How is this project management ranking decided?

Mechanically. The 20 approved project management listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.

Is this list re-ordered for small businesses?

No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the small businesses framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Small businesses are usually replacing spreadsheets rather than another tool, so the deciding factor is how much of the job one purchase covers. Watch for capabilities that only appear in the upper tiers.

How much does project management software cost?

Across the 20 project management tools listed here, paid plans start between $1.49 and $149 a month, with a median entry price of $9.50. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $149 a month (Kanbanize). 13 of 20 also publish a $0 plan.

What is the cheapest project management software?

Among the ones that charge, Freedcamp has the lowest published entry price at $1.49 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.

Is there free project management software?

Yes, 13 of 20 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. Each of those also sells paid tiers above the free plan. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.

What features should project management software have?

Judging by what vendors put in their own published pricing tiers, the most frequently named capabilities in this category are basic features (6 of 17 tools that publish plan detail), time tracking (5) and unlimited projects (5). Treat those as the category baseline. Anything named by only one vendor, such as admin controls or basic task management, is a differentiator rather than a standard, so it is worth deciding whether you need it before it narrows your shortlist to one.

How is project management software usually billed?

freemium (9), subscription (5), quote (1), counted across the 20 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not.

What does project management software actually cover?

The 20 tools on this page do not describe themselves the same way. The subject tags they carry most often are project-management (10), collaboration (5), productivity (5), ai (3), gantt (3). That spread is the honest answer to what the category means in practice: it is not one product shape, and two tools filed under project management may overlap on very little.

How many pricing tiers do project management tools offer?

17 of 20 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 2 tiers. 3 of 20 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.

How many project management tools are listed on Softwr?

20 approved project management listings appear on this page, including Clockwise, Craft Docs, Freedcamp, GanttPRO. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/project-management, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Project Management · ranked shortlist

Best Project Management software for Small Businesses in 2026

20 approved project management listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed. Small businesses are usually replacing spreadsheets rather than another tool, so the deciding factor is how much of the job one purchase covers. Watch for capabilities that only appear in the upper tiers.

Tools ranked: 20
Entry price range: $1.49-$149
Publish a $0 plan: 13 of 20

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.

Where the ratings come from

No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.

What the pool is

Approved project management listings, capped at 20 per page; 20 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the project management category page.

The ranking

Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.

#1
C
Clockwise
Highest rated here
Intelligent calendar management for teams
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $6.75 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
calendar, ai, focus-time, productivity
Clockwise breakdown Compare with Craft Docs
#2
Craft Docs
Beautiful document and note-taking app for Apple devices
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
Model not published
Tags
note-taking, document creation, collaboration, apple
Craft Docs breakdown Compare with Freedcamp
#3
Freedcamp
Free project management for everyone
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $1.49 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, Free, affordable, simple
Freedcamp breakdown Compare with GanttPRO
#4
GanttPRO
Online Gantt chart software
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $7.99 a month, with no free plan.
- 2 published tiers, topping out at $12.99.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, gantt, resource management, scheduling
GanttPRO breakdown Compare with Hive
#5
Hive
Project management built for speed
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $12 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, productivity, collaboration, fast
Hive breakdown Compare with Kanbanize
#6
Kanbanize
Enterprise Kanban software for agile teams
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $149 a month.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
kanban, agile, Enterprise, workflow
Kanbanize breakdown Compare with LiquidPlanner
#7
LiquidPlanner
Predictive project management
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $15 a month, with no free plan.
- 2 published tiers, topping out at $25.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, predictive, scheduling, Enterprise
LiquidPlanner breakdown Compare with MeisterTask
#8
MeisterTask
The most intuitive project and task management tool
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $8.25 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
task-management, kanban, visual, intuitive
MeisterTask breakdown Compare with Nifty
#9
Nifty
The operating system for your workflow
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $5 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, collaboration, all-in-one, affordable
Nifty breakdown Compare with Paymo
#10
Paymo
Work & project management for teams
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $4.95 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, time-tracking, invoicing, freelancer
Paymo breakdown Compare with Pipefy
#11
Pipefy
Workflow and process management, simplified
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
quote
Pipefy breakdown Compare with Podio
#12
Podio
The flexible team collaboration platform
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $7.20 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, customizable, low-code, flexible
Podio breakdown Compare with ProofHub
#13
ProofHub
All-in-one project management and team collaboration
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $45 a month, with no free plan.
- 2 published tiers, topping out at $89.
Billing
subscription
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, collaboration, proofing, flat-rate
ProofHub breakdown Compare with Reclaim.ai
#14
Reclaim.ai
Smart scheduling for busy teams
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $10 a month.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $22.
Billing
Model not published
Published tiers
4 tiers
Tags
calendar, ai, habits, tasks
Reclaim.ai breakdown Compare with Sunsama
#15
Sunsama
The daily planner for busy professionals
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $17 a month, with no free plan.
- 2 published tiers, topping out at $22.
Billing
Model not published
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
daily-planner, productivity, work-life-balance, tasks
Sunsama breakdown Compare with Taskade
#16
Taskade
AI-powered productivity for teams
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $6 a month.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $16.
Billing
Model not published
Published tiers
3 tiers
Tags
ai, productivity, collaboration, task-management
Taskade breakdown Compare with Teamgantt
#17
Teamgantt
Collaborative Gantt chart software
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $19 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, gantt, scheduling, visual
Teamgantt breakdown Compare with Teamhood
#18
Teamhood
Visual project management for teams of all sizes
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $9.50 a month.
Billing
freemium
Published tiers
2 tiers
Tags
project-management, kanban, gantt, workload
Teamhood breakdown Compare with Tempo Timesheets
#19
T
Tempo Timesheets
Time tracking for Jira
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
Tempo Timesheets breakdown Compare with Toggl Plan
#20
Toggl Plan
Beautiful team planning and project timelines
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $10 a month.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $25.
Billing
Model not published
Published tiers
3 tiers
Tags
project-planning, timelines, visual, teams
Toggl Plan breakdown

What project management software costs

Counted from the published pricing of the 20 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.

Cheapest paid plan: $1.49Freedcamp
Median entry price: $9.50across 17 priced
Dearest entry price: $149Kanbanize
Publish a $0 plan: 13of 20

Paid project management plans in this set start anywhere from $1.49 a month for Freedcamp to $149 for Kanbanize. The median entry price across the 17 tools that publish one is $9.50, half of them start below that figure and half above it.

13 of 20 publish a $0 plan, and every one of those also sells a paid tier above it. 4 tools have no free tier of any kind.

Freedcamp pricing Kanbanize pricing Kanbanize plans

How these vendors bill

The billing model each of the 20 project management listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.

freemium: 9
subscription: 5
quote: 1

What comes as standard, and what you pay extra for

Every capability named in a published pricing tier by any of the 17 project management tools here that break their plans down, counted once per vendor. This measures what vendors choose to advertise as a selling point, not everything the software does, an absence below is silence, not a missing feature.

Named most often

Basic features , 6 of 17
Time tracking , 5 of 17
Unlimited projects , 5 of 17
Unlimited users , 5 of 17
Advanced features , 3 of 17

Named by fewer

Automations , 3 of 17
Advanced analytics , 2 of 17
Core features , 2 of 17
Dependencies , 2 of 17
Gantt charts , 2 of 17

Named by exactly one vendor: Admin controls, Basic task management, Focus Time, Personal analytics, Subtasks, Unlimited habits. Those are differentiators rather than table stakes.

What “Project Management” covers in practice

The subject tags that recur across these 20 listings, with the number of tools carrying each. A category label is a filing decision; this is the closer read of what is actually filed under it.

project-management10
collaboration5
productivity5
ai3
gantt3
kanban3
scheduling3
visual3
affordable2
calendar2
Enterprise2
resource management2

Carried by a single tool: agile, customizable, fast, focus-time, intuitive, note-taking, proofing, timelines. If one of those is the reason you are here, the category page is the wrong lens, go straight to that product.

How to choose between them

Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.

Start with the free tiers if there are enough of them

13 of 20 project management tools here publish a $0 plan, which is enough to run a real trial without a purchase order. A free tier is worth more than a free trial when you are evaluating: a trial expires on the vendor's schedule, a free plan expires when you outgrow it. The thing to check before you commit is which of the capabilities below sit above the free line, starting with basic features, the single most frequently named capability in this category's published tiers.

Read the spread before you read the features

$1.49 to $149 is a $147.51 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $149 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.

Check which tier you actually land on

3 of 20 tools here publish three or more tiers, and the median vendor in this category ships 2 of them. The advertised price is the first rung, and the things teams tend to need, basic features, time tracking, unlimited projects, are named in higher plans far more often than in entry ones. Price your shortlist at the tier that contains what you need, not at the tier on the pricing page's left edge.

The billing model matters more than the headline number

This category splits across 3 billing models: freemium on 9 listings, subscription on 5, and 1 other arrangement across the rest. A per-user price and a flat subscription at the same headline figure are not the same purchase, the first one grows with headcount and the second does not. Multiply by your real team size before you compare two numbers side by side.

Compare project management tools directly

Every pairing below is a full comparison: the same checklist applied to both, so a gap in one is a gap in the other.

Go straight to the numbers

Build your own comparison See the shortlist instead

Questions people ask about project management software

Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.

How is this project management ranking decided?: Mechanically. The 20 approved project management listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
Is this list re-ordered for small businesses?: No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the small businesses framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Small businesses are usually replacing spreadsheets rather than another tool, so the deciding factor is how much of the job one purchase covers. Watch for capabilities that only appear in the upper tiers.
How much does project management software cost?: Across the 20 project management tools listed here, paid plans start between $1.49 and $149 a month, with a median entry price of $9.50. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $149 a month (Kanbanize). 13 of 20 also publish a $0 plan.
What is the cheapest project management software?: Among the ones that charge, Freedcamp has the lowest published entry price at $1.49 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
Is there free project management software?: Yes, 13 of 20 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. Each of those also sells paid tiers above the free plan. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.
What features should project management software have?: Judging by what vendors put in their own published pricing tiers, the most frequently named capabilities in this category are basic features (6 of 17 tools that publish plan detail), time tracking (5) and unlimited projects (5). Treat those as the category baseline. Anything named by only one vendor, such as admin controls or basic task management, is a differentiator rather than a standard, so it is worth deciding whether you need it before it narrows your shortlist to one.
How is project management software usually billed?: freemium (9), subscription (5), quote (1), counted across the 20 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not.
What does project management software actually cover?: The 20 tools on this page do not describe themselves the same way. The subject tags they carry most often are project-management (10), collaboration (5), productivity (5), ai (3), gantt (3). That spread is the honest answer to what the category means in practice: it is not one product shape, and two tools filed under project management may overlap on very little.
How many pricing tiers do project management tools offer?: 17 of 20 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 2 tiers. 3 of 20 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.
How many project management tools are listed on Softwr?: 20 approved project management listings appear on this page, including Clockwise, Craft Docs, Freedcamp, GanttPRO. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/project-management, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Keep reading

Neighbouring categories

Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Where the ratings come from

What the pool is

The ranking

Clockwise

Craft Docs

Freedcamp

GanttPRO

Hive

Kanbanize

LiquidPlanner

MeisterTask

Nifty

Paymo

Pipefy

Podio

ProofHub

Reclaim.ai

Sunsama

Taskade

Teamgantt

Teamhood

Tempo Timesheets

Toggl Plan