Product management software is essential for teams working on developing and maintaining products in any industry. This software allows teams to develop ideas for a product, create plans, work together on maintaining the product, and communicate freely throughout the entire product lifecycle.
Using a product management tool allows product managers and software development teams to work together quickly and more efficiently. The best product management products have task management tools designed for each stage of the product lifecycle. It is also important for a good project management tool to have an integrated messaging system so that team members can easily discuss every aspect of the project.
While there are many excellent product management tools out there that have these features, some of these tools are prohibitively expensive. There are so many product management programs out there that teams need to be able to at least try out a program for free. Many product management tools do have free trials, and some even have free plans that allow small teams to start working on their product without putting any money on the line.
Read on to learn more about the best free product management tools.
The 11 best free product management tools
Asana
Asana is the industry-standard product management software. This platform actually offers a general project management service, but it can be customized so that it works as a project management tool. Asana's ease of use and wealth of features have earned it a well-deserved reputation as the best free product management software.
Asana's free plan
Like many competing product management software options, Asana offers a limited free plan. Their Basic plan includes access to all of the platform's most important features, including messaging, file storage, time tracking, product overviews, and product briefs.
Unlike the free plans of competing free product management software programs, the Basic plan even allows the creation of unlimited projects. Of course, there are restrictions that will keep this product management tool from being free for most companies.
The most important restriction imposed on those using the this project management program's free plan is the limit on the number of users. The Basic plan only allows 15 users at a time. This means that only the smallest of startups can use Asana for free.
Asana's other plans
In addition to the Basic plan, this product management tool also offer two paid plans: Premium and Business. Premium costs $10.99 per month per user if billed annually. Business costs $24.99 per user per month with annual billing.
In addition to everything in the Basic plan, the Premium plan allows an unlimited number of users. It also adds additional features like an admin console and a workflow builder. This makes Premium an ideal option for larger startups.
On the other hand, the Business plan is best for enterprise operations. It includes everything in the Basic and Premium plans, as well as numerous additional features. Perhaps the most notable difference between the Premium and Business plans is that the Business plan allows integrations with Salesforce, the Adobe Creative Cloud, and more. This makes it ideal for large companies with many teams in different departments working on the same project.
Monday.com (My personal favorite)
Monday.com, better known simply as Monday, is the second-most popular of the product management software platforms on our list. It doesn't have quite as many bells and whistles as Asana, but its ease of use certainly earns it a spot on our list of the best free product management software platforms. Monday offers numerous plans for teams of different sizes, ranging from the Individual plan all the way up to the Enterprise plan.
Monday's Free project management plan
As you may have surmised, Monday's free project management plan is its Individual plan. Despite its name, this project management plan actually allows two users. The Individual plan allows the creation of as many as three boards. Boards organize processes, projects, and data.
The free plan allows users to create and collaborate on an unlimited number of documents. It even includes over 200 project templates, which makes creating and setting up a project management interface much easier. Finally, Monday's Individual plan also provides users with access to its mobile apps.
Monday's paid Project management plans
Monday offers four paid plans, including the Basic, Standard, Pro, and Enterprise plans. The Basic plan costs $8 per seat per month when billed annually, the Standard costs $10 per seat per month, and the Pro is priced at $16 per seat per month. As with many product management tool enterprise options, the Enterprise plan is priced on a client-by-client basis.
Monday's Basic project management plan includes everything in the Individual plan plus several important features. Perhaps the most important feature is the ability to create a dashboard for one board. A dashboard allows various data analytics functions for the processes on that board. The Basic plan also includes unlimited viewers, unlimited rows on each board, prioritized customer support, and 5 GB of file storage.
According to Monday, the Standard plan of their product management software is the most popular. This plan includes everything in the Basic plan, as well as 250 automated actions and 250 integrated actions per month. The automation feature allows repetitive work to be completed automatically, while the integration feature automatically sends data to integrated programs. The other features of the Standard plan include a timeline view, a guest view, and a dashboard that combines up to five boards.
The Pro plan of the Monday product management software is headlined by the time tracking feature. This is an essential feature of any project management tool, and one of the criticisms of Monday is that this feature is not available with the Standard or Basic plans. Other notable features of the Pro plan include 25,000 automated actions per month, 25,000 integrated actions per month, and a dashboard that can combine up to 10 boards.
The Enterprise plan features numerous capabilities that provide a very different experience than the other plans. For example, it has advanced analytics and reporting features. It also offers a tailored onboarding experience, which is perfect for large organizations that are constantly adding new employees. The Enterprise plan also includes a massive 250,000 integration and automation actions per month.
ClickUp
ClickUp may not be as well-known as Asana or Monday, but is still one of the best free product management software platforms out there. However, ClickUp's free plan offers far more features than the free plans of better-known product management software options. This is what earns it its spot on our list of the best free product management software platforms. The other plans offered by this project management tool include Unlimited, Business, Business Plus, and Enterprise.
ClickUp's no-charge plan
ClickUp's free project management plan is headlined by the fact that unlimited project members are allowed. This plan also offers 100 megabytes of storage, though this is really only enough to save the project's most important documents. Other important features of ClickUp's free option include real-time chat, a time tracking feature for effective task management, and two-factor authentication security.
ClickUp's paid plans
While ClickUp is best-known as a free product management tool, it also offers four paid plans. Its Unlimited plan is priced at $5 per member per month with annual billing, the Business plan is $12 per member per month and Business Plus is $19 per member per month. As with the majority of product management software options, the Enterprise option is priced on a case-by-case basis.
ClickUp's Unlimited plan lives up to its name with unlimited storage, integrations, dashboards, Gantt charts, and custom fields. This plan also includes resource management and Agile reporting features. Finally, the plan allows guest users with various permissions. It is also worth noting that the Unlimited plan's pricing is negotiable, unlike the pricing of other plans.
The Business plan allows unlimited teams. This means that it is a better fit for larger businesses than the Unlimited plan. This plan also allows advanced automations, advanced time tracking, and time estimates. For added convenience and security, the Business plan also supports Google single sign-on (SSO).
The Business Plus plan does not offer many important features not included in the Business plan. It does offer custom role creations and custom permissions, which could be useful for unusually-structured teams. This plan also offers additional automations. The most significant feature offered by this plan, however, may very well be the priority customer support.
ClickUp offers one of the most unique enterprise plans of any of the product management tools on our list. Its Enterprise plan is best-suited for healthcare companies or companies that want to use ClickUp's platform to build their own project management tool. This plan offers white labeling, which means companies can out their own brand on the ClickUp platform. The Enterprise plan also offers custom setups that enable organizations to abide by the MSA and HIPAA regulations.
Nifty
Nifty is another lesser-known platform that is starting to make a name for itself as one of the best free product management tools. Like ClickUp, it offers a free option with many features. Nifty also offers a 14-day free trial for all of its plans except its Enterprise option. Besides Free and Enterprise, Nifty's plans include Starter, Pro, and Business.
Nifty's free option
In addition to its free trial options, Nifty offers a no-charge plan that is free forever. Like ClickUp, this plan allows unlimited members to work on a product. Also like Clickup, Nifty's free option gives you 100 megabytes of free storage. However, the free service does not include time tracking.
Nifty's paid plans
Nifty's Starter plan is perfect for companies who were using a free product management tool but now need to upgrade. Its key features include time tracking and reporting, as well as budget tracking. The Starter plan also allows the creation of custom fields for any project, which is an essential feature of any project management software.
The Pro plan includes only a few features not found in the Starter plan. However, it does include automations, which are one of the most powerful features of any product management tool. Nifty Pro additionally includes Google SSO for convenience and security.
Like Pro, Nifty Business only builds upon the preceding plan with a few additional features. The most important of these features is probably the ability to set custom roles and permissions. This is very useful for nonstandard teams. Nifty Business also includes priority support. Finally, this plan includes access to the Nifty API.
Even Nifty Enterprise does not include many capabilities not found in Nifty Business. In fact, the only unique feature it offers is a dedicated "success manager." Of course, having a dedicated account representative can certainly come in handy for enterprises.
Coda
Coda has a unique project management system that is based around documents. Its Free plan allows an entire team to create and work together on an unlimited number of documents. Coda also has several paid plans, which include the Pro, Team, and Enterprise options. Some have criticized Coda by claiming it is too similar to Google Docs, but the platform's document-based layout makes it very intuitive for all users, even those who do not have experience using project management platforms.
Coda's free option
Coda's free option offers everything that a product team will need to get started. In addition to collaborative documents, users can connect forms, charts, kanban boards, and more. The Free plan even allows integration with many third-party services. Most competing project management platforms only allow users on paid plans to integrate with third-party apps.
Coda's paid plans
Most new Coda users will likely start with the Pro plan. This plan costs $10 per month per user if paid annually. Companies only have to pay for users with editing privileges. The additional features available with the Pro plan include custom branding, access to experts, hidden pages, and Pro packs for more powerful integrations with third-party services.
The Team plan ($30 per month per user) offers a far more powerful experience than the Pro plan. Perhaps the biggest addition is unlimited automations. The Pro plan also offers private folders and unlimited version history. The unlimited version history feature can really come in handy if a project starts down the wrong path and needs to be reset.
Coda's Enterprise plan has many powerful features that are not found in the other plans. It has a much higher level of security, with SAML SSO capability. This plan also offers advanced user management and a dedicated account representative. Most importantly, Coda Enterprise allows integration with powerful third-party services like Salesforce and Microsoft Teams.
Shortcut
Shortcut was known as Clubhouse prior to a recent rebrand. Shortcut, unlike some of the other programs on this list, is specifically designed for product management. Shortcut's plans include Team, Business, and Enterprise as well as a free version.
Shortcut's free option
Shortcut's Free plan is specifically designed for small software development teams. It includes the ability to manage projects in the Stories feature. The Free plan also offers the capability to create docs and connect them to projects within the platform. Most notably, users on the Free plan can integrate with VCS, Slack, and Figma.
Shortcut's paid plans
While Shortcut's Free plan is a little underwhelming, its Team plan ($8.50 per user per month if billed annually) offers far more capability. It allows companies to organize various teams with a unique workflow for each team. It also offers a roadmap that makes it easy to get a big-picture view of the project's progress. Finally, the Team plan allows access to reporting and analytics features.
Shortcut's Business plan, which costs $12 per user per month, is its most popular. It offers "unlimited everything" for all of Shortcut's features. The Business plan also offers advanced reporting and custom fields. Finally, this plan has a feature called "Milestones" that makes it easier to organize complicated projects.
Shortcut's Enterprise plan doesn't offer many new features. What it does offer is priority support and volume discounts. This plan also offers a more admin functionality, including SSO and SAML capabilities.
The best free product management software: ClickUp
Though it has stiff competition, ClickUp is our pick for the best free product management software. Its free plan has numerous features that other product management software platforms reserve for their paid plans. This includes time tracking, unlimited users, and cloud storage. ClickUp's free plan also includes extensive security measures, such as two-factor authentication. This is very important, as a business' project management platform will inevitably hold large amounts of sensitive data.
Companies that start out with ClickUp's free plan are also well-served when they want to move up to a paid plan. The most affordable paid plan, the Unlimited plan, includes unlimited integrations, dashboards, and storage. The pricing for this plan is also negotiable, so businesses that cannot afford the standard pricing may be able to get a discount.