In this article, we'll compare free Gantt chart templates from ClickUp and Monday.com—including features, integrations, and use cases—to help you find the right Gantt chart software for your small business.

What Is a Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart is a type of project management tool that visually represents a project during a period of time. It shows the time frame when tasks are planned (or when they were completed), the status of each task, and the responsible person or team.

Think of Gantt charts as a simple tool for scheduling projects, tracking progress, and monitoring dependencies. They're also helpful for allocating resources, making them a good choice for small businesses with limited resources.

Gantt charts are ideal for small businesses, as they let teams plan projects visually without requiring expensive tools or services. With the right Gantt chart tool, you can monitor timelines, visualize dependencies, and assign tasks without overloading team members.

A typical Gantt chart includes the following components:

• Tasks: All of the tasks in a project appear in a list along the left column of the chart. Each task also appears on the project timeline, generally in bar format.

• Timelines: The core of a Gantt chart is the timeline, which displays the duration of the project in days, weeks, or months. Tasks appear on the timeline to reflect their duration.

• Dependencies: When one task requires another to be completed before it can start, the chart reflects this relationship. Dependent tasks usually have a line that connects them.

• Assignees: Each task shows the person, people, or team responsible for managing it.

• Milestones: Gantt charts typically include a symbol or callout that reflects major milestones, such as important deliverables or decisions.

• Progress: The chart shows the total progress as a percentage so participants can easily track completion.

Review of Monday.com's Gantt Chart Templates

With Monday.com, you can create Gantt charts for almost any type of project. The platform's template library includes layouts for everything from basic project management to software development to operations.

For example, the single project template includes three project phases, multiple tasks for each phase, and milestones to mark the end of each one. For each task, you can assign an owner, estimate the effort required, set the duration, and schedule the completion date.

Since Monday.com's Gantt chart templates also reflect dependencies, they're helpful for planning project timelines and allocating resources. Plus, you can save any board as your own custom template. You can also export any board into an Excel Gantt chart template with a click.

Excel is far from your only option. Monday.com has dozens of native integrations, including Toggl for time tracking, Google Calendar for planning, and Dropbox for asset management.

While Monday.com's templates are free to use, the platform's Gantt chart features require a paid plan. You can access the Gantt chart view with the Standard plan ($12 per seat per month) and up. However, the milestone and critical path features require the Pro plan ($19 per seat per month) and up.

Review of ClickUp's Gantt Chart Templates

With ClickUp, you also have plenty of options to set up a project quickly using a free Gantt chart template. You can easily create a project for managing anything from construction to products to web development.

For example, the simple Gantt chart template can help you create a basic project outline in seconds. ClickUp creates the project phases and sample tasks for you. All you have to do is fill in the dates, adjust the tasks to fit your needs, and assign tasks to team members.

ClickUp connects with 1,000+ tools, making it easy to build an integrated tech stack. You can connect time-tracking tools like Harvest, developer tools like GitHub, and communication tools like Loom, to name a few.

You can also rely on ClickUp's built-in AI agent to help you manage projects more efficiently. For example, you can ask the platform to identify overdue tasks, locate assigned tasks, or highlight high-priority tasks.

Unlike Monday.com, ClickUp offers the Gantt view with free plans. However, usage is capped at 100 uses on the free plan. Unlimited Gantt charts are available with the Unlimited plan ($7 per month).

How to Choose the Right Gantt Chart Template for Your Business

So, which tool is the right option for your business? Let's compare Monday.com and ClickUp side by side.

Monday.com vs. ClickUp Gantt Charts

Both Monday.com and ClickUp have dozens of Gantt chart templates to choose from, with numerous options for marketing, operations, product management, human resources, and other teams.

When integrations are a top priority, ClickUp is likely to be a better choice. ClickUp has 1,000+ integrations, while Monday.com has about 200.

When you need to onboard a large team, Monday.com is likely to be a better option. It's known for its user-friendliness and superior experience for enterprise teams. ClickUp tends to be better for smaller, more technical teams.

However, when price is a key factor for your business, ClickUp may be a better investment. ClickUp offers limited use of Gantt charts in its free plan, while Monday.com only includes Gantt charts in its paid plans.

Gantt Charts vs. Kanban Boards vs. Timelines

Both Monday.com and ClickUp offer several other views in addition to Gantt charts. Should you use timelines instead of Gantt charts? While timelines offer a simpler way to track project progress, they provide far less detail.

"Gantt charts are best suited for tasks that need to be completed in fixed periods," explains founder and CEO Sandeep Kashyap. "Timelines give more flexibility and allow you to highlight significant events like milestones and deadlines separately from smaller steps within the project plan."

How about using Kanban boards instead of Gantt charts? Although Kanban boards also help with visual organization, they focus less on timelines and more on workflow stages.

"Aside from some creative arrangement of cards, it's difficult to represent dependencies or relationships between tasks," explains strategy consultant Patrick Gray. "Kanban boards also represent a single point in time, so it isn't easy to see important milestones or future deadlines that might not require action at the moment."

Next Steps to Get Started With Gantt Chart Templates

There's no need to build a Gantt chart in Google Sheets or Excel. With free Gantt chart templates from ClickUp and Monday.com, you can manage projects at no cost or for a small monthly fee.

Ready to create a Gantt chart for your next project? Start exploring project management tools that fit your small business.

About Anna Sonnenberg: SaaS Expert

Anna Sonnenberg is a seasoned B2B SaaS writer and small business owner. Specializing in martech, sales automation, and productivity software, Anna turns complex topics into clear, actionable insights. As a fellow entrepreneur, she's dedicated to helping you harness the right tools to grow your business.

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