Best Free Project Management Software 2026: 6 Plans
Best of / Best Free Project Management Software 2026
Shortlist

This page compares free project management plans only: what you get without paying, and where each free plan stops. We checked each vendor's US pricing page on October 20, 2026 and ranked the free plans on three verified limits: how many people can use them (seats), how much storage they include, and how many boards or projects they allow.

No free plan wins on all three. Jira and Trello allow 10 people, ClickUp allows unlimited members but has very little storage, Asana and monday.com allow 2, and Basecamp allows 3 people on a single project. Each card also shows the cheapest paid plan, so you can see what the first upgrade costs and whether it is billed per user or as a flat price.

The best Project Management tools in 2026 are Jira (free plan; paid $8.48–$15.56/user/mo), ClickUp (free plan; paid $10–$19/user/mo), and Trello (free plan; paid $6–$17.50/user/mo). ClickUp is the only free plan with unlimited members but has 60 MB of storage (Unlimited $7/user/month billed yearly). Trello's free plan covers 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace (Standard $5/user/month billed annually).

Quick Answer

ClickUp is the only free plan with unlimited members but has 60 MB of storage (Unlimited $7/user/month billed yearly). Trello's free plan covers 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace (Standard $5/user/month billed annually).

Last updated: 2026-10-20

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Our Rankings

Most Generous Free Plan for Teams up to 10

Jira

Jira's Free plan covers up to 10 users with 2 GB of storage and unlimited projects, tasks, goals and forms, the strongest combination of seats, storage and project limits on this list. It also includes backlog, board, list, timeline and calendar views and 150 automation steps per month.
Price: Free plan; paid $8.48–$15.56/user/mo
Cheapest paid
Standard: $9.70/user/month billed monthly; $950/year for 1–10 users billed annually
Verified
2026-10-20 · vendor source
Pros:
  • Up to 10 users free
  • 2 GB of storage
  • Unlimited projects and tasks
  • Backlog, board, list, timeline and calendar views
Cons:
  • Hard stop at 10 users; an 11th user means paying for Standard
  • Community support only
  • 150 automation steps per month for the whole site
Best Free Plan for Unlimited Members

ClickUp

ClickUp's Free Forever plan is the only one here with unlimited members, and it also has unlimited tasks, which makes it the pick for teams larger than 10. The trade-offs are storage, at 60 MB total for the Workspace, and structure, capped at 5 Spaces with 40 Lists per Space.
Price: Free plan; paid $10–$19/user/mo
Cheapest paid
Unlimited: $7/user/month billed yearly, $10 month-to-month
Verified
2026-10-20 · vendor source
Pros:
  • Unlimited free plan members
  • Unlimited tasks
  • Docs, Kanban boards, sprints and calendar view
  • Two-factor authentication on Free
Cons:
  • 60 MB of file storage in total
  • 5 Spaces, 40 Lists per Space
  • Guests on Free get full edit rights that can't be restricted
Best Free Kanban Boards

Trello

Trello's Free plan allows up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace, with unlimited cards, unlimited Power-Ups and unlimited storage at 10 MB per file. It suits small teams that run their work on Kanban boards and can stay within the 10-board cap.
Price: Free plan; paid $6–$17.50/user/mo
Cheapest paid
Standard: $5/user/month billed annually, $6 month-to-month
Verified
2026-10-20 · vendor source
Pros:
  • Up to 10 collaborators per Workspace
  • Unlimited storage (10 MB per file)
  • Unlimited cards and Power-Ups
Cons:
  • 10 boards per Workspace
  • 10 MB upload limit per file
  • Calendar, timeline and table views need Premium
Best Free Plan for One or Two People

Asana

Asana's Personal plan is free forever for 2 users, with unlimited tasks and projects and unlimited storage at 100 MB per file. The 2-user cap is the binding limit, so it fits individuals and pairs rather than teams.
Price: Free plan; paid $13.49–$30.49/user/mo
Cheapest paid
Starter: $10.99/user/month billed annually, $13.49 month-to-month
Verified
2026-10-20 · vendor source
Pros:
  • Unlimited tasks and projects
  • Unlimited storage (100 MB per file)
  • 100+ free integrations
Cons:
  • Limited to 2 users
  • Reporting dashboards and custom templates need Starter
  • Paid plans are priced per user
Best Free Single-Project Space

Basecamp

Basecamp's free plan gives one project with 1 GB of storage for up to 3 users, with no credit card required. Paid plans are a flat price per account rather than per user, which matters once a team outgrows the single project.
Price: Free plan; paid $59/mo
Card to sign up
Not required
Cheapest paid
Freelancer: $29/month flat (up to 5 users, 3 active projects)
Verified
2026-10-20 · vendor source
Pros:
  • Flat per-account pricing on paid plans, no per-user fees
  • 1 GB of storage
  • No credit card for the free plan or the 30-day trials
Cons:
  • 1 project only
  • 3 users maximum
  • Freelancer, the cheapest paid plan, still excludes templates and time tracking
Best for Trying monday.com Boards

Monday.com

monday.com's Free plan allows up to 2 seats and up to 3 boards, the tightest seat and board limits on this list, so it works as a trial of monday's boards rather than a long-term free tool. Paid plans are sold per seat and add unlimited free viewers from Basic.
Price: Free plan; paid $9–$24/user/mo
Card to sign up
Not required
Cheapest paid
Basic: $9/seat/month billed annually, $12 month-to-month
Verified
2026-10-20 · vendor source
Pros:
  • Boards with monday.com column types
  • No credit card needed to start
  • Paid plans add unlimited free viewers
Cons:
  • 2 seats maximum
  • 3 boards maximum
  • Paid plans are sold per seat

Evaluation Criteria

  • free plan seats
  • free plan storage
  • boards and projects

How We Picked These

We evaluated 6 products and ranked the top 6 (last researched 2026-10-20).

Free-plan seats Weight: 5/5

How many people can use the free plan

Free-plan storage Weight: 4/5

Total storage or per-file limits on the free plan

Boards and projects Weight: 4/5

Caps on projects, boards, Spaces or lists on the free plan

Upgrade path Weight: 2/5

How the cheapest paid plan is priced (per user or flat) and billed

Frequently Asked Questions

01 Which free project management tool allows the most users?

ClickUp's Free Forever plan allows unlimited members. Jira (10 users) and Trello (10 collaborators per Workspace) come next, Basecamp's free plan allows 3 users, and Asana's Personal plan and monday.com's Free plan allow 2.

02 Which free plan includes the most storage?

Trello and Asana have no total storage cap on their free plans, but limit each file to 10 MB and 100 MB. Jira includes 2 GB and Basecamp 1 GB. ClickUp's Free Forever plan has 60 MB in total for the whole Workspace, the smallest here.

03 Which free plans limit the number of projects or boards?

Basecamp's free plan allows 1 project and monday.com's allows 3 boards. Trello allows 10 boards per Workspace, and ClickUp allows 5 Spaces with up to 40 Lists in each. Jira and Asana allow unlimited projects on their free plans.

04 Are these free plans time-limited?

No. All six are free-forever plans, not trials. Trials apply to the paid tiers instead: for example, Basecamp's paid plans have a 30-day free trial, and Jira's Standard and Premium plans offer a free trial.

05 What do you give up by staying on a free plan?

Mostly capacity and control. Jira's Free plan has community support only and 150 automation steps a month; Trello's limits boards and file sizes and keeps calendar and timeline views for Premium; Asana's keeps reporting dashboards for Starter; ClickUp's caps storage and gives guests full edit rights that can't be restricted.

06 Is ClickUp changing its plans?

Yes. ClickUp's help center says new Workspaces start on new plans that include AI and that existing Workspaces are being moved over gradually. The prices on this page are the lineup ClickUp's US pricing page showed by default on October 20, 2026; the free plan limits above were on that same page.