Best Microsoft Project alternatives

What is actually retiring on 30 September 2026?

Only Project Online is retiring. Microsoft's announcement says the service will no longer be available after 30 September 2026, that sales of Project Online-only licenses to new customers ended on 1 October 2025, and that the change does not affect Project desktop, Project Server or Planner. Project for the web, the other cloud version, was already folded into Planner in August 2025, so there was never a second cloud product waiting to take Project Online's place. The Microsoft Learn lifecycle page lists the same retirement date, and the Project Online service description now carries a retirement notice at the top.

The part people get wrong is assuming the whole Microsoft Project family is ending. It is not. Project Standard 2024 and Project Professional 2024 are still sold as one-time desktop purchases, Planner and Project Plan 3 still includes the Project desktop app, and Project Server Subscription Edition is the on-premises product Microsoft points Project Online customers toward when they need a close feature match. Both desktop editions are Windows-only. Compare the options for Microsoft Project on a Mac if you need browser access or file compatibility. The table below is a plain reading of Microsoft's own retirement post, Planner blog and pricing pages as of 3 September 2026.

Two practical consequences follow. First, Microsoft says the retirement happens automatically with no admin action, so a Project Online tenant that does nothing simply loses access on the date; the announcement tells customers to back up data beforehand and to plan the transition immediately. Second, moving to Planner is not a lift-and-shift of Project Online. Planner premium plans carry over the scheduling features most teams use, including dependencies, baselines and critical path on Plan 3, but Planner cannot open a .mpp file directly. Microsoft's own Planner FAQ says .mpp import is not available in Planner and has to go through the Planner Power App. If most of your history lives in .mpp files, that alone is a reason to look at the third-party tools further down.

Microsoft Project pricing in 2026

Microsoft Project pricing in 2026 splits into two families: Planner subscriptions that include the Project desktop app on the higher tier, and perpetual desktop licences for Project Standard and Professional 2024. The prices below were read from Microsoft's Planner and Project pricing pages and the Microsoft Store on 3 September 2026. All subscription prices are per user per month on an annual commitment, and the desktop prices are one-time purchases licensed for one PC.

Three details matter when you compare this with the alternatives. Project desktop is available as a one-time 2024 licence or through Plan 3. The $10 Plan 1 tier gives you a Gantt view but not baselines or critical path, so a Project Online user who downgrades to Plan 1 to save money will lose the two scheduling features they probably relied on. And Plan 5, which Microsoft's Learn documentation still describes, was not on the public Planner pricing page on the day we checked, so confirm its availability and price with your Microsoft account team before you plan around it. Microsoft 365 Copilot is sold separately as a $30 add-on and is not required for any of the scheduling features above.

Compare Microsoft Project pricing before choosing a subscription or desktop licence.

Is Microsoft Project free?

No. There is no free edition of Microsoft Project, and there never has been. The cheapest way to get the Project desktop app is Planner and Project Plan 3 at $30 per user per month, or a one-time $679.99 purchase of Project Standard 2024. What is free is the basic Planner that comes with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions, and it is worth being precise about what that includes, because it is often described as "free Microsoft Project".

Planner in Microsoft 365 gives you boards, a grid, a schedule view and charts, and it can show dependencies and milestones that a licensed colleague created, but it cannot create them and it has no Timeline (Gantt) view. Microsoft's Planner pricing page lists dependencies and milestones as view-only on the included tier. So a Microsoft 365 user can look at a premium plan built by a Plan 1 or Plan 3 user, and tick off tasks in it, but cannot build a Gantt chart of their own. Microsoft also offers a one-month free trial of Plan 1 and Plan 3, which is useful for evaluating, not for running a project on.

If you want a genuinely free Gantt chart with dependencies, you are looking at third-party tools. Ganttile is free with every feature on the free tier and no project limit, ProjectLibre and GanttProject are free open-source desktop apps that open Microsoft Project files, and TeamGantt, Wrike, monday.com and Zoho Projects each have a free tier with limits described in the list below. If you want open source on a server rather than on a desktop, OpenProject is the usual choice, and its open-source and hosted alternatives are compared separately. The free Gantt chart software round-up goes into the limits of each free plan in more detail.

Which software is easiest to migrate to from Microsoft Project?

The easiest tools to migrate to from Microsoft Project are the ones that open your .mpp files directly and keep the dependencies: GanttPRO, TeamGantt, Smartsheet, Zoho Projects and Wrike on the web, and ProjectLibre on the desktop. The hardest are the tools with no Microsoft Project import at all, where you rebuild each plan or bring tasks in through Excel: monday.com, Planner itself, and Ganttile. Ease of migration is mostly about that one file format, because Microsoft Project's dependency and calendar logic does not survive a plain spreadsheet export.

We checked each vendor's help documentation on 3 September 2026 for what its import actually carries across. The results differ more than the marketing suggests. Wrike, for instance, imports tasks, durations, dependencies and assignees with lead and lag preserved, but only on its Business plan and above, only from Project 2013 and 2016 or XML, and only for files under 5 MB. TeamGantt imports task names, dependencies, dates and percent complete but not resources or assignments. GanttPRO imports dependencies and the standard project calendar, turns assigned resources into virtual resources, and drops descriptions, comments and attachments. Smartsheet accepts .mpp, .mpx, .mspdi and .xml but warns that Project constraints are not supported and can leave rows out of order, with the fix being to save as .xml first.

A useful way to read this: if your plans have complex constraints, calendars with exceptions and resource assignments, no web tool imports all of it. In that case either stay on the desktop (Project Standard 2024 or ProjectLibre) or accept that the import gives you the task tree and the dependencies, and treat the rest as a rebuild. If your plans were mostly tasks, dates and finish-to-start links, any of the yes rows will get you a working chart in minutes.

What tools provide Gantt charts comparable to Microsoft Project?

For everyday scheduling, the tools whose Gantt charts are closest to Microsoft Project are GanttPRO, Project Standard 2024 itself, Planner and Project Plan 3, and ProjectLibre, because each of them has all four of the features that define a Project-style schedule: task dependencies that drive dates automatically, a calculated critical path, baselines to compare the plan against, and some form of resource view. Ganttile, TeamGantt and Zoho Projects cover the dependency and critical-path side well but each drops something from that list, and Smartsheet, Wrike and monday.com treat the Gantt as one view among many.

The matrix below only includes features we could verify on the vendor's own pricing or help pages on 3 September 2026, which is why some tools are not in it. Where a feature depends on a plan, the plan is named.

Two honest notes on our own product. Ganttile has dependencies, milestones, automatic scheduling and critical path, and it exports to Microsoft Project, PDF, image and Excel, but it has no baselines, no resource leveling and no .mpp import. A Project user who tracks slippage against a saved baseline every week will miss that in Ganttile and should look at GanttPRO, Zoho Projects Enterprise or Planner Plan 3 instead. A Project user who mainly needed a shared timeline with dependencies and a critical path will find Ganttile does the job with none of the licence cost.

How do Microsoft Project alternatives compare on total cost of ownership?

On licence cost alone, Microsoft Project is at the expensive end of this list, and the perpetual desktop licence is cheaper than the subscription over three years for anyone who does not need Planner. The scenario below prices five people who build and maintain schedules, over three years, using the list prices verified on 3 September 2026. It deliberately excludes people who only need to view a plan, because that is where the tools differ most: Ganttile, GanttPRO's shared links, TeamGantt's unlimited collaborators on Business, and Smartsheet's free contributors all let viewers in for nothing, while Planner needs at least a Microsoft 365 licence per viewer and Project desktop has no viewer at all.

Licence price is the visible part. The costs that actually decide total cost of ownership for a Project migration are the ones that do not appear on a pricing page. Migration time is the first: every .mpp import in the table above drops something, and someone has to re-check calendars, constraints and assignments in each imported plan. Training is the second, and it favours the simpler tools, because Project's reputation for a steep learning curve is the main reason people leave it; a tool a new hire can use in an afternoon avoids a recurring cost. Seat structure is the third: monday.com sells seats in blocks, Wrike's Business plan starts at 5 users, TeamGantt prices per project rather than per person, and Smartsheet's Business plan starts at 3 members, so a small team can end up paying for capacity it does not use. And the retirement itself is a cost for Project Online customers, who are paying for a migration whether they stay with Microsoft or not.

The cheapest defensible path for most small teams is to move the schedule to a free tool, keep one Project Standard 2024 licence if you still need to open old .mpp files with full fidelity, and pay for a broader platform only when reporting or resource management is genuinely part of the job.

The best Microsoft Project alternatives

The tools below cover the full range, from a free online Gantt chart to paid work platforms and free desktop apps. Ganttile is first because it is the fastest way to get a real schedule without cost or setup, but each option suits a different kind of Project user, and the .mpp import note on each entry is often the deciding factor. Prices are annual-billing list prices checked on the vendor's own help centre or pricing page on 3 September 2026.

1. Ganttile - best free online Gantt chart

Ganttile is a free online Gantt chart tool for people who want the timeline without the rest of Microsoft Project. You create tasks, connect them with dependencies, add milestones, let automatic scheduling move dates when something slips, switch on critical path, and export to PDF, image, Excel or Microsoft Project. It runs in the browser, several projects can sit on one chart, and there is nothing to install and no per-user licence, because every feature is on the free tier with no project limit.

What it lacks for a Project user is just as important. There is no .mpp import, so an existing Project plan has to be rebuilt or brought in task by task rather than opened. There are no baselines, so you cannot compare today's dates against a saved version of the plan. And there is no resource leveling or workload view. If your Project usage was a shared schedule with dependencies and a critical path, none of that will matter; if it was baseline variance reports or resource balancing, pick GanttPRO or a platform below instead. When you outgrow a pure timeline and want boards, task lists and reporting around it, the same Gantt chart is built into Breeze.

• Best for: small teams and freelancers who used Project for a timeline and want a free replacement with real scheduling.
• Pricing: Free, every feature included, unlimited projects (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: No. Exports to Microsoft Project, PDF, image and Excel.

Pros

• Free with no install and no per-seat licence.
• Dependencies, milestones, automatic scheduling and critical path.
• Multiple projects on one chart.
• Exports to Microsoft Project, PDF, image and Excel for handoff.

Cons

• No .mpp import, so existing Project files are rebuilt rather than opened.
• No baselines and no resource leveling.
• Focused on the Gantt chart, not a full work platform with boards and dashboards.

Why teams pick Ganttile

2. GanttPRO - closest web match for Project users

GanttPRO is the web tool that former Project users settle into fastest, and its help centre backs that up: the Core plan already includes auto-scheduling, critical path, dependencies, milestones, baselines, an unlimited number of virtual resources, and import from .mpp and Excel. Business adds workload management, portfolios, reports, budget planning and time tracking, which is roughly where Project Professional and Planner Plan 3 sit. The interface is clean and familiar, so the retraining cost is low. We compare the two directly in Microsoft Project vs GanttPRO.

It is a paid product with no free plan. Prices are per user per month billed annually, individual users can buy a single seat on an annual plan, and monthly billing is sold in blocks of five seats, so a team of six on monthly billing pays for ten. The .mpp import brings over dependencies and the standard calendar but not calendar exceptions, descriptions, comments or attachments, and assigned people arrive as virtual resources you then map to real users.

• Best for: teams that want a Project-like scheduler in the browser with baselines and workload.
• Pricing: No free plan, 14-day trial. Core $7, Advanced $10, Business $17 per user per month billed annually; Enterprise from 10 users, listed at $30 with a $20 promotional price on the day we checked (September 2026). Monthly billing is sold in 5-seat increments.
• .mpp import: Yes, on every plan. Dependencies and standard calendar carry over; resources become virtual resources.
• Rating: 4.8/5 on Capterra

Pros

• Baselines, critical path and auto-scheduling on the cheapest plan.
• Imports .mpp with dependencies intact.
• Clean, Project-like interface that eases the transition.
• Workload, portfolios and reports on Business.

Cons

• Per-user pricing adds up, and monthly billing is in blocks of five.
• Import drops calendar exceptions, descriptions and attachments.

What users say about GanttPRO

3. TeamGantt - friendly, priced per project

TeamGantt is the approachable option. Drag-and-drop scheduling, a clean timeline and simple collaboration mean a whole team can be onboarded without a training session, which is exactly what Project's learning curve makes hard. It imports .mpp files, carrying over task names, dependencies, dates and percent complete, though not resources or assignments, so a plan opens as a working chart and people are reassigned afterwards.

Its pricing model is unusual and worth understanding before you compare it on cost. Plans are priced per account by number of projects, not per user: TeamGantt's pricing page lists Base at $59 per month ($590 a year) for up to 5 projects, 1 manager and up to 10 collaborators, Business from $120 per month ($1,140 a year) for 5 projects with unlimited managers and collaborators, and Builder Edition from $199 per month ($1,908 a year) for 10 projects, with extra projects available as add-ons on Business. The free plan is limited to 1 project with 40 tasks and a handful of PDF exports. That makes it cheap for a large team on a few projects and expensive for a small team running many.

• Best for: teams that want an easy-to-learn Gantt tool and run a small number of projects with many collaborators.
• Pricing: Free plan for 1 project and 40 tasks. Base $59 per month for up to 5 projects, Business from $120 per month for 5 projects with unlimited users, Builder Edition from $199 per month for 10 projects; billed annually they are $590, $1,140 and $1,908 a year.
• .mpp import: Yes. Task names, dependencies, dates and percent complete; not resources or assignments.
• Rating: 4.6/5 on Capterra

Pros

• Very easy to learn with drag-and-drop scheduling.
• Imports .mpp with dependencies.
• Unlimited collaborators on Business, so viewers cost nothing.
• Limited free plan to try before committing.

Cons

• Per-project pricing gets expensive for teams with many small projects.
• Lighter on advanced resource and portfolio features.

What users say about TeamGantt

4. Smartsheet - the platform closest to Project Online

Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet and layers Gantt views, automation, dashboards and reporting on top, which is why it comes up so often as a Project Online replacement for PMOs that want portfolio-level visibility without running Project Server. It is a work management platform rather than a chart tool, and it accepts more Microsoft Project formats than anyone else on this list: .mpp, .mpx, .mspdi and .xml. Its help centre is also candid that Project constraints are not supported and can leave imported rows out of order, in which case you save the file as .xml and import that. Our Microsoft Project vs Smartsheet comparison covers the workflow differences.

The Pro plan already includes the Gantt view, unlimited sheets and unlimited free contributors, which keeps viewer cost at zero. Business adds the timeline view, workload tracking and unlimited free guests, and the portfolio features that replace Project Online's portfolio analysis sit on the custom-priced Enterprise plan. There is a trial but no ongoing free plan.

• Best for: operations and PMO teams leaving Project Online who want portfolio reporting in a grid everyone already understands.
• Pricing: Pro $9 per member per month billed annually ($12 monthly) for 1 to 10 members; Business $19 per member per month billed annually ($24 monthly) from 3 members; Enterprise custom from 10 members. Unlimited free contributors on all plans (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: Yes: .mpp, .mpx, .mspdi and .xml. Constraints are not supported; save as .xml if rows import out of order.
• Rating: 4.4/5 on G2

Pros

• Broadest Microsoft Project import support on this list.
• Free contributors, so viewers and updaters cost nothing.
• Automation, dashboards and reporting for larger operations.
• Scales to portfolios on Enterprise.

Cons

• Portfolio features that match Project Online need the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
• More setup and configuration than a focused Gantt tool.

What users say about Smartsheet

5. Wrike - work management with a Gantt on the Team plan

Wrike is a broader work management platform with an interactive Gantt chart alongside dashboards, request forms and resource management. Its plan structure changed in January 2026: Free, Team (2 to 15 users), Business (5 to 200 users), and the custom-priced Pinnacle and Apex. The Gantt chart is included from the Team plan up but not on Free, which matters if you were hoping to run a small schedule for nothing.

The Microsoft Project import is the detail that decides whether Wrike is an easy migration. It preserves tasks, durations, dependencies with lead and lag, and assignees, which is one of the more faithful imports here, but it is only available on Business and above, accepts Project 2013 and 2016 or XML, rejects files over 5 MB, and there is no export back to Project. For a team of five or more that wants the platform anyway, that is fine; for a two-person team it means the Team plan cannot open your files.

• Best for: mid-sized teams wanting work management, request intake and resource views around the schedule.
• Pricing: Free plan (no Gantt). Team $10 per user per month for 2 to 15 users, Business $25 per user per month for 5 to 200 users, both billed annually; Pinnacle and Apex on request (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: Yes, Business and above only. Tasks, durations, dependencies with lead and lag, assignees; Project 2013 and 2016 or XML; 5 MB limit.
• Rating: 4.2/5 on G2

Pros

• Faithful import of dependencies including lead and lag.
• Gantt plus dashboards, request forms and resource management.
• Free plan to start, Gantt from the Team plan.
• Flexible for cross-functional teams.

Cons

• .mpp import needs the Business plan, which starts at 5 users.
• More complex to learn than a focused chart tool.

What users say about Wrike

6. monday.com - flexible work platform, no .mpp import

monday.com is a visual work platform where the Gantt is one of several views alongside boards, calendars and dashboards. Teams configure it to match their workflow, and it is popular well beyond traditional project management. For a team that wants scheduling to live inside a broader work hub with automations and integrations, it is an easy tool to rally around, but it is the weakest migration target on this list for Project users because there is no Microsoft Project import: work comes in through Excel or CSV and the dependencies are rebuilt.

Pricing is per seat, sold in blocks. The support site explains that paid plans start at a minimum of 3 seats and then step up in multiples of 5, so a team of 4 pays for 5 and a team of 6 pays for 10, with an 18% discount for annual billing. Timeline and Gantt views and dependencies need the Standard plan or above rather than Basic.

• Best for: teams that want a flexible, visual work hub and do not need to open existing Project files.
• Pricing: Free for up to 2 seats. Basic $9, Standard $12, Pro $19 per seat per month billed annually; minimum 3 seats, then blocks of 5; Enterprise on request (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: No. Import via Excel or CSV, then rebuild dependencies.
• Rating: 4.7/5 on G2

Pros

• Highly visual and easy to get people engaged with.
• Multiple views including Gantt, boards and calendars.
• Very flexible and configurable to different workflows.
• Broad integrations and automation options.

Cons

• No Microsoft Project import.
• Gantt and dependencies need the Standard plan; seats are sold in blocks.

What users say about monday.com

7. Zoho Projects - cheapest paid tool with .mpp import

Zoho Projects is a structured project management tool with native Gantt charts, dependencies, milestones and time tracking, and it imports .mpp and .mpx files from Project 2003 to 2016 with custom-field mapping and user matching. It offers a lot of capability for very little money, especially for teams already using Zoho CRM, Books or Mail, and its per-user price is the lowest of any paid tool here.

Read the plan table carefully before assuming it matches Project. Dependencies of all four types need Premium, and critical path and baselines, the two features a Project user is most likely to want, only arrive on Enterprise. The free plan covers up to 5 users and 3 projects. The trade-off overall is interface polish: it prioritises breadth over the cleanest possible experience.

• Best for: budget-conscious teams that want .mpp import and full project management, especially inside the Zoho suite.
• Pricing: Free for up to 5 users and 3 projects. Premium $4, Enterprise $9, Ultimate $14 per user per month billed annually; critical path and baselines from Enterprise (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: Yes: .mpp and .mpx, Project 2003 to 2016, with custom-field mapping and user matching.
• Rating: 4.3/5 on G2

Pros

• Lowest per-user price of any paid tool with .mpp import.
• Native Gantt, dependencies and milestones.
• Built-in time tracking and reporting.
• Free tier for up to 5 users.

Cons

• Critical path and baselines need the Enterprise plan.
• Interface feels busier and less polished than some rivals.

What users say about Zoho Projects

8. ProjectLibre - free desktop app that opens .mpp

ProjectLibre is a free, open-source desktop application built as a direct Microsoft Project replacement, and its product page states plainly that it opens and works with existing .mpp files. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and has no licence fee. For anyone who wants the classic Project workflow, opening the old files as they are, at no cost, it is the closest free match, and it is the sensible companion to any web tool in this list when you need to inspect an old .mpp with full fidelity.

The trade-off is that it keeps the traditional desktop feel: no live shared plan in the browser, an interface that shows its heritage, and the file-passing workflow that made people leave Project in the first place. The company also sells a subscription cloud version, but no price is published on its site, so we do not quote one.

• Best for: solo planners who want a free desktop Microsoft Project replacement that opens their existing files.
• Pricing: Free, open source desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. Cloud edition is a paid subscription with no published price (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: Yes, opens .mpp files natively.
• Rating: 4.4/5 on Capterra

Pros

• Completely free and open source.
• Opens .mpp files for a smooth transition from Project.
• Covers core scheduling, dependencies and resources.
• Runs offline on the desktop.

Cons

• Desktop-bound, so no live browser collaboration.
• Dated interface compared with modern web tools.

What users say about ProjectLibre

9. GanttProject - lightweight free desktop scheduler

GanttProject is a free, open-source desktop application focused specifically on Gantt scheduling for Windows, macOS and Linux. It is deliberately lightweight: tasks, dependencies, milestones, a resource view and export options without extra machinery. It imports Microsoft Project files, but the developer's own documentation is honest that dates can shift on the way in: GanttProject works in whole-day durations, enforces dependency constraints more strictly than Project, and removes dependency lag where it can to keep the plan short. Export goes to MSPDI XML and MPX rather than a native .mpp.

Like ProjectLibre, it is a desktop tool rather than a collaborative web app, so it fits individual planners better than distributed teams. The simplicity that makes it easy to pick up also means it lacks the depth of paid platforms, and the import quirks mean an imported Project plan needs a check before you trust the dates. An optional cloud collaboration service exists on pay-as-you-go pricing that is not published on the landing page.

• Best for: people who want a simple free open-source desktop Gantt app.
• Pricing: Free, open source desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. Optional cloud service on pay-as-you-go pricing, not published (checked September 2026).
• .mpp import: Yes, with adjustments: dates can change on import; exports to MSPDI XML and MPX, not .mpp.
• Rating: 4.2/5 on Capterra

Pros

• Free and open source with no licence.
• Lightweight and quick to learn.
• Covers tasks, dependencies, milestones and resources.
• Imports Microsoft Project files and exports MSPDI XML and MPX.

Cons

• Imported dates can shift; whole-day durations only.
• Desktop-only, so no live team collaboration.

What users say about GanttProject

Microsoft Project alternatives compared

Here is how the options line up on type, price, .mpp import and who they suit, with Microsoft's own options at the top for reference. Prices are annual-billing list prices checked on 3 September 2026 and change often, so confirm the total for your team before you buy.

Which Microsoft Project alternative should you choose?

Choose based on which Microsoft Project you are actually leaving. If you are a Project Online customer with a PMO, portfolio reporting and timesheets, the honest shortlist is Microsoft's own Planner and Project Plan 3 or Project Server Subscription Edition, and on the third-party side Smartsheet Enterprise or Wrike Business, because those are the tools that import your files and have somewhere to put the portfolio. If you are a Project desktop user, you do not have to move at all; if you want to anyway, GanttPRO is the closest web equivalent and ProjectLibre is the closest free one. If you used Project for a shared timeline with dependencies and a critical path, which describes most small teams, a free online Gantt chart like Ganttile covers it, provided you can live without baselines and are happy to rebuild rather than import.

The .mpp question is the tie-breaker. Count how many Project files you genuinely need to keep working in, as opposed to archive. If the answer is many, pick from the import-capable tools: GanttPRO, TeamGantt, Smartsheet, Zoho Projects, Wrike on Business, or ProjectLibre. If the answer is a handful, keep one Project Standard 2024 licence or a free ProjectLibre install for the archive, and choose the day-to-day tool on how it works rather than what it opens.

A good way to decide is to build one real project in a free tool first. If the timeline, dependencies and milestones cover what you need, stop there and save the licence fee. If you keep reaching for a baseline, a workload view or a portfolio report, that tells you which paid tier is worth it. Our guide to building a Gantt chart is a fair test project if you do not have one to hand.

Common questions about the Project Online retirement

What happens to Project Online data after 30 September 2026?

Microsoft says Project Online will no longer be available after the retirement date and that customers should back up their data beforehand. The retirement happens automatically with no admin action, so plans, timesheets and Project Web App sites that have not been exported or migrated are not accessible afterwards.

Does the Project Online retirement affect Project Standard or Professional 2024?

No. Microsoft's announcement states the change is exclusive to Project Online and does not affect Project desktop, Project Server Subscription Edition or Planner. Project Standard 2024 and Professional 2024 remain on sale as one-time purchases, and Microsoft lists Standard 2024 as recommended for the Project Online transition.

Is Planner and Project Plan 3 the same thing as Microsoft Project?

Partly. Plan 3 includes the Project desktop app plus Planner premium plans with baselines, critical path and advanced dependencies, so a Plan 3 user has both. What it does not include is Project Online after September 2026, and Planner itself cannot open a .mpp file without the Planner Power App.

Can I keep working in .mpp files after moving to a web tool?

Only on the desktop. Project Standard 2024, Project Professional 2024 and ProjectLibre open and save .mpp natively. Web tools such as GanttPRO, TeamGantt, Smartsheet, Wrike and Zoho Projects import .mpp into their own format, and Wrike explicitly does not export back to Project, so the .mpp file becomes an archive rather than a working file.

Which Microsoft Project alternative is closest to Project Online for a PMO?

Inside Microsoft, Project Server Subscription Edition is the product Microsoft names for organisations that need a close match to Project Online, and Planner premium plans cover portfolios, baselines and dependencies in the cloud. Outside Microsoft, Smartsheet on its Enterprise plan and Wrike on Business or above are the platforms that combine .mpp import with portfolio reporting.

The bottom line

The Project Online retirement on 30 September 2026 is real, narrow and a good moment to ask how much of Microsoft Project you were using. Only the cloud PPM service is going; the desktop app, Project Server and Planner stay, and none of it is free. If you need the portfolio side, Microsoft's Plan 3, Project Server Subscription Edition, Smartsheet or Wrike will carry it. If you need your .mpp files to open as they are, GanttPRO, TeamGantt, Zoho Projects and ProjectLibre will do that at a fraction of Project's price. And if you needed a shared timeline with dependencies and a critical path, a free online Gantt chart covers it with no licence at all. Whichever way you lean, export your Project Online data before the date, build one real plan in the new tool, and let that tell you how much tool you need.