Adobe Workfront vs. Microsoft Project

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Workfront
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Workfront, acquired by Adobe in late 2020, is a web-based project-management tool. It is designed for both IT and marketing teams, but can be implemented for any kind of project. Workfront offers all the features standard to project management platforms, as well as resource allocation, automation, and agile workflow.N/A
Microsoft Project
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Project is a project management software. It provides core PM functionality, including agile workflow support and resource management. Project can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.
$120
per year per user
Pricing
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Project Server
$0
Planner Plan 1
$10
per month per user
Planner and Project Plan 3
$30
per month per user
Planner and Project Plan 5
$55
per month per user
Project Standard 2024
$679.99
one-time fee per installation
Project Professional 2024
$1,129.99
one-time fee per installation
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPlans are billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Considered Both Products
Adobe Workfront
Chose Adobe Workfront
I wasn't with this company when the buying decision was made. However, Workfront replaced Mavenlink, and what I could gather is Mavenlink was liked by users, but the owners and administrators wanted more reporting and more automation.
For me, Workfront is far superior to MS …
Chose Adobe Workfront
They don't compare... People say that MS Project is easier to use... But where's the reporting? You can't perform resource allocation with a drag and drop, nor can you build the dynamic reports that Workfront provides. Not to mention automatically distribute those reports at …
Chose Adobe Workfront
Enovia is a product lifecycle tool, so not a good match for a marketing team. Basecamp and MS Project are comparable but we went with Workfront. The newly added Fusion is important to consider. With hundreds of integrations available, it will streamline your workflow across …
Chose Adobe Workfront
JIRA and Clarizen were too complicated and did not offer an integrated document review and proofing system.
Microsoft Project did not handle multiple small projects and resource allocation as well.
Smartsheet was too limited for large teams and required too much manual work.
Chose Adobe Workfront
Workfront is a really highly powerful tool that can be a bit over-matched for typical project management tools like Microsoft Project or other project management programs. It does a great job with medium to large projects with medium complexity. It helps significantly to …
Chose Adobe Workfront
Far easier to use than MS Project, easier to navigate and learn, but far more complex (albeit more functionally sophisticated as well) than Smartsheet.
Chose Adobe Workfront
Adobe Workfront simply offers a better user experience than Microsoft Project and monday.com. The ease of use, simplified training, and custom configuration made it the ideal choice for an organization of 100+.
Chose Adobe Workfront
Better user interface and way more flexible. It is possible to change many aspects of the reporting and landing pages even internally in the same company, depending on the working groups and needs, with great satisfaction among different people involved and with easy steps to …
Chose Adobe Workfront
We liked the flexibility and ease of creating custom forms and fields. We also felt that they were heading in the right direction and growing as a company.
Chose Adobe Workfront
We looked at custom solutions, Basecamp and a few others before selecting Workfront. The end user ease of use was what sold us on Workfront.
Chose Adobe Workfront
Workfront is on par with the others, each has their strengths and weaknesses.
Chose Adobe Workfront
Personalization is the main reason.
Access everywhere where internet is available.
Chose Adobe Workfront
I have always used MS-Project and Project Server. The task management is much more user friendly in MS-Project.
Chose Adobe Workfront
I've evaluated more than just this list but can't recall them all right now. See other comments, but Workfront has far better flexibility and "programmability" in a rather easy and intuitive way (no programming skills actually required). It can generally do everything the …
Chose Adobe Workfront
For our current needs, Workfront does the job. We have used additional products in the past (MS Project) and whereas we didn't have any issues, we do think we will be sticking to this product for the foreseeable future. I can't see us making any changes anytime soon. Great …
Chose Adobe Workfront
[We selected Workfront because it offered:]
  • Cloud version that is accessible traveling and potential integration with other applications we have (Oracle, Salesforce).
  • A fully integrated system solving the amount of separated and non interactive files of MS Project, Word, Excel …
Chose Adobe Workfront
Our previous system was home-brewed Sharepoint, mostly for note-taking and online tracking as we routed physical job jackets, scanned documents and emailed them to one another. It was fine for its time but as we expanded not just in volume but in location (offices went from NY …
Chose Adobe Workfront
The fact that it is web based and can be viewed by anyone at anytime is huge for viability and transparency within the company. It is also much more user friendly and seems to have taken out the guess work out of building a project plan and allocating/determining timelines.
Chose Adobe Workfront
We selected in the end Workfront over the other PM tools evaluated due to ease of use for the levels of our users, capacity planning options and good value for the price it has. Also now that is has support and online training included in the price it an easy way to manage the …
Chose Adobe Workfront
Ease of use, and the availability of the workfront community, training and now the recent Portland user group round table, make this the ideal solution for us. The program is ideal for our PMO, the staff and leadership in that it is intuitive, robust and meets all of our …
Microsoft Project
Chose Microsoft Project
At the end of the day, Microsoft Project still is best in class overall. It isn't as specialized as some tools like Trello or JIRA, but especially with new integration with Planner and native support for Agile project management templates it becomes a lot closer. Microsoft …
Chose Microsoft Project
While many of the above tools are extremely well-versed, Microsoft Project's largest advantage comes from it being related to the largest business productivity company in the world. Project does have its sharing limitations - but regardless, offers one of the most robust tools …
Chose Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project has more robust planning capabilities than Workfront and much more than Excel. If you already have a project selection process in place and/or you need a tool to help project out dates based on inputs of worker availability and estimated hours or duration then …
Chose Microsoft Project
After using other web-based project management tools, Project would not be my first choice.
Features
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Workfront
7.3
421 Ratings
5% below category average
Microsoft Project
8.0
111 Ratings
4% above category average
Task Management8.5421 Ratings8.2110 Ratings
Resource Management7.4379 Ratings7.7107 Ratings
Gantt Charts6.5331 Ratings9.0107 Ratings
Scheduling8.0372 Ratings8.5109 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.5377 Ratings10.083 Ratings
Team Collaboration8.1400 Ratings7.298 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology6.9271 Ratings4.583 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology7.2279 Ratings7.783 Ratings
Document Management7.3378 Ratings9.077 Ratings
Email integration7.2323 Ratings5.082 Ratings
Mobile Access5.7312 Ratings10.067 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking7.7299 Ratings10.073 Ratings
Change request and Case Management7.3300 Ratings7.564 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management7.1258 Ratings7.486 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Workfront
6.2
240 Ratings
22% below category average
Microsoft Project
8.7
79 Ratings
12% above category average
Quotes/estimates6.5133 Ratings7.555 Ratings
Invoicing6.0115 Ratings10.045 Ratings
Project & financial reporting6.7230 Ratings7.276 Ratings
Integration with accounting software5.8103 Ratings10.050 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Small Businesses
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Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
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Score 8.2 out of 10
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Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 8.2 out of 10
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User Ratings
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(474 ratings)
8.2
(111 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.5
(63 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
6.4
(19 ratings)
8.7
(9 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(12 ratings)
8.2
(34 ratings)
In-Person Training
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.3
(10 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe WorkfrontMicrosoft Project
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
Since I work remotely from my laptop, when I am finished with work, I enter my hours and submit my time at the end of the week. It's quick, it's easy, and it helps me keep a record of how many hours of vacation and sick time I have used. But when I am on the go, it is a hassle to record my time on my phone because of the lack of responsive design.
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Microsoft
Microsoft Project Online is suited to Turnkey Projects where more Collaboration is required in Project Progress monitoring, risk assessment and conveying, issue recording and tracking. It is less appropriate when ERP Suites other than MS Dynamics are used, i.e when Enterprises need to integrate Finance / Accounting with It and having straight project management workflow
Read full review
Pros
Adobe
  • Fosters communication between team members.
  • Serves as a virtual "to do list" for me personally - I can track where I am with projects and what there is left to do, and when it's completed.
  • Sharing documents between team members that can be updated.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data. by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
  • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
  • The alert system for the fulfillment and delay of assignments is perfect. Microsoft Project allows me to configure the task system, I can assign the necessary tasks to fulfill the project, and the software alerts me immediately if the managers are fulfilling the assignments.
Read full review
Cons
Adobe
  • The product itself is very complicated and difficult to be stood up
  • Sharing and proofing workflows require multiple steps and layers
  • It may just be my organization, but the build feels a bit clunky and difficult to navigate, which deters many teams from using the tool effectively
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Seems overly complicated for users sometimes in using Project and its functionalities
  • Hard to share files for those folks who do not have MS Project, and then have to print out for them
  • Can be confusing since it looks and feels like MS Excel
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
Workfront is sometimes a bit clunky to use, but overall it works well for our teams when it comes to project management and collaboration across multiple, involved teams. It also has flexibility that allows us to adapt it to diverse use cases, some of which aren't necessarily always the first things that one would think of using workfront for.
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Microsoft
I like using Microsoft Project. It simplifies building a schedule
Read full review
Usability
Adobe
Workfront is overly complex, but it is functional as a tool to keep track of projects. It is a shame that sometimes it takes a lot of clicks to find anything. Workfront is slowly modernizing its interface but at the same time, hides certain information away thus making the experience feels worse.
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Microsoft
Microsoft
Project is easy to operate because data could be inserted, changed and
deleted like you are in an Excel timesheet. Besides, it provides a great
level of automation beween his fields allowing few data changes. Also, its
funcionalities are well defined and grouped in upper menus, so you can find a
funcionality quickly
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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
I have found that Adobe Workfront is a reliable resource, because in the post 6 years of using it, rarely has it been unavailable to our team. I think I could count on one hand the number of times the site has been down over my time using it with my team.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
Adobe
I think overall, Adobe Workfront performs well. There have been some times when it doesn't load or run as quickly as our team would like. This is frustrating when it is such a crucial tool that our team utilizes on a daily basis. It can show our workflow when it lags.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
I know that this particular company has it's own Adobe Workfront employee that builds out things they need from the software, and meets with them regularly to troubleshoot. I'm not part of this process, but it's refreshing to see Adobe provide this level of customer service to people, and they're expedient.
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Microsoft
Microsoft in recent years has transformed itself and gives a positive feeling when one interacts with the company. The company is focusing on its customers and willing to go extra mile to make customers happy.The company continues to invest in its products and bringing new features from time to time. Overall it is a positive feeling to be associated with such an iconic company.
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In-Person Training
Adobe
It was from my boss, not a rep from AtTask.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
The training is very easy to use and you can simply choose the topics included in the course(s) that are most important to your training needs. After each training course, you are tested on what you have learned. If you need a refresher course, they provide Course Catalogs as well as instructor-led courses & workshops.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
Most people learn as you go, a lot of this stuff requires trial and error throughout so my suggestion is to provide as much information in the upfront and keep it as simple as possible. You can add other tools and features as you go but everyone should have the basics down so no bad habits can start to develop. Be persistent with everyone, and don't be afraid to correct and talk through steps again so everyone is on the same page
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Microsoft
I wasn't part of it so I don't know
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
Much increased functionality and templating aspects. While I liked JIRA's setup, the Workfront is so much more flexible. The moving away from Jira i was able to show the possibilities of what a full pm software could accommodate and how it all connected in. Also, the pluses of connectivity with the Adobe suite for our creative teams were excellent. From providing updates within other programs, it allowed a much more fluid working process and instant communication.
Read full review
Microsoft
While many of the above tools are extremely well-versed, Microsoft Project's largest advantage comes from it being related to the largest business productivity company in the world. Project does have its sharing limitations - but regardless, offers one of the most robust tools in the market today. Microsoft Project is built with large-scale projects in mind but is more than up to the task for smaller projects as well. However, there are options available (especially cloud-based options) that may be more fitting for higher-level projects that do not require going into the weeds.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
As I stated earlier, I didn't have to pay for Workfront myself- I'm a user under a large organization. I know it's not cheap to implement, I don't know how the price scales for a small-business, but I do like the product enough that I'm going to look into it in the future for my own company.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Adobe
Our organization has thousands of users that use Workfront and it seems to hold up very well. I have not encountered any issues using it and I think it makes it very easy for multiple people to be involved in a project and keep things organized and clear for everyone involved.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Increased efficiency in threaded updates to Outlook emails - no time wasted looking for things in email vs Workfront - they automatically are in both places.
  • Time tracking allows us to average out how much time tasks & deliverable types take, allowing better long-term forecasting.
  • Planning has given us a system of record for campaigns, allowing us to easily find historic plans and/or view calendar views of upcoming ones.
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Microsoft
  • Project saved me, as the project manager, countless hours of digging through tickets and schedules to plan everything out. It also saved me time in adjusting the project triangle as needed, since it does so much automatically.
  • It is costly, and since it requires extensive training to master, it's not just the high licensing cost that you need to take into account.
  • The reporting features - even just printing out Gantt charts - makes it far easier to communicate with stakeholders. That means less time for PMs doing all of this manually, and it means less follow-up questions and delays moving forward.
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ScreenShots

Adobe Workfront Screenshots

Screenshot of Tasks in Adobe WorkfrontScreenshot of Work Requests in Adobe WorkfrontScreenshot of Review Functionality in Adobe WorkfrontScreenshot of Adobe Workfront Planning