What project management / tracking tools do you use/recommend?
Posted by oandroido@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 16 comments
I've made different half-hearted attempts over the years to track projects, and am about to get back into a personal programming project.
I'd really like to be able to track everything so that it's sequential/logical where it needs to be.
A long time ago I would have used Filemaker but it went the way of subscription, so I haven't considered it in years.
I also really like Gantt charts, but have typically found that once projects start to get a bunch of components, changes may require lots of manual moving/rescheduling (a feature of gantts that I thought would have been resolved by now...)
Anyway - what do you use/recommend, and what do you like about them?
thx
soylakate@reddit
I’ve bounced between things like GitHub Projects, Notion, and even simple Kanban boards, but lately I’ve found keeping tasks lightweight and pairing them with time tracking (I’ve used TMetric for that) helps avoid the “PM tool becomes a chore” problem others mentioned.
sairas_lisai@reddit
for personal stuff I honestly stoped chasin the perfect tool, most of them look great until your project evolves and then youre back to reorganizing everything again
JenniferP_Huff@reddit
what helped me more than switchin pm tools was separating structure from data, like i keep tasks simple but store all the detailed stuff somewhere centralized
Sporta_narres@reddit
what helped me more than switching pm tools was separatin structure from data, like i keep tasks simple but store all the detailed stuff somewhere centralized, i ended up using piminto for that part because it handles structured info way beter than notes or boards, and then just link things back when needed
karthea_jensi@reddit
same here, I use a pretty minimal setup now, mostly linear for structure and notes on the side, trying to keep everything in one place just didnt work for me
Linda_Rpashi@reddit
yeah gantt charts feel nice in theory but once things start shifting it becomes a maintennance nightmare, I switched to simpler kanban setups just to stay flexible
maz_codes@reddit
Feels like most tools either: • over-structure everything (Gantt, heavy PM tools) • or are too loose (basic to-do lists)
There’s not much in between that gives you a clear overview without constant rescheduling.
I’ve been playing with a more “all-in-one dashboard” approach for this — still figuring out the right balance.
diamond143420@reddit
Trello always turns into a card graveyard 1-2 months in. I cant stand it.
We switched to 4gaBoards like 3 months ago. Very similar to Trello, but every card is a live Kanban and Gantt hybrid.
Drag one card and the whole timeline shifts automatically, no manual spreadsheets. Really nice and our whole team is happy.
One_Friend_2575@reddit
For personal projects I usually prefer something simple with a board + timeline. Kanban is great for tracking tasks and if you like Gantt it helps to see dependencies when things start shifting.
A few people use Notion or Trello for lightweight setups. If you want something a bit more structured, tools like Teamhood are interesting because the Gantt updates automatically when tasks move, so you don’t end up constantly rescheduling things manually.
Spiritual_Rule_6286@reddit
If you hate manual rescheduling, skip the heavy Gantt charts and just use the free GitHub Projects board; I rely on it to track the development of my dating app Pulse because tying your task issues directly to your code commits automatically moves the cards across the board for you.
Educational-Ideal880@reddit
For personal programming projects I usually keep it very simple.
- GitHub Projects or a basic Kanban board (issues → in progress → done)
- Notion if I want a mix of notes, ideas, and tasks
- Linear if you want something very clean and fast
For solo work I found Gantt charts tend to become more overhead than value once things start changing a lot.
A lightweight Kanban board + issues usually scales surprisingly well even for bigger projects.
Turbulent-Hippo-9680@reddit
If you like things feeling sequential and logical, I'd probably avoid overly "collaborative" PM tools that become dumping grounds.
A lot of people end up happier with something simpler that reflects how they actually think through work, especially if the system helps turn rough plans into cleaner next steps without constant manual babysitting.
Runable is one of the few newer tools I've seen that makes sense in that zone, where the value is structuring the work before it turns into PM sludge.
oandroido@reddit (OP)
Just me working on it :)
Turbulent-Hippo-9680@reddit
If you like things feeling sequential and logical, I'd probably avoid overly "collaborative" PM tools that become dumping grounds.
A lot of people end up happier with something simpler that reflects how they actually think through work, especially if the system helps turn rough plans into cleaner next steps without constant manual babysitting.
Runable is one of the few newer tools I've seen that makes sense in that zone, where the value is structuring the work before it turns into PM sludge.
desrtfx@reddit
One of the top tools is Jira, but that's mainly for professional use and paid.
A free, open source alternative would be OpenProject - it declares itself as open source alternative to Jira.
Haven't used it, though.
BlaqChakra@reddit
ClickUp works really well for me.