--- title: "GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project 2026: Affordable Cloud vs Enterprise Standard | GanttFather Blog" description: "GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project comparison for 2026, verified August 7. Compare current pricing, Gantt, dependencies, critical path, baselines, collaboration, and GanttFather." canonical: "https://ganttfather.com/article/ganttpro-vs-microsoft-project-2026/" locale: "en" category: "compare" --- # GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project 2026: Affordable Cloud vs Enterprise Standard | GanttFather Blog # GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project 2026: Affordable Cloud vs Enterprise Standard GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project comparison for 2026, verified August 7. Compare current pricing, Gantt, dependencies, critical path, baselines, collaboration, and GanttFather. ![](https://ganttfather.com/logo.png) GanttFather Updated August 7, 2026 11 min read Tags comparison project-management ganttpro microsoft-project The short answer GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project comparison for 2026, verified August 7. Compare current pricing, Gantt, dependencies, critical path, baselines, collaboration, and GanttFather. ## GanttPRO vs Microsoft Project: what is the short answer? **Choose GanttPRO when your priority is** dedicated cloud scheduling with mature baselines, critical path, and resource controls. **Choose Microsoft Project when your priority is** desktop scheduling depth, baselines, lead/lag, and Microsoft portfolio work. Neither is universally better: the decisive questions are who needs to edit the schedule, whether critical path and baselines are required, and whether the surrounding workflow should be a focused scheduler or a broader work platform. **Verified August 7, 2026:** Prices and plan packaging below were checked against the vendors’ official pricing and help pages. Prices are USD list prices for annual billing unless stated otherwise; taxes, promotions, regions, legacy plans, and negotiated contracts can differ. ## How do GanttPRO and Microsoft Project compare now? Decision point GanttPRO Microsoft Project Free access There is no permanent free plan; new accounts receive a 14-day premium trial without a credit card. There is no permanent free plan. Microsoft now packages Project desktop with Planner and Project Plan 3. Current starting price Annual per-user prices vary with team size. At the 10-member selector, Core is $8, Advanced $12, and Business $19 per user/month. Planner and Project Plan 3 is $30 per user/month, paid yearly, and includes the Project desktop application. Gantt availability A purpose-built Gantt chart is the core experience on every paid plan. Project desktop remains Microsoft’s deepest scheduling interface, while premium Planner provides web and Teams planning. Dependencies Core includes dependencies and automatic schedule recalculation. Plan 3 includes advanced dependencies with lead and lag; Project desktop supports formal schedule logic. Critical path Core includes critical path and float. Plan 3 includes critical path. Baselines Core includes schedule baselines; higher tiers add collaboration, custom planning, workload, portfolio, and reporting depth. Plan 3 includes baselines and Project desktop. Collaboration model GanttPRO is a cloud scheduler with assignments, comments, workload tools, imports, exports, and calendar integrations. The package combines a desktop scheduling tool with Microsoft 365 web and Teams collaboration. The table separates a visible timeline from formal schedule controls. A product can show dated bars while placing dependencies, critical path, or baseline comparison on a higher tier. That distinction matters more than whether a marketing page simply says “Gantt.” ## When is GanttPRO the better choice? GanttPRO is the stronger fit when the priority is dedicated cloud scheduling with mature baselines, critical path, and resource controls. GanttPRO is a cloud scheduler with assignments, comments, workload tools, imports, exports, and calendar integrations. Its current scheduling position is also clear: A purpose-built Gantt chart is the core experience on every paid plan. Core includes dependencies and automatic schedule recalculation. Core includes critical path and float. The main qualification is equally important. Every active user is a paid seat after the trial, and the visible starting price changes with the selected team-size band. **Choose GanttPRO if:** its surrounding workflow matters as much as the chart, its current plan limits match the real editor group, and the team has tested one representative project rather than comparing feature names alone. ## When is Microsoft Project the better choice? Microsoft Project is the stronger fit when the priority is desktop scheduling depth, baselines, lead/lag, and Microsoft portfolio work. The package combines a desktop scheduling tool with Microsoft 365 web and Teams collaboration. For schedule buyers, the current entitlement is: Project desktop remains Microsoft’s deepest scheduling interface, while premium Planner provides web and Teams planning. Plan 3 includes advanced dependencies with lead and lag; Project desktop supports formal schedule logic. Plan 3 includes critical path. The tradeoff is not hidden. The product has a steeper learning curve and higher per-user price; Project Online retires on September 30, 2026, so buyers should plan around Planner and Project desktop rather than a new Project Online deployment. **Choose Microsoft Project if:** its pricing unit matches how the team works, its scheduling tier contains every required control, and the product’s collaboration model fits internal and external participants. ## What does the price comparison look like for 10 people? - **GanttPRO:** At the current 10-member annual selector, Core is $960/year, Advanced $1,440/year, and Business $2,280/year. - **Microsoft Project:** For 10 licensed users, Planner and Project Plan 3 is $3,600/year, before any other Microsoft 365 subscription. Those figures are not automatically like-for-like. A free viewer, collaborator, guest, manager, or desktop user can have different permissions in each product. Compare the smallest group that must actually create tasks, change dates, restructure dependencies, and administer the schedule—not the total number of people who may open a link. For procurement, model at least three cases: the current editor count, the editor count after one year, and the number of simultaneously active projects. Then confirm the result in each vendor’s checkout because seat buckets, project add-ons, and regional pricing can change the total. ## Which product has the stronger Gantt scheduling model? **GanttPRO:** A purpose-built Gantt chart is the core experience on every paid plan. Core includes dependencies and automatic schedule recalculation. Core includes critical path and float. Core includes schedule baselines; higher tiers add collaboration, custom planning, workload, portfolio, and reporting depth. **Microsoft Project:** Project desktop remains Microsoft’s deepest scheduling interface, while premium Planner provides web and Teams planning. Plan 3 includes advanced dependencies with lead and lag; Project desktop supports formal schedule logic. Plan 3 includes critical path. Plan 3 includes baselines and Project desktop. A stronger schedule model is not always the better product. A team may rationally accept lighter Gantt controls in exchange for automation, documents, dashboards, or ecosystem fit. Conversely, a project manager who recalculates handoffs daily should not buy a broad platform merely because it can display a timeline. ## What should you test before choosing? - Import or rebuild one real project with at least 30 tasks. - Create the dependency types the project actually uses, including lag if relevant. - Move a predecessor and confirm how successors react. - Display critical path and a baseline using the tier you intend to buy. - Invite one scheduler, one contributor, and one read-only stakeholder. - Export the schedule in the format your clients or PMO require. - Price the exact number of paid editors and active projects at checkout. This test exposes permission, scale, and plan-limit differences that a marketing comparison cannot. ## When is GanttFather a better fit than GanttPRO or Microsoft Project? GanttFather is the simpler cost pattern when a project needs a Gantt-first workspace, no more than two included editors, and many reviewers. The free tier includes one owned project, two editor seats, unlimited viewers and guests, FS/SS/FF/SF dependencies with lag, critical-path highlighting, Kanban, Excel import/export, real-time sharing, REST API access, and a native MCP server. The limits should be explicit: GanttFather does not currently provide automatic resource leveling or a dedicated schedule-baseline overlay. GanttPRO or Microsoft Project can be the better purchase when those capabilities, a larger ecosystem, or their specialized workflow outweighs the price difference. [Create a free GanttFather project](https://ganttfather.com/) and reproduce one dependency-heavy phase before deciding. For direct product pages, see [GanttFather vs GanttPRO](https://ganttfather.com/vs/ganttpro/) and [GanttFather vs Microsoft Project](https://ganttfather.com/vs/microsoft-project/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Is GanttPRO or Microsoft Project cheaper? It depends on paid editors, active projects, and the feature tier. At the current 10-member annual selector, Core is $960/year, Advanced $1,440/year, and Business $2,280/year. For 10 licensed users, Planner and Project Plan 3 is $3,600/year, before any other Microsoft 365 subscription. Compare the exact checkout totals rather than multiplying a headline price that may use a different team-size band or project bundle. ### Which one has a usable free Gantt chart? GanttPRO: There is no permanent free plan; new accounts receive a 14-day premium trial without a credit card. Microsoft Project: There is no permanent free plan. Microsoft now packages Project desktop with Planner and Project Plan 3. “Free” should be evaluated with its usage, task, project, and collaboration limits—not just account creation. ### Which one supports dependencies? GanttPRO: Core includes dependencies and automatic schedule recalculation. Microsoft Project: Plan 3 includes advanced dependencies with lead and lag; Project desktop supports formal schedule logic. ### Which one supports critical path? GanttPRO: Core includes critical path and float. Microsoft Project: Plan 3 includes critical path. ### Which one supports baselines? GanttPRO: Core includes schedule baselines; higher tiers add collaboration, custom planning, workload, portfolio, and reporting depth. Microsoft Project: Plan 3 includes baselines and Project desktop. ### How should a team migrate between them? Export the smallest representative project first, preserve a copy of the source data, and validate task hierarchy, dates, dependency types, lag, assignees, comments, and custom fields after import. No cross-vendor migration preserves every permission, automation, dashboard, or integration, so budget time for manual reconstruction and acceptance testing. **Sources** - [GanttPRO, Pricing](https://ganttpro.com/pricing/) - [GanttPRO Knowledge Base, Available plans](https://help.ganttpro.com/hc/en-us/articles/5394404902801-Available-plans) - [GanttPRO Knowledge Base, Subscription](https://help.ganttpro.com/hc/en-us/articles/5395506249745-Subscription) - [Microsoft, Planner plans and pricing](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/planner/microsoft-planner-business-plans-and-pricing) - [Microsoft Learn, Project Online retirement](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/projectonline/project-online-retirement) ![](https://ganttfather.com/logo-hero.png) Want to skip the reading? GanttFather is free forever — no card, no trial. [Start free](https://app.ganttfather.com/login) Need help? Reach out to our team — we're happy to help. support@ganttfather.com Next up [Compare Asana vs ClickUp 2026: Which Project Tool Wins?](https://ganttfather.com/article/asana-vs-clickup-2026/)[Compare Asana vs GanttProject 2026: Cloud Platform vs Free Desktop](https://ganttfather.com/article/asana-vs-ganttproject-2026/)[Compare Asana vs Microsoft Planner 2026: Standalone WM vs M365 Bundled](https://ganttfather.com/article/asana-vs-microsoft-planner-2026/) ![](https://ganttfather.com/logo-hero.png) GanttFather The Don of Project Management Every feature included — Gantt, Kanban, dependencies, critical path, real-time sync, Excel and AI agents. Free tier includes 1 project you own, 2 editor seats, and unlimited viewers and guests. [Start free](https://app.ganttfather.com/login)