Microsoft Project is a pioneer in the project management space with powerful features for project planning, reporting, and roadmapping. However, the rise of competing project management tools has pushed it back from the spotlight due to its clunky nature and steep price point. The best Microsoft Project alternatives have a user-friendly interface, rich app integrations, and built-in collaboration tools at a small business-friendly cost.
- monday.com: Best for Ease of Use
- ClickUp: Best for Agile Project Management
- Asana: Best for Large-scale Project Management
- Zoho Projects: Best for Issue Tracking
- Wrike: Best for Resource Management
- Notion: Best for Project Database
Featured Partners: Project Management Software
Microsoft Project & Best Alternatives at a Glance
Microsoft Project | |||
 Overall Score 4.09 | Paid plans from $10 per user, monthly |
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monday.com | |||
 Overall Score 4.63 | Free-forever plan |
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ClickUp | |||
 Overall Score 4.56 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $10 per user, monthly |
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Asana | |||
 Overall Score 4.38 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $13.49 per user, monthly |
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Zoho Projects | |||
 Overall Score 4.29 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $5 per user, monthly |
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Wrike | |||
 Overall Score 4.26 | Free-forever plan |
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Notion | |||
 Overall Score 4.21 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $10 per user, monthly |
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If you’re new to project management, we created a comprehensive project management guide where we discuss its different types, benefits, top providers, and product considerations.
monday.com: Best Overall for Ease of Use
What We Like
- Easy to use and customize
- Extensive options for templates
- Enhanced dashboard visualization
Where It Falls Behind
- Paid plans require a minimum team size
- Valuable features like time tracking and dependency are highly priced
- Mobile app has several missing features
How It Compares to Microsoft Projects
- monday.com supports over 200 app integrations, while MS Project is limited to Microsoft apps.
- monday.com has a more modern and intuitive interface than MS Project.
- Both providers have a similar monthly starting price, but MS Project gets more expensive as you scale up.
- Unlike monday.com, MS Project offers an on-premise solution for companies with high-level security requirements.
Microsoft Project’s biggest pain point is its steep learning curve, so we’re looking for a solution that makes the onboarding process a breeze. monday.com is our top Microsoft Project alternative with its simple yet colorful interface. It is known for its visual appeal, allowing users to manage both basic and complex projects in a way that’s easy to understand.
monday.com uses color-coded grids, where you can use different colors to mark each column. This enables users to complete and view boards at a glance without reading text-based items. Start by creating a project board, and then you can add tasks in each row and insert columns to shape your process—it’s as simple as that.
Both monday.com and Microsoft Project have a monthly starting fee of $10 per user, but monday.com has a minimum team size for plans. A closer alternative is ClickUp, which offers the same monthly starting price without the confusing pricing structure.
monday.com Monthly Pricing at a Glance All plans are based on a minimum team size of three users.
- Free: Two seats, three boards, whiteboard, 500MB storage, shareable forms, 200-plus templates, Kanban view, and custom notifications
- Basic: $10 for unlimited free viewers, 5GB storage, unlimited boards, and custom fields
- Standard: $12 per user for 20GB storage, timeline and Gantt views, guest access, and 250 actions for automation/integrations
- Pro: $24 per user for 100GB storage, time tracking, workload, dependency column, and 25,000 actions for automation and integrations
- Enterprise: Contact sales for 1,000GB storage, advanced reporting/analytics, and 250,000 actions for automation and integrations
- Free trial: 14 days
monday.com Features
Mentioning a team member in the updates section ensures the right person sees your message. (Source: monday.com)
- Updates section: Allows team members to start a conversation or leave a comment on a specific task or project. Different formatting options are available for personalization.
- Map view: Organize geographic data visually to keep track of different locations and manage location logistics. Share your map publicly using a link or embed it in a website.
- Private boards: Enables users to share their board only with specific members of their account. Other users can also request access to view and use the board.
ClickUp: Best for Agile Project Management
What We Like
- Specialized Agile management tools
- Free version is packed with useful project management features
- Real-time chat
Where It Falls Behind
- Confusing folder hierarchy system
- Abundance of custom features can be overwhelming for beginners
- Access to artificial intelligence (AI) tools has extra fees
How It Compares to Microsoft Projects
- ClickUp supports in-app collaboration with its real-time chat feature, while MS Project enables collaboration through Teams.
- ClickUp has 16 project views, while MS Project only offers three views: timeline, grid, and board.
- Unlike ClickUp, MS Project doesn’t have a mobile app feature.
- MS Project has more robust project scheduling capabilities than ClickUp.
While Microsoft Project supports Agile methodology, it doesn’t compare to the modern agile approach of ClickUp. This provider lets you set up an automated Agile-scrum workflow with sprint planning templates tailored to your team’s workload. Automate sprint assignments and roll unfinished tasks into succeeding sprints.
As one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Project, ClickUp’s standout feature is its 16 custom views for tracking Agile sprints. What’s more, Agile dashboards and sprint widgets let you visualize progress and display Agile metrics like velocity charts, cumulative flow diagrams, and burn-up charts.
Although ClickUp has automation features, it adds an extra $5 per-user fee to your monthly billing. If you have a tech-savvy team needing solid artificial intelligence (AI) tools for project automation, check out Wrike. This provider deploys its robust automation solution on all its plans, including the free version, for no additional charges.
ClickUp Monthly Pricing at a Glance Pay yearly and save up to 37%.
- Free-forever: 100MB storage, task checklists, templates, spreadsheets, custom statuses, 100 automation actions, multiple assignees, and dependencies, in-app video recording, real-time chat, integrations, and time tracking
- Unlimited: $10 per user for unlimited dashboards, unlimited file storage, custom fields, form view, Gantt chart, guest access, 1,000 automation, portfolios, recurring tasks, delegate reminders, and milestones
- Business: $19 user for unlimited teams, custom reporting, 10,000 automation, goals folder, workload management, mind map, timelines, and public sharing
- Enterprise: Contact sales for white labeling, 250,000 automation, team sharing, unlimited custom roles, and document tags
ClickUp Features
Add edits to multiple tasks simultaneously with ClickUp’s bulk action toolbar. (Source: ClickUp)
- Activity view: Provides a complete view of all activities on a project or the changes applied to a task name, priority, or status. Clicking on a team member’s profile will display what the user has been up to.
- Custom task IDs: ClickUp tasks have unique task IDs to make them identifiable, but ClickUp provides the option to customize them. Use the “@” symbol to search or reference a task.
- Bulk action toolbar: Apply bulk edits across multiple tasks, documents, or subtasks. Choose from over 18 advanced actions like updating status and adjusting due dates.
Asana: Best for Large-scale Project Management
What We Like
- All plans have access to 100+ integrations
- Rich task management features
- Easily trackable deadlines
Where It Falls Behind
- Doesn’t allow multiple assignees
- Steep learning curve
- Can be costly to scale up
How It Compares to Microsoft Projects
- The feature-rich nature of Asana and MS Projects makes them more difficult to set up than most competitors.
- Both providers are priced similarly on all their paid plans.
- MS Project has stronger time-tracking capabilities than Asana.
- Unlike MS Project, Asana is more collaboration-ready with its proofing and approval tools.
Another best alternative to Microsoft Project is Asana, known for its comprehensive support for large, enterprise projects. It goes beyond traditional project management software by providing complex tools like advanced admin controls, an audit suite, and business intelligence integration.
Asana’s Power BI integration allows users to report on key data about tasks in a specific project, portfolio, or team. There’s also the admin console for managing security, data, and user settings across the organization. This is particularly useful for companies needing high-level security tools to protect data and handle a large number of project stakeholders.
Unfortunately, Asana is not recommended for small teams on a budget as it has one of the highest monthly per-user fees among its competitors. If you’re looking for a cheaper option for basic project management, choose Zoho Projects, which only costs $5 per user, monthly when you upgrade to a premium plan.
Asana Monthly Pricing at a Glance Discounted annual pricing is available. Eligible nonprofits get up to 50% discount.
- Basic: Free for calendar view, unlimited tasks, messages, and storage, board view projects, and 100-plus integrations
- Premium: $13.49 per user for forms, workflow builder, timeline, reporting, custom templates, and unlimited dashboards
- Business: $30.49 per user for custom rules builder, workload, portfolio, time tracking, advanced reporting, forms branching, and approvals
- Enterprise: Contact sales for custom branding, unlimited bundles, and advanced security and governance
- Free trial: 30 days
Asana Features
Create up to five levels of form branches within each branch. (Source: Asana)
- Forms branching: Create follow-up questions based on specific responses using drop-down or multi-select questions. This ensures respondents only answer related questions.
- Board view: Provides a visual overview of your tasks so you can organize them like sticky notes. Group all the related work by using sections as categories.
- Advanced search: Narrow down your search by using advanced filtering options so you can find a specific task, project, tag, or team member you’re looking for.
Zoho Projects: Best for Issue Tracking
What We Like
- Low-cost premium plans
- Seamless integrations with Zoho apps
- Rich issue tracking features ideal for dev teams
Where It Falls Behind
- Limited number of project templates and views
- Free version inclusions are not as competitive as other providers
- Lacks unlimited storage for premium plans
How It Compares to Microsoft Projects
- Zoho Projects has an issue tracking capability, while MS Project has no similar offering.
- Zoho Projects is relatively cheaper than MS Project with its free version and monthly starting fee of $5 per user.
- Zoho Projects has more advanced task management capabilities (e.g., subtasks and task automation) than MS Project.
- Unlike Zoho Projects, MS Project has comprehensive reporting tools but can be difficult to use.
Zoho Projects is one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Project specifically for software developers and IT teams. Its issue management solution lets you record and automate issue updates and direct alerts to the right users. You can also import bugs from a different issue tracking tool or export them via spreadsheets.
With its robust customization features, you can create your own fields for specific issues or unique project needs. Meanwhile, custom workflows are designed for linking related issues and logging bugs from external websites.
On the downside, Zoho Project has very limited project templates, which can limit your team’s ability to choose layouts that best fit your project needs. If you need more template options, monday.com provides free access to over 200 custom templates for its free and paid plan users.
Zoho Projects Monthly Pricing at a Glance Pay annually and save up to $12 per user.
- Free: Two projects, 5GB storage, basic reporting, task management, file sharing, calendar, custom status, and productivity app integrations
- Premium: $5 per user for unlimited projects, 100GB storage, 20 templates, Gantt chart, subtasks, time tracking, export projects, budgeting, dependency, and reporting
- Enterprise: $10 per user for 120GB storage, 30 templates, flexible work hours, workflow rules, custom fields, and issue tracking
- Free trial: 10 days
Zoho Projects Features
With the Zoho Projects time tracking tool, you can allocate work hours on different dates. (Source: Zoho Projects)
- Work hours: Assign standard or flexible hours for a specific task to track time consumed by a user. This helps measure planned vs actual work hours spent on a task.
- Project baseline: The Gantt chart creator lets you set up baselines for a project so you can compare your progress against your goals over different periods of time.
- Roll-up: Summarizes project information, including the duration, planned work hours, percentage completion, and logged hours. All the details can be rolled up to the milestones.
Wrike: Best for Resource Management
What We Like
- Rich automation features
- Highly customizable dashboards
- Proofing tools support 30+ file formats
Where It Falls Behind
- Users are required to pay in full annually
- Configuration is overkill for small teams
- Slow to load when working on bigger projects
How It Compares to Microsoft Projects
- Wrike employs a hierarchy system to organize folders, projects, and tasks, while MS Project has no similar feature.
- Unlike MS Project, Wrike is powered by its very own automation engine, giving users a variety of AI-assisted features.
- Wrike offers custom integrations with 400+ applications, while MS Project strictly integrates with Microsoft apps.
- Compared to MS Project, Wrike has more advanced project management tools like cross-tagging, resource planning, and effort management.
Although Microsoft Projects has resource management capabilities, Wrike takes it to another level by offering a centralized platform for resource planning and allocation. Its very own Wrike Resource includes workload charts, job roles, timesheets, billable time tracking, and team utilization reports.
Wrike has a drag-and-drop interface that lets you easily handle new requests and direct them to the right resource. Its intuitive timesheet enables users to log daily work hours via a unified calendar view. For detailed insights, customized reports help you understand the effectiveness of your team’s resource utilization.
Looking at user reviews, Wrike received a lot of feedback on its slow loading time when working on large-sized projects. If this is a concern, choose a powerful project management tool like Asana, which is designed for complex and cross-functional project management.
Wrike Monthly Pricing at a Glance Pricing is based on a monthly per-user subscription and must be paid annually.
- Free: 2GB per account, task management, custom work views, work intelligence, project templates, and enterprise-grade security
- Team: $9.80 per user for up to 25 users, custom fields/workflows, calendars, dashboards, Gantt chart, work schedules, analytics view, request forms, and automation (50 actions)
- Business: $24.80 per user for up to 200 users, 5GB storage, portfolio, live reports, custom templates, approval, time tracking, and folder hierarchy
- Enterprise: Contact sales for up to unlimited users, 10GB storage, automation (1,000 actions), and advanced security controls
- Pinnacle: Contact sales for 15GB storage, advanced analytics, automation (1,500 actions), capacity planning, and locked spaces
- Free trial: 14 days
Wrike Features
Wrike Folders contain all your tasks, subprojects, and subfolders. (Source: Wrike)
- Folder hierarchy: Provides a unique folder structure based on your team’s different project types and specific needs. Use it to store and organize information within a space.
- Work schedules: Configure the working and non-working days of your team members. You can assign custom work schedules and mark vacation days.
- Collaborators: Invite clients, contractors, and other department teams to view and comment on your tasks, projects, and folders that you want to publicly share with them.
Notion: Best for Project Database
What We Like
- Versatile databases
- Rich note-taking capabilities
- Web clipper tool for saving web pages
Where It Falls Behind
- Takes some time to set up and configure
- No Gantt charts
- Offline mode only works with preloaded pages
How It Compares to Microsoft Projects
- MS Project is a full-fledged project management tool, but Notion primarily works as a productivity and note-taking app.
- Notion has extensive customization options for its workspaces, while MS Project does not.
- Notion offers over 3,000 work templates, while MS Project doesn’t support this feature.
- Both Notion and MS Project have a clean and well-organized interface, but they’re difficult to use, especially among novices.
Notion is a potential alternative for Microsoft Project for teams needing more flexibility when designing a project database. In Notion, a page is an editable workspace where you can add any information you want. Think of it as an intelligent file cabinet where you can organize thousands of similar pieces of information in one place.
A Notion page can be used to store meeting notes, plan sprints for your project team, and track job applications. Customize it using layouts and properties like links, dates, text, and image icons. A template gallery is available so you can ship information faster on a perfectly formatted page.
One major drawback of Notion is that it takes significant effort to set up. If you’re new to project management and want to get started right away, choose monday.com, which is known for its user-friendliness and visually appealing interface.
Notion Monthly Pricing at a Glance Discounted annual fees start at $8 per user.
- Free: 5MB file uploads, basic page analytics, ten guest invitations, collaborative workspace, seven-day page history, basic automation, and Zapier integration
- Plus: $10 per user for unlimited pages, unlimited file uploads, 30-day page history, 100 guest invitations, custom domain, and custom automation
- Business: $18 per user for 90-day page history, advanced page analytics, 250 guest invitations, private teamspaces, and bulk PDF export
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited page history, advanced security, and workspace analytics
Notion Features
Notion Wiki works as a knowledge base where team members can contribute. (Source: Notion)
- Wiki: A centralized workspace that brings together your teams’ most important files and company information (e.g., policies and guidelines). Customize it any way you want to match your team’s workflow.
- AI Autofill: Automates repetitive information by generating database summaries, extracting key results, or answering custom prompts. Use it when creating new content or searching for action items.
- Block: Refers to any type of content you add to a Notion page, such as text, image, or table. Any block can turn into another type of block to deepen or view certain information.
How We Evaluated: Best Microsoft Projects Alternatives
To come up with our unbiased review and scoring, we designed a scoring methodology based on critical product attributes like pricing structure, usability, and overall functionality. After getting the final scores, we picked six high-ranking providers to join our list. Learn how we evaluated the best Microsoft Project alternatives by clicking on the tabs below:
20% of Overall Score
We considered the all-around affordability of each provider by checking which ones offer a free Microsoft Project alternative and deliver comprehensive feature inclusions. We also looked at the number of pricing options, the availability of a free trial, and the annual billing discount.
25% of Overall Score
Although MS Project comes with core features vital to project management, we also looked for capabilities that can further outperform this tool. These include task reminders, time tracking, two-factor authentication, and a fully functional mobile app.
20% of Overall Score
We evaluated specialized features that enable teams to manage large-scale projects and cross-functional work. Integrations, for instance, ensure seamless data flow across multiple platforms. We also checked for features like calendar management, data export, and milestone tracking.
10% of Overall Score
Given that ease of use is Microsoft Project’s weakest point, we looked for platforms that help teams new to project management get set up easily without the need for technical know-how. We did this by exploring the web app ourselves and gathering reliable user reviews.
10% of Overall Score
For each project management software, we checked the type of customer service channels offered, like phone, live chat, email, and help desk. We gave higher points for 24/7 coverage.
15% of Overall Score
We assessed the performance of each project management software by looking at its standout features and user-friendliness. We also considered their level of popularity and value for money.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. According to Microsoft’s website, there is no definite date yet to retire its project management software. However, users are encouraged to plan their transition as soon as possible, starting by looking at potential alternatives like monday.com and ClickUp.
Microsoft Project uses a lot of complex project management concepts, which require a lot of training and technical knowledge. Setup and configuration require significant commitment due to its steep learning curve. In terms of integrations, MS Project doesn’t connect with other third-party business tools except for Microsoft products. Support for in-app communication is also missing, so you need to use other Microsoft apps to connect with your team.
If you’re new to project management, a user-friendly interface is a must to ensure there’s less of a learning curve. Those who want to integrate their project management tool with other platforms should check if the provider connects with various third-party apps. If you prefer an all-in-one project management and team communication platform, look for collaboration-ready tools like built-in chat and document sharing.
Bottom Line
Microsoft Project is a powerful and reliable solution for experienced project teams, but it has plenty of room for improvement in terms of integrations, usability, and team collaboration. While the best alternative for Microsoft Project will depend on your budget and feature priorities, we highly recommend our top pick, monday.com, a versatile work management tool with rich integrations, visually appealing interface, and customizable features.
Sign up for a 14-day free trial to find out how it can make collaboration easier for your team.
