Free Gantt Chart Maker
Create and Export Online
I built schedules like this by hand long before software made it easy. Build a Gantt chart in minutes here. No account, no download, completely free. Add tasks, set start and end dates, assign owners, track progress and export to PDF. Click any bar to edit task details.
If you need more than a quick chart, my list of Microsoft Project alternatives covers full scheduling tools, free and paid.
Which project templates can you load?
Start with a realistic example and edit any task, or scroll down and build from scratch.
A Gantt chart maker is a free online tool for building a Gantt chart: a bar chart that shows each project task against a timeline, with start dates, durations and dependencies. Add your tasks, link them, and the tool draws the schedule so you can share or export it.
How do you build a Gantt chart?
1. Add tasks: Click "Add Task" or load a template. Each task appears as a row in the left panel and a bar on the timeline to the right. Click any bar or task row to open the edit panel where you can set name, dates, owner, progress and colour.
2. Set dates: Start and end dates control the bar width and position on the timeline. The timeline auto-scales to show all your tasks. Use the Earlier and Later buttons or the zoom dropdown to navigate the timeline.
3. Track progress: Set each task's completion percentage. Bars fill left to right showing how much is done. Tasks at 100% turn grey. The today line (blue vertical line) shows where you are in the timeline relative to planned tasks.
4. Export: Click "Export PDF" to open your browser's print dialog. Select "Save as PDF" as the destination. For best results, set the page orientation to Landscape and margins to Minimum.
Parts of a Gantt chart
| Element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Task bar | Start date, end date and duration of each task |
| Dependency arrow | Which task must finish before another can start |
| Milestone | A key point in time, shown as a diamond with zero duration |
| Today line | Where the project should be now |
| Progress shading | How much of each task is complete |
Where did the Gantt chart come from?
The chart is named after Henry Gantt, an American engineer who popularised it in the 1910s to schedule factory work. More than 100 years later it is still the most common way to show a project schedule, from 10-task office moves to construction programmes with 2,000 activities.
Modern tools add dependencies, the critical path and progress tracking, but the idea is unchanged: anyone can glance at the chart and see what happens when. For a 3-month project, 15 to 30 tasks is usually enough detail for a sponsor; keep detailed task lists in the team’s board.
Gantt Charts: 4 Common Questions
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