10 Free Project Management Applications
Posted February 8, 2010 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 73 Comments »
How do you make sure that you get all of your work done on time?
As freelancers, we wear many different hats. In addition to performing our freelancing specialty for the client, we’re also the sales staff, the manager, the support team, and the accountant all rolled into one person.
For many freelancers the project planning tasks that go along with freelancing may seem kind of overwhelming (especially if they’ve never done any project planning). Other freelancers may find that they need to provide the same kind of project plans to their clients that would have been required of them in the corporate world.
Either way, project planning can be a lot of extra work for a freelancer. The project planning task is difficult to handle without good tools to work with.
In this post, I list some project management tools that are either freeware or open source.
Free Project Management Applications
Fortunately, there is a huge variety of project management tools available to help freelancers and small business owners with their project planning needs. Some of the very best tools require a substantial financial investment on the part of the freelancer. However, there other tools that may not be quite as full-featured that will work fine for a freelancer who is just starting out or for a very small business owner.
Here is a list of ten project management software applications that are either free (or available at a very low cost) with a brief description of each:
- jxProject–Free application that includes many of the features expected of a project management package such as: task dependencies, resource scheduling, timeline formatting, and resource leveling. (The tool is free because it includes advertisements. A version without advertisements is available for $20.00.)
- dotProject–Open source tool designed to help you structure and schedule your work. For user questions, there is forum (manned by volunteers) that can be accessed from the main site. Announcements are made through the blog, which can be accessed from their website.
- GanttProject–Free, open source software lets you create Gantt charts, assign resources, create PERT charts, and plan collaboration. The tool has a very helpful user forum and blog.
- Open Workbench–This open source software bills itself as a direct competitor to Microsoft Project. In fact, the software’s website includes a detailed comparison between the two packages. Open Workbench is sponsored by CA, the manufacturer of the Clarity family of products (which are not free).
- SugarCRM –The community edition of this software is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) v3. This product includes a user forum and there is even a conference. (There are two additional products from this company that are not open source and do cost money.)
- ProjectPier–This open source software lets you manage messages, tasks, and milestones. You can also upload and manage files. The website includes a helpful forum and a blog listing planned updates.
- OpenProj–Open source software package distributed under the CPAL license. It is comparable to Microsoft Project in that it lets you produce a wide variety of charts such as Gantt and PERT. This software is owned by Serena Software Incorporated, which also sells Projects on Demand.
- Project HQ–This open source software package compares itself with Basecamp. Features include the ability to track projects, milestones, and create task lists and tasks. The website does include a user forum. I did notice on the download page that there are no stable releases of this software yet, which means that all versions are in development.
- Clocking IT–This free project management tool was designed by a consultant for consultants. It helps you track how much time is spent on each project, although it can produce Gantt charts and other reports. The website includes a user forum and a wiki.
- TaskJuggler–This open source package is released under the GNU GPL version 2 license. With this tool you can manage tasks, resources, and costs that are related to your projects. It also supports risk analysis and flexible working hours. Support is available through Google Groups.
If you didn’t find the project management system that you need in this list, you may find it in our earlier list of project management tools. There are also project management alternatives for freelancers with greater needs.
More Project Management Tools
If you didn’t find what you needed in the list above, you may want to choose from one of these additional fine project management tools. You’ll have to pay for these project management programs, but all of these packages also offer a short free trial to new customers.
Here are five more project management tools:
What Project Management Tools Do You Use?
Do you use project management software to plan your freelancing tasks? Have you used any of the tools above, or do you use other tools that we haven’t mentioned here?
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Image by gregoryjameswalsh
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 19 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts
-
Project management tools and applications are incredibly valuable to web-workers. Tracking time, tasks, people, and everything else is difficult, and…
[Read More...] -
Project management applications get a lot of attention here on FreelanceFolder, and with good reason — finding a good project…
[Read More...] -
If you’re running an online business, and probably even if you aren’t, there are some online tools that you need…
[Read More...]
The Unlimited Freelancer is Now Only $19
Unleash the true potential of your business. Get The Unlimited Freelancer and start transforming your freelance business,
now only $19.
Try searching "Getting Clients" or "Productivity"
FreelanceCommunity
Free Resource: Massive Web UI and Button Set
This is a free photoshop set provided by MediaLoot with hundreds of free buttons, boxes, and other useful web elements.5 Fresh and Useful jQuery Plugins Were Born in November 2009
In November 2009, 5 jQuery plugins were born that are new and useful for web designers. Read this post to learn more.How Well Do You Understand CSS Positioning?
The css position property seems easy to grasp, but it works a little differently than it appears on the surface.
Free Report
Sign up for our product discount list to get a free copy of Why Some Freelancers Thrive and Others Barely Survive. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Popular Articles
- SEO Techniques All Top Websites Should Use
- When a Client Can't Afford You: Why It's Still Better to Bid High
- How To Stop Scrambling For Clients And Get A Steady Stream Of Paying Gigs
- A Simple Way To Stop Clients From Rejecting Your Proposals
- 3 Reasons Your Rates Are Still Low (And How To Start Raising Them)
73 Comments
Jason Gilbert
February 8th, 2010 at 8:55 amOur team uses Intervals. Online at http://www.myintervals.com. Intervals is web-based project management software that marries time tracking and task management in a collaborative online space with some nice reporting. Intervals is ideal for small businesses — including designers, web developers, consultants, creative agencies, IT services firms, and communications companies that bill on an hourly or per project basis. Intervals is fully hosted online.
Some features:
* Comprehensive Time Tracking (LOVE IT!!)
* Task Management, Milestones and Workflow
* Project Management
* Document/File Storage
* Powerful Visual Reporting
* Invoicing
* Export time data to QuickBooks™
* Calendar view with drag and drop scheduling (LOVE IT!!)
* Multiple Web-based timers
* Weekly timesheet submissions
* Export data to CSV and PDF
* Secure and personalized
* Detailed task and work request history
* Real-time budget vs. actual
Anything Graphic
February 8th, 2010 at 9:56 amI am slowly needing programs to help streamline my business as I gain more clients. I’m just starting out so business is kind of slow. I am also slowly imlplementing all of the nice tips in BOTH of your e-books I bought :-)
However, this is probably a question that may or may not help me because everybody’s preferences are different. But which of these do you like best? What’s the easiest to use and doesn’t have toooo many bells and whistles for a not toooo busy freelancer.
You guys rock, FYI. Thanks for this list.
Dana
February 8th, 2010 at 9:57 amThis is a good list of free resources for online project management. OnePlace is also an option for individuals and teams to use – it’s free to individuals, teams of 2 people, and non-profit organizations.
Customers are using it for their freelance projects, managing clients, and managing their personal life as well. Just adding another option to your list above. http://www.oneplacehome.com. Thanks!
Jordan Walker
February 8th, 2010 at 10:32 amThere are so many of these, I really like Collabtive. Yeah the spelling is funny but worth it.
Carlin Scuderi
February 8th, 2010 at 11:21 amWhat about Billings?
http://www.billingsapp.com/
It’s a great piece of software I use to keep track of my time management and has a lot of the things mentioned in this article. It’s not free, but it’s definitely very useful. It’s only on Mac, though.
Jason, you might find that useful. I think you can download a free trial from the website posted above.
Hope that helps!
Johnny
February 8th, 2010 at 11:44 amPersonally, I use Feng Office which is a really robust project management software you install to your own server.
What I really need, though, to save time is something that will handle project management AND invoicing AND timetracking AND expenses all in one app (Feng doesn’t). Even though you may be using free software or services to handle these, a lot of time is used up having to manage each one seperately.
@Jason has a pretty good tip with Intervals which has most of what I need. It would definitely be worth the monthly fee.
Andy Staple
February 8th, 2010 at 12:15 pmI’ve found Collabtive to be a great Open Source Project Management application.
http://collabtive.o-dyn.de/
Laura Spencer
February 8th, 2010 at 12:46 pmGreat resources!
Thanks to everyone for sharing. When I started this post I was told that project management software is very complex and that companies don’t like to give it away. However, I did manage to find some free and open source options for freelancers on a budget.
Keep the feedback coming…
Leslie A. Joy
February 8th, 2010 at 1:08 pmI’m surprised to see Many Moon isn’t on this list. It’s free and has amazing Google apps integration. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Hilary
February 8th, 2010 at 1:15 pmOneNote although not free, the next edition of Microsoft Office Pro will include it. It’s highly adaptable which I need since a simple todo list style doesn’t work for most of my projects. Evernote is similar but lacks some of the flexibility but it makes up in portability.
Freshbooks for timetracking and invoicing. Again not free (unless you count three clients which is just enough to figure out if you like it or not.) This has made a MAJOR difference in how quickly I invoice clients and it also seems to have sped up how quickly clients pay me. And if they don’t pay on time I have the system set to send automatic late notices. AND your invoices don’t have to show the full time breakdown but it can. You can also do flat fee projects with it. I could go on and on about what it can do. I hate accounting but you have to do it to get paid right?
And one last major thing – GTD, Getting Things Done principles. Getting certain systems and processes in place no matter what piece of software you use can a huge difference in your project workflow. :)
Laura Spencer
February 8th, 2010 at 1:37 pmGreat additions to the list!
It turns out that there are many low cost project management alternatives for freelancers.
What other project management tools do you guys like?
Mosotomoss
February 8th, 2010 at 1:44 pm“How do you make sure that you get all of your work done on time?” For me, its all about not putting to much on my plate on a daily basis. Everyday, of the week I have certain things that have to be done. For example, Sunday evenings is the time time I call my Image Stagers and see what’s going on with their accounts and what do they have coming up this week. Mondays are doing followups to my own clinets. I never put more then I can handle on any given day.
Great List! Thanks
Tinu Designer
February 8th, 2010 at 1:52 pmVery interesting.
Thank you for this article!
Michael D Hart
February 8th, 2010 at 1:56 pmOne place looks great- nice addition!
I’ve just begun playing around with Open Atrium: http://openatrium.com
It’s still a work in progress, and doesn’t have all the features of, say a Basecamp. But, I think it looks promising. Plus, it’s Drupal!
Michael Lajlev
February 8th, 2010 at 3:34 pmI use Paymo http://www.paymo.biz/ nice and simple where you are able to create invoice, and a lot of other things.
Harry - GoalsOnTrack
February 8th, 2010 at 3:44 pmThanks for the great list.
You may want to check out http://www.GoalsOnTrack.com, a very nicely built web app designed for tracking goals and todo lists, and supports time tracking too. It’s clear, focused, easy to navigate, worth a try.
Mike
February 8th, 2010 at 6:03 pmI use ZOHO Projects, http://projects.zoho.com/ for planning, collaborating and tracking biz projects. Very easy to use and is a stable platform. Pricing ranges from FREE (basic, good for small, personal or biz projects w 1 or 2 collaborators, to their Premium Service for more complex projects. I highly recommend ZOHO.
Laura Spencer
February 8th, 2010 at 6:13 pmThanks, everyone, for sharing your project management tools.
brauny
February 8th, 2010 at 8:06 pmI just started using http://projectbubble.com. It is very simple, clean and easy to use and…it’s free. One of the best features is that you can set up collaboration on projects. It also has invoicing. I can’t imagine it will be free once it starts to get more popular, but I’m loving it for the time being.
Matt B.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:48 pmWe use Sharepoint!
Waqar
February 8th, 2010 at 10:06 pmI have managed to get a beta account on Clutterpad, which is an online project management tool. It really is amazing. It’s really simple but lets you do everything that you would need to do to run a project. I have heard that they will be releasing pretty soon to the public. http://www.clutterpad.com
Donnie Bell
February 8th, 2010 at 10:40 pmWow. Just came across this link on twitter. So glad I clicked through. Can’t wait to check some of these resources out. We are a small firm, but we moved our office to a higher traffic area an the business is beginning to increase. Finding it a new challenge to juggle the creative side of the business with the business responsibilities. Thanks for the post.
Eleven Media
February 9th, 2010 at 5:47 amWe use Thymer to manage our small web design team – it’s awesome.
Project & Task managment – very user friendly.
Sidharth
February 9th, 2010 at 6:28 amHello, This might be useful & relevant …
The Marathon List of Project Management & Collaboration Tools
http://blog.decode10.com/2009/12/13/the-marathon-list-of-project-management-collaboration-tools/
Michael Allen
February 9th, 2010 at 6:54 amOur company has been using http://www.doolphy.com for some time now and we’re very happy with it. The application is in Beta version and can be used for free. There is no limit in the number of users or the number of reports that can be created. It is helping us a lot with the management of our tasks. I recommend it.
Best regards.
ezeq
February 9th, 2010 at 8:09 amI use Feng Office to manage tasks and documents. It’s right what I need and easy to use for my customers.
Web Based Project Management Software
February 9th, 2010 at 8:46 amIn any organization, project management software is used for different purposes like communication, collaboration and overall management and tracking of projects. If you need to schedule multiple tasks and events at work then project management software can be very valuable.
Ricardo Bueno
February 9th, 2010 at 9:22 amI appreciate the list that you’ve compiled here though I haven’t really used anything other than Basecamp to manage my client projects. I’ll take a look at Project HQ since it compares itself to Basecamp but I have to be honest and state that I’m hesitant towards using anything other than what I’ve grown to know so well by now…
Katrina de Gruchy
February 9th, 2010 at 9:56 amI cant live without bascamphq.com. I work with other freelancers so its a great place to create To-do lists, send message and upload work. Its not free but certainly cheap and well worth the money. Its a great way for getting things off your list!
Katrina
Laura Spencer
February 9th, 2010 at 10:40 amThanks to everyone who shared a project management tool. It turns out there are many more project management options than I ever realized.
My particular challenge with this post was to compile list of free or open source project management tools.
Keep sharing your experiences with project management software!
Josh
February 9th, 2010 at 10:20 pmI’ve been using http://www.streber-pm.org/ for a few months now. It’s been a great tool for small team development. I’m pretty sure it could be used by larger organizations without much trouble as well. It’s another open-source app that can easily be hosted on your company’s servers.
vcool
February 9th, 2010 at 11:06 pmwhat about BaseCamp http://www.basecamphq.com ? its a hosted service
or you can try Redmine (ruby on rails, open source) if you want to host your own project management application
reputation management
February 10th, 2010 at 12:06 amThis is really cool free stuff of Project Management Applications.I would like to say about Time management tips which implement a time management plan, respect our promises, write down important things, plan your week, carry a notebook, write down to do list, identify bad habits Find out wasting time etc. these tips will help you to save your lots time and extra work….
Biba
February 10th, 2010 at 3:55 amToday, I do little freelancing because I have a full-time job at the moment.
However, few months ago I was working on a project with a company that used a desktop software to manage their projects, called Seavus Project Planner.
The most interesting part was that they provided me with Seavus Project Viewer, which actually just opens the project file (because I didn’t need to plan anything).
I discussed this with the project manager there and he said that it saved them a lot of money (Planner is more expensive than the viewer) because he was the one who planned the project and all the others just had to view the files.
Smart move :-)
SM
February 10th, 2010 at 7:39 amGreat collection. Thanks
Jerry Jacobson
February 11th, 2010 at 7:18 amValleySpeak Project Server allows the Project Managers to use Microsoft Project as a Managing tools in real time. It enables me to view and share the Microsoft Project schedules with team members in real time It lets me continue to use for managing your schedules and projects and at the same time it is easy to use and have access to the web based browser. It lets me to update the schedules through the browser. As the server uses the native Microsoft Project file, I can report the task in real time. It gives me the facilities far beyond what Microsoft Project alone provides, allowing to use the files in a collaborative environment. It provides 100% Two Way Integration with Microsoft Project. It also provides me with the Discussion forums that are helpful for you. It is easy to use it as it is compatible with Microsoft Project 2007 and provides highly secured solution with built in firewall and is used on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista.
http://www.valleyspeak.com
Benjamin
February 11th, 2010 at 4:44 pmIf you are after something very visual and intuitive, then Milestone Planner might be one for your list. It has calendar and RSS feeds and you can work as a group on a project, swapping messages and updating plans in real-time.
Jerry Jacobson
February 12th, 2010 at 12:32 amValleySpeak project server is a centralized MPP Viewer that enables viewing and sharing of Microsoft Project schedules with team members in real time without investing in expensive multiple Microsoft Project licenses. ValleySpeak project is a hosted MPP Viewer that enables team members to view their respective tasks as per the Project on their web interface.
http://www.valleyspeak.com
Priyanka D
February 12th, 2010 at 5:20 amI suggest DeskAway, we have a free basic plan to start out with. It would be good for freelancers especially.
The upgrades are reasonable and feature rich!
Jan Schulz-Hofen
February 13th, 2010 at 2:20 amWow, what a great resource! I just wanted to add Planio (http://plan.io) to this list. It’s a hosted integrated project management solution based on the popular open source platform Redmine that comes with a couple of extras that are especially useful for freelancers, like start/stop time tracking, email dropbox for client communication, ready-to-use Subversion and Git repositories, etc. There’s an unlimited free Plan which you can use for 1 project and two users (you+client) at a time. All paid plans have free 30 day trials and zero-risk one month cancellation terms.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Eduardo
February 17th, 2010 at 4:53 amThis was a great find. I’m currently experimenting and using “Clocking IT”. I found it does everything that I need.
I’ve used others before, some in-house products developed by previous employers, and I found that they consumed more time rather than managing my time better.
PM Hut
February 18th, 2010 at 1:06 pmThe problem with free tools is support, companies willing to formalize Project Management have no problem paying for tools that are supported. Free tools are maybe excellent for freelancers, but once you grow into a company, it’s better to look for a paid solution that offers support, nightly backups, etc…
Published an article a long while ago about the ideal PM tool (written by the CEO of a PM tool, though the article is fairly neutral): http://www.pmhut.com/what-would-an-ideal-project-management-tool-look-like
Tiberiu Ghioca
February 18th, 2010 at 5:28 pm@Biba What is that special about the Seavus Project Viewer being cheaper than the planner? It should be free. RationalPlan is also a shareware project management software and is also offering a viewer for the products BUT the viewer is free:
http://www.rationalplan.com/
A free viewer for Microsoft Project is MOOS Project Viewer:
http://www.ms-project-viewer.com/
Angel Grablev
February 22nd, 2010 at 4:09 pmI am currently working with a team of developers who are fed up with paying for quality project management and we are at the beta stages of an amazing system called freedcamp. Check it out and sign up now for beta invites http://www.freedcamp.com
Jerry Jacobson
February 26th, 2010 at 1:06 amValleySpeak Project Server is a companion program that works with Microsoft Project client. ValleySpeak Project Server enables online collaboration between project managers, team members, Executives and other stakeholders. ValleySpeak Project Server also enables your company to share standards across projects, view resource availability and other resource information across projects, and manage and report on portfolios of projects.
ValleySpeak Project Server enables secure Web Access for your Microsoft Project files, such that your Team Members can view and submit updates to your Project information in real-time. By allowing the Project Mangers to work us usual in Microsoft Project, ValleySpeak Project Server offers an effective solution for team collaboration. ValleySpeak Project Server fosters efficient communication between team members, project managers, executives and stakeholders.
Sarah
February 28th, 2010 at 8:00 pmThis is a fantastic blog post. Love all the comments and resources that everyone has been sharing so I thought I’d add one of my own.
I’m on a Mac and came across http://www.subernova.com. It’s a very simple web-based system that tracks projects, milestones, tasks and clients. My favorite part is the mobile integration for iPhones and Touches.
Subernova also allows you to generate estimates and invoices that can be scheduled for future sends. Reminders are automatically emailed every 30, 60 and 90 days to clients and they can all be customized according to what you want (i.e. terms and conditions, friendly reminders, etc.). This same reminder feature for clients can also be set to remind yourself about impending deadlines – very cool.
The interface is very sleek and their customer service is outstanding for any questions or quirks that might pop up. At $14.99/month with zero limitations, I’ve chosen Subernova as my web-based project management solution.
:-)
Liz
March 8th, 2010 at 2:32 amAlthough this isn’t a project management tool, there is a particular tool which allows freelancers to save time and lessens the billing burdens associated with running a business. This is the online invoicing tool called Billing Boss from Sage Software (www.billingboss.com). It currently allows you to created unlimited invoices for unlimited customers. It was seriously built to allow you to go “in and out” within 5 minutes – get your estimates/invoices done and focus on other important tasks. And best of all, it’s FREE!
I’ve been using Billing Boss from the past few months, for my own business (and I’m also a contractor of Sage), and I’m loving it! Super easy to use. Thanks Laura for sharing all the PM tools. I can’t wait to try some of them. I’ve been using Excel to track projects, and it’s not fun……
Please note: This author has been compensated by Sage.
Online Outsourcing
March 8th, 2010 at 8:13 amI like to do the xjProject…you gave the all the information which is managed to gain the importance of the free project process.I will search your other post all…keep sharing.
Trackbacks