GanttPulse vs GanttProject:
an honest comparison
GanttProject is free, open source, and better than most paid tools give it credit for. So the real question is not which one wins. It is whether what GanttPulse adds is worth $79 to you.
Choose GanttProject if
- Your budget is zero and straightforward Gantt scheduling covers your work
- You need native macOS or Linux today
- Open source matters to you: readable code, forkable, no vendor to depend on
- You would rather trust a tool with two decades of history than a new one
Choose GanttPulse if
- You want the deeper layer: baselines with variance, workload against real capacity, a dashboard that forecasts your end date
- You want an AI assistant that drafts and reworks the plan, running on your own API key
- Your team needs real-time collaboration on a server you host yourself
- You are on Windows, and $79 once is worth a tool you do not fight
Side by side
GanttProject facts as of August 2026, from the project's own website and release notes.
| GanttProject | GanttPulse | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, with optional donations. GanttProject Cloud is a separate paid pay-as-you-go service for team collaboration | $79 one-time per seat ($49 locked in for beta users). Free during the public beta |
| Licensing | Open source. Read it, fork it, keep it running whatever happens to its maintainers | Commercial one-time license, validated offline with public-key cryptography, no activation server |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS and Linux, all first-class | Windows 10/11 today. macOS and Linux builds on request |
| Interface | A functional Java desktop app in active development since 2003. Reviews describe the look as dated and task dragging as fiddly | Modern drag-and-drop timeline, light and dark themes, 3D timeline view, swimlanes, 100-step undo history |
| Critical path | Yes, GanttProject shows the critical path | Yes, as a live mode: the chain that sets the end date lights up and everything with float steps back, recalculated on every change |
| People and workload | A resources chart with role assignment and colour coding | Workload heatmap: peak load per person per week across projects, measured against each person's real capacity |
| AI | None | Built-in assistant with 39 tools that drafts plans, reworks schedules and flags risks. Your own API key or a local model |
| Team collaboration | The desktop app is single-user. Real-time collaboration means paying for GanttProject Cloud | Self-hosted team server with live collaboration, roles and permissions. Your server, your network |
| File exchange | Microsoft Project and CSV | MS Project XML, Excel, CSV and MS Planner, all in both directions, plus lossless JSON |
| Reporting | PDF, HTML and PNG output | Native PowerPoint decks and PDF reports, plus a dashboard with deadline forecasting |
What the $79 actually buys
Free software sets a fair bar: anything you pay for has to earn the difference. Here is the difference, stated plainly. GanttProject will draw your plan, link the tasks and show you the critical path. What it will not do is tell you how far the plan has drifted from the one you committed to, warn you that Maya is booked at 145% in week 12, forecast whether the current chain still lands before the deadline, or draft the first version of the schedule for you.
That gap matters on projects with real money or real deadlines attached, and it matters not at all on a plan with fifteen tasks. Be honest about which one you are running. GanttPulse is free during the public beta, so you can find out before paying anything.
What you get in the box
"Buy once" does not mean "lite". One license includes the entire toolkit, no add-on tiers, no per-feature upsells.
AI assistant, 39 tools
Drafts whole plans, reschedules, levels overloads, simulates what-if slips, writes status reports and a Monday brief. Your key, any major provider or a local model.
A real scheduling engine
All 4 dependency types with lag, conflict detection, working-day and holiday math, and Critical Path Mode that lights up the chain setting your end date.
Baselines and variance
Snapshot the plan, measure drift with variance KPIs as work moves, and restore from a baseline when reality diverges.
Workload heatmap
Team capacity per person per week, across projects, with overload badges and a drill-down to the exact tasks driving the peak.
Executive Magic Overview
A one-page project story with KPIs, milestones and presentation mode. Exports to native PowerPoint for the steering meeting.
3D Timeline Show
Fly through your plan in a cinematic 3D scene: glass timeline, gem milestones, glowing dependency lines.
Dashboard and My Tasks
A dashboard that forecasts the deadline, briefs your week and drills into the Gantt on click; plus a personal command center with list, kanban and calendar views.
Swimlanes and views
Group the timeline by person for a resource view, day/week/month zoom, a mini-map for big plans, and rich filters.
Undo with history
100 steps deep, with a history panel that can jump the whole plan back to any earlier point in the session.
10 export formats
Excel, CSV, MS Planner, MS Project XML, native PowerPoint, vector PDF reports, baseline reports and lossless JSON. Imports Excel, CSV, MS Planner and MS Project XML.
Real-time team server
Live updates over your own network, manager and member roles, comments with @mentions, an in-app notification feed plus email and a weekly brief digest.
Engineering you can measure
10,000+ automated tests, date math verified across nine timezones, and an offline Ed25519 license with no activation server.
Where GanttProject is genuinely stronger
An honest comparison cuts both ways, and this one cuts deeper than most. If these matter most to you, GanttProject is the better pick:
- It is free. If the budget is zero, that is not a small thing, and GanttProject does real scheduling work for it.
- It is open source. You can audit the code, fork it, and keep using it no matter what happens to the people who maintain it.
- Native macOS and Linux builds exist today. GanttPulse ships Windows first and does the others on request.
- Two decades of continuous development and installs in 200+ countries. That track record is earned, and GanttPulse does not have it yet.
This is the real app
A live fragment of GanttPulse, not a screenshot. Critical Path Mode finding the chain that sets the end date.
Critical Path Mode
Flip it on and the zero-slack chain that drives your deadline lights up amber, everything else steps back.
GanttPulse vs GanttProject, asked directly
Is GanttPulse worth $79 when GanttProject is free?
Only if you need what the extra layer buys. GanttProject handles tasks, dependencies, resources and the critical path at no cost, and for simple plans that is enough. GanttPulse adds baselines with variance so drift becomes visible, a workload heatmap measured against real capacity, a dashboard that forecasts your end date, an AI assistant, and a team server you host yourself. If none of those change your week, save your money and use GanttProject.
Does GanttProject have a critical path?
Yes. GanttProject displays the critical path, and some comparison articles get this wrong. The difference is in what surrounds it: GanttPulse recalculates it live as a mode you work inside, alongside float, baseline variance and a deadline forecast.
Can I move a GanttProject plan into GanttPulse?
Yes, through Microsoft Project XML. GanttProject exports Microsoft Project format, and GanttPulse imports MS Project XML, so a plan moves across without retyping. CSV works as a simpler route for task lists.
Is GanttProject still maintained?
Yes. GanttProject has been in development since 2003 and version 3.3 is the current stable release as of August 2026. It is a live project, not an abandoned one.
Which one suits a team better?
It depends on how you want to collaborate. GanttProject's desktop app is single-user, and shared editing means subscribing to GanttProject Cloud. GanttPulse includes a team server you run on your own network, so real-time collaboration happens without anyone's cloud and without a recurring bill.
More comparisons: vs Microsoft Project · vs Monday.com · or read about offline Gantt chart software.
Try the full app free during the beta
No credit card, no cloud account. Beta users lock in the $49 launch price.
One email when the beta opens. Kept on our own infrastructure, used once, never shared.