will free PM tools always stay free?
Most commercial tools have reduced their free tiers over time (Asana dropped from 15 to 10 users). Open-source tools are genuinely free but require you to manage hosting.

Compare all project management tools in our full directory or browse free tools across every category.