Keeping projects organised is crucial for maintaining a productive work environment. Everybody needs to be on the same page and know what they need to do. Free project management software helps make this easy, providing the organisational tools needed to give employees lists of work tasks, and the visualisation tools managers require for a big picture view of the status of projects at any time.
By using project management software, managers and workers can centralise all project data in one convenient place. This can then be curated in a number of different ways to suit team preferences. By providing a centralised structure for a project, organisation is made much easier for both managers and team members.
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Free project management software
Cloud-based project management tools allow all team members to have access to the latest version of their data. Employees and project managers no longer have to be in the office to stay up-to-date. Instead, by using project management software, all information can be centralised and made accessible as and when it is needed.
Below we’ve put together a list of the 5 best free project management software platforms available in Australia. This list has been curated based on a number of factors, including having a free-forever version available to users. For the full methodology we used to create this list, skip to the bottom of the page.
Slack
Overall rating: 4.6/5
Ease of use: 4.6/5
Customer service: 4.4/5
Slack is a tool that started life as a communication platform but has quickly gained wider relevance for the ease with which additional platforms and services can be integrated. Slack allows for both direct messages and the creation of channels, which multiple people can be invited to participate in on a per-channel basis. Slack works across multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. Features like notifications and reminders help project managers and employees stay on top of what needs to be done.
Price to upgrade: Slack offers a free version and a free trial. A paid upgrade starts at $6.67 USD (around $8.70 AUD) per month.
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Trello
Overall rating: 4.5/5
Ease of use: 4.5/5
Customer service: 4.3/5
Trello is a Kanban-style project management tool that helps organise data and provides overviews of projects for team members. Tasks can be placed into dedicated lists, which can be used in a number of ways. For example, by grouping ‘upcoming tasks’ and ‘current sprint’ into different lists, users can see what needs to be done and by when. These Kanban cards can take the form of social media-like updates, but they can also include graphics, videos and other multimedia. Tags, checklists, attachments, and more help to centralise and organise data. Tasks and lists are managed with a drag-and-drop interface.
Price to upgrade: Trello offers a free version and a free trial. A paid upgrade starts at $12.50 USD (around $16.30 AUD) per month.
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Overall rating: 4.4/5
Ease of use: 3.9/5
Customer service: 4.1/5
Jira is Kanban-style tool built specifically for software development by Atlassian. As Jira is geared towards software development, it comes with built-in tools to handle sprints, waterfalls, and other popular organisational methodologies within software development. Projects can be customised according to how familiar team members are with concepts like Agile development, what the focus of the project is (e.g., fixing bugs, creating apps), and how tight deadlines are.
Price to upgrade: Jira offers a free version and a free trial. A paid upgrade starts at $7 USD (around $9.11 AUD) per month.
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Overall rating: 4.4/5
Ease of use: 4.3/5
Customer service: 4.3/5
Asana is a project management tool that lets you create multiple projects and add tasks using cards. These cards can be customised with tags, comments, subtasks, and more. Asana offers multiple ways to view each project, such as with a traditional column-based view, via calendar, timeline, and dashboard. Project members also have a task overview, which shows them upcoming deadlines and tasks in one place across multiple projects.
Price to upgrade: Asana offers a free version and a free trial. A paid upgrade starts at $11.99 USD (around $15.60 AUD) per month.
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ClickUp
Overall rating: 4.7/5
Ease of use: 4.4/5
Customer service: 4.7/5
ClickUp is a project management tool that offers both card-style list views for tasks within projects, but also timelines, calendars, goals, and mindmaps. It also integrates with other tools, allowing Kanban-style cards specifically customised for linking from external tools and software.
Team members can be assigned multiple tasks, and an overview shows how far along each person is at any time, with a completion percentage for all assigned tasks.
Price to upgrade: ClickUp offers a free version and a free trial. A paid upgrade starts at $5 USD (around $6.5 AUD) per month.
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Provide structure to your projects for free
Free cloud project management software makes organising projects, delegating tasks, and keeping track of outstanding work easier.
Methodology:
- Rated 4+ stars by users on Capterra Australia
- Most reviews on Capterra Australia
- Include a Free version
- Listed in order of higher to lowest search volume in Australia
This article may refer to products, programs or services that are not available in your country, or that may be restricted under the laws or regulations of your country. We suggest that you consult the software provider directly for information regarding product availability and compliance with local laws.
