Two tools can both claim a critical path and do very different jobs. One calculates float for every task and holds up in a contract review. The other shades the longest bar red and stops. Most buyers find out which one they bought after a date slips and the finish date won’t budge.
That gap gets expensive. In July 2026, the US Government Accountability Office said schedule delays persist across the Pentagon’s costliest programs; the average wait for a new capability has passed 12 years.
Critical path software finds the chain of linked tasks that controls your finish date and calculates how much scheduling flexibility each activity has. This guide covers ten of them. Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, Planera, and Asta Powerproject serve planners whose schedules face outside review. ClickUp, Smartsheet, and Wrike keep the path attached to daily work. GanttPRO and TeamGantt fit small teams and client-facing plans. Lucidchart is where you draw the network first.
We compared them on scheduling depth, float and dependency controls, baselines, collaboration, resource planning, and ease of use.
Best Critical Path Software: 10 Tools Compared for 2026
- Critical Path Software Compared at a Glance
- What Is Critical Path Software?
- What to Look For in Critical Path Software
- The 10 Best Critical Path Software Tools
- 1. Oracle Primavera P6 (Best for capital projects and EPC programs)
- 2. Microsoft Project (Best for CPM in Microsoft-centric organizations)
- 3. ClickUp (Best for linking the critical path to the work that moves it)
- 4. Planera (Best for construction schedulers who want modern CPM)
- 5. Asta Powerproject (Best for planners working in 4D and BIM)
- 6. Smartsheet (Best for spreadsheet-native program teams)
- 7. Wrike (Best for enterprise and professional services teams)
- 8. GanttPRO (Best for small teams that need a critical path fast)
- 9. TeamGantt (Best for client-facing schedules)
- 10. Lucidchart (Best for drawing the network diagram first)
- How to Choose the Best Critical Path Software
- CPM Software vs. Gantt Chart Tool: What’s the Difference?
- The Critical Path Only Helps If Someone Updates It
- Frequently Asked Questions About Critical Path Software
Summarize this article for me pleaseCritical Path Software Compared at a Glance
| Tool | Best for | Standout feature | Starting price* | Where it taps out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Primavera P6 | Enterprise teams managing capital projects and EPC programs | Configurable critical path rules, total and free float, subcritical paths, retained logic, and progress override | Custom pricing | Requires specialist scheduling skill and significant setup for logic, baselines, calendars, and progress rules |
| Microsoft Project | Project management teams in Microsoft-centric organizations | Total and free slack, eight constraint types, Task Inspector, 11 baselines, and resource controls | $679.99 one-time | Windows-only desktop scheduler, with browser-based Planner handled separately |
| ClickUp | Teams of all sizes linking the critical path to live project work | Gantt critical path, Slack Time, dependency rescheduling, baselines, Workload, Dashboards, and Brain | Free; paid from $7/user/mo | Tuned to live work rather than contract-grade CPM review, so retained logic and progress override stay with specialist engines |
| Planera | Construction schedulers that want modern CPM | Four dependency types, lead and lag, multiple float paths, DCMA checks, Monte Carlo simulation, and Manny AI | Custom pricing | Depth is tuned to contractor workflows, so general project teams carry terms they won’t use |
| Asta Powerproject | Construction project planners working in 4D and BIM | Links schedules to IFC models, Critical Path Drag, unlimited baselines, Line of Balance, and schedule-quality checks | Trial; paid from £1,530/year (approx $2,066/year) | Full application is Windows-based, while SaaS and 4D-related add-ons increase the total cost |
| Smartsheet | Mid-sized spreadsheet-native program teams | Grid-based scheduling with critical path, Driving Path, lead and lag, automations, forms, and portfolio controls | Paid from $9/user/mo | Baselines and workload tracking require Business, and float is not surfaced as a numeric CPM field |
| Wrike | Professional services teams | Four dependency types, lead and lag, AI risk prediction, workload planning, approvals, and budgeting | Free; paid from $10/user/mo | Handles dependency-driven critical paths but not formal CPM validation or multiple float-path analysis |
| GanttPRO | Small teams that need a critical path fast | Four link types, float calculation, auto-scheduling, AI Gantt generation, workload, and change history | Paid from $7/user/mo | No permanent free plan once the 14-day trial ends |
| TeamGantt | Teams managing client-facing schedules | Critical path, baselines, live view-only sharing, Project Health, portfolio views, and cost-loaded scheduling | Free; Paid from $24/mo | Project and task limits can become restrictive for busy teams managing many schedules |
| Lucidchart | Individuals and small teams drawing the dependency network before scheduling | PERT and network diagrams, formulas, data linking, conditional formatting, AI diagram generation, and co-editing | Free; paid from $9/mo | Has no scheduling engine, so downstream dates do not recalculate when the network changes |
How we review software at ClickUp
Our editorial team follows a transparent, research-backed, and vendor-neutral process, so you can trust that our recommendations are based on real product value.
Here’s a detailed rundown of how we review software at ClickUp.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Is Critical Path Software?
Critical path software applies the critical path method (CPM) to a network of dependent tasks. It returns the longest path through the schedule, the earliest possible finish date, and the float available on every other task.
The critical path is the longest path through the network. Yet it’s also the shortest possible project duration. That contradiction trips up almost everyone the first time.
Three capabilities show how much scheduling depth a critical path tool provides:
- Float calculation on every task, not just a flag on the critical ones
- Support for finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish links, with positive and negative lags
- Automatic recalculation when durations, actuals, or constraints change, so the path moves as reality moves
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat to Look For in Critical Path Software
When evaluating critical path software, focus on how accurately it calculates dependencies, handles calendars and constraints, tracks float and baselines, and stays aligned with live project updates.
Float reporting
Look for total float on tasks outside the critical path. It shows how long an activity can slip before it delays the project. Also watch near-critical tasks with only a few days of float. They can become critical as the schedule changes.
Logic integrity
Critical path calculations are only as reliable as the dependency logic behind them. Missing links or hard constraints can produce a path that looks correct while giving you the wrong finish date.
During the trial, add a large amount of time, commonly 600 working days, to the remaining duration of an unfinished critical path activity. After recalculation, the project finish should move by roughly the same amount. If it doesn’t, inspect the logic, constraints, and calendars.
The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) has a 14-point schedule assessment, documented by the Department of Defense, that teams can use for this.
Constraint and calendar handling
Real schedules include holidays, shift patterns, weather windows, and fixed dates. Check whether the tool supports multiple calendars, task- or resource-level calendar assignments, and different constraint types. These controls matter when parts of the project follow different working rules.
Baselines and variance
A baseline shows how far the current schedule has moved from the original plan. Look for saved baselines and a variance view that compares planned and current dates. Multiple baselines are helpful when you need to track major schedule revisions over time.
Connection to the work itself
A critical path loses value when the underlying schedule falls out of date. Tools tied to live tasks can recalculate as work changes. Dedicated scheduling tools may rely more on manual updates. Either model can work, but it should match how your team actually maintains project data.
Before exploring the tools in detail, here’s a quick look at how modern Gantt software handles timelines, dependencies, and project scheduling.
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 10 Best Critical Path Software Tools
The best critical path software calculates float on every activity, supports all four dependency types with lead and lag, and recalculates the finish date when durations or actuals change. Primavera P6, Planera, and Asta Powerproject go deepest on that math. ClickUp, Smartsheet, and Wrike keep the path attached to live work.
1. Oracle Primavera P6 (Best for capital projects and EPC programs)
Primavera P6 is Oracle’s enterprise scheduling platform for CPM programs, the kind where the schedule is a contract deliverable. It works best for construction, infrastructure, energy, and EPC teams with a full-time planner on staff.
Where most tools hand you one critical path and call it done, P6 asks you to define the rule first. In “Schedule Options,” you mark every activity at or below a total float number you set. Or you choose Longest Path, which traces driving relationships back from the latest early finish. Run both on a job with night shifts and a shutdown calendar, and you get two different lists.
The rest of the calculation is just as explicit. Every activity carries total and free float. You can also generate subcritical float paths to see the chains sitting a few days behind the leader. Progress that lands out of sequence follows a rule you choose: Retained Logic, Progress Override, or Actual Dates.
Standout features
- Resource leveling priorities: Rank projects and activities 1 to 100 so P6 picks who gets the shared crane
- Risk register with scoring matrix: Score threats on a company-wide matrix and attach response plans to the activities they hit
- Visualizer reports: Print time-scaled logic diagrams for a claim packet or an owner review
- Reflection projects: Copy the live schedule, try a recovery sequence, then merge back only the changes you approve
Note: P6 has no built-in AI assistant. Oracle keeps that work in Primavera Cloud, so analysis in P6 stays manual.
Pricing
- Custom pricing
Ratings
- G2: 4.4/5 (380+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (180+ reviews)
A G2 user said:
Where it taps out: P6 needs more scheduling skill than most project tools. Setting up logic, baselines, calendars, and progress rules takes time. Smaller teams may also find the admin work hard to justify.
Best for: Contractors and owners who submit CPM schedules for review and need the math to hold up.
Skip it if: Your plan shifts daily next to task work, or nobody on the team is a scheduler by trade.
2. Microsoft Project (Best for CPM in Microsoft-centric organizations)
Microsoft Project runs CPM scheduling in a Windows desktop app, and many PMOs end up with it by default. If your company already uses Microsoft 365, onboarding a Project license is quicker than learning a new ecosystem.
Raise the slack threshold, and tasks carrying a day or two of float get flagged critical alongside the zero-float ones, which is how near-critical chains stay visible. Total and free slack sit on every task as fields you can sort and filter, and eight constraint types let you pin dates the way a contract requires.
When a date shifts for no obvious reason, Task Inspector names the culprit: the predecessor, constraint, calendar, or resource assignment. And the broader Microsoft planning stack brings AI into the mix through Copilot.
Standout features
- Team planner: Drag work between people and watch overallocation clear in the same screen
- Task modes: Switch tasks between manual and auto-scheduling so early placeholders don’t get shoved around by the engine
- Compare Projects report: See every changed date, duration, and link between two versions of the same file
- 11 baselines: Store the original plus 10 more and track schedule, work, and cost drift against any of them
Note: Microsoft is retiring Project Online on September 30, 2026. Project Desktop, Project Server, and Planner all continue.
Pricing
- Project Standard 2024: $679.99, one-time purchase
- Project Professional 2024: $1,129.99, one-time purchase
- Project Server Subscription Edition: Custom pricing
Ratings
- G2: 4.0/5 (1,600+ reviews)
- Capterra: No clean current rating for standalone Project Desktop. Capterra lists Microsoft Planner and Project Server separately, so combining those scores would mislead
A G2 user described:
Where it taps out: The Microsoft Project desktop scheduler is Windows-only, which matters if your team uses Macs or needs cross-platform access. Microsoft offers browser-based Planner, but it’s separate from Project Desktop.
Best for: PMOs in Microsoft shops that need baselines, slack analysis, and resource controls in one file.
Skip it if: Your schedule has to be built collaboratively in the browser, or you want the critical path sitting inside daily work management.
3. ClickUp (Best for linking the critical path to the work that moves it)
ClickUp is a converged work AI platform. What earns it a place here is that ClickUp Gantt View runs on the same tasks people update every day. Turn on Critical Path, and the chain controlling your deadline lights up. Turn on Slack Time, and each flexible task gets a dashed bar showing how far it can move before the deadline feels it.
Because those bars are live tasks, the path recalculates when an assignee drags a date or clears a blocker. Dependency rescheduling pushes the connected work along with it, so nobody rebuilds a file after a bad week.
ClickUp Brain sits on the same data and answers questions about what slipped and why, pulling from all across your workspace and connected apps. For delivery teams, that closeness is the point. The schedule and the work share one home, so the critical path always reflects reality.
Standout features
- ClickUp Milestones: Mark launches, approvals, and handoffs on the timeline, then see which chain of work feeds each one
- Gantt baselines: Snapshot task dates at the project or portfolio level and measure later drift against it
- ClickUp Workload View: Check assigned work against real capacity to catch the overload that delays scheduled tasks
- ClickUp Dashboards: Push status, time tracked, and milestone progress into stakeholder reports so nobody has to read the Gantt chart every time
Pricing
free forever
Free Free
Key Features:
60MB Storage
Unlimited Tasks
Unlimited Free Plan Members
unlimited
$7 $10
per user per month
Everything in Free Forever, plus:
Unlimited Storage
ClickUp Chat
Native Time Tracking
business
Popular
$12 $19
per user per month
Everything in Unlimited, plus:
Google SSO
Custom Exporting
5K Monthly Automations
enterprise
Get a Custom Demo
Everything in Business, plus:
White Labeling
Live Onboarding Training
250K Monthly Automations
* Prices when billed annually
The world's most complete work AI, starting at $9 per month
ClickUp Brain is a no Brainer. One AI to manage your work, at a fraction of the cost.
Ratings
- G2: 4.6/5 (13,500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,600+ reviews)
A G2 user mentioned:
Where it taps out: ClickUp’s Gantt is built to keep the critical path tied to work in motion, so it reads task dates and dependency chains. Teams submitting schedules for owner or claims review will want a specialist CPM engine for retained logic and progress override, and plenty run both.
Best for: Cross-functional delivery teams that want the critical path sitting next to the tasks, workload, and reporting they already run.
Skip it if: You only want a scheduling file, and the rest of your team has no plan to move their daily work into the same tool.
Also Read: Critical Path Templates
4. Planera (Best for construction schedulers who want modern CPM)
Planera builds CPM schedules for construction on a shared canvas. A superintendent and a scheduler can sketch the sequence together while the engine keeps the logic honest underneath. Contractors are the whole audience here.
The draw for critical path work is how much control sits under that simple surface. You get all four link types, lag and lead, multiple float paths, retained logic, and progress override.
It also checks its own work. Run the DCMA 14-point test inside the tool, and it flags weak logic, hard constraints, and negative float before an owner’s consultant finds them. And Manny, the built-in AI helper, answers questions about what drives the path and spins up what-if versions to weigh recovery options.
Standout features
- Version comparison: Keep several schedule versions and compare them side-by-side to see which dates and drivers moved
- Connected field schedules: Build short-term look-ahead plans that stay tied to the master schedule, so operations get detail without a second file
- Resource and cost loading: Put crews and dollars on activities to see where the money sits along the path
- Monte Carlo risk simulation: Model uncertainty across the schedule and estimate the probability of meeting key dates
Pricing
- Custom pricing
Ratings
- G2: Not available
- Capterra: Not available
Note: Planera doesn’t yet have enough published third-party reviews for us to judge it the same way as the more established tools on this list. For this entry, we’re relying on our own understanding and Planera’s published documentation.
Where it taps out: Planera is built mainly for construction scheduling. Its CPM model, field schedules, resource tools, DCMA checks, and integrations all fit contractor workflows. Teams outside construction may find it too detailed and may not need all the terms or features.
Best for: General contractors and project controls teams who want full CPM depth without installing a Windows client.
Skip it if: Nobody at your company reads a schedule for a living, and simple dependencies would carry the plan.
5. Asta Powerproject (Best for planners working in 4D and BIM)
Asta Powerproject is Elecosoft’s planning tool for construction programs, and it’s the one here that ties the schedule to the model. Link tasks to objects in an IFC file through the 4D module, and you can play the build sequence back as a video. A logic argument becomes something a subcontractor can watch.
The Critical Path Drag measures how much time each critical task adds to the total duration. Sort by it, and the worst offender rises to the top. That’s the number you want when a client asks where four weeks might come from. The tool also runs schedule quality checks against configurable standards, with metrics drawn from DCMA and CIOB guidance.
Site data flows back through Asta SiteProgress, where crews update quantities, attach photos, and raise new tasks from a phone. The program then reflects what actually happened on site.
Standout features
- Unlimited baselines: Create as many as the job needs and compare progress, resources, and costs against any earlier version
- Resource heat maps: Read planned against actual effort or cost by period, with color flagging under-, fully-, and over-allocated resources
- Cost and earned value: Track budget, planned, and actual cost with earned value reporting and full change history in the project file
- Line of Balance graphs: Chart repeating work across locations to see where two trades will collide on the same plot before either crew shows up
Pricing
- Trial available
- Asta Powerproject: £1,530/year for a single user via Elecosoft’s store (approx $2,066/year)
Note: Concurrent licenses, SaaS access, and add-ons like Vision and SiteProgress are priced separately.
Ratings
- G2: 4.4/5 (20+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (30+ reviews)
A G2 user commented:
Where it taps out: The main application is Windows software. Mac teams go through PowerProject SaaS, which is licensed separately. So the full BIM setup costs meaningfully more than the headline price.
Best for: Planners who need the schedule and the 3D model arguing with each other in one file.
Skip it if: Nobody on your project touches an IFC model, since the 4D work is what justifies the price here.
6. Smartsheet (Best for spreadsheet-native program teams)
Smartsheet turns a spreadsheet into a real schedule. Switch on dependencies and type predecessors and durations into the columns you already use. The Gantt view then calculates and shades the critical path across those rows. Teams that plan in a grid get CPM logic without needing to learn a planning tool.
You can further set lead and lag time, choose which days count as working days, and let dependent dates move on their own. Driving Path answers a narrower question. Pick one task, and Smartsheet highlights only the predecessors pushing its start date, so you can chase a single milestone without reading the whole project.
Those same rows feed forms, reports, dashboards, and automations. That’s why program teams keep the schedule and the intake process together. Its base price tier, Pro, now bundles conversational AI through Smart Assist and Smart Columns.
Standout features
- Cell linking: Feed a subproject’s finish date straight into a master sheet row, so a slip on one plan moves the program schedule
- Workload tracking: See assigned work across the team so you can tell whether a capacity problem is really a schedule problem
- Control Center: Standardize how new projects get created, push changes into existing plans, and roll reporting up across a portfolio
- Forms: Route intake through a form so the new scope arrives as rows in the plan and gets sequenced
Pricing
- Pro: $9/member/month billed annually
- Business: $19/member/month billed annually
- Advanced Work Management: Custom pricing
Ratings
- G2: 4.4/5 (22,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (3,500+ reviews)
A G2 user said:
Where it taps out: Baselines and workload tracking both start on the Business plan, so a team on the Pro plan can build a dependency-driven critical path and still have no way to measure drift against the original plan.
Best for: Program and operations teams who want dependency logic without moving anyone off a grid.
Skip it if: Your schedule needs float reported as a number rather than a highlighted chain of rows.
7. Wrike (Best for enterprise and professional services teams)
Wrike suits services teams juggling a dozen client schedules at once. Switch on its Gantt view, wire up dependencies, and it marks the tasks with the most pull on the delivery date. All four link types work here, including start-to-finish, and you can add lead or lag on any of them.
AI Project Risk Prediction reads project data for signs that a deadline is slipping. It tags each project as low, medium, or high risk and shows that rating in views, dashboards, and reports. A delivery lead gets a warning before the critical path visibly moves.
When a date does change, Wrike shifts the dependent active tasks down the chain.
Standout features
- Request forms: Turn client requests into structured, routed work so new scope enters the plan already sequenced
- Proofing and approvals: Keep creative review cycles attached to the task, which stops approval delays from hiding in email
- Resource and workload planning: See how work spreads across people and teams when three client schedules want the same employee
- Budgeting: Track planned against actual cost with hourly rates, so a slipping schedule shows up as a margin problem
Pricing
- Free
- Team: $10/user/month
- Business: $25/user/month
- Pinnacle: Custom pricing
- Apex: Custom pricing
Note: Wrike retired the Enterprise plan in January 2026 and replaced it with Pinnacle and Apex.
Ratings
- G2: 4.2/5 (4,500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (3,000+ reviews)
A G2 user mentioned:
Where it taps out: Wrike can highlight a project’s critical path and model four dependency types. However, its scheduling tools are built mainly for work management. Teams that need formal CPM validation, multiple float-path analysis, or contract-grade schedule testing will need a more specialized scheduling tool.
Best for: Companies sharing a single bench of specialists across multiple client timelines.
Skip it if: You need specialist CPM analysis beyond dependency-driven scheduling.
8. GanttPRO (Best for small teams that need a critical path fast)
GanttPRO is the pick when you need a working critical path this afternoon. It’s a browser-based Gantt tool aimed at small teams and consultants, and the setup is genuinely short. Add tasks, drag in dependencies, then switch on critical path. GanttPRO shades the driving chain and works out float on everything else.
Under the surface, the rules are complete enough to trust. All four link types are supported, along with lead and lag, project calendars, and auto-scheduling. Move one date, and the connected tasks follow. The chart keeps behaving like a schedule instead of a picture of one.
An AI Gantt chart maker handles the blank page problem. Describe the project in a few lines, and it drafts phases, tasks, dependencies, milestones, and role assignments. You then correct it by hand.
Standout features
- Change history: Review every edit made to the plan and roll back the one that broke the sequence
- Private sharing links: Send clients a view-only chart, with control over which details show, so nobody needs a seat
- Time and cost tracking: Log time against tasks and pair durations with resource costs to watch schedule and budget together
- Workload and portfolios: Spot resource pressure across several projects at once (Business plan)
Pricing
- Core: $7/user/month, billed annually
- Advanced: $10/user/month, billed annually
- Business: $17/user/month, billed annually
- Enterprise: $20/user/month, billed annually
Ratings
- G2: 4.8/5 (500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (500+ reviews)
A G2 user said:
Where it taps out: GanttPRO doesn’t offer a permanent free plan. Once the 14-day trial ends, you need a paid subscription to keep working in the product, which matters for solo users or teams that only build an occasional schedule.
Best for: Consultants and small teams who need a defensible schedule without a week of configuration.
Skip it if: You only need critical path planning occasionally and can’t justify an ongoing paid subscription after the trial.
9. TeamGantt (Best for client-facing schedules)
TeamGantt is a web-based scheduling tool built so that the Gantt chart stays at the center of the work. Tasks, dependencies, progress, and workload all feed the same timeline, which suits teams who run their projects through the schedule.
While critical path and baselines cover the planning basics, TeamGantt gets more interesting once the schedule leaves the project team. Filter the chart down to the dates or tasks a client cares about, then share a live view-only link.
For client-facing work, the same chart does two jobs. It’s the plan the team updates daily and the timeline you walk a stakeholder through.
Standout features
- Project Health report: Compare how much should be done today against actual progress, then open the tasks behind each status
- Portfolio view: Group projects by client, team, owner, or quarter and scan health across the whole portfolio
- Builder Edition controls: Add material lead times, lookahead scheduling, Procore sync, and RACI assignments for construction work
- Cost-loaded scheduling: Assign costs to tasks and watch projected spend change as dates move
Pricing
- Free: Available with limited projects and tasks
- Basic: Starts at $24/month
- Business: Starts at $120/month
- Builder Edition: Starts at $199/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Ratings
- G2: 4.8/5 (850+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (200+ reviews)
A G2 user mentioned:
Where it taps out: Everything is metered by project and task count. The Basic plan includes two projects and lets you add up to five with additional per-project charges, each capped at 150 tasks. The Business plan limits you to 20 projects and 500 tasks, so a busy agency can hit the ceiling mid-year and pay per project to keep going.
Best for: Consultants, agencies, and project teams that need a critical path schedule that they can also present clearly to clients and other stakeholders.
Skip it if: You regularly manage schedules that exceed the project or task limits in its standard plans.
10. Lucidchart (Best for drawing the network diagram first)
Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming platform, which makes it the outlier in this list. It doesn’t run a schedule. But it draws the network you build the schedule from. PERT and project network templates give you nodes that hold a task, a duration, and links to whatever comes next.
Sketching first has a real payoff. The forward and backward pass is easier to reason about as boxes and arrows than as rows in a table. Shapes can also carry custom data and formulas, so early dates, late dates, and float will calculate on the canvas as your inputs change. That still needs you to design the underlying model, but it gives technical teams much more control over how the network calculation is represented.
Lucid AI turns a text prompt into an editable diagram and revises it when you ask again. Handy in a planning workshop when the goal is getting the structure on screen while everyone’s still in the room.
Standout features
- Conditional formatting: Set rules on shape data so activities that hit a condition, like zero float, change color on their own
- Data linking: Pull project data from a connected source so nobody retypes values into individual boxes
- Real-time co-editing: Let several planners work the same network at once during a sequencing workshop
- Presentation mode: Walk stakeholders through the finished network without rebuilding it in slide software
Pricing
- Free
- Individual: $9/month
- Team: $10/user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing (includes Lucidchart and Lucidspark)
Note: Lucid markets Lucidspark and Lucidchart through the broader Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite, so the exact price can depend on the product package and billing term selected. Confirm the final cost at checkout.
Ratings
- G2: 4.5/5 (8,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (380+ reviews)
A G2 user said:
Where it taps out: You get the building blocks and assemble the logic. There’s no scheduling engine, so nothing reschedules downstream work when a duration changes. Move a date in Lucidchart, and you update the diagram, not a plan.
Best for: Teams working out the dependency logic on a wall before it becomes anyone’s schedule.
Skip it if: You want the tool to maintain the dates once the network is drawn.
Summarize this article for me pleaseHow to Choose the Best Critical Path Software
Start with the constraint that broke your last schedule. If it was outside scrutiny, you need a dedicated CPM engine: Primavera P6, Planera, or Asta Powerproject. If it was a plan nobody updated, you need the path sitting next to the work: ClickUp, Smartsheet, or Wrike. If it was setup time or a stakeholder who won’t log in, GanttPRO, TeamGantt, and Lucidchart get you there faster than any of them.
| Your constraint | Go with |
|---|---|
| Schedule gets submitted for owner or claims review | Oracle Primavera P6 |
| Must stay inside the Microsoft ecosystem | Microsoft Project |
| Plan drifts because it lives somewhere the team doesn’t | ClickUp |
| Need contract-grade CPM without installing Windows software | Planera |
| The 3D model drives the build sequence | Asta Powerproject |
| Team already thinks in spreadsheet rows | Smartsheet |
| One specialist bench serves many client timelines | Wrike |
| Need a defensible schedule by end of day | GanttPRO |
| The schedule doubles as a client presentation | TeamGantt |
| Dependency logic itself is the deliverable | Lucidchart |
Your critical path can be correct and still miss the delay
Critical path software tells you which sequence controls the finish date under the schedule you have today. That doesn’t mean every dangerous delay starts there.
Researchers studied 323 schedules from 77 real construction projects worth more than $10 billion and found that delays propagated through the wider dependency network, not only along the critical path. In larger schedules, the critical path also represented a shrinking share of the total activity network.
That changes what “good” critical path software looks like. The red chain matters, but so do low-float activities, branching dependencies, resource conflicts, and paths sitting just behind it. A tool that shows only one highlighted route can give you a clean answer to a messier problem.
Summarize this article for me pleaseCPM Software vs. Gantt Chart Tool: What’s the Difference?
CPM scheduling software calculates the schedule from activities, durations, and dependency logic, then draws the Gantt chart as the output. A Gantt chart tool starts with bars on a timeline and adds dependencies afterward. Both show you a colored chain. Only one of them can tell you what that chain costs you.
The difference shows up the moment something changes. A CPM engine reschedules the whole network, reports total and free float on every activity, and moves the finish date. A chart-first tool may shift the bars you linked and leave the finish date sitting where it was.
| Capability | CPM scheduling software | Gantt chart tool |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Activities, durations, and logic | Bars placed on a timeline |
| Float | Reported as a number on every activity | Often just a highlight on the critical chain |
| Dependency types | All four, with positive and negative lag | Usually finish-to-start, sometimes more |
| When a duration changes | Whole network recalculates, finish date moves | Linked bars shift, finish date may not |
| Calendars | Multiple, assignable per task or resource | One project calendar |
| Typical output | Float tables, baselines, variance reports | A picture of the plan |
| Examples | Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, Planera, Asta Powerproject | Most work management platforms with a Gantt view |
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe Critical Path Only Helps If Someone Updates It
Every tool here can draw a critical path. The question is which one still reflects reality on a Thursday, after two tasks slip, and nobody has opened the file.
If your schedule has to survive a contract review or a delay claim, that means a dedicated CPM engine, and the depth is worth the setup. If your plan drifts because it lives somewhere your team doesn’t, the fix is proximity, not more features.
Want to watch a critical path recalculate against real tasks instead of a maintained file? Try ClickUp for free.
Summarize this article for me pleaseFrequently Asked Questions About Critical Path Software
Can you calculate the critical path in Excel?
Yes, but Excel has no scheduling engine, so you build the math yourself. Set up columns for predecessors, duration, early start and finish, late start and finish, and float, then run the forward and backward pass with MIN, MAX, and IF formulas.
Is Primavera P6 better than Microsoft Project?
For schedules that get reviewed by someone outside your company, yes. P6 Professional handles projects up to 100,000 activities, with multi-project resource leveling and a choice between Longest Path and a total-float threshold for defining critical. Microsoft Project is cheaper and easier to staff, with 11 baselines, eight constraint types, and Task Inspector.
What is a near-critical path?
A near-critical path is a sequence with relatively little total float. The exact threshold varies by project. It matters because small delays can consume that float and turn the sequence into the new critical path.
How do you show the critical path in Microsoft Project?
Open the Gantt Chart view, go to the Format tab, and select the Critical Tasks checkbox. Critical activities turn red. Add Total Slack and Free Slack as columns, and you get the float numbers behind that formatting. Task Inspector then explains which predecessor or constraint drives any given date, which is the fastest way to diagnose a path that looks wrong.
How do you analyze critical path delays?
Start by comparing the current schedule against a saved baseline to see which activities on the path moved and by how much. Two formal methods dominate. Time impact analysis inserts a delay event and measures the effect on the completion date. Windows analysis examines the critical path over discrete periods. Both need a baseline and clean logic, which is why it’s best to perform schedule integrity checks before a dispute arises.
Can a project have more than one critical path?
Yes. Any path with the same total duration as the longest path is also critical, and schedule compression often creates a second one. Microsoft Project can display multiple critical paths by calculating one for each independent network. Primavera P6 goes further with multiple float paths, showing subcritical chains sitting behind the leader. More parallel critical paths means less room for error.
How do you shorten the critical path?
Two techniques: crashing and fast-tracking. Crashing adds resources or overtime to critical activities and raises cost. Fast-tracking runs sequential critical activities in parallel and raises rework risk. Both only work on critical path activities, so adding people to a task with float changes nothing. Recalculate after every change: compressing one path usually promotes another to critical.
Is there free critical path software?
TeamGantt and Lucidchart both offer free plans, and ClickUp’s Free Forever plan includes the Gantt view (limited uses). Free tiers usually cap projects, tasks, or seats rather than the calculation itself, so check the current limits before you commit a real schedule.
What is the difference between PERT and CPM?
CPM uses one fixed duration per task and returns a single schedule with one critical path. PERT uses three estimates, optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic, to model how uncertain each duration is. Teams often sketch the network with PERT thinking, then run CPM to manage the live schedule.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
Recent Articles
11 Best Time Management Tools in 2026, Sorted by What’s Broken 
11 Best Time Management Tools in 2026, Sorted by What’s Broken
10 Best Project Management Software That Integrates With Salesforce
10 Best Project Management Software That Integrates With Salesforce
Best Document Collaboration Software: 8 Tools Compared 2026
Best Document Collaboration Software: 8 Tools Compared 2026
