Simple Gantt vs WBS Gantt-Chart
WBS Gantt-Chart for Jira brings Microsoft Project-style scheduling to Jira — work breakdown structures, resource leveling, and a dense interface built for project managers who grew up on desktop tools. But with a 2.8/4 Marketplace rating and feedback pointing to complexity and a steep learning curve, many teams are looking for something more approachable. Here's how Simple Gantt offers a modern alternative.
TL;DR
- ✓ Price: Simple Gantt is free to get started. WBS Gantt-Chart is enterprise-priced with no free tier.
- ✓ Audience: Simple Gantt is designed for the whole team. WBS Gantt-Chart is built for dedicated project managers.
- ✓ Security: Simple Gantt is Forge-native (runs on Atlassian infrastructure). WBS Gantt-Chart is Connect-based (external data processing).
- ✓ Unique features: Simple Gantt includes a project health dashboard, change history/audit trail, and 15+ quality validation rules — features WBS Gantt-Chart doesn't offer.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Simple Gantt | WBS Gantt-Chart |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free to start | Enterprise pricing |
| Marketplace rating | New | 2.8 / 4 |
| Platform | Forge (Atlassian-hosted) | Connect (external servers) |
| Dependencies (all 4 types) | Yes | Yes |
| Critical path analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Baselines & variance tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Work breakdown structure | Yes (phases & hierarchy) | Yes (core feature) |
| Project health dashboard | Yes | No |
| Change history / audit trail | Yes | No |
| Quality validation (15+ rules) | Yes | No |
| Sprint overlay | Yes | No |
| Resource leveling | No | Yes |
| MS Project import/export | No | Yes |
| Setup time | Minutes | Hours |
| Learning curve | Minimal | Steep |
Built for teams, not just project managers
WBS Gantt-Chart follows the Microsoft Project paradigm: dense toolbars, resource leveling algorithms, detailed work breakdown structures, and a feature set that assumes the user is a trained project manager. For organizations that need that level of detail, it has real strengths.
But most Jira teams aren't running enterprise PMOs. They're development teams, marketing teams, or cross-functional groups that need timeline visibility without a training course. Simple Gantt is designed for these teams — a clean interface that anyone can understand in their first session, while still offering the features (dependencies, critical path, baselines) that make a Gantt chart genuinely useful.
The 2.8/4 rating on WBS Gantt-Chart reflects this tension. The tool is powerful, but power without accessibility leaves a lot of users frustrated.
Proactive project health, not just a schedule view
WBS Gantt-Chart gives you a detailed schedule. Simple Gantt gives you a schedule and tells you whether your project is in trouble.
The Overview dashboard calculates a risk score (0-100) based on overdue tasks, unassigned work, blockers, and schedule variance. You see workload distribution, phase status, and recent activity in a single view. 15+ quality validation rules catch problems automatically — missing dates, date conflicts, circular dependencies, orphaned tasks — before they derail your timeline.
This shifts the Gantt chart from a passive display tool to an active project health monitor. You're not just looking at when things are scheduled; you're getting early warnings about what's going wrong.
Complete audit trail for every schedule change
WBS Gantt-Chart doesn't provide a built-in change history for your project schedule. When dates shift or dependencies are modified, there's no structured way to see what changed, when, and by whom.
Simple Gantt tracks every modification: task creation, date changes, dependency updates, phase reassignments. Each log entry includes before/after values, the user who made the change, and a timestamp. Filter by task, user, change type, or date range to find exactly what you're looking for.
For teams that need accountability — whether for compliance, stakeholder reporting, or simply answering "what happened to that deadline?" — this is a feature you'll use every week.
When WBS Gantt-Chart might be the better choice
To be fair: if your team needs MS Project import/export or resource leveling algorithms, WBS Gantt-Chart offers capabilities that Simple Gantt currently doesn't. It's built for organizations transitioning from desktop PM tools to Jira, and it carries over many of those conventions.
But if your priority is a Gantt chart that's easy to adopt, free to start, runs securely on Atlassian infrastructure, and gives you project health insights on top of the timeline — Simple Gantt is the more modern choice.
Your data stays on Atlassian infrastructure
WBS Gantt-Chart is a Connect app. Like all Connect apps, it runs on external servers, which means your Jira data — task names, dates, assignees, dependencies — is processed outside Atlassian's environment.
Simple Gantt is built on Forge, Atlassian's hosted compute platform. Your data never leaves Atlassian's cloud. It's processed and stored on the same infrastructure that runs Jira itself, and it automatically inherits your Atlassian data residency settings.
For teams with security policies, compliance requirements, or data residency mandates, the Forge-native architecture eliminates an entire category of risk. No external vendors handling your project data. No additional DPAs to negotiate.
A modern Gantt chart for modern teams
Free to get started. No credit card required. No MS Project degree needed.
Get Started with Simple Gantt