Microsoft Project alternatives after Project Online
Last verified 1 October 2026 against each product's public documentation. Depentra is our product; it is on this list, and every entry says who the tool suits.
Microsoft retired Project Online on 30 September 2026. Project desktop continues, and Microsoft's own path for Project Online customers is Planner, with Project Server Subscription Edition for those who stay on their own servers. Outside Microsoft, ProjectLibre and Primavera P6 are the closest desktop schedulers, and Depentra, Smartsheet, monday.com, Asana and Jira are the main web tools. Which fits depends on how much scheduling logic your plans carry.[1]
How to choose
- How much logic your plans carry. If tasks are linked with start-to-start or finish-to-finish links, lags and a critical path, you need a real scheduler, not a task list with dates.
- Desktop or browser. Desktop schedulers keep plans in files; web tools put one plan in front of the whole team.
- Dependencies between projects. If one team's work waits on another's, check how each tool links projects, and on which plan.
- What you must keep. Resource levelling, earned value, .mpp files or a contract that names a scheduling standard narrow the list quickly.
The options side by side
| Tool | Runs as | Dependency types | Critical path | Baselines | Dependencies between projects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Planner (premium plans) | Web, in Microsoft 365 | All four: FS, SS, FF and SF[2] | Yes, shown on the plan timeline[2] | Yes, in premium plans[3] | Not described in the documentation we reviewed |
| Microsoft Project desktop | Windows desktop | All four: FS, SS, FF and SF[4] | Yes[5] | Yes, up to 11 per project[6] | Yes, links to tasks in other project files[7] |
| Depentra | Web | All four: FS, SS, FF and SF, on every plan, including Free | Yes, on the Standard plan and up | Yes, on the Professional plan and up | Yes, in Programs, on the Standard plan and up |
| ProjectLibre | Desktop (free and open source), and a paid cloud edition | Not described in the documentation we reviewed | Yes[8] | Yes[8] | Not described in the documentation we reviewed |
| Oracle Primavera P6 | Desktop (P6 Professional) and web (P6 EPPM) | All four, with lag or lead[9] | Yes[10] | Yes, up to three for comparison[11] | Yes, relationships to other projects[11] |
| Smartsheet | Web | All four: FS, SS, FF and SF[12] | Yes, highlighted in Gantt view[13] | Yes, with baseline start, finish and variance[13] | Predecessors work within one sheet; across sheets, teams use cell links and reports[14] |
| monday.com | Web | All four: FS, SS, FF and SF[15] | Yes, in the Gantt view (Pro and Enterprise tiers)[16] | Yes, Gantt baselines (Pro and Enterprise tiers)[17] | Yes, across project boards (Enterprise tier)[18] |
| Asana | Web | All four: FS, SS, FF and SF[19] | Yes, on the timeline[20] | Yes, Compare Baseline in Gantt view[21] | Tasks can depend on tasks in other projects; per community answers, dates do not shift across projects[22] |
| Jira | Web | Work item links, treated as "blocks" in plans[23] | No built-in critical path, per Atlassian's community; Plans schedule from the dependency chain[24] | Not described in the documentation we reviewed | Yes, in Plans, when both items are in the plan (Premium and Enterprise tiers)[23] |
"Not described in the documentation we reviewed" means we could not find it in that product's help pages, not that it is impossible. If something here has changed, tell us.
Each option, briefly
Microsoft Planner (premium plans)
Best for: Teams already on Microsoft 365: it is where Microsoft moved Project for the web, and its premium plans add scheduling features.
Microsoft's own path for Project Online customers, with Project Server Subscription Edition for those who need to stay on their own servers.
Microsoft Project desktop
Best for: People who need the full desktop scheduler: it continues after Project Online, with resource levelling, costs and earned value.
Not an alternative so much as the part of Microsoft Project that stays. Plans live in files rather than a shared web workspace.
Depentra
Best for: Teams whose plans depend on each other: every link type with lead and lag, float on every task, cross-project dependencies, and a delay simulator that shows what moves before it does.
Our product. It has no automatic resource levelling or time tracking, and does not open .mpp files: export to Excel and import that instead.
ProjectLibre
Best for: Anyone who wants a Project-style desktop scheduler at no cost.
ProjectLibre describes itself as compatible with Microsoft Project, with a cloud edition for teams.
Oracle Primavera P6
Best for: Large construction, engineering and energy programs that schedule to formal standards.
Heavyweight and specialist: the usual choice where contracts require a P6 schedule.
Smartsheet
Best for: Teams who think in spreadsheets and want grids, reports and dashboards across many kinds of work.
Predecessors link rows within one sheet, so dependencies between projects need workarounds.
monday.com
Best for: Organizations that want one flexible platform for many teams, with projects as one use among many.
Dependencies across project boards are in the Enterprise tier.
Asana
Best for: Coordinating many teams' work, requests and goals, where plans are mostly sequences with due dates.
Per its community, there is no lag setting on dependencies, and dates do not shift across projects.
Jira
Best for: Software teams working from backlogs in sprints.
Dependencies are "blocks" links; Plans, with what-if scenarios, come with the Premium and Enterprise tiers.
Moving a plan off Microsoft Project
- Export the plan from Project to Excel, keeping the task name, duration and predecessors columns.
- Import the file into the new tool, then check the links came across with their types and lags; a predecessor written as 3SS+2 must stay a start-to-start link with a two-day lag.
- Recreate working calendars and holidays, and set a fresh baseline: baselines rarely survive the move.
- Compare the finish date and the critical path with the original before you switch.
To check a plan's logic before choosing anything, paste those three columns into the free delay simulator: it reads predecessors written the way Project writes them, and needs no account.
Sources
- Microsoft Planner blog: Microsoft Project Online is retiring
- Microsoft Support: Advanced capabilities with premium plans in Planner
- Microsoft Planner blog: Transitioning to Microsoft Planner and retiring Project for the web
- Microsoft Support: Link tasks in a project
- Microsoft Support: Manage your project's critical path
- Microsoft Support: Set and save a baseline
- Microsoft Support: Successors (task field)
- ProjectLibre: product overview
- Oracle: Primavera P6 Professional User Guide, relationships
- Oracle: Primavera P6 Professional Help, shortening the critical path
- Oracle: Primavera P6 Professional Help, assign baselines to projects
- Smartsheet Help: Activate dependencies and use predecessors
- Smartsheet Help: Baselines and critical path
- Smartsheet Community: Can I link predecessors between sheets?
- monday.com Support: Dependencies on monday.com
- monday.com Support: Critical Path for the Gantt Chart
- monday.com Support: The Gantt Baseline
- monday.com Support: Cross-Project Dependencies
- Asana Forum: Mastering advanced task dependencies in Asana
- Asana Help: Critical path on timeline
- Asana Forum: Introducing Gantt view
- Asana Forum: Dependencies between tasks of different projects
- Atlassian Support: Configure dependencies in Jira for your plan
- Atlassian Community: How to do critical path analysis in Jira
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