ActiveCollab vs Microsoft Project
ActiveCollab
activecollab.comMicrosoft Project
microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | ActiveCollab | Microsoft Project |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.29/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 6 | 10 |
| Spec score · Project Planning Software | 8.9 (#2) | 8.5 (#11) |
| Spec score · Project Management Software | 8.9 (#23) | 8.4 (#74) |
| Spec score · Work Management Software | 8.9 (#8) | 8.4 (#22) |
| Spec score · Project management tools | 8.8 (#37) | 8.7 (#47) |
| Founded | 2006 | 1975 |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Guest access | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | The About page lists an ActiveCollab, Inc. office in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. | Redmond, Washington, USA |
| Integrations | The maker lists Google Drive, Dropbox, QuickBooks, Stripe, PayPal, Slack, Zapier, webhooks, an API, and an MCP server among its integrations and connected tools. | The page lists Microsoft Loop, Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and Power Automate integrations. |
| Support | The maker offers help guides, live chat, and email support, with customer care available every workday from 8 AM to 10 PM CET. | The included Planner offering lists Microsoft 365 customer support, and Microsoft provides Planner help and learning articles. |
| Time tracking | Users can track time on tasks and projects, use a stopwatch, and review individual or team timesheets. | Yes |
| Trial | The free 14-day cloud trial includes the full feature set and requires no credit card. | Microsoft states that the free trial lasts one month, requires a credit card, and converts to a paid subscription unless canceled. |
Plans
ActiveCollab
- Plus$15 a month
- Pro$11 a month
- Pro+ (Get Paid)$17 a month
- 100+ seats$3.50 a year
- 100+ seats$3.50 a month
- Self-HostedPrice not published
Microsoft Project
- Microsoft PlannerPriced on request
- Planner Plan 1Priced on request
- Planner and Project Plan 3Priced on request
- Planner Plan 1Priced on request
- Planner and Project Plan 3Priced on request
- Planner and Project Plan 5Priced on request
- Planner and Project Plan 5Price not published
- Planner in Microsoft 365Free
- Planner Plan 1$10 a year
- Planner and Project Plan 3$30 a year
In their own words
ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project is presented through Planner, an online work management experience that combines tasks, to-do lists, plans, and projects. Core views include Grid, Board, Schedule, and Charts; Planner Plan 1 adds Timeline, People, and Goals. That plan also includes premium templates, backlogs and sprints, task dependencies, milestones, and project goals. Planner and Project Plan 3 adds portfolios, baselines, critical path, advanced dependencies, resource requests, and the Project desktop app. Plan 5 adds advanced portfolio management and enterprise resource management and allocation. The included Planner in Microsoft 365 is listed at free and includes basic templates, core views, task management, and Teams integration. Named integrations include Loop, Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and Power Automate. The comparison lists workflow automation, APIs, Microsoft 365 Groups access control, and compliance tools. Time tracking and guest access are listed. A one-month trial requires a credit card and converts to paid service unless canceled.