28 Best (and free) Task Management Software to Help You at Work

Are you looking for free task management software? We know that it can sometimes feel different using tools to manage your tasks, instead of old-fashioned ways such as writing what you need to do on paper. And we also know that with so many options on the market, it becomes a hard task to choose what’s best for your business.

But don’t worry, this article will guide you through the top 28 tools that can help you manage your work with tasks. You are going to understand what task management is and understand why it’s essential to give some of these different software a chance to help you out in your day-to-day.

What is task management?

Task management is an essential part of work projects and for most of our personal lives too. Some people may think that it is just controlling their daily to-dos with checklists. But no.

Since your tasks are the building blocks of plans, projects, and whatever is necessary to keep life in order, managing them requires a few steps. The main steps are tracking, adding deadlines, and delegation, when it comes to collaboration inside teams.

That’s why notepads, pens, or even spreadsheets aren’t enough for more complex contexts anymore. These solutions are too simple when you need to collaborate with other people or organize your to-dos in a way you can easily track their progress.

Task management software is built specifically for the purpose of improving your experience while managing your to-dos, and they are essential for people who want to organize your work and enhance your productivity.

Why use a task management tool?

There are many benefits of switching from a simple way of listing your tasks on software:

Organize workload

Usually, information is split into many channels, and you are always switching between tools to figure out your tasks. It decreases your productivity and makes you lose a lot of time. By managing your tasks in just one software, you can easily keep your workload organized, gathering all the information necessary to work on them.

Facilitate team collaboration

Many tasks need to be assigned to other people, and for that action, you need to take many steps when you don’t have a specific tool. On task management software, you are just one click away from sending a task with its details to a teammate.

Track work progress

Without a due date and development stages, it becomes challenging to track your performance in a project. A task manager will provide features to help you meet the deadlines, and make clear what are the next steps for a particular task.

28 best free task management software

Here is a complete list of the best task management software in the market, for both individuals and teams, with their respective features. All of them have free versions, some with limited, but functional features to manage tasks.

Most of these task management freemium tools are more suitable for individuals, freelancers, small teams, and businesses. Check out our top 28 task management tools so you can analyze the pros and cons and make the best choice.

You can quickly navigate between them to see further details:

1. DragApp
2. MeisterTask
3. Nifty
4. Todoist
5. Clockify
6. Hitask
7. Basecamp
8. TasQue
9. Trello
10. Wrike
11. ProProfs
12. Podio
13. Quire
14. Freedcamp
15. nTask
16. Any.Do
17. Asana
18. Bitrix24
19. Infolio
20. Wimi
21. Notion
22. Jira
23. HubSpot Task Manager
24. Runrun.it
25. Paymo
26. Teamwork
27. Monday
28. Chanty

1. DragApp

DragApp is more than a task management platform. It is a shared inbox solution with a lot of features to help teams manage their entire workflow.

It is the only software on this list that works inside Gmail. After all, most tasks start and end as emails in your inbox, so Drag was developed to eliminate the back-and-forth between your Gmail and another task management tool. When you manage your projects inside Gmail, you gain more productivity, saving steps on the processes you would need to take with third-party tools or extra browser tabs.

Everything inside your Drag boards is customizable. First, there are two views available: Kanban and List. So you can choose the one that better suits the way you need to handle your tasks inside a board.

You can add notes and due dates to your cards, and mention teammates on the private chat, centralizing all the communication necessary for a specific task. Also, you can drag your cards easily between columns to help you with tracking the steps of a project.

Drag is forever free for individuals and teams of up to 3 users, with essential, but limited features. Still, it is functional, and it can be of great help in organizing not just your tasks but your email inbox. For more advanced and unlimited features, you can acquire a paid plan that starts at $8 per user/month.

Main features:

• Shared boards (for emails and tasks)
• Integrations (Google Groups, Google Calendar, Zapier)
• Collaboration (eg. assignments, shared labels, internal team chat)
• Productivity (eg. checklists, notes, due dates, sort & filter)
• Workflow (eg. email templates, custom fields, reports & analytics).

2. MeisterTask

MeisterTask is a multi-platform collaboration tool focused on task management. You can use MeisterTask to organize and manage individual tasks in a customizable environment that adapts to your needs. It works with Kanban boards, and it allows you to fill your duties with all the information you need.

This software will allow you to build automated workflows to help your team be more productive while managing a lot of project tasks at the same time.
It offers a free version that small teams can benefit a lot from, but its paid plans start at $8,99 per month.

Main features:

• Up to 3 projects
• Unlimited project members
• Customizable project boards
• Import from Asana, Trello, Wunderlist
• File attachments up to 20 MB per file
• Mobile apps
• Email support
• Time tracking
• Task from emails

3. Nifty

Nifty is a free task management and project management software that enables an individual and team to manage their tasks in a very customized and tailored fashion. One is able to manage the tasks of an entire team in Nifty or the personal tasks in his day-to-day life to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Tasks in Nifty can be managed in two views either a typical kanban board that can be portrayed in dark mode, light mode, or classic mode or teams can use the list view to provide a more rigid approach in the form of a modern spreadsheet. On its free plan, Nifty also enables time tracking and custom fields on tasks to provide an optimal experience.

The free version of Nifty enables access to unlimited team members and expands to only paying for what you actually end up using so admins can avoid overpaying.

Main Features:

• Recurring tasks 
• Calendar integration
• Custom fields
• Time tracking
• Subtask
• Collaboration
• Documents
• Unlimited Team Members

4. Todoist

Todoist is a free task management app that helps you to keep in control of everything, either in your personal or work life. It allows you to create sections and subtasks, improving the way you can keep track of your projects. It’s also possible to favorite tasks and highlight them as priorities.

If you need to work with a team, Todoist allows you to delegate tasks and receive notifications on new actions in the assignments. Moreover, it’s also possible to add comments, so everybody on the team can stay on the same page about what has to be done.

The free version meets the needs of individuals and small teams. In case you need an upgrade, the prices start at $4 per month on the annual plan.

Main features:

• Up to 80 active projects
• Recurring due dates
• Sections and subtasks
• Task delegation
• Integrations

5. Clockify

Clockify is a time-tracking app developed to monitor the billable time taken for different tasks. It can be used by freelancers, small companies, and bigger teams, allowing for multiple clients and projects to be done at the same time. This means that you can distribute your working hours easily between multiple tasks and add them to each specific project they’re attached to.

Since it works across devices (with a Chrome extension, an app, and a desktop version, along with a web one), Clockify is very easy to use. You can manually track your work, create timesheets for approval, generate reports, and estimate the cost and length of any project.

Managers can use Clockify to distribute shifts, set up time off, and approve any changes. There is a calendar view, a project view, and a team view. The free version has unlimited users and all tracking features. From there, you can upgrade from $3.99/user/month for billing and more customization features.

Main Features:

• Templates
• Team assignments
• Project estimates
• Auto tracker
• Integrations
• Reports
• Billable rates

6. Hitask

Hitask is a simple task management app, straightforward to use, and doesn’t require a complicated onboarding process. Because of that, it can be ideal for many companies, or even for individuals.

It has one single screen, with everything you need to manage a project in just one place. It’s possible to arrange your tasks by due date, team, or plan, as well as assign them to other teammates.

The free version fits the needs of small teams (up to 5 members), and individuals. One striking aspect of this freemium is the unlimited number of tasks and projects that can be created. For bigger teams that need more complex features, the prices start at $5 per user per month.

Main features:

• Task management
• Document storage
• Time tracking
• Shared calendar
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android

7. Basecamp

Basecamp works with an all-in-one concept, which means it serves as an organizer to keep all of your work in one place rather than going crazy for having it in every other area. So to make your life easier and don’t be irked: consider using Basecamp. Utilize its task management features to get done what is needed and be more efficient.

The freemium version of Basecamp is called Personal, ideal for students, freelancers, personal projects, and similar types of light uses. You can have up to 20 users and three projects on your free account. But if you need an upgrade, the price is $299 per month for unlimited users.

Main features:

• To-to lists
• Schedule with a calendar
• Share your documents and files
• Group chat
• Recurring tasks
• My stuff- for your individual work
• 1Gb storage space

8. TaskQue

TaskQue is an online task manager that exceeds the concept of a simple to-do list app. It helps teams and individuals to simplify their daily processes, allowing them to track task progress. You have access to insights about your projects, to help the team stay on the same page and finish everything on time.

Besides being a task management solution, TaskQue allows you to manage the resources of projects.

The free plan is great for teams with up to 10 people and offers a 5Mb Attachment limit and 1Gb of space. If you need to upgrade to the business plan to have access to more features, you will pay $5 per user/month.

Main features:

• Automatic task assignment
• Recursive task
• Workflows & Templates
• Task Comments
• Calendar view
• Quick Insights
• Integrations with third-party tools

9. Trello

Trello is maybe one of the most well-known task management software of all the ones that offers a Kanban interface. Using it is pretty straightforward for any team because it provides a wide variety of templates for each one of them: sales, marketing, business, HR, support, and others.

You can make your projects more flexible and custom-built, although Trello may be better for simple workflows.

Trello’s freemium plan provides some unlimited features. But in case you opt for more advanced functionalities, the paid plans start at $5 per user per month.

Main features:

• Unlimited Personal Boards
• Lists (unlimited)
• Cards (unlimited)
• 10 Team Boards
• Checklists
• Attachments
• Android iOS mobile apps
• Simple automations

10. Wrike

Wrike is a project management tool that can be used for several other purposes, such as marketing or product development. Due to this flexibility, a variety of teams can use this software to collaborate and communicate while handling tasks. With Wrike, you can customize your workflows, apply color code, and create custom fields to export data.

Wrike offers a free task management plan, ideal for up to 5 users. If your team has more people, you may want to upgrade to a paid plan, with prices starting at $9.80 per user/month.

Main Features

• Board view
• Task Management
• File sharing
• Real-time Activity Stream
• Spreadsheet view
• Integrations with Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, MSFT Office 365 and OneDrive
• Desktop & mobile apps
• 2Gb of storage

11. ProProfs Project

ProProfs Project is an all-in-one task management software. It offers solid features such as task prioritization, instant messaging, and file-sharing that let you run multiple projects simultaneously. You can track milestones in real-time and ensure that the project progresses at the desired pace. Besides, you can track and manage your team’s workload with the tool’s customizable workflows.

ProProfs offers an intuitive dashboard that allows you to collaborate with people across teams and departments. Also, with insightful project reports to back you up, you can identify and fix any gaps if needed.

The free 15-day trial version of ProProfs offers robust features to help you deliver multiple projects successfully. Its paid plans start from $2 per user per month.

Main features:

• Workload management
• Task prioritization
• Task automation
• Instant messaging
• Real-time alerts and notifications
• Seamless document sharing
• Time tracking
• Gantt charts and Kanban boards

12. Podio

Podio is a task management system that helps to centralize all your business processes in just one place. It is flexible and easy to use and is even an award-winner in the world of task management.

The free version offers all the functionalities to manage your tasks. In case you want to unlock more features, you can upgrade to a paid plan. The prices start at $11.20 per month in the annual program.

Main features:

• Task management
• Apps and workspaces
• Mobile Apps

13. Quire

Quire combines both Kanban style and to-do lists to allow businesses to control their workflow correctly. It offers a nested task list that helps teams address big projects by separating them into smaller steps.

For now, Quire is entirely free, with all its features available. They offer a forever-free plan and 3 paid plans ranging from $7.65 to $19.95 per user/ month.

Main features:

• Reminders
• Gantt Chart
• Multiple Assignees
• Recurring tasks
• Teamwork in real-time
• Instant messaging
• Health Stats
• Apps for iOS and Android
• Calendar

14. Freedcamp

Freedcamp is a platform to help you plan, organize, and act on your projects. It offers task lists and subtasks, and you can make them private or public. There is also a Kanban board, where you can easily manage your tasks, by dragging them between columns.

You can also share and assign your to-dos, upload files, and join in discussions with team members inside the tool. Moreover, you have a calendar view that displays all tasks, milestones, and events of your projects.

Freedcamp’s free plan offers all the core features. If you need additional ones, such as start dates for tasks, issue tracker, project templates, and Gantt charts, the prices start at $2.49 per user/month.

Main features:

• Task
• Calendar overview
• Upload files
• Discussions
• Milestones
• Time tracking

15. nTask

nTask is another free, straightforward software, that doesn’t present a steep learning curve. It means that any team can use it to manage their tasks.

It presents a variety of features for project and task management, suitable to an individual or a team. You can create tasks, and assign them to other teammates. Also, you can have checklists, manage priority, repeat tasks, get notifications, use task timers, set due dates, and other essential features for collaboration while managing your complex projects.

nTask’s free version offers a limit of 5 members but with unlimited workspaces and tasks. If you need more in-depth features, the paid plans start at $3/user/month.

Main features:

• 100 MB Storage
• 5 Members per Team
• Unlimited Workspaces
• Unlimited Tasks
• Meetings
• Timesheets
• Issues Tracking

16. Any.do

Any.Do is a to-do list app, where you can quickly build checklists and fill task cards with all the information necessary. It was designed to help you organize your life, achieve your goals, and never forget a thing.

It is possible to organize your to-do’s in lists and projects, color tagging them to categorize and set priorities. You can add notes, subtasks, due dates, and attachments to make your tasks thorough before assigning or sharing them with teammates. It also has a calendar to display your events and tasks straightforwardly.

Any.Do’s free plan offers enough features for personal and team use. An upgrade to a more customizable version costs $3/user per month, billed annually.

Main features:

• Calendar
• Time tracking
• Reminders
• Daily planner
• Android iOS mobile apps

17. Asana

Asana is one of the most used free task management software available on the market. It is a software focused on managing not only tasks but entire customizable workflows.

Asana’s interface is easy to use and flexible, which makes it possible for teams that need to work with different assortments. It allows you to follow almost every stage of your projects. You can also coordinate all your groups and assign work effortlessly inside this software.

In case you may be wondering if Asana is free, now you found your answer. Its free deal is suitable for individuals, freelancers, or teams that are just getting started with project management software. For an upgrade of features, the prices start at $10.99 per user per month.

Main features:

• Unlimited tasks and projects
• Unlimited activity log
• Collaborate with up to 15 teammates
• List, board, and calendar view projects
• Assignee and due dates
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Time tracking with integrations
• Unlimited file storage

18. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a complete platform for companies. It helps you with managing tasks, projects, CRM, communications, contact center, and website building. So, if you are looking for a tool that will help in most of the aspects of your daily operations, Bitrix will be a great choice.

When it comes to online task management, you can expect to have a wide range of features such as an interactive Gantt chart view, task dependencies, and reports.

The freemium version of Bitrix is unlimited, offering all the core features, including the ones for task management. For special features, you can purchase plans with prices starting at $49 per month.

Main features:

• Tasks and projects
• Planner
• Subtasks
• Checklists
• Reminders
• Integration with CRM, workflows, calendar, and drive
• Mobile functions for iOS and Android
• Project Kanban
• Gantt
• Task time tracking

19. Infolio

Infolio is a project collaboration suite, to manage tasks, and track their progress in Kanban view boards, with custom lists and statuses.

One key feature is the built-in chat, to help teams keep connected and communicate in the same place where their projects take over. Moreover, it is possible to add project notes, web links, documents, and images inside the boards.

Infolio’s free plan includes all the standard features, and only the storage space is limited. For a space upgrade, the paid plan is 4.99 per user per month.

Main features:

• Unlimited projects, team members, boards, and spaces
• Cloud services integrations
• All the features you can eat
• Custom fields
• 1GB storage

20. Wimi

Wimi offers more than online task management. You can also manage docs and even have access to a messaging system inside this tool. Its interface is very similar to a web browser with tabs, which allows you to go back and forth between tasks.

It offers a Kanban board to help you visualize and handle your tasks through their several stages. Moreover, you can track tasks and add deadlines, with a timeline feature to manage task dependencies.

Wimi is free for up to 3 users with 8 workspaces and 10Gb of storage space. If you have a bigger team, it may be necessary to acquire a paid plan that starts at $15 per month.

Features:

• Channels
• Document Management
• Drive
• Task Management
• Shared Calendars
• 100+ Integration

21. Notion

Notion is a customizable database and project-tracking app. It can be used by individuals and teams as a free task management software. Notion was developed to enhance productivity, take notes, manage personal tasks, and create timelines for launches and new ideas. With ready-to-use and interchangeable templates, you can build a team dashboard according to your needs.

The pages offer multiple views, such as calendars, timelines, Kanban boards, assignments by team members, etc. This means you can build a project and then switch between each one as a way to understand the progress better. Notion also works as your company’s hub: You can create a wiki for all available knowledge, set up meeting agendas, divide projects into tasks and subtasks, and much more.

There’s a free version for individual users which allows for 10 guests. For bigger teams, there are plans starting at $8/user/month, with more tools added, such as unlimited file upload, bulk export, and longer page edit history.

Features:

• Multiple pages
• Customizable templates
• Page Builder
• File uploads
• Task assignment

22. Jira

Jira is a flexible free task management software that can be used no matter which project management style you prefer. You can pick templates based on Scrum, Kanban boards, graphs, timelines, and much more. Then, you customize it as needed and create the ideal workspace for your team.

There are templates that work better for each part of a project. For example, a bug tracking page can be useful for developers, while a graph might work better to track conversions in case you are working with a sales team. Regardless, Jira is free for teams of up to 10 members. The paid versions, with added features, start at $7.75/user/month.

Features:

• Automation
• Multiple layouts
• Optimized for agile teams

23. HubSpot Task Manager

Hubspot is one of the top-rated CRM apps in the market. To benefit their users, they’ve also developed a task management tool that allows sales teams to connect better with their clients. It includes CRM features such as lead management and live chat to optimize the sales pipeline.

You can also use it as a way to track tasks, by creating them from emails, chats, and manually. Then, assign specific tasks to team members and follow up with relevant data about engagement and conversions. There’s a free version with essential tools. For more CRM needs, you can subscribe to the paid version, starting at $18/month.

Features:

• Contact database
• Chatbot builder
• Business Insights

24. Runrun.it

Runrun.it is a planning and tracking tool that allows users to easily view any issues within their workflow. Designed to be a fully functional workspace, Runrun.it can report multiple metrics. You can check for hours spent on each task/project, most active tasks, resource allocation, etc.

That allows users to see what has been done and how therefore creating a full report on each project and its cost. It works as a predictability tool, enhancing your team’s work and allowing for easier management. The free version supports up to five team members. The paid packages start at $8/user/month.

Features:

• App integrations
• Customizable reports
• Interactive task board

25. Paymo

Paymo is a task and project tracker with a dedicated invoice and payment system. It was created to help entrepreneurs and small businesses have a better understanding of their workflow and resource allocation. With tools such as an auto tracker and manual logging, users can report the time spent on each task.

Then, you can turn timesheets into invoices, customize them, and export them to your clients. The platform serves as a payment tracker as well, which helps companies avoid late payments. The free version hosts up to 50 tasks and allows for guest users on your workspace. The Small Office plan allows for unlimited tasks and multiple users at $9.95/user/month.

Features:

• Project estimates
• Timeline
• Team scheduling

26. Teamwork

Teamwork is a time-tracking tool that allows teams to understand their workflow better. Managers can set up deadlines and project milestones to keep their team motivated, while also developing strategies to avoid bottlenecks. You can easily assign tasks, see metrics, and log activities. There’s also a way to share the project’s progress with clients, allowing them to view how the tasks are being finished while keeping your data secure.

With the information collected during the projects, you can compare estimates and budgets, allocate resources, and bill your clients accordingly. The free version supports up to 5 users and the starter package is priced at $5.99/user/month.

Features:

• File uploads
• Client reviews
• Project health snapshot
• Templates

27. Monday work management

Monday.com‘s work-free task management software is a flexible task management tool for companies of any size. One of the key features is managing and tracking incoming requests. That makes it a valuable tool for customer support teams and other client-facing roles. As for organization, Monday’s powerful dashboard feature aggregates data about your projects and can be accessed from desktops and mobile devices.

The free version allows up to 2 team members, 1,000 items, and 500 MB of storage. If you need more power, you can add a paid plan, starting at $8/seat/month

Features:

• Integration with other monday.com’s software
• Goals and OKRs
• Custom templates

28. Chanty

Chanty is a free task management software and communication hub for deadline-driven teams. It was developed with IT specialists and programmers in mind. The basic goal of this tool is to make conversations faster and easier to follow within a digital workspace. The app has a start menu called Teambook that directs the user to pending tasks, conversations, and shared links. There’s also a Kanban board view, that allows people to monitor the progress of each task.

The free version includes one-on-one audio calls, voice messages, and built-in task management, with 20GB of storage for teams of up to 10. If you need extra features and storage space, the business plan costs $3/user/month.

Features:

• Pinned messages
• Public and private conversations

How to choose the best free task management software?

A decision like this requires analyzing your needs, expectations, and how your current workflow is settled right now. What features are essential for you? How many people are going to use this tool? For example, if you are part of a team of 10 people, you can already eliminate some of the tools on the top 28.

Besides, for team collaboration, you need to check if the software is easy to use; if it has a delegation feature, and how straightforward the onboarding is going to be. After all, no one wants to spend long weeks learning a new sophisticated tool and losing essential time because of that.

Another essential piece of advice is to check the tool reviews in directories like G2 and Capterra. On websites like these, you can easily find the pros and cons, as well as use cases that may apply to a similar situation to yours.