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Microsoft Project Server vs Planview AdaptiveWork comparison

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Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Project Server
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (5th)
Planview AdaptiveWork
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Project Management Software (22nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Mouloud Fourali - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Digital Research Alliance of Canada
Visual project planning enhances collaboration and proactive management
The dependency management in Microsoft Project is highly valuable, as it visually maps dependencies and impacts within a project plan. The online version facilitates easy collaboration without having to share multiple versions of the file. The Gantt chart is also a very powerful tool for a visual presentation of sequences, critical paths, and execution processes, which simplifies comprehension for users.
VishalSingh11 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director BPM at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has resources management and timesheets but could be more flexible
Compared to Broadcom Clarity, there was some flexibility with blueprints, etc. You can create a blueprint for different business groups or different customers. Planview AdaptiveWork doesn't have something like that. If they can build up something like a view price. It's still a traditional way where you have to create different instances for different customers. The PPM solution uses queries if I'm rolling out for different divisions. In that case, I have to create different instances for each region because each division may have a different look and feel. But if I have a blueprint, then it's very convenient. I can create multiple interfaces for different processes. Broadcom Clarity has some access control on those viewpoints.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"A single place for all our organisation's project records."
"The ability to track a project's progress using Microsoft Project Server is the most valuable aspect. It depends, especially when managing multiple projects."
"I like the way you can build the schedule by the Don't Start Before or Don't Start After values. You can use it to build your schedule based on how you change your dates. This is how it actually builds the schedule."
"Technical support is very responsive - particularly on critical tickets."
"Microsoft Project Server helps organizations in collaboration."
"There are many valuable features of this solution. It is very advanced and once you understand and learn how to use it, it can be quite powerful. The whole package can be quite powerful."
"The dependency management in Microsoft Project is highly valuable, as it visually maps dependencies and impacts within a project plan."
"Microsoft Project Professional is the best client application (and is also used in competitors’ solutions) because it has a good scheduling engine and nice reports in the latest version of the product."
"I like the project management solution. It's really nice."
"The feature that has improved our project planning the most is the ability to create custom workflows, which allows us to automate manual tasks that project managers need to perform. The collaboration feature enhances our team's productivity by allowing individuals to see the impact of their decisions on projects owned and managed by other teams."
"Clarizen's reporting features have been critical."
"Clarizen Slide Publisher has helped increase transparency and communication with project stakeholders for us."
"Clarizen's strength is reporting. Aside from reporting, I also like the ability to create customized workflow and custom actions. The workflow rules are handy. For example, you can create custom fields and dependent picklists."
"Slide Publisher has been a lifesaver for us; it saves us five to 10 hours a week."
"Provides visibility into employee utilization, progress on specific client projects and a portfolio view of all programs."
 

Cons

"The reports need to be improved. It's complicated."
"Microsoft Project Server could improve by making the solution more user-friendly."
"It should be more agile and more flexible when it comes to customization."
"It appears that Microsoft's primary goal is to migrate as much functionality as possible from the legacy on-premises Microsoft Project Server to the new cloud-based Power Apps solution."
"It would be useful if the solution allowed us to share files or project schedules. You may get that with the cloud version. However, it's not available on the on-premises versions."
"Project Server could be improved by simplifying how tasks are assigned and reviewed on a daily basis."
"It would be better if the solution had some more training or resources available for a person who is new to Microsoft Project Server."
"Resource management has room for improvement because it uses a lot of resources."
"It could be more user-friendly. I think it is too overwhelming, initially, in terms of possibilities and so on."
"I felt like the slide publisher isn't that user-friendly. I think it wasn't that easy to use or to figure out because of formatting constraints, or maybe we need to get better at understanding some of its limitations."
"One specific area for improvement could be implementing a development environment to test workflows with live production data."
"If I start customizing too many things, Clarizen tends to get really slow in our environment and especially if I'm tunneled in an environment, like if I'm connected to my VPN."
"Have struggled with reporting and user adoption."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I'm not quite sure about the licensing costs. We're probably paying somewhere in the neighborhood of about 80,000 to 90,000 a year for our current on-prem because we handle our own licensing. As far as Project Online is concerned, we're still trying to get a good handle on that. It looks like it is going to be in a neighborhood of about 120,000 to 150,000 a year, but we're getting a lot more capability out of it."
"It is an inexpensive product."
"A standard license is cheaper, but if you want more features, then there is a premium license or professional license."
"Microsoft Project Server is more expensive than other solutions on the market. We purchase the license annually."
"It is on the expensive side."
"Microsoft Project Server is an expensive solution. Small businesses will not be able to afford it."
"There is an annual license required for this solution."
"There are some payments related to the licensing cost of Microsoft Project Server."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise33
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Project Server?
The pricing for Microsoft Project Server is standard, around $200-$250, but I think it's actually $80 to $100 per year. The pricing for Microsoft Project Server is relative; I would say it is cheap.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Project Server?
In order to improve Microsoft Project Server, collaborative features could be enhanced, as it is possible to improve it in a collaborative way similar to other office products, for example, using c...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Project Server?
Today, the use cases for Microsoft Project Server are for office tasks, such as writing in Word processors, worksheets in Excel, Word processors with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft ...
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Also Known As

MS Project Server
Planview Clarizen
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Magnachip, Gwinnett County Schools, CLEAResult, Medbit Oy, Intelbras S.A., ETS, CORE Construction, Keller Foundations
Cisco Capital, JLL, Conagra Brands, Cargill, JLL, IBM, IIROC, Siemens Energy
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Project Server vs. Planview AdaptiveWork and other solutions. Updated: October 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.