Best Project Management Excel Templates (2026)

How we compared project management Excel templates (and what 'best' means here)

We compared every option on the same four things: price, platform (Excel only or Excel plus Google Sheets), what is actually included in the file, and whether the math is automated with formulas or left for you to build. A free template that requires you to write your own status formulas is not automatically worse than a paid one, but it is a different product, and this page treats them as different products rather than pretending 'free' and 'automated' are the same thing.

We also separated single-purpose sheets (one Gantt chart, one dashboard) from multi-workbook systems (risks, OKRs, kanban, timeline and portfolio view together), because the search results for this keyword mix both kinds of results without flagging the difference. Buying decisions should start from how many of those pieces you actually need, not from which result ranks first.

One-time purchase versus subscription matters too. Every option on this page, ours included, is a one-time file you own after download or purchase; none of them are recurring-billing project management software. If you are comparing this list against a SaaS tool like Asana or monday.com, that is a different category and a different buying decision.

The options, compared honestly

Project Management Pack ($24, Excel and Google Sheets, one-time purchase): eight tested workbooks — RAID register with automatic risk scores and status, OKR tracker with rollups from key results to objectives, a kanban board with WIP-limit alerts, a WBS and 16-week timeline drawn automatically from start dates and durations, a communication plan, a portfolio dashboard with Green/Amber/Red health scoring, an intake and prioritization scorer, and a SWOT/business case sheet. Every formula is tested to the cent in both the Excel and Google Sheets builds.

Our free templates (hourly Gantt chart, construction project budget — no cost, Excel and Google Sheets): single-purpose sheets for people who need one specific tool rather than the full multi-workbook system. No RAID scoring, no OKR rollups, no portfolio dashboard.

Microsoft's free project management templates (excel.cloud.microsoft/create/en/project-management/, no cost): basic Excel-native templates for simple task lists and timelines, built into the Microsoft 365 template gallery. No RAID, OKR or portfolio features.

Smartsheet's 'Top Project Management Excel Templates' roundup (smartsheet.com, no cost): a curated list of free downloadable templates covering common project management needs, useful if you want to browse several layouts before picking one, but each template is a separate single-purpose file.

Vertex42's Excel Project Management Templates (vertex42.com, no cost): long-standing free templates focused on Gantt charts and project timelines, well known among Excel users for clean formula-based layouts, but limited to timeline/schedule use cases rather than a full RAID-to-portfolio system.

Etsy: Excel Project Management Dashboard ($74.40, single listing): an independently designed dashboard-only file. It is the one confirmed paid competitor we found in the top results for this keyword, and at $74.40 it costs more than three times our full eight-workbook pack while covering only the dashboard piece.

Etsy's broader 'Excel Template Project Management' category page aggregates many independent sellers at varying prices; check individual listings for what each one actually includes before buying, since scope and quality vary seller to seller.

When a free template is enough

If you are managing one project with a small task list and a simple timeline, a free Gantt or task-tracker template is genuinely enough — you do not need a portfolio dashboard or an OKR rollup system for a single project. Our free hourly Gantt chart template (tabletemplates.com/free/hourly-gantt-chart-excel-template/) covers exactly that case.

The point where free stops being enough is usually when you are tracking risks and issues formally (a RAID log with real scoring, not a notes column), running more than one project at a time, or reporting portfolio-level status to stakeholders who want a single health score rather than a walkthrough of five separate sheets.

What you actually get for the money

The $24 price difference between our free templates and the full Project Management Pack buys seven additional workbooks beyond the Gantt chart: a RAID register with automatic risk scores (probability x impact) and overdue status, an OKR tracker where progress rolls up from key results to objectives automatically, a kanban board with WIP-limit alerts and per-owner load counts, a communication plan that auto-classifies stakeholders on the power/interest grid, a portfolio dashboard with automatic Green/Amber/Red health ratings across 25 projects, an intake scorer that ranks incoming requests, and a SWOT/business case sheet that computes ROI and payback from your numbers.

That is the difference between a single sheet you fill in by hand and a system where the math — risk scores, OKR rollups, health ratings — is calculated for you and has been verified to the cent in both the Excel and Google Sheets versions.

Our pick by use case

Running one small project with a simple timeline: our free hourly Gantt chart template, or Microsoft's free Excel templates if you want something built into the Microsoft 365 gallery.

Managing risks, issues and stakeholder communication formally across one or more projects: our Project Management Pack, which is built around a RAID register and communication plan rather than a single dashboard.

Overseeing a portfolio of many projects and reporting a single health status to leadership: our Project Management Pack's portfolio dashboard, since none of the free options in this comparison include multi-project rollups.

Wanting just a polished dashboard-style visual with no RAID, OKR or portfolio features: the Etsy dashboard-only listing at $74.40, if a single-purpose visual is genuinely all you need.