Best Project Management Software for Film Production

Website: https://www.ftrack.com

Best for: Shot tracking and review for film teams

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Free trial

Pros: built for film pipelines, with shot tracking and review; connects production, review, and storage

Cons: no published price; aimed at studios, not very small teams

ftrack is built for film and media production, with shot tracking, review, and approval at the core of the workflow. Producers see every shot, its status, its assignee, and its latest version in one view, while artists and reviewers comment on dailies without leaving the platform. Review tools let directors and clients approve a cut or a frame with notes attached to the exact version. The platform connects production tracking with review and storage, so a note on a shot reaches the artist who owns it the same day. ftrack offers free trials of Review, Studio, and Cinesync with no card required, but it publishes no price on its pricing page, so a studio must request a quote. That sales-led model suits mid-size and large studios with a budget for a pipeline tool. ftrack fits film production companies that need shot-level tracking and review in one place.

Website: https://cg-wire.com/kitsu

Best for: Small studios that want free shot tracking

Starting price: Free (open source, self-hosted)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: free and open source, with scheduling and task tracking; review engine built for animation

Cons: self-hosting needs technical setup; support comes from the community, not a vendor team

Kitsu, from CGWire, is open-source production tracking for animation and film, free to self-host with no license fee. It covers scheduling, task tracking, and a review engine built for 2D animation, with playlists that let directors and clients review shots in order. Production managers see each shot, its status, and its assignee, while artists update tasks and upload new versions from the same workspace. Because it is open source, a studio can adapt it to its own pipeline and keep its data on its own servers. The trade-off is setup: self-hosting needs a technical lead to install and maintain the system, and support comes from the community rather than a vendor team. There is no hosted price to compare, since the software itself is free and the cost is the time to run it. Kitsu fits small studios and independent productions that want shot tracking without a license fee.

Website: https://www.autodesk.com/products/flow-production-tracking/overview

Best for: Large studios in Autodesk pipelines

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Free trial

Pros: built for large studio pipelines, with shot and asset tracking; fits Autodesk media workflows

Cons: no published price; aimed at large studios, not small productions

Autodesk Flow Production Tracking, formerly ShotGrid, is built for large film and media studios that track thousands of shots and assets across departments. It covers shot tracking, asset management, review, and scheduling in one pipeline, with versions and notes tied to each shot. Supervisors see the status of every sequence, while artists and reviewers work from the same shot list and the same review tools. The platform fits studios already working in Autodesk media workflows, with integrations across the production pipeline. The vendor page shows subscription-based pricing with a free trial mentioned, but the price figures did not render in the page text we reviewed, so we treat it as quote only and list the product page in Sources. That sales-led model suits large studios with a budget for a pipeline system. Flow Production Tracking fits large film productions that need shot and asset tracking at scale.

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Production boards for crew and schedules

Starting price: $9 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: board views fit shooting schedules and call sheets; automations move approvals forward

Cons: 3-seat minimum on entry plans; per-seat cost climbs as crew numbers grow

monday.com gives a film production company one board per project, with columns for phase, owner, due date, and status that the production office and the crew can all read. Automations move a task forward when a location is confirmed, a call sheet is issued, or a cut is approved, which cuts the follow-up calls that slow a shoot. Views switch between a table, a calendar, and a timeline for each department. The free plan serves up to two seats for a tiny team that wants to test the layout first. The main limits are the three-seat minimum on entry plans and the way cost grows with each added seat, which matters when crew and freelancers need access. monday.com fits production companies that want one shared workspace for schedules, crew, and approvals, with enough structure to keep a shoot on schedule.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: Small production teams on a budget

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: free plan covers unlimited tasks and members; docs and goals sit beside tasks

Cons: setup takes time because options are dense; entry plan limits storage and guests

ClickUp packs a wide set of features into a low starting price, which suits a small production company that needs tasks, docs, and goals without buying several tools. The free plan covers unlimited tasks and members, so a team can run shot lists, call sheets, and location checklists before spending anything. Docs hold scripts, production notes, and crew contacts next to the tasks they relate to, and goals track milestones from pre-production to final delivery. Views include lists, boards, calendars, and Gantt charts, so each department can work in the layout it likes. The trade-off is density: the number of options slows the first setup, and new users need time to learn where each feature lives. Storage and guest limits on the entry plan also push growing teams toward the higher Business plan. ClickUp fits production companies that want one low-cost workspace and are willing to spend a few days setting it up.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Clear owners and dates across departments

Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: timeline and list views are easy to read; forms collect location and casting requests

Cons: entry plan lacks a workload view; per-user price rises with each added seat

Asana keeps film production work visible, with every task showing an owner, a due date, and a status that the whole team can read at a glance. List view suits routine work such as location bookings and equipment checks, while timeline view shows a production from pre-production to delivery with each phase in order. Forms collect location requests, casting notes, and crew availability, and each submission lands as a task with the details attached. The free Personal plan covers basic tasks, and the Starter plan adds timeline view and dashboards at $10.99 per user per month when billed annually. Asana works well for production companies because producers, directors, and department heads can check progress without a meeting, and comments keep the discussion tied to the task. The limits are real: the entry plan has no workload view, so managers cannot see which crew member is overloaded, and the per-user price adds up as freelancers join. Asana fits companies that value clarity and simple reporting over deep customization.

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: Production companies that bill client hours

Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: time tracking sits inside each project; client seats keep brands in the loop

Cons: reporting depth sits on higher plans; interface feels dated next to newer tools

Teamwork suits production companies that bill client hours for commercials, branded content, or corporate films, because time tracking is built into every project. Producers log hours against a shoot day, an edit session, or a client meeting, and the same data feeds invoices and reports without a separate time tool. Client seats let brands and agencies see their own project status without a full license, which keeps communication in one place. Templates cover repeatable work such as a shoot day, an edit review, or a delivery checklist. The free plan covers five users and five projects, which is enough for a small company to test the layout. The entry plan adds more projects, time tracking, and integrations. Reporting depth is the main gap: the richer portfolio and profitability reports sit on higher plans, and the interface looks older than newer rivals. Teamwork fits production companies that need project work tied to billable hours and client visibility.

Website: https://www.notion.com

Best for: Production wikis plus task tracking

Starting price: $10 per member/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: pages hold scripts, bibles, and crew guides; databases track shots and locations

Cons: task management is lighter than dedicated PM tools; permissions get complex at scale

Notion combines a wiki with task tracking, which suits production companies that need a single home for scripts, production bibles, crew guides, and project work. Pages hold the documents a department needs, and databases track shots, locations, and cast with views that switch between tables, boards, and calendars. A shot database can feed a shooting schedule and a review list from the same records, so staff update information once. The free plan covers individual use and small teams, and the Plus plan adds unlimited file uploads, longer page history, and more guests at $10 per member per month when billed annually. Task management is lighter than a dedicated project tool, with no built-in Gantt chart on the entry plan, and permission settings get complex as crew numbers grow. Notion fits production companies that want documents and tasks in one place.

Website: https://airtable.com

Best for: Shot lists and location databases

Starting price: $20 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: views turn a shot list into calendars and kanban boards; forms collect location data

Cons: entry plan is pricey per user; automations are capped on lower plans

Airtable works like a spreadsheet with database power, which suits production companies that manage shot lists, location databases, and cast records. One base holds the shot list, and views turn it into a calendar of shoot days, a kanban board of shot status, or a gallery of location photos. Forms collect location details and crew availability straight into the base, and linked records connect a shot to its location, cast, and review status. The free plan covers small bases with up to 1,000 records, and the Team plan adds more records, automations, and sync options at $20 per user per month when billed annually. That per-user price is high next to Trello or monday.com, and automations are capped on lower plans, so heavy users move to Business. Airtable fits production companies whose core job is managing structured shot and location data across many scenes.

Website: https://www.wrike.com

Best for: Many concurrent productions

Starting price: $9.80 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: request forms route location and casting work; Gantt charts show production phases

Cons: entry plan caps storage; learning curve is steep for casual users

Wrike handles the parallel work of a production company, where a commercial, a short film, and a branded series all run at the same time. Request forms route incoming work to the right team, so a location request, a casting note, or a client query becomes a tracked task instead of a lost email. Gantt charts show each production from pre-production through delivery with dependencies, which helps producers spot a clash between a shoot date and an edit deadline before it happens. Custom fields track shot status, location, and review notes on every task. The free plan covers basic task management for a small team, and the Team plan adds Gantt charts, dashboards, and more storage at $9.80 per user per month when billed annually. The entry plan caps storage at 2 GB, which can bind a team that stores many dailies and stills. New users also face a learning curve, since the interface packs in many options. Wrike fits production companies with several productions running side by side.