For the plan you present, not the one you calculate.
NeoGantt is a Gantt chart for project managers whose hard part is getting the plan in front of sponsors and redrawing it after a slip, with a dated record of every agreed version. It doesn’t do dependencies, critical path or resource levelling; if your schedule runs on those, Microsoft Project is the better tool.
The schedule you calculate and the plan you present.
| The job | Microsoft Project and Planner | NeoGantt |
|---|---|---|
| Linking tasks so one slip moves the rest | Yes, that’s the core of it | No dependencies. You move the dates. |
| Critical path and workload views | Yes (critical path needs Plan 3) | No |
| Building a readable plan quickly | Possible, with effort | Draw tasks straight onto the timeline |
| Getting it in front of sponsors | Guests are added to a Microsoft 365 group and accept an invitation | A view-only link that opens in any browser, or a one-page PDF |
| Showing what changed since the last review | Baselines, on Plan 3 ($30 per user a month, billed yearly) | Named iterations, each with a list of what moved |
If your project lives or dies on dependency logic, stay with a scheduling tool. The NeoGantt vs Microsoft Project comparison sets out where each one wins, and the Microsoft Project alternatives page covers tools that keep dependencies at a lower price. If what keeps you up is the sponsor who hasn’t opened the plan since kickoff, read on.
When the dates move, the chart keeps up.
Move a phase in one drag
Shift the whole plan
Working days, not calendar maths
Progress, if you want it
Milestones for governance
Stage gates, board meetings and funding decisions are the dates sponsors track. Make them milestones and they show as diamonds on the chart and in the PDF, easy to find even on a forty-row plan.
Which dates deserve one is its own question. The guide to Gantt chart milestones answers it.
A record you can point to
Save an iteration at each gate or steering meeting. The next one lists what was added, removed, renamed or rescheduled, so “why is this later than we agreed?” has a dated answer.
Put the reason on the task itself as a comment. Everyone viewing the chart sees it, sponsors included. How version history works.
Keep the engine. Change what people see.
A common arrangement is a detailed schedule in one tool and a simpler plan for everyone else. NeoGantt works as that second layer: phases, key tasks and milestones, on a link that never goes stale.
Be aware there’s no import from Microsoft Project or any other scheduler, so the summary plan is rebuilt by hand. At phase level it’s quick, and it forces a useful decision about what the sponsor needs to see. The only importer is for TeamGantt CSV files.
If you’re choosing between several tools, the comparisons put NeoGantt next to TeamGantt, GanttPRO and Microsoft Project, including where they’re the better choice.
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