Axtio vs Microsoft Planner: when you need a board outside Microsoft 365
If your organisation runs on Microsoft 365, you already have Microsoft Planner. It is built into Teams, connects to Outlook and To Do, and lets you create boards of tasks grouped into buckets. Microsoft has also been folding Project for the web into Planner, so it now covers more advanced planning features on premium plans. For many teams it is the obvious choice simply because it is already there.
So why would anyone use something else? Usually because they want a different view of the work, or a board that is theirs rather than the organisation's.
What Planner does well
- Built into Microsoft 365: no extra purchase for most business plans, single sign-on, works inside Teams.
- Assignments and due dates that show up in Microsoft To Do and Outlook.
- Buckets, labels and charts for organising and reporting.
- Premium features on higher plans, such as timelines and dependencies, as described in Microsoft's Planner documentation.
- Admin control: IT can manage access and retention.
Where Axtio differs
Axtio is built around one question: who has the ball? Projects are rows, and columns are Mine, Other, Next Steps and Done.
- Waiting is explicit. In Planner, a task assigned to you that is actually waiting on a client looks the same as one you are working on. In Axtio, it moves to Other, shows how long it has been waiting and gets flagged for chasing after a week.
- All projects in one grid. Planner is organised plan by plan. Axtio shows every project as a row on one board.
- Personal and local. The free version runs in your browser with no account; your board is not in your employer's tenant.
Which fits which job
Use Planner when:
- Your team works in Microsoft 365 and Teams
- Managers need shared plans with assignments and reporting
- IT needs to manage data and access
Use Axtio when:
- You want a personal view of what you owe and what you are waiting on, across work
- You are a solo worker or a tiny team outside Microsoft 365
- You prefer a board that works offline with no signup
Using both
A common pattern: the team plan lives in Planner, and individuals keep a personal Axtio board for their own actions, including the ones that are waiting on other people. The personal board answers "what do I need to chase today?", which a shared plan rarely does.
A note on work data
If you use a personal tool for work tasks, follow your employer's policy. Keep sensitive details in approved systems and use short action descriptions on your personal board.