Microsoft Project vs Pivotal Tracker

Last Updated:

Our analysts compared Microsoft Project vs Pivotal Tracker based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Project Management Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Pivotal Tracker Software Tool

Product Basics

Microsoft Project is a robust project management software designed to assist professionals in planning, managing, and tracking projects effectively. It is particularly suitable for organizations that require detailed project planning, resource allocation, and progress monitoring. The software offers comprehensive features such as Gantt charts, task dependencies, resource leveling, and budget management.

Key benefits include improved project visibility, enhanced collaboration, streamlined task management, and efficient resource allocation. Its user-friendly interface and customizable templates make it accessible to users of all skill levels. Compared to similar products, Microsoft Project stands out with its advanced features, integration with other Microsoft applications, and extensive support resources.

Pricing varies depending on the specific version and licensing options. Microsoft Project offers flexible pricing plans, including subscription-based models and perpetual licenses, to cater to different business needs.

read more...
Pivotal Tracker is a cloud-hosted project planning solution that facilitates real-time communication and collaboration within cross-functional agile teams. Businesses can keep a tab on progress throughout a project’s lifecycle. It helps teams delegate and prioritize tasks, list actionable components and set deadlines. Project status, conversations and workflows are stored at a central location for easy accessibility and defining priorities.

It computes the time required to complete a project or smaller tasks based on previous data. Managers can use this data to estimate delivery time for every project subject to workforce availability and other conditions. It offers an iteration module that helps prioritize project tasks and divide them into manageable subtasks. Project status, everyday tasks and resource availability are displayed on a shared calendar.
read more...
$10/User, Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
$0 Monthly, Quote-based
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
i
Medium 
i
Large 
i
Small 
i
Medium 
i
Large 
i
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Integrations: Integrates well with other products in the Office suite, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel. 
  • Capture Work Hours: Includes timesheets where team members can fill in hours worked by day and task. Has a simple approval process that lets managers add notes if they reject a submission. Timesheets give insight into project progress and help keep it within time and budget limits.  
  • View Multiple Timelines: Get the big picture of every facet of a project with a visual layout of tasks and milestones. Customize what information appears on timelines and share them with project stakeholders. 
  • Collaborate Efficiently: Integrates with Skype for Business, keeping your team connected via video calls and chat rooms. Direct access to Skype ensures users don’t have to switch between apps.  
  • Simplify Project Planning: Supports waterfall, agile, hybrid method, Gantt charts and pulldown menus to aid project planning. Lets users work in sprints using a Kanban layout. 
read more...
  • 360-Degree View: Control projects across the board with complete visibility into their status and progress. Synchronize updated information with team members to reduce reporting time. Generate a history of project developmental progress while highlighting critical aspects that need to be tackled. 
  • Effective Communication: Share documents as well as concerns with team members with clear and effective lines of communication. Deal with customer feedback effectively by providing feasible project delivery timelines. 
  • Real-Time Collaboration: Get access to a virtual environment that fosters conversation and doesn’t need constant refreshing. Get regular updates via email, RSS, Campfire or Twitter. Let developers attach mock-ups that could be turned into working tools. 
  • Integrations: Create a variety of integrations and tools with REST API. Seamlessly integrates with external modules like Slack, Jira, GitHub, Jenkins, Zendesk and others. 
  • iOS Compatibility: Access integrated mobile interface on iOS devices and tackle critical issues on-the-go. Record stories from anywhere and get access to all business aspects in offline mode. 
read more...
  • Resource Management: Set up teams for success by requesting resources. Heat maps help identify overworked or underused resources. Lets managers project usage, monitor progress and address issues using analytics.  
  • Portfolio Optimization: Models different scenarios using tools like analysis scatter charts. Weigh project proposals against strategic business drivers with organizational cost and resource constraints in mind. 
  • Reports: Offers a number of reports that include a dashboard, progress and cost that provide insight into project metrics. Individual reports include burndowns, project overviews, critical tasks, cash flow, earned value, late tasks and more. Create a customized report from four template types: blank, chart, table and comparison.  
  • BI Capability: Connect with business intelligence apps like Power BI Pro to gain visibility across portfolios. Supports data aggregation to gain comprehensive insights. 
  • Proposal Evaluation: Gather project ideas, use standardized processes to evaluate them and funnel project charters and business cases to management for review and approval.
read more...
  • Stories: Use stories to track actionable work items and project progress. Customize stories with categories like features, chores and bugs to construct new features, prevent bugs and restrict technical debts. Gauge a story’s complexity while prioritizing and allocating points by iteration using drag-and-drop functions. 
  • Velocity: Businesses can measure their speed and trajectory using velocity. Find out the pace at which teams are completing stories and gaining points per iteration. Get a realistic picture of project delivery time based on points earned in recent iterations. Encourage a consistent rhythm within teams to meet stringent deadlines. 
  • Workspaces: Set-up an ideal workspace by arranging multiple projects and juggling responsibilities on a single screen. Use the drag-and-drop tool to move stories between projects and find things by searching backlogs. Store all work across teams and projects into the ‘my work’ panel. Have an accessible location that contains all stories to plan future to-do lists. 
  • Analytics: Gauge team performance with broad trends and minute details that illustrate a project’s health. Identify fluctuations and trends to get a reality check of team productivity. Drill down reports to monitor project health closely by iterations, releases, epics and more. Gather requisite data for the teams to detect and remove bottlenecks from the elementary level. 
  • File Sharing and Labels: Enrich stories with presentations, mock-ups and other files from Google Drive or a computer. Organize stories with searchable labels for a more visible workflow. 
  • Notifications: Stay updated by configuring message notifications on desktop or mobile. Users can involve people in conversations with mentions and follow stories they like. 
read more...

Product Ranking

#6

among all
Project Management Software

#15

among all
Project Management Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

72
we're gathering data
57
we're gathering data
97
we're gathering data
0
we're gathering data
Show More Show More

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Microsoft Project
Pivotal Tracker
+ Add Product + Add Product
Customizations Dashboards And Reporting Mobile Capabilities Platform Features Project Planning And Scheduling Project Tracking Task Management Team Collaboration Time Tracking And Management 57 97 0 74 97 95 85 47 81 0 25 50 75 100
29%
43%
28%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
100%
0%
0%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
0%
0%
100%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
63%
13%
24%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
92%
0%
8%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
86%
0%
14%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
75%
8%
17%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
33%
25%
42%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
71%
14%
15%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

61%
6%
33%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
88%
0%
12%
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A
we're gathering data
N/A

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 3873 reviews
Great User Sentiment 565 reviews
84%
of users recommend this product

Microsoft Project has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 3873 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

85%
of users recommend this product

Pivotal Tracker has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 85% when considering 565 user reviews from 6 recognized software review sites.

4.7 (21)
n/a
4.0 (1577)
4.1 (95)
n/a
4.32 (122)
4.4 (1289)
4.3 (117)
n/a
4.3 (129)
4.4 (408)
4.6 (26)
4.1 (578)
4.1 (76)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Microsoft Project and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Project Planning and Scheduling.

Project Planning and Scheduling Award

we're gathering data

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

User Friendly: The platform’s functionalities are intuitive and easy to use, as noted by approximately 80% of users who mention the system’s usability.
Project Scheduling: Approximately 81% of the users find its project scheduling capabilities helpful.
Feature-Rich: Approximately 81% of the users who mentioned features said the system provides everything required for proper project handling. It can handle complex projects, create Gantt charts, project timelines and reports.
Customization: Nearly 61% of users who mentioned customization said its customization options were helpful. It integrates with ClearQuest seamlessly and 67% of users find its integrations helpful.
Support: Support is responsive, knowledgeable and helpful, as reported by 100% of reviewers who mention support.
Templates: Approximately 80% of users who mentioned templates find them to be helpful as they display data in an organized manner.
Show more
Simple Interface: Pivotal Tracker's straightforward design makes it easy to learn and navigate, even for those new to project management tools. Users appreciate the intuitive layout and lack of unnecessary complexity.
Effective Prioritization: The platform's emphasis on prioritizing tasks helps teams focus on the most important work first. Users find the ranking and backlog management features particularly useful for maintaining project clarity.
Collaboration Features: Pivotal Tracker facilitates team communication and collaboration through features like shared workspaces, comments, and @mentions. This helps keep everyone on the same page and promotes efficient teamwork.
Iteration Planning: The software's iterative approach to project management allows teams to break down large projects into manageable chunks. Users find this helpful for setting realistic goals and tracking progress over time.
Show more
Learning Curve: Nearly 96% of the users that mentioned accessibility think that the software has a steep learning curve.
Efficiency: About 72% of users that mentioned efficiency said the software improved their process optimization.
Collaboration: Close to 83% of the users who mention collaboration said that Project does not facilitate collaborative processes well.
Cost: Approximately 94% of the users who mention cost think that its price is prohibitive and that the software is very expensive for the features it offers.
Show more
Limited Project Views: Pivotal Tracker's singular view can feel restrictive for teams accustomed to Kanban boards or Gantt charts, potentially hindering workflow visualization.
Estimation Challenges: The platform's story point estimation system, while promoting relative sizing, can be confusing for new users and may require additional training for accurate implementation.
Collaboration Constraints: The absence of real-time collaborative editing features can lead to version control issues and communication challenges, especially for distributed teams.
Show more

Microsoft Project remains a robust project management software, praised for its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set. Users appreciate its Gantt charts, resource management capabilities, and integration with other Microsoft products. However, some find its advanced features overwhelming and its reporting capabilities limited compared to specialized project management tools. Project differentiates itself with its ease of use and integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. Its intuitive interface makes it accessible to users of all skill levels, while its integration with tools like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint streamlines collaboration. These strengths make it an excellent choice for teams heavily reliant on Microsoft products. Microsoft Project is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses and teams that prioritize ease of use and Microsoft integration. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set make it a valuable tool for managing projects effectively, while its integration with other Microsoft products enhances collaboration and productivity.

Show more

Pivotal Tracker shines as a project management tool built for Agile development teams, especially those using Scrum. Its strength lies in its intuitive interface and features tailored to Agile methodologies, like user story mapping and sprint planning. Users appreciate its simplicity and ease of use, making it a breeze to get started and manage projects without a steep learning curve. The platform's real-time collaboration features keep everyone on the same page, fostering transparency and efficient communication within teams. However, some users find Pivotal Tracker's simplicity limiting for complex projects that require extensive customization or advanced reporting capabilities. Additionally, while it integrates with popular tools like GitHub and Slack, the range of integrations might not be as extensive as some competitors like Jira or Asana. Pivotal Tracker's core strength is its laser focus on Agile principles, making it ideal for software development teams or organizations that heavily rely on Agile methodologies. Its user-friendly interface and collaborative features streamline sprint planning, backlog management, and progress tracking, ultimately boosting team productivity and project delivery. However, for teams with complex project needs or those seeking a broader range of features and integrations, exploring alternatives like Jira or Asana might be worthwhile.

Show more

Screenshots

Top Alternatives in Project Management Software


Airtable

Asana

Basecamp

ClickUp

Jira

LiquidPlanner

MeisterTask

monday.com

ProofHub

Smartsheet

TeamGantt

Teamwork

Wrike

Zoho Projects

Related Categories

Head-to-Head Comparison

WE DISTILL IT INTO REAL REQUIREMENTS, COMPARISON REPORTS, PRICE GUIDES and more...

Compare products
Comparison Report
Just drag this link to the bookmark bar.
?
Table settings