The best free AI project management software is ClickUp, which combines a generous selection of task management features with limited access to ClickUp Brain, the outstanding built-in company chatbot.
Other options include monday Work Management, which also offers a robust free plan, and access to its own chatbot, AI Sidekick.
To inform this guide, I personally tested five of the leading free AI project management platforms. I’ve put together a dedicated buying guide so you can find the right solution for your business.
Key Takeaways
ClickUp is the best free AI project management software, due to its lack of user limit, and advanced features like resource management and milestones.
monday Work Management is a great option for data visualization, with three boards and over 200 templates to customize workflows on its free plan.
Wrike is the best option for large teams, due to its lack of user limit and support for eight different languages.
Jira has the best tools for visualizing project progress, including burndown charts for Scrum teams and “impact vs effort” graphs to calculate ROI.
Zoho Projects has the widest selection of free integrations, including third-party tools like Slack, Zendesk, and SharePoint.
The Best Free AI Project Management Software
Below is a quick summary of the best free AI project management providers. Check out the table to see how they compare head to head, and scroll down for an in-depth look at all of them.
- ClickUp — Best overall
- monday Work Management — Best for data visualization
- Wrike — Best for large teams
- Jira — Best for visualizing project progress
- Zoho Projects — Best for integrations
| Price from All prices listed as per user, per month (billed annually) | Free version user limit | Pros | Cons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ClickUp | monday work management | Wrike | Jira | Zoho Projects | |
| $7/user/month | $9/user/month | $10/user/month | $9.05/user/month | $4/user/month | |
| Unlimited | 2 | Unlimited | 10 | 5 | |
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1. ClickUp — Best Overall
ClickUp is the best free AI project management platform on the market, due to its lack of user limit, robust functionality, and outstanding selection of AI features, courtesy of ClickUp Brain.
Pros
- Genuinely impressive free plan
- Multiple ways to view project progress and data
- cheaper than a lot of competitors
- 24/7 live support
Cons
- Not particularly suited to compiling project feedback
- Clunky automation builder
What do we like about ClickUp?
ClickUp offers more free features than any other option on this list, with some standout examples listed below.
- Milestones
- 24/7 live support
- Gantt charts
- Custom fields
- Resource management
For reference, monday work management doesn’t have milestones on its free plan, and Jira, Wrike, and Zoho don’t offer any resource management capabilities on their free plans.
I tested ClickUp myself, and I was highly impressed with its flagship AI chatbot. After navigating to the “AI” tab via the left-hand column, I was prompted to integrate my existing workplace tools to get the most out of ClickUp Brain.
After quickly integrating with Gmail, I asked ClickUp Brain to turn my last five emails into an action plan. It did so in about 10 seconds.
ClickUp Brain read and extracted a “to-do” from my last five emails in 10 seconds. Source: Tech.co testing
Then, I asked ClickUp to convert those actions into task cards and assign them to a “to-do” board. Not only was it able to do this in around 30 seconds, but each card was populated with individual deadlines, statuses, and titles.
The task card fruits of ClickUp Brain’s labor. Source: Tech.co testing
Wanting to test something else out, I asked the chatbot to draft an email to a named recipient for me in which I told them about my upcoming deadlines and requested support.
The email that ClickUp Brain composed to one of my colleagues. Source: Tech.co testing
After a few seconds, ClickUp drafted some email copy, which I found to be perfectly acceptable. All in all, I was hugely impressed with the chatbot’s speed and execution.
Pros
- Highly customizable platform
- Custom fields feature available on all plans (including the free plan)
- Rule-based automation can be used to complete simple tasks, like archiving items
Cons
- Free plan has 2-person user limit
- Limited third party integrations
- Higher tiers required for basic features
What do we like about monday Work Management?
Even on its free plan, monday Work Management is a highly customizable tool. You’re provisioned with a wide selection of fields and views to represent data in whichever way suits your business.
Some standout examples include:
- Kanban boards
- Spreadsheet view
- Whiteboarding
- Form builder
- Preset charts and widgets
I tested the monday Work Management free plan myself, and while I was more impressed with ClickUp Brain, I found monday AI Sidekick to be a very effective AI tool.
I asked AI Sidekick to create a marketing campaign board for me, and to populate it with individual task cards. After thinking for about 20 seconds, the chatbot posed a follow-up question.
I appreciated that AI Sidekick clarified my request rather than giving me a “best guess” effort. Source: Tech.co testing
Satisfied it had all the required information, AI Sidekick spent another 30 seconds generating my board. This was significantly longer than any individual task that ClickUp Brain completed, but I was highly impressed with the finished result.
monday populated my board with placeholder task cards, assigning individual priority levels and notes, which was a neat touch. Source: Tech.co testing
The default monday Work Management view, Table view, is clearly laid out, with color coding, signposting, and an AI Sidekick widget built into each task card. With this neat inclusion, you can quickly get help with individual tasks, rather than navigating to a dedicated AI hub.
To save time for the user, monday AI Sidekick is built into each individual task card. Source: Tech.co testing
Expert Tip
Free AI project management software is a great option for smaller businesses with microbudgets, or individuals looking to keep themselves on track during a single project.
But if your requirements are more extensive than that, you’ll quickly find that a free solution just isn’t the answer.
With limitations on users, boards, tasks, automations, and more, free AI project management software typically isn’t built for the long haul.
And with platforms like Trello starting at just $5 per user, per month, you don’t need to break the bank to get your hands on some great functionality.
Pros
- No-nonsense, robust feature catalog
- Lots of customizability
- Strong task management and data tools
Cons
- Not entirely easy to use
- Difficult to use automation builder
- Not the best for collaboration
What do we like about Wrike?
In addition to its lack of user limit and support for multiple languages, Wrike has a great range of features for measuring progress, such as milestones and various different graphs. Other features include:
- 2GB storage per account
- Custom project templates
- Table view
- Kanban board
- Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations
I tested out Wrike for myself, and while I was pretty impressed with its AI capabilities, it was very difficult to locate them in the first place.
Unlike the other names on this list, Wrike requires you to manually enable AI features in Settings, which I found very strange.
Wrike is the first AI project management tool I’ve encountered that doesn’t include its AI tools by default. Source: Tech.co testing
Once I’d enabled AI, I wanted to put it to the test. But curiously, Wrike does not signpost how to access its AI features. I spent several minutes navigating the platform, clicking through the dashboard and table view, and still no dice.
I came across some neat charts, and I was impressed with the number of data visualization options on offer, as well as the wide variety of data filtering options.
With Wrike, you can filter charts by status, assignee, effort, importance, and more. Source: Tech.co testing
I finally came across an AI tool embedded into an individual task card, so I asked it to create an end-to-end marketing campaign for me. It did so in literally two seconds, comfortably making it the fastest AI tool on this list.
Once it had created my marketing campaign, I was able to post it as an update directly into the relevant task card. It’s an extremely efficient way of summarizing project progress. Source: Tech.co testing
All in all, I was highly impressed with Wrike’s AI tool, which left both ClickUp and monday Work Management in the dust with its speed.
However, the difficulty that I encountered with locating it was quite frustrating. And somewhat ironically, it added significant time onto my testing experience — time that AI is supposed to save.
Jira — Best for Visualizing Project Progress
Jira is the best free AI project management tool for visualizing your project progress. For instance, there are Kanban boards for agile teams, as well as burndown charts for teams using the Scrum framework to organize their operations.
Pros
- Dashboard, charts and widgets available on free plan
- Lots of helpful integrations
- Scalable pricing structure - the more users you have, the more you save
Cons
- Missing more advanced task management features
- Integrations can be confusing
- Not the best for collaborating
What do we like about Jira?
Jira’s free package is pretty generous, with access to a comprehensive list of views, such as List, Kanban boards, Calendar, and Timeline. Other features include:
- Up to 10 users
- Unlimited projects, goals, and tasks
- 2GB storage per account
- Password rules
- Automation builder (100 per month)
To research this article, I tested Jira’s free plan. Upon registering an account, I was immediately struck by how clean and intuitive the interface was, which organized information in a clear, logical way.
I was impressed with the Jira interface, which cleverly uses white space to avoid clutter. Source: Tech.co testing
The platform has a decent range of project views as well, including List, Board, Calendar, and Timeline, so you can view your data in whichever way suits your business.
I decided to build an automated workflow to test out Jira’s AI capabilities. The builder is accompanied by a handy step-by-step tutorial, which is a neat touch for first-time users.
The Jira automation builder walkthrough is useful for first-time users and untechnical stakeholders. Source: Tech.co testing
It’s a pretty robust tool, but the process itself is far less intuitive than monday Work Management’s automation builder, which deploys a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised with the Jira tools that enable you to see how your projects are progressing. One standout example is the pre-built “impact vs effort” graph that allows you to calculate your return on investment (ROI) in forensic detail.
The “impact vs effort” graph is a great way of ensuring your project stays within budget. Source: Tech.co testing
Zoho Projects — Best for Integrations
Zoho Projects is the best free AI project management platform for integrations, with a comprehensive suite of both third-party applications and programs from within the Zoho workplace suite. Standout examples include Zendesk, Slack, and SharePoint.
Pros
- Free trial
- Easy-to-use interface for everyone
- Team instant messenger for collabroation
Cons
- Free plan has no preset or custom project templates
- Teams of more than 3 will have to pay
- Guest access exclusive to high tiers and costs money
What do we like about Zoho Projects?
Alongside its outstanding selection of free integrations, Zoho Projects has some great collaboration tools in its arsenal, including a shared calendar so you can view your team members’ workloads from one place. Other features include:
- Budgeting
- Milestones
- Tasks and task comments
- Gantt charts
- Instant messenger
While testing Zoho Books, I did find the platform quite clunky when compared with the likes of ClickUp and monday Work Management. Adding widgets to the dashboard, for example, is a lengthy process that will likely deter first-time users.
I was impressed with the template gallery, which provides a generous selection of ready-built project templates, so you don’t have to customize each one.
Zoho Project templates are categorized by vertical, so you’ll quickly be able to find the template to meet your needs. Source: Tech.co testing
While Zoho Projects’s native AI features are pretty thin on the ground with its free plan, you can connect the platform with third-party AI models, so that they can gain a deep understanding of your data and execute tasks based on natural language prompts.
Once set up, this allows you to build your own custom AI agents to carry out tasks, streamline workflows, and ultimately give your productivity a shot in the arm.
How to Choose the Right Free Project Management Software
The right free project management software depends on your business case, company size, and technical requirements.
Small businesses
If you work for a small business and you’re looking for free project management software, you have a lot of options. Because you don’t have to think about user limits, you can focus solely on features.
monday Work Management, for instance, is highly customizable, easy to use, and has an outstanding selection of task management features.
monday work management offers a simple interface that even beginners and small teams can figure out quickly. Source: Tech.co testing
Large businesses
Large businesses will likely need some collaboration features, making Zoho Projects a decent option, due to its shared calendar view and instant messenger.
Alongside this, you’ll want a good variety of data visualization tools to suit a wider audience. Again, monday Work Management is a great option, but so is Jira.
At Tech.co we don’t write about products and services without conducting thorough research, and hands-on testing where applicable. While this process can be time consuming, it’s time well spent if it means we’re providing better, more useful information for your business.
When it comes to project management software, we test out each program first-hand, guided by an in-house research framework consisting of six core assessment areas that break down into a range of smaller subcategories. This framework is based on the factors companies and project managers have told us are important to their everyday usage. The six criteria are:
- Ease of use: After getting five to six participants to test each project management software for an hour, we assessed how easy it was to set up a project with the platforms, how clear their interfaces were, and how easy they were to navigate.
- Pricing: We look at all plan costs. Providers offering lots of features for lower costs will have better pricing scores than those that lock them away on higher-tier plans.
- Customer support: We assess the ways you can contact your project management software provider if something goes wrong. Providers offering 24/7 live support, as well as phone-based support and onboarding assistance, get the best scores.
- Security: For this area, we assess the security options offered by each provider. This includes user-level security features like two-factor authentication, as well as more administrative security measures like user permissions and IP restrictions.
- Integrations: We assess the quantity — and the quality — of the applications each project management software provider integrates with.
- Functionality: This part of our research involves assessing the full feature set that each product provides. We look at four function-based sub-categories as part of this, including task management, project and workflow creation, data visualization, and collaboration.
It’s important to note that not all of these criteria hold equal weight in our testing methodology. This is best practice and based on what businesses have told us is essential, compared with what’s simply “nice to have”.
Because of their central importance to project management, how easy each tool is to use, how much it costs, features for project and workflow creation, and task management had more of an impact overall than other criteria.
Verdict: What Is the Best Free AI Project Management Software?
The best free AI project management software is ClickUp. The platform combines unlimited users with a generous selection of task management features.
ClickUp also offers several data visualization tools, custom project templates, custom fields, and milestones, so it’s easy to organize and understand your data.
Other great options include monday Work Management, which is fantastic for visualizing data, and Zoho Projects, which has an unbeatable selection of integrations.