Alternatives to Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is one of the most popular project management software since the year 1984.

It is the company’s third window based project management application and is readily available in two editions that are Standard and Professional. The software is solely produced, developed, and sold by Microsoft Corporation.

The project attained massive popularity due to its excellent features such as assisting the project manager in planning and execution of core tasks, schedule programming, resource allocation, management of budget, tracking work progress and analyzing active workloads.

Do I really need to search for an alternative to Microsoft Project?

You might be wondering why I need to search for an alternative when I have one of the best management suites. The answer is because more often, businesses need to pay more attention to one specific function over the others as per their work requirements.

There exist many alternatives to Microsoft Project such as Wrike, Asana, Monday, and Proofhub, which hold more significance than Microsoft Project in many functions such as managing workflow, task scheduling and so on.

Which Microsoft Project alternatives are best suited for my enterprise?

You might be searching for a project management tool best suited to the requirements of your enterprise. The purpose of this article is to provide you the rightful assistance to select the best project management software for your enterprise.

Rise of AI-powered Project Management Software Solutions

AI-powered project management software have emerged as reliable solutions to assist project managers with efficient work execution. These modern AI-backed project management tools comes loaded with features like smart scheduling, timeline forecasting, automated task assignment, resource management with load balancing, real-time collaboration, custom AI workflows, etc., that makes it easy to adapt to changing circumstances, predict risks, better allocate resources, and make smarter, data driven decisions.

Here are the top alternatives to Microsoft Project that has the power of AI:

1. ZohoProjects

Zoho Projects provides collaborative project management solutions to more than a million enterprises and stands out to be a great alternative to Microsoft Project. Zoho Projects helps you to conduct planning of your project activities, easy work assignment, efficient management of resources and reduction in delivery time. It is widely used by businesses and individuals alike to increase productivity, manage dynamic teams, and enhance collaboration.

Source: ZohoProjects

How can Zoho Project help you in project management?

The different ways by which Zoho Project can help you in managing your workflows:

Organize complex projects into smaller manageable tasks through milestones and task lists.
Creation of blueprints in order to automate your task workflow
Provision of in-depth insights with the Gantt Charts
Collaborate seamlessly with clients, employees, and vendors using social media tools
Keeping track of time through log tables and timesheets
Quickly track issues and get them fixed and tested
Easily track changes in code made in GitHub and Bitbucket
Direct access to the latest version of all project documents
Timesheets to log every minute
Drag-and-drop interface with robust automation
Integration with 50+ tools via Zoho marketplace

Zoho Projects has served many satisfied clients such as Google, Slack, Zapier, and Github. You can join hands with Zoho Project to become self-sufficient in your project management requirements.

2. Monday.com

Monday adopts a very innovative approach to perform project management tasks. You can plan, organize, and track all your workflow under one visual and collaborative space.

Working with Monday.com, you can build and customize your work dashboards to gain profitable insights along with a clear overview of your high priority work projects.

Over 245,000+ customers use this AI-powered project management software to streamline their project workflows, gain clear visibility, and flexibly perform their project management functions.

Source: Monday.com

Why should you adopt Monday.com?

Monday.com has many useful features including AI features that make it an obvious choice for a suitable alternative to Microsoft Project.

Simplicity and intuitiveness
Easy onboarding and quick adoption
Flexibility and versatility
Dynamism and customizable workflow
Progression tracking through easily digestible overviews
Supports integration with 200+ simple to use tools
Centralization of all your valuable data
Ability to set and track company-level goals and objectives
Portfolio and resource management
Advanced project management to manage all aspects of the project lifecycle.
Gantt chart to visualize project tasks, milestones, and dependencies

Monday.com can satisfy your project management goals. You can join the list of its esteemed client base with well-known names such as Discovery, Carlsberg, We Work, Wix.com, Coca Cola, and Philips.

3. Asana

Asana is one of the most sought after alternatives of Microsoft Project and usually known as an excellent work management platform. You can use Asana to stay focused on your daily goals, projects, and regular tasks. In simple words, accelerate your business growth by partnering with Asana.

Around 100,000 organizations and 85% of Fortune 100 companies choose Asana to efficiently finish their ongoing projects. The software also features AI integration to help project managers work faster and smarter.

Source: Asana

Why should you partner with Asana?

The many reasons to partner with Asana include

Better organization through performing planning from one place
The instant setting of priorities and deadlines along with the assignment of tasks
Simple follow-through of projects and tasks at every stage
Keep everyone aligned towards goal through workflow charts
Creation of visual project plans for mapping out every step
Pinpointing of possible risks and elimination of all the roadblocks
Innovative solutions such as workload along with immediate snapshots of work details
Reassignment and rescheduling of tasks to maintain the balance of work
Supports integration with 300+ daily use enterprise tools
Ability to view work as a list, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart, or Kanban board.
Custom fields to sort, filter, and automatically report work
Time saving automation
Built-in mobile and desktop apps
Time tracking

Connect with Asana and become one of the elite members of its huge client base having names such as AirFrance-KLM, Sony Music, Sophos, Amazon, Accenture, Dell, and many more.

4. Wrike

Wrike is considered to be a leader of work management solutions and offers unique visualization and prioritization techniques which makes it a good alternative to Microsoft Project. The software is used by over 20,000+ companies from 140+ countries.

You can easily keep track of whatever that needs to be worked upon along with keeping your priorities straight. Wrike will help you keep all your daily goals and objectives in sight. Whether you are a team of 20 persons or 20000 persons, the software can adapt to any team size and industry, providing 360 visibility and seamless collaboration.

Source: Wrike

Why should you purchase Wrike?

The advantages and benefits of deploying Wrike into your enterprise project management system include

Highly Interactive Gantt Charts to keep your staff on track
Set project timelines in real-time along with keeping tabs on your project
Specialized online work and project calendars
Get reflection of most up to date schedules and plans
Customized dashboards with simple drag and drop options and powerful analytics
AI integration to define and trigger automated workflows
Project resource planning for timely project delivery
Dynamic request forms powered by conditional logic
Cross-tagging for unparalleled visibility
Integration with multiple business tools supported

Wrike claims to have a list of elite partners such as Schneider Electric, Nvidia, Siemens, Google, Hootsuite, Fitbit, LoReal, etc., and welcomes you to avail the benefits of its advanced work management solution.

5. Planview AdaptiveWork

Planview AdaptiveWork, formerly Clarizen, is known for offering impactful and collaborative work management solutions for enterprises and is considered one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Project.

You can automate your management tasks and accomplish the daily objectives using AI-backed project management solutions offered by Planview AdaptiveWork. Through this innovative tool, teams of all sizes from almost all industries can effectively manage their work, timely respond to new changes, and streamline project workflows.

Source: Planview AdaptiveWork

How can Planview AdaptiveWork benefit my enterprise?

The many benefits of work management solutions offered by Planview AdaptiveWork include

Creation of a line of sight across the enterprise, thus driving focus
Substantial reduction of time for compliance and auditing, reaching up to 75%
Increase the effectiveness by supporting different work styles
Hybrid methodologies across the enterprise for provision of autonomy leading to empowerment
Faster response system through purposeful collaboration
Proactively re-align and take appropriate action using real-time information.
Immediate formation of budgets and project schedules through flexibility and visibility
Power your fast, agile business from strategy to planning to fruitful execution
Provision of configurable enterprise solution which supports your entire work lifecycle
Data-driven resource and financial management workspaces for complete visibility into project health
Slide Publisher to automatically create up-to-the minute status reports in PowerPoint template
A rich project archive to share discussions, emails, files, and links with internal and external stakeholders
Centralized digital proofing and approval process for constant data sync
AdaptiveWork Bot for Microsoft Teams and Slack

Planview AdaptiveWork offers unique features, such as demand management, bi-directional integration with CRM, request intake, portfolio management, and Planview Copilot that businesses can use to enhance their performance, efficiency, and productivity.

6. Basecamp

Basecamp is one of the fastest-growing names in project management solution providers. Basecamp can be a perfect fit for your enterprise due to its accountability, efficient communication, and its ability to keep all your employees on a single page.

Whether Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, or web, this flexible platform can be used from anywhere and whenever required.

Source: Basecamp

Why should you trust Basecamp?

Some good reasons for trusting Basecamp as your project management partner:

Customizable tools for every type of projects
Embedment of videos and tweets especially in the messages or comments
Assignment of all the tasks for every project from one single place
Adjustable themes and scheduling of notifications along with daily schedules
Advance tools like hill charts for observing progress over time
Real-time communication channels with clients as well as employees
Powerful search tools and report generation facilities
Centralized message board and unique data storage facilities
Ability to set client access on project templates
Public links for flexible project sharing
Timesheet for tracking project time
Card tables to visualize tasks in a workflow

Basecamp has witnessed an exponential growth curve with more than 75,000 organizations from 166 countries using it to drive their success. Join basecamp to add strength to your digital business architecture.

7. Celoxis

Celoxis is an all in one project management software and has all the potential to become your project management partner due to its AI-powered capabilities. Celoxis offers enterprise-class features, insightful reporting, actionable dashboards, and tons of customizations. It can seamlessly integrate with JIRA and Azure DevOps to gain direct access to resource utilization and development progress, eliminating switching between apps.

Source: Celoxis

Why should you invest in Celoxis?

Some unique reasons to invest in Celoxis:

Visual monitoring of project execution along with adaptation to real-world conditions
Real-time tracking of costs, budgets, and profits
Generation of revenue and cost estimates of your projects automatically
Powerful custom application along with the customization options
Powerful resource management through the easy allocation of resources.
Proactive staffing decisions purely based on future demand and capacity
Customizable client portal through easy collaboration with clients
Create and share insightful reports through visualization of data using dashboards
Integration with 400+ popular business applications
Multilingual, supporting over 5+ languages

Celoxis is trusted by many reputed global brands and Fortune 500 companies such as LG, Adobe, Rolex, and Deloitte. You have the opportunity to collaborate with Celoxis to improve your enterprise project management.

8. Trello

Trello is a collaborative and intuition-based work management software that stands tall when considering an alternative to Microsoft Project. It is trusted by millions of people and companies to manage their personal as well as professional tasks.

Trello offers unique lists, boards, and cards allowing users to organize and prioritize their projects in a very rewarding and flexible manner. Through a simple and easy to use interface, users can sign up and start creating boards in minutes.

Source: Trello

Why should you incorporate Trello?

The many reasons for incorporating Trello into your work management schedules.

Helps you to organize your teams for multipurpose activities such as work, side projects or vacations.
Collaborate on projects from both ends by diving into details using Trello cards
Convert ideas into actions in no time using intuitive simple board, list and cards
Collection of all the boards and tools through a single handy resource team playbook
Power up your workflow through the productivity platform offered by Trello
Stay in sync across all your working devices and avail easy collaboration
Directly capture vital details from Slack, emails, and more
Calendar sync to allocate focused time slots
Butler automation to automate workflows and tasks
Trello Plugins to integrate powerful tools
East-to-use templates

Trello is utilized by enterprises of all sizes such as Google, Coinbase, VISA, and Zoom. You are recommended to use Trello due to its increasing popularity. You can read about Trello Vs Asana here.

9. Hive

Hive is known for providing powerful project and process management software to thousands of enterprises. Hive stands as a good alternative to Microsoft Project due to its high level of productivity and great integration options. It’s also one of the best collaboration software available. The software facilitates management of tasks, billing, projects, approvals, and more at one centralized place.

Source: Hive

Why should you put your money in Hive?

Investing money in Hive is a very profitable decision because of these many reasons:

Monitors all your projects in real-time and spots the existent risks proactively
Easy scheduling of your current and upcoming projects
Quicker collaboration by sending messages directly to individuals and in groups
Faster sharing of files through project task manager or messaging applications
Collection of all the necessary information through inbuilt forms
Ability to build custom dashboards and client portal
Real-time insights with reporting
Supports wide range of project views, including Kanban, Gantt, table, and more
Project templates to simplify and streamline collaboration

Hive provides brilliant project management solutions to leading companies such as EA Games, Google, and Toyota.You can connect with Hive to improve your project management structure.

10. Kantata

Mavenlink, now a part of Kantata, is known for powering the economy of new services and acts as a perfect alternative to Microsoft Project. Mavenlink is also a modern collaboration platform that specializes in elevating your operational and financial performance.

Source: Kantata

What are the proven benefits of Mavenlink?

Some of the unique benefits of Mavenlink include

Easy collaboration and total transparency unify teams leading to faster delivery of projects
Quick and flexible management of resources and projects adds agility and momentum
Richer business insights leading to informed decisions and higher financial performance
Pioneer in innovation-based management solutions and automation software grids
High level of intuitiveness and easy to use
Smooth running of all projects leading to higher clarity and profits
Project estimation and forecasting with accurate estimates
Project and portfolio health management
Time and expense management with improved timesheet compliance

It is trusted by companies like Hitachi and Sage due to its high return on investment value. You can bank upon Mavenlink for your project management needs.

11. Proofhub

Proofhub is a single place for all your teams, project, and communications and is voted as one of the best alternatives for Microsoft Project. Proofhub is known for bringing down the delivery time and provides greater control over communication procedures. It is one of the best project management tools to stay focused, save time, and increase overall productivity.

Source: Proofhub

Why should you choose Proofhub as my partner?

The many reasons for choosing Proofhub as an excellent project management solution provider:

Gain greater control by setting unique custom roles and defining diverse access levels
Transparency in visualizing task stages and defining workflows
Provision of more than a dozen languages such as English, French, and Spanish.
Smart time tracking and task management options
Direct messaging and quick conversations with teams and clients
Make announcements to appreciate all types of achievements
Get quicker support queries, tickets, and all kinds of requests for work.
Activity logs to keep an eye on all activities and updates
Custom fields for date, currency, and numbers
Project templates to avoid starting from scratch
Easily import sheets, files and tasks with CSV import
Feedback and approvals

Proofhub powers many small and large global enterprises across the globe such as Google, Netflix, Boeing, Pinterest, and Disney. You are requested to consider Proofhub as a fit partner for your project management requirements.

12. GanttPro

GanttPro provides an excellent online project management solution based on Gantt charts. GanttPro is the best alternative to Microsoft Project when it comes to the formulation of Gantt charts. Ganttpro believes in following a simple three-tier working model, that is, simple planning engaged team members and clients always in the business loop. 800,000+ project managers from all over the world use GanttPro to manage their Gantt charts.

Source: GanttPro

Why GanttPro may be the most suitable tool for your business?

Why GanttPro may be the best software for your enterprise.

Interactive online Gantt chart software for easy planning and multiple project management.
Progress tracker and task manager along with easy sharing options
Easy management of resources and accurate estimation of project costs
Perform a range of tasks such as simple Gantt Chart to complex project management tasks
Outstanding tools and responsive interfaces
Automation in project scheduling along with simple drag and drop options
Baseline to compare initial version and current state
Version history to track changes
iOS and Android mobile apps
Single sign on and 2FA for enhanced security

Gantt Pro is very popular among project managers worldwide and used by reputed organizations such as Salesforce, Sony, NASA, Vodafone, and Hubspot. You can surely invest upon GanttPro if your requirements are suitable for the services offered by the highly valued firm.

13. Tom’s Planner

Tom’s Planner helps you create professional projects with simplicity, especially the live Gantt Charts. Tom’s Planner is a very good alternative to Microsoft Project due to its ability to deliver complex projects with great ease. Over 118, 425 users from different countries rely on this software to manage their projects.

Source: Tom’s Planner

Why Tom’s Planner is the best choice for you?

Using simple Gantt Chart for resource planning
Drag and drop time blocks with great ease
Dynamic involvement of whole team adding to accountability
Instant tracking of progress using percentages, traffic lights and icons
Avail dynamic overview of the project to handle deadlines
Faster importing of project schedule and Gantt Charts
Keeping large project up to date with dependencies
AI integration to build custom Gantt chart in seconds
Drag and drop color coded time blocks
Flexible progress tracking through percentage, traffic lights, and colored time blocks
Quick filter and search

Tom’s Planner has large names associated with it such as Dell, Amazon, Google and BBC. You can avail benefits of its highly recommended project management tools.

14. Atlassian Jira

Jira offered by Atlassian provides workflow centered smart project management software and is known to be the best alternative to Microsoft Project.

Jira encourages project managers to practice heart philosophy which consists of five basic and important phases such as hear, encourage, alert, record and transition. The company is already listed on Goodfirms as one of the leading project management software solutions. This software is optimal for managing development, marketing, IT, design, and operations projects.

Source: Jira

Complete linking of all the files and assets for providing benefits to the future teams
AI integration to suggest efficient way of project execution
Sprints and Backlog to prioritize work
Dependency management to spot bottlenecks
No-code workflow automation
Global and project-level configuration
Data residency, data security & compliance

Atlassian Jira has a legacy of clients with big names such as NASA, Cisco, Airbnb, and Cisco. You can accelerate your business growth by collaborating with Atlassian Jira project management software.

15. ProjectLibre

ProjectLibre is one of the leading alternatives of Microsoft Project and provides cloud-based project management software. ProjectLibre is known for its multi-project management capabilities. More than 7.6 million users leverage this open source project management software as a seamless alternative to Microsoft Project. In its cloud version, the software offers advanced cloud project management capabilities to efficiently manage projects from a centralized platform.

Source: ProjectLibre

What are the advantages of buying ProjectLibre?

High level of compatibility with Microsoft Project
Easy to use Gantt Charts, Network Diagrams, WBS/RBS Charts
Fully functional in more than 20 languages
Earned Value costing and resourceful histograms
Management of the entire portfolio in a cloud-based collaborative platform
Collaborative desktop with multi-projecting, global resource pools, and team features.
Remote management of projects through enterprise cloud project dashboard
AI-powered scheduling
Enterprise resource management to allocate, track, and optimize resources
Advanced critical path scheduling

ProjectLibre has been downloaded more than 7,600,000 times in 193 countries and is trusted by leading enterprises of the world such as IBM, Abbott, Cisco, and Accenture. ProjectLibre can work as the best replacement of Microsoft Project for your enterprise especially due to its cloud project management solution.

Summary

The rise of digitization has led to the creation of a much necessary digital business architecture for every enterprise. The businesses are highly recommended to evolve their management and accounting system by investing upon right project management tools suitable to the requirements of their enterprise.

You have the opportunity to avail the benefits of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics and internet of things by trusting and partnering with a known project management solution provider.

You need to explore all the available alternative options because all the above-mentioned project management tools have unique and specialized functions which are lacking in Microsoft Project.

You are required to introduce advanced tools and technologies into your workflow to make the processes more transparent to sustain in the highly competitive world.

In short, choose the right project management technology which could add to your performance and strengthen the basic structure of your organization.

If you have been using one? We would love to know about your experiences on our review page.