Planner Subscription Strategy for Project Online Retirement

• Project Online will be retired effective Oct.1, 2026, leaving Planner as Microsoft’s sole hosted project management service.
• Project Online customers moving to Planner must decide which subscription tiers can meet their needs.
• Customers still using Project Server or Project Desktop software may also need to keep Planner subscriptions.
• In most cases, Planner capabilities included in Microsoft 365 suites will be adequate for project members but not project managers.

The retirement of Project Online reduces the available add-on subscription tiers that include the rights to use Planner, Project Server for use on-premises, and Project Desktop software. Organizations moving to Planner need to choose between Planner’s capabilities in Microsoft 365 suites, Planner Plan 1, or Planner and Project Plan 3, as neither Project Essentials nor Planner and Project Plan 5 are available for purchase or renewal. Customers using those discontinued subscription tiers to license Project Server Client Access Licenses (CALs) or Project Professional software must choose between another Planner subscription tier or stand-alone software licenses. Organizations will likely end up with a mix of licenses but can control costs by clearly identifying their requirements and use cases.