17 Best Project Scheduling Software of 2025
Discover the best project scheduling software for automating time-consuming and recurring tasks to streamline workflows with fewer hassles.
In this article, I’ll discuss the 17 best project management scheduling tools and my top five picks to save you loads of valuable time.
Monday.com
ClickUp
Wrike
Smartsheet
By selecting one of our top five project scheduling software solutions, you can avoid the nightmare of managing projects with many processes and free up time to focus on the critical parts of your organization.
It's nearly impossible to manage many tasks manually because they are repeated continuously over hours or days. As a result, you should use project scheduling tools to guarantee that everything runs smoothly, including budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation, organizing meetings, and managing the entire team.
Best Project Scheduling Software
Here’s a list of 17 of the best project scheduling software tools in 2023.
- Monday.com
- ClickUp
- Wrike
- Smartsheet
- Teamwork
- Runn
- kantata
- Asana
- Resource Guru
- Infinity
- Celoxis
- Workfront
- Forecast App
- Paymo
- Zoho Projects
- TeamGantt
- MS Project
1. Monday.com
Best Overall Project Scheduling Software
Monday.com is the best project scheduling software with customizable dashboards that show you the status and progress of your projects at a glance.
You can also gain insight into your multiple projects by using reporting dashboards that categorize data for easier project tracking. Identify bottlenecks with different views such as timeline, board, calendar, and charts before they occur.
Key Features
Automation
You can save time and leave repetitive work behind by using automation to plan projects, break down tasks, create dependencies, and assign appropriate team members for streamlined workflows.
Multiple views
Improve your teams' coordination by using powerful views such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, workload, and timeline to ensure every process runs smoothly and efficiently.
Smart notifications
With smart notifications, you can stay on top of your complex projects by knowing when deadlines for all of your to-dos are approaching so that you can finalize everything on time.
Time tracking
Use the time monitoring feature to determine where you spend the most of your time to finish your projects on schedule.
Integrations
You can integrate with most business tools, such as the Google Calendar, which brings all of your project timelines and due dates to one centralized location for effective task management.
Pricing
- 3 Work Boards
- 2 Team Members
- Unlimited Docs
- 500 MB Storage
- 200+ Project Templates
- Unlimited Boards
- Unlimited Team Members
- Unlimited Viewers
- 5 GB Storage
- 1-Week Activity Log
- Calendar, Timeline, Map Views
- 250 Actions for Automations
- 250 Actions for Integrations
- 20 GB Storage
- 6-Month Activity Log
- Unlimited Guest Access
- 25000 Actions for Automations
- 25000 Actions for Integrations
- 100 GB Storage
- 1-Year Activity Log
- Dedicated Customer Agent
- 250000 Automations
- 250000 Actions for Integrations
- Enterprise Analytics
Find out more Monday pricing or Monday review
Monday.com offers a Free Forever Plan with up to five users. Other plans are Basic at $8, Standard at $10, and Pro at $16 per seat per month. They also offer a quote-based Enterprise Plan.
There is a 14-day free trial across all paid plans except for the Enterprise Plan.
2. ClickUp
Most Versatile Project Management Scheduling Software
ClickUp is the right project scheduling software that offers a bird's eye view of your multiple projects or tasks because it includes 15+ customizable views. As a result, you can easily spot overlaps and bottlenecks before they occur to accelerate management processes.
Key Features
Team collaboration
To make your team work together on any project, use robust collaboration features like whiteboards, comments, email, chat, and proofing.
Everything view
You can use this bird's eye view to locate anything across every level of your organization, regardless of its hierarchy. You can also filter, sort, and save any task for any need.
Custom fields
Easily add additional information such as emails, phone numbers, dropdowns, currencies, and URLs to your tasks to maintain data consistency and accuracy.
Real-time reporting
With powerful reporting features, you can create tasks, set goals, add project budgets, and track progress, allowing you to make quick decisions to streamline complex projects.
Integrations
Connect with over 1,000+ tools like Google Calendar, Slack, and Zoom to get everyone on the same page and never miss a deadline for efficient workflow planning.
Pricing
- 24/7 Support
- 100 Automations/Month
- Built-in Time Tracking
- Kanban & Calendar View
- 100 MB Storage
- Live Chat Support
- 1000 Automations/Month
- Guest Access Control
- Unlimited Map & Gantt Views
- Unlimited Storage
- Unlimited Dashboards
- 10000 Advanced Automations/Month
- Unlimited Teams
- Timesheets Integration
- Unlimited Timeline Uses
- Priority Customer Service
- 25000 Pro Automations/Mo
- Unlimited Subtasks in Multiple Lists
- API calls: 1000/Minute
- Custom Capacity for Workload
Find out more ClickUp pricing or ClickUp review
ClickUp offers a Free Forever Plan with unlimited tasks and members. The paid plans are Unlimited at $5, Business at $12, and Business Plus at $19 per member per month. They also offer an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
3. Wrike
Best Project Scheduling Software for Teams of Different Sizes
Wrike is a web-based project management scheduling software that allows you to create task lists to help you stay organized when managing projects that demand a lot of your time.
With Wrike, you can enjoy robust project scheduling features like interactive Gantt charts, Kanban boards, custom templates, and time tracking to help you identify priorities clearly and stay on top of your project work.
Key Features
360° visibility
You can quickly locate any information and break down silos, ensuring complete visibility across departments.
Gantt charts
For a detailed project schedule, you can use interactive Gantt charts to create dependencies and do critical path analysis to spot bottlenecks before they occur.
Resource management
Get the most of your available resources by setting priorities, optimizing performance, and aligning team goals to accelerate resource planning.
Shared team calendars
Wrike's calendars help you stay on top of your schedules by automatically adding all project data so that you can plan and track projects more accurately.
Integrations
Integrate with 400+ apps to automate the entire workflow and stay on top of your project tracking across your organization.
Pricing
- Unlimited Users
- AI-Powered Processes
- Custom Work Views
- Different Project Templates
- Available in 8 Languages
- 2-25 Users*
- 2 GB Storage/User
- Custom Fields & Workflows
- Project Dashboards
- Calendar and Gantt Chart Views
- 5-200 Users*
- 5 GB Storage/User
- 200 Automations/User
- Enhanced Collaboration
- Resource Management Features
Find out more Wrike pricing
Wrike has a Free Plan with up to five users. The paid plans are Professional at $9.80 and Business at $24.80 per user per month. A quote-based Enterprise Plan is also available, and two independent plans, including the Marketing Teams Plan and Professional Service Teams Plan.
They offer a 14-day free trial for all its paid plans.
4. Smartsheet
Best Project Scheduling Software for Reporting
Smartsheet is the best project scheduling software for resource management because it helps you find the best project team and forecast resourcing needs for more successful project completions.
Key Features
Workflow automation
Create a critical path method for your complex projects in minutes by automating recurring project tasks and processes.
Team collaboration
With powerful collaboration tools like file sharing, automated alerts and reminders, and approvals, this project management platform keeps everyone on the same page.
Dynamic view
Using Smartsheet's dynamic view, a project manager can easily share information with the appropriate team for viewing or editing to obtain visibility across project status.
Resource management
With Smartsheet's resource management, which includes portfolio management, time tracking, and project budgeting, you can forecast hiring needs to find the right team members for your various projects.
Integrations
You can integrate with the most effective business tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat to share information across different platforms, allowing you to work smarter and more efficiently.
Pricing
- 1 User + 2 Editors
- 2 Project Sheets
- 500 MB File Storage
- Several Project Views
- 100 Automations per Month
- 10 Users + 10 Paid Editors
- Unlimited Project Sheets
- 20 GB File Storage
- Unlimited Reports
- 250 Automations per Month
- Unlimited Users & Free Editors
- Activity Log
- Proofing Support
- Easy-to-Use Document Builder
- Unlimited Automations
Find out more Smartsheet pricing
Smartsheet offers two plans, including Pro at $7 and Business at $25 per user per month. They also provide two custom-priced plans, including Enterprise Plan and Smartsheet Advance Plan.
There is a 30-day free trial for the Pro and Business Plans.
5. Teamwork
Best Project Scheduling Software for Real-Time Collaboration
Teamwork is one of the best project scheduling tools with intuitive collaboration features like notebooks, files and versioning, quick add followers to tasks, and advanced permission settings.
You can make the task assignment process easy by creating task lists, tasks, and subtasks and breaking down the work into small and manageable items for your team.
Key Features
Automation
Using automation, you can streamline repetitive projects and processes and free up time to focus on strategic and creative work.
Pre-made templates
By using existing templates for various industries, you can save time, optimize procedures, and acquire a clear project timeline, helping you to budget better and deliver projects on time.
Custom fields
Using project and task custom fields, a project manager can track, manage, and filter project data specific to their company's needs.
Kanban boards
Get total visibility into the logistics of your projects by using the Kanban boards view to track task progress and streamline business operations in real-time.
Time tracking
Stay on schedule with this time management software, which includes an online time tracker to help you understand where you spend most of your time to create detailed project plan.
Pricing
- 5 Users
- Different Project Views
- 2 Project Templates
- Time Tracking & Dashboards
- 2 Projects & 100 MB Storage
- Customer Support
- Gantt Filtering
- 10 Project Templates
- 500 Automations/Month
- 100 Projects & 50 GB Storage
- Unlimited Client Access
- 3 Custom Fields
- 20 Project Templates
- 1000 Automations/Month
- 300 Projects & 100 GB Storage
- Project Budgeting
- Unlimited Custom Fields
- 50 Project Templates
- 2000 Automations/Month
- Workdown Capacity
Find out more Teamwork pricing
Teamwork offers a Free Forever Plan with up to five users, Deliver Plan at $10.8, and Grow Plan at $19.5 per user per month. There is also a Scale Plan with tailored pricing.
They offer a 30-day free trial for Deliver and Grow Plans.
6. Runn
Best Project Scheduling Tool for Resource Management
Runn is the best free project scheduling software that allows you to schedule projects with advanced forecasting and time monitoring capabilities.
With its free version, you can manage unlimited projects and create project phases and allocations using a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Key Features
Project forecasting
By forecasting where your team is headed and receiving precise project reports that provide projections of income, profit, and expenditures for your operations, you can plan with certainty to accelerate management processes.
Resource scheduling
Quickly schedule work for your team by dragging and dropping tasks and getting a bird's eye view of everyone's schedules to spot gaps within your entire team.
Capacity management
You can set custom hours for each team member based on availability to ensure everyone completes their work on time.
Timesheets
You can track project progress with simple, quick, and informative timesheets with daily or weekly entry options. This makes Runn the best software for complex project scheduling.
Integrations
Stay up to date with everything around your team by integrating with other business solutions like Clockify, Harvest, and WorkflowMax.
Pricing
Runn offers a Free Plan with up to five users and unlimited projects. The paid plans are Pro Plan at $8 and an Enterprise Plan with tailored pricing.
The software is 100% free for organizations in Ukraine and 50% off for low to middle-income countries and nonprofits.
A 14-day free trial is available for the Free and Pro Plans.
Pros
- Easy-to-use user interface
- Most affordable option on our list of schedule planning software tools
- Quick and easy scheduling
Cons
- Lacks an inbuilt-time tracking functionality
7. Kantata
Best Project Scheduling Tool for Automation
Kantata is the best project scheduling and task management platform with notable features like project scheduling, business intelligence, team collaboration, accounting, and resource management.
Key Features
Business intelligence
Dozens of expert-built reports on fees, margins, utilization, and availability are provided through an industry-leading business intelligence layer.
Team collaboration
Give your team members the ability to interact with one another through seamless collaboration to complete tasks on time and increase team productivity.
Project accounting
You can track projects with project milestones against time, budget, and margins to ensure complete control over your many projects.
Resource management
For successful resource management and project planning, you can help your team forecast available resource demands and allocate them to areas where they are most required.
Integrations
Kantata's M-Bridge platform allows you to integrate with essential technologies like CRM, HCM, and financial software. You can also integrate with other tools like Jira, Slack, and QuickBooks.
Pricing
Kantata doesn't provide a pricing structure. Therefore, you must first register to access the platform’s pricing.
Pros
- The design is simple and minimalistic
- Offers various scheduling data views
- Improved project tracking feature
Cons
- Lacks a transparent pricing structure
8. Asana
Best Free Project Management Scheduling Software for Project Views
Asana is the best free project scheduling software with different project views that help you visualize work however you want. These views include board, list, timeline, and calendar.
You can also use Gantt charts to see your projects from start to finish, identify bottlenecks and overlaps in your schedule, and make quick changes before it's too late.
Key Features
Workflow builder
With this workflow automation functionality, you can help teams coordinate more by creating connected processes from start to end for streamlined operations.
Team collaboration
You can enhance communication among your team members and stay ahead of your project schedules with collaboration capabilities like task comments, adding followers, messaging, and project conversations.
Timeline
Using this timeline function, you can develop project plans that will help you stay on schedule to meet your deadline. This makes Asana an excellent choice for a complex project scheduling tool.
Reporting
With robust reporting capabilities like customizable dashboards, charts, graphs, and chart templates and builders, you can get real-time visibility into the status of your team's work and everything in between.
Integrations
You can create a single location where your team can get things done quickly by integrating with your business tools, such as Zapier, Outlook, and Google Drive.
Pricing
- Unlimited Projects & Tasks
- Unlimited Storage & Logs
- 100+ Free Integrations
- Status Updates
- Calendar View
- Unlimited Dashboards
- Workflow Builder
- Task Dependencies
- Task Templates
- Timeline & Milestones
- Workload Management
- Advanced Reports
- Built-in Time Tracking
- Create Custom Rules
- Premium Integrations
Find out more Asana pricing
Asana has a Free Basic Plan with up to 15 users. The paid plans are Premium at $10.99 and Business at $24.99 per user per month. They also offer a quote-based Asana Enterprise Plan.
There is a 30-day free trial for Business and Premium Plans.
Pros
- Most user-friendly project scheduling program
- Provides expansive integrations
- Free plan with unlimited tasks, projects, messages, and activity log
Cons
- It doesn't support multiple assignees on a single task
9. Resource Guru
Cheapest Project Schedule Platform for Optimal Resource Allocation
Resource Guru is a project and resource scheduling software that gives project managers a comprehensive picture of available resources to efficiently distribute them to all team members for maximum productivity.
Key Features
Resource scheduling
Use a simple drag-and-drop resource scheduling feature to rebalance workloads and avoid overloading or burnout among your team members.
Resource management
You can make project schedules that include the appropriate workforce for any assignment to ensure speedy and effortless completion.
Powerful reports
You can monitor project health with powerful reports to stay focused on reaching your business goals for better progress tracking.
Capacity planning
Get a clear picture of future tasks to plan effectively and know if your team can handle them.
Equipment management
To minimize misplacement and save time, track all of your equipment in one elegant calendar.
Pricing
Resource Guru has three paid plans, including Grasshopper Plan at $2.50, Blackbelt Plan at $4.16, and Master Plan at $6.65 per person per month.
They offer a 30-day free trial across all plans.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Two months free with an annual subscription
- Powerful resource filters
Cons
- Lacks native integrations
10. Infinity
Best Project Scheduling Software With a Once-in-a-Lifetime Deal
Infinity is the most cost-effective project scheduling software with one-time pricing plans that eliminate monthly subscriptions. You can also use their powerful features to create long-term project schedules for your company.
Key Features
Multiple views
For effective progress tracking, use six views that include a table, columns, list, calendar, Gantt, and form to view all of your work from different perspectives.
Custom attributes
You can create tasks and add any data to your timeline using 15+ customizable attributes.
Multiple assignees
Assign one complex task to numerous team members to re-establish a smooth process and ensure speedy delivery.
Recurring tasks
You can set task dependencies and due dates for recurring tasks to save time and focus on other critical business areas.
Resource management
Quickly schedule work for each team member and track their workloads using custom employee templates for optimal capacity planning.
Pricing
Infinity offers one-lifetime pricing plans starting with Basic at $199 and Pro at $299 for a team of five people. They offer an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing for teams with 50+ members.
Pros
- No per-user fees
- Includes powerful project scheduling features
- Great customer support
Cons
- The loading speed can be slow
11. Celoxis
Complex Project Scheduling Software for Advanced Planning
Celoxis is a dynamic project scheduling software that adjusts to real-world situations and perfectly manages complex projects. This project management software includes interactive Gantt charts for planning large and small projects.
Key Features
Portfolio management
You can get aggregated information about your projects with highly customizable portfolio dashboards.
Team collaboration
Advanced features like version control, online discussions, mentions, notifications, a shareable calendar, and a free client portal allow you to collaborate with your team and clients effectively.
Resource management
You can leverage your workforce by allocating resources to tasks based on team availability, demand, and skills with detailed, real-time charts.
Project tracking
With just a few clicks, you can stay on top of your project schedules by addressing issues with milestones, tasks, and projects.
Integrations
You can integrate with your favorite business tools because Celoxis connects with over 400+ apps.
Pricing
Celoxis offers a Cloud-Based Plan at $22.50 per user per month and an On-Premise Plan billed once for $450 per user.
They offer a 30-day free trial across all plans.
Pros
- Best scheduling tool for complex projects
- Excellent bargain for small groups
- Free support for at least one year
Cons
- Heavy, complicated user interface
12. Workfront
All-in-One Project Scheduling Software for Enterprises
Workfront is the best project management scheduling tool for large organizations with notable features, such as advanced file sharing, capacity planning, resource management, customizable reports, and workflow automation.
You can create tasks, assign resources, and specify task dependencies and due dates to guarantee you never miss key deadlines for effective progress tracking.
Key Features
Portfolio planning
For effective portfolio management, you can create tasks and keep everything organized by mitigating risks and optimizing projects to meet demands.
Team collaboration
Use digital collaboration features to bring your team together to plan and execute work across the organization while maintaining complete visibility over your projects.
Online proofing
Your team can collaborate more and deliver error-free projects faster with real-time collaboration and progress tracking.
Issue tracking
Identify and resolve any possible issues with your projects before they become serious for streamlined workflows.
Integrations
Keep your team focused, efficient, and productive by integrating with out-of-the-box enterprise tools, such as Salesforce, Jira, and Slack.
Pricing
Workfront offers three custom-priced plans, including Enterprise, Business, and Pro. However, you can only request pricing for each plan by submitting your business details.
Pros
- Suitable for large organizations
- Multiple time-logging options
- 24/7 live agent support
Cons
- Hidden pricing structures
13. Forecast App
Easy-To-Use Project Scheduling Software With an Auto-Schedule Option
Forecast App is an end-to-end schedule planning software with an auto-schedule feature that allows you to reduce administrative time in half. As a result, you can plan, operate, and track multiple projects simultaneously to avoid scope creep.
Key Features
Workflow automation
With Forecast App's auto-schedule, you can create a solid project plan with a few mouse clicks. As a result, you can reduce administrative expenses and free up time to focus on other aspects of your business.
Team collaboration
Keep everyone updated with task cards that allow everyone on the team to log time, leave comments, and share files. You can also create tasks and set task dependencies via the task cards.
Business intelligence
Get live-updated project data and detailed reports automatically to help you make profitable business decisions.
Project accounting
Understand the true cost of each project through a holistic view of your project budget and identify the areas that demand special attention to get better results.
Integrations
Automate manual work by integrating with other business tools you already use, such as Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Harvest.
Pricing
Forecast App has three paid plans, including Lite Plan at $29 per seat per month, Pro Plan at $49 per seat per month, and a Plus Plan with custom pricing.
They offer a 14-day free trial across all plans.
Pros
- Easy to use platform
- Time-saving auto-schedule functionality
- Solid up-to-the-minute reporting
Cons
- It's excessively pricey compared to other project schedule tools on our list.
14. Paymo
Best Project Scheduling Software for Small Teams and Freelancers
Paymo is a simple task management and Gantt chart scheduling tool for small teams and freelancers on a tight budget. The tool is also ideal for creative and marketing teams since it helps them define the critical path for project planning by factoring in lead and lag time.
Key Features
Resource scheduling
Cut down unnecessary meetings and communication by using a bird's eye perspective of your team's schedule to see who is working on what and who is available for more work. You'll be able to view your employee and project schedules on the same timeline.
Multiple views
You can switch between five views to see all of your projects from different perspectives for better visibility. They include Gantt chart view, table view, board view, list view, and calendar view.
Gantt charts
For successful project planning and scheduling, use Gantt charts to set a project's start and finish dates. You can also use the portfolio Gantt chart view to get a wider picture of your projects.
Kanban boards
You can create custom workflows through Kanban boards by dragging and dropping tasks for progress tracking and efficiency.
Time tracking
For effective time management, you can enter time, add bulk time, and view everything on timesheets. Use desktop apps or mobile time tracking to ensure you track progress no matter where you're.
Pricing
Paymo has a Free Plan with only one user. The paid plans are Starter at $4.95, Small Office at $9.95, and Business at $20.79 per user per month.
They offer a 15-day free trial across the paid plans.
Pros
- Effortless planning and scheduling
- Extensive time tracking capabilities
- Multi-language interface
Cons
- The free trial is only available to one person at a time
15. Zoho Projects
Award-Winning Project Scheduling Software for Complete Visibility
Zoho Projects is a cloud-based project management software with calendar capabilities that help traditional project managers to have complete visibility over complex projects.
Use the powerful Gantt charts to view the bigger picture of your projects and organize tasks with their task dependencies to develop project schedules for efficient progress tracking.
Key Features
Team collaboration
With interactive collaboration features like feeds, mentions, chats, emails, documents, and forums, you can get instant updates across your projects and keep everyone on the same page.
Gantt charts
You can use Gantt charts to track progress, understand task dependencies, and reschedule tasks to ensure that work is completed on time.
Custom fields
Create custom layouts for your projects with the help of custom fields that allow you to capture the right data for streamlined workflows. Your layouts can include URLs, phone numbers, email addresses, and dates.
Issue tracking
Keep track of issues or bugs in your projects so that you can track and fix them as they appear.
Integrations
You can integrate with in-house tools like Zoho Sprints, Zoho Analytics, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Desk for streamlined business processes. Additionally, connect with your favorite tools such as Google Calendar and Slack.
Pricing
- Unlimited Projects
- Custom Views
- 100 GB Storage
- 20 Project Templates
- Worlflow Rules
- Custom Fields & Roles
- 10 Guests
- 30 Project Templates
Zoho Projects has a Free Plan with up to three users. The paid plans are Premium at $4 and Enterprise at $9 per user per month.
They offer a 10-day free trial across the paid plans.
Pros
- Intuitive user interface
- It supports 17 different languages
- In-built bug and issue tracking tool
Cons
- Lacks some reporting features
16. TeamGantt
Best Free Project Scheduling Software with Powerful Gantt Charts
TeamGantt is an online Gantt chart scheduling tool with over one million users, including companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Nike. You can drag and drop tasks on interactive Gantt charts to create project schedules.
Key Features
Timelines
You can compare planned and actual project timelines and receive a baseline report to ensure you mitigate risks and avoid bottlenecks for your projects.
Team collaboration
Use collaboration features like file sharing, team dashboards, and task comments to enhance communication between your team and external stakeholders.
Gantt charts
Create tasks by dragging and dropping them onto interactive Gantt charts in a single click. You can also view all of your projects on a single Gantt chart screen to identify bottlenecks before they occur.
Task views
For effective progress tracking, you can view your projects in different views, such as Gantt chart, list, and calendar format.
Availability tab
Use the simple availability tab to ensure that everyone is working but not overworked or burnt out to maximize workloads and team availability.
Pricing
- 5 Projects per Manager
- 5 Users per Manager
- 150 Tasks in a Project
- Support Integrations
- 20 Projects per Manager
- Unlimited Users
- Unlimited Tasks
- Priority Support
- Unlimited Projects
- Dedicated Customer Agent
- Uptime SLA
- Customized Training
TeamGantt has a Free Plan with up to three users. The paid plans are Standard at $19 and Advanced at $24 per user per month. There is also an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
They offer a 30-day free trial for Standard and Advanced Plans.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Suitable for beginners and small teams
- Paid plans include unlimited guests
Cons
- Lacks budget reporting tools
17. MS Project
Beginner-Friendly Project Scheduling Software for Simple Tasks
MS Project is the best project scheduling and task management software for new users because it combines excel spreadsheets and Gantt chart features in one centralized location. As a result, the entire project planning process is seamless and transparent with this scheduling tool.
Key Features
Business intelligence
Create interactive dashboards to view general project status and explore the details of your projects or programs to increase vision and results.
Portfolio management
Manage projects, set priorities, and plan your portfolio investments to determine the best critical path to meet your organization's needs.
Coauthoring
Work together with team members and stakeholders to simultaneously edit and update project schedules and task lists to promote transparency across departments.
Task views
Oversee your project schedules in different views, including the Gantt chart, board, and grid, to accelerate management processes.
Reporting
Stay on top of your workflows by using pre-built reports to track progress on your projects, portfolios, programs, and resources
Pricing
MS Project pricing starts with Project Plan 1 at $10, Project Plan 3 at $30, and Project Plan 5 at $55 per user per month.
They offer a 30-day free trial across all plans.
Pros
- Excellent at allocating and scheduling resources
- Powerful integrations with other Microsoft products
- Provides on-premises solutions
Cons
- The UI can be slow to load at times
Key Features of the Best Project Scheduling Software
The best project scheduling software helps you consolidate all of your work-related and non-work-related activities to maximize your business's profitability.
As a result, you must ensure that your task management software has the necessary project scheduling capabilities.
Here are five key features of the best project scheduling software.
1. Planning and Scheduling
A project scheduling tool must include planning and scheduling features such as calendars, checklists, task lists or cards, and multiple views to help you manage workloads to meet daily, weekly, or monthly targets.
You'll have a clear overview of who is working on what and when to allocate resources based on project requirements, ensuring that no team member is overworked.
2. Team Collaboration and Communication
Your team needs to be aligned if you want to enjoy paced-up progress tracking, improved performance, and maximum productivity.
The best possible way is to ensure that your project schedule tool includes interactive collaboration capabilities like file sharing, mentions, tagging, and message boards.
Additionally, the best collaboration tool reduces the need to constantly follow up on daily projects or tasks, ensuring that everyone stays on the same page for accelerated management processes.
3. Time and Resource Management
A solid project scheduling tool should help you plan your time and resources effectively by including people, tools, and equipment to have complete control over your project timelines.
You can also avoid unexpected delays and other bottlenecks that might occur if your projects are not effectively optimized for future risks. You can counteract this by adding contingency time to all of your projects.
It would be ideal to select an effective project scheduling tool that includes time and resource management to save time, effort, and resources.
4. Analytics and Reporting
The right scheduling software for project management must include analytics and reporting features like time tracking reports, project health reports, and key project metrics to help you turn project data into actionable insights you can share with your team or other stakeholders.
Analytics and reporting enable you to see complex data in the most efficient way for you or your team to complete tasks on time.
5. User Friendly
Your project scheduling software should have an intuitive and easily navigable user interface for novice and experienced users.
Similarly, the software should make it simple to onboard every team member, allowing you to get everyone up and running in no time.
Begin by looking for a drop and drag feature and how responsive the project management software is when browsing through.
What Are Some Common Project Scheduling Techniques?
Most project management teams use several project scheduling techniques to create project plans and track project performance.
Here are common project scheduling techniques.
1. Gantt Charts
Also known as bar charts, they are the most common visualization technique for progress tracking and reporting purposes. Most project managers love using Gantt chart software to grasp project plans and efficiently manage their tasks.
2. Critical Path Method (CPM)
It's a mathematical analysis technique for calculating the maximum and minimum time required to complete a project. CPM can also create schedules, dependencies, and task lists.
3. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
It's another mathematical analysis technique that schedules the flow of tasks in a project using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic timing to predict the overall time required to finish it.
4. Fast Tracking
It's a duration compression technique that involves overlapping or executing many tasks simultaneously to accelerate the pace at which a project is completed.
5. Crashing
It's also a duration compression technique where you can add more resources to complete a project on time.
6. Simulation
It's a technique that uses assumptions to create a separate set of tasks and then uses those tasks to compute the projected project duration.
7. Resource Leveling
It entails making minor adjustments to project schedules to reduce delivery time by avoiding under or overutilization of resources.
FAQ
A project schedule is a tool for organizing tasks, resources, milestones, and deadlines to track the progress of a project.
In other words, a project timeline optimizes workflow and communication within a project, ensuring that everyone is on the same page to complete work quickly.
A project schedule works by helping you allocate the right resources to the right team to keep your project running the way you want.
It also provides insights into your projects, allowing you to prioritize tasks better and know where to put dependencies to avoid bottlenecks.
Project scheduling is a time-consuming process, so you need a tool to help you make the best decisions for your business.
Here are some of the benefits of using project schedule software.
– Easily visualize all of your projects and anticipate bottlenecks.
– Keeps the team focused on the right tasks to avoid missing crucial deadlines.
– Free up time and energy by using automation to manage your projects.
– Create reports on resource availability, team capacity, and business needs.
– Track your projects for effortless project planning and budgeting.
Most project scheduling software costs vary depending on your software and the paid options you purchase. However, the monthly cost ranges between $5 to $20 per user.
For instance, the starting price of Monday.com is the basic plan at $8, while ClickUp is an unlimited plan at $5.
Additionally, we have software that offers free versions for a limited number of users like Asana, Wrike, and Teamwork. Others charge on a monthly or lifetime basis like Infinity.
Which Project Scheduling Software Should I Try
When selecting the best project scheduling software, think about why you need it first and make sure it fits your company's requirements.
However, many project scheduling tools are available nowadays, and finding one might be overwhelming for new project managers. So, ensuring your project management software includes key project scheduling features would be best.
Therefore, choose the best project management software tool from our top recommendations to save time.
Here are our top five picks for best project scheduling software tools again:
Monday.com
ClickUp
Wrike
Smartsheet
Teamwork
If that isn't convincing and you still need more information, check out our in-depth comparison reviews of various project management software to make an informed selection.