The Best Project Management Scheduling Software in 2024
Time is your most valuable resource, and project scheduling software can make sure that your team is always on track. Get started with one of these five best project management scheduling software platforms today.
Written by Beatrice Manuel (Writer)
Reviewed by Samuel Chapman (Editor)
Facts checked by Vildana Bratic (Video Editor, Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated: 2024-02-24T10:37:55+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
Being efficient, productive and organized is every company’s mantra. Time is money, so we try to save as much time as possible. Even the simplest task or chore can be made more efficient if you plan it in advance. The best project management scheduling software helps you organize your work schedule, which in turn helps you become more productive and effective.
Key Takeaways:
- Project management scheduling tools enable you to organize your project systematically.
- In addition to basic scheduling, the tool can include other features such as task management, resource allocation, cost estimation, time tracking and risk identification.
- Some project scheduling software, like monday.com, offer free plans with limited seats. However, to get the best value — especially in larger teams or enterprises — it’s best to opt for a paid subscription plan.
If you have an easy-to-use project scheduling software that automatically shows who has been assigned what tasks and when they’re supposed to be completed, you’ll know exactly where everyone stands.
With just a few clicks, you can see if someone has fallen behind or gotten ahead of schedule. Keeping everyone informed helps avoid surprises or failures that could cost you the big bucks.
If you are wondering about the best project management software for your company, keep reading to discover the top features you should be looking out for and which project scheduling tools you can get started with today.
Our project management gurus tested dozens of project management apps to bring you this list, though you can also check out our best project management software roundup for a broader look at our experts’ favorites.
Top Project Management Apps for Scheduling
- 1
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- 4$9.80 / month(All Plans)
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What Makes the Best Project Management Software for Scheduling?
There’s no single “best” project scheduling software. To find the right tool, you need to start by asking yourself what you want to use the software for. Our top project management picks for scheduling are monday.com, Notion, TeamGantt, Wrike and Kantata for their ease of use, affordability and overall feature sets.
- monday.com — The best project scheduling software, packed with features
- Notion — Great note-taking app that integrates project management and scheduling
- TeamGantt — Provides the best Gantt charts for scheduling needs
- Wrike — Best for large-scale project management and scheduling
- Kantata — A good scheduling software option that offers automation
In general, there are many different options for scheduling software and each one offers unique features. To find the right project scheduling tool, our expert reviewers look at a few factors.
The first is how many users will be using this software. If there is just one user, a simple program might be fine. However, if multiple teams need the scheduling software, you need to make sure that you’re on a plan with enough seats for everyone who needs it.
Another thing to consider is the interface, which should be easy to use. At the same time, you don’t want something too simple, because if it doesn’t have enough features, it isn’t going to be useful to you. The ideal interface will allow you to easily find what you need without getting frustrated with an overcomplicated system.
Also, check how mobile friendly the software is. This isn’t an issue if you only plan on using it on your computer. However, if you want to use it on your phone or tablet, make sure that the program will work on them as well.
Finally, take a look at what kind of reporting tools this software offers. These tools give you a better idea of how much data you can get out of the scheduling software and how useful the information will be when making decisions about your project management schedule.
Taking all these factors into account, we rank monday.com as our top recommendation, thanks to its user-friendliness and high adaptability. Notion and Kantata are great alternatives for small- to mid-tier companies, as they come packed with features.
If you’re in the mood for Gantt charts, TeamGantt is the best tool available. Wrike is recommended for large-scale project management and scheduling.
The 5 Best Project Management Scheduling Software
Ready to get to scheduling? Let’s dive into the top project scheduling software that does it best and see what you can get from each one today.
1. monday.com
More details about monday.com:
- Pricing: Free; $9 per month (one-year plan)
- Provider website: monday.com
Pros:
- Packed with features
- Easy to use
- Secure
Cons:
- Limited free plan
- Odd progression between paid plans
monday.com is a project management scheduling software that makes it easy to share ideas, collect feedback and plan complex projects with your team.
It’s the best project management tool for scheduling meetings and tasks, building a roadmap, visualizing workflows and providing reporting features for progress on the go. It is one of the most advanced project management tools available today, combining features from all the best tools in one place.
Best Project Scheduling Visualization
monday.com helps you visualize the progress of your project right on the dashboard by using kanban boards. A kanban board, also known as a task or project management board, is a useful tool that helps you visualize your progress and decide on priorities.
It’s easy to see what tasks are still pending, which ones are being worked on, and when they’ll be completed. It also helps you find bottlenecks in the workflow so that you can address them immediately.
With monday.com, you can also use a Gantt chart, which uses horizontal bars to show the start and finish dates for tasks, activities and milestones. Your board can be configured in many ways, with individual task lists that can be viewed in columns or rows. All you need to do is drag and drop the tasks from left to right to create a solid visual representation of what needs to happen when.
The free version from monday.com is best suited for single users because it only includes two seats. It has a 200-item cap on main boards, with 100 free items given for every new user invited. It also only offers the kanban board and basic list view.
Try a 14-day trial of the premium plans to have access to additional project views, limitless tasks, projects and automations. Read our review on monday.com here.
- Maximum users: 2
- Minimum users: 3
- Minimum users: 3
More plans
- Minimum users: 3
- Enterprise-level features.
2. Notion
More details about Notion:
- Pricing: Free, $15 per month (one-year plan)
- Provider website: notion.so
Pros:
- User friendly
- Task tracking is very easy
- Incredible note taking
Cons:
- Missing Gantt charts
- Multi-project tracking is difficult
Notion is an incredible free software for scheduling and project management. It combines a clean user interface with flexible and powerful tools to track work, deadlines and tasks in a simple and beautiful way.
This project management app has a great inbox that keeps all your goals and ideas in one place and makes it easy for you to quickly start a task or project. You can set reminders, create different documents with related tasks, add labels and invite others to work together on projects.
You can also set up recurring tasks and reminders, collaborate with other people on projects and track your progress. It’s a great tool for both individuals and teams that want to manage and schedule their time better.
Workflow Templates
Notion uses powerful creative workflow templates like the manager’s dashboard to ensure that project schedules are kept up to date and in line with your business needs. Project managers can use the scheduling software to plan, organize and track team members’ tasks, deadlines and milestones.
For example, you can use Notion’s calendar feature to track deadlines for individual projects. Simply assign a due date to every task and set reminders for important dates. This helps project managers better coordinate their employees, reduce waste and increase productivity.
Notion is a fantastic option for individuals and independent contractors because its whole feature set is offered in the free plan. However, paid plans enhance this by eliminating the user cap (a single user with up to five guest users in the free plan), making it perfect for medium- to large-sized design businesses. Learn more in our “What is Notion app” guide.
- 1 user only, Up to five guests, 5MB file upload limit
- 1 user only, Unlimited guests, Unlimited file uploads, Version history
- Unlimited users, Unlocks workspace, User permission settings
- Advanced security features
3. TeamGantt
More details about TeamGantt:
- Pricing: Free, $49 per month (one-year plan)
- Provider website: teamgantt.com
Pros:
- Packed with features
- Very easy to use
- Good support available
Cons:
- Free plan limited to Gantt tool
- Features are limited overall
TeamGantt is a project management scheduling software that offers a free Gantt chart tool. TeamGantt tracks the project’s tasks and sub-tasks in an easy-to-use interactive Gantt chart for quick allocation of work and making status reports.
It includes project scheduling features like customizable Gantt graphs, drag-and-drop control over task assignment to team members, different color-coding schemes for task intervals and more. It also includes collaborative features like the ability to share Gantt charts with other users, leave comments on tasks and subtasks, and work together on the same project.
Gantt Chart Workflow Planning
TeamGantt is a great project scheduling software because it allows you to create Gantt charts that are easy to read and understand. It accomplishes this by layering project tasks on top of one another in a user-friendly design scheme.
You can create these charts in any color you want. You can also use Gantt charts to communicate with your team members about what needs to happen when and how, who’s responsible for each part of the project and the current status of all team members’ tasks. It’s incredibly easy to notice and remedy schedule conflicts in advance.
The free plan by TeamGantt is restricted to a single project with 60 tasks and only allows one project manager (with the opportunity to add two collaborators). The Pro plan gives 20 projects per manager with unlimited contributors and no task restriction if you want to scale and equip yourself with extra Gantt charts, views or project managers. Read our full TeamGantt review.
- 2 users (1 manager)
- Unlimited
- Unlimited
4. Wrike
More details about Wrike:
- Pricing: Free, $9.80 per month (one-year plan)
- Provider website: wrike.com
Pros:
- User friendly
- Super free plan
- Security is excellent
Cons:
- UI is not appealing
- Tutorials are brief
Wrike is a powerful project management software app that makes it easy to manage your team’s tasks. Everyone can stay on top of what needs to be done and know when each task has been completed. Each team member shares tasks in real time, so no one ever loses track of what’s going on.
For example, Wrike can divide the goal of sending out an email campaign into many tasks like creating newsletter content, scheduling emails for different days/weeks/months, creating campaign codes and attachments, and writing templates. It also keeps track of time spent on each task, so users get an accurate report of energy usage or headcount required for completing a project.
Complex Project Scheduling
With Wrike’s project schedule templates feature, you can create tasks for team members, as well as assign due dates and create milestones or other deadlines within the same template. Users can also print out any project schedule from the Wrike software in spreadsheet form, perfect for placing on a wall in your office or workshop to help keep everyone on track.
The software also allows users to create multiple project schedules, making it easy to manage multiple projects at the same time. Wrike’s task management feature allows users to assign tasks to team members and track their progress throughout the project.
With a ton of features including task and subtask management, live activity streams, and external and internal collaborators, Wrike’s free plan is a wonderful place to start. However, there’s a limit of 200 active tasks, and each user is only given 2GB of storage.
Consider upgrading if you want additional user storage and sophisticated reporting capabilities like interactive Gantt charts and sharing dashboards. Check our review of Wrike for more details.
- Unlimited users. Basic features.
- Price is per user. Plans for 5, 10 and 15 users.
- Price is per user. No monthly option. Plans for 5 to 200 users.
- Plans for 5 to an unlimited number of users.
5. Kantata
More details about Kantata:
- Pricing: Free, contact sales for pricing
- Provider website: kantata.com
Pros:
- Ample management features
- Easy to use
- Useful integrations
Cons:
- Some functionality bugs
- Limited Gantt charts
- Overpriced plans
Kantata (previously known as Mavenlink) is a very good project scheduling software that allows teams to manage and organize their time and allocate resources, finances and other stakeholders.
It includes project planning tools, task delegation capabilities and interactive dashboards to help you successfully keep everyone organized. Kantata also has a robust reporting feature that allows you to easily track a project’s progress. The software can be used for both small and large teams, and businesses and individuals alike.
Automations for Managing Projects
By automating your project management schedule, you can use Kantata to simplify the overall process and make sure that all of your projects are on track. With a built-in automation tool, you can set up rules for when a team member should be notified about updates. This ensures that everyone knows what’s happening with the project without having to do research themselves.
You can get a sense of the project’s overall progress without having to check in with team members every day. You can also use Kantata’s automatic scheduling feature to set up reminders and alerts for specific tasks, ensuring that they are completed on time.
As we discussed above, the more you pay, the more features you have in your arsenal. The free plan is limited, with only some basic features, but it should be sufficient for single users. Check out our review on Kantata to learn our detailed thoughts on the software.
- 1 user
- Contact sales for pricing.
Why Should I Use Project Scheduling Software?
It’s the little things that make a big difference. Simple, seemingly insignificant changes in your operational workflows can have an outsized impact on your business returns in the long run. As a project manager running on tight deadlines, you might have those days when you feel like your work life is dictated purely by what’s on the schedule.
This often happens when you have a lot of deliverables and don’t have the time to keep track of all your milestones, or when you’re trying to coordinate and juggle multiple projects at once. There’s always room for improvement — and that starts with finding the right project management software.
The beauty of project scheduling software tools is that they help you stay organized, view your responsibilities at a glance and stay on top of your workflows — no matter where you or your team are based. It’s a simple way to keep track of your work plans in one single place.
It’ll help you prioritize what has to happen next, and know when you have to get it done. You also don’t have to worry about missing deadlines or getting sidetracked by other projects — it does all of that for you. With a good program, you can have all of your work arranged in a way that helps you and your team members stay on track.
Final Thoughts: Best Project Scheduling Tools
With online project management tools like monday.com and Wrike, you get visual dashboards that put all the key information right in front of you at a glance. You can create centralized wiki-type databases of information with Notion, or map everything out using Gantt charts on TeamGantt. Kantata, on the other hand, offers you good automations to make task scheduling a lot easier.
However, if all you’re looking for is a tool to help you manage time, fret not. We have a comprehensive guide on the best time management tools. If you need a tool for your device’s operating system, check out our guides on the best project management software for Windows or the best project management software for macOS.
We like project scheduling software that has a bit of everything, but what about you? What are your top picks for scheduling? Are there any project management apps that we’ve missed on this list? Is there a free project management software option that is good enough for businesses? Let us know in the comments and thank you for reading.
FAQ
A project management scheduling tool is an application that assists in the coordination and scheduling of projects. They’re used by project managers and team members to organize tasks, track progress and manage assignments.
monday.com is the best software that’s available for scheduling. It’s packed with project scheduling features and is very easy to use, and its plans are affordable too!