Forecast vs. Microsoft Project

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Forecast
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Forecast.it is a project portfolio management solution built around features such as resource planning and time tracking, budget estimating, and analytics and reporting, with key third-party integrations.
$29
per seat (billed annually)
Microsoft Project
Score 7.5 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.
$10
per user/per month
Pricing
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Editions & Modules
Lite (Annual subscription)
$29
per seat (billed annually)
Pro (Annual subscription)
$49
per seat (billed anually)
Enterprise
Call us
Project Plan 1
$10
per user/per month
Project Plan 3
$30
per user/per month
Project Plan 5
$55
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Considered Both Products
Forecast

No answer on this topic

Microsoft Project
Chose Microsoft Project
We find that while MicroSoft Project appears to have a higher learning curve, the short investment in training provides a much richer and much more long lasting solution vs. some of the other web only scheduling tools. These are easy to get started, but quickly lack the depth …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Forecast
-
Ratings
Microsoft Project
8.0
107 Ratings
6% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings9.0106 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings6.9103 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings10.0103 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings9.9105 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.582 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings7.795 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings7.679 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings8.279 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings7.376 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings6.081 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings7.966 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings8.472 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings8.462 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings6.382 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Forecast
-
Ratings
Microsoft Project
7.0
76 Ratings
5% below category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings7.053 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings7.044 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings6.973 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings6.949 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Small Businesses
Atera
Atera
Score 8.9 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Planview AdaptiveWork
Planview AdaptiveWork
Score 6.8 out of 10
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Planview AdaptiveWork
Planview AdaptiveWork
Score 6.8 out of 10
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(3 ratings)
6.5
(107 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.2
(34 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ForecastMicrosoft Project
Likelihood to Recommend
Forecast
Forecast is well suited for tracking schedules, especially if it is only being controlled by a single department. When it comes to using Forecast in a larger ecosystem with more "cooks in the kitchen" it would be helpful to have the software more easily integrated with other software.
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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
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Pros
Forecast
  • Assign and allocate resources.
  • Identify lean departments and identify areas to increase headcount.
  • Manage agile teams.
  • Identify bottlenecks in departments or resourcing.
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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.
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Cons
Forecast
  • Not as intuitive as its companion software, Harvest. This software takes longer to learn when on-boarding new staff. It is also difficult to view time notes without needing to physically open them up. This could be improved by expanding the "on hover" functionality. Personally, having spent as little time in workflow software is really important, as it gives me more time to code.
  • Because we use this software to plan schedules, items often fall through the cracks. I would like to see some more sophisticated syncing with not only Harvest but also with Asana.
  • Lack of integration with Asana. It would be nice to pull data from forecast and display it in Asana. This would be helpful for understanding how much time I have to spend on a project rather than bounce back and forth between web apps.
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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
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Likelihood to Renew
Forecast
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I like using Microsoft Project. It simplifies building a schedule
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Usability
Forecast
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Microsoft Project was for many years the reference tool when you were talking about project management software, even if it has some gaps. However, in the last several years, other tools emerged and covered those gaps and are getting more and more users. Microsoft needs to keep up with the trends as they did with adding Project Server. However, that needs a significant rework.
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Support Rating
Forecast
I have not needed support for Forecast.
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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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Implementation Rating
Forecast
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I wasn't part of it so I don't know
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Alternatives Considered
Forecast
I have not used any other scheduling software other than Forecast. The company selected Forecast because it is used in conjunction with Harvest. The pair of web apps can be used to pull detailed data. This is very important to our agency, and making data-driven decisions is exceptionally important to our agency mission.
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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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Return on Investment
Forecast
  • Allow departments to run efficiently.
  • Quickly identify whether departments need to hire.
  • Easily visualize project gaps in resources.
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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

Forecast Screenshots

Screenshot of Understand and know how to best utilize your capacityScreenshot of Easily plan and adjust workloads across the entire resource pool to prevent bottlenecks.Screenshot of Have everything in one place to groom the backlog, plan the sprint, and track the progress and velocity.Screenshot of Share real time reports with stakeholders to help them make important decisionsScreenshot of Understand the true cost of each projectScreenshot of