What is a Gantt chart?
A Gantt chart represents information in a comprehensive, visual way. It summarizes all the important aspects of a project and develops a clear picture of a project’s schedule, resources, and execution, by illustrating what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done. This popular methodology utilizes a progress bar to help you visualize the tasks that need to be completed within a project, next to their start and end dates.
In general, a Gantt chart is designed to make the process of monitoring and keeping track of information for your project a lot easier. It’s designed to take some of the weight off your shoulders as the project manager so you can quickly and easily take care of the more pressing issues that need to be done.
Gantt chart tool will allow you to:
- Know what the different activities are
- When activities need to start, and when they need to finish.
- How long your activities were primarily scheduled to last.
- How much your activities cost, and how much your project is likely to cost.
- Which activities depend on others to be effectively completed.
- Current progress status.
- The duration of the entire project.
- Know what the different activities are
- When activities need to start, and when they need to finish.
- How long your activities were primarily scheduled to last.
- How much your activities cost, and how much your project is likely to cost.
- Which activities depend on others to be effectively completed.
- Current progress status.
- The duration of the entire project.
Nowadays there are many options when it comes to project management software. Gantt chart tools are no exception to this rule, as they are highly popular around those who love task management. So, how do you make sure that you’re choosing the right Gantt chart to help your team get the job done? Normally you would have to wade through all of that information on your own. But we’ve done the work for you and gathered everything you need to know in one place with the 10 best Gantt chart systems out there.
Let’s take a look at some of the best Gantt chart software available, so you can select the best fit for you and your team:
Is one of the best Gantt chart software options on the market. Why? Because it strips away the complexity associated with Gantt charts and provides an easy, drag & drop way to schedule your tasks and follow each step of a project’s progress until the very last detail. But don’t be fooled, it might be very easy to use but it can help you manage a list of complex situations thanks to its large list of options and features.
Instagantt's awesome features are:
Instagantt’s core function is scheduling and progress management but it makes a great place for your team to collaborate in your project, as it makes it easy for everyone to stay informed and up-to-date with everyone’s work. Its collaborative options allow you to assign tasks to people in your team, and for them to receive an email notifying them about the tasks and their descriptions. Also, it makes it possible to leave comments to everyone involved in any tasks or subtasks, and to attach any information or files worth sharing.
Instagantt also integrates with Asana. So, if you are an Asana user, you’re covered.
Teamgantt is a very good option when it comes to project scheduling, as it lets users manage their projects easily and visibly. With TeamGantt you get the basics: tasks, timelines, and team assignments. What makes TeamGantt great is their understanding of the project management mentality and philosophy, and they make sure to apply it to their product. This tool offers a wholesome look of every project, their tasks, next to their deadlines and resources.
You’ll love that this system offers interactive Gantt charts and it’s very intuitive. Anyone on your team will be able to check it out and get started using it quickly and easily. And if they have any trouble there’s tutorial content that’s designed to help them along. The downside is that you’ll find budgeting and invoicing aren’t here and there are only average reporting features. Not to mention the discussions, file upload and notifications aren’t quite as stellar as you might want.
TeamGantt Features:
- Baselines
- Drag&Drop
- Multiple project view in one Gantt chart
- Guest permission
Overall, you’ll find a lot of great options with TeamGantt, especially if you want to get started with some of the more basic features and skip some of the more complicated things (or at least leave them until later).
ProofHub is well-known for bringing together several tools that make project management an easy-breezy task. Managers can plan projects, visualize tasks, and modify schedules easily using ProofHub’s built-in Gantt charts.
As a manager, you always stay ahead of the game by having complete control over the tasks associated with a project. The Gantt chart offered by ProofHub allows you to set dependencies between different tasks, drag and drop tasks on the chart to change their durations, and much more. Additionally, the platform allows teams to stay in touch with one another and start discussions related to the project.
Another big benefit is the competitive pricing that you’ll find with ProofHub. For all the features that you’ll get there are some great deals to be had. And because it’s quick and easy to get started with you don’t have to worry about the learning curve or downtime for your entire team while you figure things out.The system is easy enough but still offers a good amount of features, but you’ll find that there are no budgeting tools and sometimes it’s going to be a little slow to get going. You might notice that your load time is not quite what you want it to be.
ProofHub Features:
- Multiple calendar views
- Timesheets
- File and document sharing
- Real-time in app and desktop notifications
- Chat tool for communication
- Markup tools for reviewing and suggesting edits
- Bookmark projects, tasks, discussions, etc.
Overall, ProofHub gives you a variety of features and even gives you chat tools and markup options. You’ll be able to do all of the project management that you need and then some. There are a couple drawbacks, such as load speed, and you’ll need a separate budgeting platform, but overall it’s designed to get things done.
Wrike stands out for its organizational design. It serves as a table view, with assignees, task names, start and end dates; very easy to view and to understand.
This popular Gantt chart software allows you to see responsibilities and performance, thanks to its Workload View, one of its stars features. It also allows for easy communication between team members as it lets people adjust the necessary aspects within a project and to stay on top of any changes, minimizing the need for meetings.
You’ll also find new intelligent features, special account types and the ability to manage just about anything and everything you need. Wrike is designed to make sure that any type of business is able to manage and monitor their work, whether it’s larger projects or ongoing tasks. The downside that you’ll find here is that there are several different plans available and it can be difficult to figure out just which one is right for you. Getting in touch with customer service is generally going to be required so you can make sure that you’re on the right one.
Wrike Features:
- Critical path
- Folder hierarchy
- Collaborative team editing
Overall, you’ll find that Wrike has a lot of features and there are plenty of options when it comes to the different plans. That can be a little bit of a downside because you’ll need to pick a plan out of the different options, but it also means that things are going to be rather customized to your business needs.
Smartsheet’s focus is to offer people a platform where all project information can be kept. Expect no beautiful or techy design, as it basically focuses on providing online spreadsheets.
Smartsheet offers great, useful templates, though, so it’s very easy to input your own information into a pre-built project management template that fits your needs. It allows you to see your project tasks and then click on the different parts to connect your own tasks, expenses, dependencies, and overall project related information.
You’ll get a whole lot of customization options here, which is one of the main benefits of working with this program. You’ll also find that you have plenty of automation options that can come from just about anywhere and work with just about any of the processes of the program. On the downside you will find that there are some things that you can’t do. You won’t get autosave options, which can be a downside when you’re working with large groups. It also doesn’t update in real time, which means if more than one person is working on something at the same time you won’t know it.
Smartsheet Features:
- Spreadsheet templates
- Predecessor tasks
- Automated workflows
Overall, this system is designed to be a smarter and more intuitive spreadsheet, but it doesn’t have all of the features that you might expect from Gantt charts. You’re going to want to work on this one with your team and make sure that everyone knows the downfalls if you do decide to go with it, and make sure everyone knows to check in before making too many changes.
GanttPro is a very neatly designed Gantt chart tool, and it’s one of the most popular options around. It’s very simple to use and it focuses on intuitive, quick work.
GanttPro allows its users to create several workspaces and projects, and as soon as they’re done creating them, its drag & drop option makes it easy to start adding tasks and setting them a start and due date. This online tool also provides management options to differentiate permissions to different team members within different projects.
One of the biggest benefits you’ll find here is that it’s an inexpensive system, so you can get started without a lot of overhead. Plus, it has a great design and it’s really focused on Gantt charts rather than any of the other aspects you might consider. There are also other chart options if you prefer to try out something new.On the other hand, if you’re looking for integrations or mobile options you’re not going to get everything here. GanttPro does not have any reporting tools or customization options for dashboards. And they don’t integrate with most other systems. So you’ll have to set up those systems entirely separately if need be.
GanttPro Features:
- Workload tracking and management module
- Drag & drop
- Splitting tasks and subtasks
- Merging dependencies
Overall, you’ll find some good things about GanttPro that you don’t want to miss out on, like the cost and the design. You’ll also like that it keeps your history so you can undo changes that were made by mistake. Plus you get different options for the style of board that you want to use, which makes it easy for you to find something.
Who doesn’t know Microsoft Project? It’s probably the most reliable option in all things project management related. It might be the go-to option for most, as it’s developed and sold by Microsoft.
However, it lacks the flexibility an online Gantt chart software will provide for you. Yes, it is very robust when it comes to monitoring resources, budgets, and timelines, especially for large projects, but it might turn out to be just a little too hard to use for teams that just wish to keep track of their progress and to follow through simple project execution.
If you want a whole lot of features and power then you’re going to find it with Microsoft Project. This system gives you a whole lot of highly detailed options and some of the most customizable reports that you’ll find with any of the other systems. That makes it great for those who want to track anything and everything.On the downside, you’ll find that this system is a little more difficult to use and even difficult to purchase. For those who don’t need a lot of the extra features you may want to opt for something a little more simplistic. You’ll also find that it doesn’t integrate with many other apps even though it can do a whole lot of other things, and it’s somewhat expensive comparatively.
Microsoft Project Features:
- Lists
- Attachments
- Schedule development
- Resource assignment
- Progress tracking
- Budget analysis
- Templates
- Advanced reporting
Overall, their Gantt chart is slotted in split screens next to task lists and due dates to give you all of your timeline details in one view. This can be overwhelming for users who aren’t used to the volume of info and only need to view a few details or attachments. MS Project is definitely built for project managers who are monitoring timelines, budgets, and progress but is not necessarily the best fit for individual contributors who just need to see their next task.
Click Up deems itself as an elegant Gantt chart software option. It allows its users to schedule, manage dependencies, and prioritize tasks into a project timeline. Its beautiful and swift interface makes it easy to manage projects by creating lists, tasks and following the overall progress of a project.
However, if you want to try the Gantt view option, you will have to have access to a Click Up paid plan. Once you get into it, however, you’ll find a number of good features and options that make it possible for you to work more efficiently.This system is inexpensive and offers plenty of different compatibility options. Not only that but it offers 24/7 support with a live representative and plenty of training options to go along with it. That way your entire team can get the hang of the system in no time at all. You’ll also get a number of additional features like portfolio management, resource management and cost-to-completion tracking. On the other side you’ll find that it can be a little difficult to figure out some of the options because there are so many features. It can also be difficult to get started and get things situated for the first time. If you make a mistake it can cause problems for the entire system. You’ll want to get a bit of help and definitely go through the training options to find out more about how it all works.
ClickUp Features:
- Multiple views
- Assigned comments
- Task tray
- Notepad
- Notifications
- Integrations
- Dark mode
Overall, you’ll find that this system gives you a whole lot of features and that’s a great way to go when it comes to tracking everything that your team needs to get done on a daily basis. But you’ll want to get some help preparing for how the system works.
Toggl Plan allows you to do everything you would expect with a Gantt chart. It tracks your projects and your team to make your job a whole lot easier. You’ll get a simple and straightforward system that offers Gantt charts and Kanban boards. In fact, Kanban boards are more of what Toggl Plan is known for and will give you a different way to review your projects.The key with this program is that it’s simple.
It’s designed to slim down the information that you need to track to make sure that the process is going to be short and sweet. If you need all the extra bells and whistles then you may want to look at something other than Toggl Plan to get you there. But if you want things to be clear and concise you’re likely in the right place.On the downside you’ll find that it doesn’t have a lot of advanced features. If you’re looking to track anything and everything for your business you may want to go elsewhere, but you’ll still be happy with the overall features and options that come along with this system.
Toggl Plan Features:
- Drag & drop
- Clean interface
- Less tools
- Team view
- Kanban boards
Overall, Toggl Plan will give you an easy to use system that is drag & drop and also clean. On the other hand you’ll want to consider the balance of features that go into the program and how your company needs to use them.
The final option on our list is Monday, which gives you a host of different features to help you track anything and everything that you want in your projects. In fact, Monday is one of the most modern options for project management and it gives you a lot more than just those functions as well.
You’ll get collaboration tools, CRM tools, project management, task management and a whole lot more. And everything is going to be customizable to what you and your business actually need. For anyone who thinks more features are better, this may be the way to go.The downside with Monday is that it can be a little confusing to figure out which system you want to use.
There are several different programs and plans available and so the pricing can be a little difficult to understand.
Monday Features:
- CRM tools
- Collaboration tools
- Modern system
- Customizable
- In-app automation
- Templates included
Overall, you’ll find that this system is very customizable and has some great templates. It also has a lot of automation features and a modern user interface. But you should consider some of the negatives before you decide to jump in.
Conclusion time
Gantt charts are flexible tools that provide a comprehensive look at the status of every project. They allow people to really understand task duration, resource use, and team workload. So, if you are planning on implementing a Gantt chart online software for you or your team, look no further! You can start now by giving Instagantt a try. Just click on the button below and you’ll be a Gantt chart pro-user in no-time!
