Microsoft Project vs Planview AdaptiveWork comparison

Microsoft and Planview are both solutions in the Project Management Software category. Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.7, while Planview is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 2.9% mindshare in PMS, compared to Planview’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Planview users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Project

Read 85 Microsoft Project reviews

3,106 Views
2,454 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Planview AdaptiveWork

Read 8 Planview AdaptiveWork reviews

989 Views
692 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Project

Planview AdaptiveWork

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Planview AdaptiveWork and Microsoft Project are both key players in the project management software category. Microsoft Project seems to hold an edge due to its comprehensive feature suite, even though it demands a higher financial commitment.

Features: Planview AdaptiveWork offers capabilities like task management, collaborative workspaces, and robust reporting tools. Microsoft Project provides advanced scheduling tools, resource management, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365.

Room for Improvement: Planview AdaptiveWork could enhance its integration options and reporting customization. Microsoft Project might benefit from simplifying its interface and improving user guidance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Planview AdaptiveWork is straightforward to deploy with its cloud-based model and strong customer support. Microsoft Project offers flexible cloud and on-premise solutions but its extensive customer base may complicate customer service interactions.

Pricing and ROI: Planview AdaptiveWork is cost-effective and offers a strong ROI through competitive pricing. Microsoft Project, while requiring a higher initial investment, justifies its pricing with potential productivity enhancements owing to its extensive feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Project vs. Planview AdaptiveWork Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project vs. Planview AdaptiveWork

February 2026

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Helped 881,707 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

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Planview AdaptiveWork

Ranking in Project Management Software

17th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft Project is 2.9%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Planview AdaptiveWork is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Project Management Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Project	2.9%
Planview AdaptiveWork	1.1%
Other	96.0%

Project Management Software

Featured Reviews

Jacob-George

Domain Consultant at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees

Improved project scheduling has maximized resource utilization and has reduced delays

I think the licensing structure presents a significant area for improvement. The full features are not offered on the standard E4 license. This becomes problematic when distributing the project plan. I can export the plan as Excel and CSV files, but then I lose all the rich features, including dependency mapping. To recreate all that functionality without proper licensing is challenging. Microsoft Project offers a light version available for free, but when I try to distribute a project plan, it requires separate licensing. Microsoft Project Central used to be more of an enterprise product. Microsoft Project currently focuses on very low-level task management, and it could do much more. I do not see significant advancement happening because there is confusion about where Microsoft Project is heading. I believe Microsoft should bundle the license with Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This approach would result in more people using Microsoft Project. That is my opinion on how to improve adoption and the product offering.

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reviewer2383668

Product Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Helps to organize projects across multiple teams and automates manual tasks

Integration with other tools can sometimes be a hiccup, but this isn't necessarily a limitation of Planview AdaptiveWork. It's more often a result of company policies regarding integration with other systems and tools. From what I've gathered from discussions on various platforms, it appears that AdaptiveWork does integrate well with other tools. However, our experience is limited due to company policy restrictions. Some teams use it in agile settings. We follow the waterfall approach. I would recommend it, but users should ensure they strategically build out their workflows and logic. I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.

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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

"It is easy to check project costs in the solution."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Project is status reporting."

"The solution is stable."

"It is easy to use and pretty intuitive. User interfaces have stayed the same for the most part for the last 20 years. So, there is a familiarity."

"I have found that the chart reporting feature is very helpful for us currently."

"Microsoft Project is one of the only solutions you can use in just about any industry. It's difficult to do that with most other project management tools. There is a lot of flexibility within the product assets. Most sectors can utilize Microsoft Project successfully because it doesn't have any generic adapters."

"It's most useful feature is that it interfaces with Project Server so we can, from my perspective, from a portfolio perspective, we can see across the organization."

"The standard project planning features and charts are most valuable."

More Microsoft Project pros

"Clarizen Slide Publisher has helped increase transparency and communication with project stakeholders for us."

"Clarizen's strength is reporting. Aside from reporting, I also like the ability to create customized workflow and custom actions. The workflow rules are handy. For example, you can create custom fields and dependent picklists."

"The feature that has improved our project planning the most is the ability to create custom workflows, which allows us to automate manual tasks that project managers need to perform. The collaboration feature enhances our team's productivity by allowing individuals to see the impact of their decisions on projects owned and managed by other teams."

"I like the project management solution. It's really nice."

Cons

"If Project had a better mechanism to allow those who are not the project manager to see their own work tasks, that would be of help or of value to us."

"I find the setup a little bit cumbersome."

"The scalability is co-dependent on the stability of the product. We have 4000 users, and at times the product is slow."

"I would like to see more integrations with another software tool."

"It's hard to reach technical people to get the help you need."

"What could have been better is the integration with Office 365 so that if you're discussing a project on Teams or there's an email related to the project, it can be tagged to the project in Microsoft Project. That functionality is currently not there."

"The packaging of Microsoft Project Professional is pretty simple as a product. But, the end-to-end enterprise is complex."

"There have been some drawbacks with customization. Some users want it to be an automation tool."

More Microsoft Project cons

"I felt like the slide publisher isn't that user-friendly. I think it wasn't that easy to use or to figure out because of formatting constraints, or maybe we need to get better at understanding some of its limitations."

"One specific area for improvement could be implementing a development environment to test workflows with live production data."

"It could be more user-friendly. I think it is too overwhelming, initially, in terms of possibilities and so on."

"If I start customizing too many things, Clarizen tends to get really slow in our environment and especially if I'm tunneled in an environment, like if I'm connected to my VPN."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

"The cost for an on-premises-based license is a one-time fee, and the cloud-based is an annual payment plan."

"The product is not expensive. My company has opted for an annual subscription."

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

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

"I do not remember the exact cost we paid but usually, they charge per user per month."

"You do not have to invest much in terms of configuring this solution to suit your needs."

"I am not involved with this."

More Microsoft Project pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	41

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Project?

The product's initial setup phase is easy.

See all answers

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

I would say Microsoft Project is affordable, but the standalone Project license should be included in the Office price to increase adoption.

See all answers

What do you like most about Planview AdaptiveWork?

The feature that has improved our project planning the most is the ability to create custom workflows, which allows us to automate manual tasks that project managers need to perform. The collaborat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Planview AdaptiveWork?

One specific area for improvement could be implementing a development environment to test workflows with live production data.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Planview AdaptiveWork?

See all answers

Comparisons

Jira vs Microsoft Project

Compared 16% of the time

Asana vs Microsoft Project

Compared 8% of the time

monday.com vs Microsoft Project

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Project Server vs Microsoft Project

Compared 6% of the time

Smartsheet vs Microsoft Project

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Project Competitors

monday.com vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 12% of the time

Planview Portfolios vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 11% of the time

ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 9% of the time

Planview ProjectPlace vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 8% of the time

Basecamp vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 3% of the time

More Planview AdaptiveWork Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project

January 2026

Download Microsoft Project product report

Buyer's Guide

Planview AdaptiveWork

January 2026

Download Planview AdaptiveWork product report

Also Known As

Project Pro, MS Project

Planview Clarizen

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

AdaptiveWork services the project management software needs of more than 2,500 companies in 76 countries worldwide. They boast a robust client list, including companies such as: Chanel, Cisco, The Walt Disney Company, EA, FedEx, HP, UPS, and VMWare. Founded in 2006, their goal is to change the way collaboration happens within companies of all sizes. AdaptiveWork focuses strongly on the fact that transparency, communication, and idea sharing are key in effective business models.

AdaptiveWork uses the cloud and social communications in their software. This helps AdaptiveWork project management software provide real time updates, maximize efficiency of collaboration, and keep all team members productive and on the same page. AdaptiveWork is fully configurable, and is designed to scale and adapt to different organizational needs. Their task management software is easy to implement, meaning start up will not cost clients time away from their work.

AdaptiveWork offers an enterprise-class project management software solution that fits all businesses' project management needs. With a name created from the words "Clarity" and "Zen", AdaptiveWork's software is designed to help businesses collaborate effectively and create true peace of mind. Project management software doesn't just help get work done; it helps create stronger and more efficient teams. By keeping everyone on the same page, AdaptiveWork task management software helps your team stay focused on the goal of your project.

Planview

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

Cisco Capital, JLL, Conagra Brands, Cargill, JLL, IBM, IIROC, Siemens Energy

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project vs. Planview AdaptiveWork

February 2026

Free Report: Microsoft Project vs. Planview AdaptiveWork

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