In 2025, managing work without a dedicated tool is no longer an option for teams aiming to stay productive and aligned. Whether you’re organizing tasks, collaborating with teammates, or tracking project milestones, project management software has become a necessity. Fortunately, most leading platforms now offer robust free plans, making it easier than ever to try out these tools risk-free.
If you’re still relying on manual methods like spreadsheets or email chains, now is the perfect time to make the switch. To help you get started, we’ve analyzed the five best project management tools of 2025 with the focus on their free plans: Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Jira, and Morningmate. Let’s dive in and find the right solution for your team.
Why start with a free plan?
Free plans are an excellent way to test out project management tools without committing to a subscription. They let you:
- Explore core features to determine if the tool meets your needs.
- Introduce your team to new workflows and processes.
- Scale at your own pace by upgrading only when necessary.
Every tool on this list offers a free plan with unique strengths, so let’s compare them to help you make an informed decision.
What to look for in a free project management Tool
When evaluating free plans, consider these key factors:
- User Limits: How many team members can you add?
- Task and project Management: Can you create, assign, set due dates and priority to manage tasks? Are there caps on tasks or projects?
- Views: Does the tool support different perspectives like Kanban, Calendar, or Gantt charts?
- Collaboration Tools: Are communication and document sharing features included?
- Integrations: Can the tool connect with apps your team already uses?
- Storage and File Sharing: Are there limits on file uploads or overall storage?
- Automation: Does the tool include workflow automations to save time?
Additional factors to consider:
- Ease of use: Even if you’re a tech-savvy digital native accustomed to using project management tools, some of your stakeholders may not share the same level of technological proficiency. To ensure successful adoption, evaluate your chosen project management tools for their intuitiveness and user-friendliness. Prioritize platforms with straightforward navigation to enhance usability for everyone involved
- Scalability: If you decide to commit to a project management tool and upgrade for extensive features, it would be pivotal to check whether the tool you pick is capable of growing with your project – and vice versa. Is it agile enough to scale up and down to meet your team’s changing needs?
- Data security and privacy: A significant majority of global consumers – around 70% – express concerns about data privacy. Hence, choose a platform that provides robust data security and privacy controls, ensuring you maintain complete ownership of your information
With these criteria in mind, let’s compare the free plans of Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Jira, and Morningmate.
Free project management tool feature comparison table
| Feature | Morningmate | Asana | ClickUp | Trello | Jira |
| User Limit | Unlimited | Up to 10 users | Unlimited | Unlimited | Up to 10 users |
| Task/Projects | 5 projects/ unlimited tasks | Unlimited projects/tasks | 5 spaces/ unlimited tasks | Unlimited projects/task | Unlimited projects/task |
| Views | Feed/File/List/ Calendar | List/Board/ Calendar | List/Board/ Calendar/ Gantt (limited) | Kanban | List/Board/ Calendar/ Timeline |
| Built-in Messenger | O | X | O | X | X |
| Integrations | Native & Zapier | 100+ | 1,000+ | 1 Power-up per board | Limited |
| Mobile Access | IOS & AOS | IOS & AOS | IOS & AOS | IOS & AOS | IOS & AOS |
Tool-by-tool breakdown
1. Morningmate: All-in-one collaboration
Best for: Teams seeking a unified workspace that combines project management and communication tools
Morningmate offers a unique blend of project management and communication tools, providing teams with a centralized workspace. With its intuitive and social-media like interface, it’s best for teams that are trying out a project management tool for the first time.
With task management features (e.g. subtasks, calendar view, file sharing) and built-in messenger, It’s designed to help reduce reliance on multiple apps and streamline workflows, making it a practical choice for modern teams.
Free plan highlights:
- Combines messaging, task management, and file sharing in one platform
- Includes essential project management views (List, Feed, Calendar, and File)
- Built-in chat: 1:1 chat & project-based group chats
- Transparent limits: 5 projects, 500MB storage, 10MB file uploads
- Data stored forever, ensuring no loss of information
Limitations:
- Searchable data limited to the past one month while manual access is still available
- Fewer third-party integrations compared to competitors
Paid features worth considering:
1) No minimum number of user: Unlike many other tools, Morningmate’s paid plans have no minimum user requirement. This means small teams, even those with just 1-2 members, can enjoy full access to Morningmate’s extensive features without paying for unused seats. In contrast, other platforms often require paying for a minimum number of users, which can result in unnecessary costs for smaller teams.
2) Morningmate AI: Enjoy the five AI features that reduce your work hours by automating repetitive and administrative work. According to our customer survey, teams using Morningmate AI saved average of 5 hours per month on average and saw a 40% boost in productivity.
- AI Task Filter – Simply give a command, and the AI will filter and organize your to-dos based on your needs (e.g., sort overdue tasks this week by priority)
- AI Projects – Ask the AI to create a custom project template tailored to your industry or department, setting up the most efficient workspace for your team
- AI Articles – Easily create business plan, weekly report, or your own content, saving valuable time typically spent on weekly status meetings
- AI Subtasks – Turn your ideas into actionable, step-by-step to-dos. Morningmate AI will automatically generate the necessary steps to achieve any goal you set
- AI Translator – This built-in translation feature fosters global collaboration all done speaking in your most preferred language
3) Built-in messenger: Communicate seamlessly with 1:1 chats or project-based conversations, all within the same workspace—saving costs on separate messaging tools.
- Secret messages for exchanging sensitive information and files securely
- Native integrations with Google Meet, MS Teams, Zoom for quick video calls
- All files and images exchanged in chats stored securely in respective spaces
- Voice messages for sharing messages that are best delivered through voice for added clarity and context
4) On-premise deployment option: Morningmate isn’t just available as a SaaS solution—it can also be hosted directly on your own servers. This option is ideal for teams in high-security industries, such as Samsung Electronics DS Division, which adopted Morningmate for greater data governance. The deployment process is fully supported, including a free Proof of Concept (PoC) period to ensure seamless integration and functionality.
What users have to say about Morningmate:
Regardless of your level of experience whether you are a project manager or just starting out, you will find the platform incredibly simple to navigate. Effective project collaboration relies on communication and Morningmate thrives in this aspect.
– G2 review
2. Asana: Streamlined task management
Best for: Small to mid-sized teams that value a simple, user-friendly interface and pre-built templates to kickstart projects quickly
Asana also stands out for its clean, intuitive user interface, which simplifies navigation and allows quick project setup using pre-built templates. However, to fully utilize Asana’s extensive features, including its most popular workflow builder, users will need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Free plan highlights:
- Unlimited tasks and projects
- Multiple views, including List, Board, and Calendar
- Basic integrations with over 100 apps
Limitations:
- Free plan supports only 10 teammates
- No automations for repetitive tasks
- Limited reporting features
Paid Features Worth Considering:
- Advanced workflows and automations for scaling teams
- Task multi-homing
- Advanced reporting features
What users have to say about Asana:
It’s intuitive, simplified, and help me focus on getting things done rather than endlessly configure but abandon at the end. Our team can just onboard faster without more guidance.
– G2 review
3. Trello: Visual task tracking
Best for: Small teams who prefer visual workflows and don’t need complex features
Trello is ideal for visual thinkers who prefer managing projects with Kanban Boards. Its simple interface turns complex projects into easy-to-follow workflows, with drag-and-drop cards to update task statuses.
While Trello is popular for its simplicity, this strength can also be a limitation as it lacks advanced features like custom statuses and goal tracking, making it less suitable for teams with complex workflows or project requirements.
Free plan highlights:
- Unlimited users and boards
- Customisable Kanban boards with drag-and-drop simplicity
- Basic Power-Ups for added functionality
Limitations:
- Limited to one Power-Up per board
- No advanced views like Calendar or Gantt
- Small file upload limit (10MB per file)
Paid features worth considering:
- Unlimited Power-Ups for enhanced board functionality
- Advanced automation rules and templates for efficient workflows
What many people like best about Trello is its visual simplicity and flexibility. The Kanban-style boards make it easy to organize tasks, track project progress, and collaborate with team members in a highly visual way.
– G2 review
4. ClickUp: Feature-packed flexibility
Best for: Teams seeking a highly customizable and feature-rich tool
ClickUp – “the everything app for work” – truly embodies their tagline in their product, offering extensive list of work management features. Being the only other project management software, besides Morningmate, that offers built-in chat feature, their free plan offers a robust set of core functionalities for teams to try out.
However, its feature-rich interface can be overwhelming for new users, and the 100MB file storage limit may restrict teams managing larger files or extensive documentation.
Free Plan Highlights:
- Multiple views, including List, Board, Calendar, and Gantt (for limited uses)
- 100 automations per month for workflow efficiency
- Custom fields for tailored task management
Limitations:
- Storage capped at 100MB per file
- Steep learning curve due to feature abundance
- Advanced features often require upgrades
Paid Features Worth Considering:
- Unlimited storage for teams with large files.
- Goal tracking and advanced dashboards for performance insights
- ClickUp Brain (AI functionality, offered as a separate product)
ClickUp’s real powerhouse, allowing us to manage everything from simple checklists to complex, multi-step workflows in one place.
– G2 review
5. Jira: Agile-Focused Power
Jira is a powerful tool designed specifically for agile software development and IT projects. It excels at tracking bugs, managing sprints, and orchestrating collaborative development efforts. Its visual tracking of user stories and customizable workflows make it indispensable for experienced IT professionals and seasoned agile teams.
However, Jira’s advanced capabilities come with a steep learning curve, making it less accessible for teams unfamiliar with agile methodologies. While it’s excellent for bug tracking, it can feel restrictive or overly complex for general project management tasks. Additionally, enhancing functionality with plugins can quickly drive up costs.
Best for: IT teams practicing agile methodologies
Free plan highlights:
- Unlimited issues/projects
- Agile-friendly boards (Kanban and Scrum)
- Custom workflows for development teams
- A fair selection of templates to get started quickly
Limitations:
- Free plan supports only 10 users
- Limited storage (2GB total)
- Complex setup for non-technical teams
Paid features worth considering:
- Advanced roadmaps for project planning
- Premium integrations with developer tools like Bitbucket
- Increased storage and user capacity for scaling teams
Jira software provides a centralized solution for product lifecycle management, agile development including Kanban or Scrum frameworks.
– G2 review
Optimize collaboration and task management with project management tool
While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, the tools we’ve explored offer excellent options to fit various project, team, and workflow needs. For every team size, workflow, and needs, there’s a tool that aligns with your goals.
Morningmate stands out for its unique ability to merge project management and communication in one platform, making it an ideal choice for teams seeking streamlined workflows and cost efficiency.
However, we encourage you to explore these tools hands-on and choose what best supports your team’s unique requirements. Finding the one that fits your needs might take time, but the right project management tool will the key to transforming chaos into clarity.
