Comparison
Free Microsoft Project alternatives, compared honestly
One table, every serious project management tool, and only the rows that matter when you move a real plan: does it open your .mpp, does it compute a critical path, what does it actually cost. Every cell comes from the vendor's own pages, with the link and the date.
Microsoft retires Project Online on September 30, 2026: no grace period, no read-only mode.
The whole comparison
Eighteen rows, picked for someone moving a real plan off Project Online. Scroll sideways: the feature column and the product names stay put.
19 of 19 tools shown
On a narrow screen the table shows two products at a time.
| Feature | GantifyThat's us | Microsoft Project OnlineMicrosoftFull comparison | Planner and Project Plan 3Microsoft | GanttPROXB SoftwareFull comparison | ProjectLibreProjectLibreFull comparison | AsanaAsana | monday.commonday.com | SmartsheetSmartsheet | WrikeWrike | ClickUpClickUp | JiraAtlassian | TeamGanttTeamGantt | Zoho ProjectsZoho | Primavera P6Oracle | OpenProjectOpenProject | GanttProjectGanttProject | NotionNotion | Basecamp37signals | TrelloAtlassian | Merlin ProjectProjectWizards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opens .mpp filesThe files Microsoft Project produced | Included.mpp 2000-2019, .mpx, MSPDI .xml, Primavera .pmxml | IncludedProject desktop client, Plan 3 and above | IncludedProject desktop app included | Included.mpp, MS Project 2003 to 2019 | Included.mpp and .xer | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedtasks, durations, dependencies, assignees | Not availablenot among the listed import sources | n.d. Not stated | Partial.mpp: names, dependencies, dates, % complete; not resources | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedreads .mpx, .mpp and XML/MSPDI | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| ExportGetting the plan back out again | IncludedMS Project XML, CSV, print/PDF | Included | Included | Included | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Partialno export back to MS Project | Partialcustom exporting, Business plan | n.d. Not stated | Included | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | IncludedXML/MSPDI | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| Dependencies, four types with lagFS, SS, FF, SF plus lead and lag | IncludedFS, SS, FF, SF with lag | Included | Includedlead and lag; Planner Plan 1 is finish-to-start only | n.d. Not stated | Includeddependencies and constraints | IncludedStarter plan | IncludedPro plan, dynamic dependencies | Included | Includedimported from MS Project | Included | Partialsingle project on Free and Standard, cross-project on Premium | Included | n.d. Not stated | IncludedCPM scheduling | Partialpredecessor and follower; no dependency types documented | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includeddependencies highlighted as a core feature |
| Critical pathComputed, not drawn by hand | Included | Included | IncludedPlan 3: baselines and critical path | Included | Includedcritical path and float | IncludedAdvanced plan, USD 24.99 | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | IncludedBusiness plan and above | n.d. Not stated | Includedpaid plans | IncludedEnterprise plan, EUR 9 | IncludedCPM scheduling | n.d. Not statednot documented in the Gantt guide | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| BaselinesThe plan you agreed, kept for comparison | Included | Included | IncludedPlan 3 | Included | Includedbaselines and earned value | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | IncludedBusiness plan and above | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedpaid plans | IncludedEnterprise plan, EUR 9 | Includedtime-phased baseline | Includedbaseline comparison | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedbaselines hold on to the original plan |
| Calendars and holidaysWorking time, exceptions, closures | Includedcalendars with exceptions | Included | Included | Partialcalendar exceptions from Advanced, USD 10 | Includedproject, task and resource calendars | n.d. Not stated | IncludedStandard plan | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedcalendar view | Includedcalendar view | n.d. Not stated | Includedbusiness calendar and holiday list, Premium | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedcalendar view | n.d. Not stated | Includedcalendar view | n.d. Not stated |
| Date constraintsStart no earlier than, deadlines | Includedconstraint date + deadline | Included | Included | n.d. Not stated | Included | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| Resources and over-allocationAssignment, and a warning when someone is booked twice | Includedassignment, day-by-day workload, over-allocation warning | Included | IncludedTeam Planner: allocation and capacity | Includedworkload management, Business plan | Included | Includedworkload, Advanced plan | Includedresource management, Enterprise | PartialResource Management is a paid add-on | Includedrole management and time tracking, Pinnacle | Includedresource management, Unlimited plan | Includedcapacity management | n.d. Not stated | PartialResources is an extension, Enterprise | Includedrole and resource optimisation, capacity planning | n.d. Not stated | Includedresource allocation | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedworkload in the same data source |
| Costs and budgetRates, fixed costs, budget | Partialfixed, per hour, per use | Included | Included | Includedbudget planning, Business plan | Included | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedproject and portfolio budgets, Pinnacle | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedproject budget, Premium | Includedforecast cost against baseline cost | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedschedules and costs in one plan |
| Earned value (EVM)Planned against earned, SPI and CPI | Not available | Included | Includedcompare planned progress, budget and earned value | n.d. Not stated | Included | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedproject budget and EVM, Premium, EUR 4 | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| Automatic resource levellingThe tool resolves the conflict for you | Not availablehonours leveling delay from .mpp, does not compute it | Included | Includedlevels assignments automatically | n.d. Not stated | Included | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| ViewsGantt, kanban, list, calendar, workload | IncludedGantt, list, board, calendar, workload | PartialGantt, grid, board | PartialGantt, grid, board, schedule, chart | IncludedGantt, board, list, calendar, portfolio, workload | n.d. Not stated | Includedlist, board, calendar, timeline, Gantt | Includedboard, timeline and Gantt from Standard, calendar | IncludedGantt, grid, board, calendar; timeline from Business | Includedboard and table on Free; Gantt from Team | Includedlist, board, calendar, Gantt from Unlimited, timeline | Includedbacklog, list, board, timeline, calendar, summary | IncludedGantt, calendar, list | IncludedGantt, board, list, calendar, portfolio dashboard | n.d. Not stated | IncludedGantt, board, table, calendar | n.d. Not stated | Partialtable, board, calendar, timeline; no CPM Gantt documented | Partialmessage boards, to-dos, card table (kanban), schedule | Partialboard, calendar, timeline, table, dashboard, map; Premium | IncludedGantt, kanban, mind map, workload |
| CollaborationShared plan, roles, readers | Includedworkspace and project roles: owner, editor, viewer | Includedevery reader needs a licence | Includedper-seat licence | Included | Partialreal-time collaboration in the paid Cloud edition | Includedunlimited free guests from Starter | Includedunlimited viewers from Basic | Includedunlimited free contributors | Included | Includedunlimited free members on Free | Includedfree guest access | Included10 collaborators on Base | Included10 read-only users on Enterprise | Included | Included | n.d. Not stateda paid cloud service exists | Included | Includedunlimited users, no per-user fees | Included10 collaborators per workspace on Free | PartialMagicSync between Apple devices |
| Public sharingA link someone without an account can open | Not available | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedshared private link | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedpublic share links | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Includedpublic page sharing | n.d. Not stated | Includedpublic boards | n.d. Not stated |
| Interface languagesHow many, according to the vendor | Included10 | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | Included15+ listed on the pricing page | Included54, per the vendor | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated |
| Self-hostingOn your servers, or on your own machine | Not availablemanaged, EU servers (Germany) | Not availableProject Server SE is a separate product | Not availableProject Server SE is a separate product | n.d. Not stated | Includeddesktop, data stays local | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | IncludedCommunity edition, on-premises | Includedruns offline on Windows, macOS, Linux | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | n.d. Not stated | IncludedApple-native, fully productive offline |
| Entry priceThe cheapest plan that does the job | IncludedFree, ad-supported | Not availableUSD 30.00 user/month, paid yearly (Plan 3) | Not availableUSD 30.00 user/month, paid yearly; Planner Plan 1 USD 10.00 | Not availableUSD 7 user/month, billed annually (Core) | IncludedDesktop free; Cloud price not published | Not availableUSD 10.99 user/month annually, USD 13.49 monthly (Starter) | Not availableEUR 9 seat/month billed annually (Basic); Gantt from EUR 12 | Not availableEUR 8 member/month billed yearly (Pro, 1-10 members) | Not availableUSD 10 user/month billed annually (Team, 2-15 users) | Not availableUSD 7 user/month annually, USD 10 monthly (Unlimited) | Not availableUSD 7.91 user/month (Standard); Plans on Premium, USD 14.54 | Not availableUSD 59/month or USD 590/year (Base: 5 projects, 1 manager) | Not availableEUR 4 user/month billed annually (Premium) | n.d. Not statedOracle does not publish a price | IncludedCommunity free; Basic USD 7.25 user/month, 25 users minimum | IncludedDesktop free; cloud pay-as-you-go, price not published | Not availableEUR 9.50 member/month (Plus) | Not availableUSD 59/month (Studio, 10 projects); Unlimited USD 300/month | Not availableUSD 5 user/month annually (Standard); timeline needs Premium, USD 10 | Not availableUSD 22.99/month (Mac); Express USD 6.99, iPad USD 9.99 |
| Free planFree forever, and what you actually get | Includedeverything, no seat limit | Not availableretires 30 September 2026 | Not availablePlanner (basic) included with Microsoft 365 | Not available14-day trial only | Includedfull desktop app, open source | IncludedPersonal: 2 users, no timeline or Gantt | Included2 seats, 3 boards, no Gantt | Not available30-day trial only | Includedunlimited users, board and table views, no Gantt | Includedunlimited tasks, 60 MB storage, Gantt trial only | Included10 users, timeline view included | IncludedPersonal: 1 user, 1 project, 40 tasks | Included5 users, 3 projects | Not available | IncludedCommunity edition, self-hosted, no minimum users | Includedfull desktop app | Included10 guests, block limit on team use | Included1 project | Included10 collaborators, 10 boards per workspace | Not available30-day trial only |
LegendIncludedIncludedPartialPartialNot availableNot availablen.d. Not statedNot stated
Comparison of project management tools, checked on September 28, 2026. Every source is listed below.
Questions
- What happens to my plans when Project Online closes?
- After 30 September 2026 you can no longer reach the service or the data inside it, so the plans have to move before that date. Microsoft's own migration target is Planner and Project Plan 3, at 30 US dollars per user per month paid yearly.
- Which of these tools actually open a .mpp file?
- Fewer than you would expect, and some only import part of it. Use the “Opens .mpp” filter on the table: it is computed from the cells themselves, so it cannot drift away from them.
- Is any of this genuinely free?
- Several tools have a free plan, but free rarely means free for a real plan: two seats, three boards, one project. Switch on the “Has a free plan” filter and then read the last row, which says what each free tier actually includes.
Try it with your own plan
Import the .mpp and compare the dates yourself. That is the only benchmark that counts.