Top Gantt Chart Tools for 2023
Gantt Chart Tools: Top 23 Project Management Tools For 2023
Using Gantt charts is a great way to help you effectively manage your small team and simple projects. Instead of getting bogged down by details, these charts give you a broad visual representation of the tasks, milestones, and deadlines.
Of course, in order to get the best results, you need a top-of-the-class Gantt chart tool. Before we start discussing the best tools on the market today, let’s look at what a Gantt chart is.
What is a Gantt chart?
A Gantt chart is a visual representation of a project: the timeline, resources involved, and how it’s going to be executed—all of which are laid out in horizontal bars. The x-axis represents dates while the y-axis represents the various activities and tasks for the project.
This horizontally stacked bar graph shows when each activity starts and ends. It also indicates:
- Overlapping activities
- Dependencies
- Who is responsible for each task
A Gantt chart shows you an immediate overview of the project, including how certain tasks are interdependent and how long each one is expected to take.
As a result, they can help teams collaborate, manage tasks and resources, and track and plan projects.
A brief history of Gantt charts
Despite the name, Gantt charts weren’t invented by Henry Gantt. He did popularize them in the early 1900s, but Karol Adamiecki first created them around 15 years earlier.
Adamiecki was a Polish engineer who was interested in project management ideas and techniques. His idea for project planning was adapted by Gantt and that was the version that became popular around the world.
Initially, Gantt charts were drawn by hand, which meant every time there was a change, the entire chart had to be redrawn. Now, however, we have software that makes it easier to design, create, and edit Gantt charts in minutes.
Benefits of using Gantt charts
So, you might be wondering why you need Gantt charts (or tools to create them). The reason is, there are several benefits of using these charts:
View your project visually
While there is a place for finer details, sometimes what you need to manage a project is a bird’s-eye view. A Gantt chart can help you create a broad plan for managing your project without going into the nitty-gritty details.
As it does so visually, a quick look can give you a lot of information, such as:
- Deadlines and due dates
- When tasks are supposed to start
- Activity and project cost estimates
- Dependencies
- Milestones
- Duration of activities
- Project duration
Easily monitor your progress
Another great feature that a Gantt chart offers is the fact that you can track the progress of the project in real time. Since you can view the way a project is coming along, it puts you in a better position to reallocate resources for maximum efficiency.
Adjust the plan in real time
Gantt charts allow you to see the speed at which the various tasks and activities are moving, showing you upcoming roadblocks and delays. Thus, you can adjust your plans accordingly.
Disadvantages of using Gantt charts
While Gantt charts do offer great benefits, they come with certain limitations as well. Of course, there are ways to overcome them, but it’s best to be aware in the first place.
Not ideal for very complex projects
For complicated projects, the list of activities and timelines might become too cumbersome to depict in a Gantt chart.
However, it is entirely possible to break the larger project into smaller sub-projects and use Gantt charts for each one.
May not be suitable for Agile projects
When you are working in an Agile environment, you want to be able to change direction quickly. If you use Gantt charts to manage work in such a situation, they would need to be updated very frequently.
However, if your Gantt chart is a part of a project management system and is drawing information from other parts of the platform, the entire process can be automated. That gives you the same benefits but without having to manually update the data points.
Inconvenient to view long-term projects
For a sprawling project that will span across months—perhaps years—a Gantt chart might not be suitable. As you know, the Gantt chart’s x-axis represents time, so for projects that’ll take several months to complete, you’ll have to scroll horizontally across that entire timeline to view the whole project.
Considering that the main benefit of a Gantt chart is easy viewing, this can be counterproductive.
Cannot be printed out
Technically, you can print out a Gantt chart, but doing so will result in a very long, possibly unwieldy document.
Gantt chart alternatives
Having taken a look at the limitations of Gantt charts, here’s what you could use instead:
- PERT charts
- Kanban boards
- Calendars
What to look out for in a Gantt chart software
If you’ve decided to invest in Gantt chart software, here’s what you should look for:
- Usability features, such as:
- Milestones
- Dependencies
- Auto-scheduling
- Critical path
- Project and task progress
- An export option
- An intuitive user interface
- The ability to integrate with other apps and software tools
Now that we’ve given you a better idea of what a Gantt chart is and how it can benefit your team, here’s our list of the top Gantt chart software products on the market:
23 best Gantt chart software solutions
think-cell
With think-cell, creating Gantt charts within PowerPoint presentations is extremely simple. Our product is equipped with a very easy-to-use interface and a whole range of features to make visually appealing charts within the PowerPoint environment.
Using this Gantt chart tool, you can easily modify date ranges and scales, and take advantage of a variety of timeline items to visualize your project.
If the data you want to use for your project is stored in an Excel spreadsheet, you can simply link it to the chart. Plus, think-cell’s Gantt chart tool creates beautiful results—both for your timeline planning as well as your presentation.
Agantty
As a free and open-source software, Agantty does lack certain UX features. While it doesn’t offer critical path, you can sort tasks chronologically or by completion status and assigned users. You can also create unlimited projects across unlimited teams.
Agantty’s biggest advantage is the data security (governed by German privacy laws) it offers.
Backlog
Backlog is a project management tool that also offers a Gantt chart feature. You can enable role-based access to people and share the charts with vendors and clients through guest roles.
However, you only get one project with the free plan. Also, it lacks features that you would get with most other similar software.
Bitrix24
This project management and communication platform has a Gantt chart tool that allows free unlimited projects and 5GB online storage. It also offers an app that lets you manage your projects from anywhere.
However, the on-premise plan can be quite expensive, and the widgets and setup can be slow. And according to some customer reviews, it doesn’t always have reliable tech support.
ClickUp
ClickUp offers a fast and good-looking interface that manages all aspects of your work projects. While it does come with a comprehensive Gantt chart tool, you only get it with the paid plan, which isn’t that expensive. ClickUp plans come with great features and provide compatibility options.
Some of ClickUp’s features include dependencies visualization, tracking progress percentage, and automatic critical path calculation.
GanttPRO
This Gantt chart tool started as such and is now growing into a full-fledged project management solution. It allows you to import projects from CSV or Jira. You can also plan the structure of your projects in great detail, including lead and lag times for dependencies.
Gantt Project
This is a free open-source Gantt chart software that saves your projects locally. It allows you to show dependencies, import and export files to CSV, or convert them to PNG or PDFs.
However, it’s not a complete project management tool and doesn’t have an app or an online version at the time of writing.
Instagantt
Just like the name suggests, Instagantt simplifies the process of making Gantt charts, so you can plan complex projects using drag-and-drop features to schedule tasks and manage timelines.
It integrates with Asana, which doesn’t have a Gantt chart tool, to give you a complete project management solution.
Microsoft Excel
Though not a specialized Gantt chart tool, Excel can be used to create one. Templates are available online, and you can use Gantt chart tools to break down projects by phase, percentage completed, due date, and more.
However, features are limited: there are no notifications or reminders and it doesn’t track time.
Microsoft Project
This is a project management platform that’s a part of the Microsoft suite, so your charts can be integrated with PowerPoint presentations. MS Project offers some powerful features but it can be difficult to learn for beginners and the pricing plan is expensive.
monday.com
With monday.com, you can create Gantt charts using dynamic boards and see projects in Kanban and calendar views. These alternative project visualizations mitigate the drawbacks of Gantt charts for projects that aren’t suited to that format.
nTask
If you want a project management tool that offers Gantt charts but also other views—like Kanban—nTask is another option. It provides interactive charts that can be easily created and edited using a simple drag-and-drop interface.
The drag-and-drop feature also makes it easier to amend timelines and manage dependencies and risks. The multiple assignee feature allows you to work with more than one collaborator for better resource management.
However, you might find reporting to be a bit of a problem, as it has a limited reporting feature set. It can also sometimes struggle with managing too many projects.
Office Timeline
If you want to add Gantt charts to your PowerPoint presentations, Office Timeline can help. It allows you to style your charts the way you want them and even lets you invite collaborators to view or edit the chart in PowerPoint.
Your chart data can be exported from Excel, Wrike, and SmartSheet.
Unfortunately, Office Timeline doesn’t come with time tracking, and collaborating may not be possible if some members aren’t using the most updated version.
Paymo
Here’s another project management system that offers a robust Gantt chart creation feature. Some parts are even automated: the chart automatically picks up on start and end dates for tasks that are included in their description.
The tool also allows you to set lag and lead times to manage any overlaps and delays.
Paymo does offer a free plan, but only up to 10 users.
ProjectLibre
If you need a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Project, ProjectLibre might be your best choice. You can choose between a local and desktop version, and a cloud version that’s still in beta phase.
Because this project management tool is platform-agnostic, you can import files from Project. The tool is very easy to use and allows easy timeline changes. And, the desktop version is free (although the cloud version does have a subscription fee).
ProofHub
ProofHub’s Gantt charts are part of its work management system. Since it provides an environment for collaboration, you can also take advantage of instant chats, comments, and discussion boards.
This Gantt chart tool also assists you in task and productivity management, with easy drag-and-drop features, and tracking critical paths, dependencies, milestones, and baselining.
SmartSheet
Unlike most other Gantt chart tools on this list, SmartSheet is not part of a project management platform. This tool specializes in spreadsheets where you can store your project information.
As a result, it doesn’t focus on making things look pretty. However, it does provide you with plenty of customization and automation options.
SmartSheet doesn’t have an auto-save feature, which makes collaboration a bit tricky.
StudioBinder
StudioBinder is a Gantt chart tool that specializes in planning workflows for film production and events.
Its drag-and-drop interface is quite easy to use, and users are invited to create their own templates or choose from the built-in calendar templates.
One of its notable features is that you can create comments in your Gantt chart really easily and also upload files as comments.
TeamGantt
If form and function are just as important to you, TeamGantt gives you a Gantt chart tool that’s as beautiful as it is useful.
This Gantt chart tool is online and cloud-based and makes it really easy to assign and move tasks. It also gives you an overview of team availability for better resource management and allows you to change the view to a simple list or calendar instead of a bar chart.
Another excellent feature it offers is timeline comparison, where you can see the planned timeline against the actual timeline. That allows you to see if you and your team are on the right track.
Toggl Plan
Another online Gantt chart tool that makes visually appealing charts, Toggl Plan also offers useful features like a drag-and-drop interface and a timeline view.
You can use this tool to calculate project costs, get high-level views of weekly bookings, and see the time needed to complete tasks.
This product doesn’t offer dependencies which can be a major limitation in a Gantt chart tool.
Tom’s Planner
A Gantt chart tool with over 500,000 templates, Tom’s planner is sure to have a template that works for you. Plus, it also offers robust filters so you can find tasks by team, resource, or activity.
It also allows you to import project schedules from other applications, like MS Project, Basecamp, Trello, and Excel.
Wrike
This is an online Gantt chart tool that lets you import files from Microsoft Excel and Project. Control multiple projects using this platform with features like critical path analysis, snapshots, and baselining.
With Wrike, you can link dependencies after creating tasks, and send notifications when users are assigned or dates are changed.
However, it does not offer customized views and might not be suitable for large projects that require more storage space.
Zoho Projects
This is a web app that provides users with the ability to sort through tasks using the Milestone Gantt view or the Chronology Gantt view.
You can use four types of dependencies to manage dates with this tool: finish to start, start to start, start to finish, and finish to finish.
Additionally, Zoho’s color-coded statuses allow you to quickly assess the progress of tasks.
Our favorite Gantt chart tool
It goes without saying that our favorite solution is think-cell. With our software, you can make stunning charts in a matter of minutes and do more with your data than Gantt charts.
With the features and tools think-cell offers, you can save up to 70% of your working time. And the best part? Our charts are PowerPoint objects, allowing you to edit and share right from within the application.
think-cell is committed to continuously improving to ensure you and your team produce the best possible results and enjoy a seamless chart-building experience. It’s so easy to use that you’ll become a presentation pro in just a few hours.