The new Microsoft Planner is now generally available, and is rolling out to customers. Here’s what you need to know about the app and how to start using it.

What is the new Microsoft Planner?

Essentially a combination of Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Planner, and Microsoft Project for web, the new Planner brings these productivity features into a single, unified task management tool.

The existing Tasks by Planner and Microsoft To Do apps in Microsoft Teams are now renamed to “Planner.” Microsoft Project for the web is also expected to be renamed in the coming months.

Planner also includes a Copilot integration.

Microsoft Planner Pricing

Planner is a free tool and will be included in your Microsoft 365 business package. However, there are premium features, and if you want to use them you will need to purchase a licence.

The cheapest plan with access to premium features is Planner Plan 1 and costs £7.70/licence/month (paid annually).

Compare plans here.

Basic vs Premium plan

There are two plans available in Planner: Basic and Premium.

On the basic plan, you can create a ‘Simple Plan’ from scratch. The layout will look very familiar as it resembles the previous Tasks by Planner. You can set up tasks, assign them to team members, add a start and due date, highlight progress, and assign a priority level. Here you can also organise your tasks in various buckets, for example, organise your tasks by types of work or internal departments.

The basic plan also includes use various templates, such as Project Management, Commercial Construction, Software Development, Business Plan, and Employee Onboarding.

The premium plan on the other hand gives you access to more complex templates like Sprint Planning, Marketing Campaign, and Simple Project. Additionally, the premium licence includes Microsoft Copilot for Planner, which can help you generate and track tasks through generative AI. The section below covers Copilot in Planner.

Microsoft Copilot in Planner

At this point it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Copilot is available in Planner, Copilot is everywhere!

Through generative AI, Copilot in Planner can help you streamline your planning by managing and assisting you with the execution of your plans, but also can keep you informed on your goals and status of outstanding tasks.

Copilot prompt examples you can use in Planner:

• Which tasks are falling behind?
• Which team member has the highest workload?
• Which tasks are assigned to me?
• Generate subtasks for the organisation of the event.
• Plan a product launch.

Note: Copilot for Planner is a premium feature, even if you have Copilot for Microsoft 365.

How to access Planner?

The Planner app is generally available within Microsoft Teams and via web browser.

For teams, access Planner through the left navigation bar and get started by creating a new plan or using one of the pre-built templates.

For web browser, you can access Planner here and login with your Microsoft account.

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