Overview
Microsoft Planner is positioned as a visually appealing and user-friendly project management solution, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) already invested in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Many of you are already running Teams and SharePoint and now you have Planner as an additional application. For many businesses, it can also be extended and used as one component of a larger enterprise project management solution.
Key Advantages
- Intuitive Interface: Planner’s design is more modern and accessible than Microsoft Project, with customizable backgrounds and color schemes.
- Task Management: Users benefit from multiple task views, including lists, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts. Features such as attachments, due dates, assignees, notes, custom fields, and dependencies are easy to configure.
- Integration: Seamless connectivity with other Microsoft products (Outlook, Loop, Teams) and Copilot AI enhances workflow for organizations already using Microsoft 365.
- Templates: A variety of templates support different project types, from marketing plans to software development and onboarding, helping teams get started quickly.
- Reporting: Built-in charts provide visibility into task status, team effort, and project progress, supporting agile and predictive project management methodologies.
Limitations
- Feature Depth: As a standalone product, Planner tools lack the sophistication found in Project Online, making it less suitable for complex projects or organizations requiring robust automation and integrations.
- Cost Structure: Access to advanced features requires additional payments on top of the Microsoft 365 subscription, which may not offer the best value compared to alternatives. Planner premium is $10/user.
- Resource Management: While Planner provides basic insights into team workload and capacity, its resource management capabilities are limited compared to the Project Online resource center.
- Customization: Reporting and charting options are not as flexible out of the box but when integrated with Power BI, it’s unlimited.
Copilot AI Integration
Microsoft’s Copilot AI adds value by assisting with project plan creation, generating insights, calculating work hours, and producing status reports. Read our article on the Project Manager Agent (PMA) to learn more.
Pricing
- Planner Plan 1: $10/user/month (annual payment) – includes templates, backlogs, sprints, Gantt charts, dependencies, goals, and dashboards.
- Planner and Project Plan 3: $30/user/month (annual payment) – subscription for Project Professional desktop, centralized resource pool, critical paths, financials, and roadmaps.
- Planner and Project Plan 5: $55/user/month (annual payment) – includes advanced portfolio and enterprise resource management.
Recommendations
Best Fit:
- Agile and traditional projects within SMBs deeply integrated with Microsoft products.
- Teams seeking a familiar interface and straightforward setup.
For the Enterprise:
- Organizations managing large, complex projects should consider implementing with the Power Platform, Power Automate and Power BI
- Integration with 3rd party apps is available via the Power Platform and Dataverse .
- Team members can use Planner Basic and To Do for task assignments and updates.
Conclusion
Microsoft Planner is a solid choice for organizations operating within the Microsoft ecosystem and managing straight forward projects. For larger organizations with more complex needs, consider using Planner as the scheduling engine behind a complete enterprise project management solution leveraging the Powe platform , Power Automate and Power BI along with Teams and the new Project Manager Agent (PMA).
Explore our enterprise project management solution PPM3 leveraging the entire Microsoft 365 project and portfolio stack of tools and services.