the template library

Gantt chart templates you can copy

Start with one of these six phase lists and adapt it to your project. Each template includes a timeline and notes on dependencies, estimates, and milestones.

Want the reasoning first? Read five worked Gantt chart examples. New to the vocabulary? There's a plain-English glossary. Set on a spreadsheet? Here's the Excel guide.

In the library 06 templates

01 Product launch Software & product
02 Marketing campaign Marketing
03 Event & conference Events
04 Development sprint Engineering
05 Renovation project Construction
06 Employee onboarding People & ops

Software & product

Product launch

8 weeks

Shipping a new product or a headline feature to a date everyone can see.

The template — copy this

1. Scope & spec 1 wk
2. Build 3.5 wk
3. Marketing prep 2.5 wk
4. Beta & fixes 2 wk
5. Launch runway 1.5 wk
Launch milestone

week 1 → week 8 milestone

Scope & spec

Build

Marketing prep

Beta & fixes

Launch runway

Launch

Make it yours

The chain that decides your date is Scope → Build → Beta → Launch — that is the critical path. Marketing prep runs alongside it with real slack, so it can slip a few days without touching launch day. Keep the half-week of runway before the milestone as buffer, not as more Build.

Marketing

Marketing campaign

6 weeks

A campaign with a fixed go-live — a sale, a report, a seasonal push.

The template — copy this

1. Strategy & brief 1 wk
2. Creative & copy 2 wk
3. Landing page 1.5 wk
4. Ads & scheduling 1.5 wk
5. Live & optimise 1.5 wk
Go live milestone

week 1 → week 6 milestone

Strategy & brief

Creative & copy

Landing page

Ads & scheduling

Live & optimise

Go live

Make it yours

Everything waits on the brief — a plain finish-to-start dependency, because creative built before the strategy is settled can lead to rework. Landing page overlaps Creative deliberately. If your channels need lead time for approvals, lengthen Ads & scheduling first — it is the phase most likely to hide a queue.

Events

Event & conference

10 weeks

An event where the date is set in stone and everything works backwards from it.

The template — copy this

1. Venue & budget 2 wk
2. Speakers & program 3 wk
3. Registration open 1 wk
4. Promotion 4 wk
5. Logistics & run-sheet 2 wk
Event day milestone

week 1 → week 10 milestone

Venue & budget

Speakers & program

Registration open

Promotion

Logistics & run-sheet

Event day

Make it yours

The event date is the fixed milestone. In this example, registration starts in week four, after the venue and at least one speaker are confirmed. Promotion continues until the event to give people time to hear about it and register.

Engineering

Development sprint

4 weeks

A two-to-four-week cycle that has to end with something shippable.

The template — copy this

1. Planning & tickets 0.5 wk
2. Core build 2 wk
3. Integration 1 wk
4. QA & review 1 wk
5. Hardening 0.5 wk
Ship milestone

week 1 → week 4 milestone

Planning & tickets

Core build

Integration

QA & review

Hardening

Ship

Make it yours

Check that Core build has a realistic duration for the agreed scope. If it will not fit, reduce scope during Planning and keep time for QA. Reserve the half-week of hardening as buffer for fixes before shipping.

Construction

Renovation project

12 weeks

A build or remodel with trades that have to follow each other in order.

The template — copy this

1. Design & permits 3 wk
2. Demolition 1 wk
3. Rough-in (elec/plumb) 2.5 wk
4. Finishes 4 wk
5. Snag & handover 1.5 wk
Move-in milestone

week 1 → week 12 milestone

Design & permits

Demolition

Rough-in (elec/plumb)

Finishes

Snag & handover

Move-in

Make it yours

The renovation starts after permits are approved, creating a dependency for the later work. Check the order with each trade and allow lag where drying time or site access requires a gap between tasks.

People & ops

Employee onboarding

8 weeks

A plan for the first two months, from getting set up to taking on independent work.

The template — copy this

1. Pre-boarding 1 wk
2. Week 1 — ramp 1 wk
3. First 30 — learn 2.5 wk
4. To 60 — contribute 2.5 wk
5. To 90 — own 2 wk
90-day review milestone

week 1 → week 8 milestone

Pre-boarding

Week 1 — ramp

First 30 — learn

To 60 — contribute

To 90 — own

90-day review

Make it yours

Prepare equipment and accounts, and agree on a first deliverable during pre-boarding. Use a milestone at the end of each phase to review progress. Adjust the pace to the role and the new employee's experience.

Not sure a timeline is even the right shape? Start with Gantt chart, kanban board, or to-do list?

five steps

How to use any template

Review the template in these five steps before using it for your project:

01

Pick the closest template

Compare the phase order and overlaps as well as the project name. A marketing campaign template may also fit a product launch.
02

Copy the phase list and rename it

Paste the phases into your tool of choice, then rename each to the work your project actually does.
03

Estimate the duration of each phase

Swap the example weeks for real estimates. Estimate optimistic, likely, and pessimistic durations, then allow a visible buffer for delays.
04

Mark what waits on what

Draw the dependencies and add up the durations along each chain. The longest chain determines the earliest finish date.
05

Add your milestone and share it

Mark the deadline as a milestone, share the chart, and update it when dates change.

Want the long version? The field guide to planning a project walks the same five moves in depth, and how to make a Gantt chart compares every way to draw one.

common questions

About these templates

Are these Gantt chart templates free?

Yes — every template on this page is free to copy, with no sign-up and nothing to download. Each one is a phase list you can select, paste into any tool, and adapt. If you want it as an editable, shareable chart, paste the one-sentence prompt shown with each template into ganttchart.ai and it draws the bars for you.

What's the difference between a template and an example?

A template is a reusable scaffold — the phases most projects of a given type share, ready for you to rename and re-time. An example is one specific plan, drawn to show why it is shaped the way it is. Start from a template when you want a head start on your own plan; read the worked examples when you want to understand the reasoning first.

Can I use these templates in Excel or Google Sheets?

Yes. Copy the phase list into a sheet, put start weeks and durations in two columns, and follow the stacked-bar-chart trick — the exact clicks and formulas are in our Excel guide and Google Sheets guide. The catch is the same for every spreadsheet: it will draw the bars, but it will not understand the dependencies, so it will not reflow when a date slips.

How do I turn a template into an editable chart?

Paste a template prompt into ganttchart.ai to generate an editable Gantt chart. Review the suggested tasks and dates, adjust them to your project, and share the chart as a link.

How many tasks should a Gantt chart template have?

Five to seven phases is a useful starting point for a summary chart. Each bar here stands for a batch of real work — "Build" might be forty tickets — so a summary chart can leave the ticket details in the task tracker. When a phase gets too big to reason about, break it down with a work breakdown structure, then keep the detail off the chart.

Skip the copy-paste

Every template here is one sentence away from being an editable chart. Type the prompt, watch the bars appear, then drag them until the plan is yours.

Try ganttchart.ai → See the worked examples