5 alternatives to the MS Project - These Tools Work Best

MS Project, the most popular project management software in the 21st century, is a tool that every project manager has likely encountered in their career. We understand the everyday experience of using this tool and its limitations. MS Project is a tool that has many valuable features, such as a Gantt chart, milestones, resource assignments, and plan saving. It works great for running a single project. On the other hand, it also has several drawbacks, mainly from the management’s point of view, which often excludes this tool because they cannot track all projects in parallel. We want to present a list of 5 alternative systems that will very well be able to replace MS Project during simple as well as complex, time-consuming projects.

Top MS Project alternatives at a glance

elow is a comparison of the 5 best project management tools that can successfully replace MS Project. The table outlines key features, target users, and main advantages of each solution. You’ll find detailed descriptions of each tool later in the article.

Tool Name	Key Features	Best For	Advantages
FlexiProject	Scheduling, milestones, Gantt chart, project portfolios, risk registry, strategic goal integration, approval workflows	Medium and large companies, management teams	Advanced features, reporting, intuitive interface, MS Project and Excel import
Planview	Portfolio management, project prioritization, resource allocation	Strategy-focused organizations	Strong portfolio control, strategic planning support
GanttPro	Scheduling, milestones, resource allocation, portfolio-level Gantt charts	Small teams, simple projects	Easy to use, strong Gantt chart visualization
Jira	Sprints, tasks, performance tracking, workload management	IT teams, Agile organizations	Perfect for Agile workflows, team analytics
Asana	Task lists, boards, views, mobile app	Project teams, startups	Simple to use, mobile access, integrations

1. FlexiProject

FlexiProject is a comprehensive system for managing projects and project portfolios. Its versatility is a game-changer, enabling effective project planning, monitoring, and control. FlexiProject provides all the tools to complete a project of any scale. It has basic functionalities like project scheduling, milestones, task relationships, and Gantt charts. But it doesn’t stop there. FlexiProject also allows you to create detailed project portfolios that simultaneously give management an overview of several projects’ implementation. It offers unique features such as editable project charters, automatic project reviews, creating risk registers, archiving the project plan, linking projects to the company’s strategic goals, creating custom approval paths, building a knowledge base, and monitoring the project budget. These are just some of the functionalities that will surely pique your interest in this system.

FlexiProject vs. MS Project – Complete Comparison of Features

FlexiProject also allows us to import projects from MS Project and Excel so that we can quickly transfer our work to this tool. Thanks to its intuitive interface, this program is easy to implement and provides a high level of comfort and ease of use for all users. The system is customizable and flexible, allowing you to reflect your project management standards. All this makes FlexiProject the best alternative to Microsoft Project.

Project schedule in FlexiProject tool

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2. Planview

The project management tool allows you to group projects into portfolios and manage them from within portfolios, making it an excellent alternative to MS Project. The tool will enable you to prioritize projects and create a strategy within your organization. The software also allows you to manage the resources needed for projects.

3. GanttPro

This is a simple and intuitive application for creating project schedules. As the name suggests, the application is based on a Gantt chart. In each project, we can make any structure of tasks and milestones for which the Gantt chart is drawn. We can also allocate resources to each task. The tool also allows us to create aggregate Gantt charts for project portfolios, thanks to which we can easily manage allocated resources between projects.

4. Jira

This is a prevalent system in large organizations, especially in IT projects. The ability to divide work into sprints allows agile project management. The system also allows you to easily measure productivity and show which team members are overloaded with work.

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5. Asana

The most popular system for agile project management is popular with development teams working with the Agile methodology. It allows you to create to-do lists and present them in various forms. The mobile app allows you to manage tasks online from wherever you are.

Maximizing efficiency: choosing the best Project management tool

As we can see above, each program combines essential functions and specific extensions suitable for different types of ongoing projects. Some of them will be entirely sufficient for a given organization. Still, it is worth remembering that when an organization runs several projects in parallel, choosing a more advanced tool will allow it to carry out projects effectively and intuitively and provide reporting for board members.