Microsoft Project vs Planview Portfolios comparison

Microsoft and Planview are both solutions in the Project Management Software category. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Planview users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Project

Read 81 Microsoft Project reviews

4,459 Views
2,211 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Planview Portfolios

Read 63 Planview Portfolios reviews

997 Views
576 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Microsoft Project

Planview Portfolios

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Project and Planview Portfolios based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Project Management Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project vs. Planview Portfolios

April 2025

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Helped 847,862 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

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Management Software (3rd)

Planview Portfolios

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (14th), Project Portfolio Management (8th)

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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Mark Hillman

Global Head of Portfolio Management at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees

User-friendly interface, but the reporting could be improved

The reporting is poor and requires improvement. The tiles and exception-based activities in the application are sufficient to get by. However, when it comes to producing executive reports, MI reports, or any other type of reporting, we must exit Planview and work offline. We have been working with them to improve on that, as well as using some of the Power BI capabilities that have been available for a while, but it's still more difficult than it should be. In the next release, I would like to be able to use the data in the tool to gain insight much more easily.

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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

"I find the planning features the most valuable to me."

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

"The most valuable feature is the Auto resource leveling tool because it shows students that often, expert resources get over-scheduled, and that dealing with the issue by just using the auto-resource leveling tool would have a large impact on the delivery date."

"It served the purpose. It was pretty user-friendly."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Project are the availability of being online and within Teams. My entire team can use it and see it, versus the full Microsoft Projects, such as Project Professional, you need to have a license."

"I use Microsoft Project to manage project timelines."

"They now have MS project Online and they have two levels, so it's easier to access what you need and to choose specifically what you'll use. You can start at a lower level, for example, and be more cost-effective and move up if it suits you."

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

More Microsoft Project pros

"Planview Management integrates seamlessly with other tools and systems used within the organization, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and collaboration platforms."

"The financial planning capabilities are very useful. We have integration for an SAP system, and so we load financial data from SAP into Planview for prior months. And then we use the forecasting capabilities to get a complete picture of the cost of a specific project. The financial management is very useful."

"Enterprise One provides a variety of types of resource assignments for assigning work to people. It's very easy and straightforward to configure these assignments. Planview allows us to see the entire workforce. We can see where our skill sets of people are, what they're working on, and allows us to make informed business decisions based on priority."

"Our reporting is much better. There is much more visibility on projects, schedules, tasks, and in our milestones. Now, we have a consistent way of reporting out to the committees and getting all of our schedules and milestones."

"In my opinion, the financial planning feature is the most valuable feature of Planview Enterprise One."

"We do a lot of big projects which are pretty expensive to structure the product development around and see the progress. Every time we start a project, we have to expense the spends for certain amounts. We need some baselines, like predictive versus actual."

"The portfolio and technology management are well built."

"We're still in an early stage. Things will change as we use it more. I did program reports that are important and that will provide us with value."

More Planview Portfolios pros

Cons

"The collaboration has room for improvement."

"I'd like the solution to be less expensive."

"I would like to see a direct integration of Microsoft Project with AutoCAD. It will make client presentations easy."

"Project availability and speed could always be improved."

"It would be better if Microsoft Project were included in the DevOps stack. That is, I'd like to see this tool integrated to a different stack of the applications that we normally use in DevOps, such as in Jira, for example, to deploy a different version related to the different tasks that are included in Microsoft Project."

"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."

"They should assist with tedious tasks."

"Microsoft Project should include more visualization, queries to filter out data, and more reporting structures."

More Microsoft Project cons

"Our version is definitely set up a bit more waterfall world. It would be better if some of the agile features were more in the standard product."

"The number one thing that needs improvement is the UI. It should be easy for a casual project manager. It should provide customizable screens that can be a choice for project managers to choose as a professional level, medium level, and a very easy level."

"We had issues with the data rephrasing."

"Its support to legacy paying customers is something PlanView is not handling well. We were unable to implement due to lack of professional support by PlanView. "

"The technical people are very competent, but there is so much turnover in the people that we talk to, and that's frustrating. They will say, "We can make this work." Suddenly, that guy has left, and we have no one. Then, we have to start all over."

"When I started working with Planview, I didn't know anything about project or resource management. I had to learn everything: the admin side, then the user side of it. Probably, in the beginning, I would implement in the blueprint or workshops more demos. A live demo of how the system works because we would like a little deeper dive in how the application works for us to understand what we need to provide, what we are doing, what we will be doing. Because in the beginning, it was so overwhelming, and we didn't know anything about the tool."

"I would like a bit more flexibility, as far as the configuration, and have additional capabilities to configure, making it more flexible for our use."

"I think the capabilities are there, but it seems difficult for me to even create a report as I am not a Planview technical expert. It is not particularly intuitive. It slows us down in reporting the big picture to management."

More Planview Portfolios 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 rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

"I am not aware of any additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees of the solution."

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

"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."

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

"I believe the licensing for the solution is based on an annual fee."

"The solution is less expensive than other options."

More Microsoft Project pricing and cost advice

"Our licensing fees are approximately $50,000 USD annually."

"In the time that I've used it, we've doubled up the amount of dollars on our intended projects."

"We overbought our licenses. We looked at our needs three to four years down the road and tried based our contract on that. However, we were over aggressive. We use about a third of the licenses that we have. We're looking to adjust the makeup so we can start utilizing the amount of money that we are spending. Right now, we're overspending, and my organization is not seeing the value in Planview because we are paying so much for licenses that we're not using."

"Our licensing costs are about a quarter of a million dollars per year."

"I think all in we are at $33,000 a year and that includes Projectplace and Planview. We used to have the integration to JIRA, but we don't pay for that anymore."

"I don't think we have necessarily purchased everything that I would have liked to have seen."

"Planview is a little pricey. From a licensing perspective, for just a simple timesheet user who does nothing in the system but reports time, the licensing is a little pricey, but you have to look at it from what it is that you get. We have 6,000 users, and I don't manage the system at all. I just have to do add them to the system. The servers, maintenance, OS levels, security patching for the OS, and all other things are not something that we maintain. So, you have to look at it from an operational perspective. It is not just the product itself. A holistic view has to be taken when you look at the product and how you're going to support it. I would have to hire an entire operation staff to bring it in-house, and at the end of the day, that might cost me more."

"I don't know about the actual pricing. I have not come across any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

More Planview Portfolios pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

67%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

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...

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?

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

See all answers

What do you like most about Planview Portfolios?

Planview Management integrates seamlessly with other tools and systems used within the organization, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, customer relationship management (CRM) syst...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Planview Portfolios?

Planview Portfolios is not too expensive. You get what you paid for.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Planview Portfolios?

Enhancements are needed in: Advanced reporting and analytics: While Planview Management provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities, further enhancements could include more advanced data v...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 15% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

Planisware vs Microsoft Project

Compared 8% of the time

Freshservice vs Microsoft Project

Compared 7% of the time

Planview ProjectPlace vs Microsoft Project

Compared 4% of the time

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Broadcom Clarity vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 13% of the time

LeanIX vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 10% of the time

SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 9% of the time

Planview PPM Pro vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Project Server vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project

March 2025

Download Microsoft Project product report

Buyer's Guide

Planview Portfolios

March 2025

Download Planview Portfolios product report

Also Known As

Project Pro, MS Project

Planview Enterprise One, Troux

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

Planview Portfolios offers a comprehensive platform for managing IT, project and resource management, along with strategic planning. The tool focuses on optimizing resource allocation and financial analysis, supporting global operations.

Organizations use Planview Portfolios to streamline project tracking from inception to completion, enhancing strategic alignment with corporate objectives. The tool integrates with platforms like JIRA to provide seamless workflows and supports critical business processes, including budgeting and capacity planning. Teams benefit from customized configurations and robust reporting, further supporting effective decision-making. Despite its strengths, improvements are sought in navigation, documentation, and integration capabilities.

What are the key features?

Customizable interface: Allows personalization to meet specific needs.
Comprehensive resource and financial management: Enables detailed tracking and analysis.
Robust reporting: Provides extensive data insights.
Integration with Power BI: Enhances data access for stakeholders.
Resource and capacity planning: Optimizes workforce allocation.

What benefits should users expect?

Improved strategic alignment: Supports better decision-making.
Increased operational efficiency: Streamlines project management.
Enhanced resource optimization: Ensures optimal use of workforce.
Better financial insights: Allows precise budget tracking.

In industries like IT and project management, Planview Portfolios supports complex portfolio handling, ensuring visibility across global operations. Companies in these sectors leverage its strategic planning tools for strategic alignment and resource management, integrating with existing systems for improved process efficiency.

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

UPS, NatWest, Ingram Micro, Canadian Tire, Viessmann, Volvo, NASCO, UNESCO

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Project vs. Planview Portfolios

April 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Project vs. Planview Portfolios

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Project vs. Planview Portfolios and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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