A free Gantt chart maker that works like a form, not a spreadsheet
This Gantt chart maker turns a simple task table into a project timeline. Type each task’s name, how many days it takes and which tasks it must wait for; the tool works out every start and finish date, skips weekends and the holidays you list, draws the dependency arrows, marks milestones and highlights the critical path — the chain of tasks that decides your finish date.
It is built for the “send me the project plan by tomorrow” moment: no Excel formulas, no conditional formatting tricks, no Mermaid code and no sign-up. Download a sharp PNG for a slide or WhatsApp, a vector PDF on A4, Letter or A3, an SVG, or a CSV you can open in any spreadsheet.
How to use the Gantt Chart Maker
- Give the project a name, then pick the scale: Days for plans of a few weeks, Weeks or Months for longer ones.
- Choose how durations are counted: Working days with your weekend (Saturday + Sunday, Sunday only for a six-day week, or Friday + Saturday), or plain calendar days. Add holidays under “Holidays and days off”.
- Edit the task table: name, optional group (phase), start date, days, and “After” — the numbers of the tasks it depends on. Tick ◆ to make a row a milestone. Use “Add task” and the arrows to build and reorder the plan.
- Watch the chart redraw as you type. Red outlines show the critical path; the dashed red line marks today. Click any bar to jump to its row.
- Press Download PNG, PDF, SVG or Print, or “Download CSV” to keep an editable copy you can open again with “Open CSV”.
Gantt Chart Maker features
Dependencies that move dates for you
With auto-schedule on, a task starts on the next working day after everything in its “After” list finishes, so lengthening one task pushes the rest of the plan. Turn it off to set dates by hand; clashes are shown with red dashed arrows.
Weekends and holidays
Durations count working days only, with a Saturday + Sunday, Sunday-only or Friday + Saturday weekend, plus any holiday dates or ranges you type. Non-working days are shaded on the chart.
Critical path and progress
The tool traces back from the finish date through the tasks with no slack and outlines them in red. A darker fill shows each task’s % done.
Today line and three scales
A dashed line marks today whenever it falls inside the plan; switch between day, week and month columns to fit a two-week sprint or a year-long project.
Spreadsheet in, chart out
Open a CSV with Task, Start, Days and After columns (names or numbers), or download the plan as CSV. Exports include PNG, SVG, a vector PDF and a print view.
How the dates are calculated
Every task with dependencies is a finish-to-start link: it begins on the first working day after its last predecessor ends. A task of 5 working days that starts on a Thursday with a Saturday + Sunday weekend runs Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A milestone takes no time; tasks that follow a milestone start on the same day.
Dates are handled as whole days in UTC, so a plan never shifts by a day when you open it in another time zone or after a daylight-saving change. Lags, lead times and start-to-start links are not supported; split a task into two rows when you need a gap.
| Sample task | Days | After | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Kick-off meeting | 1 | — | Mon 2 Nov | Mon 2 Nov |
| 2 Requirements | 3 | 1 | Tue 3 Nov | Thu 5 Nov |
| 3 Wireframes | 4 | 2 | Fri 6 Nov | Wed 11 Nov |
| 5 Back-end API | 8 | 2 | Fri 6 Nov | Tue 17 Nov |
| 7 Testing and fixes | 4 | 5, 6 | Fri 27 Nov | Wed 2 Dec |
Reading the critical path
In the sample plan the back-end work ends on 17 November, but testing cannot start until the front-end pages finish on 26 November, so the back-end has seven working days of slack and is not critical. Kick-off, requirements, wireframes, visual design, front-end, testing and go-live form the critical path: a one-day slip in any of them moves the launch by a day. To bring the date forward, shorten or split a critical task — speeding up a non-critical one changes nothing.
For a plain count of working days between two dates, the business days calculator is quicker; to track the same tasks day to day, a kanban board suits better than a timeline. If you prefer writing diagrams as code, the Mermaid diagram editor also draws Gantt charts from text.
Gantt Chart Maker FAQ
How do I make a Gantt chart without Excel?
Type your tasks into the table on this page — name, days and the tasks each one follows — and the chart draws itself. Download it as PNG or PDF; there are no formulas to set up and nothing to install.
Does it skip weekends and holidays?
Yes. Choose “Working days” and your weekend, then list holidays as dates or ranges. Durations are counted in working days and those days are shaded grey or orange on the chart.
What does “After” mean in the task table?
It lists the numbers of the tasks that must finish first. “After 2, 5” starts the task on the next working day after both task 2 and task 5 are done; the start date is then filled in for you.
What is the critical path in a Gantt chart?
The longest chain of dependent tasks; it fixes the project’s finish date. Those bars have a red outline here, and the count appears under the chart.
Can I import my tasks from a spreadsheet?
Yes. Save the sheet as CSV with a header row containing Task and, optionally, Group, Start, End, Days, After, Done % and Milestone, then press “Open CSV”. “After” may hold task numbers or task names.
Is my project plan private?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser and the plan is saved only in this browser’s storage. Download the CSV to keep a copy or move it to another device.