# Lucen Timeline > PowerPoint add-in that turns project plans into timeline slides Lucen Timeline, called Office Timeline until a May 2026 rebrand, is a PowerPoint add-in for Windows that builds timelines, Gantt charts and roadmaps as editable PowerPoint slides. Plans can be typed in or imported from Excel, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira or Wrike, then refreshed when the source changes. A browser version, Timeline Online, is sold separately for Mac users and people without PowerPoint. - **Category:** Presentations - **Made by:** Lucen Software (since 2012) - **Website:** https://www.lucensoftware.com/products/timeline - **Runs on:** Windows, Web - **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026 ## Pricing Lucen Timeline has a free plan. Paid plans start at $9 per user / month, billed annually. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Free add-in: timelines of up to 10 milestones and tasks per slide, limited swimlanes, 1 timescale and the pre-designed themes. The free license is renewed each year. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Up to 10 milestones and tasks per slide, limited swimlanes and dependencies, 1 timescale and pre-designed themes. | | Lite | $9 per user / month, billed annually as a 1-year license | More than 10 items per timeline, 2 swimlanes, timeline, Gantt and swimlane templates. Shown as less than $9 a month; the yearly total is not shown. | | Plus | $17 per user / month, billed annually as a 1-year license | Unlimited swimlanes and sub-swimlanes, dependencies and critical path, 3 timescales and import from Excel. Shown as less than $17 a month. | | Expert | $21 per user / month, billed annually as a 1-year license | Import and refresh from Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira and Wrike, Excel refresh, planned vs. actual, baselines and custom themes. Less than $21 a month. | Read from https://www.lucensoftware.com/pricing/timeline on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Lucen Timeline before buying. ## Key features - **Timelines built inside PowerPoint:** The add-in sits on the PowerPoint ribbon and creates timelines and Gantt charts as native, editable slides, so there is nothing to export. - **Swimlanes and timescales:** Group tasks into swimlanes and nested sub-swimlanes and show up to 3 timescales on one chart. Lite allows 2 swimlanes; Plus and Expert are unlimited. - **Dependencies and critical path:** Link tasks and highlight the critical path from Plus. Importing dependencies from a source plan needs Expert. - **Import and refresh:** Plus imports from Excel. Expert imports and refreshes from Microsoft Project, Smartsheet and Jira, including several Jira projects or boards, and imports from Wrike. - **Planned vs. actual:** Expert shows progress bars, baselines and variance against the original plan, so a slide can show where a project has slipped. - **Templates and themes:** Pre-designed themes on every plan, timeline, Gantt and swimlane templates from Lite, and custom themes that can be shared and imported on Expert. ## Good for - Project managers who report schedules to executives in PowerPoint - Teams that keep plans in Microsoft Project, Smartsheet or Jira and need slides from them - Consultants building client roadmaps that must stay editable ## Worth knowing - The add-in needs Windows and PowerPoint. Timeline Online, for Mac and browser users, is a separate license at less than $13 a month billed annually. - The free version stops at 10 milestones and tasks per slide, and its license has to be renewed each year. - Microsoft Project, Jira, Smartsheet and Wrike import and planned vs. actual tracking need the Expert plan. - Licenses are per user and sold only as yearly subscriptions, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 1.8 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. Lucen Timeline, called Office Timeline until May 2026, adds a button to PowerPoint on Windows that turns a project plan into an editable timeline or Gantt slide. It's narrower than a presentation app, so we've graded it as the add-in it is. Lite is under $9 a month, but importing from Excel, Project or Jira costs a good deal more. - **Value for money: D.** Lite is under $9 a user a month billed yearly, ordinary for presentation tools, but it allows 2 swimlanes. Unlimited swimlanes and Excel import need Plus at under $17, and refreshing from Project or Jira needs Expert at under $21, all on top of PowerPoint itself. - **Free plan and trial: C.** The free add-in doesn't run out and has the themes, but each slide stops at 10 milestones and tasks, with limited swimlanes and 1 timescale. Fine for a simple roadmap; a real project plan won't fit. - **Features: D.** The timeline work is thorough: swimlanes, dependencies, critical path, up to 3 timescales, import and refresh from Project, Smartsheet and Jira, and planned against actual. But it's one narrow job, and it needs PowerPoint on Windows to be any use. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record, but it sits on the PowerPoint ribbon you already use: type the dates in or import a plan, and out comes a normal slide you can edit. Nothing to export, nothing to learn outside PowerPoint. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** The add-in is Windows and PowerPoint only, and Mac or browser users need Timeline Online, a separate licence. It does pull plans from Excel, Project, Smartsheet, Jira and Wrike, but there are no phone apps. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Lucen Software's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among presentation tools - Lucen Timeline's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 0 of the 24 other presentation tools we grade, and level with 2. - It stands best on ease of use (B, above 15 of 24) and worst on value for money (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $9 a month for each person, against a middle price of $8.66 for the category: 11 of the 21 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 10 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/presentations ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** The plain part of Lucen Timeline you could make: Gantt & timelines and templates. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 22 of the 24 other presentation tools grade higher. It costs $108 a year. - You could make: Gantt & timelines and templates: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: A slide editor. - You could not: A real app for Windows. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project among them. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Wrike **Tags:** Presentations, Gantt & timelines, Templates ## Alternatives - [Microsoft PowerPoint](https://toolgpa.com/tools/microsoft-powerpoint): Slide presentation app sold with Microsoft 365, free in the browser. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/microsoft-powerpoint-vs-office-timeline) - [Visme](https://toolgpa.com/tools/visme): Template-based design tool for presentations and infographics. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/office-timeline-vs-visme) - [TeamGantt](https://toolgpa.com/tools/teamgantt): Web-based Gantt chart scheduling priced by project, not seat. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/office-timeline-vs-teamgantt) - [GanttPRO](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ganttpro): Online Gantt chart maker for planning and tracking projects. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ganttpro-vs-office-timeline) - [Microsoft Project](https://toolgpa.com/tools/microsoft-project): Desktop project scheduling for Windows with Gantt charts. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/microsoft-project-vs-office-timeline) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026: - https://www.lucensoftware.com/pricing/timeline - https://www.lucensoftware.com/products/timeline - https://www.lucensoftware.com/products/timeline/features - https://www.lucensoftware.com/products/timeline/download - https://www.lucensoftware.com/products/timeline-online - https://www.lucensoftware.com/rebrand - https://www.lucensoftware.com/about Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/office-timeline Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).