ClickUp vs Microsoft Planner 2026: All-in-One vs M365 Native

TL;DR: ClickUp vs Microsoft Planner in 2026

ClickUp is better when your team wants a single all-in-one platform for tasks, docs, chat, and time tracking — with Gantt charts and dependencies available on the free plan at $0, and a paid tier at $7/user/month that unlocks nearly everything a mid-market team needs. Microsoft Planner is better when your organization is already embedded in Microsoft 365 and wants task management that surfaces natively in Teams, SharePoint, and Outlook without adopting a new vendor. GanttFather is the third option when your work is Gantt-first and you need free critical path without a per-seat bill — your first project is free, with unlimited viewers and editing that collaborators never pay for.

At a glance: feature-by-feature comparison

Sources: pricing — clickup.com/pricing, microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/planner/microsoft-planner (retrieved 2026-04-29).

When ClickUp is the better choice

ClickUp’s free Forever plan is one of the widest in the market — unlimited users, unlimited tasks, Gantt chart view, task dependencies, Kanban boards, and collaborative Docs at $0. Microsoft Planner’s bundled M365 tier excludes Gantt (Timeline) and dependency creation entirely, requiring a Plan 1 upgrade at $10/user/month for those features. For teams that want Gantt and dependencies at no additional cost, ClickUp’s free plan is significantly more capable than Planner’s included tier.

The ClickUp Unlimited tier at $7/user/month annual delivers Gantt, time tracking, unlimited storage, unlimited integrations, goals, and portfolio management in a single plan. Microsoft Planner Plan 1 at $10/user/month includes Gantt and basic dependencies but lacks time tracking, has no automation layer, and requires an underlying M365 subscription that adds $6/user/month for organizations not already on Microsoft 365. On a pure feature-per-dollar basis at the entry paid tier, ClickUp’s Unlimited plan covers more ground at a lower price for non-M365 organizations.

ClickUp also consolidates tools that many teams buy separately. Whiteboards, Docs, Chat, and in-app time tracking are included without extra licenses. Teams that currently pay for Notion, Toggl, and a project tool separately can replace all three with ClickUp Unlimited at $7/user/month. Microsoft Planner does not include any of those capabilities — Docs lives in SharePoint, time tracking is not available at any Planner tier, and Chat is Microsoft Teams (a separate application).

Pick ClickUp if: you want one platform for tasks, docs, and time tracking at the lowest per-seat price, or if you need Gantt and dependencies on the free plan for an unlimited-user team outside the Microsoft ecosystem.

When Microsoft Planner is the better choice

For organizations already running Microsoft 365, Planner is the lower-friction path. Planner is included in M365 Business Basic and above — no new vendor contract, no new SSO configuration, no separate user directory to manage. Tasks assigned in Planner surface automatically in Teams activity feeds and Microsoft To Do, and project files live in SharePoint with the same permissions as the rest of the M365 workspace. For IT departments that want zero additional vendor footprint, Planner wins by default.

Microsoft Planner’s Teams integration is genuinely deeper than ClickUp’s. Planner tabs embed directly in Teams channels, notifications are delivered in Teams rather than a separate application, and the entire experience stays within the Microsoft identity boundary. For organizations where Teams is the primary communication hub, keeping project tasks in Planner eliminates the context-switch between a project tool and a chat tool that ClickUp requires even with its Teams integration.

Planner Plan 3 at $30/user/month adds advanced dependencies with lead/lag times, task history, resource request capabilities, and roadmaps — all within the M365 identity and security framework. For enterprise project managers who need scheduling depth inside the Microsoft ecosystem, Plan 3 provides more than ClickUp’s Business tier ($12/user/month) can match on the Microsoft-native integrations front.

Pick Microsoft Planner if: your organization is deeply embedded in Microsoft 365, your team communicates through Teams, and keeping all tooling inside the Microsoft trust boundary is a procurement or security requirement.

Pricing reality check

For a 10-person team that needs Gantt, dependencies, and time tracking, here is the annual cost:

• ClickUp Unlimited: $7 × 10 users × 12 months = $840/year. Includes Gantt, unlimited integrations, time tracking, and 1,000 automations per month. Critical path is not available at any ClickUp tier.
• Microsoft Planner Plan 1: $10 × 10 users × 12 months = $1,200/year — but this requires a Microsoft 365 subscription underneath. For non-M365 organizations adding M365 Business Basic ($6/user/month): total effective stack = $16/user/month = $1,920/year. Planner Plan 3 (advanced dependencies, Copilot preview) = $30/user/month = $3,600/year.

The “free” tier of Planner is only free if the M365 subscription is already paid. For a team with no Microsoft 365 subscription, Planner starts at $16/user/month effective cost versus ClickUp’s $7/user/month Unlimited plan. The automation gap is also significant: ClickUp Unlimited includes 1,000 automated actions per month; Planner has no native automation layer at any tier.

Where ClickUp and Microsoft Planner both fall short — the Gantt-first gap

ClickUp includes Gantt charts on the free plan, which is genuinely broad — but critical path is not available at any ClickUp tier, making it unsuitable for teams that need to identify the sequence of tasks driving the project end date. Microsoft Planner does not offer critical path as a named feature even at Plan 3, and the Gantt/Timeline view is paywalled behind Plan 1 on top of an existing M365 subscription. Both tools charge per seat — ClickUp at $7/user/month and Planner at $10/user/month for the Gantt tier — meaning headcount always drives cost. Teams that plan primarily by timeline with dependencies and critical path as standard tools rather than reporting extras will find both platforms leave that gap unfilled.

The third option: GanttFather

GanttFather is built around the Gantt chart as the primary planning surface, not one view among many. The free tier includes your first project with 2 editor seats and unlimited free viewers and guests, plus all four dependency link types (FS, SS, FF, SF with lag), critical path, Kanban, Excel round-trip import/export, and a native MCP server so AI agents like Claude and Cursor can read and update schedules directly. There is no per-seat fee — extra projects you own are $5/month each ($30/year, 50% off) and every feature stays included, scaling with the projects you own rather than headcount. Viewers and guests are always free, and editing a project someone else owns costs nothing. For teams that need critical path at no cost or want Gantt-first scheduling without the overhead of an all-in-one platform or a Microsoft 365 stack, GanttFather is the focused alternative.

• How GanttFather compares to ClickUp →
• How GanttFather compares to Microsoft Planner →
• See GanttFather pricing

For a broader look at how ClickUp competes in the all-in-one space, see ClickUp vs Monday.com 2026 — two platforms with very different approaches to the same market.

FAQ

Is Microsoft Planner really free?

Only if you already subscribe to Microsoft 365. Planner is bundled with M365 Business Basic ($6/user/month and above), so for organizations already on M365, the base Planner experience adds no extra cost. For organizations without an M365 subscription, Planner is not available as a standalone product. The Gantt/Timeline view and task dependencies require an additional Planner Plan 1 upgrade at $10/user/month on top of the M365 subscription.

Does ClickUp have a free Gantt chart?

Yes. ClickUp’s free Forever plan includes Gantt chart view with task dependencies for unlimited users. This is one of ClickUp’s strongest differentiators — tools like Asana and Microsoft Planner paywall their Gantt views behind paid tiers. The main limitation of ClickUp’s free Gantt is 60MB total storage and no critical path calculation.

Does Microsoft Planner have automations?

No. Microsoft Planner has no native automation or rules engine at any plan tier (Planner Plan 1, Plan 3, or Plan 5). Teams that need workflow automation in the Microsoft stack must use Microsoft Power Automate, which is a separate tool with its own licensing considerations. ClickUp includes 1,000 automated actions per month on its $7/user/month Unlimited tier and 5,000/month on Business ($12/user/month).

Can ClickUp integrate with Microsoft Teams?

Yes. ClickUp has a Microsoft Teams integration that lets you view and interact with ClickUp tasks inside Teams. However, the integration is an add-on connection, not a native embedding — tasks do not automatically appear in Teams notifications or the To Do list the way Planner tasks do. For teams that want tasks natively surfaced in Teams without a third-party connection, Planner is the more seamless choice.

How much does ClickUp cost vs Microsoft Planner for a 10-person team?

ClickUp Unlimited: $7 × 10 × 12 = $840/year. Microsoft Planner Plan 1 alone: $10 × 10 × 12 = $1,200/year, plus a required M365 subscription (M365 Business Basic at $6/user/month adds $720/year), bringing the total to $1,920/year for a non-M365 organization. For an M365-native organization that only counts the Plan 1 add-on, Planner costs $1,200/year vs ClickUp’s $840/year.

Which tool has better AI features — ClickUp or Microsoft Planner?

ClickUp’s AI (Brain) is a paid add-on at $9/user/month on top of the plan price, offering unlimited AI assistant access, task generation, and summarization. The Everything AI bundle is $28/user/month. Microsoft Planner’s AI is M365 Copilot, a separate license at $30/user/month, available in Planner only in preview at Plan 3 ($30/user/month). Neither tool includes AI in its base plan price — ClickUp charges extra per seat, and Microsoft charges extra on top of both M365 and the Planner plan.

References:

1. ClickUp. (2026). “ClickUp Pricing”.
2. Microsoft. (2026). “Microsoft Planner”.
3. ClickUp. (2026). “Gantt Chart View in ClickUp”.
4. Microsoft. (2026). “Compare Microsoft Project Management Software”.