Microsoft Project review

Clever resource assignment features combined with a powerful interface

Microsoft Project 1
(Image: © Microsoft)

TechRadar Verdict

Looking for a powerful project management solution? Then Microsoft Project is well worth considering.

Pros

  • +

    Project budget forecasting

  • +

    Cloud and on-premise variants

  • +

    Advanced Gantt charts

  • +

    Supports detailed task descriptions

Cons

  • -

    Cloud version expensive for large teams

  • -

    Lacks a decent mobile application

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Microsoft Project is one of the more advanced project management platforms available today. It features cutting-edge technologies that allow you to identify the best way to schedule projects and find optimal solutions for distributing workloads across your team.

Although Microsoft Project is intended for small and large businesses alike, as you’re about to find out during this Microsoft Project review, it isn’t the most user-friendly project management solution on the market. If ease of use is important to you, you may be better off with a different system.

Plans and Pricing

There are a couple of different ways to access Microsoft Project software, but the most popular is the Microsoft Project cloud-based solution. This can be accessed through three different subscription packages which are, confusingly, named Project Plan 1, Project Plan 3, and Project Plan 5. They vary in price from $10 for Project Plan 1, $30 for Project Plan 3 and $55 for Project Plan 5, per user per month—billed annually, with one month free trial 

Microsoft Project 2

(Image credit: Microsoft)

 All three subscriptions support collaboration and help you to organize your workflow through Gantt charts, board view, grid view, and a project home. The project home is a quick start, all-in-one view to see a top-down view on your projects.  

 However, Project Plan 1 can only be used as a browser-based application while Plan 3 and Plan 5 come with a downloadable desktop client for up to 5 PCs per person. Project Plan 3 is also worth upgrading to if you want to be able to assign specific resources to different tasks, or if you need access to reporting and timesheet functions. Another limiting factor of Project Plan 1 is that it has read-only access for Microsoft’s Roadmap feature. 

Project Plan 5 will be appreciated by experienced project managers who need to model project proposals and compare them to key business metrics. The top tier Microsoft Project subscription also supports demand management, allowing you to create a standardized way to evaluate project ideas from your colleagues.

Additionally, you can also access the cloud-based version of Microsoft Project by signing up for a Microsoft 365 subscription which grants the ability to utilize Microsoft Project Online. Consider going down this path if you want to get hold of other Office productivity tools like Word or PowerPoint.

On-Premise Versions

If you’d prefer to pay for a one-time license instead of signing up to a rolling subscription plan, you can go for an on-premise version of Microsoft Project instead. There are three of these: Project Standard 2019, Project Professional 2019, and Project Server. The first two cost $620 and $1,030 respectively, but you’ll have to request a quote directly from Microsoft if you’re interested in purchasing Project Server.

Microsoft Project 3

(Image credit: Microsoft)

All three on-premise versions of Microsoft Project are good for installation on a single PC at a time. They lack the collaborative features of the cloud Microsoft Project editions but Project Professional supports syncing with Project Online while Project Server comes with cutting edge optimization tools.

Features

Like any good project management solution, customizable Gantt charts are included with Microsoft Project, allowing you to visualize project workflows and resources. But Microsoft Project isn’t short on advanced project management features, either.

An example is the high-level project budgeting toolkit which comes with this platform. Through this, you can do “Earned Value” calculations that return estimated cost and return figures for a proposed project. This is an excellent feature that can help you strategize about which projects to take on.

You can use Microsoft Project to keep tabs on all the work being done throughout your organization by tracking tasks assigned to specific people as well as general goals that need to be met. It’s possible to supervise resources too, and there’s a lot of room for detailed information. For example, additional panels can be added to your charts that do things like account for how material costs will change over time.

If you’re an experienced project manager, you can take your Microsoft Project system to the next level with interactive dashboards that communicate the current status of your projects. However, to do this you’ll need some programming skills and a separate subscription to Microsoft Power BI.

Interface and In Use

If you’ve ever used Microsoft Excel or another Microsoft productivity tool, the chances are that you’ll feel at home when navigating around Microsoft Project. Like other Office programs, tools and shortcuts can be found in a bar at the top of the screen.

However, “at home” doesn’t mean “comfortable”. Although Project might look similar to Excel, you’ll need to have a grounding in project management concepts to fully understand what’s going on in the Microsoft Project interface. On the left part of the display, you’ll find a spreadsheet related to task and resource data. Meanwhile, on the right-hand side is an interactive visualization of your schedule. Taking some time to familiarize yourself with this program before confidently taking on any given task would be a wise choice, even for those who would consider themselves “advanced” in skill and knowledge of project management tools and software.

There’s no mobile app which replicates the function of the desktop or browser-based Microsoft Project experience. There are, however, a couple of closely related applications. Firstly, Microsoft offers the Project Portfolio Dashboard web app which allows you to design comprehensive Project reports on your iPad. And then there’s the iOS and Android Project Microsoft Planner application which can sync your personal tasks and schedule from Project Online.  This is, sadly, something of a downside as most other project management tools have phenomenal mobile applications, allowing your projects to go with you anywhere, on any device. However, if you are solely a computer user, and prefer to leave work at the office, this could be a blessing in disguise. 

Support

 Microsoft certainly didn’t achieve its status as one of the world’s leading tech brands without offering some pretty great customer support. If you encounter an issue with your Microsoft Project subscription or installation, you can get help from a support agent over the phone, through project blogs, via the tech community, and more. 

The Competition

Where Microsoft Projects lacks friendly tutorials to help you get set up quickly, competitors such as Monday.com or Zoho Projects are so intuitive that they hardly need tutorials in the first place. Microsoft Project is more powerful than these alternatives, but its steep learning curve means it’s only a good option if you need the advanced tools bundled with this project management solution.

Final Verdict

Although it won’t be winning any prizes for simplicity, Microsoft Project remains an excellent project management tool for experienced professionals. Its ability to forecast project costs and assign resources based on intricate details mean it can simply go further than and do more than the alternative project solutions.

Read more
female graphic designer pointing with finger on laptop computer during collaboration with male colleague on common project in coffee shop
Best project management software of 2025
female graphic designer pointing with finger on laptop computer during collaboration with male colleague on common project in coffee shop
Best Gantt chart software of 2025
A digital image of a person working through HR controls.
Best free project management software of 2025
screenshot of monday.com crm
Monday Sales CRM review 2025
An illustration of a laptop displaying a gantt chart
Best free Gantt chart software of 2025
A person working from home using two laptops.
Best productivity tool of 2025
Latest in Software & Services
woman listening to computer
AWS vs Azure: choosing the right platform to maximize your company's investment
A person at a desktop computer working on spreadsheet tables.
Trello vs Jira: which project management solution is best for you?
Autonomous finance
Quickbooks vs Quicken: what are the main strengths and weaknesses for your business
finance
Quickbooks vs Xero: which is the best for your business?
Group of people meeting
Zoom vs Google Meet: which is the best video conferencing tool for your business?
Fingers typing on a computer keyboard.
Microsoft 365 Personal vs Microsoft 365 Family: are there any real differences?
Latest in Reviews
WWE 2K25
I've spent days in the ring with WWE 2K25, and it's like a five-star match ruined by the Million Dollar Man
Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro electric toothbrush
Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro review: A powerful seven-mode, Swiss-made sonic brush
Atelier Yumia
I was already sold on Atelier Yumia as an RPG, but I wasn’t expecting it to have my favorite crafting system in all of gaming
Alienware 27 AW2725Q monitor on desk displaying a scene from Cyberpunk 2077
I played games with Alienware's new 27-inch 4K OLED monitor and now I don't want to see another LCD panel
PLAUD NOTE
I tested this AI voice recorder, and now I'll never take meeting notes manually again
SanDisk Extreme PRO with USB4
Testing the new SanDisk Extreme PRO with USB4 SSD proved both challenging and revealing