10 Best Capacity Planning Tools (Free and Paid)

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by your incoming workload that you have no idea where to even start?

Us too. 🥵

Properly planning and managing your team’s capacity is key to avoiding this form of anxiety. The hard part is finding and maintaining the perfect work limits—how much can each member reasonably handle without jeopardizing key project deadlines and deliverables?

There are tons of capacity planning tools designed to help you overcome this very obstacle.

Capacity planning tools help businesses make strategic and realistic business plans by tracking your current employee’s capacities and forecasting what would happen if you hired more people. By accurately managing their workforce, companies can make more informed decisions regarding goals, output, and most importantly, their people. 🫱🏼‍🫲🏾

This post covers everything you need to know before investing in your next capacity planning software including the top 10 capacity planning tools, key features, pros, cons, pricing, and customer ratings!

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What is Capacity Planning Software?

Capacity planning tools can forecast usage growth, track system health, identify areas for improvement, and suggest upgrades or additions that will improve performance.

Key Features to Look for in a Capacity Planning Tool

  • Scalability
  • Automation
  • Accuracy
  • Optimization
  • Visualization
  • Collaboration
  • Flexibility
  • Security
  • Reporting & Analytics
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What Does a Capacity Planning Tool Do?

Capacity planning software helps companies evaluate their resource needs to keep up with demand fluctuations in the market. 

These tools are used by managers, higher-ups, and department heads to oversee workforces and determine the amount of work that can be completed with your current staff. It also allows you to see how many employees you currently have and whether they are being overworked or underutilized.

Another major benefit of capacity planning tools is the ability to predict the number of new hires your company can or will need to make in the following year, and how the cost may impact the business.

Other significant advantages of using capacity planners include:

The key ingredient here is—you need a dedicated capacity planning tool to pull off this type of productivity. A capacity planning template in Excel isn’t going to cut it!

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Best 10 Capacity Planning Tools in 2024

Choosing a capacity planning tool from the thousands of software available today might sound like a daunting task, but it’s important to approach the matter with a clear idea of exactly what you need. 

Before you toss your pennies at just any old capacity planning software, here are a few main features to keep an eye out for:

  • Real-time reporting and analytics to gather actionable data
  • Automation capabilities to save time on mindless actions
  • Integrations—lots and lots of integrations!

Luckily we’ve done our homework and scoured the web for the top 10 capacity planning tools on the market today. Take a look through this carefully curated list to start forecasting your team’s workload ASAP.

1. ClickUp

workload view clickup
Use ClickUp’s Workload View to see who is ahead or behind and easily drag-and-drop tasks to reallocate resources

ClickUp is the ultimate project management software for teams of any size to manage projects, collaborate smarter, and bring all of their work together across apps into one centralized hub. With hundreds of customizable features, ClickUp is the ideal capacity planning software for overseeing workloads, managing resources effectively, and boosting overall efficiency.

There are over 15 flexible ways to visualize your work in ClickUp including its unique Workload view, and custom real-time reporting for an instant high-level overview of your progress. Teams and entire businesses across industries rely on ClickUp to understand their capacities and identify areas of improvement. And yet, there is still so much more that ClickUp can do for you! 😍

ClickUp features

ClickUp pros

ClickUp cons

  • Workload view not offered in Free Forever Plan
  • Tons of powerful features can pose a bit of a learning curve
  • Not all views are available in the mobile app…yet!

ClickUp pricing

  • Free Forever Plan: Unlimited tasks, members, and more at absolutely no cost
  • Unlimited Plan: $7 per member, per month
  • Business Plan: $12 per member, per month
  • Enterprise: Contact ClickUp for custom pricing

ClickUp user ratings

  •  G2: 4.7/5 (5,260+ reviews)
  •  Capterra: 4.7/5 (3,300+ reviews)

2. Resource Guru

Resource Guru is resource management software and capacity planning tool that helps identify overloaded human resources when there’s high demand but low resource availability. This app can integrate with your ERP and CRM software and offers popular work management features to manage tasks along with your project resources. There is a collaborative element to this software that lets you see who’s working on each task and when they’ll be finished.

Resource Guru features

  • Scheduling to distribute resources equally among team members to avoid overloading
  • Monitor the utilization and resource allocation with a resource calendar
  • Leave management to oversee your team’s time off and adjust workloads accordingly
  • Booking Clash streamlines reservation systems to avoid double-booking

Resource Guru pros

  • Filter out a resource using custom fields like skills, department, etc.
  • Drag and drop interface easy resource scheduling 
  • An availability bar that shows you who’s free and when

Resource Guru cons

  • No free version offered
  • Lacks native integrations with popular workplace tools 
  • No Gantt chart functionality

Resource Guru pricing

  • Grasshopper Plan: $2.50 per person, per month
  • Blackbelt Plan: $4.16 per person, per month
  • Master Plan: $6.65 per person, per month

Resource Guru user ratings

  • G2: 4.7/5 (190+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.6/5 (410+ reviews)

Bonus: Production scheduling software!

3. DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP

Formerly IQMS, DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a capacity planning app for large companies in automotive, packaging, and other discrete manufacturing industries. 

This capacity management tool allows first data and manufacturing activity tracking, monitoring, and tracing throughout the supply chain. However, as it’s mostly a manufacturing capacity planning tool, DELIMAWorks Manufacturing is not the best solution for software development and other project management teams. 

DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP features 

  • Detailed supply chain planning and management
  • Advanced resource planning and resource scheduling system
  • The capacity forecasting module gives a snapshot of current capacity and projected demands
  • Can quickly identify any bottleneck in the manufacturing workflow

DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP pros

  • Built-in Gantt chart to track project completion
  • Can export data to Microsoft Excel and Word
  • Supports real-time collaborative forecasting for future projects
  • Has a time and attendance tracker for easy payroll management

DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP cons

  • There can be a steep learning curve adjusting to its modules
  • Dated-looking UI
  • Doesn’t integrate with tools like Slack and Google Drive
  • Limited flexibility with standard reports

DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP pricing

Contact customer support for all pricing information.

DELIMAWorks Manufacturing ERP user ratings

  • G2: 4.1/5 (30+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.1/5 (280+ reviews)

Bonus: Best CRM for Manufacturing!

4. Teamup

TeamUp Product Image
via Teamup

Teamup is a cloud-based calendar tool to organize teams, schedule work, manage availability, and share events with each other. It’s a strong alternative for managing capacities with additional features to collaborate on documents, share files, and update calendars with multiple users. It also allows you to customize events based on your needs. 

Teamup features

  • Secure calendar-sharing and collaboration tools
  • Activity and attendance tracking
  • Reminders for calendar events
  • Automated scheduling, booking, and room reservations

Teamup pros

  • User-friendly interface
  • Custom color coding helps keep track of multiple members on one calendar
  • Seamless sync with its mobile app
  • Better for smaller teams or departments than for larger companies

Teamup cons

  • Lacking a variety of valuable capacity planning features
  • Difficult to oversee the progress of specific tasks or projects
  • Difficult for larger teams or businesses to make high-stakes decisions

Teamup pricing

  • Basic Plan: Free
  • Plus Plan: $8 per month 
  • Premium Plan: $20 per month
  • Enterprise Plan: $80 per month

Teamup user ratings

  • G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.7/5 (40+ reviews)

Bonus: Capacity planning in Excel!

5. Kantata

Previously known as Mavenlink, Kantata is a capacity planning software with features to manage resources, budgets, team collaboration, and projects. One of Kantata’s major strengths is its ability to convey progress visually and in multiple ways including charts, diagrams, graphs, and more.

Kantata features

  • Real-time reporting for resources, tracked time, project status, and more 
  • Filtered search to find information fast
  • Employee scheduling and management
  • Resource utilization tracking

Kantata pros 

  • Strong database and reporting features for tracking and calculating resource information
  • Offers reusable project templates 
  • Multiple integrations including email integration
  • Easy to use with powerful features

Kantata cons

  • Lacking in its mobile app support
  • Difficulty making changes and edits across the platform

Kantata pricing

  • Team: $19 per user, per month
  • Professional: $39 per user, per month

 Kantata user ratings 

  • G2: 4.1/5 (1,200+ reviews) 
  • Capterra: 4.2/5 (570+ reviews)

6. Toggl

Toggl reporting feature
Get detailed performance from individual contributors in Toggl

Toggl is an online time tracker that helps businesses measure how long they’ve spent on projects or tasks to determine where they can improve efficiency and understand how profitable their business is. Toggle is a great capacity planning tool for its ability to help teams make strategic business decisions about hiring, manage workflows, and identify areas of opportunity.

Toggl features 

  • Employee tracking and workload management
  • Payroll and billable time tracking
  • Offline time tracking

Toggl pros

  • Robust time tracking features determine the productivity, success, and cost of your workforce
  • Multiple products to manage different areas of capacity planning
  • Tons of integrations
  • Improves work scheduling and tracking management 

 Toggl cons

  • Limited productivity features to make proactive and effective choices
  • Lacking detailed dashboard and reporting tools
  • One of the least cost-effective options on this list

Toggl pricing

  • Free: For up to 5 users
  • Starter: $9 per user, per month
  • Premium: $18 per user, per month 
  • Enterprise: Contact Toggl for pricing information

 Toggl user ratings

  • G2: 4.6/5 (1,500+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,500+ reviews)

7. Saviom

Saviom product example
via Saviom

Saviom is a capacity planning software that uses machine learning to aid in resource allocation and forecasting. It offers its own resource planning solution to maximize your assets and ultimately stretch them across more projects.

Saviom features 

  • Demand forecasting and resource capacity planning
  • Scheduling, project management, and workflow management
  • Reports and analysis features for current resources including talent

Saviom pros

  • Multiple integrations
  • Allows you to choose what information to synchronize and how often
  • Gantt chart to monitor who’s working on which project

Saviom cons

  • Every pricing plan is customized and does not offer a free plan
  • Dated-looking UI

Saviom pricing

Contact Saviom for all pricing information.

Saviom user ratings

  • G2: N/A
  • Capterra: 4.3/5 (10+ reviews)

8. Forecast

Forecast is an AI-powered project and resource capacity planning software to plan, manage, and compare projects against one another. Its highly visual and color-coded interface makes it easy to determine the health of your project and what progress each team member has made. Forecast excels when it comes to managing your most important resource—your people!

Forecast features

  • Schedule, workflow, and resource management
  • Multiple project views for managing tasks
  • Dashboards and calculations for accurate cost, profit, and accounting data

Forecast pros

  • The auto-scheduling feature makes it easy to assign tasks based on employee availability
  • Multiple project management features
  • Intuitive interface

Forecast cons

  • Limited integrations
  • Lacking key collaboration features
  • Can get pricey pretty quickly

Forecast pricing

  • Light: $29 per seat, per month with a minimum of 10 seats
  • Pro: Contact sales for pricing
  • Plus: Contact sales for pricing

 Forecast user ratings

  • G2: 4.2/5 (20+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.5/5 (50+ reviews)

9. Runn

Runn product example
via Runn

Runn is a popular capacity planning tool that gives business owners, project managers, and management teams the data needed to plan and forecast complex projects in real time. This tool also has an inbuilt timesheet to monitor your projects’ progress and compare your plan against actual time worked. 

Runn features

  • Resource scheduling and capacity management
  • Timesheet for planning and reporting
  • Analytics tools for identifying and forecasting trends

Runn pros

  • Data import and export capabilities
  • Allows real-time resource adjustments
  • Multiple ways to manage the team using this software

Runn cons

  • Minimum API features
  • Lacking common permission and sharing options
  • Feature integration can take a bit of time

Runn pricing

  • Free Plan: Supports up to five people and unlimited projects
  • Pro Plan: $10 per person, per month
  • Enterprise Plan: Contact sales for pricing

 Runn user ratings

  • G2: 4.5/5 (1 review) 
  • Capterra: 4.9/5 (10+ ratings)

10. Resource Management by Smartsheet

Resource Management by Smartsheet—also known as 10,000ft before its rebrand—is a resource management tool used to plan and capacities related to team hiring, utilization, and budget. In true Smartsheet fashion, everything in this software is spreadsheet-based to help you oversee your team’s work across multiple projects and meet project timelines. If you’re a seasoned Excel user but looking for a more intuitive and updated option, Smartsheet may be your new go-to!

Ready to learn more about other Smartsheet alternatives? We’ve got you covered!

Smartsheet features

  • Workflow automation and management
  • Budget management including formulas and calculations
  • Project and task status tracking
  • Dashboards can be customized and show live data from your sheets or reports
  • View your projects on a grid, card, Gantt, or a calendar view 

Smatsheet pros

  • Easy to use and share with others, especially if you’re used to working in spreadsheets
  • Multiple collaboration options to make your spreadsheets more valuable to the team
  • Fast and accessible portfolio-level performance metrics
  • Seamless integration between Smartsheet and its resource management tool

Smartsheet cons

  • Lacking key collaboration and reporting features
  • Limited time tracking features to effectively manage resources
  • Less cost-effective than other tools on this list

Smartsheet pricing 

  • Pro: $7 per user, per month with a maximum of 10 users
  • Business: $25 per user, per month with a minimum of the three users
  • Enterprise: Contact sales for a quote

 Smartsheet user ratings

  • G2: 4.4/5 (5,340+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.5/5 (2,220+ reviews)
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The Key to Faster, Better, Stronger Capacity Planning

Choosing the right capacity planning tool for your business can be difficult with so many options—but it doesn’t have to be! Your search for the perfect tool starts and stops with the first software on this list, ClickUp. 🙂

ClickUp Workload View
The ClickUp Box view gives insights into your project metrics, workloads, and progress to stay one step ahead

Even beyond Workload view, its customizable real-time Dashboards, and 1,000 integrations, ClickUp is loaded with rich capacity planning features to make smarter and more strategic business decisions as quickly as possible. Plus, ClickUp does it all for a fraction of the cost.

Access tons of flexible features, unlimited tasks, unlimited members, 100MB of storage, multiple views, and so much more with ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan. And when you’re ready to uplevel your productivity even further, upgrade to a more advanced pricing plan for as little as $5.

Sign up for ClickUp today to make the most of your resources and forecast your future success.

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