Why Planner Premium Is the Project Management Upgrade We’ve Been Waiting For

For years, Microsoft Planner has been a reliable tool for managing ad-hoc tasks and quick team to-dos. It’s simple, accessible, and integrates well with Microsoft Teams — making it a favorite for lightweight task tracking. But when it came to structured project management, especially for teams that didn’t want to invest in Microsoft Project or other heavyweight platforms, Planner just wasn’t enough. Many of us resorted to building custom SharePoint lists to fill the gap, which worked — but only with a fair amount of manual setup and compromise.

That’s why Planner Premium is such a welcome shift. Microsoft has quietly retired the Project mobile app and is clearly steering users toward this new offering. For around $10/month per project manager, Planner Premium delivers the kind of functionality we’ve been piecing together for years — and it does so with the polish and integration we expect from Microsoft 365.

Let’s start with the basics. Planner Premium gives you a clean, intuitive Gantt chart timeline with dependent task functionality. That means if one task gets delayed, downstream tasks update automatically — no more manual chasing. You can visualize project phases, deadlines, and dependencies at a glance, helping your team stay aligned and focused on what matters most.

But it doesn’t stop there. Planner Premium lets you track internal metrics like budget codes, department owners, or risk levels using custom fields and conditional formatting. You can highlight overdue tasks or high-priority items with color rules, making it easier to spot what needs attention. And if you pair it with a Copilot license, you unlock even more power: generate entire project plans from a simple prompt, assign tasks automatically, and rebalance workloads based on team capacity.

One of the biggest wins? Collaboration. Your clients and non-project manager teammates don’t need a premium license just to view or update tasks. That’s a game-changer for consultants and small teams working across organizations. Threaded comments and file sharing are built right into the task view in Teams, so conversations stay tied to the work itself — no more digging through emails or chat threads to find context.

Reporting is another area where Planner Premium shines. Every task is name- and time-stamped, making it easy to audit progress and document lessons learned. You can align tasks with company-wide goals or frameworks like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), and even ask Copilot to generate status reports that are clear, actionable, and tailored to your needs.

And if your team runs similar projects repeatedly, Planner Premium lets you build templates that capture your unique processes and best practices. With just a few clicks, you can spin up a new plan that’s ready to go — no reinventing the wheel each time.

We’ve been testing Planner Premium ourselves, and within an hour of starting the free trial, we knew it was a fit for our client work. It’s robust enough to handle real project management, yet simple enough to onboard quickly. For many teams, it’s a no-brainer.

If you’re curious, Microsoft offers a 30-day free trial so you can explore the features firsthand. And if you’re looking for help getting started or want to see how Planner Premium fits into your broader Microsoft 365 strategy, we’d love to chat. Head over to https://countyquest.com and book a free hour with Arnie — no pressure, just ideas.

Ready to dive in? Here’s the link to Microsoft’s Planner Premium page:
👉 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/planner