Celoxis vs Microsoft Project (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Celoxis grades higher than Microsoft Project: 2.2 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Celoxis grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Celoxis
Project and portfolio management with per-seat plans
Microsoft Project
Desktop project scheduling for Windows with Gantt charts
Which one is for you
Pick Celoxis if
- Fits if you manage projects with schedules, baselines and costs
- Works for teams of 5 or more who will pay for planning tools
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you want resource planning: it starts at Essentials, $25 a user
- Pricey if you need costing, billing or a client portal, on Professional or Business at $35 to $45 a user
- Watch out: every account needs at least 5 full-access users
- Watch out: Jira, Azure DevOps, QuickBooks and Zapier links are paid add-ons on every plan
- Not for you if you want monthly billing figures: the page shows only the yearly price, and unused time isn't refunded
Pick Microsoft Project if
- Fits if you build detailed schedules with dependencies, baselines and resource leveling on Windows
- Works for organizations that prefer a perpetual license, at $679.99 per PC, to a subscription
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're on a Mac or want it on your phone, as the desktop app is Windows only
- Pricey if you just need a Gantt chart, at $30.00 a user a month or $679.99 one-time for a single PC
- Not for you if you want to plan in a browser, because Project for the web was retired and web plans now live in Planner
- Watch out: there's no trial of the one-time licenses, and the subscription trial needs a credit card
- Watch out: Project Server has no list price and needs SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, bought separately
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACeloxisFair | 1.6GPAMicrosoft ProjectWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DCore is $10 a user a month yearly, but workload and capacity planning start at Essentials, $25, and costing at $35, against a $9 middle. Minimum 5 users, so at least $50 a month. | DPlanner and Project Plan 3 is $30.00 a user a month paid yearly, nearly four times this category's middle price and well into its dearest tenth. Buying outright is $679.99 for Standard 2024 on one PC, where the category's typical one-time price is about $200. Professional is $1,129.99. |
| Free plan and trial | C14-day free trial with sample data and no card. No free plan. | DNo free plan, and the one-month trial of Planner and Project Plan 3 wants a credit card. No trial at all is listed for the one-time licences, so a $679.99 purchase is made unseen. |
| Features | BGantt and baselines, capacity planning, timesheets, expenses, billing, risk, client portal and BI. The listing shows no gap in the core job. | BScheduling that works dates out from effort, lead and lag times and dependencies and redoes them when something moves, with Gantt, Calendar and Network Diagram views, baselines, critical path, resource leveling, costs and reports like Burndown. Timesheets need Professional, and collaboration now lives over in Planner. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and scheduling and BI take setup. | CNo store rating on record. It installs like any Windows program and fills in dates for you, but this is the tool with resource leveling and lead and lag times: nobody is productive in it on day one, and each one-time licence covers one user on one PC. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with Jira, Azure DevOps, QuickBooks and Zapier. No desktop app. | DOne operating system. The requirements list Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019, with no Mac, no phone and, since Project for the web was retired, no browser. It works with Excel, Teams, Planner and SharePoint Server and nothing outside Microsoft's world. |
| Best for | project and portfolio management with per-seat plans | detailed scheduling on a Windows PC |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Celoxis and Microsoft Project. How we grade
Price against what you get
Celoxis starts at $10 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Microsoft Project starts at $30 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Celoxis scores higher and starts $20 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, 18 score higher than Celoxis for less, and 85 score higher than Microsoft Project for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Microsoft Project can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Celoxis also covers time tracking, invoicing and dashboards.
- Microsoft Project also covers templates and tasks.
At a glance
| Celoxis | Microsoft Project | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $10 per standard user / month, billed annually | $30.00 per user / month, paid yearly (Plan 3), or $679.99 one-time (Standard 2024) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with sample data, no credit card required | One-month free trial of Planner and Project Plan 3, credit card required. No trial is listed for the one-time licenses |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Celoxis | Microsoft Corporation |
| Price read from | celoxis.com | microsoft.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Celoxis
- Every account needs at least 5 full-access users.
- The listed prices are billed annually; a monthly subscription exists, but the page does not show its price, and unused time is not refunded on cancellation.
- Resource planning starts at Essentials ($25), and costing, billing and the client portal need Professional or Business.
- Jira, Azure DevOps, QuickBooks Online and Zapier integrations are add-ons on every listed plan.
Microsoft Project
- Project desktop's requirements list only Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019, and no Mac or mobile version appears on the pricing page.
- Project for the web was retired in August 2025 and Project Online's retirement date was September 30, 2026; browser-based plans now live in Microsoft Planner.
- Project Standard 2024 and Project Professional 2024 are each licensed for one user on one PC.
- Project Server Subscription Edition has no list price and needs SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, which is not included.
Key features
Celoxis
- Gantt scheduling and baselines
- Every plan includes Gantt charts, advanced scheduling, project templates, split and recurring tasks, and baselines.
- Resource and capacity planning
- Workload tracking, capacity planning, job roles and resource-conflict alerts start on the Essentials plan.
- Timesheets, expenses and billing
- Timesheets arrive on Essentials, expenses and costing on Professional, and project billing on Business.
- Portfolio dashboards and BI
- Aggregated dashboards, analytics and weekly executive reporting cover many projects at once.
- Intake, risk and issue tracking
- Project intake management, risk management and issue tracking are included from the Professional plan.
- Client portal and custom apps
- Clients are free users who can collaborate on permitted projects, and the platform lets you build custom apps.
Microsoft Project
- Automated scheduling
- Tasks are scheduled from start and end dates, effort, lead and lag times and dependencies, and dates fill in automatically as those dependencies change.
- Gantt, calendar and network views
- Project Standard 2024 includes Gantt Chart, Calendar, Network Diagram and Task Sheet views, plus multiple timelines for presenting a complex schedule.
- Baselines and critical path
- Baselines compare actual progress with the original plan, and the critical path shows the tasks that form the longest path through a project.
- Resource management
- Resource leveling resolves conflicts and overallocations automatically. Project Professional 2024 adds fuller resource management and timesheets for payroll and invoicing.
- Built-in reports
- Prebuilt reports such as Burndown and Resource Overview summarize project and resource data, and a project file can be saved as a PDF.
- Project Server connection
- Project Professional 2024 can connect to Project Server Subscription Edition, an on-premises portfolio management server that runs on SharePoint Server.
Plans
Celoxis
Core$10
per standard user / month, billed annually
Gantt charts, advanced scheduling, templates, baselines, dashboards and BI reporting. Includes 2 read-only users; timesheets cost an extra $5 per user / month.
Essentials$25
per standard user / month, billed annually
Adds workload and capacity planning, job roles, work calendars, timesheets and resource-conflict visibility. Team-member users $18, timesheet users $12. Includes 5 read-only users.
Professional$35
per standard user / month, billed annually
Adds project intake, risk management, issue tracking, expenses and project costing. Team-member users $24, timesheet users $12. Includes 10 read-only users.
Business$45
per standard user / month, billed annually
Adds project billing, a client portal, advanced security and higher platform limits. Team-member users $29, timesheet users $14. Includes 15 read-only users.
EnterpriseCustom
Quoted by sales for large PMOs: higher platform and API limits, cloud or on-premise deployment and enterprise support.
Microsoft Project
Planner and Project Plan 3$30.00
per user / month, paid yearly
Subscription that includes the Project desktop client on up to five PCs, plus premium plans in Microsoft Planner on the web and in Teams.
Project Standard 2024$679.99
one-time purchase, licensed for 1 PC
Perpetual desktop license with schedule, task and cost management, Gantt Chart, Calendar and Network Diagram views, baselines, critical path and resource leveling.
Project Professional 2024$1,129.99
one-time purchase, licensed for 1 PC
Everything in Standard plus fuller resource management, timesheets and the ability to connect to Project Server Subscription Edition.
Project Server Subscription EditionCustom
On-premises project and portfolio management server built on SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, bought through a Microsoft partner.
Ways to pay less
Celoxis
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit discounts on request
The pricing FAQ says nonprofits can contact Celoxis with their details to ask about a discount.
Microsoft Project
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Celoxis or Microsoft Project?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Celoxis is cheaper to start with: $10 a month for each person, against $30 a month for each person for Microsoft Project. Celoxis starts at $10 per standard user / month, billed annually, and Microsoft Project starts at $30.00 per user / month, paid yearly (Plan 3), or $679.99 one-time (Standard 2024).
Which has a free plan, Celoxis or Microsoft Project?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Celoxis nor Microsoft Project has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Celoxis and Microsoft Project run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Celoxis lists a web app and iOS and Android apps and only Microsoft Project lists a Windows app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.