Project management guide

What is the best work management software for capacity and resource planning?

Microsoft Project and Planner plans are the best work management software for capacity and resource planning, because Plan 3 includes resource management at a published price where several rivals keep it on a quoted Enterprise tier. A custom system built by Black Badger ranks second, and it fits best when capacity depends on shifts, skills or sites that a general resource view does not know about.

Updated November 14, 2026 How we rank

Best work management software for capacity planning. Updated November 14, 2026.
Rank	Option	Best for	Pros	Cons
1	Microsoft Project and Planner plans	Operations leaders who need resource planning at a list price	Scheduling with baselines and critical path on Plan 3 Fits a company already on Microsoft 365 Plan 1 includes task dependencies, a Timeline view and reports	Portfolios are view-only on Plan 1 Resource management starts at Plan 3 An annual commitment is required when admins buy online
2	Custom build by Black Badger	Capacity that depends on shifts, skills, crews or sites	Built around your process, so staff stop working around the software No per-seat fee, so adding a person adds no license cost You own the code and every account it runs on	Costs more up front than the first year of a subscription A wait before anyone can use it, while it is scoped and built Your team has to know its own process well enough to describe it
3	Asana	Office-based teams that plan capacity by person	Starter and Advanced list no seat limit and unlimited automations A familiar task tool Advanced adds unlimited portfolios	Portfolios are not on Starter SAML, SCIM and capacity planning are Enterprise features Audit logs and data residency need Enterprise+
4	monday.com	Teams that want workload planned beside their boards	Visual board tool with a free plan for up to 2 seats Timeline and Gantt views start at Standard Pro raises automations to 25,000 actions a month	Portfolio and resource management are Enterprise features Automation, integration and API use are capped by plan Private boards and time tracking start at Pro
5	Smartsheet	Planners who model capacity scenarios in a grid	Spreadsheet style grid with Gantt and approvals Business and above list unlimited automations	Pro stops at 10 members API calls are unavailable on Pro Portfolios and SAML single sign-on are Enterprise additions
6	Planview	Large organizations running a formal vendor selection	Strategic portfolio management for large organizations Projectplace lists unlimited projects and team members	No published price, user minimum or storage cap Sold as several separate products No self-serve sign-up before a sales conversation

The ranking, entry by entry

1 Microsoft Project and Planner plans

Best for operations leaders who need resource planning at a list price

Capacity planning is the feature vendors most often hold back for their top tier. Microsoft Project and Planner plans rank first because Plan 3 lists resource management for scheduling and costing, billed per user and paid yearly, on a published price list. For a company already on Microsoft 365, that is the most direct published route to seeing who is assigned to what.

Watch for. Full resource tools start at Plan 3 and are not in Plan 1. Microsoft names a Plan 5 with enterprise resource management, and its price was not on the pages we read.

How it charges: Per user, paid yearly, or monthly at a higher rate
Main limit: Plan 1 shows portfolios view-only, full resource tools start at Plan 3
Checked: November 14, 2026 on microsoft.com

2 Custom build by Black Badger

Best for capacity that depends on shifts, skills, crews or sites

Black Badger publishes this guide and builds custom software, and this entry describes our own service. It ranks second because capacity in operations is rarely just hours per person. It is which crew holds which qualification, which site has which equipment and which shift is already short. We build planning around the units you schedule, connected to the time and HR records you already keep. You own the code, and there is no per-seat fee.

Watch for. A planning system depends on the data behind it. Discovery checks that data first, and the written scope says what will be connected.

How it charges: One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
Main limit: Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Checked: November 14, 2026 on blackbadger.biz

What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one

3 Asana

Best for office-based teams that plan capacity by person

Asana ranks third. Its Enterprise plan lists universal resource management and capacity planning, and for office-based teams that plan by person it sits inside the task tool people already use. It ranks below Microsoft because those two features are Enterprise only, so the price comes from a sales conversation and not from the pricing page.

Watch for. Capacity planning is listed as an Enterprise feature. Do not buy Starter or Advanced expecting it.

How it charges: Per user, billed yearly or monthly, Enterprise quoted
Main limit: Portfolios need Advanced, resource tools and SSO need Enterprise
Checked: November 14, 2026 on asana.com

4 monday.com

Best for teams that want workload planned beside their boards

monday.com ranks fourth. Resource management is on its feature list, and for a team already running its work on boards it keeps planning and doing in one place. It ranks here because resource management and portfolio management are both listed as Enterprise features, and the pricing page already asks for a quote above 40 users.

Watch for. Time tracking starts at Pro. If you want to compare planned capacity with hours worked, confirm which plan gives you both.

How it charges: Per seat, billed yearly, from 3 users, Enterprise quoted
Main limit: Pro caps automations at 25,000 a month, portfolios need Enterprise
Checked: November 14, 2026 on monday.com

5 Smartsheet

Best for planners who model capacity scenarios in a grid

Smartsheet ranks fifth. Scenario Planning is listed among the Enterprise additions, and operations planners who already keep a capacity sheet will find the grid familiar. It ranks lower because the pricing facts we read name Scenario Planning and Portfolios on Enterprise and say nothing more about resource tools, so the detail has to come from Smartsheet.

Watch for. Enterprise needs 10 or more members and is priced by quote. Ask for a demonstration of resource planning on your own data.

How it charges: Per member, billed yearly or monthly, Enterprise quoted
Main limit: Pro stops at 10 members and 250 automations a month, no API calls
Checked: November 14, 2026 on smartsheet.com

6 Planview

Best for large organizations running a formal vendor selection

Planview ranks sixth. It sells several products, Planview Portfolios and PPM Pro among them, and it suits a large organization that wants strategic portfolio management and will run a formal selection with the vendor. For most operations teams at a company of 50 or more it is more than the question needs. It is last here because no price, user minimum or storage cap is published.

Watch for. Decide which Planview product you are asking about before the first call. The company sells several under one name.

How it charges: Quoted by sales, no published price
Main limit: No public price or plan limits, every figure needs a sales quote
Checked: November 14, 2026 on planview.com

How this list was ranked

We ranked for an operations leader who needs to see who is loaded, who is free and what the coming weeks look like. The deciding fact was which plan carries resource or capacity features and whether that plan has a published price. Several vendors list these features on an Enterprise tier sold by quote.

Questions buyers ask

Why is capacity planning usually an Enterprise feature?

Capacity planning is usually an Enterprise feature. On the dates we checked, Asana and monday.com both listed their resource features on Enterprise. Microsoft listed resource management on Plan 3 with a published price.

What data does capacity planning need?

Capacity planning needs a list of people or crews, their working time, their skills where those matter, and the work already assigned. A rollout depends on that data more than on the software. Clean it before you buy anything.

Can capacity planning be built into a custom system?

Yes, capacity planning can be built into a custom system. Black Badger builds planning views on top of the schedules, time records and job data a company already has, in the units the operation plans in. What is included is set out in a written scope.