(UPDATED 4th Feb 2022 with additions to the comparison table, removal of the Power Apps line in the table, link to Gantt chart JSON sample for list view formatting, link to a follow-up post showing how to migrate from Planner to Lists)
I’ve been working with Microsoft Planner for many years, since it was originally revealed to the MVP community as “Project Highlander” around 2016.
We needed a new task management system back then. Microsoft Project was too expensive and difficult to use properly without training, Project Online was providing a cloud alternative but still provided the same challenges and lists in SharePoint had stagnated.
The world was turning away from the “waterfall” view of managing projects. Agile was starting to emerge as a hero, and products such as Trello and Asana were starting to take the spotlight.
Microsoft unveiled Planner as an ad-hoc group-based task management tool for the new age. It was never intended to compete with Trello and its clones, never offer the same level of functionality. But it was designed to be enough, that the average Microsoft 365 user (Office 365 back then) wouldn’t need to look for an external solution.
For a time, things were great. But then, it started to become clear that this was becoming similar to when Microsoft made Yammer part of the Office 365 suite. The product integration was heralded as the next big thing, people like me jumped on the bandwagon full of hope for the future… which never came.
Because the product stagnated. Development and creation of new features was minimal. Sure, the average user still thought the product was good, but those who scratched beyond the surface quickly realised the shortcomings.
The difference is that Yammer finally came around and virtually re-invented itself, making up for lost time. Even posing a challenge for those of us who had moved on to Microsoft Teams, because we wanted to get back together with our ex.
Where does Lists fit into the picture
Similar to Planner, lists in SharePoint was introduced a lot earlier than people realise. In fact, document libraries are technically lists, so therefore lists have actually been around in SharePoint since 2001.
With every version of SharePoint Server, the lists functionality got a big bump in features – especially in SharePoint Server 2007. Unfortunately, not a great amount changed since then, and so the lists functionality, while still useful and used a lot, became something for the hardcore SharePoint users.
Until lists in SharePoint, like Pinocchio, became a real boy thanks to magic from Microsoft, and emerged as a standalone product – “Lists” – in mid-2020.
Since then, Lists has continued to add functionality and be more and more visible to end users who might never have thought of using them. While Planner on the other hand, has given us confetti on completed tasks and a few other small things.
Comparing Lists to Planner
Instead of continuing to waffle on, I’m going to paint it clear as day for you and show below a table comparing Lists to Planner. I’m not going to talk about what to use when – each to their own, however this should make the decision easier for you.
Beyond that I’ve got a number of screenshots showing things that Lists can do (either currently, or in the past) that people aren’t even aware of.
 |
Native functionality or integration |
 |
Requires additional tooling such as Power Automate |
 |
Not possible |
|
|
|
|
| Restore items from recycle bin |
|
|
| See previous versions |
|
|
| Identify who modified a task |
|
|
| Identify when a task was modified |
|
|
| Be notified when a task is modified |
|
|
| Visualise the report in Power BI |
|
|
| Share individual items (not the whole plan) |
|
|
| Share just the list/plan (without adding user to the site/Group/Team) |
|
|
| Create a list/plan in a private channel (i.e. stored within it) |
|
|
| Comment on an item/task |
|
|
| @ mention people in a comment |
|
|
| Can exist without a M365 Group / Team |
|
|
| Customise the views beyond what’s available out of the box |
|
|
| Display items as a Kanban |
|
|
| Display items as a Gantt chart |
|
|
| Drag & drop tasks between buckets |
|
|
| Display items as a list |
|
|
| Show as an app in Teams |
|
|
| Integrate with personal tasks |
|
|
| Send automated reminders |
|
|
| Have items rolled up into a parent list |
|
|
| Define custom columns/fields |
|
|
| Select multiple items at once |
|
|
| Works offline |
|
|
| Mobile app – iOS |
|
|
| Mobile app – Android |
|
|
| Desktop app |
|
|
| Work with list items / taks in Power Apps |
|
|
| Store attachments with the task item |
|
|
| Display as a calendar in Outlook |
|
|
| Display as a task list in Outlook |
|
|
| Be embedded within SharePoint as a web part |
|
|
| Support application permissions in Graph API |
|
|
Got more here that I’ve missed? Tell me, and I’ll add them.
Got a correction or want more in depth information – let me know.
Gantt charts in lists
Hey look, here’s a REALLY old version of SharePoint displaying a Gantt chart:
Hey look, here’s a modern List displaying as a Gantt chart:
How do I know that’s a modern list? Because it’s my list.
Here it is using the new Board view in Lists:
Lists board view by priority
Lists board view by progress
Here’s how to make a Gantt chart.
- Go into the settings of your list
- Click on “Create view” at the bottom left to be taken to this screen:
- Select the fields to be used for Title, Start Date, Due Date:
- (Optional) If you don’t have an existing percentage complete field you can add that afterwards and come back to edit your view:
NOTE: The above approach creates a “classic” view in SharePoint which is not ideal and might not be around for long. A better way is to use list view formatting with JSON, like in this example on GitHub.
Integration with Microsoft Project
Yep, that’s still a thing.
Get notified of task updates without any code or automations
Simply select the ellipsis menu at the top to find alert options:
Native integrations to do more with your data
Out of the box, you can connect your list data to the Power Platform to go further.
Power Automate
Here’s what you can do with Planner:
Here’s what you can do with Lists (and the rest of SharePoint):
Power BI
Here’s what you can do with Planner:
Nothing. It’s not an option as a data source.
But hey, here’s SharePoint:
Summary
As you can see, when someone claims that Planner has better integration in Microsoft 365 – it’s factually incorrect. It’s also clear that Lists can do vastly more than what Planner can without any integration.
The lack of data control and compliance options for Planner is simply gobsmacking, and the fact it has been allowed to persist like this for so long is a governance crime.
Yammer rose from the ashes to change the perception that it was a dead product. While Planner is certainly not dead, it’s repeating the mistake of Lists before it and failed to innovate.
Planner – do a Yammer and catch up. Because right now Lists is doing a Microsoft Teams and doing the things you should be doing.
NOTE: Since publishing this post I have also written a follow-up post that shows a couple of approaches to migrating from Planner boards to Lists.
Also published on Medium.
Discover more from Loryan Strant, Microsoft 365 MVP
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Nice article about Lists.
Too bad “kanban view” is not yet available in my tenant.
You can also add to the list of differences:
* Creating a Planner creates a Microsoft Group!/ Lists don’t
* You can’t share Planner with individual users, only with members in a plan / With Lists, you can
* You can’t @mention users in Planner / With Lists, you can
* You can’t create custom fields in Planner / With Lists, you can
* You can’t select multiple item at once in Planner / With Lists, you can
* You can’t add a Planner in a Teams private channel / With Lists, you can
Very good points, thank you!
As for it not being in your tenant yet – have you gone into a List and tried to create a new view? That’s how I saw it show up in the past few days.
The board feature is still rolling put according to MS roadmap – we have it for targeted release user but not yet for the rest of the organization
Another ting to the list of differences: Lists can be synced so you can work on them offline – planner cannot
Very good point. Thought of that one after I published. Haven’t tested it myself.
I was just trying to make this decision last week of lists vs planner, for a small organization I’m working with. I went with planner because of the native integration of planner tasks to To do and the Tasks app in Teams.
If making tasks for a team of people is your goal, then I think Planner wins until MS Lists can make proper tasks that show up in the full tasks ecosystem, to do, outlook, task app in Teams, etc.
This is the main shortfall of Lists. I created a Power Automate script to automatically create a task in planner from List, but that’s where the linkage stops. Microsoft is not leveraging the functionality of To-Do and Tasks. As far as I can tell, none of the other apps in Teams links to To-Do or Tasks.
Gantt view is great – I had forgotten all about that!
Might be doing it wrong, but I wasn’t able to add the Gantt view to a team site using the list app – I had to add a tab using the Sharepoint app – is there another way to do this with the Lists app?
It’s a legacy way of doing it, so probably not ideal. Another way is to use view formatting with JSON to replicate it. I’ll update the blog with some links shortly.
You can also add to the list of differences: Able to work offline on lists – not possible in Planner
Thanks for that, forgot to add that one!
Doesn’t Planner send you an email when a task is DUE? Not happy with Planner, but not sure I am ready to move to Lists either.
Yes, but the same can easily be achieved with a List and Power Automate.
Thanks Loryan. This is a topic that should receive more attention. Overall, I lean your way, I prefer Lists in almost every way to Planner/ToDo.
However, I do see some blockers for wider adoption. As another commenter noted, Office App integrations are missing, at least to my knowledge, and in particular, for Outlook and Excel.
A Lists Personal Teams App is missing – not that it couldn’t be created, but that is a barrier to adoption, it not being native.
The other common workflow would call for a Chrome, or Edge Chromium extension for Lists. To my knowledge that doesn’t exist.
Within Outlook or Excel, from a browser by way of a browser Extension, or within Teams in a Teams Personal App, those seem like typical, “table stakes” workflow contexts where simplified access to viewing, adding to a List, or, in the Teams Personal App use case, acknowledging that Lists are used by individuals for Task Tracking for example, just like ToDo/Planner. Tasks in Teams has recognized that.
I have workarounds for these challenges personally, using Power Automate and using non-Microsoft Tools to created the Chrome Extension functionality I find helpful. But it is tough to gain traction with most users who aren’t interested in that sort of complexity, understandably. I hope this is addressed. Overall, Lists’ value and flexibility is excellent. These challenges are not major development hurdles (I think), but would “put it over the top” in my view.
Thanks!
You bring up some excellent points. But Oy! Right now Planner has the eye candy that non technical users like and it is built in.
I tried to build up a plan with a native SharePoint list. One of my clients has a plan with about 30 items in the plan. Trying to create a similar plan with lists was very painful and looked quite ugly. I am sure with a lot of customization I could make the list look okay, but with the two hours I spent, my client was not happy.
I agree with you, Planner is easier to use and prettier out of the box.
With regards to doing a plan in Lists – do you have the Boards view in your tenant yet?
Hi Loryan,
I do have Boards view in my client. I feel like it is difficult to get the fields I want to show and the layout in the cards. Numerous other things that make me feel like the people that like Planner, will not like to switch. I’m they will ask me to do something like Planner does and I will spend a lot of time and come up short.
Hi Many thanks for this article! I feature that is very popular in my organisation in Planner is the ability to do a quick checklist within a card. Is that functionality possible to replicate with lists in board view?
Thanks again.
Birger
Not out of the box, but it could be accomplished with formatting a view or column.
Thanks. Trying this but I don’t see a way to include a checklist in an item or card in board view. The checklist becomes several items… Do you or anyone else in this thread see a clever way to replicate planner functionality here? Many thanks again
Hey Loryan.
Hope you’re doing well. A great article and strong argument to turn off Planner.
Just one questions about the comparison items: ‘Display as a calendar/task list in Outlook’ – Are you referring to the classic tasks and calendar/events lists?
Yeah that’s exactly the feature that is missing. Hopefully it’ll come back.
Hey Loryan
A couple of things where Planner seems to be better than Lists – in this example we are using it for delivery tasks.
1) For a given task, a user can add a custom checklist (i.e. different checklist per task)
2) In Planner, you can create proforma/template tasks with data pre-populated and then copy these to create actual tasks.
Any ideas about how to achieve the same?
Good points Jonathan.
1. You’re right, we can’t do this currently. Hopefully one day.
2. This can be probably be achieved through the creation of a Content Type for the List. Or if referring to an entire Planner board, then potentially a List template for the structure and Power Automate to create the list/task items.
Thanks for this comparison. I’ve been away from the SharePoint world for a few years now and was struggling with trying to figure out how to actually integrate Planner into a viable leads management workflow for a very small business, something that has *some* automation. Like, how are there virtually NO usable integrations between Planner and other MS products? (I literally googled that question and your blog post was one of the first results 😀 ) I mean there are more two way Trello connections than being able to do anything in a Plan from another MS product. Needless to say, it has been frustrating. It’s definitely time that I looked at what’s been going on in the world of SP Lists.
Yeah, I’m absolutely amazed that there’s no connector action for “When a Planner task is update”. I mean… how hard is that to create???
Hi Loryan,
Thanks for the article highlighting these alternatives to Planner. I’ve seen far too many people using Planner where lists would be much easier & better.
If any of your readers are able to use Power Automate & want a relatively quick planner-like project management set-up in SharePoint lists & Teams, feel free to share this new template I made with them: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Cookbook/Project-Tracker-SharePoint-and-Teams/td-p/1788102
It uses the card view & GANTT chart you mentioned. It also reviews options for automatic update notifications, RACI workload tracking, & mobile app access options.
Thanks for sharing Tyler, this is a great template!
Hi Loryan, thanks for your comparison and views.
Perhaps there was an update to Planner since writing this post, but as I can see, “Store attachments with the task item” should not be “Requires additional tooling such as Power Automate”, but “Native functionality or integration”.
I see your logic and interpretation, but what I mean is that within a list item itself an attachment can be stored.
Whereas with a Planner task the item is stored within the associated SharePoint library – which means it can be deleted (accidentally) independently of the task item.
I greatly appreciate the writeup, on the precipice of rolling out Planner to a couple of clients.
FYI, as of April 2022, Lists does has an Android app:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.lists.public&hl=en_AU&gl=US
Last app update was 6/9/22.
Thanks Evan for the feedback, and yes you’re right about the app (although it took waaaaaay too long to come out on Android).
thank you for the information
Hi, reading this after despairing with Planner. Been dabbling with Lists, but find it also limited and increasingly frustrating. You mention being able to display Sharepoint lists as Calendar on Outlook. I’ve tried to do this for over an hour, but haven’t found a way. How do you achieve this? (I’m on Mac Monterey btw). Thank you!
I don’t think you can make it work on a Mac. It’s an old hack, but I think only the Windows version of Outlook could do it sorry.
Can you categorise tasks with labels and filter using these labels in both kanban and gantt chart views with Lists like you can with Planner? I have 3 main teams and would like to be able to filter kanban board / gantt chart to display different team projects within each team but across the 3 teams as well as by other categories like administration, governance, finance, data, etc.
I was planning to use Planner and Power Apps to set up a Gantt Chart that allows me to view multiple planners but it does not quite have the filter functionality I am after.
You can customise Lists however you want, there’s any number of options with a bit of JSON formatting.
That is an interesting post. Thank you. Planner development has indeed seemingly stalled.
Any thoughts on how task hierarchy (subtasks, summary tasks, etc) could be accomplished in MS Lists if at all?
That bridge I haven’t crossed yet unfortunately. Although there might be a way to achieve it with subtask being their own list item and lookup columns for the parent task item, then you’d need some custom JSON to view them the way Planner does.