Best Gantt Chart Software in 2026

Why Gantt chart software is worth choosing carefully

Almost every project management tool now has something called a Gantt or timeline view. That makes the category look crowded, but the label hides big differences. In some tools the Gantt chart is a full scheduling engine: change one date and every dependent task moves, the critical path updates, and you can compare the live plan with the baseline you agreed with the client. In others it is a picture of task dates that you still have to keep consistent by hand.

The second problem is plan gating. A vendor's Gantt feature page usually lists everything the product can do, while the pricing page decides which of those features your plan actually gets. Dependencies, critical path and baselines are the three features most often held back for a higher tier. This guide checks each of those against the vendor's own pricing page and help center, so you know what you get at each price.

Seven tools are compared: GanttPRO, TeamGantt, Smartsheet, monday.com, Wrike, ClickUp and Teamwork.com. Two are dedicated Gantt tools, and the other five are broader work management platforms with a Gantt view built in.

What to look for in Gantt chart software

These are the buying criteria that matter once a schedule has real dependencies and real stakeholders.

• Dependency types and lag. Finish-to-start covers most links, but overlapping phases need start-to-start, and hand-offs that must end together need finish-to-finish. Lag (a wait between tasks) and lead (an overlap) matter for things like curing time, review periods or shipping. Check that the tool supports the types you use and lets you enter lag.
• Automatic rescheduling. When a predecessor slips, dependent tasks should move with it.
• Critical path. The critical path is the chain of dependent tasks that sets the finish date. A tool that highlights it tells you which delays actually move the deadline. Some tools also show float (slack), which is how far a task can slip before it matters.
• Baselines. A baseline saves the approved plan so you can show planned versus actual dates later.
• Milestones. Zero-duration markers for sign-offs, launches and payment points. Look at whether they show as diamonds on the chart and whether they can be locked.
• Workload view. Once more than one project shares the same people, you need to see who is overbooked. This is often a higher-tier feature.
• Sharing and export for clients. Agencies and consultants need a read-only link, a PDF, or both. Check whether outside viewers need a paid seat.
• Microsoft Project import and export. If you inherit .mpp files from clients or a PMO, import saves days of retyping. Export to MS Project XML matters if a client insists on receiving a Project file.
• Which plan unlocks what. The headline price is rarely the price of the plan with critical path and baselines.

Feature check: which plan unlocks the Gantt essentials

GanttPRO: full review

What it is. GanttPRO is a dedicated online Gantt chart tool. Everything in it starts from the timeline, and the pricing page makes a point of putting the core scheduling features on every plan rather than reserving them for upper tiers.

Key Gantt features. The dependencies page says you can "connect tasks with one out of four types of dependencies, setting up lag (-) or lead (+) with the simplicity of drag & drop." Auto scheduling recalculates dependent tasks when dates change, and the features page notes that you can keep gaps or create overlaps. Critical path is a one-click toggle: "Just click a button to switch on a critical path, and GanttPRO will automatically generate it." Baselines let you save an initial version of the project and compare it with the current state. Milestones, deadlines, a project calendar with working days and hours, and a change history round out the planning side.

On the plan comparison table, auto scheduling, baseline, critical path, dependencies, deadlines and milestones are all ticked for Core, Advanced, Business and Enterprise. That is the main reason it is the top pick here: no other tool in this comparison gives you all of those on its cheapest plan.

Import, export and sharing. GanttPRO's critical path page says you can import an existing project "from Excel, MS Project, or JIRA Cloud" and export "to PNG, PDF, XML, or Excel." The plan table lists import, export and a shared private link on every plan, which covers the common agency need of sending a client a live view.

Workload and resources. Workload management, resource calendars, resource types, budget planning, estimation and time tracking start on Business. Core and Advanced include unlimited virtual resources, which are placeholders you can assign before you know who will do the work.

Pricing. Prices depend on team size. For 1 to 15 users, annual billing is $8 (Core), $12 (Advanced) and $19 (Business) per user per month. From 20 users, the annual rates drop to $7, $10 and $17. Monthly billing is $9, $15 and $24 per user per month and is offered from 5 users; a single user can only buy annually. Enterprise is listed at $25 per user per month as a limited offer (down from $35), for 5 or more users on an annual subscription. There is no free plan, but there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Who it is for. Project managers who think in Gantt charts first: construction and engineering schedules, consulting engagements, event and launch plans. It suits teams that want MS Project style scheduling without MS Project's licence model.

Limits. It is a Gantt tool, not a full work hub, so you will still want separate tools for docs and chat. Calendar view, custom fields and saved templates need Advanced; workload, reports, Jira Cloud integration and the API need Business.

TeamGantt: full review

What it is. TeamGantt is a Gantt-first tool that also sells a construction edition (Builder Edition). Its pricing is unusual in this category: you pay per account and per project bundle, not per seat.

Key Gantt features. The dependencies help article lists all four types (finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish), lag with positive values and lead with negative values, and drag-to-link from the dot at the end of a task bar. A red dependency line flags an invalid dependency, and a "Fix invalid dependencies" option repairs it. A preference called "Remove float when dragging predecessor tasks" moves dependent tasks along when you drag a predecessor. Note that the pricing page lists "Advanced dependencies" as a Business and Builder feature without spelling out what it covers.

Critical path is ticked on every paid plan, including Base. The help article explains that you can either highlight the critical path or filter the chart down to it. Baselines are "available on our Business and Builder Edition plans"; you can create as many baseline sets as you need, and a baselines column shows how many days ahead or behind each task is. Lockable milestones and workload management are also Business features.

Sharing with clients. Every plan includes a public share link, and the pricing page says Base lets you "share live schedules with anyone." TeamGantt also separates managers, who create and edit projects, from collaborators, who can update progress, comment, share files and track time but "can't change dates or edit tasks." For a client or subcontractor who needs to report progress without touching the schedule, that split is useful.

MS Project and exports. You can import a .mpp file when creating a project. The import brings over task names, dependencies, start and end dates, and percent complete, but not resources or resource assignments. The pricing FAQ says you can "export any project to CSV, PDF, or Microsoft Project format," and unlimited exports are on every plan.

Pricing. Base is $59 per month billed monthly or $589 per year billed annually, for 1 manager and 10 collaborators, 5 projects and 150 tasks per project. Business starts at $120 per month or $1,140 per year with 5 projects included, unlimited managers and collaborators, 500 tasks per project, and extra projects at $24 per month ($228 per year) each, up to 20 projects. Builder Edition starts at $199 per month or $1,908 per year with 10 projects and construction tools such as lookahead schedules, a client portal and Procore sync. Enterprise is quote-based. Each paid plan has a 14-day free trial, and a credit card is required to start it. After a trial you can drop to the free Personal plan: 1 user, 1 project, 40 tasks, with dependencies and drag-and-drop scheduling.

Who it is for. Small agencies, consultancies and builders that run a handful of projects at once and want to show clients a clean, live schedule without buying seats for everyone.

Limits. Project caps are the catch. Base allows 5 projects and Business tops out at 20, so a team juggling many small jobs may outgrow it. Baselines, workload and advanced dependencies need Business, which is roughly double the Base price.

Smartsheet: full review

What it is. Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-style work management platform. Projects live in sheets with rows and columns, and the Gantt chart is a view of that sheet.

Key Gantt features. According to the help center, Gantt view, dependencies, critical path and baselines are all available on Pro, Business and Enterprise. Gantt view needs at least two date columns, and rows with only one date show as milestone diamonds. Once a sheet Owner or Admin activates dependencies, you get all four types (FS, FF, SS, SF) and a Lag field that takes weeks or working days, with negative values for lead. The critical path "automatically updates and highlights" as dates and dependencies change, and a summary path shows the critical path within a single parent task. Activating baselines adds three read-only columns: Baseline Start, Baseline Finish and Variance.

MS Project and exports. Smartsheet imports Microsoft Project files in .mpp, .mpx, .mspdi and .xml formats. The help center warns that MS Project constraints are not supported and can reorder rows, and suggests saving as .xml first if that happens. A sheet in Gantt view can also be exported as Microsoft Project XML or a PNG image, so files can go both ways.

Pricing. Pro is $9 per member per month billed yearly or $12 billed monthly, for 1 to 10 members with unlimited contributors but no guests, 20 GB storage and 250 automations per month; the pricing page notes it is only for new customers. Business is $19 per member per month billed yearly or $24 billed monthly, from 3 members, with unlimited guests, 1 TB storage, unlimited automations, timeline view and workload tracking. Enterprise and Advanced Work Management are quote-based. There is a 30-day free trial and no free plan.

Who it is for. Teams that already plan in Excel or Microsoft Project and want a shared, cloud version with proper scheduling logic, especially PMOs that exchange MS Project files with partners.

Limits. Pro caps out at 10 members and has no guests, so sharing schedules with clients realistically means Business. The grid-first interface is powerful but less visual than the dedicated Gantt tools.

monday.com: full review

What it is. monday.com is a visual work management platform built on boards. The Gantt chart is one of several board views and can also be added as a dashboard widget.

Key Gantt features. The help center states that "the Gantt chart view and widget is available on the Standard plan and up," while "the milestone and critical path features in the Gantt Chart view and widget are only available to Pro and Enterprise account holders." Dependencies come from the Dependency Column, which is "available on Pro and Enterprise plans." That column offers three modes: Flexible (prevents overlaps), Strict (moves dependents by the exact change) and No action (shows links without moving anything). The help article lists all four dependency types, with finish-to-start as the default, but notes that dependency types are "gradually being released," so some accounts may not have them yet. Lead and lag work with the strict mode.

Baselines are "available on our Pro and Enterprise plans only." A baseline snapshot appears as a gray bar, and items turn green when on track or red when delayed, along with their dependents. Snapshots cannot be edited after you take them. The workload widget is also Pro and Enterprise only.

Sharing and export. You can share a Gantt with a shareable link or embed code, and export it to PDF or Excel. The export limit is 10 years of timeline and 640 items. The Gantt feature page mentions importing from Excel; native Microsoft Project import is not documented.

Pricing. The free plan covers up to 2 seats and does not include Gantt. Basic is $9 per seat per month billed annually ($12 monthly) and also has no Gantt. Standard is $12 per seat per month billed annually ($14 monthly) and adds the Gantt and timeline views. Pro is $19 per seat per month billed annually ($24 monthly) and is the plan that adds dependencies, baselines, critical path, milestones in the Gantt, and workload. Enterprise is quote-based. Paid plans start at 3 seats.

Who it is for. Marketing, operations and cross-functional teams that want an attractive, flexible workspace with a Gantt view, and are willing to pay for Pro to get real scheduling logic.

Limits. On Standard, the Gantt view is a display of dates without dependency logic, critical path or baselines. For serious scheduling, budget for Pro.

Wrike: full review

What it is. Wrike is an enterprise-grade work management platform with a strong Gantt chart, resource management and reporting. It is aimed at larger teams and PMOs.

Key Gantt features. The Gantt chart is available on all paid accounts (Team, Business, Pinnacle and Apex), and every user type can view it. Task dependencies are available from Team and support all four types: finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish. When you reschedule a task, "all dependent active tasks are automatically rescheduled." Lead and lag are also on Team, but you enter them in the Predecessors or Successors column in the table part of the Gantt chart (for example "+2" for lag); dragging a bar does not add lag. Milestones are available on every plan, including Free, and the product page says a conflict monitor flags dependency chains that clash with a fixed milestone.

Critical path is available on Business, Pinnacle and Apex. In the new Gantt chart it shows total float and free float, so you can see how many days a task can slip before it delays the project or the next task. Baseline tracking is also on Business and up. It records baseline start, baseline due date, baseline duration and a due-date variance field, which you can then use in dashboards, filters and Analyze. You can set one baseline per folder, project or task, and use Gantt chart snapshots as extra checkpoints.

Sharing, export and MS Project. Public links to a Gantt chart are available from Team. Viewers see the current view with live updates but cannot edit or open items, and you can set an expiry date and a password. Gantt charts can be exported to PDF. Microsoft Project import is available on Business, Pinnacle and Apex. It supports MS Project 2013, 2016 and XML files up to 5 MB, and brings in tasks, durations, dependencies and assignees, preserving lead and lag. The help center is clear that "you can't export data from Wrike to MS Project."

Pricing. Free costs $0 and has no Gantt chart. Team is $10 per user per month billed annually for 2 to 15 users and includes interactive Gantt charts. Business is $25 per user per month for 5 to 200 users, on annual subscriptions only. Pinnacle and Apex are quote-based. Seats are sold in groups of 5 up to 30 seats.

Who it is for. Mid-size and large organizations running many interdependent projects, where float, reportable baselines and workload balancing matter.

Limits. Critical path, baselines, MS Project import and workload charts all need Business, at $25 per user per month. Team is a decent Gantt plan for small groups, but not a full scheduling plan.

ClickUp: full review

What it is. ClickUp is an all-in-one workspace covering tasks, docs, chat, dashboards and more. Gantt is one of its many views.

Key Gantt features. The Gantt feature page lists all four dependency types, auto-rescheduling ("Every dependent deadline updates in one drag"), critical path, slack time, baselines, milestones and a resource workload view. The help center explains that you create dependencies by dragging from the connector on a task bar, and that turning on "Reschedule dependencies" cascades date changes through the whole chain. Turning on "Show critical path" highlights critical tasks in red. Milestones are a task type and show as diamonds.

What the free plan includes. According to the Gantt page FAQ, the free plan lets you "create timelines, set dependencies, drag tasks to new dates, and turn on Critical Path without upgrading." The help center's availability table limits the Gantt view to 60 uses on the free plan. The pricing page lists unlimited Gantt charts on Core.

Baselines, export and sharing. Baselines are not available on the free plan. The help center lists them from the Business plan, with 10 baselines per location (20 on Enterprise). Exporting a Gantt chart to PDF or PNG is "available on the Business Plan and above." You can share a Gantt view through a public link, and the feature page says you can share a filtered view with clients without opening up your workspace. MS Project import is not documented on the pages checked.

Pricing. Free Forever costs $0. Core is $9 per user per month billed yearly ($12 regular price). Business is $17 per user per month billed yearly ($25 regular price) and adds resource management and timesheets. Enterprise is quote-based. MAX is $100 per user per month billed yearly. The pricing page says yearly billing saves up to 33%.

Who it is for. Teams that want one workspace for everything, where the Gantt view is used for project planning alongside docs and dashboards, and teams that want to try critical path scheduling for free.

Limits. The help center still uses some older plan names in its availability tables, so confirm limits with ClickUp before you buy. Baselines and Gantt export, the two features clients most often ask for, need Business. The breadth of the product also means more setup than a dedicated Gantt tool.

Teamwork.com: full review

What it is. Teamwork.com is project management built for client work: agencies, consultancies and professional services teams. It combines projects, time tracking, budgets, invoicing and resource planning.

Key Gantt features. The pricing table shows the Gantt view, dependencies and milestone tracking on every plan, including Free. According to the Gantt help article, you drag task bars to move them, drag either end to change dates, drag the bottom left of a bar to set progress, and drag from a grey dot to create a dependency. When you move a task with dependencies, "related tasks may move with it to avoid date conflicts." The dependencies article (last updated in 2023) lets you switch a dependency between finish-start and finish-finish; other types are not documented. Critical path is available on Accelerate, Optimize and Enterprise, and shows affected tasks with a red border. Gantt filters need a paid per-user plan. Baselines are not documented.

Sharing, export and MS Project. Client users can be invited into projects from Basics, and project statuses can be shared with clients from Basics. You can print the Gantt or save it as a PDF. From the project's List area, a Gantt Chart Export creates a Microsoft Project .XML file or a GanttProject .GAN file. The pricing table lists the Microsoft Project integration on Accelerate and up; it works through Teamwork.com's Microsoft Office add-in, which imports and exports projects between the two.

Pricing. Free costs $0 for up to 5 users, 5 projects, 100 MB storage and 100 automations. Basics is $9.99 per user per month billed yearly, with a 3-user minimum. Accelerate is $24.99 per user per month billed yearly, with a 5-user minimum. Optimize and Enterprise are quote-based. Annual billing saves 29% compared with monthly, but the monthly per-user prices are not shown on the page. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Who it is for. Agencies and client services teams that want a Gantt chart tied to time tracking, budgets and client access, rather than a standalone scheduling tool.

Limits. The Gantt chart is simpler than the dedicated tools: only two documented dependency types, no documented lag or baselines, and critical path and workload planning only from Accelerate.

Pricing comparison: what a 10-person team pays

These figures use the per-user or flat prices on each vendor's pricing page, billed annually unless noted. The "Gantt essentials" column uses the cheapest plan that includes dependencies, critical path and baselines. Where a tool has no documented baselines, that is noted.

A few notes on the math:

• TeamGantt is priced per account, not per seat. Base covers 1 manager and 10 collaborators, so it only works if one person maintains the schedule. If several people need to edit the plan, or you need baselines, Business ($1,140 per year) is the realistic comparison. That covers unlimited users but only 5 projects; each extra project adds $228 per year.
• GanttPRO charges $8 per user per month annually at 10 users. At 20 or more users the Core rate drops to $7, so a 20-person team pays 20 × $7 × 12 = $1,680 per year.
• Smartsheet Pro has no guests and caps at 10 members. To share with outside clients you need Business: 10 × $19 = $190 per month ($2,280 per year).

How to choose

If the Gantt chart is the job, start with a dedicated tool. GanttPRO and TeamGantt are built around the timeline. GanttPRO gives you critical path and baselines from its cheapest plan with straightforward per-user pricing. TeamGantt is the better fit when one or two schedulers maintain plans that many people (including clients) need to see, because its pricing does not grow with each viewer.

If you trade files with Microsoft Project users, check both directions. Smartsheet imports .mpp and exports MS Project XML. TeamGantt imports .mpp and exports to Microsoft Project format. Teamwork.com exports MS Project XML and connects through an add-in on Accelerate. GanttPRO imports MS Project files and exports XML. Wrike imports only, and says plainly that it cannot export to MS Project.

If baselines are a contract requirement, budget for the plan that has them. GanttPRO and Smartsheet include baselines on their entry plans. TeamGantt, Wrike and ClickUp put them on Business. monday.com puts them on Pro. Teamwork.com does not document baselines.

If you need float, not just a red line. Wrike's new Gantt chart shows total and free float on Business. ClickUp shows slack time. The others highlight the critical path without showing float values.

If you run client work, look at client access. TeamGantt has a public share link on every plan and limits collaborators to progress updates. Wrike offers password-protected, expiring public links from Team. Teamwork.com adds client users from Basics. GanttPRO lists a shared private link on every plan.

Conclusion

For most teams whose main need is a real Gantt chart (dependencies that move the schedule, a visible critical path, and a baseline to report against), GanttPRO is the strongest choice. It is the only tool in this comparison that includes all of those on its cheapest plan, at $8 per user per month billed annually for teams of up to 15. It also imports MS Project files and exports to XML, PDF, PNG and Excel.

TeamGantt is the pick for client-facing schedules and small teams that want flat pricing, as long as its project caps fit. Smartsheet is the safest choice for organizations that exchange Microsoft Project files. Wrike offers the deepest scheduling analysis for large portfolios, at Business pricing. ClickUp, monday.com and Teamwork.com make sense when the Gantt chart is one part of a wider workspace you already use or plan to adopt. If so, check that your plan includes dependencies and critical path, because on monday.com and Teamwork.com they are not part of the entry tier.