Gantt Chart Software: Which Plan Gets You Dependencies, Critical Path and Baselines

Almost every project tool now has a view with bars on a calendar, and most of them call it a Gantt chart. The difference shows up when a task slips. In a real Gantt chart, the tasks that depend on it move too, the critical path tells you whether the deadline is now at risk, and a baseline shows how far you are from the plan you agreed on. Those three features are often on a higher plan than the chart itself.

So this guide answers one question for each tool: what is the cheapest plan that includes a Gantt chart, and what does it cost to get dependencies, critical path and baselines? Every price is in US dollars from the vendor's own pricing page, and feature availability comes from the pricing page or the vendor's help center.

The three features that make a Gantt chart useful

• Dependencies link tasks, most often "finish to start": the drywall can't start until the framing is done. Move the framing and the drywall moves with it. Some tools also offer lead and lag time, or the other dependency types (start to start, finish to finish).
• Critical path is the chain of dependent tasks that sets the end date. A delay on any of them delays the project; a delay elsewhere may not. Seeing it highlighted tells you where to spend your attention.
• Baselines save a snapshot of the schedule, so you can compare today's dates with the plan you started with. Clients and owners ask "how late are we?", and a baseline answers it.

If you only need to show a client a picture of the next three months, any Gantt view will do. If you manage a schedule where one late task pushes everything else, check for all three.

Gantt features by plan

"Not listed" means the vendor's pricing page and help center did not say which plan includes it, so we don't guess.

GanttPRO: best for critical path and baselines at the lowest price

GanttPRO does one thing: Gantt charts. That shows in the plan table, where baselines, critical path and dependencies are included on every plan, starting with Core at $7 a user a month billed annually. Core also includes auto scheduling, a project calendar and virtual resources, so you can plan with placeholder people before you hire.

The higher plans add team features rather than scheduling ones. Advanced, at $10 a user a month, adds overdue tasks, custom fields and filters, calendar exceptions and custom project templates. Business, at $17, adds workload management. Enterprise is listed at $25 a user as a limited offer (normally $35), for 5 or more users on an annual subscription, with SAML single sign-on and custom roles.

What to watch:

• There is no free plan. You get a 14-day trial of all features, with no credit card.
• Prices are per user, billed annually. The page has a monthly toggle but quotes its plan prices "billed annually", and a team-size slider offers extra discounts for larger teams.
• Workload needs Business. If you want to see who is overbooked, budget $17 a user, not $7.

Choose it if your work is schedule-driven, you want the full set of Gantt tools on day one, and you don't need the chart to live inside a broader work app.

TeamGantt: best for one planner sharing schedules with many people

TeamGantt prices by projects and managers, not by seat. Base costs $59 a month, or $589 a year, for 1 manager and 10 collaborators across 5 projects, with up to 150 tasks a project. Critical path is included on every paid plan, and TeamGantt describes Base as "critical path scheduling at a flat fee".

The catch is the manager role. Collaborators can update progress, tick off checklist items, comment, share files and track time, but TeamGantt's FAQ says they "can't change dates or edit tasks". On Base, one person owns the schedule.

Business starts at $120 a month, or $1,140 a year, with unlimited managers and collaborators, 5 projects included and 500 tasks a project. Each extra project is $24 a month ($228 a year), up to 20 projects. Business adds:

• Advanced dependencies and lockable milestones.
• Actual vs estimated timelines, TeamGantt's way of comparing the plan with what happened.
• Workload management, team resourcing and hourly estimating.
• Time tracking, a Kanban view and portfolio management.

Builder Edition, from $199 a month or $1,908 a year, adds construction tools such as lookahead schedules and a Procore sync.

The free plan: TeamGantt Personal is free forever for 1 user, 1 project and 40 tasks, with dependencies and drag-and-drop scheduling. That is the most honest free Gantt chart on this list: real dependencies, but a single small project.

What to watch:

• Projects are the meter. Six live projects on Base means moving to Business.
• The trial needs a card. The 14-day trial bills automatically at the end unless you cancel or drop to Personal.

Choose it if one project manager builds the schedules and everyone else needs to see them and report progress. You can also export any project to CSV, PDF or Microsoft Project format.

Smartsheet: best for teams that plan in spreadsheets

Smartsheet's Gantt view is a sheet with bars beside it, so the people who already plan in Excel find it familiar. Pro costs $9 a member a month billed yearly ($12 monthly) for 1 to 10 members, and includes the Gantt view and dependencies, which recalculate dates when a duration or predecessor changes.

The scheduling extras are on Business, at $19 a member a month billed yearly ($24 monthly, minimum 3 members): baselines, the timeline view and workload tracking. Smartsheet's help article on critical path lists Business and Enterprise as the plans that can use it.

What to watch:

• Pro stops at 10 members. The eleventh moves the team to Business.
• No free plan. Smartsheet offers a 30-day trial with no credit card.

Choose it if your schedule lives in a spreadsheet today and you want dependencies and formulas without retraining the team. Our Smartsheet pricing guide works out what 3, 10 and 25 members cost and how the member model bills new users.

ClickUp: best for a Gantt chart inside an all-in-one workspace

ClickUp puts tasks, docs, chat and time tracking in one app, and the Gantt chart is one of many views. Core costs $9 a user a month billed yearly (ClickUp lists $12 as the regular price) and includes unlimited Gantt charts. Relationships and dependencies are included on every plan, including Free Forever.

Critical path and slack time are a trial on Core and included on Business, at $17 a user a month billed yearly ($25 regular price). Business also adds Gantt chart PDFs, the workload view and the timeline view. ClickUp's pricing page doesn't list baselines on any plan.

The free plan: Free Forever marks Gantt charts as "Trial". ClickUp's FAQ explains that uses are a demonstration of paid features, are counted across the workspace and don't reset. Treat it as a test drive, not a free Gantt tool.

What to watch:

• Trials inside paid plans. On Core, critical path, workload and timeline are all trial features; budget for Business if you need them every week.

Choose it if you want one tool for tasks, docs and schedules and you're happy to learn a busy interface. Our task management software guide compares ClickUp with lighter tools.

Wrike: best for a growing team that needs critical path and baselines

Wrike's Free plan has no Gantt chart; its help center lists the Gantt chart on Team, Business, Pinnacle and Apex. Team costs $10 a user a month, billed on an annual per-user basis, for 2 to 15 users, and includes interactive Gantt charts.

Critical path and baseline tracking are both listed for Business, Pinnacle and Apex, and not for Free or Team. Business costs $25 a user a month, for 5 to 200 users, and Wrike says Business plans and above are sold only as annual subscriptions.

What to watch:

• The Team-to-Business jump is 150%. For five people, that is $600 a year on Team and $1,500 on Business.
• Seats are sold in groups. Our Wrike pricing guide explains the seat groups and what 5, 15 and 25 users cost.

Choose it if you run several projects with approvals and want critical path and baselines in a tool that also handles requests and workload.

Microsoft Planner: best if you already pay for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Project is now sold as Planner plans. The Planner included in Microsoft 365 business plans has grid, board, schedule and chart views and lets you view task dependencies, but no timeline. The Timeline (Gantt) view starts on Planner Plan 1, at $10 a user a month paid yearly, with task dependencies (finish-to-start), milestones, sprints and goals.

Planner and Project Plan 3, at $30 a user a month paid yearly, adds baselines, critical path and advanced dependencies with lead and lag, plus the Project desktop app. Both are annual subscriptions that renew automatically; each has a one-month free trial that needs a credit card.

What to watch:

• Critical path costs three times the Gantt view. Plan 1 to Plan 3 is $10 to $30 a user.
• No monthly billing. Both plans are listed only as annual subscriptions.

Choose it if your team lives in Teams and Outlook and you want schedules next to them. Our Microsoft Project pricing guide covers the desktop versions sold for a one-time price.

Asana: best for teams that want a Gantt view in a polished work app

Asana's Gantt view starts on Starter, at $10.99 a user a month billed annually ($13.49 monthly). Asana's help center lists Gantt view on Starter and up, with dependencies, auto-scheduling and baselines, so you can compare the current plan with a snapshot.

Critical path is a different story: Asana's help center lists it on Advanced, Enterprise and Enterprise+. Advanced costs $24.99 a user a month billed annually ($30.49 monthly) and also adds portfolios and resource management.

The free Personal plan, for up to 2 users, has no Gantt view.

What to watch:

• Seats come in steps. Asana sells seats one at a time up to 5, then in increments of 5 up to 30, so a team of 7 pays for 10.
• Critical path more than doubles the bill. Starter to Advanced is $10.99 to $24.99 a user.

Choose it if the people using the schedule also run their daily tasks in it, and baselines matter more to you than the critical path.

monday.com: Gantt on Standard, prices by country

monday.com work management lists Timeline and Gantt views on Standard and above, and its Pro plan description mentions "advanced columns to create dynamic dependencies between tasks". The free plan covers up to 2 seats with no Gantt view, and paid plans start at 3 seats.

We don't quote monday.com's prices here: its pricing page shows prices set by billing country, and we could not confirm the US dollar figures. Its pricing page also doesn't say which plans include critical path or baselines. Check both in a trial before you commit. monday CRM is a separate product with its own pricing.

Free Gantt chart options, honestly

For one small project, TeamGantt Personal is enough. For more, a paid plan for one person on GanttPRO Core ($84 a year) or Smartsheet Pro ($108 a year) costs less than most people expect. Our free project management software guide covers the free plans that have no Gantt chart but may still fit.

How to choose

1. One small project, no budget: TeamGantt Personal.
2. Full scheduling at the lowest price per person: GanttPRO Core, with critical path and baselines from $7 a user.
3. One planner, a crowd of collaborators: TeamGantt Base, $589 a year flat.
4. Spreadsheet people: Smartsheet Pro, then Business when you need baselines.
5. Already on Microsoft 365: Planner Plan 1 for the Gantt view, Plan 3 for critical path.
6. The schedule is one part of a bigger tool: ClickUp, Asana or Wrike. Compare them as whole products in our best project management software guide.