Microsoft Planner vs. Things

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Planner
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Planner is presented as a solution to organize teamwork with intuitive, collaborative, visual task management. With it, users can create Kanban boards using task cards with files, checklists, and labels. Users can collaborate in Planner and Microsoft Teams and check visual status charts—all in the Microsoft cloud.N/A
Things
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
N/A
$9.99
one-time fee
Pricing
Microsoft PlannerThings
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
For iPhone & Watch
$9.99
one-time fee
For iPad
$19.99
one-time fee
For Mac
$49.99
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft PlannerThings
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft PlannerThings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft PlannerThings
Small Businesses
7shifts
7shifts
Score 9.9 out of 10
7shifts
7shifts
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Todoist
Todoist
Score 9.0 out of 10
Todoist
Todoist
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Whimsical
Whimsical
Score 8.5 out of 10
Whimsical
Whimsical
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft PlannerThings
Likelihood to Recommend
7.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
3.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft PlannerThings
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Planner is a user-friendly visual tool for organizing tasks and workflows. It’s great for team collaboration, integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 tools like Teams and Outlook, and offers flexibility for projects of all sizes. Additionally, it provides mobile and web access for seamless productivity on the go. That’s a big plus right there.
Read full review
It's great for everyday use, whether you adhere to the GTD regimen fully or just need a way to quickly capture and sort your tasks. However, it may be less suited if you're looking for a task manager that lets you collaborate with others or if you want to visualize your tasks in other ways, like a Gantt chart.
Read full review
Pros
  • I love the ability to tag and untag others as needed
  • I love the ability to customize the tag labels and that there are so many options
  • I love the ability to add comments and it notifies the others tagged in the task
  • I love that the task description can be changed as needed without notification to others assigned to the task
Read full review
  • Keeps track of my daily priorities.
  • Collects my work tasks.
  • Let's me sort and prioritize tasks.
  • Organize my tasks.
Read full review
Cons
  • Does not allow you to view all tasks and sub-tasks (checklist) in a nested view.
  • Comments have character limits that can make it harder for teams to communicate exactly what they want to share.
  • There is no way to mention a teammate in a comment and share files and documents in the conversation (collaborative tool???).
Read full review
  • Shortcut for moving tasks to areas.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
It is a very useful tool that brings teams in sync with one another. The integration with other Microsoft products makes it an obvious choice because you don't have to purchase a license for a completely different tool that doesn't have cross-functional capabilities with the software you already use on a daily basis.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
The tool is easy to use, but it is just as easy to set up. No specific skills are required, but its usefulness in our work is immediately apparent. Colors are very helpful in creating a clear interface and providing a very precise overview of the tasks to be performed.
Read full review
The interface of Things was good 10 years ago, and has been refined ever since. It's lightweight, while still being readable and showing just the information you need to see. Also, something I haven't seen in any other (of my) app(s) is the keyboard shortcut/launcher, where you start typing a letter, and a dropdown menu lets you quickly jump to a view.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Our organization chose MS Planner because it is an included tool in the MS Suite, and since we are unfortunately replacing our current and much better project management tool due to a consolidation of the tech stack. However, it doesn't appear that any of the teams using the current program intend to use MS Planner due to its poor functionality. We will likely be pivoting to Jira instead.
Read full review
I've tried numerous to-do apps, some that never even go out of beta. But I kept returning to Things, mostly for the user experience. It's unobtrusive and fast to use, and it looks fantastic, which is more important than I first realized. To become more organized, my app of choice needs to look organized. Also, many competing solutions are trying to force you into one way of using their app, while Things feels more open to letting you define your way of working with task management.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Saved over $1000 each year by not having to purchase a third party tool for our content planning
  • Not sure that I can provide a hard number to this, but having the oversight to see when something is coming due and making sure everything gets executed in time
Read full review
  • Working fewer nights, because I'm more organized.
  • Getting that admin done, that you'd rather avoid if possible.
  • Getting back to people in time more generally.
Read full review
ScreenShots