A task management tool helps to improve productivity of an organization by making sure that the jobs are organized and executed effectively.
Traditional software like Microsoft Project helps tracking project tasks but it involves high end server infrastructure which needs regular upgrades, maintenance and reduces employee mobility . Open source task management tools help in overcoming above drawbacks of traditional software at free of cost to an organization.
ClickUp
ClickUp is a cloud-based work management solution that bills itself as “productivity software.” It helps individuals and teams set goals, manage tasks, and organize work in “project spaces.” Key features include task management, collaboration, reporting/project tracking, time tracking, and Gantt charts.
The central components of ClickUp include tasks, custom fields, goals (defined objectives that are broken down into, and assigned, a measurable target), and portfolios (a high-level overview of your work, similar to a dashboard).
- Free plan: Includes unlimited users, unlimited tasks, and project workspaces, 100MB of file storage, 24/7 support (chat, phone, email, and an online help center), as well as 100 uses of custom fields, 100 uses of goals, 100 uses of portfolios, and limited reporting.
- Paid plans: Include unlimited storage, integrations, full reporting options, and additional features such as Gantt charts.
Yet Another Process Monitor
Yet Another Process Monitor is another free open source task manager software for Windows. Using it, you can manage threads, modules, running tasks, processes, etc., of both local and remote systems. Apart from task management, it also lets you end or kill any task that you want.
Main Features:
- Job Management: Using it, you can adjust the parameters of the running processes like the priority of running processes, maximum memory usage of each process, the process running time, etc.
- Local and Remote Management: Through this software, you can manage the processes and applications of both local and remote systems with ease. In addition to that, it also offers a feature to shut down both the local and remote systems.
- Dependency Viewer: Using it, you can find out all the dependencies of a process or an application.
- Processes: In it, you can view all the idle and running processes of both local and remote systems. Plus, at any time, you can kill, resume, or pause processes with it. It also shows PID, CPU Usage, Thread Count, Priority, etc., parameters of processes.
Additional Features:
- Network: In this section, you can view all the processes that are accessing the network along with their Protocol, Local Port Description, and State data (listening, established, close wait, etc.).
- Save: Using it, you can save all the monitored data (services, handles, threads, modules, etc.) in the TXT file format.
Quire
Quire is a cloud-based project management solution designed to help small and midsize businesses manage to-do lists and tasks to enable collaboration across teams. Key features include document management, real-time editing, communication tools, discussion boards, file sharing, milestone tracking, and project planning.
Teams using Quire can arrange and prioritize tasks via a Kanban board so members can visualize workflows. Managers can assign tasks to team members, sort assignments according to priority, filter tasks, and view start/due dates of projects using Gantt charts. Additionally, users can follow tasks in order to receive reminders in registered devices about upcoming deadlines.
Quire comes with an application programming interface (API), which allows integration with various third-party applications, such as Slack, Outlook Calendar, iCal and others. Users can remotely manage business activities through mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. Quire provides support via email and FAQs.
- Free plan: Quire only offers a free plan at this time. According to their website, they’re currently working on paid versions, but whatever is free now will continue to be free even after paid versions have been added.
Remote Process Explorer
Remote Process Explorer is the next free open source process task manager software for Windows. As its name implies, it is mainly used to explore and manage processes of a remote system. However, by entering the IP address of the base system, you can also manage its processes and applications. Now, check out the main features of this software.
Main Features:
- Processes: It shows the name of all the processes of a system, PID of processes, Size of processes, Session ID, Path of process, and more. Plus, an option to select and terminate one or more processes is also provided by it.
- Services: It is a dedicated service in which you can view both the running and stopped services of a system. It also gives you control to start or stop any service whenever you want.
Additional Features:
- Open Files: Through this feature, you can access data and files of a remote system after establishing a stable connection.
- GPResult: It shows group policy results of a remote system like OS configuration, local profile, date of the last group policy, domain name, domain type, and more.
Task Manager: Ghost Edition
Task Manager: Ghost Edition is one more open source task manager software for Windows. It is also a portable software that you can use on the go without installing it to your system. Through this software, you can monitor and manage system processes and applications. In addition to that, it also shows real-time CPU and RAM usage on its interface.
Main Features:
- Monitoring Window: On its monitoring window, you can view all the running processes along with their memory usage, working status, and process id.
- End Task: After selecting a specific process from its monitoring window, you can press the End Task button to immediately terminate it.
Limitation:
- The Info feature of this software is not working due to an unhandled exception.
- Plus, it lacks many task management features.
Daphne
Daphne is a free open source task manager software for Windows. Using this software, you can track all the running processes and applications of a system in real-time. Plus, it also lets you kill any process or application that you want. Along with processes and applications, it also helps you track CPU usage.
Now, check out the main features of this open source task manager.
Main Features:
- Main Window: In the main window of this software, you can view all the running applications and processes along with their CPU usage, PID, peak memory usage, current memory usage, path of processes, total number of running processes, and more.
- Actions Menu: It offers various tools, through which you can kill programs, find the process of an application, hide applications, enable/disable applications, etc. After selecting a specific action, you just need to drag and drop the target icon over an application to perform the selected action.
- Set Priority: Use it, to change the default priorities of running processes and application to Low, Medium, High, or Real-Time priority.
Additional Features:
- Full Path and Arguments: By enabling this feature, you can view the full source path of every running process along with all their arguments.
- Kill Politely At: Through this feature, you can schedule the time at which selected processes will automatically terminate.
- Traps: It is a handy tool through which you can create a trap for specific processes so that when they run this software can automatically execute user-defined actions like kill process, hide process, change priority, etc.
Psymon
Psymon is another free open source task manager software for Windows and Linux. It is a simple task manager software through which you can view and kill any system process or application that you want. Plus, it shows detailed information about every running and ideal system processes.
Main Features:
- Process Table: In this table, you can view all the stopped and running processes of your system. Plus, it also offers various parameters associated with every process like PID, Status (running or stopped), CPU Usage, Memory Usage, Start Time, CPU Time, Threads, and more. Besides this, you can use it to terminate any process that you want.
- Process Detailed Info: After selecting a specific process, you can go to this tab to view detailed information about it like CPU & memory usage graph, connection type, local address, status, thread ID, and more.
Additional Features:
- CPU & Memory Info: In it, you can view CPU and Memory usage history graph.
- Disks Info: In it, you can view disk usage history graph along with names of disk partition, size of each partition, free space of each partition, and percentage of used disk.
- Network Info: In this feature, you can view all the processes which access the internet and the status of each process (listening, close wait, and established). Plus, a network usage history graph is also present in it.
Airtable
Airtable is a cloud-based, collaborative work management solution. Teams can view tasks on a grid (similar to a spreadsheet), calendar, Kanban board, or gallery. Key features include task management, collaboration, reporting/project tracking, and time tracking.
The central component of Airtable is bases, which contain all the data you need for a project. Bases are made up of a collection of tables, and each table covers a particular aspect of the project. Tables contain fields (file attachments, checkboxes, etc.) and records (relevant data points you’re tracking).
- Free plan: Includes unlimited bases, 1,200 records per base, 2GB of attachment space per base, and two weeks of revision and snapshot history, as well as real-time collaboration and commenting.
- Paid plans: Includes additional records per base, more attachment space, and longer revision history, as well as priority support and access to “blocks,” modular apps that extend the functionality of bases. The paid plans are per user, per month, and the next tier up from the free version is $10 per user, per month.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a real-time communication tool. It includes to-do lists, calendars, due dates, and file sharing, which provides a way for teams to keep track of priorities and actionable items.
With Basecamp, users can create projects, document progress, and manage tasks. It’s web-based software, allowing users to sign in either through a web browser or through a mobile app.
Basecamp can be used by any organization that needs to manage a group, including nonprofits, startups, and client service firms—and even freelancers. Subscriptions are scalable, with tiers for varying amounts of storage and numbers of users.
- Free plan: Intended for freelancers, personal use, families, and light use and includes 1GB of storage, three projects, and 20 users.
- Paid plans: $99 per month flat fee and includes unlimited projects, users, and 500GB of storage space.
Conclusion
Task management software comes in all shapes and sizes, for all types of companies, and in many different price ranges. The benefits of Task Management are numerous.