After Microsoft Project Online: how to pick the right alternative
Microsoft Project Online was retired on September 30, 2026. What changes for its users, how to export the data and how to compare alternatives: an honest guide that does not exclude competitors.
What happened
Microsoft Project Online was retired on September 30, 2026: new sales had already closed on October 1, 2025 and the service is no longer operational for existing customers (source: Velosio). Whoever used it now has to choose: migrate, simplify, or live with several tools.
Three steps before choosing
- Export your data. Before closing the environment, use Microsoft’s export tools and keep plans, assignments and history in a format you can reopen.
- Map what you actually used. Scheduling, resources, budget, reports: separate the functions you cannot do without from the ones that existed only because the tool offered them.
- Compare starting from your case. Vendor feature lists all look alike; the question that matters is which tool covers your top three problems without introducing new ones.
To forget nothing during the exit, I prepared a Project Online exit checklist (free PDF): export, decisions and final verification on one page.
The alternatives, in an honest table
| Option | Category | Strengths | To check for your case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planner Premium (Microsoft) | Planning and tasks for M365 teams | Microsoft’s natural path: planning and assignments integrated with Microsoft 365. | If your need is budgeting, earned value or structured reporting, check that Planner covers them before migrating. |
| Project Operations (Microsoft Dynamics) | Project management inside Dynamics 365 | Projects connected to resources, sales and billing where Dynamics is already the corporate system. | Requires the Dynamics ecosystem: if you don’t use it, weigh the full entry cost. |
| Excel | Spreadsheet | Always available, flexible, no extra cost and no migration. | Project status must be rebuilt by hand for every review, and versions diverge. When the numbers stop adding up, that is the signal. |
| ControlRoom | Evidence-based project control | A cockpit for budget, costs, risks and decisions: every number traces back to its source, missing data stays declared, reports export to PDF and PPTX. | It is not a scheduler and today does not import data from Project Online: if your primary need is operational planning, it is not the right tool. |
What ControlRoom does NOT do today
- It does not import plans or data from Project Online and does not sync with Excel or Microsoft 365 (integrations are not available in the demo).
- It does not replace project scheduling: planning and assignments stay with the tools you already use.
- Access is the free Free plan (sign-up with email verification); the guided demo remains available to check fit.
The comparison above is intentionally honest, ControlRoom’s limits included: the right choice depends on your case, not on the best-written page. Want to check fit on your context?