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 7.8, while Planview is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.5. Microsoft holds a 5.6% mindshare in PMS, compared to Planview’s 1.6% 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 84 Microsoft Project reviews

2,695 Views
2,075 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Planview AdaptiveWork

Read 8 Planview AdaptiveWork reviews

682 Views
518 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: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project vs. Planview AdaptiveWork

September 2025

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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

19th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft Project is 5.6%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Planview AdaptiveWork is 1.6%, down from 1.9% 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	5.6%
Planview AdaptiveWork	1.6%
Other	92.8%

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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VishalSingh11

Director BPM at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has resources management and timesheets but could be more flexible

Compared to Broadcom Clarity, there was some flexibility with blueprints, etc. You can create a blueprint for different business groups or different customers. Planview AdaptiveWork doesn't have something like that. If they can build up something like a view price. It's still a traditional way where you have to create different instances for different customers. The PPM solution uses queries if I'm rolling out for different divisions. In that case, I have to create different instances for each region because each division may have a different look and feel. But if I have a blueprint, then it's very convenient. I can create multiple interfaces for different processes. Broadcom Clarity has some access control on those viewpoints.

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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 Gantt chart view is great."

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

"I especially like the reporting tools, which are visual tools and offer visual reports."

"Resource leveling is very useful. We like this feature. We like to be able to expand tasks and look at different resources and tasks usages. It is good at assigning tasks to teams. It is pretty compliant with the Project Management Institute approach, which is useful for being comprehensive. It allows us to make little Gantt charts and network diagrams."

"The user interface is very clean."

"The user interface is simple and it helps me in planning what needs to be accomplished."

"Microsoft Project is easy to use and helps our teams visualize the evolution of our projects."

"The integration between SharePoint and Power BI has been great."

More Microsoft Project pros

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

"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."

"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."

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

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."

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

"It should be easier to break things. Breaking up the visualization from the task is sometimes a little bit tricky to do. You can do it, but it takes a minute. It's not an easy function to do. The way you have to format it and stuff like that takes a minute."

"We'd like to have more resource allocation and monitoring features."

"When you start getting into the more advanced features, it can become unstable. The more you use the advanced features, the more exposure you have to an unanticipated result. I think we need to add the Kanban Board capability to the product that would help them advance that board into the project management methodology that's being used in the industry today. Being able to depend on Scrum management is key."

"In a future update, the system should be more inclusive and open to everyone, not just limited to one organization. For example, there may be instances where we want to bring in a guest from outside our organization and integrate them into our project. It would be beneficial if the system was more accessible and easy to integrate with other projects. Additionally, it would be great if there was a way to receive notifications, regardless of whether they come from a Gmail domain or another domain, to keep us informed of any incoming tasks."

"Microsoft Project has much room for improvement. The solution is still stuck where it was in 2013. Not much has changed since then. There is a lot that can be changed in the enterprise segment."

"In a future release, the dashboard should improve because there isn't one, I had to create my own."

More Microsoft Project cons

"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."

"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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing model is somewhat complex."

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

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

"The license is a one-time payment but it is expensive."

"The license fees for the professional version, which is estimated to be approximately $1,600, and the standard version, which is approximately $1,200, may be considered expensive by some users. This is something that could be improved to make the platform more accessible to a wider audience."

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

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

"The solution is expensive."

More Microsoft Project pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Manufacturing Company

13%

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	14
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...

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What do you like most about Microsoft Project?

The product's initial setup phase is easy.

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

The company typically pays for the Microsoft Project licensing. I'm not certain about the exact cost of the licenses, but I believe it's usually included in the Microsoft 365 package.

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?

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 oth...

See all answers

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Compared 24% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

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Compared 16% of the time

Planforge Project Management vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 15% of the time

Planview ProjectPlace vs Planview AdaptiveWork

Compared 14% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project

September 2025

Download Microsoft Project product report

Buyer's Guide

Planview AdaptiveWork

September 2025

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

September 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Project vs. Planview AdaptiveWork

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