Top 12 Best Project Planning Tools [Updated 2024 Rankings]

By Sruthy

By Sruthy

Sruthy, with her 10+ years of experience, is a dynamic professional who seamlessly blends her creative soul with technical prowess. With a Technical Degree in Graphics Design and Communications and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication, she brings a unique combination of artistic flair…

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Updated September 25, 2024

Are you Searching for Project Planning Tools? Read Through This Detailed Review with Features and Comparison to Select the Best Project Planning Tool:

A project management application is used in many different small and large-sized firms. Using project planning tools makes it easy to schedule the allocation of resources. Project managers use work planning tools for ensuring optimal allocation of resources within a specific timeline.

If you are looking for the best Project scheduling tool, then you are at the right place now, as we will review the best paid and free planning tools available online.

top Project Planning Tools
Fact Check: The Project Planning software market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 10.17 percent between 2020 and 2025. By 2023, the market is expected to be worth $4.3 billion.
 
Stats on Use of Project Planning Tools
Primary Users of Project Management Software

[image source]

Pro-Tip: You should select a project management software based on the available features. Small firms and freelancers can select work planning tools that have basic work scheduling features. Medium and large-sized firms should select advanced work management tools that include features such as cross-functional resource management, flexible work view, visual dashboard, goal-setting, and timesheets.

Our TOP Recommendations:

monday.com LogoConfluence LogoZoho Projects Logo
Star_rating_5_of_5Star_rating_5_of_5Star_rating_4.5_of_5
monday.comConfluenceZoho Projects
• 360° customer view
• Easy to set up and use
• 24/7 support
• Page Versioning
• Page Insights
• Inspect Permissions
• Comprehensive solution
• Workflow automation
• Fully customizable
Price: $8 monthly
Trial version: 14 days
Price: $5.75 monthly
Trial version: 7 days
Price: $4.00 monthly
Trial version: 10 days
Visit Site >>Visit Site >>Visit Site >>
=>> Contact us to suggest a listing here.

Best Project Planning Tools

  1. monday.com
  2. Confluence
  3. Jira
  4. ClickUp
  5. Visor
  6. Zoho Projects
  7. Wrike
  8. Smartsheet
  9. Teamwork
  10. ProjectManager
  11. Teamweek
  12. nTask
  13. ProofHub
  14. Freedcamp
  15. Azendoo
  16. MeisterTask
  17. Project Insight
  18. Basecamp
  19. Hansoft

Suggested Reading =>> Most Popular Product Roadmap Tools

Comparison of Top Project Planning Software

Project Planning SoftwarePlatformPriceFeaturesBest ForRatings *****
monday.comAndroid, iOS, MacOS, and Windows.$39 to $79 per month,
Custom price for Enterprises,
14-days Free trial.
Visual display of task progress, Online collaboration,
Cost-to-completion tracking,
Agile Project Management,
Kanban board.
Small, medium, and large organizations.Star_rating_5_of_5
ConfluenceWeb, Android, iOS, Windows, MacFree for up to 10 users,
Standard: $5.75/month, Premium: $11/month,
Custom Enterprise Plan available.
Unlimited Spaces and Pages,
Page Versioning,
Structured Page Tree,
Build Knowledge Base
Small to Large OrganizationsStar_rating_4.5_of_5
JiraiOS, Mac, Windows, Linux, AndroidStarts at $7.75/month.
Free forever for 10 users only.
A 7-day free trial is also available.
Customizable Workflows, Kanban board, Scrum Board, and Task Automation.Small to large businessesStar_rating_4.5_of_5
Zoho ProjectsWeb-based, Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, etc. Free plan,
Premium: $5/user/month
Enterprise: $10/user/ month.
Task management, Time management, Automation, team collaboration, etc. Small to large businessesStar_rating_4.5_of_5
VisorWeb-basedStarts at $12/editor/monthCustom view and collaboration,
Bi-directional integrations,
Two-way smart syncing
Small to large businessesStar_rating_4.5_of_5
WrikeWindows, Mac, Linux, Android, & iOS. Free: For 5 users
Professional: $0/user/month
Business: $24.80/user/month
Enterprise: Get a quote.
Pre-built templates, APIs, Collaboration features, Custom workflows, etc. Small to large-sized businesses.Star_rating_4.5_of_5
SmartsheetWindows, iOS, Mac, Android.Pro: $9/month
Business: $19/month
Enterprise: Custom Pricing
Resource Planning, online collaboration, budget management, task tracking, Kanban board, Gantt View, workflow automation. Small to Large businessesStar_rating_5_of_5
TeamworkWeb-based, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS.Free Plan &
The price starts at $10/user/month.
Dashboards, Gantt Charts, Collaboration, Time Tracking, etc. Small to large businesses and freelancers.Star_rating_5_of_5
ProjectManagerAndroid, iOS, MacOS, and Windows.$15 – $25 per user per month,
30-days Free trial.
Real-time dashboard tools,
Visual workload management and tracking,
Kanban board,
Gantt-charts, Online collaboration.
Medium and large-sized organizations.Star_rating_4.5_of_5
TeamWeekAndroid, iOS, MacOS, and Windows.Free for up to 5 users,
Premium: $8 / month,
Gantt-chart,
Create a color-coded timeline of assigned tasks,
Multi-assign tasks.
Small and medium-sized businesses.Star_rating_4.5_of_5
nTaskAndroid, iOS, MacOS, and Windows.Basic: Free
Premium: $2.99 to $7.99 per user per month,
Enterprise: Custom prices.
File upload,
Unlimited workspaces and tasks,
Meetings,
Timesheets,
Risk management.
Small and Medium enterprises, startups, freelancers.Star_rating_4.5_of_5
ProofHubAndroid, iOS, MacOS, and Windows.$45 – $89 / month, 14-day free trial.Kanban boards,
Gantt chart,
Custom workflows and roles,
Powerful collaboration features including chat, announcement and discussion features.
Small, medium and large-sized organizations.Star_rating_4.5_of_5
ScoroWeb-basedIt starts at $26 per user per month.Real-time Gantt chart, manage multiple projects, Automation, etc. Freelance ProfessionalsStar_rating_4.5_of_5

#1) monday.com

Best for Small, medium, and large organizations.
Price: $39 to $79 per month | Custom price for Enterprises | 14-days Free trial.

monday_com

monday.com is a powerful online project management software. The multi-platform software can be accessed from any device using a web browser. This software supports a long list of features like agile project management, cost-to-completion tracking, Kanban Board, etc.

The software can sync information to devices thereby leading to effective collaboration and decision making.

monday.com

Features

  • Visual display of task progress.
  • Online collaboration
  • Cost-to-completion tracking.
  • Agile project management
  • Kanban board
monday.com

Verdict: The name of the tool ‘monday.com’ may seem unprofessional. But let the title deceive you. This is one of the most powerful work planning tools. Both small and large firms can benefit from using the tool in managing project resources in an efficient manner.


#2) Confluence

Best for Facilitates Seamless Remote Collaboration.

Price: Confluence has 4 pricing plans and offers a 7-day free trial for its standard and premium plans.

  • Free for up to 10 users
  • Standard: $5.75/month
  • Premium: $11/month
  • Custom Enterprise Plan available.
Confluence

Confluence is a remote workspace app that allows your teams to collaborate over a project remotely from virtually anywhere. Confluence makes it easier for your teams to gather and find the information they need to work on projects.

This also makes the platform ideal for remote document management. You also have the privilege to assign role-based permissions, thus restricting access to data or documents to unauthorized individuals. Moreover, the platform can integrate seamlessly with other Atlassian tools like Jira, Trello, and more.

Features:

  • Unlimited Spaces and Pages
  • Page Versioning
  • Structured Page Tree
  • Build Knowledge Base

Verdict: Confluence provides you with the tools necessary to conveniently collaborate on a project remotely from anywhere. The platform is ideal if you wish to break down team silos in your organization and facilitate an open flow of communication across your organization.


#3) Jira

Best for Small to large businesses.

Price: There are 4 pricing plans with a 7-day free trial.

  • Free for up to 10 users
  • Standard: $7.75/month
  • Premium: $15.25/month
  • A custom enterprise plan is also available
Jira

Jira is a planning tool that helps software development teams stay on track with various intuitive features that facilitate seamless project management and planning. The platform allows development teams to manage and plan complex projects with the help of Scrum boards.

Moreover, the platform also allows teams to visualize their workflows via a flexible Kanban board. In addition, project teams can rely on Jira’s roadmaps to stay on the same page as the project moves to its logical conclusion.

Features:

  • Kanban and Scrum Boards
  • Workflow Customization
  • Task Automation
  • Agile Reporting
  • Project Archiving

Verdict: Jira is a platform we cannot recommend enough, especially to software development teams who wish to map their projects from start to finish with the help of visualized workflows and roadmaps.


#4) ClickUp

Best for small to large businesses.

Price: ClickUp offers a free plan. Three more plans are available, Unlimited ($5 per member per month), Business ($9 per member per month), and Enterprise (Get a quote). You can try the Unlimited and Business plans for free.

ClickUp

ClickUp offers project management software with functionalities for planning, tracking, and collaborating on any project. Its mindmaps feature will let you plan the projects, ideas, and tasks.

It gives the ultimate visual outline. Its checklist feature will let you create to-do lists. You can nest items, sub-items, drag and drop them, or even assign checklists.

Features:

  • ClickUp provides goal tracking features.
  • It will let you save templates for common tasks and hence eliminates repetitive tasks.
  • You can set the priorities for the tasks.
  • The tool contains advanced permissions, workload, and time tracking capabilities.

Verdict: ClickUp offers templates for project management, tasks management, remote work, marketing, etc. It is a scalable platform and offers a free plan. Free software can be used for teams of 10 to 10000 employees.


#5) Visor

Best for: Small to large businesses

Pricing: Visor offers the following plans

  • A forever-free plan is available
  • Pro: $12/editor/month
  • Ultimate: $24/editor/month
Visor-Roadmap

Visor is a project management tool that facilitates bi-directional integrations with popular SaaS tools like Jira and Salesforce. This integration allows users to import data from these tools and visualize it within Visor’s dashboard for effortless collaboration. Visor can be used to visualize data in the form of spreadsheets, roadmaps, and intuitive Gantt charts.

Visor-Project-mgmt

Features:

  • Custom view and collaboration
  • Bi-directional integrations
  • Two-way smart syncing
  • Conditional formatting

Verdict: Visor is a platform I’d recommend for project managers and teams who wish to ensure effortless collaboration on tasks across popular SaaS apps from a single place. Affordable and feature-rich, this is one of the finest project planning tools you can get your hands on today.


#6) Zoho Projects

Best for small to large businesses.

Price: Zoho Projects offers a free trial for 10 days. There are three pricing plans with Zoho Projects, free, Premium ($5 per user per month), and Enterprise ($10 per user per month).

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a cloud-based project management software. You can plan the projects, track the tasks, and collaborate with the teams. It offers all the required functionalities, from task management & automation to charts & reporting.

It offers several features and functionalities like recurrence that avoid the hassle of rescheduling the tasks that need to be performed frequently.

Features:

  • For easy task management, Zoho Projects allows breaking down the project into simple work items like task lists, tasks, milestones, etc.
  • It has features for issue management, dependencies, and critical tasks.
  • It can be integrated with Zoho Sprints, which is an agile project management tool.
  • It contains many more functionalities for automation, team collaboration, time management, etc.

Verdict: Zoho Projects has an easy-to-use interface. The views are colorful. The tool will let you choose the color themes. Zoho Projects can be integrated with Zoho apps as well as third-party applications. It is a customizable platform and will let you customize layouts, fields, views, etc.


#7) Wrike

Best for small to large businesses.

Price: It has a free plan for 5 users. It offers three more plans, Professional ($0 per user per month for special offer), Business ($24.80 per user per month), and Enterprise (Get a quote). A free trial is available for all the paid plans.

Wrike Dashboard

Wrike provides the solution for IT project management that will let you plan, manage execution, and receive service requests. This will be a complete work management platform to constantly follow up teams and get visibility into progress and how the team is balancing different types of work.

Features:

  • Wrike provides pre-built templates for Projects with Dependencies, Complex Projects with Phases, Agile Teamwork, Kanban Project, and for incoming requests and approvals.
  • It also provides APIs that will help you with building your own integration.
  • It has collaboration features that will keep internal teams and external vendors on the same page.
  • It provides IT service management templates for industry-standard workflows. You can also build custom workflows as per your needs.

Verdict: Wrike provides a powerful solution with all the IT project management tools in a single platform. It is best-in-class for flexibility and ease-of-use as it can be integrated with over 400 popular tools through pre-built connectors and native integrations.


#8) Smartsheet

Best for Small to Large Businesses.

Price:

  • Pro: $9/month
  • Business: $19/month
  • Enterprise: Custom Pricing
Smartsheet

From planning projects to managing entire task portfolios, very few can perform these tasks quite like Smartsheet. This spreadsheet, like a cloud-based app, offers an online collaborative environment where team members can work on tasks together, track its progress and give feedback to push a project closer to its desired conclusion.

Further helping you with project planning are all the options the software provides you with to visualize your project. You can view your project’s progress and timeline in Gantt, Kanban, and Calendar view. Moreover, you can set user permissions to determine who can access, edit and view your tasks.

Features:

  • Content Planning and Management
  • Online Real-time Team Collaboration
  • Resource Planning
  • Profitability Tracking and Budget management

Verdict: Smartsheet makes it to the very top of our list because it is easy to use and the many features it harbors. The tool surpasses many of its competitors with regard to its excellent dashboard, comprehensive reporting, and flexible usability. By facilitating collaboration, project management, and task automation, Smartsheet makes project planning simple.


#9) Teamwork

Best for small to large businesses and freelancers.

Price: Free trial. Free (forever free), Deliver ($10/user/month), Grow ($18/user/month), and Scale (Get a quote). Annual billing.

Teamwork Dashboard

Teamwork is a platform for client work with the functions for project management. It is a tool for managing and optimizing team resources. It provides templates and time tracking capabilities. With Teamwork, you will be able to manage the projects from one place. It becomes easier to track the milestones, capacity planning, budgeting, etc.

Features:

  • Teamwork will let you customize the view.
  • It becomes easier to keep track of every stage of progress of the projects
  • It offers the features for managing and leveling out the resources.
  • It provides powerful resourcing insights.
  • You can access the team’s capacity for any given period and make more informed decisions.

Verdict: Teamwork is the solution for agencies, marketing teams, creative teams, product teams, professional services, and PMO teams. It is an all-in-one project management software for client work and supports unlimited client users. It offers all the functionalities required for project management.


#10) ProjectManager

Best for Medium and large-sized organizations.
Price: $15 – $25 per user per month | 30-days Free trial.

ProjectManager

ProjectManager is another great tool for managing resources. The software supports a visually attractive dashboard that presents different project-related information. The work management tool supports advanced features such as Kanban, online collaboration, resource management, inventory management, expenses, and budgeting.

Features

  • Real-time dashboard tools
  • Visual workload management and tracking.
  • Kanban board
  • Gantt-charts
  • Online collaboration

Verdict: ProjectManager is a great online app targeted to medium and large-sized organizations. The Business version supports a large number of advanced work planning and management features. If you want a powerful project management software for managing a large team, then this may be the right solution for you.


#11) Teamweek

Best for Small and medium-sized businesses.
Price: Free for up to 5 users | Premium: $8 / month.

Teemweek

[image source]

Teemweel is an online work planner and team calendar application. You can use the app to assign and manage tasks. The software has a simple drag and drop feature for assigning activities. This app also provides a visual picture of the work progress. The work management tool features a Gantt chart for efficient work scheduling.

Features

  • Gantt-chart
  • Create a color-coded timeline of assigned tasks.
  • Multi-assign tasks

Verdict: Teemweek is a free planning tool that supports up to 5 users. For advanced features such as custom color, file upload, and multiple tasks assignment, you should consider paying for the premium version.


#12) nTask

Best for Small and medium enterprises, startups, freelancers.
Price: Basic: Free | Premium: $2.99 to $7.99 per user per month| Enterprise: Custom prices.

nTask

nTask is a great online platform with lots of useful work management features. The basic free version of the online app lets you do a lot of tasks without restrictions. It supports unlimited users, tasks, and workspaces.

Consider upgrading to the premium version for advanced features such as Gantt chart, custom filters, risk management, and bulk actions. The Enterprise version has dedicated cloud and onboarding support.

Features

  • File upload
  • Unlimited workspaces and tasks.
  • Meetings
  • Timesheets
  • Risk management

Verdict: nTask is the best free planning tool available online. The software is targeted to both small firms and freelancers as well as large enterprises. You should select this tool if you want power task management features at affordable prices.


#13) ProofHub

Best for Small, medium and large-sized organizations.
Price: $45 – $89 / month | 14-day free trial.

ProofHub

ProofHub is a bit pricey online work management app that offers a lot of excellent work management features. The software has an orderly and simple interface.

This project management app supports many advanced features including custom workflows, white labeling, custom roles, and others. The premium version is great for managing remote work teams and clients.

Features

  • Kanban boards
  • Gantt chart
  • Custom workflows and roles
  • Powerful collaboration features including chat, announcement and discussion features.

Verdict: ProofHub is a great online work management tool that is particularly useful for managing remote teams. This online work management software has no limitations on the number of users and tasks. This online work management app is used by many large firms including Nike, Disney, and NASA.


#14) Freedcamp

Best for Individuals for planning events, freelancers, small, and large firms.
Price: $1.49 per user per year | Free trial.

FreedCamp

Freedcamp is a great work management tool that allows you to organize just about any type of project. Whether you want to organize a camping trip or a wedding party, the tool can prove invaluable for you.

The multi-platform work planning tool is available for desktop and mobile devices. Some of the notable features of this affordable work planning tool are as follows.

Features

  • Kanban board and Gantt chart
  • Tasklist
  • Split tasks into Subtasks
  • Discussions and Wiki
  • Time and issue tracker

Verdict: Freedcamp is a great tool that lets you effectively allocate resources and plan projects. The software is used by many large companies such as Google, Apple, PayPal, Gettyimages, and Airbnb. The best thing about this app is the highly affordable price structure that results in a great value for money.


#15) Azendoo

Best for Small to large organizations.
Price: $7.50 to $24.17 per user per month | 14-day free trial.

Azendoo

Azendoo is a simple online work management application that helps in organizing and tracking work progress. The software is used by many large companies such as Coca-cola, Cartier, Cisco, and Intercom.

The work management app supports agile methodology, Kanban, and Gantt charts. It also supports time and expense tracking as well as milestone and time management.

Features

  • Online collaboration
  • Performance management
  • App integration

Verdict: Azendoo is a simple yet feature-rich project management tool. The multi-platform app can transform discussions with the team into tasks. You can set recurrent tasks and discuss them in real-time with your team.


#16) MeisterTask

Best for Freelancers, small and large businesses, and individuals.
Price: Basic: Free | Premium: $8.25 to $20.75 per user per month | Enterprise: Custom pricing

MeisterTask

MeisterTask is an intelligent task and project management online app. The application has flexible collaboration features that let you manage different types and sizes of projects.

You can create unlimited projects and view progress on the dashboard screen. The notification features let you up-to-date on the progress of the team. It can run on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows devices.

Features

  • Manage multiple projects
  • Customizable project boards
  • File sharing
  • Recurring tasks
  • Security restrictions

Verdict: MeisterTask is an online project management app that is great for individuals and professionals. The basic version of the app can be used to organize parties and fun activities. The premium version boasts advanced features that help in tracking larger projects and teams.


#17) Project Insight

Best for Small teams, students, freelancers, and established businesses.
Price: Basic: Free | Premium: $30 to $65 per user per month | Enterprise: Custom pricing

ProjectInsight

Project Insight is a professional work management tool. The online tool can be used to optimally manage company resources. The application allows you to automate task management. The software provides high visibility of activities.

This free version of the work management tool has many advanced features such as KanBan board, SaaS and mobile support.

Features

  • Intelligent scheduling
  • Kanban & Status Boards.
  • SaaS & Mobile app support.
  • VirtualPM for Slack
  • Integration with popular apps.

Verdict: Project Insight is a flexible online work management application. The app supports integration with dozens of that extends the functionality of the software. It is great for established businesses, freelancers, students, and small teams.


#18) Basecamp

Best for Small and mid-sized teams.
Price: Basic: Free | Business: $99 per month for unlimited users and projects| 30-day free trial.

BaseCamp

Basecamp is an online team collaboration and works management tool. The software is particularly ideal for small and mid-sized teams. The online collaborative tool features file management and intuitive group chat.

The free version supports 3 projects and 20 users. Premium version is charged at a flat fee that allows support for unlimited projects and users.

Features

  • Message boards and group chat.
  • Automatic progress update.
  • Document management
  • To-Dos and task management.
  • Separate team projects

Verdict: Basecamp is one of the most popular apps used by freelancers and companies. The software has a unique dashboard that most will find appealing. The flat fee makes the software less pricey for small and mid-sized companies with a large team.


#19) Hansoft

Best for Medium and large-sized software firms.
Price: Basic: Free | Premium: $28 per user per month.

Hansoft

Hansoft is an agile project management software that can support thousands of team members. The work planning tool can be used to manage a diverse and disposed team.

The application allows social collaboration and Agile application lifecycle management. You can create value streams and view product backlogs. The software supports sprints and Gantt schedules.

Features

  • Gather intelligence
  • Agile and Scrum
  • Kanban and Gantt charts
  • Scalable team support
  • Advanced reporting

Verdict: Hansoft combines the best of agile methodologies including SCRUM as well as KanBan, and Gantt to provide you with powerful work management software. This software offers strong software and game development support. The app is particularly popular among large games development firms such as Ubisoft, CAPCOM, and EA.


#20) Favro

Best for small to large businesses.

Favro Pricing: Favro offers a free trial for 14 days. There are three pricing plans, Lite ($25.5 per month), Standard ($34 per month), and Enterprise ($63.75 per month). All these prices are for annual billing and a team of 5 users. It also offers the option of monthly billing.

Favro

Favro is an agile collaborative planning application. This scalable platform is for SaaS and Games companies. Team & Planning boards will let you build flexible views for multiple teams such as the marketing team, developer’s team, etc. It gives managers an overview of the status of the work of their teams. It will let you collaborate in real-time.

Features:

  • Favro provides features for communicating and giving feedback in real-time.
  • You can use Favro Cards in various ways such as writing, tasks, content creation, etc.
  • Favro Boards that contain cards are configurable and teams can easily configure them for themselves
  • Favro Boards will help the teams with planning and management.
  • Through Favro Collections, you will get to see the aggregated view of multiple boards on a single-screen.

Verdict: This agile collaborative app provides four easily learnable building blocks that will let you organize everything from simple team workflow to the entire organization. It can be used by a newbie, team leader, and CEO.


#21) Scoro

Best for Freelance professionals.
Price: €19 to €49 per user per month | 14-day trial.

Scoro

Scoro is a comprehensive work management tool that is best for freelance professionals. The work management tool allows you to not only manage work but also your finances. You can create task schedules, sales quote, billable time, and much more.

Features

  • Work and collaboration
  • Sales and finance
  • Reporting
  • Powerful integration

Verdict: Scoro is a feature-rich resource management tool that is perfect for freelancers. The tool allows you to manage almost all tasks related to providing freelance work. This tool is particularly suitable for individuals related to consulting, advertising, and the IT sector.


FAQs About Project Scheduling Tools

What is a Project Planning Tool?

Project planning tools are used to schedule work resources. Using the work planning tool, a project manager can assign tasks to employees. This allows project managers to efficiently manage employees’ tasks.

What are the uses of a Project or Work Planning App?

Project managers use work strategy planning tools to manage and track employee progress related to a project. The tool helps project managers to allocate resources based on a specific timeline. Managers can use the tool to visually track the projects.

What are the general Features of a Project Scheduling Tool?

Project scheduling tools have different features. All the tools have basic task scheduling features. Some work planning tools support advanced features like online collaboration & documentation, setting goals, Gantt-charts, and reporting.


Conclusion

Project management applications can save a great deal of time and resources in managing projects. You should select one of the apps listed here based on your work and budget requirements. Individuals who want to manage events can select Teamweek, nTask, and MeisterTask.

For managing software development teams, Hansoft is probably the best tool. Freelancers who want advanced features can select affordable work management tools like Freedcamp and ProjectManager. Mid-sized and large organizations can select ProofHub and Project Insight that come with many advanced features.

Research Process

Time taken to research and write this article: 10 hours
Total Tools researched: 12
Top Tools shortlisted: 5

=>> Contact us to suggest a listing here.

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