Etapero vs Microsoft Project
For planning, Etapero is close to MS Project: a work breakdown, four dependency types, critical path, baselines. The difference is one shared plan in the browser for the whole team, with the portfolio and Jira next to it.
What Microsoft Project is
Microsoft Project is Microsoft’s family of project planning products; the best known is the Project desktop app. A plan in it lives in a project file.
According to Microsoft’s help, one project can hold up to 11 baselines — snapshots of dates, durations, work and cost that progress is later compared with.
At a glance
| Etapero | Microsoft Project | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On your server: one Docker image and PostgreSQL; the demo runs in the cloud | A desktop app; the plan lives in a project file |
| Gantt chart | Yes: all four dependency types, lead and lag | Yes |
| Critical path | Yes, worked out automatically | Yes, multiple critical paths included |
| Baseline | Yes: forecast slippage shows on rows and milestones | Yes, up to 11 baselines per project |
| Project portfolio | Yes: every project’s goals on one timeline, progress, risks and problems | In the desktop app — not stated officially |
| Moving a plan from MS Project | Import from Excel or CSV in the MS Project export layout; .mpp files are not opened directly | Its own .mpp file format |
| Jira | Read-only sync: issues in the plan, open issues and analytics | Not stated officially |
When to choose Microsoft Project
- One scheduler owns the plan and the team gets exports.
- You need several baselines, work and cost in one file.
- Contractors send plans as .mpp files.
When to choose Etapero
- You need one shared plan in the browser with nothing to install for each person.
- You need a portfolio: goals, risks and problems of every project on one page.
- Teams work in Jira and its issues should show in the plan, read-only.
Moving a plan over
The work breakdown can be loaded into Etapero from Excel or CSV: it understands column headers and outline levels, including the MS Project export layout, and shows what will change before anything is written.