Top 10 Best Planning Software of 2026

Jira, developed by Atlassian, is a leading agile project management and planning software that excels in issue tracking, backlog grooming, sprint planning, and roadmap visualization. It supports Scrum, Kanban, and custom workflows, making it ideal for software development teams to manage complex projects from ideation to delivery. With powerful reporting, automation, and scalability, Jira handles everything from small sprints to enterprise-level portfolio planning.

Azure DevOps Boards provides robust planning capabilities through customizable Kanban and Scrum boards, backlogs, sprints, and work item tracking for agile teams. It supports epics, features, user stories, and tasks with rich querying, velocity charts, burndown reports, and roadmaps for effective project planning and progress monitoring. Seamlessly integrated with the full Azure DevOps suite, it enables planning alongside repos, pipelines, and testing for end-to-end DevOps workflows.

ClickUp is an all-in-one productivity platform designed for project planning and management, offering hierarchical task organization from Spaces to subtasks, multiple views like Gantt charts, timelines, roadmaps, and whiteboards. It includes custom fields, dependencies, automations, goals, and dashboards to facilitate comprehensive planning across teams. The tool aims to replace multiple apps by combining planning, collaboration, docs, and time tracking in a single customizable interface.

Monday.com is a flexible work operating system (Work OS) that enables teams to create custom boards for project planning, task management, and workflow automation using visual, drag-and-drop interfaces. It supports multiple views such as Gantt charts, timelines, calendars, and Kanban boards, making it ideal for visualizing complex plans and dependencies. The platform excels in real-time collaboration, integrations with over 200 apps, and no-code automations to streamline planning processes.

Asana is a comprehensive work management platform that enables teams to plan, organize, track, and execute projects efficiently. It supports various views including lists, boards, timelines, calendars, and portfolios for flexible planning and visualization of workflows. With features like task dependencies, custom fields, automation rules, and goal tracking, Asana helps streamline collaboration and resource allocation across projects.

Linear is a fast, modern issue tracking and project management tool optimized for software engineering teams, enabling efficient planning through cycles, projects, roadmaps, and custom scopes. It supports agile workflows with triages, milestones, and real-time collaboration, while integrating deeply with GitHub, GitLab, and other dev tools. Designed for speed, it minimizes context-switching with a keyboard-centric interface and powerful search.

Wrike is a comprehensive work management platform that excels in project planning, task tracking, and team collaboration. It provides visual tools like Gantt charts, timelines, Kanban boards, and resource management features to help teams plan complex projects and allocate resources efficiently. With automation blueprints, custom dashboards, and AI-driven insights, Wrike supports scalable planning for dynamic workflows.

Trello is a visual project management tool that uses Kanban-style boards, lists, and cards to organize tasks and workflows. Users can create customizable boards for planning projects, drag cards between lists to track progress, and attach files, checklists, and due dates for detailed task management. It excels in collaborative environments with real-time updates and integrations via Power-Ups, making it ideal for agile planning and team coordination.

Notion is an all-in-one workspace tool that excels in customizable note-taking, databases, and task management, making it adaptable for planning workflows. It supports planning through linked databases, kanban boards, calendars, timelines, and Gantt-style charts, allowing users to build interconnected project plans, roadmaps, and task trackers. Its block-based system enables seamless integration of planning elements with documentation and wikis for a unified hub.

Smartsheet is a versatile work management platform that combines the flexibility of spreadsheets with robust project planning tools, enabling users to build custom sheets for task tracking, timelines, and resource allocation. It supports Gantt charts, calendars, dashboards, and automated workflows to streamline planning processes across teams. With real-time collaboration and extensive integrations, it's designed for managing complex projects without requiring advanced technical skills.