Comparison of the 10 best free backplanners for professionals on a tight budget
Are you looking for the best project management software for your business?
Whether you're a developer, marketer, salesperson or creative thinker, this type of tool enables you to efficiently plan and run one or more projects, while emphasizing collaboration, communication and process simplification.
Restricted by time and budget? Don't panic, there are dozens of free project management software packages, of which here is a selection narrowed down to the best ones. ✨
NB: This selection only includes online software (also known as SaaS or cloud software), as locally installed software doesn't offer the collaborative features that are essential for effective project management.
Note also that we will be discussing task management software. Even if they're not project management software in the strict sense of the term, they're a solid support for those who want to facilitate their management with a free tool.
Comparison table of the 10 project management software packages with retroplanning
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 monday.com |  Zoho Projects |  Asana |  Beesbusy |  Bitrix24 |  Bubble Plan |  Freedcamp |  Redmine |  Todoist |  Trello |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For all companies | For all companies | For companies with more than 1 employees | For companies with 2 to 5000 employees | For companies with more than 1 employees | For companies with 2 to 5000 employees | For all companies | For all companies | For companies with 1 to 250 employees | For all companies |
| See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software |
| Learn more about monday.com | Learn more about Zoho Projects | Learn more about Asana | Learn more about Beesbusy | Learn more about Bitrix24 | Learn more about Bubble Plan | Learn more about Freedcamp | Learn more about Redmine | Learn more about Todoist | Learn more about Trello |
monday.com: the intuitive, powerful teamwork platform
monday.com is an all-in-one project management and collaborative working platform.
It centralizes all company tasks, projects and communications within a single platform, facilitating collaboration and workflow management with workflows tailored to specific needs. In other words, every team member knows exactly what they need to do, when they need to do it, and how they can collaborate with their colleagues. No more juggling emails and scattered Excel spreadsheets, everything is at your fingertips on an intuitive, customizable interface.
👍 The pluses:
- its visual, customizable interface that makes it easy to get to grips with,
- its compatibility and integration with over 200 applications such as Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, Jira, Gmail, and Mailchimp,
- its features for automating recurring tasks to boost efficiency.
🤔 Minuses:
- some advanced integrations require technical skills.
monday.com
Asana: the collaborative task manager for startups
Asana is an excellent task management tool.
First and foremost, it enables everyone in the company to share tasks, collaborate and exchange ideas, with the aim of working more efficiently. In short, everyone knows what they have to do when they arrive at the office or leave a meeting: no more to-do lists on the corner of the desk or meetings that don't lead to concrete action.
What's more, the free version of Asana is so comprehensive that there's no need for most companies to upgrade to the paid version.
👍 The pluses:
- its free version enables up to 15 people to work in teams,
- its sophisticated design and ergonomic navigation,
- flexibility.
🤔 Minuses:
- the search system is not always intuitive,
- no ticket or task number system.
Asana
Beesbusy: project management made easy
Are you looking for free software to manage your projects, structure your daily work and plan your tasks? Try Beesbusy.
The key to its success? To be both powerful and easy to use. Thanks to its easy-to-understand, highly visual interface, every employee can see at a glance how to get organized.
Note also that your data is reserved exclusively for Beesbusy, which under no circumstances resells it.
Prices start at €9.99/month, with no commitment required.
👍 The pluses:
- the free version has no limits on the number of projects, tasks or users,
- quick to learn and easy to use,
- operation via the app just as smooth as on the computer.
🤔 Minuses:
- some features not present in free version, such as dashboards,
- not suitable for complex projects.
Beesbusy
Bitrix24: project management in an all-in-one tool
Bitrix24 is used by over 2 million companies and organizations worldwide.
This success is due to the large number of free and relevant functionalities, aimed at all company employees. In fact, Bitrix24 is not just a project management tool: it's a CSR, a CRM, a document manager, diaries, messaging, HR tools and more.
Despite its relatively vague data confidentiality, Bitrix24 makes it possible to effectively manage projects without spending a cent.
👍 The pluses:
- free for up to 12 users,
- a wide range of tools in a unified platform,
- data hosted in the European Union.
🤔 Minuses:
- limited functionality in the free version (no customizable fields, no time management, etc.),
- some slowness takes away from the fluidity of use.
Bitrix24
BubblePlan: free, intuitive planning
Bubble Plan is a French software package with a free version that's perfect for people working alone on a single project.
It lets you get your feet wet in project management, without having to invest any money. The free version already offers a host of features, including a planning view, Gantt chart, dashboards and budget management.
👍 The pluses:
- a highly intuitive interface and ease of use,
- at-a-glance visibility for tracking project progress,
- French solution.
🤔 Minuses:
- the free version is limited to 1 project and 1 user,
- some essential features not present in the free version.
Bubble Plan
Freedcamp: unlimited number of users and projects
If you're looking for traditional project management functionalities, Freedcamp is very complete: assignment and customization of tasks and sub-tasks, to-do list, deadline management, ability to set milestones, synchronization with your Google calendar, etc.
And since your business is destined to grow, you should know that this tool is scalable. For a fee, you can add CRM or invoicing modules, for example.
👍 The pluses :
- efficient tracking of time spent on each task,
- affordable rates for paid versions,
- unlimited number of users and projects in free mode.
🤔 Minuses:
- the free version doesn't let you schedule a recurring task,
- interface not available in French.
Freedcamp
Redmine: open source project management software
Redmine is an open source solution. It's free, world-renowned, and offers all the features you need to work in project mode, whatever your team configuration.
Redmine is particularly suited to developers as an agile project management tool, but can be used for all types of projects.
It's also appreciated for its simplicity, as well as for customizable ticket formats and workflows.
👍 Plus points:
- Open source, adapts to all types of structure,
- allows developers to customize the tool according to their needs,
- ideal for tracking tickets.
🤔 Minuses:
- hosting and maintenance costs to be expected,
- poor design and ergonomics.
Redmine
Todoist: task management made easy
Todoist is primarily a task management program, although it is particularly useful for managing small projects.
Todoist helps you organize and structure your day-to-day work. List your tasks, prioritize them (thanks in particular to the possibility of nesting projects and tasks at up to four levels), establish priorities or recurrences, and so on.
Todoist's ergonomic design makes it quick and easy to learn.
👍 Benefits :
- up to 80 projects and 5 people per project in the free version,
- very affordable rates for premium versions,
- integrates with many of your everyday tools (Slack, Toggl, Google Drive, etc.) to facilitate the operational management of your business.
🤔 Minuses:
- some particularly useful features not available in the freemium version (adding attachments, labels, filters, etc.),
- it's a very good task manager, but doesn't manage all facets of a project (no calendar view, for example).
Todoist
Trello: the most visual and collaborative tool available
Trello understands that project management is all about collaboration and visualizing the progress of ongoing tasks. It lets you create projects in the form of columns and cards, easy to use in collaborative mode. Its mobile application is also very well designed.
Trello is more akin to a task manager than a project management tool per se, as it doesn't manage costs, time or budgets.
👍 The pluses:
- probably the easiest and most intuitive software to use,
- you can create automation rules to save time,
- many tutorials exist on the web to give you examples of project management.
🤔 Minuses:
- offers only the Kanban view, not suitable for complex projects,
- limited to 10 team boards in the free version.
Trello
Zoho Projects: free, comprehensive project management
Zoho offers a comprehensive range of online tools at unbeatable prices. Zoho Projects is a perfect example: the free offer allows 3 users to work on up to 2 projects, with all the essential functionalities. These include task and document management, human resources, budgeting, time management and much more.
If you want to create a third project, you'll need to upgrade.
👍 The pluses:
- easily integrates with the most popular third-party applications (MS Project, G Suite, DropBox, Slack, Github, etc.),
- collaborative, with integrated instant messaging,
- unlimited number of users in the free version.
🤔 Minuses:
- customization efforts to be made to make the interface pleasant,
- time-consuming to set up and get to grips with on startup.
Zoho Projects
Free or paid project management software?
Free project management software helps you get organized, achieve your goals and collaborate without asking for a budget. However, publishers often limit functionality and associated services, or use user data for advertising purposes to generate revenue.
So it's with full knowledge of the facts that you can opt for the solution most aligned with your needs, but also with your company's growth ambitions. 📈
To find out more, read our other articles on project management tools :
- Comparison of 6 well-known project management software packages
- Tools to track your projects before they get out of hand
- Project management tools
- What are the alternatives to free MS Project project management software?
- Top 11 collaborative task managers for project management
Article translated from French
Maëlys De Santis, Growth Managing Editor, started at Appvizer in 2017 as Copywriter & Content Manager. Her career at Appvizer is distinguished by her in-depth expertise in content strategy and content marketing, as well as SEO optimization. With a Master's degree in Intercultural Communication and Translation from ISIT, Maëlys also studied languages and English at the University of Surrey. She has shared her expertise in publications such as Le Point and Digital CMO. She contributes to the organization of the global SaaS event, B2B Rocks, where she took part in the opening keynote in 2023 and 2024.
An anecdote about Maëlys? She has a (not so) secret passion for fancy socks, Christmas, baking and her cat Gary. 🐈⬛