Marta runs a 10-person design studio. On Monday, she asks where things stand with the proposal for Nord: the task is in Microsoft Planner, some of the decisions are in comments, and the latest decision was made in a Teams chat. The company already pays for Microsoft 365, so a second tool needs to solve a specific problem - not just offer another board.
Microsoft Planner or Task Manager: where do decisions stay?
If decisions happen outside the task, simply ticking off the card won't explain to the team why the due date changed. Both tools let you work on tasks, but they handle the conversations around them differently.
Microsoft Planner has comments on tasks, so you don't have to move every comment to Teams. Microsoft stores basic plans and tasks in Azure, attachments in SharePoint, and Planner conversations in Exchange. Teams can be where your team accesses Planner. It's an integrated suite, although Marta may find herself looking for a decision in comments, Teams chat and files.
In Task Manager, a thread with messages, @mentions, reactions and attachments sits under the task card. System messages also record changes to the status, assignees, priority and due date, along with the previous value. If Marta moves the due date for “Website project” from Friday to the following Tuesday on Wednesday, participants will see who did it and when in the same thread. For more on how work is organised, see the Task Manager Tasks overview.
This isn't an argument that Planner is unsuitable for conversations about work. If your team consistently comments on tasks in Planner, Marta's problem may not arise at all. But if decisions regularly end up in chat, check whether moving the conversation to the task thread suits the way your team works.
When is Planner enough without buying another tool?
Planner is enough when you have a Microsoft 365 plan that includes it and people actually work in that environment. Microsoft includes the basic Planner in its business Microsoft 365 plans; it works in a browser and in Teams, and tasks can include files, checklists and labels.
Marta sets up a board for 10 people. If everyone already has the right Microsoft 365 licences, she doesn't need to buy a separate Planner (plan 1) to start assigning tasks. The team can stick with a familiar account and app. For a business that mainly needs a shared task list, that's a strong argument.
However, don't confuse the basic Planner with paid project management features. On Microsoft's Polish website, Planner (plan 1) includes features such as sprints, task dependencies and a timeline view; Planner and Project (plan 3) adds further capabilities. If you run complex projects and already use these features, compare Task Manager with how your team actually works, not just with the licence price. Task Manager also won't replace Word, Excel or Teams - it's a tool for tasks and team communication, not an office suite.
How much does three years of work for 10 people cost with each tool?
If you already have a Microsoft 365 plan that includes the basic Planner, you don't pay extra for it; Task Manager Classic Standard costs 1 490 zł as a one-off payment, or 2 384 zł with two optional Updates renewals over three years, excluding hosting. Comparing the full Microsoft 365 bill with the price of Task Manager doesn't show the cost of replacing Planner alone: that bill also covers other services.
On its Polish website, Microsoft lists Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Teams at 6,07 € excl. VAT per user per month with an annual subscription. For 10 people over 36 months, that comes to 2185,20 € excl. VAT for the full package, assuming the price stays the same. If you already pay for this plan, there's no extra charge for the basic Planner. Microsoft prices were checked on 24 September 2026; the website lists them in euros, so we haven't converted them into złoty using an arbitrary exchange rate.
Microsoft prices the standalone Planner (plan 1) at 8,70 € excl. VAT per user per month with an annual subscription. Ten such licences for 36 months would mean an additional 3132 € excl. VAT, assuming the price stays the same; this isn't a cost you need to incur to use the basic Planner. Check how many team members really need the premium features before multiplying the rate by everyone.
Task Manager for 10 people requires the Classic plan. The Standard option costs 1 490 zł as a one-off payment and includes 12 months of updates. If you purchase two further annual renewals at 447 zł each, the three-year cost of the licence and access to new versions will be 2 384 zł. Without renewals, you can continue working with the version you have. Add hosting and the time spent by whoever handles installation and updates to your own calculation; the terms of the perpetual licence help you separate these costs.
| Question | Microsoft Planner in Microsoft 365 | Task Manager, Classic Standard |
|---|---|---|
| How do you pay? | Per user, for an eligible Microsoft 365 plan; the basic Planner is included. | One-off payment for a plan covering up to 20 people. |
| Where is the data? | In Microsoft cloud services; data for basic plans, attachments and conversations are stored across different services. | On your company server, where you install the application. |
| Where do you discuss a task? | You can use Planner comments or work in Teams. | In a thread under the task card, alongside the change log. |
| What about newer versions? | You use the service as part of an active subscription. | The first 12 months of updates are included; renewing afterwards is optional. |
You are comparing the cost of access to a suite of services with the cost of a licence for task and communication software. For a broader approach to calculating this, see the comparison of a subscription and a one-off licence.
What changes with your own server?
With Planner, your data stays in Microsoft cloud services, while with Task Manager, the application and its data run on your company server. Bear in mind that not all Microsoft 365 data is stored in one place: Microsoft describes the storage of Planner data, attachments and conversations separately, as well as the data location policies for its services.
You can run Task Manager on standard shared hosting that supports PHP 8.1 or later and MySQL or MariaDB. The installer runs in your browser. The browser downloads libraries, fonts, icons and avatars from your company server, not from external servers. If clients often ask where their data is stored, installing it on your own server is a difference you can explain without making generic security promises.
Having your own server also means taking on your own responsibilities. Someone needs to set up the hosting and make sure updates are installed: for most releases, the administrator selects Download and then Install in the application; some require a manual process. Remote installation is included in the Classic plan. Don't confuse this with a promise that future updates will install themselves.
How does Task Manager show due dates?
Task Manager uses colour to show the status of due dates in the list, on the Board and in the Calendar, and reminds you about upcoming tasks when the application is open. Marta can see at a glance which tasks are overdue; Planner also sends task notifications.
On Monday, Marta sees overdue tasks in red, tasks due today in blue, those due in the coming days in green, and tasks without a due date or that are closed in grey. The tiles “On time”, “Due today”, “Overdue” and “Chat” also work as counters and filters. She doesn't have to open every task to find overdue work; the guide to keeping track of deadlines as a team explains this approach in more detail.
The Notification Centre sends a reminder one hour before a task with a specific time is due, and at 16:00 for a task with a date only. Once a day, the first time you open the application after 6:00, it shows a morning briefing with a clickable list of the day's tasks; if the day is empty, no briefing appears. Notifications won't appear in the application window if it's completely closed. Email remains the delivery channel. Background sending is handled by CRON - a task run periodically on the server and configured by the administrator. Check this requirement if your team often closes the application.
Does AI change the outcome of the comparison?
AI is a deciding factor for a team planning to use these features. Task Manager works without AI, while Copilot features in Planner require an eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. So don't compare the price of the Copilot add-on alone with the cost of using Task Manager without AI: they cover different services.
In Task Manager, the administrator can connect their own OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude or xAI Grok key. The company pays the model provider directly for usage, with no Task Manager mark-up. The AI Assistant can prepare a new task form with fields already filled in, change a status, filter a list or privately answer a question about a thread. The “Organise” feature can, among other things, show a conversation summary; the original messages remain unchanged.
Using your own key doesn't mean the question's content stays exclusively on your server. The prompt, together with the selected context, is sent to the model provider. If this is an important requirement for your company, read how your own AI model key works and decide whether to enable this option.
How can you make your choice in 15 minutes?
Take one completed task and check where the decisions about it were made. This test will tell you more about your team's needs than a long list of features.
For example, choose the quote for Nord from last week. Open the task, comments, chat and attachments. Count how many places you need to search to answer these questions: who promised the deadline, who changed it and which file version is current. If you can find everything quickly and people work in Teams, stick with Planner and agree on one rule for recording decisions. If retracing the history takes longer than the conversation about the quote itself, try working with a single task thread in Task Manager.
Repeat this test on another task tomorrow morning before you decide to buy. In the Demo, you can see whether the task and conversation layout suits the way your team works.
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft Planner enough for a 10-person business?
Yes, the basic Microsoft Planner can be enough for a 10-person business with an eligible Microsoft 365 plan, as long as the team consistently records decisions against tasks or in a Teams environment everyone knows. Consider a separate tool when you regularly waste time piecing together conversations about tasks.
How much does Task Manager cost for 10 people over three years?
Task Manager Classic Standard costs 1 490 zł as a one-off payment, or 2 384 zł with two optional annual Updates renewals. Without renewals, you can still use the version you own; factor in hosting separately.
Do I have to give up Microsoft 365 to use Task Manager?
No, you can continue using Microsoft 365 for documents and meetings, and Task Manager for tasks and team communication. Task Manager does not replace Word, Excel or Teams.
Where is the data stored after installing Task Manager?
Task Manager application data is stored on the company server where you install the software. If you enable the AI Assistant, your prompt and the context you select are sent to the model provider using your company's key.
Does Microsoft Planner have comments on tasks?
Yes, Microsoft Planner has comments on tasks; Microsoft says conversations are stored in Exchange. Don't assume that every conversation has to happen in Teams chat - check where your team actually records decisions.
Sources
- Microsoft, Microsoft 365 business plans and pricing - https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-plans-and-pricing (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Microsoft, Microsoft 365 Planner: compare plans and pricing - https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/microsoft-365/planner/microsoft-planner-business-plans-and-pricing (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Microsoft, Project and task management software: Microsoft Planner - https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/microsoft-365/planner/microsoft-planner (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Microsoft Learn, Security, privacy, and compliance in Microsoft Planner - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/planner/planner-security-privacy-compliance (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Microsoft Learn, Manage the Planner app for your organisation in Microsoft Teams - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/manage-tasks-app (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 365 data locations - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/o365-data-locations (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Task Manager, Tasks - https://taskmanager.pl/funkcje/zadania (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Task Manager, Perpetual licence - https://taskmanager.pl/funkcje/licencja-bezterminowa (accessed: 2026-09-24).
- Task Manager, Pricing - https://taskmanager.pl/#pricing (accessed: 2026-09-24).
The Task Manager Team - we write about teamwork, AI in business and keeping tasks organised, using examples from Task Manager, software installed on your own server. Task Manager has been developed by Blue Creation Group (Piotr Łącz) since 2013 and is used by organisations including Neonet, the Military University of Technology and Polpharma - read customer reviews. We check our articles against the user guide and the latest version of the software.
