Microsoft Project vs Notion comparison

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Microsoft Project

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Microsoft Project and Notion compete in the project management sector. Microsoft Project appears to have the upper hand due to its extensive enterprise features essential for large organizations, while Notion stands out for its affordability and flexibility tailored to small teams and individuals.

Features: Microsoft Project includes detailed scheduling, resource leveling, and cost tracking, ideal for managing complex projects. Notion provides versatile note-taking, database management, and customizable task organization for better real-time collaboration.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Project's complexity makes it challenging for simple projects, requiring better integration and real-time data handling. Notion needs enhanced automation, more color options, and improved integration with external platforms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Project offers various deployment models like on-premises and cloud but often needs technical support. Notion's online deployment is accessible, though complex scenarios require support due to limited mobile and integration support.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Project is costly, with pricing based on licenses, offering good ROI for enterprises needing extensive features. Notion provides a free plan and affordable paid options, delivering substantial ROI through flexibility and task management, suitable for smaller teams and individual users.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Project vs. Notion Report (Updated: April 2025).

Microsoft Project vs. Notion

April 2025

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Helped 851,491 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Project

Ranking in Project Management Software

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Notion

Ranking in Project Management Software

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Knowledge Management Software (2nd), Document Automation Software (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft Project is 7.8%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Notion is 2.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Project Management Software

Featured Reviews

Nurul Asyikin Wahab

Management Design Civil Structure at Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd

Efficient project management with robust data tracking and an easy setup

When I have too many elements or items in a project, it becomes cumbersome, especially during printing. Non-technical users do not need all the data, so it's primarily for technical personnel. Without guidance, it's challenging to use the app. With guidance and expert knowledge, it becomes manageable, however, it's not for non-technical teams. The worst part is handling too many items, like 1,000 items, which Microsoft Project struggles with, especially when printing. Printing on A3 size is quite burdensome, so I prefer viewing it on a tablet or computer. On a tablet or phone, I can see the full project elements depending on the screen size.

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Iván Fanego

Founder at AppCritic

Creates customizable systems and improve team collaboration

Notion is a very flexible and customizable platform, allowing users to create whatever they need. The most impactful feature for project management is the ability to invite multiple client stakeholders without complication. Once I understand the basics, it's easy to use despite an initial learning curve. It also significantly improves team collaboration through customized views and visualizations of data.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Project are you can create critical paths pretty easily, and you can import from an Excel spreadsheet to your task list as you create it during your working sessions with your team."

"The ability to break down project phases is most valuable. Being able to align the tasks and reporting with project milestones and progress is also valuable."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the scheduling, managing the resources, budgeting, tracking the progress, viewing the progress, reporting, and it is very easy to use."

"If you work with Microsoft, it's very easy to work with this."

"Microsoft Project is used to track the project delivery and the project management."

"Microsoft Project's integrated timeline is tied to the project plan almost seamlessly, and you add whatever action item or milestone you choose. All you have to do is set up a column and click on the timeline. It will automatically put it in there and allow you to choose the type, whether it's a bar or if it's a milestone, just pointing out that single milestone"

"We value all the features. Previously, we used Jenkins for similar purposes, but Microsoft Projects works fine. We're looking to improve integration with different clusters on production and automate various aspects of software development. This includes integration for alerting, monitoring, and pricing purposes, among other things."

"It comes with our Office 365."

More Microsoft Project pros

"Notion has very strong integration capabilities."

"I like the high level of customization in Notion."

"The product has a valuable feature for databases. It has a table and a calendar view and saves various documents in the system."

"The initial setup is easy."

"Notion is an all-in-one product, allowing us to do many things in a single place."

"I rate Notion a ten out of ten."

"Customer support is great, effective, and easy to reach."

"Notion has a lot of integrations."

More Notion pros

Cons

"It would be better if the solution is integrated with other communication platforms like Microsoft Teams."

"It would be ideal if the solution integrated more with Azure DevOps and other work management platforms like Jira."

"The dashboard could be improved."

"Microsoft Project could improve the interface, it should be more intuitive. It could be adjusted a little bit to make it a little easier to use and more user-friendly. It is a very powerful tool and it takes people a while to get used to it."

"Its user interface could be a little bit more intuitive. Not everybody has the luxury of going to training and understanding which button does what and the functionality. The user interface should be improved to make it a little bit more intuitive. It is not user-friendly. I've dealt with it for a number of years, so it is not hard for me to figure it out, but you would need a quick reference guide or something to say, "Here are the basics. This is how you do X.""

"Collaboration is an area that needs improvements."

"The solution is a basic tool that does not give you analytical insights. It does not have any AI capabilities which can also help to plan."

"The tool's deployment is complex. Integration and automation also need to be improved."

More Microsoft Project cons

"There could be an automation feature included in the product."

"One area for improvement in the solution is the absence of integrated charts."

"The platform's documentation feature needs improvement."

"There are a lot of things, but one thing that is absolutely necessary is the mobile application."

"Adding more color options to the application would enhance its usability and flexibility, allowing users to better customize their content"

"The linked view of database, along with the sharing and permission settings, are areas with shortcomings in the solution that need improvement."

"The only problem I experience is that it often hangs."

"It can be difficult to contact the people at Notion."

More Notion cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten since I feel it is a bit costly."

"I am not involved with this."

"The solution has a decent annual license subscription cost, which is not high."

"Its price could be reduced a little."

"The solution is expensive."

"I rate Microsoft Project's pricing a five out of ten."

"We purchase perpetual licenses due to the high cost of subscriptions, which are about 1,000 Australian dollars."

"It gets expensive when having to add all of the plugins and everything that you need."

More Microsoft Project pricing and cost advice

"The product has good pricing."

"The pricing structure is quite reasonable, and the basic plan covers the most essential features."

"I rate the product's pricing a three out of ten. We only need to pay for it if we use it in the workspace."

"The product has good pricing."

"The product's pricing depends on the usage plans."

"I pay around $100 per year."

"It's pretty affordable."

"Notion is free to use."

More Notion pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Project Management Software solutions are best for your needs.

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851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

65%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

18%

University

10%

Comms Service Provider

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?

Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...

What do you like most about Microsoft Project?

The product's initial setup phase is easy.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Project?

The issue with Microsoft is that the license is per personnel, making it expensive.

What do you like most about Notion?

I like the high level of customization in Notion.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Notion?

The licensing and setup cost for Notion is affordable for us as a small company.

What needs improvement with Notion?

The main problem with Notion is that it's not flexible enough for all of the use cases we intend to address. For instance, it is challenging to focus on a single KPI as it's mandatory to have a cha...

Jira vs Microsoft Project

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Procore Project Management vs Microsoft Project

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Zendesk vs Notion

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Compared 13% of the time

Zoho Projects vs Notion

Compared 12% of the time

Smartsheet vs Notion

Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Download Microsoft Project product report

Microsoft Project

May 2025

Download Notion product report

May 2025

Also Known As

Project Pro, MS Project

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Project helps you get started quickly and execute projects with ease. Built-in templates and familiar scheduling tools help project managers and teams stay productive.

Microsoft

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that enables teams to collaborate, organize, and manage their work effectively. Its primary use case is to streamline project management, knowledge sharing, and task tracking. With its versatile functionality, Notion allows users to create and customize databases, wikis, and documents, making it a powerful tool for organizing information.

The most valuable functionality of Notion lies in its flexibility and ease of use. Users can create and link various types of content, such as text, images, files, and even embed external resources. This enables teams to centralize their work and collaborate seamlessly, eliminating the need for multiple tools. Notion's drag-and-drop interface and intuitive editing features make it accessible to users of all technical backgrounds.

Notion helps organizations by fostering transparency, improving productivity, and enhancing knowledge management. By providing a centralized platform for collaboration, teams can easily access and contribute to shared projects, reducing communication gaps and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Notion's powerful search functionality and tagging system enable efficient information retrieval, making it easier to find and share knowledge within the organization.

Sample Customers

Aston Martin, ABANCA, Airbus Group, Capita, Cardiff University, City of Saskatoon, Intel, Pegasus Airlines, South Australia Power Network (SAPN), Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing

Startups like Loom, Mixpanel, Blinkist, Adobe, Deel and Education facilities such as USC, Dartmouth and The University of Chicago.