Meisterplan vs Microsoft Project (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Meisterplan grades higher than Microsoft Project: 2.0 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
Meisterplan grades higher on the free plan and platforms. Microsoft Project grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Meisterplan
Portfolio and resource capacity planning for PMOs
Microsoft Project
Desktop project scheduling for Windows with Gantt charts
Which one is for you
Pick Meisterplan if
- Fits if a PMO has to decide which projects to fund based on the people available
- Makes sense if you are replacing portfolio spreadsheets and have 50 or more resources to plan
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are a small team: the listed price starts at 50 resources, $700 a month on Basic
- Watch out: what-if scenarios, goals and the Jira and Smartsheet integrations are not on Basic, only Pro at $900
- Watch out: Premium is annual only and starts at 150 resources, at $3,490 a month
- Too light for day-to-day task tracking by individual teams, which the vendor does not aim it at
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
| 2.0GPAMeisterplanFair | 1.6GPAMicrosoft ProjectWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DBasic is $700 a month for 50 resources billed yearly, Pro $900, against a category middle of $9 a seat. The listed prices are for 50 resources, so that is the floor, and one person cannot buy it for less. Scenarios and goals need Pro. | 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 | C30-day trial of Pro functionality, no credit card needed. There is 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 | CCapacity planning, load balancing, goals, a portfolio kanban and dashboards. Scenarios, goals and integrations are not on Basic, and the vendor positions it for portfolio planning, not day-to-day task tracking. | 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. It is a web app where a PMO has to set up resources, projects and goals before it shows anything useful. | 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 only, with Jira, Asana and Smartsheet integrations, a REST API and MCP access for AI tools. No phone or desktop app on record. | 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 | capacity planning across a project portfolio | 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: Meisterplan and Microsoft Project. How we grade
Price against what you get
Meisterplan starts at $700 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Microsoft Project starts at $30 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Meisterplan scores higher, and starts $670 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other project management tools on the chart, 58 score higher than Meisterplan 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.
- Meisterplan also covers kanban boards and dashboards.
- Microsoft Project also covers templates, tasks and Gantt & timelines.
At a glance
| Meisterplan | Microsoft Project | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $700 per month for 50 resources, billed annually ($840 billed monthly) | $30.00 per user / month, paid yearly (Plan 3), or $679.99 one-time (Standard 2024) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial with Pro Edition functionality, 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 | ||
| Made by | itdesign GmbH | Microsoft Corporation |
| Price read from | meisterplan.com | microsoft.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Meisterplan
- The listed prices are for 50 resources; the page offers packages up to 1,000 resources and a custom quote above that.
- What-if scenarios, goals and integrations are not on the Basic edition.
- Premium is billed annually only and starts at 150 resources.
- The vendor positions it for portfolio planning, not for day-to-day task tracking by individual teams.
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
Meisterplan
- Resource capacity planning
- Plan projects against the capacity of the people or roles available, with load balancing per team.
- What-if scenarios
- Pro and Premium let a PMO try different portfolio scenarios before committing to a plan.
- Goals and prioritization
- Goals and a portfolio kanban help rank which projects to fund and start.
- Reporting dashboards
- Several ways to view and analyze portfolio data are included on Pro and above.
- Jira and Smartsheet integrations
- Pro lists integrations such as Jira and Smartsheet, and the site also covers Asana, Microsoft products, a REST API and MCP access for AI tools.
- Unlimited users
- Only resources count toward the license, so everyone who needs access to the portfolio can be given a login.
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
Meisterplan
Basic$700
per month for 50 resources, billed annually ($840 billed monthly)
Unlimited users, basic portfolio management, resource planning, load balancing per team and copy-and-paste import. The price rises with the resource count, up to 1,000.
Pro$900
per month for 50 resources, billed annually ($1,080 billed monthly)
Adds what-if scenarios, goals, portfolio kanban, more ways to analyze data and integrations such as Jira and Smartsheet. The price rises with the resource count.
Premium$3,490
per month for 150 resources, billed annually
Annual payment only, starting at 150 resources. Adds a dedicated Customer Success Manager, user auto-provisioning, a self-service sandbox and a custom SMTP server.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Meisterplan or Microsoft Project?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Meisterplan starts at $700 per month for 50 resources, billed annually ($840 billed monthly), and Microsoft Project starts at $30.00 per user / month, paid yearly (Plan 3), or $679.99 one-time (Standard 2024). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Meisterplan or Microsoft Project?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Meisterplan nor Microsoft Project has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Meisterplan and Microsoft Project run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Meisterplan lists a web app 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.