Microsoft Planner vs Project vs To Do: Which Tool Do You Need in 2026?

Should you use Microsoft To Do, Planner, or Project?

Use Microsoft To Do for personal tasks and daily focus; use basic Microsoft Planner for shared team tasks; use Planner Plan 1 for a web-based Gantt timeline and finish-to-start dependencies; use Planner and Project Plan 3 for baselines, critical path, advanced dependencies with lead/lag, portfolios, and the Project desktop client.

Microsoft’s naming still overlaps. Project for the web retired on 1 August 2025, and its features moved into Planner’s premium plans, while Project desktop remains a distinct Windows scheduling application. Project Online, a separate service, retired on 30 September 2026; its retirement did not affect Project desktop, Project Server, or Planner.

Checked on 18 October 2026: Products, U.S. list prices, and retirement dates were checked against Microsoft’s pricing, service description, lifecycle, and blog pages.

What is the simplest difference between the three tools?

“Microsoft Project” can mean Project desktop, the Project Online service that retired on 30 September 2026, or Project for the web, which retired on 1 August 2025. When requesting a license, name the exact application and capability instead of asking for “Project.”

Figures and their sources

Microsoft Planner

Figure	Value	Source
Basic Planner	Included in Microsoft 365, without the Timeline (Gantt) view	Microsoft service description
Planner Plan 1 (Timeline, finish-to-start links)	$10 per user per month, paid yearly	Microsoft Planner plans and pricing
Critical path and baselines	Planner and Project Plan 3, $30 per user per month, paid yearly	Microsoft Planner plans and pricing
Rating	4.3 out of 5 from 298 reviews	Capterra UK

Microsoft Project

Figure	Value	Source
Project Standard 2024	$679.99 one-time, for one PC	Microsoft Project plans and pricing
Project Professional 2024	$1,129.99 one-time, for one PC	Microsoft Project plans and pricing
Desktop app by subscription	Comes with Planner and Project Plan 3, $30 per user per month paid yearly	Microsoft Planner plans and pricing
Project Online	Retired on 30 September 2026	Microsoft lifecycle: Project Online

Checked on 18 October 2026.

When is Microsoft To Do the right choice?

Microsoft To Do is for one person’s work: daily lists, reminders, recurring tasks, steps, flagged Outlook email, and a My Day shortlist. Lists can be shared, but To Do does not provide a team project board, dependency network, resource plan, baseline, or Gantt chart.

Choose To Do when the question is “What must I finish today?” rather than “How do dozens of tasks determine a delivery date?” Microsoft also surfaces tasks assigned to a person from Planner in To Do’s Assigned to you experience, so To Do can be the personal inbox while Planner remains the team system.

When is basic Microsoft Planner the right choice?

Basic Planner is the collaborative task tool included with Microsoft 365 subscriptions, including Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. It runs on the web and in Microsoft Teams and gives teams shared tasks, assignments, and simple status tracking.

Use basic Planner for campaigns, recurring team processes, small internal projects, and visible ownership when due dates are mostly independent. Basic Planner works best when the plan can tolerate manual date updates and does not need a calculated finish date.

Basic Planner does not let a user create dependencies or open the Timeline (Gantt) or People views; it can only show dependencies. Microsoft requires a paid Planner license for premium views and advanced capabilities, so check its licensing guidance for what a basic user can do inside a premium plan.

When is Planner Plan 1 the right choice?

Planner Plan 1 is the first premium web tier. It adds the Timeline (Gantt), Calendar and People views, finish-to-start task dependencies, sprints, and viewing portfolios.

Choose Plan 1 when the team wants web-based scheduling inside Teams and Microsoft 365 without installing Project desktop. It fits moderately complex plans that need a visual task chain but do not require the baseline, critical-path, advanced lead/lag, assignment, or desktop controls reserved for Plan 3.

Microsoft’s pricing page describes Plan 1 dependencies as finish-to-start and lists advanced dependencies with lead and lag for Plan 3. A Planner blog post describes all four types (FS, SS, FF, and SF) with lead and lag in premium Planner. Treat Plan 1 as the finish-to-start tier unless your tenant shows other types under its assigned license.

When do you need Microsoft Project or Plan 3?

Choose Planner and Project Plan 3 when a schedule must be measured and controlled, not merely displayed. The current plan includes:

• baselines and critical path;
• advanced dependencies with lead and lag;
• the Assignments view and resource requests;
• portfolio creation;
• the Project desktop client.

Project desktop remains the choice for schedulers who need mature desktop planning: Gantt Chart, Network Diagram and Task Sheet views, baselines, critical path, lead and lag, resource leveling in Standard, and full resource management and timesheets in Professional. It is also sold outright: Project Standard 2024 costs $679.99 and Project Professional 2024 costs $1,129.99, each a one-time purchase for one PC, and Microsoft supports Project 2024 until 10 October 2029.

Plan 3 does not mean every collaborator needs every advanced control. Advanced views require the matching paid license for the person who uses them; confirm with Microsoft what other users can do in a premium plan. Model the actual scheduler, editor, and viewer roles before multiplying the list price by the whole company.

How do their project-management capabilities compare?

For a focused two-way comparison, see Microsoft Planner vs Microsoft Project. If the missing feature is specifically Gantt, read Does Microsoft Planner have a Gantt chart?.

What changed with Project for the web?

Microsoft retired Project for the web on 1 August 2025. Its features moved into Planner, which now has the same premium plans Project for the web had, and its users are sent to Planner for the web and Planner in Teams. Roadmaps did not move; Microsoft asks users to re-create them as Planner Portfolios. The Project Power App is now called the Planner Power App. Older help pages and invoices may still say “Project for the web.”

This did not make Project desktop disappear. Buyers should distinguish:

1. Premium Planner in the browser or Teams—the successor to Project for the web.
2. Project desktop—the installed scheduling client, included with Plan 3 or bought as Project Standard 2024 or Professional 2024.
3. Project Online—the cloud service that retired on 30 September 2026.
4. Project Server Subscription Edition—the server product Microsoft recommends as one replacement for Project Online, sold through partners and not covered by this comparison.

If an integration or procurement document says only “Microsoft Project,” ask which of those four it means.

What does the Project Online retirement mean in 2026?

Project Online retired on 30 September 2026. Microsoft stopped selling it to new customers on 1 October 2025, and from 1 April 2026 existing customers could no longer create new tenants. After the retirement, customers can no longer open their projects or data in it. Microsoft says the retirement does not affect Project desktop, Project Server, or Planner, and it points Project Online customers to Planner Plan 3 or Plan 5, or to Project Server Subscription Edition.

Organizations that still depend on exports, reports, or processes from Project Online should finish rebuilding them now. Inventory custom workflows, integrations, reports, resource pools, and portfolio processes before choosing premium Planner, Project desktop or Server, or another platform. No new work can start in Project Online.

What are the clearest signs that basic Planner is no longer enough?

Upgrade or compare alternatives when two or more of these conditions are true:

1. One delayed task should automatically affect downstream dates.
2. Stakeholders ask for a Gantt chart rather than a calendar or board.
3. The team needs milestones and a calculated critical path.
4. Approved dates must be frozen in a baseline and compared with current dates.
5. Resource effort and allocation must be planned, not merely assigned.
6. Multiple plans need portfolio-level reporting.
7. Audit history and advanced task fields are mandatory.
8. A professional scheduler must work in Project desktop or exchange Project files.

Plan 1 adds the Gantt chart and finish-to-start dependencies. Plan 3 targets the full control set. Do not buy Plan 3 solely because someone said “we need Project” if a basic board or Plan 1 Timeline solves the actual need.

What should you choose when Microsoft licensing is not the best fit?

Stay with Microsoft when Teams, Microsoft 365 sign-in, and familiar administration outweigh license complexity. The integrated ecosystem is the main advantage.

Compare a dedicated scheduler when most collaborators only need to view a plan, the first project must be free, or the team wants a Gantt-first interface without mixing basic and premium Planner plan types. GanttFather is free for 1 project you own, with 2 editors and unlimited free viewers, and it includes all four dependency types and critical path. It does not replace Project desktop’s resource management and enterprise scheduling depth, and it has no baselines.

See GanttFather vs Microsoft Planner for a product-level decision and Microsoft Project vs monday.com if the alternative is a broad work-management platform.

Which Microsoft tool fits common real-world scenarios?

Start with the smallest tool that protects the project’s critical invariant. A personal list should not become a PMO platform, and a contractual integrated master schedule should not be managed as independent cards.

When is GanttFather simpler than Planner or Project?

Choose GanttFather when a few people need to build a dependency-driven schedule while many stakeholders only need live visibility. It is free for 1 project you own, with 2 editors and unlimited free viewers, and it includes FS, SS, FF, and SF dependencies with lead and lag, critical path, Excel import and export, and live updates, without mixing basic and premium Planner views. Each extra project is US$5 a month (US$2.50 a month billed yearly), and an extra editor seat is US$2 a month (US$1 a month billed yearly).

GanttFather has no baselines, no .mpp or XML files, no automatic resource leveling, and no cost tracking; it does not sign in with Microsoft accounts, and it does not sync with Planner. When those controls are unnecessary and viewer economics drive the decision, create a free GanttFather project and model one representative phase before assigning premium Microsoft licenses.

What else do people ask about Planner, Project, and To Do?

Is Microsoft Planner replacing Microsoft Project?

Planner has replaced Project for the web, which retired on 1 August 2025, but it has not replaced Project desktop. Project Online, a separate service, retired on 30 September 2026. Always distinguish Project for the web, Project desktop, and Project Online.

Can Microsoft To Do show Planner tasks?

Yes. Tasks assigned to a user in Planner can appear in To Do’s Assigned to you experience. To Do remains a personal task surface; editing premium fields may require opening the premium plan and holding the appropriate Planner license.

Does basic Microsoft Planner include a Gantt chart?

No. Basic Planner has no Timeline view. Timeline, the Gantt view, is a premium feature, and Planner Plan 1 is the lowest current Planner tier that includes it.

Is Planner Plan 1 the same as Project Plan 1?

Microsoft says Planner has the same premium plans Project for the web had, and today it names them Planner Plan 1, Planner and Project Plan 3, and Planner and Project Plan 5. Older documents and invoices may use earlier Project plan names. Verify the tenant SKU and current feature table instead of relying on the older product label.

Do all team members need Plan 1 or Plan 3?

Not necessarily. Premium views such as Timeline (Plan 1) and Assignments (Plan 3) need the matching paid license for the person who uses them. Check Microsoft’s licensing guidance for what basic users can do in a premium plan before licensing the whole team.

Is Project Online still safe to start using?

No. Project Online retired on 30 September 2026, and customers can no longer access projects or data in it. Microsoft points former customers to Planner Plan 3 or Plan 5, or to Project Server Subscription Edition.

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Licensing and product status checked: 18 October 2026. Prices are U.S. list prices with annual billing; taxes, agreements, region, and promotions can change totals.

Sources

1. Microsoft, Planner plans and pricing
2. Microsoft Learn, Planner premium plans service description
3. Microsoft Support, To Do vs Planner
4. Microsoft Planner Blog, Advanced project planning with Microsoft Planner: dependencies and critical path
5. Microsoft Planner Blog, Transitioning to Microsoft Planner and retiring Project for the web
6. Microsoft Planner Blog, Microsoft Project Online is retiring
7. Microsoft Learn, Project Online lifecycle
8. Microsoft, Project plans and pricing
9. Microsoft Learn, Project 2024 lifecycle